Shutter Mike Photography

On September 1, 2001 I took my fist trip to NYC.  This was before I was heavily into photography but I did have a camera (film) with me of course.  Being my first trip the plan was to pack every possible site into that one week.  The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Central Park, The Empire State Building the museums, you name it.  Of course, that list also included a trip to the top of the World Trade Center.  On Monday, September 3, 2001 we bought our tickets for the elevator ride to the top.  The views were amazing and you could see 360 degrees around the entire city, into Brooklyn and the Bronx and across Manhattan and the river into New Jersey.  My photography at the time was in its infancy.  But a lot has changed in the past ten years and my skills have developed quite a bit if I do say so myself.  It is unfortunate that shots like these can never be captured exactly the same again.  But I am grateful that I had the opportunity to enjoy the World Trade Center.  I have been back to NYC numerous times since and love the city.

As a photographer in the 21st century who has at least some knowledge of the internet, you have probably heard of Creative Commons.  But understanding Creative Commons may be a whole different story.  What is it?  How does it work?  And how is it different from copyrights?

Prior to the late 1990s, when Creative Commons came into existence, there was only copyright law.  In the 1976 Copyright Act a copyright is defined as giving the author or owner of the copyright an exclusive right to control how their copyright work is used, reproduced and distributed.  Copyright applies to “original works of authorship” which can be literary, musical, dramatic, artistic or other intellectual work, whether published or unpublished and remains valid for 70 years after the death of the creator.  You also don’t have to register a work for it to be copyrighted.  The copyright applies as soon as it is recorded, written down, captured on film or sensor, drawn on paper, etc.  However, in the US at least, registering your copyright with the US Copyright Office can give you additional rights and recourse if those rights are violated.

So isn’t that good enough?  In many cases yes.  However, with the rise of the internet, sharing creative works rose as well, both legally and illegally.  Some thought that copyright laws, as they were currently written and enforced, were not flexible enough for the age of the internet and digital works.  So the Creative Commons was designed to be a less stringent method of copyright that fostered increased access to and sharing of intellectual and artistic works while still giving the original creator of the work some degree of protection.  With Creative Commons the artist, author or creator is given the ability to decide which rights they want to keep and which they chose to waive.  The intention was a win-win for everyone.  The creator would have protective rights to their work while the end user got flexibility to use the works without the restraints of all or nothing copyrights.

Creative Commons is often referred to the middle ground of copyrights, the “some rights reserved” version.

All Right Reserved   ->   Some Right Reserved   ->  Public Domain

Copyrights                  ->   Creative Commons        ->   Free to use with no restrictions

So how does this work?  Essentially you select the Creative Commons license you want to assign to your creative work to grant copyright permissions to it and associate that license with your work.  For online work you can do it with a bit of coding.  For offline work you can use the old fashion manual way of indicating a copyright on your work.

There are 6 licensing options to pick from.  From least to most restrictive they are:

Attribution: Under this license the creator is allowing others to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to alter/remix/rework it and to use it for commercial purposes as long as attribution is given to the originator.  Read the legalese version of Attribution here.

Attribution – Share Alike: This license is very similar to Attribution with one addition.  The creator is allowing others to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to remix/rework it and to use it for commercial purposes as long as attribution is given to the originator.  AND, if you do alter the original work you can only distribute it under the same or similar license – share-alike.  i.e. no claiming complete copyrights to it.  Read the legalese version of Attribution – Share Alike here.

Attribution – No Derivs: This license allows you to copy, distribute and transmit the work even for commercial purposes as long as attribution is given to the original author/creator, BUT you are not allowed to alter or rework it in any way.  Read the legalese version of Attribution – No Derivs here.

Attribution Non-Commercial:  With this license you are allowed to copy, distribute and transmit the work and can alter/remix/rework it, just not for any commercial purposes as long as attribution is given to the original author/creator.  Read the legalese version of Attribution Non-Commercial here.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike:  See the pattern here yet?  This license allows you to copy, distribute and transmit the work and you can alter/remix/rework it, but you must attribute it, no commercial use and if you do alter the original work you can only distribute it under the same or similar license – share-alike.  Read the legalese version of Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike here.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs:  Last one, and the most restrictive.  The rights with this license limit you to copying, distributing and transmitting the work.  But no altering it, no commercial use and you must attribute it.   Read the legalese version of Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs here.

Make sense?  The concept is not too difficult on the surface if you understand the basics of copyright and the mission behind Creative Commons makes sense given the “free for all” mentality of the internet.  But critics question how it stands up legally and if Creative Commons just feeds the “if it’s on the internet it’s free for me to take and use as I wish” attitude that is so common.  Does Creative Commons just muddy the copyright waters?

Today, August 19th, is World Photography Day.  I’m pretty sure there isn’t a Hallmark card for today, although maybe there should be.  So don’t be too upset if you have never heard of World Photography Day or did not get an invitation to a big celebration in the mail.  It is one of the lesser known holidays.  This is just a day to celebrate photography which with a camera in almost everyone’s pocket now, tends to be taken for granted.  But in the grand scheme of things, it was not that long ago that photography was a rarity and considered a luxury.  So the purpose of today is acknowledge the role photography plays in our lives as both a moment capturer and an art form.  So get your camera out and take a photograph todorld Photography Day and the 1000 post anniversary of Shutter Mike, just a coincidence.

341 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ

This building, designed by famous Phoenix architect Alfred Beadle, is classic Arizona mid-century modern architecture.  Or at least it was.  This photo was taken before they tore off the block facade in order to make the building much more “functional.” Sad, but still represents one of my favorite photography types, architectural.

Before you get halfway through a shoot and realize you left the ISO on 1200 or white balance on tungsten it is a good idea to make is a part of your photo shoot habit to check and reset all your camera’s settings. To help me get my best shots I have come up with a short pre-photo shoot camera check list.  These are all the things I need to quickly verify are as they should be for the shoot I am about to do and not as they were for the last time I was photographing.  Your camera or specific needs may be a little different but this should be a good starting point for you to make a check list of your own.

1. Anti-Shake (Stabilizer) On/Off – When shooting on a tripod it is a good practice to turn this feature off.  So if the next shoot does not include a tripod make sure you turn it back on.  Or vice versa.
2. ISO Setting – You may not adjust this setting much depending on what and how you photograph, but check it to make sure it is set for the lighting condition of your current shoot.
3.  Manual / Auto Focus – You’ll notice if this is not set right pretty quickly, but helps to make it a habit to make sure it is where you need it to be.
4. RAW/JPEG Setting – I rarely shoot anything other than RAW, but there is always that one time which could ruin the photo shoot the next day.  Better to just check each time.
5. Drive – This may be called something else on your camera, but it is where I set my bracketing and continuous shot settings which I change often.
6. White Balance – Maybe you leave it on auto all the time, but if you ever alter this setting for various lighting conditions  you’ll want it on your check list.
7. Focus Area – This includes Wide, Spot or Local for the Sony Alpha 850 I shoot with, but whatever your camera calls it, it’s better to have it set where you need it before you start shooting.
8. Clean the Lens – OK, so this is not a camera setting, but it is something you should definitely get in the habit of doing every time you go out to photograph.

There you have it, eight quick and easy things to check every time you pick up your camera for a photo shoot.  Making sure you have your settings right can save you a lot of time and trouble.  Did I miss any that you have on your list?  Let me know in the comments.

I came to the HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography party late.  Before I really understood what HDR was all about I saw so many photographs processed using the “grunge” and “painterly” settings for HDR and I thought they were just too over-processed for my taste.  So I associated all HDR with those looks.  But after I started playing around with it I realized there were so many more options.  Also, for architectural and real estate photography HDR can save an image by allowing  you to expose for both the light and dark areas of your subject and then merge them into one perfectly exposed image.  There is still room for artistic interpretation as well and if the grunge or painterly or another custom processing of your image works then that is great too.

Here are two images to give an idea of what you can do with HDR photography versus processing the same image in PhotoShop.

This is the PhotoShop edited photograph.   I did not do much here but I did increase the vibrance and saturation a bit and lightened the image overall.  This is not a bad image in general.  But the sky is very dull and the shadows in the lower left corner are a little dark.

This is the HDR processed version of the image above.  It is a combination of three exposures of the same scene; one exposed normally, one over exposed and one under exposed.  This is the essence of HDR photography in that it allows you to correctly expose for all areas of the scene with different shots and then merge them all together.  This image is not perfect either; the saturation could be toned down a bit and the patio furniture has lost its true color.  But those things are easily corrected and it is more a matter of personal taste.  What is more important is the sky and the dark areas.  I was able to expose for the sky alone in one image and capture the blue hues and the glow of the late afternoon sun.  The shadows on the back wall and around the rocker are also now gone.

Who knew the Roomba was good for more than just vacuuming?  But someone got creative with their Roomba, and LED light and a camera.  Using a long exposure and letting the Roomba do its things in a dark room with a light attached results in some cool images (especially if you have a team of Roombas to work with).  Check out a variety of Roomba photographs here.

I do not usually think of The Weather Channel as a place I would tune in to see much other than a meteorologist standing in front of a map.  But I stumbled upon a show they produce recently about nature photography and I am loving it.  From the Edge with Peter Lik follows acclaimed Australian photographer Peter Lik on nature photography shoots across America.  The show chronicles Peter’s attempts to get the perfect shot of beautiful and often remote locales.  The cool thing is, that just as in real life, sometimes he doesn’t get the shot he set out to get.  So he goes after a back shot and often still comes back with great photography.  Check out photography from each episode here and set the Tivo to record the Weather Channel on Thursdays and Fridays at 9 Eastern.

OK, this is pretty cool.  Google has taken the traditional search for images and turned it upside down (or in side out?).  Up until now you could enter a search term into Google and search for images that match your entered search query.  But now, you can actually upload an image and search for sites on the Internet where that image is displayed as well as for images that are similar to your uploaded image.  Search by Image has several promising uses.  For one, you can upload your own images and see if anyone has “borrowed” them to post on their own sites.  Or if you find an image that is close to what you were looking for but not quite, use Search by Image to find more images that are similar.  For research purposes this tool can be used as an alternative to the traditional keyword search.  Find sites based on the images they display rather than the text on the page alone.  Pretty awesome.

Here’s how it works:

You have three ways to search (because three is way better than one).

1) On the Google Image Search page simply drag and drop an image file either from your computer or from a web site and voila, Google returns the matching results.  If there are no images that match exactly Google will show “visually similar images” that it deems come close.  Visually similar appears to be based on coloring more than anything else.

2) Your second option is to upload an image rather than drag and drop.  See that little camera icon in the search box of the screen capture above?  Simple click on that and then browse for an image to upload from your computer.  The search results work the same as option 1.

3) Last option is to copy and paste an images URL from the web into the Google Image Search box as shown above.  Simply right click on an image and select the copy image location and paste that in the search box.

I did  a review yesterday of my two latest photography gadgets, a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster and a LensPEN Lens Cleaning System.  But as they say (they being Benjamin Franklin for the curious), an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  So I figured as great as these little cleaning gadgets are, it is better to keep your camera free of dust and dirt in the first place.  Here are a few tips to keep your DSLR clean and your sensor dust free.

1. Changing lenses – one of the easiest ways to get dust on to your sensor is by being careless when changing lenses.  You are exposing the inner workings of your camera to the elements every time you change a lens.  Short of never changing a lens, which defeats the purpose of having a DSLR, you can take some steps to minimize the dust that creeps in during the lens changing process.  Eliminating it altogether is probably not a realistic option.
   1. First, be conscious of the environment where you are changing the lens.  It is not possible to get to the nearest sterile clean room every time you need to change a lens but you can make sure you aren’t in a dust storm.  Shield the camera as best you can from whatever may be blowing about.
   2. Do a little prep work before switching out lenses.  Make sure the lens you are going to put on is lined up and ready to go before you press that release button to take the lens off the camera.  Do not remove the lens or the cap off the replacement lens until you are ready to quickly make the switch.  The move as fast as you safely can, dust is better than a dropped $1000 lens, and switch out the lenses.
   3. Always keep your lenses clean, especially at the lens mount end.  Clean it after taking it off the camera with a soft brush and air blaster if you have one (which you should after reading yesterday’s post).  And even more importantly, clean it BEFORE you mount it on the camera.
2. Keep your camera bag clean – The camera bag is designed to help you organize your camera and accessories, carry them easily and keep them clean.  But the bag itself can get dirty too.  So you need to do a little camera bag maintenance every now and then.  The easiest thing to do is to assign one day a month (or really 15 minutes of one day a month) as camera bag cleaning time.  Put it on the calendar and then clean out your bag.  Empty everything out, vacuum out the bag (gets the fine stuff and animal hair), then make sure everything is dust free as can be before putting it all back.
3. Cleaning mode – Become familiar with your camera’s built in cleaning mechanisms.  My Sony Alpha 850 has two built in defenses against dust; static-resistant anti-dust coating and CCD-shift dust reduction mechanism.  Most DSLRs today have something in place to help keep the dust off the sensor.  Read up on what your camera has and understand how it works and what you can do to keep it working.
4. Call in the Pros – Like a car or any complicated piece of machinery sometimes you need a professional for both routine maintenance and repairs.  A sensor cleaning costs about $30 at my local camera shop and is sometimes  just necessary.  You can also get routine maintenance cleaning and tune-ups to keep things going at their peak.

For this collage of images I took 64 individual head shots of the 4 Lego mini figure series.  I used a Tamron Autofocus 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 lens with a Kenko 25 mm extension tube in order to get the very close up shots.  The back drop was just my black office desk and the lighting was the late afternoon sun filtered through the window shade.  Then I used Photoshop to crop each head shot down to 1″ x 1″ and created a new 8″ x 8″ canvas to combine them all together into the collage.  Hint, set up a grid of guide lines dividing the page up into 64 1″ squares (or whatever size you are working with) and then set the snap to for the guidelines.  This will insure each image is properly aligned.