The above video shows how I set up my Nikon D300 as the commander and my SB800 as the remote. It’s pretty simple and quick to set-up. This was my first time setting up and using the CLS system. It’s very straight forward to use and I like the fact that the camera can actually be used to fire the remote flash and I don’t have to buy a separate unit to put on the camera (unless I want to). I’ll be posting the test shoot shortly.
Since this video was shot, I have used the CLS system outside a couple of times during two shoots. At first it was hit and miss with the remote flash firing and then getting the exposure dialed in. But, after getting use to the way things work I was getting pretty consistent results.
Let me know your experiences and techniques for using Nikon’s CLS system.
Real Estate photography may not be as exciting or glamorous as some types of shoots. But, you can make money doing it. The Photography for Real Estate website is a great place to find out what it takes to succeed in this field .
I decided to try my hand at stock photography and have been trying to learn as much as I can. This article on PhotoShelter’s blog gives tremendous insight into what it takes to shoot lifestyle stock images.
Finally, everyone loves a good laugh at other peoples mistakes… Right? This is what PhotoShop Disasters is all about.
“And in this corner… weighing in at over 2 billion images (some of which are actually very good)… iiiiiiiitttt’ssss FlickGetty!!!!!!”
If you haven’t heard the news yet. You must have had a very good and long nap. Getty images and Flickr have joined forces. What? It seems Flickr will allow Getty to sift through the billions of images on it’s site and let Getty contact the photographers to work out a licensing agreement… (insert needle scratching vinyl record noise here)… Haven’t stock agencies been contacting the good Flickr photographers already?
The following links (there are more than five) will give you a decent understanding of what’s going on. Some of the posts are very one side and real gold in the comments. Please read on and post any thoughts and experiences you might have further down the road.
I got my hands on a copy of Pixelmator a while ago and have been playing with it a little bit over the last month or so. My first impression of the software was very positive. I like the layout. And after using it for a little while I realized the software’s potential and a few short comings.
Image processing is powered by Core Image and Open GL
Built using Cocoa
Includes Automator actions
ColorSync color management
Spotlight support
The world’s first GPU-powered editor
And much more…
The first thing I noticed about Pixelmator is that it looked different than other image editors, but still made sense. The floating panels are great, allowing you to move them exactly where you want them. The second thing I noticed was the PDF manual. It has to be the best layed out manual I have ever seen. With lots of screenshots and images to help you find exactly where everything is. Other software companies could learn a lot on how to create a great manual from the guys at Pixelmator.
Everything a photographer needs to work on their images seems to be there. There are a couple of things missing though. I’ll get to those later. Layers, cropping, magic wand, clone, eraser, paint brush, it’s all there. Pixelmator has full range of filters and supports third-party Core Image and Quartz Composer-based plug-ins. I liked the ease of use of Pixelmator and its power for image manipulation.
The major thing I didn’t like was the inability to to white balance using an eye dropper tool like you can in PS and PSE with the levels adjustment box using the “set gray point” eyedropper. I asked them about that and this is the response I got:
We do have plans to add a way to use eyedropper once in adjustment tools, but for that every single adjustment tool must be improved. We already improved 40% of our adjustment tools. 60% left.
This is a very promising reply. With that one feature added, JPEG shooters will have everything they need in one app.
The other thing that I found annoying (in a small way) was that you had to turn on “caps lock” to see the actual brush size. Not a big deal if you are only working on the image, but as soon as you want to add text, toggling caps lock on and off can be bothersome. That also came into play when I switched to another app and started typing (again, had to turn off caps lock).
What’s the conclusion? If you shoot JPEG and don’t white balance your images, Pixelmator will work great for you and I would recommend it. However, if you shoot JPEG and DO whitle balance your images I would suggest you use something else until Pixelmator gets the white balance eyedropper straightened out. For the RAW shooter who white balances their images in their RAW conversion software and then does more work in an image editor, Pixelmator will definetly do the trick for you. Over all, it’s a good piece of software with serious potential to become a strong player in the image editing software game.
Nikon Fires Shots Across Canon’s Bow! Nikon Spanks Canon! Nikon TKO’s Canon! Those were some of the titles I thought up for this post.
As most of you know, July 1st (Canada Day), was a very special day. Why? Nikon announced a couple of new perspective control lenses, a new flash. And what was the other things? Oh yah! A new camera! I’m not going to get into the technical details. Most of that is posted online already. So let’s get started.
Nikon Speedlight SB-900 - Of course, I ordered an SB-800 last Friday and on Tuesday they the SB-900. Just my luck! Seriously, the SB-900 will be a perfect companion to the 800 and once I learn Nikon’s CLS (Creative Lighting System) this will be a powerful set up. Joe McNally has a review of the SB-900 and Strobist has a write up also.
Nikon D700 - All the features of the D300 and then some, plus it’s full frame… The Perfect Camera?!?! This is mind blowing! This mid-range Nikon camera kicks the top of the line Canon cameras butts in some ways. It’s one camera that should do everything very well. DPReview has a hands on preview.
Switching to Nikon - In a previous post I wrote about the reason I decided to switch to Nikon from Canon. Well it looks like I’m not the only one. Scott Bourne over at TWIP (This Week In Photography) is doing the same. Welcome to the club Scott, cookies and milk will be served shortly
This post wasn’t meant to bash Canon, or Canon users. It just shows the competition is heating up between Canon and Nikon and we will all benefit from it. Canon, it’s your turn to blow us away with your latest and greatest offerings… I can’t wait!
Today’s Friday Five is brought to you by your credit card company… Kidding. Here are few photography products I think are cool:
Lon over at FlashZebra.com has some pretty cool products. I just recently received an umbrella adaptor from him and it’s well built! I can’t believe he’s only selling it for $14. Check out some of the other stuff he carries also.
VisibleDust has come out with a new sensor cleaning brush with a built in light so you can see what the heck you’re doing. I’ve had one of their products (sans light) for a while and they work great!
I found Fstopgear.com a little while ago when I was searching for a ski touring photo backpack. They seem to know exactly what an active photgrapher needs.
Calibrate, calibrate, calibrate! As photographers we all know how important calibration is. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could buy just one product to calibrate your monitor and your printer? Wait! You can! Check out the Colormunki photo.
Anyone who has never used a graphics tablet to work on their images, should give it a try. Now you can buy an affordable Cintiq LCD graphics tablet for under a $1000… Wow!
I’m doing something a little bit different with this weeks “Friday Five”. A few days ago I got an e-mail from Photoshelter that just blew me away. It was an introduction to their “School of Stock” section. I have dabbled in stock photography in the past with no real success. I’m used to clients telling me what they want shot and going out and shooting it. After reading a few of the articles I have a much better idea what stock buyers are looking for and where to concentrate my shooting efforts if I want to have a better chance of success.
If you are considering shooting any type of stock photography, you must read the articles there. Even if you just learn one thing, it will be worth it.
Here is my list of, more than five, articles from “The School of Stock”
The Production Values article is listed as “required reading” and I agree. They even go as far as to show poor examples along with good examples of what they mean.
If you are completely new to stock photography, the “What is Stock Photography” article is a great place to get a basic understanding.
The “Lighting: Lifestyle” article is worth a read for basic lighting techniques and tips.
“Lighting: Silo” is worth a read for shooting with flash on a white background.
Lifestyle: Overview gives you a general idea about lifestyle photography and what is needed.
Model and property releases are covered very well, and there are even examples showing when you need a release and when you don’t.
And finally, “keywording & Captioning” are covered in detail to help get your images to appear in appropriate searches.
There is so much information on the School of Stock section you really need to spend some time reading through it all to truly understand how much of a resource it is. The best part is, it looks like there are many sections and areas that will be added in the future. Whatever you do, don’t forget to bookmark that page, or better yet subscribe to the RSS feed.
Today, I was reading in the Strobist Flickr group what inspires some of the photographers there. I found the answers fascinating. Everything from other photographers, to music, to movies, to art , to books and even family. That got me thinking, “What inspires me?” The answer… Anything that move me. I know, that’s pretty vague, but let me try to explain. I don’t usually go looking for inspiration, I let it find me. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t let it freak me out if I don’t get inspired. It’s like insomnia, the more you think about not sleeping the more likely you’re not going to fall asleep.
But when inspiration does hit me. It hits me like a ton of bricks. Again, it could come from anything that moves me. And sometimes from things I would never expect. I currently have a list of at least a couple of dozen shot ideas that came to me from different sources of inspiration. The secret to being inspired is to write it down so you don’t forget. You might not always be able to get the shot right away. Or it requires extensive planning. Write down everything, in as much detail as possible, so when you do get around to shooting, that feeling you had when you first got inspired comes back to you.
Here is a source of inspiration that I came across today. It got my creative juices flowing and now I have a couple more shot ideas to add to my list.
The Man - Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002). I had the honor and pleasure of meeting the man in the late 80’s. Truly an inspiration. Check out the website and especially the video clips.
The Workshops - David Tejada is now offering lighting workshops. This guy knows his stuff and I wish him luck with the workshops.
The Book - Or should I say your book. Have you ever thought about writing your own photography book? If you have, check out www.photographybooknow.com for a chance to win $25k.
The Review - Bert Stephani has posted a review of the Strobist’s Lighting DVD on his site.
The Search - Idée Inc. has come up with with a new way to search images. This has huge potential!!!
