Free eBooks for Photographers
by | posted in: Photography, Stimulus and Production, The Infinite Library | 1

Well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love free and I love photography!

This week, I’ve got both for you!
Actually, I can’t believe I haven’t shared this collection of Twenty-Three Free Photography eBooks before!  I know LightStalking has shared them before, but, well, apparently I haven’t passed that all on to you, my dear faithful readers, before now.  Granted, I may have shared some of the actual books listed before, but not the full collection.
They link to everything from books on photography as a business to selling your photography to lighting to street photography to books of actual photographs taken by some really great photographers.  And, they’re all free!

So, hey, if you’re reading this, you’ve obviously been slacking already this fine Friday, so you may as well follow the link and check out these photography ebooks for yourself!

Essential Photoshop Skills for Photographers
by | posted in: Photography, The Tools | 1

I’m not entirely sure I agree with this list, actually.

I tend to follow the dictum that, as photographers, we should strive to make a better photograph in the camera, not in the computer. However, the reality of the modern age is that Photoshop exists and, well, the people who use it will tend to have an advantage over those of us who don’t.  According to DIY Photography, there are Twelve Essential Photoshop Skills that Every Photographer Should Know.  Those twelve things are Cropping, Adjusting Brightness and Contrast, Using “Curves and Levels”, Adjusting Saturation, Working with Layers, Sharpening, Using Cloning and Healing to Fix Photographs, Using “Content Aware Fill” and Adjusting Color Balance.

Now, just a bit of a disclaimer here; I use Adobe Lightroom to make minor adjustments to my digital photos.  And, with that in mind, I whole-heartedly endorse using software to do basic cropping as well as some correction for lens and camera aberrations.  And, yes, I do absolutely use Lightroom to correct color and white balance.  I even use it to make some very small and unobtrusive corrections for things like shadows or the occasional bit of junk in the background that distracts from the photo I want to share.
So, with all that being said, I still think the article is suggesting we learn Photoshop skills for the sake of simply using Photoshop.  “Curves and Levels” in this context are just a way of cheating and fixing sloppy photography in software.  So is a lot of the color corrections they describe.  Personally, I think it would be better and, for me at least, more satisfying to just improve my photography and take a better picture!

Still, it’s Friday and if you’re looking for some tips to improve your Photoshop skills, that link above will take you to a series of videos that will show you the basics of DIY Photography’s 12 Essential Photoshop Skills for Photographers.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

 

Free MIT Photography
by | posted in: Photography, Stimulus and Production | 1

So, I’m not quite done with the free photography links.

Again, specifically, links to a free photography course. This was shared by PetaPixel last month, but it’s so good, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.
MIT has established a free learning annex on-line which they call “MIT OpenCourseWare”.  Through this program, they offer all kinds of classes on a wide range of topics, all based on classes taught at MIT at one time or another, of course.  I was surprised to see, again, thanks to PetaPixel, that MIT was offering a course on Documentary Photography and Photojournalism.  According to the class description, this is “…an introduction to the great tradition of documentary photography. Students learn to see the world around them in a new way and produce a documentary project. The course requires reading and writing about photography, as well as doing it on a regular basis. The class emphasis is on thinking about why people photograph, what photographs do and do not mean to us, and on doing documentary work, on telling stories with photographs. ”

They note that students are expected to already know basic photography and that this course should not be considered a “beginner’s class”.  I don’t know when I’ll get to it, because I just changed jobs, but I really look forward to digging into this class!
But, you don’t need to way for me!  Get started right away!

Free Photography Tutorials
by | posted in: On Creativity, Photography | 1

Two things I love are photography and free.

This week, I’m sharing a link to links. But, it’s in keeping with the theme of free photography stuff.  The link comes from PetaPixel and it, in turn, links to their pick of the 25 best free on-line photography course and tutorials.
These tutorials run the gamut from beginner to advanced level of experience and cover a pretty wide variety of topics, including, but not limited to documentary and photojournalism, Lightroom and Photoshop, “Tilt+Shift” photography, night photography, introductory photography and art photography.  But, that really only scratches the surface!  You need to go and check these out for yourself.
The links tell you if there’s a start date or if it’s an “open” course or tutorial and roughly how long it will take, as well as the suggested skill level of the photographer, to help you pick where to start.  I’m confident that there’s something there to interest just about anyone!

So, go ahead, take a look and find one you can start this weekend!

Photography Link Grab Bag
by | posted in: Photography, The Tools | 1

Since I start my new day job this coming Monday, I’m slacking a little and just sharing some kind of random links about basic photographic technique.

One of the things you see a lot of photographers do, especially if they want to “go pro” and shoot portraits, is something called “seamless paper”.  Basically, it’s a huge, long roll of colored paper that you tape up to a wall or hang from a pole to get a smooth, uninterrupted, but still plain and not distracting background for portraits.  It sounds pretty straight forward, but, let me tell you, having worked with it a bit, sometimes, it can get a little tricky.  So, I’m starting out the grab bag of links with DIY Photography’s Best Tips for Working with Seamless Paper Backdrops.  These folks are always helpful and this collects some of their best tips for working with this mainstay of formal portrait photography, as well as some helpful hints for shooting other things with seamless paper.

The next link is from Canon, via PetaPixel, with a Tutorial on Cleaning and Caring for your Photography Gear.  This may seem super basic, but there are some good reminders here for those of us who forget how delicate our photography gear can be.  For instance, the suggestion to keep gear in a sealed, water-proof bag when moving it between temperature and humidity extremes until it can match local conditions to minimize fog, especially on lenses, is a great idea, especially in Houston!

Finally, I’ve been hearing how still photographers are passe now and, if you really want to “keep up” or break into professional photography, you need to know videography.  Personally, I’m not entirely sure that’s true, but it certainly does seem to be a theme these days, so I’m including another link from DIY Photography that’s an Introduction to the Basics of Cinematography.  Also, no matter how you feel about actually learning cinematography yourself, as a photographer, learning framing techniques from great cinematographers is a pretty good idea!

So, there you go; three links for you to explore on a lazy Friday, or this weekend, if you’re still pretending to work!
Either way, y’all have a good weekend!  And, get out there shooting!

Lightroom Workflow
by | posted in: Photography, The Tools | 1

With Apple’s recent announcement that they’re letting Aperture die, without really replacing it, photographers of all kinds are looking toward Lightroom as their photographic management and processing tool.

I, personally, have used Lightroom for years.  I can do most of the editing I would ever want to do faster and easier in Lightroom than I would in Photoshop.  Of course, I’m strictly an amateur and don’t do any other fancy art stuff with my photography.  And, I try to follow Syl Arena’s dictum to simply take better photos “in the camera”, because I’m a photographer not a Photoshop artist.  (Just to head off anyone’s hurt feelings, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing all kinds of post-work in Photoshop, but I prefer to be away from a computer more and just work with my camera.  It’s how I roll.)
All that aside, I know I could do better with Lightroom.  I could get more out of it with less effort if I took more time to learn the program.  So, with that in mind, I offer two links to tutorials for Lightroom.  (If you don’t use Lightroom, yet, hang in there.  Next week, I’ll share some pretty straight-up photography tutorial links for y’all.)

First, there’s a tutorial at PetaPixel titled The Ultimate Guide for Creating an Efficient and Effective Lightroom Workflow.  At less that 20 minutes, this video takes you through one way to set up a good digital photography workflow using Lightroom.  It’s a pretty simple and basic look at the software, but it will get you started down a good path that you can modify as you find tricks and short-cuts of your own.  It’s only a start and just scratches the surface of this amazing software, but it’s a good start!
Second, if you want to get more in depth with Lightroom, DIY Photography has a much longer tutorial titled Lightroom’s Develop Module Creative Workflow.  It’s an hour and fifteen minutes long, so a LOT longer than the first tutorial, but this one really goes into depth with the meat of this software.  What’s a little different about this tutorial is that it goes into more detail on the “why” question regarding the settings, not just the “how” of using the program.  So, in other words, it may be something you want to come look at again after working with Lightroom for a little bit.

So, there you are, two tutorials of varying length and experience level to help you get used to Lightroom!
Now, get out there this weekend and get some raw material to use in these with your camera!

Shooting Fireworks
by | posted in: On Creativity, Photography | 2

Happy Independence Day!

For those of you outside the U.S., today is the day we celebrate our independence as a nation by barbecuing and carousing and having parades and, most of all, by firing fireworks.  All across the country, there will be fireworks displays, both large and small, and there will be photographers at everyone one of them with tons of gear trying to capture that feeling in an image.  My personal suggestion is to just go and enjoy the show, but, if you absolutely must take photographs, check out the links below for tips before you go!

First, and always one of my favorites, are the annual Ten Tips for Photographing Fireworks from Photofocus.  For most of us, these are the tips that matter most.
But, also, check out How To Photograph Fireworks at Digital Photography School.  They also have ten tips, but their tips are slightly different, so definitely worth a look.
And, finally, you can never go wrong with Fireworks Photography Tips from National Geographic.  Even if you are burned out on fireworks photography tips after the first two links, it’s worth following this link for the inspirational photography, if nothing else!

Just remember, be polite to those around you while you’re trying to setup your shots.  Just because you have a camera doesn’t make your viewing experience more important than anyone else’s.  And, of course, be safe!  Don’t get so worried about getting a good photograph that you let someone sneak up and steal your camera gear in the dark or that hot ashes from the fireworks land on your gear, or you!  Safety first!
But, most of all, enjoy the Independence Day holiday and festivities and appreciate the fact that, no matter how much the NSA listens to your phone calls, we still live in a free and glorious country!
Happy Independence Day!

An Easy Way to Share Your WIFI Password
by | posted in: Red Herrings | 3

I’m going to take a slight departure from my normal free stuff on Friday posts.

Don’t worry, this is still free, but it’s not just a “click here and look at this thing” kind of post.  This week, you’ll need to actually do a couple of things to get the full benefit of this post.  Basically, it’s a little Summer DIY project for the mildly geeky and social.

Have you ever been to someone’s home and had to ask for their WIFI password to get your phone or tablet or laptop on their network?  Have they gone scrambling for that password, which was tucked away in a text file or written down on a scrap of paper somewhere?  Or, maybe you’ve been the person scrambling to find the right WIFI password.  Well, Eve-Marie over at Tixeretne has an idea to help you; Use a QR Code to Share Your WIFI Password!
It’s pretty genius, actually.  The idea is this.  You go to a free site, put in your WIFI password in plain text and it generates a QR Code, which is just a fancy multidimensional bar code, that your phone or tablet can read.  You just print that out, frame it, and point your guests at it when they ask about getting on your network.  They scan the code with their phone and copy the WIFI password that pops up into the right place and, blammo!, they’re on the network.  Just that easy.  And, if fact, if you use the links she provides to QRStuff, they even have an option for making a special WIFI Login QR Code specifically for Android users that eliminates a couple steps.

Eve-Marie’s tutorial is great and super easy to follow.  She even takes you through some steps to pretty it all up and frame it all nice so that it kind of blends into your decor a bit more.  It’s a really smart idea, I think.  And, in fact, I have done one up myself, though I haven’t printed and framed it yet, since my wife and I haven’t been entertaining as much lately.  Still, a great thing to have in time for your Fourth of July party when everyone wants to share your amazing BBQ on Instagram!

So, take a little time this weekend and check out Eve-Marie’s tutorial on How to Use a QR Code to Share Your WIFI Password!  It’s fun, easy and worth your time!

A “New” Way to Prevent Photo Theft
by | posted in: Photography, The Tools | 1

No, those quotation marks aren’t ironic.

Last year, in August, I wrote about a free service called LensTag that would help you track your camera gear if any of it went missing.  Well, they’re back in the news for another service!  This one was discovered by accident by their president’s wife who mistakenly turned on the tracking for her camera when a couple of flashes got stolen.  It turns out, she started getting notifications about where her photos taken with that camera started showing up on the internet!  Well, this seemed like such a great opportunity that the fine folks at LensTag decided to work it into something useful for everyone.  Now, they’ve added it to their iPhone\iPad app as well as their Android app.  And, if that’s not all, they have a Chrome extension, too!  So, now, you can track your camera gear and the photos you took with it! All for free!

Superstitious Friday
by | posted in: About The Author, Red Herrings | 3

Yes, today is Friday the Thirteenth.

I’m not really a superstitious kind of guy.  Not really.  But, I’ve known a lot of people who are.  When I worked in the hotel industry, I once managed to “sell” room 666 to someone not from a Judeo-Christian background, until a co-worker saw it and made a face.  Then, I had to explain to the nice gentleman that some people found 666 to be an “unlucky” number.  But, man, if I had pulled that off, it would have been legendary.
I always assumed that Friday the Thirteenth was considered unlucky due to some Biblical association.  You know, something like Judas being the Thirteenth Apostle or some such.  But, as it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth.  As it turns out, Friday the Thirteenth is considered unlucky because of its association with the plot to suppress the Knights Templar, according to this article on GlobalPsychics.com. Hey, stop laughing! That’s what it says!! And, I quote:

The modern basis for the Friday the 13th superstition stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant against “the Knights Templar”. The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified. A Black Friday indeed!

So, there you have it, Friday the Thirteenth is a global conspiracy, though, for a nice twist, it’s not the Knights Templar or Freemasons who are behind it! Which I appreciate, incidentally, because I am both a Freemason and, via another Masonic body, a Knight Templar, ironically.
Personally, I usually have better luck on Friday the Thirteenth, but, then, I always have been a little out of step with the world. Oh, and if you’re not buying that story, here’s a link to some alternate ideas why everyone else is afraid of Friday the Thirteenth.

Enjoy it.

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