Introducing My Kids
August 21st, 2009
Not the best shot technically speaking, but here’s my kids looking real cool on a hot summer day:
The Kids
Flickr
August 20th, 2009
I used free trials to compare Smugmug, Zenfolio, and Flickr. Also looked into Phanfare. Phanfare seemed to be the most polished option for pro photographers but it’s quite expensive. US$100 per year and only 20GB! Additional storage is another $50 per 20GB per year! Zenfolio and smugmug I found to be very similar but I slightly preferred Smugmug’s layout. I think the Zenfolio account that would serve me fine was about $40, and smugmug’s $60. In the end I decided to give up customizeable presentation in favour of lower pricing and the community/networking offered by Flickr. It’s more like facebook for photographers.Afterall, I’m no pro and have no real chance of selling any quantity of prints or landing paid gigs from a more professional looking gallery as with the other service providers. A Flickr Pro account is only $25, for unlimited storage and up to 20mb/file uploads. Only thing that sucks for me so far about Flickr is that the url is kinda longer and harder to remember and to type in, and also plain old f8photo was already taken so I had to use a modified version with _ca at the end:
Weather Sealed Gear
August 17th, 2009
Headed out to Bar U Ranch yesterday with my K10D and newish 50-200 WR (Weather Resistant) lens and the weather was looking pretty crappy. A perfect opportunity to put my supposedly weather sealed goodies to the test. Sure enough, it rained, and all was fine. It was actually kind of a neat feeling to shoot in the rain and not have to worry one bit about my equipment. No running for shelter. No keeping it under my jacket. Just continue shooting like it didn’t matter. Kudos to Pentax for this- most, if not all, major brands of DSLRs offer some higher end bodies with weather sealing. But usually only the most expensive pro lenses can keep up with the bodies, and that’s usually the smallest part of most photographer’s collection of lenses. Me? I still haven’t been able to drop $1500+ on a pro level lens. This 50-200 WR isn’t fast, isn’t pro caliber, but is weather resistant and inexpensive (about $350)
Realism in Photography
August 15th, 2009
There are a lot of photographers that voice their opinion quite loudly in critique forums and other arenas about the use of Photoshop, HDR, and other post processing tools to “enhance” images. Some are okay with it but many are not. Sometimes I question the reasoning or psychology of those who publicly rail out against processed photos and proudly proclaim themselves advocates of purity. I pretty much think that real professional photographers would mostly appreciate a place for enhanced images, whether it is their style or not. I like this simple quote from Jim Zuckerman in a recent issue of Petersen’s Photographic Digital Photography Guide: “…but photography isn’t necessarily about reproducing reality. It’s art, and as artists we can interpret a scene as we wish.”
