Phil's Depth of Field

More U2

2017-06-27T15:34:00.002-07:00

I am EXTREMELY lazy in updating this blog... Yes, I know. Life has gotten extremely busy.

More to the point- two more U2 shows during their Joshua Tree tour. I attended the Philly show and DC show. I am going to lump my thoughts in to a list format as I want to do.

This tour does not feel like a regular U2 tour. In that they are not supporting new material.
Because it is in a stadium, most everyone I would want to hang out with is scattered all over the place
Due to previous point, people are showing up at all sorts of different times
There are a LOT of "bucket list" attendees to these shows
The screen is HUGE, amazingly crisp, and amazing
The b-stage is great, but not utilized as much as I thought it would be
For Philly I was left of the b-stage, and was not happy with the angle due to the camera boom located there. D'oh!
For DC I was right of the b-stage, and pretty darn happy with the angle
If I had gone to a third show, I would have stood between the b-stage and the main stage. Oh well!
For Philly I shot blindly above my head. Too many damn mobiles out. My arm got tired doing that.
For DC I was much closer to the stage/rail, not nearly as many mobiles in front of me to block photos.
At each show I wound up standing next to another fan photographer. It was not planned, it just happened. Nice to be able to talk about the show through the lens.
Still very sorry about blocking my one buddy at Philly, after he tipped me on the shot below. Still feel bad about that.

From Philly (full photo album here):

From DC (full photo album here):

Two new things

2016-11-16T10:23:00.001-08:00

I just watched the little video on Google PhotoScan, and I gotta say- that is awesome sauce. Exactly what old printed photos need. I plan to try it out in short order. Course, it also helps to have old photos... thankfully, I know plenty of sources for it.
I don't use Google for my image storage right now... so I am curious to how the app will handle things.

Really good write-up from DIYphotography.

The intro video:

The other thing, I saw in passing and I plan to watch some of is the Netflix series- "Tales By Light." I recall someone suggesting there ought to be a photography cable channel a while back- oh wait, that was me. *sheepish grin*
In any case, this series sounds interesting... the downside is, I'll never get to these locations, nor be asked to do anything close to what these amazing people do.
Write-up of the series by DigitalTrends.

The video trailer:

Canon 7D "cannot communicate with battery"

2016-03-16T17:37:00.002-07:00

I recently received the shock of turning on the body and seeing the message "cannot communicate with battery." This was right after I got the body back from Canon services. I called, asked what could be done, and they said (paraphrasing here) "the batteries do go bad sir."

I basically hung up on Canon I was so mad.

Thats when research mode kicked in. Some places said put the unit in to your freezer over night. Some said some sort of cleaning solution will fix it. However, I found the following video:

It worked! PRAISE JEBUS!

The only difference for me was the offending screw was in the cavity of the body. Thankfully I had a magnetic screwdriver left over from an iPhone repair. I 'fished' around in the space and found the screw further down.

For the record, all the screws that came out of the body also fit the missing screw hole. (just say'n)

Two more U2 concerts, two more sets of amazing photos

2015-07-21T17:50:00.002-07:00

I brought my gear with me to Boston, my 7D, 50mm 1.8, 17-40 4.0, and 70-200 2.8 IS.

First night I only brought the 7D taped up to cover like Canon, and 7D. I had removed my vertical grip to make it small as possible. It only had the 50mm.

I had done research on security at different venues, and it very much varied. From lax to SUPER restrict. I gambled that Boston would be old school east coast, don't give a crap. Turns out my gamble paid off.

When I went through GA first night, I could have brought a rocket launcher through... no one cared.

On my way out from the first night, I talked with a guy about why he didn't bring his gear in. (he was photographing for a U2 tattoo project) He did say a woman in the first row of seats had a 300mm and shot the entire show. Nearly bumped the security guy in the head a couple times.

Here are all the results from night 1 with only the 50mm.

That sealed it for me... I was bringing the entire family in. I had a strap bag... wrapped my 70-200 in a shirt... put my 17-40 on my camera and I was off. (even had my 50mm, but never used it)

The only problem I might have had was that I was going through the Ride entrance... security guy checked my bag, asked what that big thing was... and I was honest, I told him it was a camera lens. He said go... and I was in.

I was second person on the rail for the first five songs next to another U2 fan photographer. (he went back to his hotel to get his better gear after I told him what I was doing... paid off for him as well)

Then I wandered away, and was towards the back of the floor... and I thought, "Screw it... worst case, I can tell security I wasn't aware of the policy."

I put the 70-200mm lens on, being sure never to bug people or to get in the way. Being 6'4" also helped. I knew to move towards the B-stage at a certain time. I didn't have rail, but with a 70-200, I was good as there. :)

I shot so much at a U2 show, I felt complete. It was a great feeling... I did the same for the Pittsburgh 360 show. I had the 70-200 in there as well. This time I got so many super sharp amazing photos...

Worst problem- going through, editing, and posting. Gads... 1400 photos is no joke

Here are all the results from night 2 with the 17-40mm at first, but then using the 70-200mm 2.8 IS.

Also, the blue and red lights they use this tour, pain in the ass.

Re-do

2014-10-13T17:43:00.002-07:00

I was going through some archived U2 photos for a donation to the African Well Fund. Needed to dig up the originals for print. No biggie. A couple of them were from the U2 Pittsburgh show, which I took about 1700+ photos. I was going through, and realized I may have missed a couple. So I rushed through in Lightroom, and starred about 25 images I thought I may have missed. (that alone took 15 minutes) Turned out, I had about 10 of them already. Dang... however, for the other 15, I culled out 8 others that I just wasn't happy with the images.

The other 7 I posted on to my Flickr account. The best of those 7 is this, not too shabby.

Partial wedding photo shoot- a review

2014-07-21T07:11:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, I helped a family friend out by shooting parts of their child’s wedding.

The first request was to think about shooting the entire wedding. Quickly I decided against that- just too much responsibility and I wasn’t confident enough in my skills to pull off weddings. As a compromise, I was only going to do the reception for “candid” photos. Which was fine by me, I wouldn’t know anyone there, and I could ‘hide’ behind my camera. The music would be playing, I could ignore the detail shots of things like the cake, or such. I just worried about the live music and people’ reactions to it. (i.e. dancing)

Then a week before the wedding they asked my wife and I to come by the house for the preparations for the bride. The traditional makeup, dress, vial, and dad seeing daughter for the first time sorts of shots. Alrighty- works for me. I knew the family, I had done an engagement photo session for them a year ago. However, I didn’t know anyone else. Plus, just about everyone in the family was speaking Spanish- which I don’t even understand. I might as well be paint drying on the walls at points. One other thing I need to figure out, a better personality while shooting. Being commanding, thinking about the shot and technical camera stuff, and personable at the same time.

The prep photos were my best, as the reception hall was a huge light sucking hall. I had two remote strobes with me, but even at half power, was just enough to get the dance floor with some nice light. My favorite 14-40mm f/4 was barely good enough to work. Thank goodness for the f/2.8 on the 70-200 and f/1.8 on the 50mm. Life might have hurt otherwise. I got some decent action shots, but I did not have the gear for decent super low light people shots on the go.

For the actual wedding, I did not snap a single shot. The family had another person hired for the staged shots, and for a set time for the reception. As far as I could tell, she had only two camera bodies- a Canon 70D (maybe, looked like a X series) and a 6D. The 70D had a kit zoom on it... and the 6D had a 50mm f/1.2 prime. Thats it. (I was jealous of the 6D!) I think she broke out an on camera strobe at one point, but don’t recall it being used. So I was not too surprised to see some of her samples which were mainly filter happy. (i.e. lots of post processing)

Tell me I am not crazy to think people like this seem to get work because they of the love of filters.

I like black and white images if they are done well. I also know that they are great for hiding problems in color images- mostly low light problems. It can mask some graininess from high ISO settings, or post production of pushing exposures up. So it was not shocking to see many recipetion hall shots from the hired help being converted or over filtered.

Maybe it is a style thing, I like a very much “what I see is what you get” sort of style. I don’t want super altered interpretation of the scene. It is one thing to have bokeh, it is another to apply “wedding filter #3” to half the images to make them stylish.

In the end however, my taste and view of things only matters if the person who wants them is happy. I equate it to the value of something- “the value of something is whatever someone is willing to pay.” In this case, the willing to pay is if they are happy with the results.

I think the family was happy- they want to take us out to dinner as a thank you.

Looking differently

2014-05-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Our household aquired an iPad 1 from a family member. They no longer needed it, and the girls could use it for educational apps. (ok ok ok... a few games too.)

While I was busy setting it up, I had to put some photos on it. Family photos, cool and interesting photos, just a blank canvas for whatever. The girls liked to go through them from time to time to look at what they had done and people they cared about.

I picked one photo for the screen lock- it was not family, but rather sunflowers from Broom's Bloom dairy up in Harford Co. (highly recommended) That image sat on the lock screen for a couple months now. It had been there long enough that I wasn't sure if I had taken it, or if it was a stock photo. (seriously) See image on the right.

One other important aspect that changed my mind was the auto-rotation of the image on the screen. That really through me off and changed my prospective.

With just a small refocus of the image, things took on a much different feel and look.

I went back to the archives and found them in my Lightroom feed. I never published them to Flickr for some reason. Well, I did this morning, and I am glad I did.

Made for a very good thought experiment, and a prospective to review later- live with them... think about them... revisit.

Amazing

2014-04-17T08:22:00.002-07:00

I am not normally driven to post about another set of work, but this article on the BBC about a 13 year old Mongolia girl who uses a golden eagle to hunt.

Just amazing.

Take a little time to check out the images and the story.

I think the combination of amazing photos, compelling subject matter, and a really unknown 'something' makes it a very interesting story and photo session. Well done.

U2 items...

2014-01-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

I had some inspiration over the weekend and snapped a couple semi-quick setup photo of some U2 items I had re-found after a two year interruption. (they were put in a box I had forgotten about)

The first item was the very first U2 item I ever received. It was either 1985 or 1986. My sister gave me a copy of U2 Boy on cassette. I was amazed they had the same album on both sides! I played that little tape a bunch.
I broke out my very rarely used home made light box, setup on the floor, and found a couple shots I liked. I was down to two images- one more vertical, one more hortizinal. Both were solid in terms of technical... however, one worked better than the other in terms of spacing.

The other images were taken from a blog post I saw about using glass. Not lenses, but rather a sheet of glass. Oddly, we had a couple pieces of glass left in the house when we moved in. Whatever, never used them for anything. I took it and tried to simulate the style from the post. My piece of glass was just not big enough to make it really work. (After I broke everything down, I found a piece twice as big- dangit)
I had to use two lights to get the front of the disc/case lit properly.... not sure it pulls off the effect I was hoping for- but it is was fun to try.

Here is the end result of the U2- Unforgettable Fire. (signed by Bono)

2013- wrapup

2013-12-27T06:09:00.001-08:00

I haven't been exactly attentive to this photo related blog. Tis true. I also haven't felt super inspired either for the past month or two. So I wanted to reflect on some of the photos I took over the past year, at least publicly shared photos. I realized when I went through my photos that I felt pretty darn good about those I posted.

First however, a small follow-up to my cold archiving debate I was having. I finally decided to nab a 3 TB Seagate external drive for $105. A great combination of space, storage, and ability. The blu-ray disc solution was daunting as I would have to baby sit the burning, whereas I if I needed to I could plug, copy, and come back in a day if I needed to. I am not saying it is the best solution ever, but it is the one I was able to justify for the cost and effectiveness.

Photos I enjoyed from 2013, one per month:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Cold media archiving

2013-11-11T11:53:00.002-08:00

I am soul searching here.

I do not know which way to go for future archival of media. Media in my case is the raw images I shoot in, videos, backups of old family material like photos from devices.

What to do?

I have a 1.5 TB media drive in my machine now. It holds lots. However, it is getting full. In the past I have burned off to DVDs. That is becoming problematic as several times I need to span a single days worth of material on to multiple DVDs. A pain.

The next step for me is to find a bigger solution for holding "cold" backups. (not on-line, have to be pulled or found off disc or other non-active storage)

For my hot, or current, back-up solution- I am using BackBlaze. Love it- unlimited backups incase things go poof.

I also realize I am not an amazing corporation or super talented photographer. So elaborate rotation and backup is not the way for me to go. If I had my way, I would have a HUGE local NAS (Network Area Storage) with super on-line backup. However, money and effort being what it is- this is not a goal or need for me. Well, until I win the lottery.

I have found two possible solutions:

#1 Blu-Ray disc backups. A single layer, Blu-Ray disc can hold up to 25GB of data. Pretty good. The drawback- I don't have a blu-ray burner. So thats about $65 for the cheapest on NewEgg right now. Next is the cost per disc, which for a spinel of about 50 discs runs about $30. ($0.60 per disc of 25GB, or about $0.024 per GB)

#2 External hard-drive. There is a 3TB drive for $120 right now. ($0.04 per GB) Plug in, copy, paste- unplug and store.

The question for me is- what do I believe will fail? Spinning platters of the drive, or optical media? Both will not be moved. Both will sit until needed. Both have ups and downs for each.

I cannot figure out which way to go for cold storage back-up! UGH.

Photos of my kids

2013-09-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

I have two young children, and I take a lot of photos of them. There are many that are pretty outstanding.(tooting my own horn) I also like to get feedback on those photos, because I have an ego and sometimes need that feedback to know I am producing stuff people like. Its a fault I admit!

So, the question of the day is- How is the best method to show off the photos I have taken with people who might be interested... in this case only family and friends.

My wife and I determined VERY early in their lives that we were going to try to shield my kids from the Internets. Limit exposure really. We didn't want their images plastered all over the Internets, or their names known on blogs, etc. This is why I don't mention their names on my regular blog, and why I don't post their images on Flickr.

As an example of one way to share, would be to use Flickr. I have been on there since about 2000. I know the communities, I know the interface, I know how it works. However, I would need to set all those images to private, then have everyone I want to see them to get an account and 'friend' them so they can see those images. On top of that, they would need to check in or keep up on my account for new kid photos. Not the world's greatest method. Not easy. Little too restrictive.

Ultimately, we went with the world's most popular social media site- Facebook. The photos put in there, will automatically be populated to friends' news. No work, no fuss by me. I can restrict the level of access. I can do various other methods to see if someone can see it or not. I don't post on FB, and 99% of what I put on there is photos of my kids. Thats what I use my account for now-a-days.

Do I wish there might be a better way? I am sure... however, I don't even have a wallet photo of my kids to put in my wallet. I am more likely to flip out my phone and use that.

Then again, I am just as happy to have my very best/favorite photos of them printed and posted in the hallway of my house. I have no problem with that at all... makes me smile when I see them.

[update September 6th]

Found an interesting post about why some parents don't post ANYTHING about their kids.

And the very interesting counterpoint.

8 Years of the Killers

2013-08-13T04:16:00.002-07:00

I first saw the Killers in 2005 at Merriweather Post. I had my Canon S70 for that show! Look out
photographers world wild- I've got a camera! (thats all I can say about that camera.)

The images I took were grainy, no great shakes... this was likely the best of the lot.

(no set, but photos from the concert)

Then I saw them again in 2007 in NYC at Madison Square Garden with my 30D and the 50mm lens. I did a HECK of a lot better with these shots.
Composition, technique, images in general were just so much better.

(the full photo set)

Then again in 2009 again at Merriweather Post with my 30D and just a 50mm lens. I wasn't nearly as happy with the results as I got to the venue right before the band took the stage... bad spot, not very motivated, and the ending photos showed my lack of motivation.

(the full photo set)

And finally in 2013, I had a decent position but moved cause I am getting old and didn't like the mass of humanity.
Had my 7D and two lenses... I was going to take my 70-200 with me but chickened out because I didn't know if security would ask me to leave. I should have just taken it, and I could have used it as it turned out... oh well.
(the full photo set)

Relatable images

2013-07-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

I try to stay up on what other people I know who photography are doing. In other words, what sort of photos are they taking? I look for techniques, locations, subject matter, etc. How did they produce that image? At what lengths did they go to get it?

There are times though, that I have a VERY hard time looking at the images. Why though? Most of the time, I have a hard time relating to the image at hand.

For example, I will look at photos of Philmont for days. Even though they might be some pretty boring and tell very little of a story, it is the subject at hand that keeps me going.

Conversely, I've seen photos of the Dew Tour- guys with skateboards or bikes, and I just am not interested. I don't care how the image was shot, what magic lighting conditions were done, or extreme effort was put forth. The subject matter bores and really does not engage part of my brain to have me explore more.

So my question is- how much of a photographic lesson am I missing out on if I do not relate to the subject?

Auithentication for printing?

2013-07-02T04:10:00.001-07:00

While, as a photographer, I can appreciate the effort, the implementation of the method is laughable.

Let me explain- when I go places with family, I usually take photos of everyone. Just the way it is, and I very much enjoy doing it. On a recent trip, I took a series of photos of the children there and shared with the family members involved. One of those family members took a copy of the image to their local Walgreens, and wanted it printed. Walgreens said, (paraphrasing here) "This is a professional photo and we cannot let you have it until we see you have permission to have it printed."

Huh.

The photographer in me thinks this is a good thing. Stops idiots from just stealing images, getting them printed, and re-selling without permission.

However the computer geek in me laughs, almost cries at this. They accepted an email from my account saying I took the photo and the family member had permission to have it printed. Seriously- that was it. There is no method, nor will there ever be for Walgreens, to understand true authentication of the image release for use. There is no nationally secure photographers release location for printing. If all it takes is an email, how hard is it for anyone to sign up for a fake photographer email address and send yourself emails saying you have permission to print the image?

Walgreens- all you are doing is stopping the idiots who don't understand you can have more than one email account from getting prints. Whats worse, if a grandparent comes in with an image for their grandkids given to them from a family member... and it is professionally done, they don't have the 'release' to get it printed. It is simply preventing someone from getting that image printed of their grandkids.

Could not agree more

2013-06-26T16:21:00.001-07:00

Scott Bourne was exactly on target with his post, "I Only Shoot With Natural Light." I read it and couldn't help but smile at my own ignorance back in the day.

Here is what I wrote up regarding how I was dealing with light sources back in December of 2011.

I fully admit I did not look at alternative light sources because of a lack of knowledge. I was afraid, it was easier to just work with what was there. I couldn't see the image because I didn't know. I did not work towards 'crafting' an end result. I only was taking photos because they were interesting results. Now I see images in my head, and how the results should be. As an example, this past December I was asked to take a couple photos for/of a magazine. I thought about it, and the method of lighting the scene, and the results came.

Do I wish I had dove right in to lighting and such? Probably not. There are stages of learning required for various things. Some people understand things naturally and can process multiple points all at once, for the rest of mortals, it takes time. Like understanding the rules of photography through practice and trying. Then once it is understood, you can break the rules for reasons that are understood regarding impact.

Whats important? The image, only the image. As Scott accurately points out.

Memory

2013-06-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

(been way too long since my last post- been lacking motivation to post)

Today I am wondering how much memory should I have with me? Well, that's a tough one for a very enthusiastic amateur to know. My shooting style can range from a shot of a caterpillar on the back deck to vacation with family, to a local sporting event.

I recently came back from vacation where I was shooting family fun. I was restricted in backups or archiving. Lots of chimping and deleting as we progressed to recover memory. I was shooting RAW, my default file format. I had two 8 GB cards, and a 2 GB card. For a grand total of 18 GB memory.

Yet I ran out. Even with all the clearing and such... I did not have enough storage. For the record, it was north of 700 RAW photos in about 4-5 days.

What should I do in the future to not run out of space? Here are the options I have:

Buy more memory. It is 'cheap' enough now... a 16 GB card is about $40. Bringing my portable storage to 34 GB. About 1300 RAW photos.
Buy a portable memory cell. A 320 GB one runs about $136 from B&H. Thats the cheapest one, and smallest. I could dump images for days with this. They have a 1 TB for $619.
Use a laptop for portable storage. Problem is, I don't own a laptop... I don't know about packing and caring for a laptop on trips. Even a refurb'd, generic as heck, Dell runs $579. (500 GB) A refurb'd MacPro is over $1,000. MacAir doesn't have enough storage to make it feasible at the price.
Don't take as many photos- thats just despressing.

I don't know what the answer is right now. Anyone want to be my corporate sponsor and provide me with more storage? I got a big Disney trip this fall, and I refuse to run out of memory!

How to keep active?

2013-02-19T09:43:00.002-08:00

This problem plagues me- how do I keep active shooting and expand my knowledge/experience of photography? I know that looking and reading can only take me so far in my attempts to stay ahead of loss. I know that I am better than I was last year.

Over the past two weeks I haven't done much of anything related to photography. There have been sick kids, school work, regular work, and generally other things to get in my way and distract me from hauling out my camera.
One area which has been a bit of a downer is that I haven't made it to my regular gaming group on Wednesdays. I usually show up with the goal to get photos, not to play games. That has allowed me the excuse to shoot as I see fit, and to take in some of the games.
A second area I have been missing out on is my weekend walk with my dog along the Gunpowder. I missed a weekend and this past weekend there wasn't much to shoot at all. A bit of a drag.
Third is my kids, I photograph them when I can. I finally broke out my backdrop for some regular photos of them yesterday, and used a new piece of gear! The Shutterboss remote timer camera trigger. It turned out to be wonderful and is perfect for getting ME in the photos with my family. I just wish someone told me that my eyes had some serious bags under them. Ugh.

I think for my next area of need is to take some time out just to shoot something outside of my comfort zone. To get me thinking about photos different. A photo shoot for friends, or to find a photo gathering to talk shop... something other than my regular set of subject matter. Not that there is anything wrong with any of them, just that I need to get kicked in the butt for motivation.

Until then- keep looking, getting motivated, and keep shooting.

Gamers

2012-11-17T11:04:00.001-08:00

I've been attending a regular game night with friends since about , at least 2006. We play on Wednesday nights, and it has been very much fun. I am not a hard core gamer like some of them, more of a social gamer who shows up for the photos, beer, and an occasional game play.
For a long while, I have been posting my photos of the games and people who are playing them. It has been a fun exercise. I've seen my photos get a lot better along the way. From available light, to other lenses, to bounce light, to multiple remote light triggers. I like the challenge, and it is a great way for me to get regular practice at photography.

In early 2011, the President RBM design studios, Rodger MacGowen, contacted me about my game night photos. He offered some mutually beneficial exchange between me and his group. He would send some magazines and games for photos to be used on his website for his magazine- C3i. Alrighty then... I had no clue who the guy was. I talked to my gaming buddies, and as it turns out he has put out a CRAP load of games. He is part of the management team at GMT.

To put it mildly the dude is in gaming. He contacted me for photos to use. Really?

Rodger asked me to do some photos for the C3i magazine, adverts. The first couple were not QUIET what he was looking for. Ok ok ok... they were total ham shots. I wanted to come up with something slightly better.

My mind started thinking of posed shots- not the impromptu shots I am used to getting with the gaming friends. Rodger game me a couple ideas he was looking for, and I ran with them.

First, I needed to light the C3i magazine. Thats a given. Snoot or grid spot. That takes care of one of my two light sources. The 430EX because of the ability to dial down to like 1/64 power. Ok... Then a soft light for another axis of light. This would be on the subjects face while 'reading' the magazine. That would get my Vivatar 285. Which means I had to go 1/4 or 1/16, as it does not have 1/8 power. *sigh*

Seemed like a great idea, the problem is I don't do this type of shooting enough to just setup and go. It took me a good 10-15 minutes to dial everything in. But once I did get it, I was just nailing shot after shot. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Nice soft light on one side of the subject away from the magazine cover, and the cover nicely highlighted with a direct light source.

Rodger was very happy and turned it around the next day for an on-line advert.

[follow-up] I often joke with the guys that if a GMT game is on the table, I am legally obligated to photograph it. Rodger did me one better, he said I was ' "unofficial" GMT photographer.'

David Gray, 9/30/12 Baltimore Lyric

2012-10-03T10:19:00.001-07:00

I was not planning on attending the 9/30/12 concert of David Gray in Baltimore at the Lyric. A buddy contacted me two days before, and asked if my wife and I wanted to go with him. Someone who had planned to go dropped out last minute. We scrambled for support of the kids, and we were going!
Buddy of mine had 2nd row, center tickets via the fanclub. Pretty darn sweet.

My next set of questions involved photographing the show. As I stated with U2, if I didn't have my camera at the show- all I would be doing is thinking about taking photos at the show. It is how I am wired. I could not find any photography policy either by David Gray's fansite, nor via the Lyric. My one phone call to the Lyric got sent to voicemail, it was the weekend I suppose. The fansite was pretty lacking in the support area, but then again I believe the height of his musical influence occurred in the 2003-2004 time frame.

I debated to myself on what to do, and the day of the show was rainy. That sealed the deal. Because we were so close, I would take the Canon 7D body without the battery grip, and ONLY the 50mm f/1.8 lens. While I would have loved to take the 17-40mm, or even the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, being in the second row would have been too much. I also did not want to get to the door and be told to go away until I got rid of that stuff. I was also not sure how the fanclub operated entry etc. So less risk on my behalf.

When we got there, it turned out I could have taken a duffel-bag of camera gear in. No one cared what you had to be honest. I was thankful that our seats were so close, so my 50mm was effective. Lighting was not too challenging. David Gray did not move around too much, though for a couple songs he moved to a piano further back. Otherwise it was just lighting effects, a very active head movement by David, and getting the right emotion during the song. Dialing in the camera was pretty easy- it stayed at 640ISO the entire show.

I took about 110 photos total. Not that many... But I was pretty happy with most I took. I did publish 30 of them on Flickr.

Image use requests

2012-07-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I get a request for use of my images for various reasons. Three of the most recent images were for completely different reasons. This was over the past two/three months. I don't get them too often, well, in terms of requests per year.

The first was of Sierra's paws in a stream. (see right image)
The group who wanted to use it was for a non-profit book of poems and short stories. The proceeds were going to support a local SPCA.
Not only did I agree with enthusiasm, but I supplied a higher quality image than they were expecting. I love to help non-profits in this manner.

I even submitted an image of Sierra to the Lab Rescue group calendar. Not sure if it will be picked, but if it helps get a few more dollars in the donation box for a great group, I am more than happy.

The second image was for the use of Bono U2 image. (image on left)
I am usually happy to help folks as best as I can. Occasionally they find the image because they are in the background, or that it was a moment they recalled from the show.
In each case, I ask them if they are familiar with the African Well Fund. Once they are, I ask if they make a donation for getting a print made, it is up to them. I have no real way to find out if they donated, I suppose I could inquire, but I am the trusting type. At least 75% of the time people disappear after me asking for that donation. It is a little sad to think people just want a free hand out, instead of making a small donation for a great charity to get something they want.

The third and last image still makes me laugh. I was contacted by a magazine company owned by a MAJOR credit card company. They stated they had a very tight timeline and if I agreed to have my credit with the image, they would be happy to use it.
I replied with a very nice, "thank you, but I value my images more than to have a photo credit. If we can sort out a compensation for use, I'd be happy to help out."
Needless to say, I never heard back from that contact. I am all in favor of promoting my images, but not for free folks. You have crap loads of money to put that product out. I am sure they found someone else who was more than willing to give their product away for "free." Oh well.

Some random photo links I have found recently:

- Gizmodo: The ASCII Photobooth! Wow that is just so super fantastic I can't believe it hasn't been brought back yet for hipster weddings.

- Photography Blog- CameraImagesSensor.com- I wish I had more of a use for something like this.

- DIY Photography- How to Build A Beauty Dish- I still really want to do a project like this. And from the looks of things, I think it is highly doable. Just need to find the time and parts. Ha.

- LifeHacker- A Geek's Guide to Budgeting Hobbies- Yes, photography is a hobby. Some really good tips... now how to balance hobbies and being an active parent!

- LifeHacker- Know your rights!- Knowledge is indeed power, especially when people are paranoid as hell and just assume you are doing something wrong.

- LifeHacker- How to keep track of your media on-line- I've tried Tineye in the past, pretty much a pain to use and keep up on. The Google Alert bit is nice, assuming they credit you.

The Daguerreotype

2012-07-02T05:23:00.003-07:00

Been forever since I posted, but I thought these two videos are fantastic in terms of photographic history. Even if they are short, they are great brain fodder in my opinion. I am trying to wrap my brain around the idea of seeing a photograph for the first time of what truly was instead of an interpretation. (painting, etc) I agree that this process changed the way humans thought.

Providing prints

2012-05-17T05:03:00.001-07:00

Bono in Pittsburgh
(my image, my permission)

Over the past year or two, I have had various requests for some of my U2 photos. I always engage the requesters, and ask about what and why they are looking for. Often it is a shot from a show they went to with a friend, or they are looking for something in their basement, office, or where ever. Great!

I always ask if they know of the African Well Fund. I have lead a couple photo auctions in the past to help them out, and they have been highly successful. So I figure, why not have my U2 photos continue to help them out.

I write back saying, what I can do is put the images up on my favorite print site, MPIX.com, let them print however they want, and if they like them- make a donation to AWF however they feel they want to.

The downside of this? After I tell them this is how I would like to proceed, they go silent. I didn't ask for additional money up front, I didn't ask them to send me their first born... Just if they liked what they saw, consider making a donation. They didn't have to, they were paying for the print and I was doing most of the work. Maybe they found someone else to do the work, I dunno.

Bono in Chicago
(my image, my permission)

So now I am think I ought to do something else. Maybe I should setup a SmugMug pro account with my U2 photos so anyone can order prints to their hearts delight. I would get 80% of the profits, and every now and then, I would throw some of the profits in to the AWF coffers.

I don't know of any better way to do this right now. There is some sort of market out there for these services. I have tried the fair and nice route. I know people are just printing the images off the screen, even as crap as they are. Or taking them for their own. I want to at least give a professional way for people to obtain them without too much extra work on my end every darn time.

Or maybe I need to find out if the demand is really there or not. *ponder*

Resolution- new Zelda useage

2012-05-11T17:53:00.002-07:00

About two months ago, the same ad agency which ran the initial "Zelda" series for Eukanuba contacted me again. They were looking for some follow-up information about Sierra. Thats cool. However, they also asked if I might be interested in allowing the image to be used in a Canadian ad campaign.

Alright! Bonus!

Sure I said, I would love to. How long? Four months they said. Sounds reasonable, back and forth on some details, and we settled on a rate. Then they sent me request for service, but the dates they had listed were for time that had already past by. They asked for my invoice, and things could get moving along.

Wait a second, what do those back dates mean? I emailed with the follow-on question with my contact, no response.

Something was not right there. I asked a buddy in Canada to pop in to a local news shop and look at a few magazines to see if what I suspected was true- it was. The ad had already been running and they were now trying to secure the rights to cover up any problems. This would also explain the higher rates of hits I was getting from Canadian addresses on my blog.

Whoops on their part, now- what do I do as a photographer? I had a working relationship with that agency, so to speak. They had been upfront about things and were not unreasonable.

I talked with photography friends, I talked with a family lawyer who really does not know copyright, but read up and knew the law system better than I did. One suggested I just take the money that was in front of me, and be thankful. One suggested to ask for a reasonable amount more. One only could suggest things if I had officially registered my images with the US Patient Office. Creative Commons was not good enough for a real court case. No one suggested I get all lawyer-ed up and threaten all sorts of problems.

After thinking about the conditions and input to date, I put together a simple email with an invoice for the additional fees that the violation, I felt, would cover. Then I waited, and waited, and waited. They said they would have to talk to the financial folks.

I got a little worried to be honest. The ad was done in another country. I may not ever have found out about it if they hadn't contacted me. The ad agency in question could have easily ignored me after I made my counter request- which was basically doubling the initial fee because they had violated my copyright on the image. They could have easily ignored me and I would have had very little real leverage.

Finally last week- they agreed to the additional fees. They were decent about it all through-out the process. I felt violated at first. How DARE they use that image without my knowing?! Then I was also flattered- they wanted to use my image again!

In the end, everything is working out. We can get some extra bills paid with the money, and Sierra is a star in Canada.

Calvert Hall Lacrosse

2012-03-26T05:18:00.001-07:00

#24 Stephen Kelly

I had the opportunity to go to Calvert Hall and photograph the lacrosse team's first ever game under the lights at Russo Stadium on campus. (Flickr set of the game here)

Calvert Hall lacrosse was ranked #1 nationally by many polls. Wow, I had no idea. They were going to play their first game under the lights at the stadium, again cool. The Philly based team was ranked as high as a top 10 team, so they were no slouches.

However, I have never shot lacrosse before. I played it when I was a wee-dude. But that is as close to a lacrosse game as I have gotten in a couple decades. I started to do some research on team members I should target. I searched which players have college commitments- seniors, 15, juniors (yes, juniors) 1 that I know of. We are talking loaded at every position apparently. They are loaded, talented, driven, and very hungry.

I talked with a co-worker who had played in college to get a better idea of where to setup shop. I started watching some videos to get an idea of what to look for.

Turns out- shooting lacrosse is not as difficult to shoot as I thought it would be. However, I was limited by my one lens- 70-200 f/2.8. I do wish I had the 1.4x extender to get slightly further reach. I don't need the 300mm, thankyouverymuch.

I would say half of the game I was just waiting for the action to come towards me. I would setup in different spots along the back corners just waiting. A few times I tries going behind the goals, standing with my lens just about touching the netting.

#3 Brian Bolewicki

The only other 'problem' was the shifting light during the first quarter or so of the game. As the sun fully set, and the lights of the stadium took over. I had to adjust shooting as things progressed. Once it was fully dark, then I could just sit on the settings of the camera without too much adjustment.

One thing I was aware of, slightly concerned about, but never had to react to was a stray lacrosse ball coming at me. That small rubber ball could have done some damage to my gear!