The Global Photographer

In The Wings: "Zylight!"

2009-09-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

The good folks at Zylight have been kind enough to loan me one of their beautiful (and portable) LED lights to test out, and I plan on running this unit through the paces during the next few days. A series of shoots this coming week should provide plenty of opportunities for the light to show just how useful and durable it is, and I've already had the chance to fire up the LEDs during a recent video shoot.

My initial reaction?

This is a VERY interesting (and handy) piece of equipment.

Matt

Travelin' Man...

2009-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Been on the road for much of the past month...

Up and down the West Coast...

Made a week long stop in an exotic country...

That is, if you consider Canada to be an exotic country...

Regular posting will resume soon.

Matt

Some Smokin' Photos...

2009-06-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Though I've never been a fan of cigarettes or the smell of cigarette smoke, I do have to admit that (and please don't think that I'm creepy in saying this) that I'm absolutely fascinated by people who do smoke, and that I am often quite captivated by the appearance of people as they are smoking.

Please understand that this is not an endorsement of cigarette smoking. Anything but... I'm merely acknowledging a certain fascination of mine -- a fascination that (on occasion) has led towards some pretty decent photographs.

It's likely that a fair amount of my smoking fascination stems from the fact that both of my parents -- along with all of my aunts and uncles -- were and/or are relatively heavy smokers. As a child, I probably inhaled enough second hand smoke to choke a horse, and so I've never really had any desire to take up the habit. On the other hand -- while growing up -- I do remember being practically mesmerized at times with the way that my family members and relatives appeared as they were smoking, and I can distinctly recall one Summer evening in Northern Michigan (waaaaaaaay back in the early '70s) where my parents were sitting on the porch of our house, backlit by the setting sun, chain smoking furiously, and being surrounded by the most amazing streamers of swirling smoke imaginable. It was almost like some sort of CGI effect (this was waaaaaaaay before CGI), and in my head I can bring back the mental image almost as if l were looking at a photograph.

The amateur psychologist in me knows that what happens in childhood often leads towards paths, directions and habits later on in life, and it's probably fair to say that all of my formative years around smokers has led to my continuing fascination with people who smoke. At the same time, the professional photographer in me knows that present day habits and interests often lead towards subjects matters worthy of an image and -- myself -- I'm always looking for subject matters and people worthy of an image

A personal project that I've been working on in my spare time involves (and this should come as no surprise to anyone reading this post) people smoking.

Lots of people smoking.

Basically, as many people as I can find who are willing to be photographed smoking.

Interestingly, despite my fascination with cigarette smoking, I know relatively few people who actually engage in the habit, and so I've actually had to put a fair amount of time and effort into actively seeking out smokers. What this typically involves is my hanging out in some local bar or tavern, waiting for people to get loosened up a bit, waiting for myself to get loosened up a bit, and then -- if someone should fire up a smoke -- asking if I can take their picture. Amazingly (though not surprisingly), people who've been drinking alcohol really don't seem to mind having their picture taken.

Let me acknowledge that -- yes -- this is easily one of the oddest postings to go up on the blogsite, and quite a bit out of character with my typical writings. At the same time, my reasons for posting this article are fairly straightforward and simple. Aside from the fact that I get to upload some images that I think are fairly decent (it is MY blog after all), I would also hope that you (the reader) might also think about an interest or hobby that you have (please, nothing too creepy) and then see if you can use that interest to create a personal project of your own.

Personal projects are a great way of getting out of creative ruts and -- at the very least -- an opportunity to explore different looks, lighting set-ups, and Photoshop techniques without having a line-up of clients looking over the shoulder. Anything and everything goes with personal projects, and eventually, the skills learned on a personal project always (and I do mean ALWAYS) transfer over to the gigs that pay the bills.

Sooooooo... What key technique do I take away from my smokin' personal project?

Hmmmm... Not sure.

But I can guarantee that -- eventually -- some skill that I've sharpened while taking these photos will find their way into my everyday work. At the same time, I've met some extremely interesting people, visited some cool bars and taverns, and come up with a collection of images that I'm actually quite pleased with.

Matt

P.S.: If you have any desire or willingness to be photographed while smoking (and you live here in the Portland area), please, feel free to give me a shout.

P.S.S.: The image at the very top of this posting? Taken at the Makaibari Tea Estate in beautiful Kurseong, India.

P.P.S.S.: All the other images? Shot here in Portland.

P.P.P.S.S.: Another one of my fascinations? Well, I've gotta' admit, I really like tattoos... And myself, I'd have a whole bunch of them if it weren't for the fact that I'm allergic to tattoo ink (found out via an emergency room visit after a two hour inking session).

The $39.99 Insurance Policy...

2009-06-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

In the photo that you see below, it should be fairly obvious just why a filter of some sort should be kept on the front of a camera lens at all times. Typically, it's a UV/Haze filter that's mounted on a lens for protection ($39.99 at my local camera store), though a polarizing filter will also do the trick -- that is, if you're the sort of person who really likes polarizing filters.

By the way, though this $39.99 filter was completely destroyed by my stupidity AND my dropping of a camera -- lens first -- onto the ground, the actual lens itself (all $800 of it) is doing just fine.

This is the third UV filter that I've ever busted, and so -- though a total of approximately $120 has been spent over the years replacing the filters themselves -- nearly $2400 worth of lenses have been saved by the relatively cheap glass.

As another quick side note, UV filters can be found for much, much cheaper than $39.99. I just happen to like the more expensive stuff.

Last Minute Link-O-Rama...

2009-06-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Life is still busy/crazy in the Global Household™, and so -- rather that my actually putting some time and effort into creating a real blog post -- I'm going to let other bloggers and commentators do the heavy lifting for me.

Below, you'll see a listing of blog articles and websites that have caught my eye this past week. I'm also going to toss in a little bit of gratuitous self-promotion, but I only do it because -- well -- because I can...

First up, Seth Godin has a truly great article up on his site that -- though it's geared more towards recent college graduates -- can be equally well applied to anyone with more free time in their lives than they know what to do with...

Secondly, Greg Christensen has a graphic posted on his blogsite which clearly illustrates the differences between marketing, PR, advertising, and branding. Funny stuff, and oh so true...

Thirdly, the folks over at Alexx Henry have really been getting the word out about their recently shot Living Movie Poster video. Yes, this has already been posted all over the web, but it's still kinda' cool, and it points towards one of the directions in which imaging technology is headed. Shot on a RED One, and then massively post-processed, edited, sliced, diced, etc, etc...

Fourthly, the TiltShiftMaker site is a quick and easy way for anyone to create a fake "tilt-shift miniature" image on their computer. Myself, I can do a better job in Photoshop (i.e: duplicate layer, gaussian blur, layer mask, gradient, merge layers, adjust saturation, apply contrast curve, etc...), but the TiltShift website is quick and easy.

Below is a half-way decent fake miniature of the Portland waterfront that I did via the TiltShiftMaker site. Not great. But not too bad either...

Best when viewed large.

Fifthly (and this is a gratuitous piece of self-promotion), the good folks at Nasty Clamps have been tweaking their website, and it's really starting to come together. The shopping cart and check-out system has become a bit more streamlined, and there is now the option for doing international purchasing and shipping. Unfortunately, due to customs, duties, VAT, etc, etc, the amount of international purchasing and shipping that can be done is a bit restricted, though I know for a fact (cuz' I'm one of the guys who's trying to figure it out) that Nasty Clamps is looking at an overseas retailer or two.

Lastly (and this is still a gratuitous piece of self-promotion), Nasty Clamps is on Twitter. You can check in on the Twitter feed by going here.

More later...

Matt

Catchin' Up On Stuff...

2009-06-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Life in Global Photo-Land™ has been kinda' hectic for the past few weeks (hence the lack of postings), though the craziness has all been close to home and not global in any sense of the word.

Briefly, the three sources of craziness and hecticness are:

1) Baseball

2) Reality TV

3) Clamps

Let's start with Number One...

And then move on to Number Two...

Finally, it's Number Three...

The baseball craziness has all been due to... Errrrrrhhhhh.... Baseball (obviously), and a pretty decent Federal team which needs to have pictures taken. Myself, I don't mind taking the pictures, and I sure end up getting a lot closer to the on-field action that I ever have at major league games.

In terms of the "reality tv" stuff, well, I'm not really at liberty to say just who I'm working with. All I can really say is that I'm "on retainer" with a Colorado-based client for the next four months...

Just making "reality" while on set...

Finally -- in terms of the clamp stuff -- well, it's all coming together quite nicely. An official "Nasty Clamps" website can be seen by going here and (don't worry) it's not a porn site.

Very odd looking clamps which really make lighting and photography work easier...

...And they're Nasty!"

If you have an interest in reading one person's opinion of the clamps, photographer David X. Tejada has an excellent review on his blogsite. You can find that review by going here.

The official Nasty Clamps website is fully functional (still tweaking the final appearance), and will steadily improve as more photos, testimonials, and products are brought in. Please stay tuned, and thank you for your patience.

Matt

A NASTY update for this weekend...

2009-05-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Folks in the Portland (Oregon) area who'd like to see some Nasty Clamps in person (me in person, too) are invited to swing by Pro Photo Supply during the big Canon Days event this weekend. Myself, I'll be a featured vendor during the event. And if you can't make it -- well -- the clamps themselves do have a permanent residence in the store (look in the grip/lighting department).

Nasty Clamps.

Put 'em just about anywhere...

...Within reason.

If you'd like to stop by and say "howdy," I'll be at the store from about 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM on Friday (May 15th), and from about 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday (May 16th).

P.S.: If you'd like to be "Twitter updated" about Nasty Clamp appearances, events, and trade shows, please feel free to sign up as a follower of Nasty Clamps. The Twitter ID is -- funnily enough -- "@NastyClamps".

P.P.S.: Why are Twitter updates called "Tweets?" Shouldn't they be called "Twits?"

The Perfect (Yes... PERFECT!) Way To Carry and Store Your Gels...

2009-05-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Regular readers (or at least those with good memories) might recall a posting from about a year ago -- an article which described how travel-size Q-tip packs are the absolute best way to carry "AA" batteries while out on a shoot.

As a bit of an update to that article (and a very recent discovery), it's also worth mentioning that travel-size Q-tip packs are absolutely perfect (and I do mean PERFECT) for carrying around pre-cut gels for strobes. Honest, it's almost as if the folks at Q-tip and the manufacturers of portable strobes (Vivitar 285 strobes, at least) got together over beers one night and decided that they should form a mutual admiration society of sorts. Pre-cut gels that fit into a Vivitar strobe (and -- I suspect -- many other brands) also happen to fit into a Q-tip travel pack, and the fit is (here's that word again) perfect.

Other means for storing gels do exist. Business card holders work fairly well... CD holders are good, though kinda' bulky... Again, it's the size of a Q-tip pack (plus their price -- $1.39 at my local pharmacy) that really works in their favor. And did I mention that the Q-tip packs are made from a fairly dense piece of plastic AND that you (the photographer) will end up with more Q-tips than you'll ever know what to do with? It all just seems so... So.... Perfect.

Quick Tip: Label your gels with a sharpie so that you don't play the "gel guessing game."

In full daylight, it's fairly easy to tell a full CTO from a 3/4, 1/2, etc... But in a dark room (or outside at night), you'll never be able to figure out just what is what without some sort of system...

I, For One, Welcome Our New TRADE SECRET Advertising...

2009-05-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

With the recent release of the TRADE SECRET Strobist Vol. 1 trading card set, photographic inspiration can be kept as close as your back pocket, gear bag, lunch sack, or any other place that a small deck of cards tucks away for easy access. Beautifully printed, designed, and illustrated, the cards are the creation of Zeke Kamm (of NICE Photography Magazine fame), and they make for a great addition to any photographer's arsenal of extra brainpower.

Please welcome TRADE SECRET as an advertiser on this site, and be sure to check out (via the active links in this post, or the really cool slideshow ad on the side bar) just what the TRADE SECRET cards have to offer, and how they might help you -- the photographer -- to put a little bit of extra inspiration in your pocket.

Matt

P.S.: A rather lengthy posting and review of the cards can be found by going here.

A Fairly SFW* Look at NASTY CLAMPS...

2009-04-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

Despite their name, appearance, and whatever NSFW** sites might pop up while during a Google search, Nasty Clamps aren't really all that nasty -- have proven themselves to be extremely handy -- and are very, very safe to use at work...

Funky looking flexible clamps, designed by a photographer, built by a photographer, and useful to just about anyone who's involved with cameras, lighting, or imaging work...

Suitable for most portable strobes, smaller LED lighting panels, several of the Wi-Fi enabled security cameras, ALS flashlight set-ups, POV cams, point 'n' shoots, etc, etc...

About a month ago or so, a flood of traffic ended up coming over to this blog (Thanks Udi!) after I'd posted a brief article about portable coolers and how they could be used for storing lighting equipment. Though the main theme of the article (i.e.: food coolers make great containers for storing camera gear) generated just a few comments from readers, a whole spat of other comments and private e-mails ended up coming my way -- all in regards to a piece of equipment that showed up in one of the article's photos.

Obviously ('cuz it's the main topic of the article that you're currently reading), the equipment that generated so much commentary and traffic was/were my Nasty Clamps, and people were really interested in knowing just what the heck those "nasty things" were, what they could be used for, just how nasty were they, and where could they be purchased...

Capable of supporting about one pound of weight (just slightly less than half-a-kilo), Nasty Clamps can hold most portable strobes quite well.

Vivitar 285's -- which are the type of flash seen in this picture -- weigh in at about one pound each when loaded with batteries, and so they're about the heaviest strobe that the clamps can fully support. BTW, the Vivitar/Nasty combo is my preferred set-up for doing quick lil' run 'n' gun projects.

Nasty Clamps are a tool that -- let's be honest -- look really, really nasty... Jaw-droppingly nasty... Obscenely nasty... Dirty mindedly nasty... But at the same time, they're also the final result of about a year-and-a-half of tinkering, DIY-ing, playing with Dremel tools, talking with machinists, working with epoxy resins, talking with other photographers, investigating local powder coating resources, negotiating with suppliers, and just trying to come up with some sort of really cool (though really nasty looking) device that would make camera and lighting work easier. They're certainly not the right tool for every situation that's out there, but they're often the perfect tool to use when the need arises for a small, portable, flexible, clampable mount of some sort.

One of the early "proto-Nasties" being used to hold a point 'n' shoot camera.

Though the flex-arm material of the Nasty Clamps isn't strong enough to fully support a large DSLR camera, the clamps can easily be used as a stabilization device (much like a mono-pod) with larger cameras, providing a quick and easy "shake reduction system" of sorts

I am slowly -- very slowly -- getting the word out about Nasty Clamps, and currently have them available for purchase at two retail locations within the Portland, Oregon area: Blue Moon Camera and Machine, and Pro Photo Supply. Obviously, I plan on expanding the number of retail outlets that sell the Nasties (expanding way beyond the Portland metro area) and -- yes -- a Nasty Clamps website (with secure shopping cart and checkout system) is in the works. Please stay tuned for info regarding the official launch of that site.

For anyone in the Portland area who would like to meet some Nasty people, please mark May 1st and 2nd (a Friday and Saturday) on your calendar, as Nasty Clamps will be one of the featured vendors at Pro Photo Supply's big "Nikon Days" event. Plenty of nasty stuff will be on hand (stuff that hasn't yet been seen by the general public) so do stop by.

Matt

P.S.: And just in case you're wondering...

*SFW = Safe For Work

**NSFW = Not Safe For Work

On Deck: Nasty Clamps

2009-04-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Due to a fairly steady stream of e-mails and inquiries during the past few weeks, I'm slowly -- very slowly -- putting together an article about "Nasty Clamps" for this blog. I hope to have something that's reasonably well-written (and semi-coherent) posted here within the next two or three days.

Please stay tuned.

Funky looking tools that really aren't as nasty as you might imagine...

Or maybe they ARE as nasty as you imagine.

Designed by a photographer, built by a photographer, and super insanely handy...

Another SB-600 In The Trash...

2009-04-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

******************************UPDATE********************************
Upon re-reading this post, I've come to realize that I was probably in a bit of a snarky mood when I wrote it and -- worse yet -- a bit unclear about the point(s) that I was trying to make. Please, wade through this article (it's a long one) and then read my newly posted "clarifying" note at the end.
**********************************************************************

Though I really don't want to start up any sort of Nikon vs. "other brand" kerfuffle, I would like to say that I'm a huge fan of Nikon DSLR cameras -- a HUGE fan -- and that I usually recommend Nikon gear to folks who are looking to purchase a new camera for the first time, or in need of an upgrade from a point 'n' shoot to something with a bit more versatility. Personally, I love the way in which the Nikon stuff handles such things as menu set-ups, ergonomics, design, consistency from camera to camera, and -- most importantly -- the way in which the final images turn out. For myself, with my personal tastes and particular shooting style (and shooting quirks), Nikon cameras make sense.

Having said all this, I also have to say that I am not -- I repeat, NOT -- a fan of Nikon flashes (especially the SB-600 and SB-800 series), and often advise people who are looking to purchase their first strobe set-up to avoid getting a Nikon flash, unless they're lucky enough to find one used and/or at a dirt cheap price.

Huh? Why the fanboy/hater dichotomy?

Simple... I think that the Nikon cameras are especially well made and well thought out while -- at the same time -- I think that the Nikon strobes are flimsy, have insanely non-intuitive operating menus, and (most painfully) are very, very rough on the wallet.

All of this I know from experience.

This past week, I ended up breaking (and throwing out) my final Nikon strobe -- a Nikon SB-600 -- my third broken SB-600, and so I'm out about $650 total in that regard

A few years back, I also broke an SB-800 ($350!) while traveling, and so -- all together -- I've probably tossed about $1000 worth of strobe lighting in the garbage the past few years.

Am I rough on gear?

Yes, I'm rough on gear... Very, VERY, rough on gear.

On the other hand, despite the rough treatment that I dish out, I've never busted up my current choice of strobes (a set of Vivitar 285s) to the point that they'll stop firing. I've certainly put more than my fair share of cracks, chips, and dents into my Vivitars, but -- fingers crossed -- they keep on working.

What's unfortunate about the breakability of the Nikon series of strobes is that -- when the menu system that operates them can be deciphered and/or they're not being broken by real world conditions -- they happen to work great. Really, REALLY great. Nikon has figured out an amazingly reliable means of having their cameras and their strobes "talk" to each other via a wireless link. More importantly, the Nikon cameras and strobes talk to each other in a way that allows for exposure compensation control directly from the back of the camera. In other words, flash brightness can be manually adjusted up or down (or set into a TTL mode) all without having to walk away from the camera. It's a fantastic system for doing editorial style work, and is actually something that I'd probably re-invest in if I were to solely be doing studio sorts of gigs.

Sooooo... What sort of rough treatment is it that I've dished out that has busted up so many of my strobes? Well... I go out and work in the real world.... My SB-800 was busted while packed away in an equipment case, traveling from Portland to Salt Lake City. At the same time, I've busted up an SB-600 while doing a food shoot (the strobe dropped about a foot or so while mounted on a stand), I've broken another 600 while doing some architectural photos (the strobe got kicked -- by me), and then finally (this past week) I busted up my last 600 while doing some fairly simple sports photography. Yes, I should probably be a bit more careful with my stuff. But, at the same time, I find it hard to believe that a more robust design and build couldn't be instituted by Nikon -- especially given the fact that Vivitar strobes (the semi-competition) are so ~~cheap~~ inexpensive.

****************************UPDATE************************************
Soooooooooo... Just to clarify things a bit, I happen to think that Nikon strobes (especially the SB-600 and SB-800) have both good points and bad points. For myself, with the sort of abuse that I dish out to gear, the bad points outweigh the good points, and so I really can't justify spending the money ($220 a strobe, minimum) on equipment that I know will get broken within two years.

Again, I'm rough on gear. If you're the sort of person who treats their gear with love and respect, then you might do just fine with Nikon flashes.

My other issue with Nikon strobes -- aside from the breakability? I really, REALLY hate the menu structure that drives the operation/modes that the strobes work under. Absolutely non-intuitive... And the manual that comes with the strobes sucks too. Honest, a simple dial and two buttons could have been used to work the various modes and power levels of the flash. Instead, a Habitrail of cascading menus and "guess what I am" symbols leaves the user wondering just how to get the stupid thing to fire in the first place.

If the menus can be figured out (and it's a challenge), well, the wireless communication system that allows a strobe and a camera to talk to each other works great. Really, REALLY great. But -- dang' it -- it's a royal pain in the butt getting the strobe into the correct operating mode
**************************************************************************

Rant mode off.

Matt

P.S.: My quirky shooting style? Though I'm right-handed for most day-to-day stuff, I'm left-eyed while shooting a camera. Left-eyed while shooting a gun, too...

A Nice Lil' Catch: The "TRADE SECRET Strobist Favorites Vol. 1" Trading Card Set

2009-04-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Zeke Kamm writes, edits, and pours his heart into a very nice online photography magazine entitled -- simply enough -- Nice Photography Magazine. Packed to the gills with tech tips, commentary, insight, and challenges to the creative process, it's most certainly worth checking in on the Nice site whenever possible, as you never know just what sort of image or idea might pop out of Zeke's brain... I also highly recommend checking out Zeke's personal work (his portfolio can be seen here), as the dude is just insanely talented as a stills photographer. Really nice work, with a visual style that can best be described as "still frames captured from really quirky art movies."

Like all good freelancers photographers, Zeke has a bit of an entrepreneurial streak -- and a nice example of this streak can be found in the newly released TRADE SECRET Trading Card set that Zeke has designed, edited, and had printed. Basically, this is a pack of cards -- much like a baseball, basketball, or football trading card set -- that features the work of twenty-five photographers. The key to this set of cards (and the work of the featured photographers), is that each card highlights a photo that has achieved some amount of notoriety amongst readers of David Hobby's Strobist website. Fittingly, the cards are entitled: "TRADE SECRET Strobist Favorites Volume 1."

The truly clever aspect to this card set -- and what really sells the whole concept -- is that each featured photo also includes a very nice "behind the scenes" illustration of the lighting set-up used in making the shot. Just to be a bit more clear, these "behind the scenes" illustrations are computer graphics illustrations which show the positioning of the camera, the object or person being photographed, the key light (or lights), bounce cards, soft boxes, reflectors, etc, etc... Nicely done. And some truly insightful information.

How much will all of this insight cost you? Not much... Less than the cost of a week's worth of coffee (my coffee habit, at least)... Just $19.95, which includes the cost of shipping and handling here in the U.S. Conveniently, Zeke has set up a whole online shopping cart and checkout system over on the TRADE SECRET site.

Finally, just as a bit of shameless self-promotion, let me briefly mention that I'm one of the twenty-five photographers featured in the set... Thanks Zeke! My particular photo -- a product shot that I did for the Gaia Baby Food company -- ended up being featured in the set due to its unusual use of aluminum foil as a lighting tool.

My "trading card" is featured below:

You'd never want to trade your Mookie Blaylock for a Matt Monroe...

BTW, my card is the product shot of the carrot, NOT this whole picture of a card dropping out of a basketball net... I was just trying to get artsy-fartsy with the concept of "making the shot."

Again, a special thanks goes out to Zeke and David for making all of this happen.

A Not-So-Grand Vista At The Grand Canyon...

2009-03-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

During a recent trip down to Las Vegas, I was able to break away from Sin City for a few days and make the (very long) road trip out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon -- a destination that I've been wanting to see for nearly my entire life. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, a series of near zero-visibility storm fronts also decided to make that same trip out to the canyon while I was there, and my actual views of the 5000 foot deep gorge were few and far between.

So what did I see?

Guard rails... Lots and lots of guard rails....

In theory, there's a huge canyon just beyond and below this overlook...

The Trimpin Movie... Coming soon to a theater near you (and I hope you go see it).

2009-03-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

People who innovate, design, create, and (for lack of a better phrase) push the boundries are often the sorts of folks who I hold the most respect for... One gentleman who I've held (and continue to hold) immeasurable amounts of respect for over the years is a German-born, Seattle-based, world-renowned composer, sculpture, inventor, programmer, designer, and MacArthur Genius Award winning mad scientist named -- simply -- Trimpin.

Trimpin (who goes by just that single name) has been creating music, musical instruments, interactive sculpture works, multi-media presentations, and just really, really cool stuff for more than two decades.

Trimpin creates, designs, and builds his works in a mad scientist laboratory, hidden deep within the bowels of suburban Seattle.

The lab itself is equal parts "Superman's Fortress of Solitude," "Thomas Edison's Menlo Park," and "Pee Wee's Playhouse."

Though jaw-droppingly proficient at computer technology, Trimpin himself does not own a cell phone or have an e-mail address.

Trimpin's compositions will never EVER make it to the Top 40 charts... But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Though his works are definitely not easy listening (perhaps "uneasy listening" would be a better description at times), his compositions are always wildly innovative, and guaranted to hold the attention of anyone hearing/seeing/experiencing the music.

Members of the Kronos Quartet with Trimpin.

From left to right: Jeffrey Ziegler, John Sherba, Hank Dutt, David Harrington, Trimpin.

A truly inventive film that premieres this weekend (March 14th, 2009) in Austin, Texas takes a "fly on the wall" approach to the documentation of Trimpin's creative process. And it's certainly worth anyone's while -- at least, anyone with an interest in art, music, media, sculpture, design, and creation -- to check out "Trimpin: The Sound of Invention".

Filmed over a two-and-half year period, "Trimpin: The Sound of Invention" is a fun (and often funny) exploration of Trimpin's life, music, inspirations, and -- most interestingly -- his mindset and creative process as he puts together his multi-media, interactive, musical pieces. Great (and often insightful) stuff. And this is certainly a documentary worth seeking out when it comes to your town.

Here's a trailer for the Austin premiere:

Please, support the arts. Go see this film.

Matt

P.S.: Full disclosure... I was involved with quite a few portions of this movie during its Seattle and Pacific Northwest filming. Peter Esmonde -- the Producer/Director/Cameraman -- brought me aboard early on to record many of the dialogue tracks, musical performances, and to shoot publicity photos as the documentary was being made.

P.P.S.: Below is one of my favorite images taken during the filming of this project:

This is a photo of Trimpin, shown surrounded by his "Sheng High" exhibit. For those of you who will be at the movie's premiere this weekend, a 20"X24" version of this image will be available for sale at "The Trimpin Gallery."

A Cool Way To Store Your Stuff...

2009-03-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

Pelican Cases are -- without a doubt -- the safest and most secure way of storing and shipping camera gear (along with a whole lot of other things) when traveling from some Point "A" to a distant Point "B". The cases themselves are incredibly sturdy, they're relatively lightweight, cause no major problems at airports (aside from the outrageous "overage" fees that the airlines are charging these days), and come with an honest-to-god lifetime replacement guaranty that Pelican actually honors. Truly great stuff...

Nowadays, clients don't really seem to be flying photographers and/or their gear around as much as they did in the past, and so -- for myself at least -- the need for a super tough shipping case (or cases) has been reduced quite a bit. Speaking strictly on a personal basis, I'm finding that gigs are becoming more and more locally oriented and (again, from my own personal experience) less gear intensive than in previous years.

Yes, budgets are getting tighter (that's a whole 'nuther topic right there), but at the same time, the need for two or three full-sized equipment cases filled with stuff (i.e.: power packs, ginourmous strobe heads, and back-up gear) is greatly reduced when the call comes in to do a bare-bones "in town" editorial shoot.

In the image that's posted to the right, you can see the most basic lighting kit that I throw in my truck when working on any sort of run-n-gun editorial project: Two Vivitar 285's, three Pocket Wizards, various correction gels, battery charger, two Nasty Clamps, and some spare "AA" batteries (just in case the charger doesn't work). This is a mean and lean package, and perfect for most quickie shoots.

What you're also seeing in this photo is a very cool way of storing and protecting that lean and mean lighting kit -- with a Columbia Sporting Equipment "Ice Wind" Cooler .

What's so great about this particular cooler? Well, the Columbia version that I own perfectly -- and I do mean PERFECTLY -- holds Vivitar 285 strobes. The interior width of the cooler is about 1/4 inch wider than two Vivitars placed side by side (leaving plenty of room for all of the extra doo-dads). And if the kit is reconfigured just a bit, four Vivitar 285's will drop right into the cooler, leaving just enough space on top for four pocket wizards (as can be seen in the crappy picture to the left).

These coolers are extremely durable, with a hard plastic shell hidden underneath the outer fabric. The front pocket is also extremely handy, and is the place where spare batteries, gels, battery chargers, and power bars can be stored.

Oh! Did I mention that these coolers are cheap? I found mine at an outlet store for $9.99.

Obviously, other coolers will work just fine, and I encourage you -- when you've got a bit of spare time -- to take a basic lighting kit over to some nearby sporting goods store just to see what might work out for your particular gear set-up. Let me be clear, a cooler is not a substitute for a heavy duty Pelican Case... You'll still need that when flying with your equipment. On the other hand, coolers certainly work as a cheap, durable, and portable means of storing small equipment set-ups.

Matt

P.S.: You can also use a cooler to keep your beer chilled... If that's the sort of thing that you like to do.

P.S.S.: The rest of my kit for a (very) basic local editorial shoot? Well, a camera (obviously), three lenses, four 4 Gig cards, three camera batteries, two Chimera softboxes, a tripod, and two lighting stands. The camera, lenses, and cards all fit into a backpack quite nicely. And to have ready access to my support equipment, the tripod, Chimeras, and lighting stands always hang out in my truck.

P.P.S.S.: About three years back, I actually had one of my Pelican Cases beaten and cracked by the baggage handlers at the Vancouver (Canada) Airport. Pelican replaced the case free of charge.

P.P.P.S.S.: The folks at Pelican wanted to know just what the ~~idiots~~ well-mannered baggage handlers had done to my case. It seems that Pelican tests their cases by dropping them from the roof of a multi-storied building, and so they (the Pelican folks) were stunned that the my case had been damaged by ~~the idiots in Vancouver~~ the well-mannered baggage handlers.

A Dose of Cuteness...

2009-03-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Regular readers of this blog are probably a bit ~~bored~~ disgusted with the picture of a sheep's skull that's been parked on this site for more than a week, and so -- as an antidote to the previously posted death imagery -- the following two photos should provide a much needed dose of cuteness.

Cute, huh?

Please, no references to "The Godfather."

Basic techie stuff: Shot with my Nikon D200 camera. Both images lit with a Vivitar 285 in a small Chimera softbox.

Not Dead Yet...

2009-02-18T09:32:00.001-08:00

Despite all outward appearances, neither this blog (nor myself) are anywhere close to being dead...

A mix of different projects has been keeping me away from my computer for the past few weeks, and I've either been out in the field working on corporate headshots (with the photo just above and to the right NOT being one of those headshots), or getting back and involved with the world of video production (where I'd previously worked for more than 20 years), or sitting in my mad scientist lab creating more crazy lil' lighting and camera mounts.

Regarding the whole "sitting in my mad scientist lab" situation and creating more of those "crazy lil' lighting and camera mounts," let me just say that the words "Patent Pending" can now be officially applied to one of my crazy lil' mounts (thanks to the U.S. Patent Office). There will be much more to say about this in the weeks to come...

Oh... And the photo up above? Shot this past weekend while visiting a sheep farm in Central Oregon. The skull has actually been lit with a small Chimera softbox from just slightly above the frameline (and -- yes -- I wandered the farm with a softbox in hand) with a Vivitar 285 at 1/4 power inside the softbox.

Still alive...

2009-01-15T06:11:00.000-08:00

A recent project in Colorado has made the postings for this blog a bit thin. I'm now back in the Northwest, and more (semi) regular postings should resume soon... Please bear with me as I get back up to speed.

Also, a special thanks goes out to the folks who bought me a beer or coffee these past few weeks. The coffee was hot, and the beer was very, very tasty. Again, thank you so much.

Matt

Always keep a camera handy...

2009-01-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've always been a firm believer in keeping a camera (with charged batteries and an empty flash card) nearby and handy, just in case an interesting photo opportunity should come up during regular daily life activities. Honestly, it drives my friends and family absolutely crazy when they see me run off to my truck to pull out the trusty ol' Nikon, because they just know that an impromptu photo session is about to begin.

Below is a very impromptu image, taken while the Christmas ornaments were coming down.

Teenage girls are so dang' goofy...

Shot with my older Nikon D200. Lit from just above frame with a small Chimera softbox. A Vivitar 285 (at 1/16th power) was inside the softbox.

T'was a Cold and Icy Christmas...

2008-12-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

Like many parts of the United States, the Pacific Northwest region ended up getting absolutely pummeled with snow and ice during the Christmas holiday season. And though I'm the sort of person who normally enjoys a good snowfall, I have to admit that the whole wintery experience became a bit tiresome when the power gave out in The Global Household™ two days before Christmas (with the house cooling down to a chilly 40 degrees F.) and our local road commission decided that it just wasn't worth taking the time and expense to plow any of the residential side streets. I am very grateful to my nephew (Bronson) and his wife (Tonya) for taking me in Christmas Eve and giving me a warm place to sleep. I also thank them for the delicious brandy that they served and the laugh-out-loud funny (though kinda' crude) movie that we watched on Christmas Eve: Just Friends

A neighborhood pine tree, covered with ice and snow. A nearby tree came down the next day and took out the power in our neighborhood for three and a half days.

Though it's not indicated all too well in the photo, each individual pine needle is coated with about a quarter inch of frozen ice.

One good aspect to all the recent snow and ice is that many of the neighbors came out of their houses to... Uhhh... Well... Get out of their houses. Honestly, it's kinda' boring to just hang around inside a (cold) house when a major weather event is taking place outside -- and it was pretty obvious that throughout the neighborhood, people were anxious to get out and be around other people.

One of the neighborhood kids, blasting down an icy sidestreet.

Yes, he was wearing shorts.

No, it was not warm outside.

Shot at dusk with a tungsten white balance (to give the blue look) and then strobed from camera right with a Vivitar 285. A full CTO gel was on the strobe.

Also, this was a 1/20th of a second exposure, during which I tracked the young man as he flew by.

Some people engaged in Winter activities that went just a bit beyond the usual. As an example, one of my nearby neighbors ("Jenny the Surfer Girl") decided that snowy streets of Portland were the perfect place to practice her wave riding skills. Of course, we didn't have any waves at the time (they were all frozen solid), though this didn't really seem to bother Jenny.

Jenny hangs ten on an ancient beat-up surfboard.

Shot digitally and then treated in Photoshop to look as though it had been taken using expired film in an old crappy camera.

Finally, as a quick update on life in the Pacific Northwest, power has been restored to nearly all of the nearby neighborhoods (in the Portland area, at least), and we've returned to our more typical weather patterns (rain, rain, and more rain) rather than the unusual snowfall of last week. If time, energy, and content allows, I'll try to come up with another posting before the year ends which -- and this absolutely blows me away -- takes place in just two days.

Yikes!

Matt

The Iceman Cometh...

2008-12-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's been dumping snow and freezing rain here in the Pacific Northwest for most of the past week, and with the way things are going we'll probably be dealing with yet another five or six day of snow and ice.

Photographically... Well... Not a whole lot has been going on. The weather has made travel in the Portland area kinda' nightmarish. And clients have been a bit reluctant to book even the smallest little shoot -- all because of the hazardous road conditions.

On the other hand, as someone who grew up in snowy Northern Michigan, this weather is just kinda' heavenly.

The snowman pictured above isn't really that great, and the photo's not all so hot either, though from a technique point of view it is sorta' interesting... Shot during the daytime (pretty close to noon) using a tungsten white balance on the camera to make the background go blue, and then stopped down heavily to lower the ambient level. A heavily snooted Vivitar 285 (with a full CTO gel) was then set a 1/16th power and aimed at the snowman from about two feet away.

I'll probably end up photographing more snowmen (and snowwomen) as the week progresses...

Waaaayyy Off Topic: Aimee Mann's "Another Drifter In The Snow" Album

2008-12-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

The singer/songwriter/guitarist/bass player Aimee Mann has been on my musical radar for more than twenty years -- initially popping up on my screen (and popping up on the television screen) with her much-played video for the song "Voices Carry" during the mid-1980's. And though her style of songwriting has undergone some fairly dramatic changes these past two decades (as has her hairdo), Ms. Mann continues to make intelligent music with sharp, witty lyrics. Her song narratives are always well thought out. She's an excellent musician. And -- just as a quick side-note -- she's also happens to be REALLY quite good in concert, so I do recommend catching one of her shows if she comes through your town.

But that's not why I'm writing this blog post...

As luck with have it (at least, with the holiday season upon us), Aimee Mann is perhaps the only artist I know of who's somehow managed to release a full album of Christmas music that's absolutely, completely, 100% listenable from the first song to the last. Please -- excuse me while I gush -- but Aimee Mann's "Another Drifter in the Snow" album is absolutely brilliant. Honest! Ms. Mann has taken a collection of well know (and not so well-known) Christmas tunes -- many of them written more than fifty years ago -- and somehow managed to make each song sound fresh, modern, and timely.

In order to achieve the impossible (i.e.: making old and overplayed Christmas tunes sound fresh and new), Aimee Mann surrounds herself in the studio with a great collection of side-musicians in supporting roles -- and a special shout out needs to go to the amazing Duke Levine for his guitar, banjo, and mandolo playing. If ever there were a "player's player," well, Duke Levine is the man, and if you (the reader of this blog) are in any way a self-acknowledged guitar geek, then repeated playings of "Another Drifter in the Snow" are absolutely mandatory.

From a singing/performing point of view there are several tracks that stand out on the album, though the true highlights can be found in Aimee's reworkings of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," and "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch." Duke Levine's guitar playing is especially effective on "Winter Wonderland" (probably the only time that you'll ever hear a country/hawaiian/rockabilly guitar solo applied to that particular song), and Aimee's singing on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is completely heartfelt -- an absolutely gorgeous version of an incredibly emotional song.

From the "Wow, I wasn't expecting that" department, Aimee's version of "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch" is the album's unexpected gem and a holiday classic in the re-making. Silver-tongued Grant Lee Phillips (in the role that he was born to do) serves as the song's narrator and co-singer, both chewing up -- and spitting out -- the twisted rhymes of Doctor Seuss with fun and abandon. Great, great stuff -- and completely worth it just to hear Mr. Phillips and Ms. Mann harmonize on the lines: "You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch/With a nauseaus super-naus/You're a crooked jerky jockey/And you drive a crooked horse/Mr. Grinch."

Be sure to check out this YouTube performance of Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips on the Conan O'Brian show (though do ignore the last four minutes of the video, during which a freeze frame image of the credits sits parked on the screen):

As a quick little side note (and a somewhat related factoid): My grandmother was the next-door-neighbor of Theodore Geisel (a/k/a: "Dr. Seuss") in La Jolla, California.

As a second little side note: Aimee Mann's husband -- Michael Penn -- is another artist who's quite good in concert, and worth checking out if he comes to your town. He also composed one of the standout tunes on the album, a song entitled "Christmastime."

As a third little side note: "Another Drifter in the Snow" was originally released in 2006, though it's the sort of album that's worth digging out every holiday season.

As my forth (and final) side note: Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, "Another Drifter in the Snow" is simply a great album -- sung and performed by absolutely top-notch musicians.

A Powerful Gift That Everyone Will Enjoy...

2008-12-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

With the holidays and gift giving season soon upon us, it's time to start thinking about the people in our lives (both the photographers and the non-photographers) who could really use some cool and interesting presents for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Eid, and/or Festivus. My gift suggestion from last year still holds true for this year, and it's more than certain that your photographer friends and family members would be quite pleased to find last year's recommendation in this year's stocking.

As perhaps this year's most useful present -- and as an opportunity to put a bit less stress on this big ol' planet of ours -- I'm making a recommendation that's a bit out-of-the-ordinary, though it's also a recommendation that has the potential to save the recipient of this gift a good wad of cash over the upcoming year.

Huh?!? Saving money while spending money? What sort of magical gift could this be?

Ahhh... A very magical gift.

My recommendation for the 2008 holiday season -- the gift that you should be giving to all your friends, family, and photographers -- is/are...

Rechargeable batteries.

And not just any sort of rechargeable battery... Nope. I am highly, highly, highly recommending rechargeable nine volt batteries because finally -- FINALLY -- there are products on the market that are reliable, well made, and cost effective.

Up until this past year, rechargeable nine volt batteries were complete and total pieces of doo doo... Utter crap... Wastes of money... Shear poop...

Now, thanks to advances in battery chemistry, reliable "Lithium Polymer" rechargeable nine volts are available, and they absolutely, completely, totally rock... Really fast recharge times. Fairly slow self-discharge times. Useable in cold weather. And (did I mention this before?) in the long term, they can save you a ton of cash.

In previous years -- back when I was working full time in the television production industry -- I would spend as much as $2000 (yes, that's two THOUSAND dollars) per year on nine volt batteries. Obviously, that was a lot of cash, and it was also a lot batteries getting tossed into landfills. Unfortunately, at the time, there were no real alternatives to disposable nine volts (Ni-Cads sucked big time), and so the money would get spent and the batteries would get tossed.

The current batch of rechargeable nine volts -- the Lithium Polymer cells -- are a bit spendy on the front end (about $20 per battery), though that cost gets amortized down each and every time a battery is re-used and re-charged. Ten recharges? The amortized cost works out to about two bucks per battery... One hundred recharges? An amortized cost of twenty cents per battery...

Not bad at all.

The particular battery that I'm using is a brand named iPowerUs, and I've found it/these to be as good -- or better -- than any alkaline disposable cell. Poking around on the web will reveal just a few distributors of the brand, though the best deal that I've been able to find (and the folks from whom I bought my batteries) can be found at Trew Audio in Nashville, Tennessee. For the low, low cost of $125, a package deal can be purchased that includes four batteries, a "smart" charging bay, an AC adapter, and (extremely useful) a cigarette lighter adapter.

This is a screaming deal on a great product AND a great present to give to folks. At the same time -- and this is kinda' important -- you'll help to keep nasty batteries from filling up the landfills PLUS you'll be saving your friends and family a whole bunch of cash in the long term.

Happy Holidays.

Matt

Pilgrim's Progress...

2008-11-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

The schedule has been loaded up with bread 'n' butter sorts of gigs for the past couple of weeks (nothing exotic, nothing in need of a detailed posting), and Thursday's Thanksgiving gathering brought family members and waaaaaay too much food over to The Global Household.

For everyone in The Global Readership who celebrates Thanksgiving, I hope that you all had a great holiday, and I hope that -- for all of you and your families -- that you find your life blessed throughout the year.

Matt

P.S.: Though tasty, turkeys are ugly, ugly birds....

Something New at the DIY Photography Network...

2008-11-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

Anyone who's a fan of DIY photography equipment -- or just happens to enjoy clever solutions to some of the technical issues that come up in photography -- would be well advised to check in regularly with Udi Tirosh's DIY Photography Network website. Honestly, the online learning environment that Udi has created with the DIY Network (in his spare time, btw) is as good (or better) than most of the photography workshops that you'd be likely to attended, and the site is constantly being updated with new articles, hot links, and well thought-out solutions to age-old imaging challenges. Myself, I've been a huge fan of Udi's writings and technical solutions for quite some time, and in a bit of "mutual admiration society" back scratching, he's been kind enough to direct tons of traffic (several tens of thousands of hits) over to the blog that you're reading right now.

In his most recent posting at the DIY site (as of November 18th, 2008), Udi has put up a very interesting article about a photography project which he's co-sponsoring with the folks at Borrow Lenses.com. The project (which could also be called "a contest" of sorts) is a bit difficult to explain in just a paragraph or two, though in Readers Digest terms it involves individual photographers teaming up with a photographic partner -- and then exchanging with each other a piece of equipment that the other photographer doesn't own. The real key to this project/contest -- and what makes it really interesting -- is that you and your photographic partner must then go out and shoot as a team, each using the gear that has been exchanged. To give an example: if you happen to be a Nikon shooter -- and your project partner is a Canon shooter -- exchange cameras and see what happens.

The actual rules for the contest are kinda' lengthy, and so I highly, highly recommend spending some time and reading the entire article over at Udi's site. You can either click on this hotlink here, or just head on over to the DIY Photography Network homepage and look for an article entitled: "Something New -- A Photography Project."

Oh! Did I mention that there are prizes? Three lucky winners will get various amounts of free gear rental from the folks at Borrow Lenses.com. Again, the rules and details are a bit lengthy, and so you'll need to pop on over to Udi's site in order to get the full gist of what's being offered and how to enter.

Matt

P.S.: For the moment, prizes can only be given to U.S. entries into the project/contest, though Udi is working hard at getting a European co-sponsor.

P.S.S.: The final entry date into the contest is December 20th., 2008.

P.P.S.S.: This sounds like a ton of fun, and so I'll likely enter into the contest myself.

Along the Highway at Siletz Bay...

2008-11-19T07:17:00.000-08:00

Normally, I would never pull out my camera to shoot an image right at sunset (I'm more likely to wait about twenty minutes after the sun has gone down before taking a picture), but I was more than happy to make a photographic exception this weekend while driving along the Oregon Coast.

Crazy color tones in the sky...

Very "Lord of the Rings" sorts of rocks jutting out of the water...

And located just fifty feet from the Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. Route 101), at the South end of Lincoln City.

I see RED...

2008-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

The good folks at RED must have know that today is my birthday, because they just announced this as I woke up...

Holy crap! Not to be too over the top or anything, but THIS might very well be the photographic "game changer/DSLR killer" that people have been discussing for much of the past year. Things are now going to get really, REALLY interesting...

Matt

It coats, it soothes...

2008-11-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

I'm back in the States, having recently returned from my Third World sojourn...

I can't talk a whole lot about the project... A non-disclosure form was signed.

I can't post any images... Again, a non-disclosure form was signed.

I can tell you that I was NOT working for the C.I.A...

I can tell you that -- where I was working -- that it was hotter than hell...

I can tell you that I lost a good chunk of weight, and that I brought some sort of stomach bug back with me as a souvenir...

I can also tell you -- in fact, advise -- that you should never, EVER, EVER let your clients chill your water bottle down with ice purchased from the open bed of a pickup truck.

Just sayin'...

Regular posting will resume soon.

Out of Country... Out of Contact...

2008-10-29T15:03:00.001-07:00

I will be out of the country -- and pretty much out of contact -- for at least the next two weeks. Unfortunately, I can't talk about where I'm going (a non-disclosure agreement has been signed), and it's likely that I'll have little-to-no e-mail or cell phone communication with anyone. When possible, I'll try to check in with my e-mail account, though I might have to wait until the end of the project before I'm actually able to actually chat with anyone.

Also, I won't be able to post any images from the project... Again, a non-disclosure agreement has been signed.

Matt

Working with RED... A Few Real World Observations from Ryan E. Walters.

2008-10-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, I'd asked Portland-based cinematographer Ryan E. Walters if he'd be willing to come up with a few words of commentary about a blog post I'd written last month -- an article which detailed my oh-so-brief experience with the RED camera system. What I'd originally posted can be found by going here, and what I wrote was presented from the perspective of a stills photographer trying to get some sort of mental grasp on the whole RED technology. Ryan -- who has a ton of real world working experience with the RED camera -- was kind enough to send along his observations, all written from the perspective of a cinematographer who'd been asked if the RED was some sort of substitute for a DSLR.

Here's what he had to say...

**********************************************************************

Using RED as an SLR:

As technologies merge paths -- with some of the newer DLSR's being able to shoot video -- and the ability (or need) to pull high resolution still frames from video cameras, opportunities for thinking outside the box and finding new applications for these technologies has never been better. With the RED cinema camera, users now have the ability to pull 4k stills from their video stream for use as photos. And while it is possible to generate a high quality still image using this camera, unfortunately -- at least for the moment -- the RED falls far short of being an DSLR killer.

There are four main areas where the current version of the RED camera systems comes up a bit short when compared with DSLR cameras:

1. Weight and size. The lightest setup of the Red comes in at just under 20 pounds and it is about 5 times bigger then a DSLR - nowhere near the form and function of a DSLR.

2. Chip Size. The Red offers a Super 35mm sized sensor which is only half the size of a full frame sensor of the Canon 5D MKII.

3. Low Light. One of the drawbacks of the smaller chip is the low light performance. The Canon and Nikon DSLRs can go up to 3200 ISO and show very limited noise in the shadows. The Red starts to show noise at round 600 - 800 ISO.

4. True RAW. While the Red does shoot raw video, it is not the same as RAW in DSLRs. The RAW format in DSLRs is a lot less compressed then in the raw of Red. The wavelet raw compression of the Red is great for video, but it is not the same as the RAW in DSLRs.

********************************************************************************

Let me (Matt) just add that -- as far as I'm concerned -- that Ryan has hit the nail on the head when he points out that the 20 pound RED system is nowhere close to being a "DSLR killer," simply by virtue of its weight. Honestly, picking up a RED camera is an experience somewhat akin to performing a bicep curl at the gym (that is, if you do moderate strength training on a regular basis), and the only thing in danger of getting killed by the system is a bank account.

By the way, please take the time to head on over to Ryan's website. He's doing some extremely interesting things with high-def video cameras (along with RED), and has actually come up with a means of doing motion picture HDR imaging using the RED camera system and ~~an insanely complex~~ a quite involved editing technique. His own write-up about the HDR technique can be found by going here.

Matt

The DIY Flexible Hotshoe Clamp -- An Initial Look...

2008-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since any equipment builds, gear modifications, and DIY projects have shown up on this blog...

Indeed, quite a few people have asked "What's up?" during the past month or so, with the more detailed queries going something along the lines of "When are you gonna' make more stuff?"

The quick answer?

Right now...

What you see above is a lil' DIY project that I pieced together yesterday afternoon. Basically, what's been done is that a small locking Pony Clamp has been attached to one end up a flexible microphone mount, while a detachable hot shoe foot has been attached to the other. This is actually an assembly that I've been thinking about for quite a while, though it was only until the beginning of this week that I was able to find the sorts of parts that I thought would be suitable for putting together the project.

I'll need to spend some time during the next few days just figuring out how useful this device actually is. I suspect that it will turn out to be fairly handy, though I'd certainly like to run it through a few real world scenarios before coming up with any sort of detailed report and review.

Please stay tuned...

Matt

Double Dutch -- Part Three

2008-10-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

During the past decade or so, projects and clients have taken me out to the remote Alaskan fishing port of Dutch Harbor about -- on average -- once every twelve months. Due to the ferocious weather systems that pass through the region (hey, it IS in the middle of the Bering Sea) air travel into and out the area is often subject to delays and cancellations and -- myself -- I've always managed to get stuck in Dutch for a few extra days each and every time I work there, with my record being a week long stranding ten years ago.

Two weeks ago, as I was making a mind-numbing, jet-lagging, frequent-flyer mileage enhancing journey from Southern Florida to the central portion of the Alaska's Aleutian Island Chain, I could feel my "spidey sense" tingling as I headed up North, and I just knew that -- after my gig was over -- that I would end up getting stuck in Dutch one more time...

I was right.

Fortunately, being stuck in Dutch Harbor is not quite the exercise in frustration that most people would imagine, as a steady stream of high-octane alcohol is readily available in most of the town's restaurants and bars. Having a strong tolerance for nicotine and cigarette smoke also helps in weathering out the storms (not there's much choice in the matter), with nearly every bar and hotel in town having the ~~stench~~ ~~scent~~ smell of tobacco fumes perma-embedded in the ceilings, walls, flooring, and furniture.

Having said all this, let me also say that Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is one of the most fascinating places in the world, and that I've enjoyed every single trip that I've taken up there -- delays, weather, and tobacco stains not withstanding.

A quickie landscape image, taken while stuck at the Dutch Harbor airport... Semi-long exposure (two seconds), and no tripod (camera resting on a large rock and my wallet). This misty shoreline is about 50 feet from the airport tarmac.

From a photographic standpoint, the hills, bays, valleys, inlets, and mountain peaks that surround the port of Dutch Harbor are absolutely, positively, jaw-droppingly gorgeous -- and I would suggest that anyone with a serious interest in landscape photography should consider Dutch Harbor (and the entire Aleutian Chain for that matter) as a "must see" location. Please be aware that you'll end up spending quite a bit of money to get out there (a minimum of $1000 for a round-trip ticket between Anchorage and Dutch), and that hotel rooms and meals do tend to run a bit on the expensive side. It's also important to realize that -- aside from crab legs, halibut, and cod -- that everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) is shipped into Dutch Harbor, and the expense of this shipping factors heavily into the everyday costs of living/traveling/working in the area.

Another long-exposure landscape (13 seconds), taken from roughly the same position as this shot, though just slightly later in the morning.

From an economic point of view, it's important to know that Dutch Harbor is one of the biggest fishing ports in the entire United States, and a quick walk through any portion of the town will emphasize just how important the ocean (and what the ocean has to offer) is within the community. Crab pots, buoys, and fish netting can be found practically strewn about in nearly any section of flat land larger than a basketball court -- and this would includes people's backyards, the parking lot of the local grocery store, and embankment right across the street from the biggest/fanciest hotel in town.

A casual shot, taken straight out of my hotel room's window.

Crab pots, buoys, and netting galore....

For anyone with an interest in history and (especially) World War II history, I highly recommend buying/borrowing/stealing a copy of Brian Garfield's fantastic book The Thousand Mile War, though I will warn that -- once you start ready the first few pages -- that you'll have a very difficult time putting down this exceptionally well-written and well-researched narrative about the United State's Northern-most war efforts in the Pacific.

An absolutely amazing sunset (this photo doesn't even begin to do it justice), taken from the site of a former military overlook.

For a exceptionally different take on World War II (and for a shockingly unknown piece of American history), I highly recommend the PBS film Aleut Story -- a feature length documentary which details the evacuation, interment, and exploitation of Aleut Natives during the North Pacific battles between the United States and Japan.

Another "casual" image, showing one of the many gunman's bunker which are scattered around the Dutch Harbor area.

My hotel parking lot had a bunker much like this smack dab in its middle.

Finally, it goes without saying (though I'm going to say it anyways) that Dutch Harbor has a newfound fame, all due to the popularity of Discovery Channel's documentary program Deadliest Catch. I actually have a fair amount of insight and background with the program, as I actually worked on the original pilot for the show nearly ten years ago. For anyone out there who doubts the "reality" of the various scenarios and situations that the captains and crews get into on the show, let me just say that -- yes -- crab fishing is scary, scary dangerous, and that I have the utmost respect for anyone willing to get on a boat and head out into the Bering Sea. Were I a younger man (and I once was), I'd probably sign up to do a full season of at-sea production work with the Discovery crews. As an older man -- with an older man's appreciation for life -- I'm quite happy just heading on up to Dutch Harbor, doing my quickie little two and three day projects in the town, waiting out at the airport, making friends with the bartenders and ticketing agents, breathing deeply of the cigarette smoke, and then getting back to the mainland.

Damn, I've become middle aged...

Matt

A duotone that I've salvaged from a dramatically overexposed shot. Taken just outside the fencing of the Dutch Harbor airport.

Double Dutch -- Part Deux...

2008-10-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still a bit numb in the head from my recent travels (going from Southern Florida to the central portion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands in 30 hours was a bit much), and so I've yet to come up with anything about Dutch Harbor that is in any way written in a recognizable form of English. On the other hand, I do have several images from the Dutch Harbor that I'm quite happy with -- extremely happy with, actually -- and it's certainly worth taking the time to put one of the photos up on this blog and writing about it in my still limited English.

Above, you can see my favorite "off hours" photos taken while in Dutch Harbor. I say "off hours" for a variety of reasons, though the primary being that the picture was taken while I was in standby mode, waiting for a plane -- any plane -- to take me off the island. A massive storm had come through the Aleutian chain on the day that I was originally scheduled to fly out, and so I ended up having two extra days of just hanging around, making friends with the airport bartender, drinking gin 'n' tonics, making friends with the airport ticketing agents, making friends with the local Customs agent, drinking more gin 'n' tonics, and taking a fair amount of photos near the airport and just outside my hotel.

I took this photo about 100 yards from the front of my hotel (the Grand Aleutian), roughly an hour or so before the actual sunrise. Obviously, this is a relatively long exposure -- 13 seconds long -- and I had my camera set up on a tripod and locked down. What's not so obvious is that it was still quite dark outside as I was taking this photo, and I kinda' had to stumble around on rocks and through tidal pools in order to get to a position that I really liked for the shot. My boots ended up getting soaking wet.

Though the color and tone might look as though they've been played with quite a bit, what you see in the image is pretty much what my camera captured on location. The pre-sunrise lighting in the Aleutian Islands is phenomenal, with a palette of blues that I've never seen anywhere else in the world. The tone that can be seen before sunrise is very unusual, and I suspect that it has something to do with both the high latitude of the Aleutians, and the fact that light ends up getting bounced all around between the sky, ocean, and surrounding mountains.

One of the cool details that I stumbled across -- after loading the image into my computer -- is that I found a small group of birds who actually managed to stand completely still while I was taking the image, though another set from that same group moved around during a portion of the exposure . Below, you can see a 100% blow-up from that portion of the photo.

Yes, it's a small detail, but it's always the little things that give life to an image.

I do promise to -- in the very near future -- to post more images from my recent Aleutian Island travels, and I'll try to give as much technical detail as is possible for each shot. I also promise to write in much better English. Please stay tuned.

Matt

Double Dutch

2008-10-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

My lack of communication during the past two weeks has been due to a crazy travel schedule (ten thousand air-miles since the beginning of October), minimal wi-fi access, and my ending up getting stuck (again) in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. In the photo below, you can see just how happy I was to be hanging out in the Dutch Harbor airport.

I'll resume semi-regular postings (and show some pretty nice photos) in a day or so -- once I've had the chance to regroup a bit and get back into a more regular routine.

Matt

In Transit Glorious...

2008-10-01T05:19:00.001-07:00

I will be in full on travel mode for the next week-and-a-half, and for those clients and friends who wish to reach me, the best bet for actually getting in touch would be to give me a call on the cell phone. Internet access won't always be available during much of my traveling.

Matt

A Quick Heads-Up on RED....

2008-09-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

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The post that you see below is something that I've been trying to put together for most of this week, after having spent a bit of play time with two of the RED ONE systems. This is not intended as any sort of authoritative review of the camera or -- especially -- a detailed report on its capabilities as a motion picture camera. Primarily, I went in with the mindset of exploring just how applicable the RED system would be for stills photography work...
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As many of you know -- earlier this week -- I had the opportunity to play around with two of the RED ONE cameras that are here in Portland. A special thanks needs to go out to everyone at Koerner Camera and Picture This Production Services, as both companies were kind enough to set up some fairly tricked out RED rigs in their offices, and then let me play around with the gear for hours on end. Though I never had the opportunity to actually take a RED out of the office and into the real world, I was able to do a good amount of in-studio playing around, and everyone was more than happy to answer my multitude of (naive) questions.

Originally, I'd hope to do a lengthy write up of the RED system, highlighting its strengths (its got a lot of them), and pointing out a few of the camera's weaknesses (it has those too). Unfortunately, I'm packing my gear right now, getting prepped for two huge travel gigs that will have me flying all over the country. A lengthy write-up about RED will probably have to wait a while, though -- for the moment -- I'm certainly more than willing to talk about certain aspects of the camera that stick out to me.

To begin -- for those who aren't familiar with the system -- the RED ONE is (at the most basic level) a super-duper mega high-rez digital motion picture camera. Though it would be tempting to call the RED system a Hi-Def camera, the reality is that RED goes waaaaaaaaaaaay beyond standard Hi-Def (barely two megapixels worth of resolution, and highly compressed) by placing an imaging chip in the camera body that's capable of spitting out 12 megapixel uncompressed RAW files at standard film and video frame rates. At the same time, the whole RED system is modular in physical form (i.e.: you can add or subtract parts as needed) and extremely software driven. In "Readers Digest" terms, the RED ONE camera is pretty much a high-end computer that also happens to have a lens sticking out from one end.

Using software to drive the system means that most operational upgrades can be made via simple downloads off the internet. Using software to drive the system also means that most operational adjustments done to the camera (i.e.: exposure tweakage, color balance, frame rate, etc...) can only be made via a series of cascading menus rather than through simple and obviously labeled buttons, dials, and switches. Personally, I tend to prefer obvious buttons, dials, and switches, though I also understand the need for a certain amount of menu driven operations -- especially with something that's as complex as the RED. For the most part, I found the menus to be semi-intuitive (not too confusing), though a definite amount of play time with the camera was needed in order to understand the structure and layout that the menus followed. As a sidenote: I found the audio menus to be the most poorly put together aspect of the whole system -- which is all too typical with motion picture and video cameras.

Sooooooo.... Getting down to brass tacks, just how do the images from a RED ONE camera look?

They look really, really good.

The phrase that I keep hearing over and over from folks is that RED images have a certain "creamy" aspect to them and -- after having played around a bit -- I have to concur. I'm not quite sure just how to define this "creamy" aspect, though I suspect that the way in which RED handles fine gradations in color and brightness is what lends the "cream factor" to the images. Everything just seems to have a certain smoothness -- a smoothness that's remarkably film-like in quality. I was especially pleased with the way in which the camera handled extreme highlights and (more importantly) the way in which it handled the transition areas around major highlights. Banding just didn't seem to be much of an issue (when shooting at the system's native ASA/ISO of 320). The only time that banding became obvious was when I would make adjustments to the operating ASA/ISO, and dropping down to ASA/ISO 100 -- or cranking up to 800 -- would create some noticeable transition bands around highlights or in shadow areas.

One truly great thing about the RED system (at least from my stills photographer's point of view), is that the quality of images coming out of the camera have a richness and resolution that's on par with just about any high-end digital SLR, and these images are being created at standard film and video frame rates. Stated another way: imagine for a moment that your nice lil' Nikon or Canon set-up could fire away at 24 to 30 frames per second, with each individual frame coming out of the camera being a 12 mega-pixel RAW file. Well, the RED can do this, though with quite a few caveats.

To begin, the RED ONE camera is not flash friendly at all. Not in the least. The "rolling shutter" used by the system can create a lot of missed or partially strobed frames, especially at shutter speeds (not frame rates, but shutter speeds) above 1/60th of a second. Even when I rolled at 1/30th of a second and then fired off a series of flashes, the camera would typically miss (or partially strobe) about 20% of the frames. Anyone who would consider using the RED camera as a motion picture camera that -- for individual frames -- could be strobed (an awesome sports application, BTW) would be well advised to rethink this sort of technique. For the moment, firing off a strobe and hoping that RED will capture the flash of light throughout the entire frame is not something that's reliable. On the other hand, I suspect that -- back at RED headquarters -- engineers and technicians are already working on some sort of fix for this issue. Some mighty smart folks are working at RED.

Another issue that comes up -- which prevents the current RED ONE system from being any sort of "DSLR Killer" -- is the whole issue of ASA/ISO. In its current configuration, the RED camera operates at a native sensitivity of ASA/ISO 320, and images look great at this particular setting. Myself, when shooting stills, I tend to place my ASA/ISO all over the map, and I'm more than happy to drop down to 100 (or crank it up to 800) should the need, situation, and lighting require it. Unfortunately, the RED ONE doesn't look quite so good once it gets away from its native setting and -- lets be honest -- there are a whole lot of reasons for getting away from an ASA/ISO of 320. For the moment, cinematographers working with RED are typically using neutral density filters to artificially lower the sensitivity of the camera -- a usable work-around, though not nearly as handy as just being able to "dial in" the speed.

Also -- just in case anyone from RED is reading this post -- please, please, please make it possible for future iterations of this camera (or especially, your upcoming DSMC system to be able to drop waaaaaaaaaay down in sensitivity. I would love to have a DSLR that could shoot at ASA/ISO 25.

Just saying...

Finally, as an issue that's centered around shutter speed and motion capture, shooting at relatively high shutter speeds (Oh.... Let's say anything above 1/125th of a second) often creates images that look kinda' weird and jerky when played at back as video or motion picture images. In other words, firing away -- and then playing back -- at 30 frames per second to capture motion picture images is all fine and dandy, especially when using shutter speeds between 1/30th and about 1/125th of a second. Things start looking a bit jerky above this speed, because each individual frame ends up being just a bit too solid and "blur free". One of the aspects of video and motion picture images that give them their "look" is the inclusion of motion blur when people or objects move. By using a high shutter speed, much of this blur is removed (great for all sorts of still shots), but not so great for the overall look of a moving image when played back. More than anything, it's this certain esthetic aspect that prevents the current RED system from being any sort of "DSLR Killer." At least for the moment.

Remember, things will change...

Okay, I need to go back to my luggage, bags, and equipment cases. I've got a lot of travel ahead of me during the next two weeks. I'll try to fire off more reports while on the road. Please feel free to shoot me back any comments, criticisms, ideas, or observations.

Matt

P.S.: To all of the cinematographers and videographers out there -- yes -- I'm very aware of 30 fps vs. 29.97, and 24 fps vs. 23.98. I was just trying to keep this post from being too "tech head" oriented.

P.S.S.: I did shoot the image at the very top of this posting... I forgot to put a label/watermark on it. Taken with a Nikon D200 camera, a tripod, one Vivitar 285 in a softbox, and three separate exposures. I merged my different exposures -- and lighting angles -- together in Photoshop using layer masks

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Hmmmm... After having posted this article, packed my bags, and then come back to re-read the article, I can see that I really didn't make clear one very important point: the RED camera can be used to shoot still images at both a high shutter speed and a (relatively) high frame rate. Doing so will create a ton of individual photos (I wouldn't want to be the one doing "selects") and eat up quite a bit of hard-drive space. Also, strobes would be pretty much useless in this particular scenario. More importantly, if you (or your client) are expecting to shoot usable motion footage and usable stills shots at the same time from the same RED camera, well, you might not be all that pleased with the look of your motion footage, as a fast shutter speed will often give a weird "jerky" look to moving objects. On the other hand, shooting with a relatively slow shutter speed -- which would smooth out the image for any sort of motion work (and is what helps to give "the look" to film and video) -- would create a collection of still images that just might end up being blurrier than intended or acceptable.

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"Good Pay Awaits Trained 'Still' Photographers..."

2008-09-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

A special thanks goes out to Perry Loveridge (over at Portland's Picture This Production Services) for showing me this magazine ad from the mid-1930's.

The entire ad can be seen below... And by clicking on the picture and re-opening it in a new window, all of the text should become fairly easy to read as I've saved the image at a fairly high resolution.

As an interesting little sidenote, a company exists today that also calls itself the "New York Institute of Photography". I'm not sure if the new "New York Institute of Photography" is the same business that's featured in the above advertisement, but -- if they are -- I congratulate them for staying around for so long.

Fire and Water -- Part Deux

2008-09-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

For the most part, the projects that give me the most personal satisfaction (after the shoot is over) also happen to be the projects that -- during the pre-production and actual shooting -- typically give the most logistic and technical challenges.

This past weekend's "fire dancer" shoot down at (and in) the Willamette River gave me a whole stack load of logistic challenges -- permits from the local Fire Marshall, dealings with the police department, permission from the parks department, notifications to the local river patrol, etc, etc... And from a technical standpoint... Sweet holy crud! Both myself and second shooter A.J. Meeker had to stand knee deep to waist deep in cold murky river water (after sunset and in the dark) and set up our lights and tripods in the water too.

Jenny (the very talented fire dancer who modeled for the camera) also had to stand in cold murky river water -- in the dark. And her typical fire dance routine had to be altered dramatically because, well, fire and water just don't mix...

Adding to all of this, ambient light levels changed rapidly as the sun dropped further and farther below the horizon and -- last but not least -- the intensity of the flames that Jenny was spinning would vary greatly as fire and centrifical force reduced the amount of fuel contained in her spinning poi.

In other words, this was a really great shoot.

In the photo that you see above and to the left, Jenny was being illuminated by a combination of strobelight, moonlight, firelight, and late-in-the-evening dusklight. An exposure time of 6/10th of a second was used to capture the motion of the spinning flaming poi, with the camera at ASA 100, and an aperture of f4.5. From camera right, a Vivitar 285 at 1/2 power (with a full CTO gel) was blasting away and helping to illuminate Jenny's upper torso. The strobe also had a very tight snoot on it. Directly behind Jenny was another Vivitar 285 (un-gelled for this shot) and at 1/16th power. All of the strobes were triggered via Pocket Wizards, and all of the stands were in the water -- as was I, A.J. Meeker, and some old beat-up tripods.

The technical specs for the shot that you see to the right are fairly similar to the specs I've listed for the image up above. A slightly shorter shutter speed was used (3/10th of second, rather than 6/10th), and no strobes were fired as backlights. Again, I used a Vivitar 285 with a full CTO gel (camera right), and I set my camera's white balance to "tungsten" rather than "daylight" or "strobe." Using the "tungsten" setting pretty much guaranteed that my sky and water would have a super-saturated blue tone (a look that I happen to like quite a bit for night shots), and gelling my strobes brought them into the proper white balance for my tungsten setting.

More technical information (along with another fire dancing image) can be found by going over to my first post about this weekend's shoot, which I wrote about this past Monday. My favorite shot from the project can be seen at at that posting, along with a very lengthy narrative about fire, photography, fire spinning, long exposure work, strobes, and growing up in Northern Michigan.

As a quick lil' aside, the vast majority of images that I shot for this particular project ended up looking like... Uhhhhhh... Like not so good stuff... Photographing a performer (especially a spinning performer) who happens to be spinning flames around his or her body is very technically challenging, and most of the shots that I walked away with from the shoot looked kinda' like the image that you see to the left.

Ouch.

Fire and Water...

2008-09-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

I can trace my initial fascination with fire back to the fifth grade when -- as a child growing up in Northern Michigan -- my father decided that we needed to heat our house with a wood stove, rather than using the extremely expensive fuel oil that was in short supply during the mid 1970's.

Two responsibilities that were thrust upon me (within minutes of the stove being installed in our living room) were: 1) learning how to use an axe, sledge hammer, and maul to split the (literal) tons of wood that were delivered to our house each year. 2) Building and maintaining the wood fire that kept our house warm.

It's now more than thirty years later, and though I have no desire to ever pick up an axe or sledgehammer ever again, I do have to admit that -- despite the thousands of fires I've built over the years -- I still enjoy a well put-together fire.

Not in any sort of creepy pyro sort of way of course...

I also happen to really enjoy the art/performance of fire dancing, and this past weekend (yesterday, actually) I was able to coordinate a photo shoot with a very talented fire dancer here in the Portland area.

Right now, I'm still going through the images -- pulling out selects, doing Photoshop tweaks -- but I wanted to post the photo that you see above and give a brief technical breakdown of the shot. I will have quite a few more images to post later on in the week, so please check back in during the next few days.

First things first... This was an incredibly fun shoot to do. Not only was Jenny (the fire dancer) incredibly talented as an artist, she was also a great sport -- as I made her stand (in the dark) waist deep in the incredibly murky (and chilly) waters of the Willamette River for some shots. Of course, I was also waist deep in murky waters for most of the shoot, as was another shooter at the site (the very talented A.J. Meeker).

Please realize that the shoot you see above is a long exposure combined with strobe work... A loooooooooooooong exposure... Just how long? Well, five seconds worth of fire spinning, and then two sets of strobes hitting Jenny (and the rocks below her) at the end of the shot. In terms of set-up, I had a Vivitar 285 at 1/4 power about ten feet away from Jenny, camera left. A full CTO gel was on the strobe, bringing its white balance down to tungsten. I also had a very severe snoot on the light, keeping most of its light tightly focused on Jenny's upper body. I then had a second strobe (at 1/16th power and also gelled) on the extreme left, and aimed down at the rocks and water below Jenny's feet.

The long exposure work was needed in order to bring out the remnants of blue in the sky behind Jenny. This photo was taken about an hour or so past sunset, and I was trying my best to squeeze every bit of blue that I could out of the sky and water. This also explains my reason for going with a tungsten white balance.

For this shot, I did happen to be in the water -- about waist deep -- and I had my camera on a tripod (an old junker) to keep the shot steady. Out of the dozens of shots that I took of this particular scene/set-up, the image that you see above is really the only one that turned out well. Most of the other shots had way too much motion blur for my taste, though I might end up posting a few of these non-selects just to show how difficult on an image this was to shoot.

Again, please stay tuned... More will follow.

Matt

Embed Your Contact Information...

2008-09-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

An extremely powerful tool that's contained within Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, and Aperture also happens to be a tool that can make you -- the photographer -- a good amount of money should you happen to take apply it properly and take advantage of its power. Applied improperly, this tool won't really do any sort of harm to your images, and the time that is spent entering information into this toolset will -- in the end -- make it easier for you to search through that pile of image files you have sitting on your hard-drive, and will most certainly help you to find very specific shots within your database.

Sooooooooo... What is this tool? And how can it make it easier for you -- the photographer -- to actually get paid for your work?

Well, the tool goes by many names (e.g.: "File Info;" "Append MetaData;" "Catalog"; etc...) and it can found in just about any high-end photo editing software program. What makes this particular tool so important is that (when used properly) it embeds important contact information into your photographs -- allowing individual purchasers, businesses, and agency people to track you down and actually purchase (or purchase the rights) to an image.

This past week, I've sold two of my images to two separate advertising agencies, and both agencies were able to track me down because I'd taken the time to embed full contact information (i.e.: my full name, my e-mail address and my cell phone number) into the metadata of some images that I'd posted up on my Flickr site. One of the companies that found me via Flickr is a quite large and quite well-known agency in Europe, and it's pretty dang' interesting to me that a company with such a high profile would be pouring though the Flickr archives in order to find photos for advertising work.

To the right, you can see just what it is that I embed within my images (this is a screen grab from one images' metadata), and you can see that it's fairly complete information. Basically, I do this because I want to make it as easy as possible -- and give as many options as possible -- for potential buyers and clients to get in touch with me.

How can this tool be found? Well, in Photoshop, going to the FILE menu (at the very top of the Photoshop screen), and then scrolling down will bring you to the FILE INFO option. Within FILE INFO itself, it's very easy to enter your contact information, keywords, copyright information, website information, etc, etc... And much of this information can be applied from a basic template.

Within Adobe Bridge, metadata and contact info can be batch applied to a whole collection of images, and this is typically the route that I take for applying an overall template. Within Bridge, the commands to follow are TOOLS (at the top of the screen) and then either APPEND METADATA or REPLACE METADATA. Again, a template can be created which contains your basic contact and copyright info.

Though I don't use either Lightroom or Aperture (I've been told repeatedly that I should), I do know that both programs contain the means for enbedding metadata/contact information into images, and that this can be done as a batch operation.

Peter Parker Would Love Parkour...

2008-09-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

The art/sport/practice of Parkour is something that's been on my mental and visual radar for quite some time. And though my middle-aged body would never allow me to actually participate in the high-speed running, scrambles, and acrobatic leaps that parkour entails, my thoroughly middle-aged body is more than willing to watch other -- more younger-aged folks -- scramble about, run like the devil, and make (literal) leaps of faith while engaged in the practice.

This past week, the Portland, Oregon chapter/division/offshoot of David Hobby's Strobist group held a photographic meet-up in -- of all places -- Portland, and we (i.e.: members of the Portland Strobist Group... Two quasi-official websites can be seen here and here) spent the better part of a late afternoon and early evening photographing some of the local "traceurs" (those who engage in parkour) during a very informal "parkour jam" here in the downtown Portland area.

One of the great things about parkour (at least from an imagery perspective) is that it's an activity which photographs beautifully. Honestly, any sport or art which involves really fit young people making dramatic leaps, spiderman-like ascents up walls, and Olga Korbut-esque gymnastic maneuvers -- all with an urban environment as the visual backdrop -- is an activity which practically screams out its need to be photographed. From a technical point of view, it's also an activity which calls out for plenty of bright strobe lighting and/or rather quick shutter speed because, well, you're gonna' want to freeze the action somehow...

The photo that you see above and to the right is probably my favorite image from this past week's parkour/Strobist meet-up. It's also a good illustration of the need for both bright strobe lighting and/or a quick shutter speed when shooting any sort of parkour activity. The traceur (Alex) making the leap in this image is moving very quickly as he spans about six horizontal feet -- and jumps up at least two vertical feet -- in order to reach the opposing wall. Even with my strobes blasting away (two Vivitar 285s, 1/2 power and full power) and a shutter speed of 1/320th of a second, there's still a bit of motion blur to the shot. Nothing too objectionable I hope, but still enough to catch my eye.

As a brief technical/design aside, I ended up doing a bit of a Dave Hill Photoshop treatment to the above photo. Nothing too crazy, but a bit of large radius Unsharp Masking and some extra grain via the "Add Noise" function help to give the image an extra edge.

Aside from a slight bit of cropping, no extra Photoshop was involved with the image that you see to the left: a trio of traceurs just hanging out (literally) in the doorway of a local church. This was a really fun shot to make and take, though hopefully -- twenty years or so down the road -- none of the participants in this photo will ever run for public office. Just image what the press and pundits would do to a future politician should he (or she) ever engage in Parkour A Trois...

Technical note: Illuminated with a single Vivitar 285 at full power in a medium-sized Chimera Softbox. The light is just slightly above frame, about five feet away from the door, and aimed roughly at the middle of the door.

As I state in the title of this posting, Peter Parker would love Parkour... And in the shot that you see just to the right, a bit of a Spiderman homage is taking place as a local traceur (Stu?) climbs up the narrow passage between two buildings. This particular shot kinda' violates my rules about using bright strobes and fast shutter speeds when photographing parkour (In photography, rules are made to be broken), and I ended up using quite a slow shutter speed to capture the ambient lighting of the glass bricks (1/3rd of a second, handheld), along with a fairly dim and highly snooted strobe (Vivitar 285 at 1/16th power).

In retrospect, I kinda' wish that I'd tilted my camera so that Stu (?) would appear to be leaning out from a wall (which he actually was) rather than looking as though he were sitting in a pit -- which he most definitely was not.

Questions? Comments? Technical concerns? Do you practice Parkour in the Pacific Northwest and have a strong desire to be photographed? Give me a shout....

Matt

Doing the Dew... Hanging out at the Portland AST Dew Tour

2008-08-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Though I'm neither a fan of highly fructosed syrupy beverages nor over-caffeinated soft-drinks, I do have to give a the folks at Mountain Dew the highest accolades ever... THEY know how to put on a sporting event.

This past week (August ~~22nd~~ 20th through 24th), the AST Dew Tour sports extravaganza came to Portland, and for anyone with a press pass and camera in hand, well, it was the opportunity to see -- up close and personal -- some of the most jaw-dropping displays of athleticism, balance, and guts imaginable. This was also an opportunity to hang out with some amazingly humble and gracious athletes... Folks who truly appreciate just how fortunate they are to be doing what they're doing.

During the Skate Vert event, athletes drop vertically about five or six feet (on a skateboard) before hitting the curved surface of an enormous half-pipe which (if they stay upright on the board) will shoot them over to the other side of the pipe and then rocket them straight up the opposing vertical surface. The pictured pipe is about twenty feet deep and maybe about fifty or sixty across.

Pro skater Andy MacDonald goes into a very meditative mood before dropping down the pipe.

Shot with a Nikon D200 at ASA 640. Nikkor 16mm prime at f2.8. Black and White conversion via Photoshop.

Andy MacDonald giving me the eye...

Shot with my Nikon D200 at ASA 640. Nikkor 10.5mm prime at f3.5.

Insanely talented (and insanely nice guy) Sandro Dias realizes that he's just lost control of his skateboard and gets ready to take a really long drop down the sides of the skate vert half-pipe.

Again, Nikon D200, at ASA 640. A Nikkor 16mm prime at f2.8.

As an odd technical aside, in this photo Sandro ended up being illuminated by the strobe from another photographer at the skate vert. The odds of this happening are/were pretty slim, considering that I was shooting at 1/250th of a second.

How crazy was the AST Dew Tour? Well, I never would have imagined that snow could be made and blown onto the outdoor steps of a sporting complex IN THE SUMMER, and that snowboarders would then ride that snow and various rails and ramps in 70 degree weather. Check out the foliage in the upper right hand corner of the image.

Nikon D200 at ASA 500. 10.5mm Nikkor prime lens at f3.5. Shutter speed at 1/250th of a second.

Had I been working with an assistant, I most certainly would have had him or her blasting this BMX biker with 500 watt-seconds of strobe power. Instead, I went with an ASA of 500 for this particular shot, though I would have preferred the extra juice of a moderately powered flash.

Nikon D200 at ASA 500. Nikkor 10.5mm at f2.8. Shutter speed at 1/320 of a second.

A few brief technical (and stylistic) notes:

1) I tend to go with wide lenses when photographing sporting events, especially when I can get up-close access to the athletes and/or event setting. Myself, I've always enjoyed the way in which a wide lens sets the scene for both people and locations -- more of a "documentary" feel as far as I'm concerned -- though I have no problems at all reaching for my telephoto when something a bit more in-your-face is required.

2) High ASA... Hmmmmm... I have yet to join the Nikon D3, D700, or (just announced) D90 revolution, and so I can't really crank my camera up to 6400 and be happy with the resulting images. On the other hand, I'm not freaky paranoid about noise, and so I have no problems at all taking my older D200 up to ASA 640 or 800. If I'm absolutely positive that I'll end up converting my final image to black and white, I'll shoot at ASA 1600 -- do my conversion -- and be super happy... Looks almost exactly like Tri-X film.

3) I hate the way in which formatting a photo for web use (at 72 dpi) sucks all the fine detail and resolution out of a shot.

Matt

Words of Wisdom from Webb Wilder...

2008-08-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Alt-Country/Singer/Songwriter/Thrash/Pub Rock/Metal/Twangster-Guitarist Webb Wilder is one of the best performers around working the small club circuit. His particular brand of music is pretty dang' unique, he's cultivated a larger-than-life on-stage persona, and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, musicians, and musical stylings

As luck would have it, Mr. Wilder also happens to be a very smart man when it comes to business, and about a year ago or so, various pearls of "Webb Wilder Wisdom" started appearing on the internet -- genuine pearls of wisdom, not the fake stuff. Though his advice is aimed more towards younger folks trying to get started in the music industry, much of what he has to say can be applied directly to younger -- and more middle-aged -- folks working in the world of photography, media, art, and entertainment (trust me, they're all related). One of his best segments ("The Key to Artistic and Music Business Success") can be seen below.

P.S.: If your taste in music is broad and/or you're a bit of a guitar geek, it's worth picking up a copy of Webb Wilder's Hybrid Vigor album. GREAT guitar playing, clever (and often funny) lyrics, and Webb just has a awesome singing voice... Kinda' like Hank Hill with a really good set of pipes.

P.P.S.: About fourteen years ago, I wondered backstage after an amazing Webb Wilder show just the shake the man's hand. He was the nicest guy imaginable -- funnier than hell -- and he gave me a ten minute run-through of the various tunings that he uses and some of his favorite guitar licks. Honestly, a true gentleman.

Back in Town... Making Turtle Tracks

2008-08-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let clients and readers know that I'm back from Florida and happily hanging out in the Pacific Northwest again. Tropical Storm "Fay" made my return travels a bit more complicated than they should have been -- airport delays, cancellations, etc, etc. -- and so it's good to be home.

Unfortunately, due to a nondisclosure agreement, I can't show too many photos from my Florida trip. In fact, I can hardly show any at all. The one image that I have posted at the bottom of this page isn't really all that special (at least, from an artsy-fartsy point of view), though it does bring back a very good memory for me from this trip. As things turned out, the ocean beaches around Eastern Central Florida are the nesting grounds for a wide variety of sea turtles, and right now just happens to be the prime nesting season for Loggerhead Turtles. Especially in the Satellite Beach/Melbourne Beach region, the beaches are practically covered with fresh turtle tracks -- from their trips up onto the dry sand in order to build nests for their eggs -- and at least a hundred egg nests can easily be spotted by anyone willing to walk along the sands for a half hour or so.

I actually did end up seeing two huge (and I do mean HUGE) turtles up on shore while doing a late night beach walk. One turtle was about three feet long by about two feet wide. The other turtle was about four-and-a-half feet long by about three feet wide. Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures to prove this because: 1) It was late at night and fairly dark. 2) I was told that it's illegal to use a flash to photograph the turtles while they're laying eggs.

The quasi-artsy shot that you see to the side is my one piece of proof that giant sea turtles actually do come ashore along Florida's Eastern Beaches. As an indication of just how large the turtles can actually get, please realize that the track you see in the photo is about four feet in width, and was created by a turtle using it's fins to push its (huge) shell up the beach towards a nesting site.

If anyone is headed towards the Cocoa, Satellite, Indialantic or Melbourne Beach area of Florida during the next few months, I would highly recommend a stop at the Sea Turtle Preservation Society storefront (in the town of Indialantic), just to spend some time chatting with folks who've made it their mission to help save some mighty impressive animals. They also organize a series of beach clean-ups and late night "turtle walks" during the egg laying season, and I recommend both activities as a nice alternative to watching crappy television in your hotel room, or eating lousy fried food at some local greasy spoon.

Matt

Palm Trees and Thunder Storms...

2008-08-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm on the road right now, with my final destination being down in the Eastern Central Florida area. Basically, I'll be hanging out in an area know as the "Space Coast:" that part of Florida where all of the space shuttles, rockets, and satellites are launched from.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions down in the Space Coast area are supposed to be pretty wet, with lots of thunder and lightening storms. I probably won't be doing a whole lot of outdoor photography work, though I do have my rain gear with me just in case. I've also brought along an Ewa-Bag underwater housing (a total pain-in-the-butt to use), if it looks as though I might get the chance to do some in-the-water photography.

E-mail access? Who knows... I'll be staying at a very funky hotel in Satellite Beach, and I'm not quite sure if they'll have Wi-Fi or not. Anyone who wants to reach me in person is best off calling my cell phone (which can be found on the "contact" portion of this blog).

Hopefully, photos (that I can publish) will be up on this site within a few days.

Matt

The Beer Cozy Lens Protector...

2008-08-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

The beer cozy that you see just to the right is excellent at keeping bottled beverages properly chilled. As luck would have it, the pictured cozy also happens to be perfectly designed for holding a Nikon 10.5mm Fish-Eye lens. In fact, the cozy (which can be purchased for the low, low price of $1.99 at most outdoors and fishing supply stores) is much better at holding and protecting a 10.5mm Nikkor than the lousy cloth bag that Nikon supplies with the lens.

Myself, I own two of these cozies. One for my Nikon lens... Another to keep my beer cold.

A Small Collection of Alaskan Images...

2008-07-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

After more than two-and-a-half weeks of rain, cold, wind, and storms in Alaska (along with two stunningly clear days), I've just made it back to the Portland area. My gear bag is still slightly moist, I have one lens that's more than a bit fogged, and my laptop computer seems to be running slower than usual -- something that I'm also willing to attribute to the dampness and cold of this current Alaskan Summer, ~~weather~~ whether or not it's actually true.

In terms of actually taking photos... Well... I was able to grab a few hundred images while up in the 49th. State, though the crappy weather -- along with a crazy schedule -- kept me from taking the thousands of shots that I'd hoped to grab. I've yet to come up with a really good way of working in downpouring rain (my shower cap camera cover is only good for light drizzles), and though a Kata Bag does provide a good amount of protection when the rain gets heavier, I'm really in need of something that can keep my camera dry when it's dumping buckets. Basically, I'm looking to use (or build) an underwater housing that's easy to handle while on dry land.

The Homer Spit at Night (through the trees).

Homer, Alaska was NOT named after Homer Simpson

One of the more interesting side trips that I took while in Alaska (and also one of the wettest) was an all-day whale watching excursion that took place about twenty miles from Homer, Alaska. This ended up being one of the true highlights to my travels (during a trip filled with highlights), and I was able snag a few decent images despite the rain.

The tale fluke of a large Humpback Whale.

I'm pretty lousy at estimating size and distances, though if I had to make a guess I'd probably say that this fin structure is/was about six or seven feet across, and maybe forty feet away from the boat when I shot the photo.

A Humpback Whale doing a little bit of "spyhopping" near Homer.

I absolutely fell in love with the small fishing (and art colony) town of Halibut Cove.

A late night low tide in front of the cabin that I was staying at turned out to be absolutely magical.

Me looking quite grumpy (which I really wasn't), along with the very lovely Ms. Candoo.

This photo was taken shortly after we'd kayaked away from Halibut Cove's floating espresso bar, and had headed out towards the open water of Kachemak Bay

The Icebergs of Willard Island...

2008-07-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

I love Alaska...

I love camping in Alaska...

I love kayak camping in Alaska...

I do not love the rain that often falls while kayak camping in Alaska...

I do not love what happens to my cameras or equipment as the rain falls while kayak camping in Alaska...

Sometimes, when it's dumping down rain in Alaska (while kayak camping in Prince William Sound), the best that can be hoped for is one or two halfway decent photos before a camera lens gets completely saturated with water and mist...

The above image is one of those halfway decent photos.

Back in Alaska... Again.

2008-07-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

Just the quickest of postings...

I'm back up in Alaska (for the third time this year), and will be up here till July 28th. Communication with the outside world will be quite limited during this time, as I'll often be in remote areas that can only be reached via float plane or sea kayak. If possible, I'll try to get some images up on the blog, though it's likely that my postings won't take place with any sort of regularity for the next week or two.

Thank you for you patience (and patronage to this site).

Matt