I’ve been published again – well, sort of.

Anyone ever heard of Schmap online travel and map guides?

Nope, me neither.  Regardless, I’ve allowed them to use one of my more average photos of a wallaby in their latest guide to Melbourne.

Apparently they are best known for their iPhone app and blog widgets, allowing people to quickly call up maps of whichever international tourist destination they happen to be traveling around.  The editor contacted me through Flickr, asking to use this shot to represent the Healesville Sanctuary.

At first I cringed, thinking that’s a terribly lit photo from a not very compelling angle (in other words, a snapshot) and wanted to offer her a bunch of really excellent flora and fauna shots from both Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Zoo to choose from instead.  Then, after thinking about it, I realised that it would be best not to waste too much time on this as the chances of someone seeing the shot on their iPhone and suddenly getting the urge to contact Rock Portrait Photography, or even just take a look at more of my photos, is next to zero.

What this experience illustrates is that even though there are millions of photos and many thousands of subscribers on Flickr, there is still a reasonable possibility of exposure to those looking for something specific.  Makes me re-think my current view on what I post to Flickr.  Currently I post very little of my professional work on there as I don’t like the idea of it being open to re-use without my permission.  Even though I apply an appropriate  Creative Commons licence to all my images I still have to rely on people respecting that, as it’s nearly impossible to track down unauthorised use of online images.

But lets face it, the iPhone is kind of cool so having one of my shots occasionally appear in one is cool by association.

Update – buying and using a DSLR for beginners

A little while ago I posted a link to a site providing some basic info for those making the transition into theworld of the Digital SLR (DSLR).

http://site.rockportrait.com.au/2008/08/27/upgrading-from-a-point-and-shoot-to-a-dslr/

Yesterday I stumbled on CNet’s much better version of this, so I’ve made it available to you all here.  The content that really stands out to me is the workflow section.  This is a critical component of digital photography yet few actually consider it so until after they enter chaos or panic stage.  Once you start creating and collecting all that digital data you really do need a time-effective, and safe means of managing and protecting it.  My own process took a while to put together, but works well. I use a number of products to make my life easy (see below), and I store my precious photos in four different locations – the process of which is fully automated. Seems like a lot of trouble? Maybe, but well worth it when the hard drive crashes (it will) or the house burns down (I hope it won’t, but it happens).

http://www.cnet.com.au/digitalcameras/cameras/0,239036184,240001942,00.htm?ocid=nl_w_01122008_fea_l1?omnRef=1337

Saves me having to go through it with you, although you know I love it
Please read through this, but if you still want a human being to help you with your questions about getting into the DSLR side of things, feel free to get in touch.

The main tools of my trade:

GretagMacbeth Display Calibrator – not the best available, but cheap, and if you are serious about making great shots you need to calibrate your monitor regularly.

BreezeSys Downloader Pro – I couldn’t live without this.  With very little input It allows me to create and populate all the backup locations I need, as well as add the EXIF data (image identification and copyright info) and rename and deliver all my images to my working directories.  It kicks in the moment my camera or card reader is detected by the computer.

BreezeSys Breezebrowser Pro – not critical, but a useful and rapid way of creating proofs. It will do a lot more, but I use Lightroom for my other image manipulation requirements.

Adobe Lightroom – The best thing for photographers since sliced cheese, and almost replaces Photoshop. An affordable way to manage and manipulate your images, including the output stages – web pages, printing, uploading, slideshows.  Supports plugins and extensions. The latest version lets you make locational changes like spot removal and specific exposure modifications without affecting the entire image.  Most of all I love the filter plugins – make’s black and white and wild effects so easy.

Google Picasa – Hey!  You other photographers out there, don’t laugh! For a free product this thing is amazingly good.  When it comes to my snapshots (you know, the non-pro stuff I’m sure you all do as well?) I want a really fast way of polishing my images and getting them online.  This does exactly that.  And don’t underestimate how good the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button is.  They’re a clever bunch those Googleheads.  And yes, I’m a fanboy.

Adobe Photoshop – The beeze neeze of photography tools, but becoming less relevant as Lightroom ramps up. Far too expensive for anyone but genuine pros, but also by far the best product out there to fully control your images.

Wacom Pen Tablet – Until you’ve used one of these you think the mouse is all you need. However, making accurate exposure changes, and drawing objects in and out of images is so much more natural with a pen tablet.

Syncback – Do you backup? I bet you don’t.  Hey, almost no-one does! In every job I’ve worked in the backup process wasn’t refined, and in some cases didn’t even exist, until after a disaster.  So – BACKUP!!!! OFTEN!!!  Syncback has a free version that does everything for you when you are asleep.

Filezilla FTP Client – Finally, you need a way to get your images online if you are running your own web server (easier than you might think). Why give your copyright away to Flickr, Myspace or Facebook? (Did you even know you were doing that?) Host your own images.  Use FTP to manage your site.

That’s all for today.  Have fun installing and playing with your new workflow management tools!

Easily keep up with your favourite blogs

Browsing through the internet as I tend to do quite often, I stumbled upon a solution looking for a problem.  Well, the problem already exists in Australia at least – people don’t understand RSS feeds and don’t remember to regularly view their favourite web pages to check for new content.

I’d like to make it easier for you to know when I post new content, so I have three options for you.

• Subscribe to my newsletter.
  This is by far the easiest option. Every time I write a new blog entry you will receive an email that day telling you about my post.  Simply enter your email address into the eNews & Updates box in the top right of each page, or use the one I’ve included for you here. 

  eNews & Updates

  Sign up to receive breaking news
  as well as receive other site updates!

   

 

• Use an RSS reader.
  RSS means really simple syndication, and it’s a way to automatically see the headlines (and sometimes full posts) of any new content added to an RSS-enabled website. All blogs are RSS-enabled, and many sites these days will be too.  The more geeky of us will have a dedicated RSS reader already downloaded and installed, but I strongly recommend Google Reader.  Once you’re signed up for Google Reader you only need to find “Subscribe” links in the web sites you are viewing to be able to add them to the Reader.  And while you’re at it, sign up for a Gmail account.  It’s far superior to Hotmail or Yahoo, and I’ll go so far as to say it will beat whatever else you are using hands down.  Contact me to have a chat about it if you have questions.
   
• A third option is appealing to those who prefer to use email only, and are not big on browsing to other web sites to see what’s going on. 
  http://lifehacker.com/5080971/tabbloid-turns-your-rss-feed-into-a-newspaper 

  It doesn’t appear to include any photographs, and I got bored of the idea after two deliveries, but perhaps it might suit you.  Simply give them your email address and the addresses of all the feeds you are interested in.  Bingo! New magazine style emails every day for you to browse through without ever leaving your email application.

Upgrading from a “point and shoot” to a DSLR

I’m forever being asked about DSLRs and which one to buy for newbies.
There is no right or wrong answer to that question, so all I can do is explain at a basic level why you should do it, and which cameras and lenses are important for what purposes.

To save some time in the future I have posted a link to an article posted by the Age on this topic.
Before you read it, be aware that this reviewer has only looked at cameras from the perspective that you are only going to buy one camera (body) including the included (kit) lens.
For the average amateur that is fine and good, but if you get the bug, and I bet you will, you will need more lenses according to your interests.  Please be aware that LENSES are the most important thing, not the camera body.
After all, you capture light traveling through glass, not electrons traveling through plastic and gadgetry.

So, my advice to you after reading this post is to consider the Canon and Nikon bodies first, as they have the largest and best possible lens range available.  Don’t get me wrong, the Sony is a great camera, and if you are certain you will not get bitten hard by the photography bug then go ahead and buy that one off the shelf. They too, have decent lenses, but nowhere near the range of Nikon & Canon.
Also, be aware that without spending a fair bit more on a better lens at time of purchase, the stock “kit” lens that comes with these cameras is usually not a lot better than a boat anchor.  Enjoy using it to learn photography, but your photography will benefit greatly with an upgrade as soon as you have started to understand what you are doing.

So, finally, here’s the link to the Choosing a DLSR camera article.

Tags: camera, DSLR, upgrade, compact, tutorial