Aaron's Photoblog

Self Portait Behind the Scenes

2009-01-06T21:52:00.001-05:00

Here is a self-portrait I took for the 2009 January Photo Challenge:

Other than the fact that I included five of the recent challenge themes in one photo, there is nothing terribly remarkable about the image. What is remarkable is the ghetto lighting set up I used to put it together. Here are some shots of the set up.

Wide angle view:

Here is a detail of the strobe to the left of the chair:

Yes, that is a combination tripod, Cactus v2 receiver, cheap-o flash, Gorillapod, plastic coat hanger, and a white pillow case. What you can't see is the Kleenex rubber-banded to the flash to help soften the light further.

DIY Strobists eat your heart out.

In hindsight, I should have just moved the flash closer to the chair to soften it, but that would not have been nearly as cool as this. Here is a better view of the setup without the pillow case:

Rube-Goldberg photography? Maybe. Fun? Without a doubt. The other aspect that made this an interesting shoot is that I had a hyperactive 4 year old as my "assistant". Nothing like leaving the room for a minute to return to your camera settings gone all awry and your Assistant constantly cheering you on with "Daddy, hurry up and take the picture!" and "Let me see, let me see!".

An Unfortunate Event

2009-01-02T10:23:00.001-05:00

JPG Magazine is closing its doors on January 5, 2009. They are a victim of the current econcomy and just can't get the cash to keep things going. This really too bad.

In case you are unfamiliar with JPG Magazine, it is a publication composed entirely of user created photography. It's like Flickr, but in print and I think the quality of work tends to be a little higher. I'm personally disappointed because I had made it a goal for 2009 to have some piece of work published in the magazine, whether it be a photo or an article. That goal will be crossed off and I'll have to find a new one now.

You can still download all the back issues in PDF format here: Archives

You might also want to pull together your contacts from JPG and see if they are elsewhere for you to keep in touch. I just finished going through my contacts and adding them as Flickr contacts and bookmarking web sites.

Thinking About the People Side of Photography

2008-12-17T08:39:00.001-05:00

Scott Bourne over at TWIP had a post this morning that made me think. Scott was discussing the art side of photography, the human side. While we all love obsessing over new gadgets, gear, and technology, I think we are all primarily motivated by the emotional response we get from photography. Here is my reply to Scott's post.

I've always looked at photography as a chance to share how the world looks through my eyes. For better or worse, I seem to have a non-standard perspective. I see things that other people don't. No, I don't see dead people, but I notice little details, light falling in an interesting way, and relationships between things that don't immediately seem related. When ever I point out one of these observations, people wonder how I came up with the connection. Undiagnosed ADD could have something to do with it. However, regardless of my current mental health, my photography helps me show the world how I see.

That's why I love looking at photographs from others. It gives me insight into what's important to them and from which perspective they observe their surroundings. The more I get into photography the more I realize that it's about people and relationships. Whether the relationship is between the photographer and a model, the photographer and a mountain, or the photographer and some cranes flying through the mist, I think photographs are manifestations of relationships.

Off Camera Lighting

2008-12-13T21:24:00.001-05:00

The siren song of off camera lighting is calling me. I already have a cheap flash and a Catus v2, but I would like to be able to play with at least two off camera flashes. I just read over on Strobist that RadioPopper came out with some new technology. The product that caught my eye is the JrX receiver and transmitter. I think this combined with some Vivtar 285 HV Flashes are what I need to get started.

If I read this article correctly, I can get by with 2 Vivitars, a JrXTransmitter, JrX Receiver, and Wein Peanut Micro Slave and I should be all set. Maybe throw in a couple of light stands. The whole shootin' match should run me around $300, which is about the same price as a single Canon 580 EX.

Camera Selection Dilemma

2008-12-10T22:13:00.001-05:00

I've been shooting with a Rebel XT since it first came on the market. Last year I was ready for a major upgrade to my system and decided to invest in good glass instead of a new body. I bought the Canon 24-105 f/4L and will never be able to buy anything other than L glass ever again.

Now I want to upgrade my camera body. The Canon 50D is very appealing, but the 5D Mk I is a serious contender also even though it is at the extreme edge of my budget. I'll have to spend a lot of political capital with my family CFO to make that purchase.

Reviews I've read on the 50D are all over the board. The review at DPReview says it's Highly Recommended, but barely because the image quality is not that much better than the 40D. However, the feature set on the 50D is awesome:

15.1 MP
Digic4 processor
3 inch screen
LiveView mode
Integrated sensor cleaning
Burst up to 16 RAW images @ 6.5 to 3 fps
High ISO sensitivity

Yes, I must consider the fact that Canon has jammed a ton of receptors into a small sensor, which will result in a lot more noise. I still get more room to use the crop tool and I can always down-sample my image.

The 5D Mk I is a classic that still gives incredible image results largely due to its full frame sensor. Despite the fact that it is old technology, the 5D Mk I is a solid camera capable of spectacular images.

I'm still figuring out my photographic niche and my subject matter is all over the board: portraits, sports, landscapes, and a lot of kid pictures. I need a body that is versatile.

Just to complicate matters, I also have a Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6 EX DG HSM that won't work on the 5D. I could still use it on the Rebel XT, but it would be stuck there. I also have the Canon 50 f/1.8 II, but that works on either EF or EF-S mounts.

Which camera would you recommend?

I'm Published

2008-12-09T21:48:00.001-05:00

I've had a picture published on Schmap!!, a travel guide web site. You can see my photo here: Washington Monument

I really like this photo because I think that it is a unique perspective on an commonly photographed monument. It makes all the stares I got from squatting in an awkwardly crouched position for five minutes worth the embarrassment.

Photographing for "Free"

2008-12-08T22:10:00.001-05:00

There are articles over at TWIP and Strobist talking about photographing subjects for free, i.e. not charging for money for your services. I think that they are both great articles, but I'm not sure it's completely accurate to say that you provide your services for free in the context of these articles. I think that "doing it for free" implies that you receive nothing for your efforts. I don't think that is the case.

When you photograph for "free" I think you are actually trading value with your client but you are using something other than money to represent that value. In the "free" transaction the client obviously receives a piece of photographic work they can use in a limited context. As photographers, we can all see the value of that image. What the photographer receives in return is less tangible, but no less valuable. The value is listed pretty well by David Hobby and Scott Bourne in their respective posts so I won't rehash it here.

I think that it is more accurate to describe photographing for "free" as a barter of services rather than simply a one-sided transaction. With the economy going the way it is, it might not be a bad idea to start brushing up on those bartering skills now.

Come See My Photos at the CNote Art Show

2008-12-08T21:11:00.001-05:00

I've had five photos accepted to the CNote Art Show. The CNote Art Show is a showcase of independent artists in the Columbus, OH area. All works at the show are for sale at a price of just $100, hence the CNote Art show. All proceeds go directly to the artists. There are currently over 300 artists showing their work and over 1000 pieces of work on display and for sale. The work runs the gamut of style and media.

The show takes place on December 12 and 13, 2008 at Junctionview Studios. You can get directions here: Map Private showings are available by appointment. Please contact Junctionview Studios at 614.634.1415 or email them here or here to set up an appointment.

Bees

2008-09-09T20:50:00.001-04:00

I took some pictures of bees going to town on some flowers at Highbanks two weekends ago. I was able to get some really good shots. I really liked this one because I was able to get a honey bee in flight and a bumble bee checking out the flower.

Thank You for the Photo Views!

2008-08-28T21:00:00.001-04:00

Thank you to everyone that stopped by to take a look at my photo! I found out today that I won my local photowalk and have been submitted for consideration to win the Grand Prize! Hooray!

A Shameless Plea for Help

2008-08-24T15:23:00.001-04:00

I participated in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk this past Saturday at the Columbus Ohio [Short North] photowalk. It was a great time and I got some photos I really like. Check out my Flickr set here: Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2008 . However, the one to the left is my favorite and the one that I submitted to our local contest, which will determine our group's submission to the global competition. Winner of our group will depend heavily on the amount of comments and views the photo gets, so if you get a chance please stop by and give me a view and a comment. Thanks!

Moral Compass

2008-08-06T21:41:00.000-04:00

I took this picture while I was listening to the Ohio State Alumni Band performing in Worthington last weekend. I looked up and saw the weathervane that was slightly obscured by some of the trees, but could be nicely framed if I found the right angle. The trouble was that I was in the middle of a performance and didn't have much opportunity to find a new angle. I had to get creative. That's when I thought of my depth of field. I cranked open my aperture to f/4 and zoomed in as far as my telephoto would go. The resulting shallow depth of field removed the offending leaves sufficiently to give me a workable frame for the shot. I did a little Lightroom post processing that included:

cropping to 1x1 dimensions

increasing vibrance

tweaking color saturation

tweaking luminescence saturation

split toning

I really like to contrast between the sharp focus of the weathervane and the blurred leaves in the foreground. Let me know what you think.

test2

2008-08-03T10:57:00.001-04:00

Test 2.

The Tomato Experiment

2008-08-02T16:08:00.002-04:00

This is a shot that resulted from an experiment I did this morning. Cate and I ran down to the Worthington Farmer's Market to get some cherry tomatoes for dinner tonight. We found one of the last quarts of the tomatoes and scooped them up. Once we returned home, I had to wash them. When I was done, I noticed that the water beading up on the tomatoes looked kinda cool so I set up my camera on my Joby tripod and did a long exposure at a high F stop. Specifically, the details are ISO 100, f/14, for 2.5s. I then did some post prod work in Lightroom and came up with this. I like it but it seems to be missing some small item that I can't quite put my finger on. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Monuments in Washington DC

2008-06-18T08:14:00.001-04:00

The Washington Post has an article on the general state of disrepair in which the National Mall finds itself. I was thinking about that as I walked through The Mall a couple of weeks ago. The state of repair I observed seemed to be just about on par with some of the public gardens I visited on my trip to India several years ago.

I took the picture to the left because the state of disrepair struck me. This is the WWI Memorial. In fact, it doesn't even say WWI on it. It just says "The World War". After that much fun, who would want another?

I think public areas and monuments are important to a society. They serve as concrete reminders of the events and people that have forged our current identity. The remind us of the people who helped make us who we are today regardless of whether that is good or bad.

I'm glad to hear that the federal government is ponying up some cash to maintain these reminders.

Washington DC Photos-15

2008-06-17T21:24:00.001-04:00

Washington DC Photos-15
Originally uploaded by schauba

This is one of my attempts at HDR photography. I think you must be careful with HDR or it gets tacky in a hurry. I'm thinking of those shots that seem to include a halo around every object in the picture.

For this shot I kept it simple. I just did a bracketed exposure at +/-2 stops and ran the three images through Photoshop's HDR tool. When I converted image to 16-bit I choose the "Balanced Histogram" option. This looks like mostly like the WWI Memorial when I saw it, i.e. sans halos.

Washington DC Photos-3

2008-06-16T22:16:00.001-04:00

Washington DC Photos-3
Originally uploaded by schauba

This was a fun shot. I was at the Washington Monument trying to figure out something that was at least a little original. This was the best I could come up with. I think the perspective and lines really make the shot. The Monument and flag pole really lead the eye right to the flag.

Liberty 2008

2008-06-13T21:47:00.001-04:00

Liberty 2008
Originally uploaded by schauba

It's been a while since I've posted. Sorry about that but life has been hectic lately. Part of the hecticness involved a trip to Washington DC. The upside is that I got several good shots while I was there and this is one of them.

They were doing some construction on the street in front of the Lincoln Memorial and I happened to look up through the chain link fence to see it . Considering the aggressive infringements on civil liberties over the past eights, the symbolism seemed obvious so I snapped a couple of frames.

The original was in color, but I thought the black and white made emphasized the starkness I was looking for. I made a few other adjustments, to contrast, blackness, and exposure. I also cranked up the vignetting. I love vignetting.

Some Thoughts on Evaluating Workflow

2008-06-01T21:07:00.001-04:00

I just read an interesting article over on Black Star Rising that discussed grading photographic work in the academic world. It was interesting to see how someone who grades photos for a living plies his trade. The big ego booster for me is that his technique is very similar to mine.

Here is my photo evaluation process:

Go/No-Go Pass

This is the initial review. I look at the photo for about three seconds and determine if I like it. If I like it, it gets Lightroom's little white flag. If not, it gets Lightroom's little black flag with the "X". This usually cuts the pool of good shot candidates down by at least half.

Seeing Stars

Next I use Lightroom's Star ratings to place a quality score on the remaining images. One star sucks and five stars rocks. Here is the rough criteria:

1 Star - Bad snap shot. Someone walked in front of me, slightly out of focus, way too dark/light, unexpected results.
2 Stars - Bad snapshot but salvageable with serious Photoshop magic is required to yield anything I'd consider framing and hanging on my wall.
3 Stars - A good snapshot. My Mom could put the camera on Auto and taken the picture. Composition is OK and exposure is technically correct. I can put these on Flickr and not be too embarrassed.
4 Stars - These cause me to stop briefly and say "Huh. That's pretty good. A non-family member might consider hanging this in their home." Good composition, technically correct exposure, the shot came out as I intended.
5 Stars - I successfully channeled Ansel Adams long enough to snap the shutter. There are not many of these. There are maybe five of these in my catalog and I was probably too generous with my evaluation.

Adjust and Review

I'll go back through the photos with 2 stars and see if they are worthy of salvage and if salvation is possible. I'll go back through and increase the Star Rating if it is appropriate.

My Watch-1

2008-05-29T21:26:00.001-04:00

My Watch-1
Originally uploaded by schauba

This was just a shot I took on a whim and it turned out pretty well. I saw the streak of light on the dresser and it occurred to me to put the watch in the streak. I took a couple of shots to make sure I got the depth of field right. I wound up with a bunch of similar shots, but I liked this one the best. The only post processing I did was a little cropping.

I'm Working from Home This Morning

2008-05-29T09:21:00.002-04:00

Crack in the Road

2008-05-28T22:27:00.001-04:00

Crack in the Road
Originally uploaded by schauba

I was wrapping up the photo shot at the American Triple T race and happened to notice this crack in the road. It took a couple of tries as I could not see through the view finder but I was please with this result. the depth of field really highlights the crack, specifically the one stone on the left edge of the crack. I like the green and blue at the top also. I think it balances the monochrome of the bottom nicely.

How to Pull an Image Out of the Crapper

2008-05-27T22:18:00.001-04:00

I got to spend the better part of Saturday photographing the HFP Racing American Triple T triathlon. There were a lot of great photo ops at the race, but I just stumbled into the one below.

I was on my way to the start when I saw this herd of triathletes making their way from the transition area to the swim start. I thought it was an awesome shot and started shooting away. Fortunately, I also did a little chimping and noticed that my camera was still set for the dark, shaded area of the transition. My shot was waaay over exposed. I quickly made adjustments and got a few more images but none of them were as good as this first one.

I didn't give up hope though, because I have Lightroom and Photoshop. I fired up Lightroom and started adjusting exposure, curves, contrast, white balance, and anything else I could thing of with no luck. The image was almost usable except the color was atrocious.

Then it hit me: Make it black and white, stupid.

What a great idea. So I did and you can see the result. The moral of the story is that monochrome gives you some added flexibility that color doesn't. If you have a shot with great composition but you completely borked the color, don't forget your old friend black and white.

May Photo Challenge 3

2008-05-03T22:37:00.002-04:00

May Photo Challenge 3
Originally uploaded by schauba

This is the third photo for the May Photo Challenge. The theme is still beverage. I'm starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. I'm a big fan of beverages in general and have a lot of those pictures already. Maybe this is an opportunity to take a second shot at some of those photos to see if my experience and skill has improved.

When I tackled this shot at first I was completely at a loss for what to do. Then I remembered all the bar stuff I had and that bar tools might be a legitimate way to twist the "beverage" theme this week.

I was not very happy with my initial color versions so I changed to gray scale in Lightroom. The shot improved considerably. The next step was to fool around with Contrast, Fill Light, and Curves. It was almost there but I needed a little extra somethin-somethin...then I saw the Vignette option. I flipped things around a little though. This time I have a light vignette instead of a dark one. This turned the contrast of the entire shot from being balanced to high-key. High-key was what the shot needed. The light background and the dark foreground framed the shot nicely.

May Photo Challenge 2

2008-05-02T20:44:00.002-04:00

This is my second shot for the May Photo Challenge. I try to drink a cup of green tea every day. The problem is that green tea tastes like grass clippings soaking in the hot sun all day. Fortunately, Tazo infuses a little mint and lemon grass to cut the grass clipping undertones. I had my camera at work today and the pattern of the tea bag packages caught my eye.

I made a few minor changes to the original shot. I increase the exposure a little and emphasized the blacks and shadows in Lightroom. I also pumped up the vibrancy a little to make the green pop a little more.