PixelatedImage Blog

Hey folks, thanks for being patient with my rant yesterday. Canon did little to help, but my local drug camera dealer - Leo’s Camera’s in Vancouver - went above and beyond, getting me a new 85/1.2L lens that is not only perfect, but here in time for me to not stew about whether I will have it for the trip. Mad props, as they say, to Leo’s. And that’s why I buy my important gear from a brick and mortar store staffed with people who know my name.

In other news - Chase Jarvis, of whom I am a fan - has put out a post asking you and I to be his photo editors. Check it out HERE.

Strobist links a cool video from another “trash the dress” shoot HERE and as a follow up there’s a post about the kite-mounted remote-controlled G9 HERE.

Is getting one of your images onto the front of a Lonely Planet guide one of your career goals - read on HERE.

Looking to put up a fast and slick online portfolio? You get portfolio space as part of your NAPP MEMBERSHIP, but here’s another one, and it’s even free-er. Though way less benefits than NAPP. Check out CARBONMADE.

Want a few minutes to work on your chops and take some great images of a Sumo wrestler washing his Subaru? C’mon, you know you wanna. Subaru Canada has a really fun interactive campaign that allows you to shoot and post-process your images - too fun. Check it out HERE. (See, we canucks are fun. Subaru US site? Boring. Subaru Canada? Sumo wrestlers and interactive photo shoots. We OWN fun. I don’t know what it has to do with selling SUVs…)

Adobe will be announcing the new CS4 on September 23rd. I always approach these  things with a mix of joy and pain. More learning just as I am finally coming to grips with CS3. Stay tuned.

Photokina is nearly upon us and with it the unleashing of more can’t-live-without-it gear that only two months ago we all lived just fine without. Sony is announcing a new SLR, Canon - we hope - will be announcing the follow-up to the 5D, and all kinds of makers will be announcing new bags, tripods, and gadgets we’ll all drool over. So it’s good to take stock now of your gear and appreciate it for these last few weeks. Because at the end of the month you’re going to hate it. Remember, if the current gear can’t give us the images we want, it’s not likely the new batch will get us any closer. Faster, bigger, cooler, shinier - yes. But images that more closely match your vision, not likely. Let’s keep it in perspective. Together we can get through this time of mass hysteria. Now would be a good time to lock up your wallet.

I’ve got posts planned for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And then I leave and after that it gets thin. Brace yourself.

Is it that hard, Canon? I love your cameras. I love your optics and their sexy red collars. But your service? It is hard to imagine how it could be worse. I’ve yet to hear a good service story - from anyone - anywhere in the world. Sure, you can get CPS in some places. And it’s free. And time and time again I hear about working professionals who trust you to do right by them, fix the gear their livelihood depends upon, and do it in a timely fashion. What I do not hear is stories of how you blew them out of the water with your excellent service. Only how you blew them off.

I bought an EF 85/1.2L lens recently. It cost $2000. Not a cheap investment. But when I found - 3 weeks after my purchase -  an artifact the size of a corn flake had worked its way loose (ok, it only looked like a corn flake) - the service I got was nothing but a maybe. Maybe it’s warrantee-able. Maybe we’ll get it to you in a couple weeks. My local vendor went to bat for me, and they got the blow off too.

Nikon makes exceptional cameras. They make damn good optics. Their strobes are better. All you’d have to do, Canon, is step up to the plate and honour your customers. You know how when we were all in high school and we wanted to make a break-up easier? How we used to say, “It’s not you, it’s me…”? Well, it’s not me, it’s you. And you’re on thin-ice baby.

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I almost called in sick today and didn’t post, but why waste a chance to vent, right? I love my gear, and I love my optics - when it all works. But a fan boy for Canon? I just lost my innocence. Where are the consumer advocates? And why in the tight-run race between Nikon and Canon does the Canon Mothership not see a chance to score some serious points with professionals? Maybe I don’t even want to hear the answers…

Thus endeth the rant.

A week ago I wrote a post for Scott Kelby’s blog. You can read it all HERE. While there are so many things I could add to it, there’s one I left out, so this is the bonus.

6. Be An Assistant

Assisting another photographer is not only a great deal of fun, it’s a chance to learn technique and vision from a photographer with more experience and a different skill set than you. For the last two weeks I’ve been putting on my location assistant hat and working with my friend Kevin Clark on a print campaign for a high-end fitness studio in Vancouver. I don’t shoot this kind of stuff. Ever. I photograph children in Africa, or Yaks in Mongolia. Ferrari’s in Vancouver? No idea what to do with that. But Kevin does and working with him allows me to learn new skills, all of them transferable. It also, and this is key, gives me a chance to do some exciting creative collaboration and learn a little more about this whole craft.

The moment you put on your big-man hat and are too good to assist another photographer, you’re depriving yourself of the chance to learn, to branch out and learn transferable skills.

The shot above is a composite of a number of images taken over several hours and transformed by Robert Marks, Kevin’s brilliant studio manager and photoshop guru. I just mostly carried gear and took mental notes, and every time I’m out schlepping gear I learn something new about lights, or process, or vision. Or I get sore. But I also get to play, and to contribute my own vision and thoughts. I love it. It’s hard work, but a great deal of fun.

If you can find someone to assist, and you have the time, do it.

Check out Kevin’s exceptional work HERE, and his food photography HERE. And his blog HERE.

Hey folks. I’m out shooting on location today and just never got around to writing something last night, so this one is going to be a post-labour-day note to say I’m not blogging today. It’s now one week and one day until I head out again and thus begins crazy-time. Check in again tomorrow, I’ll have something for you. Until then, pop over to Scott Kelby’s blog and see what’s going on there. Photoshop World starts soon, and in the run-up to that there should be more going on over there than there is here.

Oh, one more thing. Reader Damien Jemison, up for a Guru Award at Photoshop World, ordered one of the VISION t-shirts and loves it. I wasn’t going to let anyone order them until I’d seen them myself, but Damien made a good case and wanted one so badly I couldn’t possibly say no. So for all of you who left comments, I’m still waiting until I see them myself, but I’m hoping to be able to release them for consumption within the week. Another friend, Nicole Gibson is also a finalist for the same Guru Award - good luck to you both!

For anyone that’s interested in this kind of thing (you’re sick people and you need help), I’ve published my packing list for the upcoming trip. I’m also doing this to make it available to our Lumen Dei team as a resource. I might add a few things, might remove a few, but this is a pretty close match to what I’m packing for seven weeks in Ladakh and Kathmandu. Consider this a supplement to the post I did last week. I know, I know, I don’t exactly pack ultra-light, don’t even start…

Downloadable PDF - Click HERE

**Update - Be sure to check out Matt Brandon’s post about this article. He adapted mine and distilled the list into iPhone compatible checklists. Dude has way too much time on his hand or he’s even more organized than I am. Either option is scary. Link HERE.

I’m in India - mostly Ladakh - from September 10 until Sept 27, then in Nepal - mostly Kathmandu - until October 24. I’ll spend much of my time within site of Stupas and prayer flags, and while in Kathmandu will be living not far from this one. Because of my extended absence and the difficulty in posting larger files, I’ve decided to do a rare 2-for-1 wallpaper this month.

As usual, click the image to get a larger one then right click and you should be able to set it as a desktop. Windows users, you’re on your own, but I’m sure you know the drill. This image is 1280×853. If you want a larger one, click HERE for a 2560×1600 version.

I know, for a guy who’s always going on and on about the dangers of gear lust, I’m suspiciously inconsistent. But what’re you gonna do, right?

I leave for India in 12 days. So here’s some visual aids re. my packing for this coming trip. I put my Pocket Wizard on my G9 and fired a couple strobes off a wall into my office. The G9 continues to impress me. But this isn’t about that…

Here’s my total kit heading out for 7+ weeks.

Checked: Stormcase, Mountain Hardwear Expedition Duffle
Carry On: Think Tank Airport Security, Think Tank Urban Disguise 60

Here’s how my Airport Security is packed

All the gear below goes into the A.S. while my laptop, Canon G9, and personal items go into the Urban Disguise. I won’t bore you with breaking that one down. Non-essential photography gear is packed into the Stormcase. See below for a complete breakdown. I have removed all padded dividers from my main bag, except the ones separating my cameras. The padded Think Tank Modular bags pad my other gear. Dividers just weigh things down and make packing less flexible.

My Think Tank A.S. carries:

2 x Canon 5D bodies, 5 lenses: 70-200/2.8L, 80/1.2L, 50/1.4, 17-40/4.0L (not shown), 24-70/2.8L, hoods for all, 1 xEF-12 extension tube, 80GB CF Lexar CF cards in 2 x Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rockets, 250 GB Colorspace O, Polaroid POGO, Blackrapid RS-1 R-straps, 2 x 250 OWC Firewire drives in David Honl Gear wraps, Canon Remote trigger, 2 Think Tank Modular Pouches each with 1 Canon charger and 4 BP-511A batteries, 1 Hoodman Loupe, 2 Think Tank Cable Management 10 clear pouches with Lexar card readers, Apple AC cable, misc accessories, sensor brushes, etc. Back right are the Modular and Skins pouches for transporting the lenses. I work out of these on arrival.

And in each of the others:

In my hard case - Sierra Designs sleeping bag, Pocket Wizards, Canon 580EX strobe, Gitzo Basalt Tripod and Head, ziploc bags containing meal bars and granola bars, first aid and sterile sharps kit.

In my duffle bag - Personal Clothing, Down Jacket, rain gear, trekking boots, toiletries, 5-in-1 reflector (large), 1 Mountain Hardwear day pack, Think Tank Steroid Belt and 2 Digital Holsters, tool/repair kit, extra plug adaptors and power bar.

For a complete packing list, check in on Monday.

A word about carry on luggage. It is impossible for me to carry on my important gear and still be under the so-called legal limit. If it is demanded that I check my A.S. bag - which is legal for domestic but not international flights - I’d put everything important into my Urban Disguise, switching the personal gear and the shooting gear, and sling my camera over my shoulder. The rule is - if I need it to shoot or stay alive (insulin), it doesn’t leave me. Ever. But thus far I’ve never been so much as asked to weigh my carry-on. For more on packing and flying as a photographer be sure to check in with FlyingWithFish.

Shot this at a picnic last weekend with the G9. I had to take his toys away for hours before he finally had a meltdown. Just kidding. It was a grab shot, one of those flukes that just turns out expressing the moment. If it works for you it’s a good example of emotion trumping “perfect” technique. If it doesn’t work for you, it’s just a bad example of really slow shutter speed. Before you send me hate mail for taking photographs while the little guy had his meltdown, he’s not mine. His dad was on it, I was just the insensitive friend documenting the over-tiredness - it’s more fun that way.

My guest blog spot over on Photoshop Insider is over and I’m back in home pastures, but it was a really wonderful experience. Thanks to all for the kind feedback.

Scott Kelby asked me to do a guest spot over on the Photoshop Insider today, so mosey on over there for your fix of daily pixelatedimage goodness. If you’ve come here from Scott’s blog - Welcome. Scott’s a How-To guy, and I tend to preach the Why-To sermons. But I sneak in the odd how-to article or something about gear, it keeps the geeks from mutiny. The big bar at the top will take you to my portfolio, a huge stack of my articles, and other resources. Scroll down and you’ll find over three years of opinions, ill-advised rants, and miscellanea.

See you back here tomorrow.

Mark Twain once admonished us not to let school get in the way of our education. I think it’s fair to say we shouldn’t let the lack of school get in the way, either.

In the coming weeks it’s back to school time for kids and young adults across Canada and the USA, and beyond. Kids are gearing up for another year of awkwardness and emotional pain as they jockey to find their place on the social rung. What could be more fun than getting ready for another year of creating scars that will last the rest of their lives? It makes me nauseaous to think about it. BUT that’s not what this is about. I’m over those jerks. No, this is about you. And me. And education.

So I’ll put it to you bluntly - what’s your education plan for the year? Have you chosen your classes? Your books? Your teachers? Sure, you might be out of school, but let that take you away from intentionally learning your craft for too long and you’ll begin a devolution in your skills and marketability.

My challenge to you:

1. Pick one workshop or convention to attend this year
2. Choose one topic you’ll dig deeper into this year.
3. Make a list of 6 books - that’s only one every two months - that you’ll study.
4. Find a mentor, an Obi Wan to your Skywalker.