Let’s get down to basics. What’s in your camera bag? Do you own one?

I have tried bags of all sizes. My favorite bag is a backpack style bag called the “Flipside 400AW,” and it is made by Lowepro. It took me a while to get used to it, but I love it now. This backpack opens from the “inside” (the part next to your back). For me, it is counter-intuitive, but it has its advantages. You can lay it down and unzip it in seconds. With everything in its own compartment, it is easy to find whatever you’re looking for. And of course, backpacks are great for hiking or just carrying equipment long distances.

So what’s in my bag? Near the top is my camera—a Nikon D300. I keep a lens attached. This is the beauty of my bag. With my old bag, I had to remove my lens after each shoot. Most of my shoots involve a digital camera, so it is important to avoid changing lenses under “hostile environments” (e.g. the beach).

My favorite portrait lens is the Tamron 28 – 75 mm (F 2.8). It is less expensive than a Nikon or Sigma, but this is a fine lens. I love the crisp, fast focus. And, of course, the wide opening (2.8) comes in handy when I’m shooting under available light.

This bag has room for a second (backup) camera and lots of accessories. I admit to being a pack-rat when it comes to loading up my back. I like to follow the “boy scout” concept of being prepared for every contingency. Sometimes I have to be creative—like the time I used my house keys to attach my tripod. The model found it amusing.

We can’t forget the accessories. I always carry a blower and disposable lens wipes. My favorite blower is the Giottos Rocket Air Blower.  It is actually shaped like a rocked.  It does a great job cleaning lenses and sensors.  It is best to blow the dust off the lens before wiping with a cloth. I like the disposable paper wipes because cloth can build up fingerprints. I also like the lens cleaner made by Eclipse. It is mostly methanol, so it evaporates quickly and doesn’t leave streaks.

Don’t forget a backup camera battery and other (AA or AAA) batteries. I prefer rechargeable batteries for my flashes, so I always put them in a bag after I re-charge them. I carry my flashes separately. I attached three flashes and an exposure meter to a long shoulder strap. Sometimes I carry them separately, and sometimes I lay them in a cloth bag. It all depends on where I am going for my shoot (and how much I want to carry).

I usually carry a filter or two. I also carry my collapsible lens hood.

That’s it for my bag. In later posts, I will describe flashes, tripods, and backdrops.

Originally posted:  February 1st, 2010

Data Management

Today’s topic is rather mundane, but every digital photographer needs to manage memory and data.

I want to begin by saying my way is not the only way. There are many ways to store and keep track of memory, and I certainly welcome suggestions.

For those who missed my earlier post, I shoot with the Nikon D300. This is a 12 megapixel camera. A typical image is 4288 x 2848 pixels. At 300 dpi, this would produce
a photo of approximately 9 1/2″ x 14″. This size allows ample room for cropping to produce an 8″ x 10″. If you want to push the envelope, you could reduce the pixels
slightly to create an 11″ x 14″.

The D300 stores its images on a Compact Flash card. When I look at memory cards, I usually start by looking for the biggest card (by dimension). I typically use a
4 GB (gigabyte) card. I prefer the SanDisk Extreme III memory card. It is fast and durable. I won’t be chasing any lions across the safari anytime soon, but
I feel safer knowing that if I bump my card (or camera), my memory card won’t break in half. I have dropped a card (2 or 3 feet) a few times, and I’ve never destroyed one.

Now I’ll crunch some numbers. I usually shoot in RAW + JPEG. This means that each shot produces two files (one RAW file and one JPEG file). A RAW file typically
requires 25 MB and a JPEG is typically about 3 MB. So, 25 + 3 = 28 MB (for each photo taken). At this rate, a 4 MB card will hold approximately
143 shots (a total of 286). Of course, the file size varies (depending on ISO, available light, exposure, etc.) I estimate these file sizes using an ISO of 200. If I
use a higher ISO (e.g. 400), the images will take up more space.

Since I typically shoot at ISO 200, I can get about 140 shots per disk. I usually estimate about 100 shots per disk when I’m planning my shoot.

After I fill up a memory card, I copy the files to an external hard drive. I could transfer them to my laptop, but I ocassionally drop it on the floor, so it is not
the safest place to store photos. I have been fortunate, and this is only my second hard drive–but I still won’t take chances.

After copying my files to the external hard drive, I copy them to a CD or a DVD. As many times as I’ve used DVDs, I don’t completely trust them. Without getting into
the technical details, I believe data is safer on a CD than a DVD. For very important files (e.g. a wedding), I will burn an archival CD or DVD. Archival media are guaranteed
for a number of years, and this is because of the materials used (archival media use gold instead of other metals).

After I save up some money, I plan to buy a second external hard drive (as a backup).

Now remember: a hard drive will typically lose data over time. Over a 10 year period, an entire hard drive is likely to become useless–even if it just sits in a closet.
My advice is to back up all of your data onto a fresh external hard drive at least once every 5 years. I’m not practicing what I’m preaching (just yet, anyway). But I
am backing up my data on CD and DVD, so I’m almost there.

Originally posted: November 6th, 2009

I was recently hired to take portraits at a church party.  This was their 30 year anniversary, so it was a big deal for everybody.  I did not receive “the memo” about the dress code (semi-formal), but it was “all good”.  Most of the men wore suits, and the women wore dresses.  I had on khakis (with a decent shirt).  My son (Chris) was my assistant–he was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt.  I felt a little out of place at first.

Another photographer arrived shortly before I did.  He was wearing a suit.  I said to myself, “you could have dressed up a little.”  I started to sweat for a few seconds, but the hostess straightened things out.  While the photographer was setting up his tripod, the hostess explained to him that she got things mixed up.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  He was wearing a suit, but I brought my printer.  Perhaps the “on-the-spot” printing clinched the deal, or maybe she had actually called me first.  I’ll never know for sure.

A few people asked me if I was reading to take photos.  I explained that it would take me a few minutes to set up.

The setting was fantastic.  The was at a place called “Grand Affairs”.  They routinely host parties, so they know how to design a party room.  The room included a large area for tables and chairs, a podium, a dance floor, and best of all a portrait area.  This portrait area was complete with Grecian columns, green plants, lights, and a chair!

Setup was easy for me.  I did not have to put up a backdrop, and I had an electrical outlet nearby.  I also had a few small tables (for my printer, cards, etc.).  Everything was conveniently placed.  All I had to do was set up a light on a stand (with an umbrella).  I used my Nikon D300 camera.  I also used an SB-900 on camera and an SB-800 with an umbrella.  The SB-800 was the main light.  I used the SB-900 as a fill flash (bounced off the ceiling).  I shot everything in RAW, so almost all photos had “perfect” exposure.  One or two people did not buy their photos, but only one was due to exposure (dark clothing).

I did make one serious error.  I have been kicking myself ever since.  My Nikon has a a dial with the letters “C”, “S”, and “M”.  The dial was set to “C”.  This dial is for the autofocus, and my setting was “C”.  This can reek havok for portraits.  “C” stands for “continuous servo”.  It was designed for moving objects.  Basically, the camera tries to track the object.  The desired setting was “S” (single servo).  In single servo mode, I can focus on the subject’s eyes and then re-compose.  I typically shoot in single servo.  Somehow, I had accidentally switched this knob.  I thought I was “doing good”.  This was also my son’s first photo event.  He should have noticed a few photos being out of focus, and he should have told me.  He did tell me about a “low ink” message, but he didn’t know what to look for.  So a “bad” image (with a red blur) slipped through.

So I have a few “training” issues (mostly my son).  I am getting better at preparing for events.  Before the party, I sat down with my flashes and tested them in all modes.  So there was no fidgeting with flashes.  Now I just need to add the “C,S,M knob” to my checklist.

Still, overall, the portraits were excellent.  My experience paid off.  I still need to buy an extra printer (or two).  My son agreed that a second printer would have made a big difference.  It won’t fit into this year’s budget, but hopefully next year….

Originally posted:  October 13th, 2009

Less than two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to set up my portable studio at a high school reunion.  This reunion was for my high school, but not for my class.  Consequently, I did not recognize anyone there.  That worked well for me, since I was “working” anyway.  For me, photography is more a form of play, but that’s another story.

I never received an actual head count, but I took slightly more than 100 photos (many of them consisted of groups).  To be honest, this was a learning opportunity for me.  In fact, every photo shoot is a learning opportunity.  Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1)  Bring a large backdrop.  I was anticipating a small, crowded room, so I brought my 5′ x 7′ backdrop. It is my favorite (because of the sky and cloud scene), but it was not designed for groups larger than two or possibly three people.  At times, I had five or six people trying to crowd into the scene (making it difficult to compose the shots with enough background).

2)  Create a sign with “photo times” .  The party ran from 10 PM until 2 AM, and I was still clicking shots at 1:45 AM.  Very bad!  Yes, I had my reasons (a slow printer), but I could have been firm.

3)  Bring a fast printer.  My current printer (an HP Photosmart A637) is a real workhorse.  It has printed hundreds of photos with few jams.  The color is excellent.  But it takes about a minute and a half to print a 4″ x 6″.   Multiply that by 100 people, and you have a long line!

4)  Don’t let them turn the lights down!  Near the end, someone dimmed the lights.  This reeked havoc on my auto focus.  I have a half dozen shots that are out of focus.  I re-shot a few of these, but it added to the time squeeze near the end.

5)  If possible, hire an assistant.  Although I did have time to breathe, there were quite a few moments when I felt overwhelmed.  I would take about 40 shots, remove the flash card, and then put the flash card in my printer (to print all the pics).  A small paper feeder meant the printer required attention.  And, of course, I had to change a print cartridge (under dim lighting).  Fortunately, I had my flashlight with me!

6)  Create your URL (for your website) ahead of time.  For me, it would have been a simple thing to create a folder on my website before the event.  Then I could have printed it out and placed flyers on the table.

7)  Place your business cards on the table early (to allow everyone to grab a copy).

That pretty much covers things.  I admit that I am hard on myself.  I have received a few compliments on my photos.  Unfortunately, I have yet to sell any of them.  After leaving the event, most people forget about the photographer.  So far, only one person has called.  Still, it is “all good”.  I walk away from each event with added knowledge and experience.  As they say, “experience is the best teacher.”

Originally posted:  September 5th, 2009

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to shoot at a hair salon.  I had met the owner through a networking group.  One day, I decided to drop in, and we discussed her new updates to her webpage.  She talked me into doing a few shots for free–with the hope of meeting her clients later.

I arrived at the salon just a little before 4 PM.  After carrying my gear in, I fumbled around with my equipment.  Fortunately, the owner was busy with her clients and didn’t pay me any mind.  I had decided to use two flashes–one with an umbrella (the main or key light) and one bouncing off the ceiling (for fill).  For some reason, I could not get my on-camera flash to set off the remote.  I was working with 3 flashes (to get 2 to work), so it seemed odd that all all my flashes could be malfunctioning.  I finally resigned myself to connecting a cable between the flashes (I came prepared).

So now I asked for the subjects.  My first subject was a man.  He had short hair already, so he joked about sitting in the chair waiting for a haircut.  After I let him put on the sheet, I agreed.  I decided that he should stand up near the chair.  After several shots (using aperature priority), I noticed that his face had a lot of glare.  I handed him my light meter, took a reading, and shot again.  Still, there was glare.  Finally, he suggested repositioning himself and voila!  The lighting was perfect.

It took me several more subjects to figure out the problem.  I was seeing a pattern: the first shot looked a little dark (but no glare), but the subsequent shots had glare.  Finally it occurred to me that the mirror was the culprit.  I had looked at the angles, and I thought “there is no way that mirror will produce glare”.  Somehow, my umbrella bounced off one or more mirrors and put glare on my subject’s face.  Near the end, I figured out that the umbrella flash was not firing on the first shot for each subject.  Apparently, the flash went into hibernation mode until after the first shot.  So I decided to turn off the umbrella and just use a bounce flash.  The photos came out great.

So, lesson learned: beware of mirrors.  I had been warned, but I never understood the effect.  A friend of mine is a professional (with lots of paying clients), and he told me about the mirror in his studio.  He does a lot of bridal shots, and brides need a mirror.  He has a sheet that rolls up and down to cover the mirror.  He could probably use a shade to make things easier.  Of course, my options were limited.  I could bring in a portable background to block the mirror.  I’m still trying to decide how complicated I will make my next shoot.  It is ironic to look at all this elaborate setup and then to see the solution-a simple bounce flash!

Originally posted:  August 17th, 2009

A few weeks ago, I learned a painful lesson about “radio poppers.”  Radio popper is slang for a combination of a radio transmitter with two or more radio receivers.  The transmiter is attached to the hot shoe of the camera, and the receivers are attached to the flashes (monolights with umbrellas).  The radio poppers fire the flashes.  There are several reasons for using radio waves to fire the flashes, but I will only list three.  Radio poppers prevent the “mis-fires” of flashes, they prevent light contamination, and they allow the freedom of working without wires.  I use a Nikon D300.  I typically use an SB-900 flash.  In the past, I have suffered the embarrassment of having a flash overheat (and trying to explain it to the model).  So radio poppers are a real advantage for me.

I bought a set of radio poppers from Calumet.  They are an excellent company, and my radio poppers have worked flawlessly for the past year.  There is only one problem–my camera cannot sync faster than 1/125 of a second with these radio poppers.  I tested the sync speeds, and on the higher speeds I did get the annoying half-frame (half curtain) pics.  This means I am stuck at 1/125 sec (or slower).  On my last shoot, I shot at ISO 200 and F11.  I was using a collapsible background, and the wrinkles showed.  If I had been shooting at a higher shutter speed, I could have used a larger aperture (lower F number) and reduced the depth of field.

Hindsight is 20/20.  In the future, I may try something different.  Maybe I will use my SB-900 to fire my flashes.  I may even connect the SB-900 to the flashes with a cable.  Or I may try a neutral density filter.  Of course, I still need to correct my photos and print them.  Maybe correcting them in Photoshop won’t be too bad.

Originally posted:  August 6th, 2009

Ahh! I have Twitter withdrawal. I was up until after midnight posting. My eyes could barely focus while on Twitter Karma. I was removing the people that were not following me. It is always a tedious task–especially when you are following almost 2000 people. And yes, it seems cynical to remove the people who I follow (but who don’t follow me). Of course, there is a practical side to all of this. For those who don’t know, Twitter has a limit of 2000 people (for following without having 2000 followers).

So now what? How many times should I keep trying to login to Twitter? And how often? It is driving me crazy! I’m addicted–like a smoker reaching for a smoke. Please, Twitter, come back online!

Things make sense now. I just found out that Twitter is fending off “denial of service” attacks. This is unAmerican! People are losing money every minute.

OK, so this is a good time to update my blog sites.

Originally posted: August 5th, 2009

I went to our photography club meeting last night. It was a great networking opportunity. Of course, these people have become my friends.
Last night, we had a sharing session. For about 45 minutes, those who brought equipment shared with others. People brought camera bags full of gear. One person even brought a lighting kit–complete with umbrellas. One of the suggestions was to divide the room (“Canon users on the right side and Nikon users on the left side”–from my perspective). Of course, this rule was not followed. It was a good idea (I suppose). The theme of the composition was “Pets”. There were some outstanding dog photos (and several excellent cat photos).

After the meeting, four of us met at Buffalo Wild Wings (in Chesapeake). Tuesdays are half-price (wings) night. We all had chicken wings. We were all happy with our chicken. My was medium (and spiced just right). Three of us had beer (one beer each). We had dark beer. One person had a diet coke. This person once ordered two beers, but ever since then he cringes at the thought of paying the high price ($6.00?) for one beer. Of course, he had two beers on that one night (plus two dozen wings), so he had “sticker shock”. We left around 12:45 AM. It was what we affectionately call “professional development”. It was a time to blow off steam, cuss, and laugh. It was great.

Originally posted:  August 5th, 2009

My passion for photography began during the 1970’s. I know I’m dating myself.

In high school (Maury High School), I took several photography classes. Back then, I used a fully manual camera, the Yashika TL Electro. The only “automatic” feature was the built-in lightmeter. Yes, it was “through-the-lens”, but it was primitive by today’s standards. We used a green ring. An upside down “U” meant over-exposed, and a regular “U” meant under-exposed. If the ring was a circle, the exposure was just right.

High school was boot camp for me. I learned the basic principles of photography–exposure, focus, depth-of-field, composition, and other artistic/ technical concepts. Back then, we shot black and white film and developed it ourselves. We processed negatives and made prints. Even though we worked in a co-ed darkroom, I do not remember any cases of sexual harrassment.

Perhaps I shall expand on these experiences in a later post. For now, I shall fast-forward to the 21st century. I cannot remember dates now, but during the early “00’s”, I was introduced to portrait photography. I was at a meeting at the Virginia Beach Photography Club (link will appear later). Someone set up a portrait shoot. It was complete with umbrellas and posing stool. I borrowed someone else’s camera. I did not even get to keep the images. I only remember that feeling of “wow–I actually captured an image of a model.” It was magical. For some reason, these feelings were submerged. It was only last year that I rolled out my business. I had resisted portrait photography because of my love for nature. Ducks and geese do not complain about their portraits. I thought I would enter the niche market of selling fine art. Over time, my fellow photographers “converted me”. Thousands of dollars later, I am having the time of my life!