YouTube

I never use royalty free music or secure permission to use pop songs in my movies, and as a result the audio is sometimes blocked by YouTube and the companies that own the rights.  There was a simple way around this (change the pitch slightly up or down) but it seems some greedy music owners are on to this tactic. 

Another way around this situation is to take a few easy steps into YouTube’s digital rights procedures.  You find this place when you discover your video has been silenced.  YT provides you a path to a menu of possible redress options.  It doesn’t help to cry about non-commercial use of something you bought (or stole online), but it does help to copy and paste some legal verbiage about Fair Use of Copyright protected materials.  You can spend an hour searching threads on the net to find this key, or contact me if you find your self in this pickle.  Or make silent movies.  They were very popular for decades.

YouTube

I am posting a mix of old and new movies on my channel.  During the past four years I spent a lot of time following the Duluth High Swim and Dive team, and I am up-loading a few movies from the 2009-2010 season.  Other newer stuff is from last summer’s Multimedia-I class (the internationally acclaimed statement video) and a short look at the first Fashion shoot. I also have a new avatar for the channel.

Fashion/Fantasy

I cobbled together smaller crew for a second location shoot of the fashion assignment.  Katie Dehlinger and Mary assisted.  By this time I had installed Lightroom 3 and we were able to shoot tethered: big difference in viewing the results.  I again used mounting board and speed lights to illuminate Katie C as she waltzed by a huge steam engine and Katie D monitored the shots on the PC.  I wish I had realized I was selling a fur coat and lost the stupid hat box.

looking back at Multimedia II - part 2

Our class is built around success as a user and content provider on the www.  Last time I was on this subject I ended by raising the potential of achieving nirvana in web communications (a much promised state….if you “buy” my software) and efficiency in web communication, i.e. spending yotta pixels and electrons but saving trees.   Not only saving trees, but what about all those postage stamps?  Why didn’t the US Postal Service dream up Pixelpipe? 

Setting aside all the typical political complaints (from the tea party and libertarians), it probably is a case of marketing myopia and the inertia of a huge organization.  The USPS knew it was in the information delivery business, but it never took advantage of the potential of the net. It is probably safe to say kilos of companies failed this way, even many that were trying hard to make web access into a money machine.  So it is really hard to succeed in a business way on the net.

What did work was megas of small entrepreneurs developing small applications that added up to communication connectivity that was quick, wide spread and usually cheap (not free).  Large organizations are all about planning but nobody really planned much of the internet beyond hardware needs.  That lack of planning helped get us where we are today. And that thought reminds me of how we use and create our web presence: just dive in  and find a way that works for you. 

looking back at Multimedia II - part 1

Perhaps looking back is not the perfect title to this subject but our instructor thought it would be appropriate to post ideas about what we have learned in MM II. 

I am in the middle of the last assignment now, basically tying it all together by following or subscribing to interesting posts (read- all classmates, the outside world, et. al.).  I think most people struggle when they first start using web multiumedia simply because it is a new way of communicating.  The systems and machines are so different from face to face or paper and pencil. 

And then, at the end, there is Pixelpipe, the Nirvana of self publishing, at least according to one reviewer.  Pixelpipe attempts to liberate your media by simultaneously publishing photos, video, audio, text and files on over 100 online destinations.  As far as I have seen, this pipe ain’t perfect, but I do appreciate all the trees we are saving from the papermakers.   

Shoot Tethered with Lightroom 3

If you are tired of looking at small previews on your camera’s LCD screen, if you have a relatively new Canon or Nikon DSLR, if you have a laptop with Lightroom 3 loaded (LRS), if you don’t suffer from SSKD (severe stumbling-klutze disorder) then you will want to check out shooting tethered.  All the software is in LR3.  Tethered isn’t a good technique for all situations.  However your productivity will improve when you instantly review minute details of your compositions, focus, lighting, and exposure via this new function in LR3. 

I shoot with a Nikon D90, but many other Nikons and Canons will work.  One fast way to determine compatibility is simply plug your body into a computer running LR3.

To do that, find the access door on your camera body.

Look for the USB port and attach a cable.

NBOC New Building on Campus

Most of us have probably noticed new construction is blocking some traffic flow around campus, but do you know what that new thing behind the automotive garages is?  GTC is building a 78,000 square foot Life Sciences Center.  It will be a three-story classroom and laboratory learning facility where Gwinnett's future healthcare providers and professionals will train (yes, I pasted in that last part).  President Bartels and Sean Murphy, Gwinnett Tech Foundation Chairman, talk about funding on the GTC site.

New construction is a perfect place to shoot design elements because it displays many different examples of repetition, shape, and texture.  It’s not all drab gray concrete either, so don’t forget color. 

Social Media

Lately I’ve run across a few articles (in the AJC Living) and blogs that discuss the state of “digital literacy” in the USA.  They mostly focus on two types of people: “digital natives” (anyone under 10 years old) and how they handle old fashioned social skills such as learning and playing in real groups, and everyone else.  Everyone else is getting digital education via self teaching (often problematic and inefficient) or structured courses such as Multi-media I & II.

Achieving true digital literacy is a big order, as I found out over the Thanksgiving holiday.  While my daughter was home we talked about the new availability of Beatles music, and she was glad I knew it was provided by Apple.  Then she got mad at me when I asked her to drive me to the nearest Apple Store.  "It's at the iTunes Music Store" she said as she stalked out of the house.

Bu-da-bing, bu-da-boom.

Fashion/Fantasy

Friday after Thanksgiving we went to the SE Train Museum in Duluth to shoot the Fashion/Fantasy assignment. 

It turned out to be a training session: good thing there is some time to shoot again this week. 

The two speed lights worked well, when I wasn’t blocking the IR signal, and the fog machine worked well when it wanted to, and the model did a good job as along as I was alert

enough to shoot her…..there are a lot of balls in the air on location, mostly as a result of making something simple difficult and over thought. 

History

Photojournalism-3

This post avoids issues of legality, taste and privacy in photojournalism, and instead examines two aspects of the ethics discussion that directly impact the credibility of photojournalists:

1.         manipulating the scene (before or after a picture is taken)

2.         manipulating the photograph

Both of these situations have probably affected “real” pictures since photography was invented.

Manipulating the scene

Politicians have a big incentive to appear their best in pictures, and that may be a legitimate price for photojournalists to pay for access.  However, most neutral observers agree that President George Bush crossed the line into manipulation when he staged a speech on the

aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a huge sign declaring “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” on May 1, 2003.

At the time, no one took responsibility for the banner, and the White House ambiguously left completely open the interpretation of what mission was accomplished by whom.  In cases like these, photojournalists and editors are usually aware of the manipulation and make judgment calls about their pictures.  This was a TIME cover.

On a more clownish note, Arthur Fellig (AKA Weegee) enjoyed a reputation as a famous New York photographer noted for his willingness do anything to “get the picture”.  In a famous photo that ran in LIFE magazine, December 6, 1943, he contrived a social commentary. 

He hired and dressed an alcoholic woman, placed her near the entrance to an opera house, and asked her to gawk at socialites.  In one picture he managed to lie about content to his editors and combined payment, heartless exploitation, re-creation and staging, all considered serious ethics violations today.  Out of context it is a hilarious picture, and it sold lots magazines. (Disclosure! I cropped and annotated this famous work of art.)

Tumblr #5

Photographic Attempts is another anonymous site, but it has a nice layout: medium gray background with soft gradients (or else my screen is dying) and soft shadows beneath the white bordered posts.  The only picture navigation is “Previous   Next” at the page footer.  There is a nice fly-out window on the left, “see more”, but the small font and dark color make it impossible to read.  I wonder what this person is trying to say?  It looks like an amateur with a point & shoot, and if you dig around the old posts that is confirmed  Some of the frames are very nice compositions.  Like Harkins used to say, a lot of nice pictures were taken with very simple cameras.  I like the pics but the begging for followers, recommendations, and advise is tedious.  Semi-serious Photog.

Tumblr #4

“I make photos daily” is another unique Tumblr site (is that redundant?) that features large single pictures on every page. There is not much in the way of context here, just simple titles and/or captions.  There are two picture categories at the top, random and monthly prints, but no index or archive.  The other top buttons are info, follow and recommend, and the type font is random.  At the bottom of each page there is a “Beforehand/Afterward” navigator.  The photographs are interesting.  If you like wandering via serendipity this is the site for you.  The site is run by Douglas Dollars, an Edmonton, England, portrait photographer whose studio is named RAD GRANDPA.  This site is used to display “pictures not posted  elsewhere”.  Serious Photog

Tumblr #3

“Sean Ocean” is a completely different design layout compared to the first two Tumblr sites.  Sean, or who ever this is, describes himself as a fashion photographer.  There is some evidence of this but the blog is mostly writing.  He has two very nice pictures of himself, facing left and right, as a backdrop to a sliding central column of posts.  There are no navigation buttons except for older and newer at the bottom of the page.  There is no about or contact.  You engage Sean by commenting or noting.  Serious photog.

Tumblr #2

“I am RJ” is a site with a similar design as Tumblr #1 and is run by Ronald John.  Ronald give us a lot of information on himself: he is a web designer, photographer, blogger and gadget geek.  A “more” button tells us some of his interests, and the “about” button goes into greater detail.  Ronald doesn’t have his pictures organized into subject categories.  Ronald claims he likes to write, but judging by the number of grammatical errors I found (not just the commas: he wrote snickers for sneakers) he doesn’t like to re-write or check his work. Semi-serious Photog.

Tumblr #1

This site is called “dk photographyblog” and is maintained by an anonymous photographer who lives in Calgary, Canada.  The site has a clean design with a white background and has three columns: categories on the left, pictures in the center, and notes & comment links on the right.  There are ten subject categories (the Built environment, details, secret places, sky, water, etc.) and additional buttons for Home, Archive, and Ask Me Anything.  The pictures are all the same width (both horizontal and vertical).  The right column is a bit redundant because in addition to notes & comments it also has buttons for sub categories (you can find the same picture in Built environment, Snow, Winter).  Over all it is an appealing and easy to navigate site.  This person is serious and deliberate about displaying their work.

YouTube video #1

Tether Time is a short promotional video for Duluth High Swim/Dive team.  I used clips from the last season to give students a flavor of what team life is like.  In this case it is swim practice using an elastic tether to force swimmers to pull hard against an increasing force.  Sound screwy?  Watch the vid and you will get it.  I taped with an underwater housing, a "bag" from EWA-Marine, and that allowed me to show the talent above and below the surface.

Holiday Portraits

That little assignment is done, at least as far as the shooting goes.  There are the small matters of Studio B clean up and printing an 8x10.  I feel like most of my poor clients were tortured in that red sleigh, but I have a great kids’ pose with Santa.  I retrieved my tree this morning.  That snow is difficult to shake off.

YouTube Channel

Uploading is taking forever this morning, but there is a new channel for you to view: BWHalliburton Photo, at http://www.youtube.com/user/BWHalliburtonPhoto.  I will have 3 movies up some time today……I remember now the slowest time of day to upload is right now, with lots of folks home from school and work.

Much has changed in channels since last year and mostly for the better.  There always seems to be a particular quirk in each platform we join, and at YouTube it is the profile picture.  In stead of simply using a picture file they want a short video file (5 sec.) of your picture. 

Fashion/Fantasy

Today I worked on the mood boards, basically cut & paste paper pictures from magazines and digital images from the net that suggest some features I want to portray.  I cut out a lot of fashion ads to get a feel for where to place hands for example.  Not plagiarism but more a reminder to consider a mood or pose when we shoot.  Nearby is a page with images and room to sketch a few thumb-nails.  I am leaning towards two possible themes to shoot at the Duluth Train Museum on Friday mroning: A SAD FAREWELL, and HELLO FANS, I’M YOUR FAVORITE  MOVIE STAR.

The crew also met at my house this evening to discuss job duties and themes.  Hope is on the left (continuity), daughter Sara (the model, makeup & hair), Emily (light technician)  and Erica (gofer and possibly dog handler).  Mary, below, tries to make train steam out of hot water and dry ice.  She will handle the wardrobe.

History

Photojournalism-2

Many newspaper publishers in the 1890’s did not recognize or accept the power of photography in story telling [3 – p420].  By the 1920’s newspaper technology advanced to the point that printing quality photographs was relatively cheap and they became commonplace.[3 - 419]  Quality pictures helped increase circulation, but startling and salacious pictures helped even more.  Decisions about suitable content was usually a local matter, and editors published everything from accurate depictions to enhancements to outright recreations of newsworthy events. Sometimes governments imposed total censorship, such as federal bans on combat pictures in World War I & II, and judicial bans on court room proceedings.

In 1945 the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) was formed, initially with the goals of increasing the professionalism of photojournalists and protecting them from physical and legal attacks.  Over the next decade it was recognized that a code of ethical practices would help these efforts, and the NPPA began publishing rules and guidelines for professional behavior with intermittent updates.

The NPPA also features a space on their website devoted to interpretation, Ethics in the Age of Digital Photography. The thrust of this discussion is that news pictures should be documents of life as it is, and they should not be life a we wish it to be.  The NPPA makes harsh but clear judgments: set-ups and enhancements directly reduce creditability, a quality that is easily damaged in our digital age.  The crummy color balance, the cluttered frame, the blurry subject, the extreme enlargement are the photographer’s problems.  If the event is news-worthy then use the real picture, as was the case in “Soldier going ashore on D-Day”, by Robert Capa.

Fashion/Fantasy

Maybe something to do with trains?  Artificial and sky lights make this place hard to shoot.  Many of the doorways are restricted or 5 feet off the ground.  A step ladder is an option if you don’t mind climbing.  There is lots of detail in this old equipment and that is attractive, and some pieces are just too rusty .  This place is accessible only 3 days a week.  On to the next bright idea.

Environmental Portrait

Today we had two critiques in photojo, fill flash and the environmental portrait.  My big take-away was with the environmental, below.  I wanted to show Molly in a position of power (on the right) and now I see I got a bit carried away with that idea.  She looks like she is taking an oath, or maybe ready to pull a gun on some Medicare cheat: way overboard and presumptuous.  I have to say she is one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. 

The majority verdict in class was “Put some files in her hand!”, and so there they are on the left. That pose is sort of the equivalent of the policeman’s arms folded across his chest.  I thought that was a cliché, but dang if it isn’t the better looking of the two.  (Mary said the smile was the obvious choice....duhh.)  Poor Molly, I’ll apologize to her.  My big take-away: I’m so glad I shot both frames.

Equipment

While working on the fill flash assignment I realized I could use a second speedlight.  I shoot Nikon, and I have been using a SB-600 with Ni-MH batteries for about 2 years.  I am probably going make the SB-900 my next purchase along with a 9’ coiled extension cable.  Both units have similar features and operations, such as auto TTL exposure, FP or high speed sync, remote trigger via IR beam, and use in multi-unit lighting.  As you would expect the SB-900 is more powerful than the 600.  The guide number comparison is below for ISO 200 and 35mm zoom position.

SB-900           48m/157ft

SB-600           42m/138ft

Guide numbers indicate power and are also used in manually calculating exposure.

Fashion/Fantasy

I dug out some pictures from last summer and these reminded me of a background.  This sign usually has a fashion side, and the cows are certainly a fantasy.  It probably won’t work as a background because you would need a lift to get close to it.  Perhaps a very long lens would make it big enough to cover a model.  Oh well, on to the next big idea.

Travel

Posting pictures to my Face Book page made me get down to sorting the Europe file in Lightroom.  We were lucky to have clear weather for the entire trip, so there was not a lack of opportunities.  I’m going to start with an album titled “Travel”.  I want to develop into a less bland category such as “Street photography” of “Features”.  These pictures are from the Italian Mediterranean, Cinque de Terre.

Fashion/Fantasy

Talk about your tough assignments….this is going to take some thought.  Since we ended early today I spent some time scouting around the next county.  I like the small Greek temple and columns, it’s accessible, and it could be a fantasy setting.  The other pictures are twisty country roads that could lead the viewer to something interesting or a stupid disaster.

Holiday Portraits

Monday night started  leisurely at the Holiday portrait Studio.  Lower Quarter students Romina, Gabe, and Tara sold raffle tickets, but the Upper Quarter shooters had a slow shift. 

Trent, Lee, and Chris take a break from the heavy lifting required to transition in the second shift.

Second shifters Christine and Kristiana were busy processing four families through 6 poses.

Photo Essay

On Friday I used fill flash to shoot for the photo essay assignment.  The task was to pick up the kids when their school was over.  I rode the bus to Norcross HS, Stripling Middle, and New Life at River Green.

It was a bright sunny day so there was a large difference in light value between the street and the inside of the bus.  I set exposure for the street using my largest aperture (f/3.5) and shutter speed at 1/2,000 second.  That made for a normal exposure out the windows.  The camera body was set to flash in FP mode and the speed light was initially set at full manual power.  The flash was mounted in the camera body hot shoe, aimed up and behind me. The bus interior was glossy white paint (a large and harsh reflector).  The ride was an hour, and I shot about 100 frames at power settings from full down to 1/8.  I couldn't really view the results in this bright light so I relied on histograms.

I wanted the inside of the bus to come close to the exposure level of the street, and I think this picture achieves that.  The rear facing flash actually brightened the bottom too much and I pulled a  -1 stop gradient in Lightroom to make the light direction seem more normal. 

The problem is the composition.  I thought a student studing on a bus ride was a cool idea, but it's not working.  The frame is cramped and it's hard to tell exactly what we are looking at.  The bus windshield is visible in the upper left.  Unfortunately a mess of shadows and shapes makes it confusing, and the red seats are just plain big distractions.  I can hear the critique already, "Why are you making us look at a seat back and a dash board?"  So, yeah, bus insides are hard to shoot.  If I get another chance I'll try for more of the window/street view, maybe a horizontal crop.

Fill Flash – Auto FP mode

Auto FP is a hand-held flash technique that enables compatible speed lights and DSLR bodies to fire flash at shutter speeds far above the “normal” sync speed.  Auto FP, AKA High Speed Sync, is useful in brightly lit scenes that need fill flash and small f stops (wide apertures).  Outdoor wedding and sports assignments are perfect examples:  the photographer can use a narrow depth of field to isolate a back-lit subject while balancing the different light values of foreground and back ground. In the example below a beautiful model, me, is illuminated by fill flash while standing against a very bright sky.  I used a Nikon SB600 speed light set at manual full power, a D90 programmed for FP (custom menu e5), exposed at f/5.6 and 1/2,500 second.  Normally the highest sync speed is 1/200 second.   

If you want to try this at home, I suggest finding a scene with a downward slope, a clear view of mostly sky, and a cute model.  Mary was busy....

History

Photojournalism-1

Photojournalists, news editors, and many consumers of their work are engaged in a great debate over the principals and standards that should rightly be applied to the use of photographs in all forms of news reporting and publication. 

That statement was valid in the mid to late 19th century when photographs first began to appear in newspapers, books, and magazines.  This debate is perhaps even more valid today, in 2010, when it is possible for experts in digital imaging to contrive realistic visualizations that imply almost any type of emotion or action in totally unreal settings.

Fill Flash - cheatin' the sync

There are two basic ways to shoot with flash above the sync speed: cheat the sync speed, and program the camera for FP mode (AKA continuous flash).   Let’s look at the first option (FP is coming in a later post).  You must be able to manually set the shutter above (faster than) the sync speed or you can’t cheat the sync.

Cheating the sync means manipulating the view angle and shutter in a DSLR to take advantage of fill flash.  These cameras have curtain shutters that travel across the sensor chip from top to bottom (or vice-versa).  If you shoot a flash 1-3 f stops above the sync speed the result will display a more or less dark area along the edge of the frame.  This is where the curtain blocked the flash output.  If you shoot faster the result is a dark bar near the middle of the frame.

However, if you compose the frame with the blocked area in bright ambient light (such as the sky in a horizontal or side light in a vertical) the result is a more controlled gradient of changing brightness.  You may have to hold the camera up-side-down to get the blocked area “in the right place”. 

Another alternative is to shoot wide and crop the blocked area.  This will take some experimentation, and a handy reference is the MAGIC LANTERN GUIDE for your camera.   

This video shows you how to do it without much explanation, quick and dirty. 

Holiday Portraits

So, yeah, I “borrowed” this frame from Trent to see the sleigh in a relatively empty set.  It was bigger and fatter in his wide angle view so I attempted a perspective correction to make it look a little more normal.  I was concerned about the big fat sleigh ever since Lee and I first saw it.  How was this red thing going to fit into the set?  Studio B is large, 24’ x 36’, but this focal point is just plain overgrown.  From the start Ms. Finch said it would be fine, and it is.  Just look at all the recent posts: we filled or surrounded it with 26 people in some poses.  It’s nice to work with that level of confidence.

Photo Essay

Friday, Monday, and today I spent a few hours collecting material for the Photo Essay assignment.  I feel like I have some good ideas, some good quotes on audio, and about 2 good pictures.  There are some more locations yet to do on my shot list. 

My picture budget calls for 75-100 stills, considering the viewing time is 3-4 seconds/picture over 3-4 minutes.  I was planning all stills with two narrators for voice-overs.  It will take some time to process all this into an interesting short movie.

Environmental Portrait

I finally settled on this for my submission, “Molly Dongieux”, the office manager of my dentist. Molly always dresses in a suit and has a friendly but commanding air about her.  I don’t spend a lot of time here, in her office, but I feel like we are friends.  I asked her to pose this way in the hope it would suggest the serious attitude she projects in her domain.  Molly is also the mother of Dr. Matthew Dongieux, DDS.  I am looking forward to the critique.

Holiday Portraits

How many photo students does it take to fill a large Santa Sleigh?  Lots, apparently.  It was unfortunate 3 classmates were absent because we certainly had room for them.  This setting took about an hour to compose because we started first with a “Mom and Dad”, then added siblings, then cousins, aunts, foster children, disowned relatives, illegitimate children, debtors, a congressperson and a pizza delivery guy.  We need to cut down some light from the left side faces and trees.

High Key

Nicole was a big help to me in completing this assignment.  My initial effort at high key was a complete mistake and a total bust, and Nicole was nice enough to volunteer as a model in the last available time slot. We used three Photogenics with two large soft boxes on the seamless background and an umbrella reflector for the subject.  I was surprised how well her lacey sleeves printed.  These were my first experiences in high key.

Fill Flash-2

Another good demonstration of fill flash is offered by Gavin Hoey, a photographer and writer who lives in Copthorne, West Sussex, England.   Copthorne is about 33 miles south east of London.  

This guy’s video camera was listing about 10 degrees to starboard for his entire presentation, an annoying perspective.  However this twisted view was mostly overcome by Gavin’s snappy delivery and logical step by step explanation of how to use a flash in bright sunlight.  He further showed how helpful a remote trigger can be in this situation.

Fill Flash-1

This video post is linked to a demonstration of fill flash.  It was produced by a photographer named Imre (Em-rey) and he does a great job explaining this basic skill.  This movie is one of 17 that cover various aspects of using flash on a DSLR.  He starts off with a very fast joke that reminds me of Mr. Jones’s alter ego, the pun-master Ninja Dave of the eponymous webcast. 

Unlike about 80% of YouTube material, Imre's productions (79 and counting) are clear and concise.  Imre is short for Stephen J. Imre of Warminster, PA, a small town near Philadelphia.  His blog is binarygraphite.

Features

I shot this on my second visit to Café Efendi, a little bit before they were open for dinner.  On weekends they feature Belly Dancing, and Maria, the talent, is standing behind the bar while Suheyl, the owner, puffs on a makeshift hookah.  Believe it or not, he is smoking dried fruit (apples, grape, and pear), not some sort of contraband.  I can’t decide if this is an environmental portrait or a feature.

Environmental Portrait

My last environmental was at the physical therapist’s office, where I shot Dianne Wright.  She had lots of exercise gear, but including those bikes and tables would have made it look like a very small gym.  Instead I tried to show how she and her patients use their hands in exercises to counteract tendonitis, carpel tunnel syndrome, and other condition that cause pain and disability. 

That said, I was facing a situation that would display the subject with a prop that amounted to a disembodied hand and arm.  How to show that without distraction? 

Including a shirt sleeve seemed to help, and perhaps this frame would work by cropping out the patient to that point.