Photo by bridgepix
I have been reading a lot lately - books, magazines, online articles and blog entries (always been a voracious reader really). I have been noticing a trend in all the materials I have been reading - composite images are ok.

When I say composite, I mean images that are created using pieces of other images. For example, there is an article(PDF) in this months AfterCapture about a well respected (and well paid) photographer who is creating wonderful compositions (the theme in the article is Halloween related).

A book I have been reading recently, Shooting & Selling Your Photographs, also has a couple of examples where the author has sold composite images for respectable sums of money.

I am sure this has purists screaming, and artists gleaming. It’s the perfect hybrid for this medium though, in my eyes. You can still deliver an image that people want. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is really what it is all about - deliver what the customer wants. And that is why the purists scream. But I am not making images just for myself, to remember something exactly as it was. And if I do, then I don’t really modify it that much.

I see a lot of potential here. I think real estate photographers have already been doing this for some time, and clearly advertising does it. So if it will help me to make more marketable images, who am I to argue. I have a Photoshop class coming up soon. I hope it will give me the skills needed to make these images look natural. Can’t wait to try it.

When I first got the email from Aaron Johnson saying he enjoyed reading my photography blog, Picture Your World Photography, I initially blew it off because I thought it was yet another useless pitch from somebody wanting me to link back to their website (even though their sites had nothing to do with photography!) But I’m glad I took the time to read  Johnson’s email a little closer.

Johnson is the creator of the extremely funny What the Duck photocentric comic strip, and my blog about my journey into freelance professional photography had indeed caught his eye. Considering how many photo blogs are available on the ‘Net, I thought it was an honor to have someone of Johnson’s caliber notice, especially since I’ve only been writing it since February. When I checked out “What the Duck,” it had me laughing my butt off because the situations that the antagonist faces as a working photographer were almost scary accurate as it relates to the field and industry. Sometimes, it’s enough to make me think Johnson is actually pulling his material from blogs like mine (wink, wink). I asked Johnson if I could highlight the comic on my blog, and with his permission, “Saturday Morning Cartoons” is now a regular installment, featuring my favorite strip from the week. Plus, Aaron was kind enough to put a prominent link to my blog on his site as well. I think it’s a great win-win.

I pay attention to who visits my blog and why, and especially take notice of what posts they are reading. It surprised me to discover that I have regular readers that only come to my blog every Saturday just to read the comic.  The strips I end up posting usually deal with some aspect of the photography business I’ve had to deal with that week — whether it be dealing with difficult clients, not getting paid enough for the work I dedicate to my craft, or navigating the economic downturn. What I appreciate most is having someone else understand what I’m going through and commiserate.

So I wanted to pass on the “What the Duck” strip to my readers here at “One Day, One Picture,” too. The popular comic is celebrating it’s 2nd year anniversary. Congratulations Aaron! And thank you for encouraging me and others to seek comfort in our sense of humor when the ebbs and flows of the photography business threatens to overwhelm us. The comic is available now for syndication as “W.T. Duck,” appearing in a local newspaper near you! Check it out.

Last week I wrote about Photography For Real Estate entry by Larry Lohrman..  The subject of the entry was “How to Survive in a Competitive Environment. Along with the usual good advice, Larry quoted a comment from a Flickr PFRE group discussion by Fred Light (still haven’t watched his DVD yet).  A piece of the quote:

For Realtors, it’s not about ‘the art’, ‘the creativity’, ‘the process’, and you can’t base your pricing on something Realtors don’t care or know about. The only people that care about that are the photographers, OTHER photographers and those who really appreciate photography as ART.

Realtors care about PRICE. Realtors care that the photos look GOOD and look better than what THEY could take. It’s really that simple. As long as a photographer (pro or semi pro or amateur) takes BETTER photos than the Realtor could themselves, they will get hired.

Price discussions notwithstanding, Fred hit it squarely on the head.  Photographers really are the only ones who care about the artistic side of an image when it comes to real estate or portraits.  The buyer (agent/ family member) who commissions you just does so because they believe you can do a better job than they can, or than other people they know can.  It’s that simple.  So make sure you give them what they want, charge fairly for it, and you shouldn’t have any problems.

All of life should be this easy, no?

Last week when I went to Beaver Creek, I took some time to drive up near Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks. The idea was to get a shot of the great fall colors. Turns out though, that my favorite picture from that sidetrip is this one. It is a reflection of Gray’s Peak in a mud puddle that was in the middle of the forest service road. I rotated it so the mountain was upright, and I think it is an incredibly clear reflection of the mountain. Couldn’t have planned a shot like this, it just happened. The big question to me is if you like it upright like this, or should I have left it upside down?

.

“The Art of Black and White Photography”, by Torsten Andreas Hoffman, is the latest Rockynook book that I have read. So far, only one Rockynook title has disappointed me. “The Art of Black and White Photography” was definitely not a disappointment.
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Canon just released information about yet another round of rebates – this time for better glass to put on any new bodies you may have purchased during the previous batch of discounts. I snagged my 5D using the rebates that allowed me to take $300 off the camera I now love. Now I’ve got my eyes on the Canon 24-70 2.8  and this might be the time to invest in it.

I have enjoyed my Sigma 24-70 2.8 for the past year, namely because I think it’s a great general use zoom lens. But when I tried to use it on my 5D, I had a devil of a time getting it to focus. I don’t know why…maybe it has something to do with incompatibility with the 5D’s full sensor.

I thought there was something wrong with the lens and it needed to be repaired. On a lark, I tried using it one more time on my Canon XTi, expecting the same results, but the resulting images from the XTi are just gorgeous and extremely sharp! While pleasantly surprised, that still left me without a general use lense for my 5D. Looks like the Canon 24-70 will have to be my next purchase, but it might be awhile even with the rebate since it retails from $1,029 to $1,543.

Rebates are valid from Oct. 19 2008- Jan. 17, 2009

Last week in Beaver Creek I was able to take advantage of the great surroundings to do some practice photos for real estate purposes. At the same conference, I met with the manager of a new property in the mountains that is wanting some photography done. They don’t have a budget per se, but do love to trade. So I am planning on trading my photography for a couple of nights in the property during ski season. Should work out well for both of us.

The picture above, while not quite what I wanted, was generated on my laptop from 5 exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2) combined in Photomatix. It is my intent to do a full on review of Photomatix in the next couple of weeks. But all in all, I am happy with the result here. I’d like to lighten it a bit of course, but it does give the feeling of the view you get from my room at the Park Hyatt. I think that the next time I do this, I might be inclined to take 9 exposures, shooting at -2, -1.5, -1, -0.5, 0, +0.5, +1, +1.5, +2 and seeing if that results in a better image. I need to go back to my notes from the HDRI book I read so long ago.

I could probably hang my shingle out for this now, but I want to get it right before I start expecting people to pay for my time.

Rather funny that ODOP author Chester would post up about his finding and possibly subscribing to Shutterbug magazine this week. I have found myself on the oppostie end of the spectrum on it…I have been a subscriber to Shutterbug for almost 2 years and just recently got my renewal notice for the magazine.

I doubt I will be re-upping. I currently have 2 years worth of magazines sitting around in various spots around my house…I can think of maybe 3 of them that I actually have picked up and read cover to cover in 2 years.

My beef with the mag is that its really not much more than a whole bunch of ads with a few articles tossed in for filler. And aside from the big product review articles, the rest of the articles are very light and not usually of any real worth to me.

When I was contemplating the switch to the D700, I went in search of the issue that did the full test review of that model. It was a very worthwhile read and really did almost have me hitting add to cart on B&H Photo.

But I really don’t think I am getting my $17.95 a year value out of it. There are so many other publications out there that do a better job and are more geared toward what I am doing and where I would like to go with my photography.

For instances, Rangefinder Magazine, which was posted on here you can get a free subscription, has been read cover to cover by me, many times twice, since I started receiving it. The articles in that mag are very in-depth and cover the gamut from beginner to pro without making my head sping or talking down to me. Real world photographers who are doing the same things I am or want to do are highlighted in this peridoical. If I had to pay for it, I would have no problem doing so as it has a true value to me.

Shutterbug unfortunately is just not cutting it with me and it’s time to let it go.