On Photography

The Great Giveaway Experiment version 2

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:13:16 -0700

I recently offered two free prints to about 20 people. None of these people are photographers, and none of them are close friends - they are mostly people who work at three of my favorite hangouts. I've only know them from where they work. Out of those 20 people only 4 have bothered to pick the images they wanted - for FREE. I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I suppose it could be one or more of the following reasons:

1. Since it's free, perhaps they view it as something with no value and so, are not interested in taking the time necessary to pick the prints they wanted.

2. I have almost 300 images on my web site from which to choose, perhaps that's just too many for someone to wade though and make a selection of "my two favorites". Choices are hard for people.

3. I didn't put a deadline on the selection process so it's become a non-priority item, and while these 20 people actually want the prints, the process of choosing is a low priority.

4. They can't find an image that they want - even for free.

5. Since they're not framed, they don't really want to pick one and then have to get it framed.

6. It's photography and anyone can do photography; so who cares?

7. People don't really think of art on the web as ART it's just something pretty to look at on the screen for a few seconds and then they're done.

I sure there are other possible reasons. I've talked to a few people about it and the most common reason given is essentially: "Life is really hectic and I just keep forgetting", but then that might just be to save my feelings - hard to say. I don't resent the lack of effort on their part, but it is a bit depressing. Here's something that I truly BELIEVE will make them feel a bit better every time they see it hanging on their wall, and yet it's too difficult to make the time to choose. I suspect if I picked 20 photographers I'd have had much better luck. I did a similar experiment 3 years ago, but I had them choose one print from a notebook of prints and all they had to do was stick a post with their name on the print they wanted. I got 100% response, and they appeared to be all thrilled with the results. Three people actually bought additional prints, but then the Economy was in much better shape, and they only had 40 prints to choose from. So, is it that I asked them to choose from images on my web site? Is it that they're are too many choices? No Deadline? Again, hard to say - I suppose I could put together a much more controlled experiment but frankly I'd rather just spend that time doing photography.

In the current economy I have a very hard time selling prints, and an almost equally hard time giving them away; which makes me wonder why I don't just give it up. After about two months of thinking about it and almost deciding to sell all my camera gear, I realized that as much as I want people to be interested in my photography, I still do it more for myself than for my audience. So even if no one bothers to look at these images, I'm still driven to create them.

I may try this experiment again next year, only I'll hand them a stack of 10 or so prints, and ask them if they'd like to have one. I can then replace which ever print they picked and go on to the next person. I suspect I'll get at least 80% acceptance, perhaps even 100%. That will probably be my last giveaway, as much as I want people to enjoy my work, I'm already paying as much as I care to pay for the privilege.

The iPad as a Photo Tool

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Sun, 02 May 2010 19:27:48 -0700

I had hopes when the iPad was first rumored. Having decided that there was really minimal work I could do with image files while on the road I though perhaps the iPad would provide me with everything I needed and I could leave the laptop behind. Alas, no such luck. With out the ability to connect USB drives there is really no way to transfer images from CF cards. To use it as a Tethered control/monitor it would need to actually be a iTablet. Alas, that's not even close to what the iPad is.

From a photographers perspective, the iPad is a portfolio tool, a web browser, a mediocre email tool, and a book reader. With a bluetooth keyboard - it would make a pretty good email/blogging tool, then so does the laptop. Sure it does all the other stuff that an iPhone does, if you get the 3G version. You can use it as a Nav tool, and in that regard it's pretty cool - but a good Nav app costs another $100 bucks. At the moment it's probably the best portfolio sharing tool available. All the other picture viewers are in my opinion, too small to be worth bothering with. Since the full screen is used during display and the navigation is the most intuitive ever (your basic page flipping motion), you can hand your iPad to someone interested in your work and let them flip though at their own pace.

How much memory is enough for one of these? Well that depends. Assuming you provide images that are zoom-able (say 4 times the screen size) saved as a very high quality jpg, your looking at 2Mb per image. So, 1000 images (which is way too many for a portfolio) is 2GB. Then you can store books - which very between 50KB and maybe 20MB or so, most novels are pretty small 100-400KB. A technical book like "CSS: The Missing Manual" is about 12MB. So lets say you have 100 Technical Books at about 20MB each, and 2000 Novels at about 500K, so there goes another 3-4 GB. So what would you need more than 16GB for? Well apps, and music are really the only other things. At this point you probably don't want to put music on it, since you can't play music and use the picture viewer or web browser or what ever, at the same time - you need to wait for iPhone OS 4 for that. You can get a Camera Kit, that will allow you to transfer images from and SD card or a Camera USB port to directly to the iPad but that's not something I'm likely to do - when I transfer images off my 4GB and 8GB CF cards - I always create a backup - so that means two external drives attached to my laptop. And I don't show unedited work, so what would be the point? Apparently if you have the Camera kit, it for some reason allows you to connect a bluetooth keyboard (I'm still unclear why this would be). That said, 16GB is really quite a bit of memory for one of these devices. Once OS4 is available, you might which you had more, if you have a sizable music collection (which I do) - but then again, I have iPods, and an iPhone so, I still don't need to put music on the iPad.

iPad vs Kindle - both have advantages, I think the iPad is much nicer to use, it handles virtually every ebook format in existence via various apps. But, the back lit screen is harder on the eyes than the Kindle's eInk and all but impossible to read in direct sunlight. The Kindle on the other hand get's easier to read with brighter light, and a nice sunny day is about as perfect as it gets. I might give up the Kindle but not until I've used the iPad for a while. The battery life is another issue, I use my Kindle a lot 2-4 hours a day sometimes more, and I charge it up about once a week, sometimes less. With the iPad I'm hoping I can use my iPhone car charger. Although I still need additional outlets for battery chargers (camera & flashlight) as well as a USB charger for my Geo Tracker.

A definite maybe.

Looking for a new paper

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:28:47 -0700

I've been using Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art (UFA) for about 6 years now. I've tried a number of matte papers and never found one that had the blacks, smoothness of tone, and depth. With the recent addition of Baryta papers by a number of manufacturers I decided it was time to give these "glossy" papers a try. It's not that I'm unsatisfied with UFA. But it's a bit of a pain to work with, I've found that I need to brush off each sheet or a length of roll before I run it though the printer. This usually eliminates the dust which, with out this brushing, will eventually flake off leaving small paper white "dust" spots on the print. I'd like to avoid that step if possible because it's time consuming, and adds one more chance to damage the paper. Also, Epson for what ever reason is not good about keeping the cut sheets in stock.

I'd avoided glossy papers for various reasons - most had such severe bronzing that I could never bring myself to consider them, I've never been a big fan of luster papers, which oddly are far and away the most popular. Well maybe it's not that odd - I tend to be a bit of a contrarian when it comes selecting products. If everyone says it's so I immediately assume it's not. I suspect this is because there seems to be such a strong tendency toward accepting mediocre results at a lower cost (a whole other topic). Anyway, I decided that based on some samples I'd seen that perhaps the new crop of Baryta papers would provide a solution.

A Note on how I review papers:
I usually create a test print (a range of colors & gray scales), to make a quick judgment as to the relative color gamut and smoothness of gray transitions, but mostly I work from prints. I use a densitometer to see what the DMax black is - out of curiosity, but I don't bother to record this information because ultimately it makes no difference to me. What matters is how the final print is rendered. Does it have the depth, and emotion I'm striving for? Does it exhibit any faults that will ultimately make the print fall flat for me. So I print 3 or 4 B&W images, and 2-3 Color images and I hang them up and live with them for a while. As time goes on you start to see things that weren't apparent at first, you start seeing the subtle differences between the papers, and ultimately - hopefully you find one that makes the print sing.....
.......

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Untitled

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:31:46 -0700

I'm not a web addict, I use it for research, and shopping. I almost never just follow links to see where they go. That's due in more or less equal parts to: natural inclination, past experience, and focus.

I do occasionally browse around looking at photographers web sites. This is usually the result of researching something else photography related (sadly this is all to often equipment). I've noticed something that seems to be oddly common with photographers, either they don't say anything about their work, or they display titles, which more often than appear as "Untitled #1", "Untitled #87" or simply "Untitled".

I'm not sure if this is a sign of laziness, or a sign that the photographer doesn't spend time thinking about their own work. Abstracts are difficult, unless you treat them like an ink blot test, well even then they're difficult to title. My titles tend toward giving some hint of what made me photograph the scene. Sometimes I get lazy and title things with numbers, a venerable tradition but perhaps one that doesn't really tell the viewer anything. Generally though, the scene evoked a feeling and the feeling invoked a though that literally made me photograph it. Sometimes the emotion was warm and the though was fuzzy and the image was.... not nearly as good as it seemed at the time. Fuzzy thoughts do that.

A picture says a thousand words, the question is: What thousand words? As the photographer we have an opportunity to at least set the tone for the first paragraph. Each viewer will walk away with something a bit different, but I personally would rather they started walking in the direction I had intended when I made the image.

Trip Wrapup

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:27:03 -0700

Well, it's been 10,200 miles on the motorcycle, 1500+ miles by car. I traveled though 29 states, a few of them more than once. I left home on Sept 9th, and returned home on November 30th - 9 days short of 3 months on the road. I took about two thousand photographs, and whittled that down to about 48 which I have yet to print so the total may get smaller yet. - It's always possible I'll find an image or three that I missed in the editing but all said and done - I have about 1 good image for every 2 days on the road. That's about 1/2 of what I was hopping for when I left.

I've decided to sell the bike - I may get another one some day but if I do it will be with the intention of just enjoying the ride and not worrying about camera gear (maybe a Canon G11 or similar).

This was a wonderful experience and I'm thrilled that I did it. I had a huge amount of fun, met some wonderful people, and got my first real view of a large portion of our country. I'm not sure if I hadn't had the bike that I would have done this trip at all. It's something I'd be more than willing to do again in a car, but I missed too much photography due to the bike to want to spend another 3 months that way.

So what's next? I'm looking at pop up trailers, something towable behind a car, I'm also still considering the idea of selling the house (possibly renting) and getting an RV - if I sell, then I'll probably start off by heading overseas first, before I tie my self to anything else here, other than a piece of property to build on. I know I'll want a house again at some point but 3 months didn't really dampen my desire to see the world, I didn't miss home so much as I missed a few of the comforts that I couldn't take with me - like a big screen for editing images, a printer, a music and movie system - all things that I can take with a trailer or RV. If I'm overseas I'll probably have to do with out again but maybe not for so long at a stretch. There are a few places that are on my must see list - and a lot on my want to see list.

Baring unforeseen changes, this coming year will be mostly working at home - getting the house ready to sell, finishing the work on the boat and getting that sold (or at least on the market) I'm going to see about getting down to 1 vehicle - although unless that's a truck, I'll probably end up with a camp trailer and a flat bed type utility trailer for helping with yard work, hauling etc. I wish I enjoyed driving trucks more than I do, it would make the choice easier.

It's been a while since my last update

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:59:26 -0700

Well it's been a while since my last update.

Nov 17: Day 68: (wow can that be right?)
Total Miles: 7600

A short ride today on interstate 40 from Santa Rosa NM to Flagstaff, the day started at about 34 degrees and eventually warmed up to a nice toasty 50........

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Pro's and Con's

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:51:00 -0700

Day 37: total miles 4480

I've been traveling on the bike for a bit over a month, and I've come to some conclusions.

First I really enjoy riding, although not quite as much when it's under 48 degrees and raining, and definitely not when it's close to freezing and it's mixed rain & snow – fortunately I wasn't on the road yesterday while that was going on, or I'd have had to stop pretty early and just give it up for the day.

People in CT follow way to close for my comfort. They also like to drive really fast – like 85 in a 60 zone.

It's much harder to do photography from a motorcycle than a car. .......
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Day 30 - Sanity Sets In

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:03:00 -0700

Day 30 - No real miles since Day 19 (coming from Hickory, NC to Shepherdstown, WV.
Total miles so far: 3,868 (hmm seems farther than that)

Sanity sets in

I've had a nice break and a good visit with my friends Kathleen & Breighton. I've \worked on a few images, which is much more difficult on a laptop with out my Wacom pen pad or a mouse. The mouse I can add pretty easily, but I don't think I'll be picking up a new Wacom to carry around on the bike (unless they come out with a roll-up version)........

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Trip log Days 14-21

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:21:34 -0700

Day 14 A visit to Badger Graphic

After a nice break I headed north to visit the folks at Badger Graphic where I get my Large Format camera gear. I've run into a problem with the Large Format Digital setup – normally I'm pretty good about testing things before I actually take them out on the road, but I messed up this time. I'd tested the Digitar 90 with the camera and digital back and it worked just like it should. Apparently I got side-tracked and never tested the 35mm & 47mm Both of these lenses use a recessed lens board. This allows the lens to get close enough to the digital sensor to be in focus at infinity. As you focus closer, you actually move the lens farther from the sensor. The first issue I ran into was the cable I need to attach to the lens and the digital back to tell the digital back when the shutter is released. ......

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Over 100 years of Motorcycles

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:45:40 -0700

Trip Log Day 12
Sunday September 20th
Total Miles 2398, Day Miles 87

I spent the night at the KOA just outside Madison WI. It's a nice campground, but between the temperature drop and humidity both sides of the rain fly were soaked. It was a short day, and if I'd done a better job of planning I'd have spent more time on back roads earlier – but I didn't so...

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Day 11 Crossing the Mississippi

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:30:31 -0700

Trip Log Day 11
Saturday September 19
Total Miles: 2311, Day Miles: 336

I'd originally planned to stay at the Jackson KOA, but as I got off the freeway, I found myself looking at an Econolodge on one side of the road and a KOA sign on the other. Needless to day – I wimped out. In hindsight I should have stayed at the KOA, would have been about as comfortable, and even though I talked them down to $55 tax included, it wasn't worth it. Heading out in the morning, I determined that I need to get off the freeway at least for a while. I suffered though another 120 miles of I90, then headed down MN-16 which turned out to be a slow 55mph, but nice and scenic route. I got back on I90 at La Crosse some 90 miles latter and crossed the Mississippi River. I have to admit to some disappointment as I was expecting something a bit grander, I suppose I'll get that when I cross back farther south.
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From South Dakota to Minnesota

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:29:21 -0700

Trip Log Day 10
Friday, September 18
Total Miles: 1975 Day Miles 240

From the Holiday Inn Express, Chamberlain SD, I'm once again on I90 the scenery is nice enough but the road is kind of monotonous. I stopped in Sioux Falls for lunch and a Starbucks and went on a GPS wild goose chase – specifically to a Starbucks that wasn't there, and unless they did some really major deconstruction, it never was there. On the other had I did get to see a bit more of Sioux Falls that way.

Back on the road to Jackson – again nothing really special.

Trip Log Day 9

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:09:53 -0700

September 17 – Day 9
Total Miles: 1735 (includes some backtracking to look for the lost wallet)

Wall is an interesting town, downtown is mostly Wall Drug which is actually more like a mall for tourists. The Sunset Inn is a nice small motel within easy walking distance of Wall Drug, and only a few blocks from the rest of “town”. Clean & comfortable.

There's not much in the way of restaurants, the Pizza shop in Wall Drug was, reasonable but not something I'd go out of my way for.

Heading south out of town will take you to the Badlands National Park. There's some fascinating geology here – it actually reminds me of Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, not as deep or colorful but Badlands covers a lot more area. I think there are some excellent photo opportunities here, but timing is everything with subject matter like this. To get the grand landscape you need either some good clouds for B&W or you need to be there before sunrise or just before sunset to put some color into the otherwise almost colorless rock.

Badlands

In hindsight (wonderful thing hindsight) I perhaps should have stuck with the original plan of following Hwy 2 across North Dakota. The rest of the trip across SD is mostly grassland, which I think needs more weather than I had – not that I have anything against clear blue sky, but generally speaking, it's not my favorite for photography.

As it happens my first stop was for fuel in Chamberlain – where I found and empty jacket pocket, where the wallet should be. That pretty much put an end to the day.

Day 9 - Lessons

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:03:54 -0700

September 17 – Day 9

Well it's 2:30 CST I'm sitting at a Shell Station on the phone. I just lost my wallet on the road somewhere between the Visitors Center in Bandlands national park and Chamberlin SD. I've called the State Patrol, the Park, and now I'm on hold with Wells Fargo – getting a new debit card & a new credit card.

Gone are my new wallet with money clip, the money (about $70) . Credit card, debit card, Drivers License, insurance cards, brand new National Parks year pass. Starbucks gold card, my CWP, AAA card, KOA card...

In hindsight, zipping up the pocket might have been the better route to go.

I'd like to thank the Shonleys, who kindly took some time out of their day to help me out – twice, first when I realized I'd lost my wallet and I'm standing at the pump sort of freaking out. They paid for the gas, and then just before they left, handed me an envelope with cash in it. Between what I had stashed in my side bag, and what they provided, I'll be able to make it though to Milwaukee where a new credit card & cash card should be waiting for me. THANKS!

So, I think I need to get a second card (yeah I'm one of those odd people who only have one credit card) and keep it separately from my wallet. Not sure what to do about the debit card though. I guess keep it with the passport & spare credit card as it only need to get used for ATM's.

Two Days and Too much gear

nospam@example.com (Vince Binder) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:51:16 -0700

Day 7 Great Falls to Miles City
More beautiful country. Hwy 87 south was a nice ride. The 70 MPH speed limit has it's pro's and cons, you can really chew up the miles, but it makes harder to spot photo-ops before you've passed them by. It also sucks the gas a bit faster. I was averaging about 44 when the speed limit was around 60-65 lately i've been down around 41-42. That's really not too bad considering how much stuff I'm packing. The camera and computer weigh a lot more than I'd have though. I can see why people decided to forgo camping - I could get rid of both dry bags if I didn't have any camping or cook gear.

I've had to pass up a couple of possible images because I couldn't find a place to get the bike off the road and still use the kickstand. The GPS wanted me to follow 200 though Jordan then down 59, but I though heading down 12 to 94 would be more interesting as the Yellowstone river runs along 94. Turns out I didn't see much of the river. Oh well, it' was only an extra 10 minutes.

Day 8 Miles City to Wall, South Dakota
Total Miles: 1,539
Miles today:

Got a late start today. Breakfast at the Comfort inn, nothing special, the bed on the other hand was fantastic. Far and away the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever experienced. Heading southwest - more or less directly into the sun. I decided to ride a bit slower since I was having some trouble with glare. Slower turned out to be a good thing, as 4 prong horns decided that bounding across the road right in front of me, I can safely say the ABS breaks work very well.

Three States in one day, pretty cool - Started in Montana, when though Wyoming, and I'm now in South Dakota. Ok I was only in Wyoming for about 30 minutes but, I was there. Once again I missed the State sign, I got the Wyoming sign, but never saw the South Dakota one. I suspect I was busy with traffic, although it's possible it just wasn't there... I stopped in Sturgis to see what a town that host the biggest biker rally in the world looks like ... Well it looks like a place that really likes Harley Davidson and the Sturgis Rally - it's every where! Even stranger, there's a BMW dealer in Sturgis. I ran into a guy from England who was on his way to New York to finish an Around the World tour. Turns out I'd talk with one of his traveling companions in Seattle at Ride West a week or two before I left. In that time they'd been up to Alaska and where now in South Dakota.

I considered adding an hour to my ride time today to see Mount Rushmore, but reactions from others lurked in the back of my mind and I decided to pass it by.

Gear woes:
I think I'm going to try a Bead Rider seat cover a try, mostly for the air flow, although it's supposed to do an excellent job of smoothing out pressure points. I'd also like to find some "breathable" knee armor, but I'm pretty sure there's no such thing. I can understand the logic in making the knee armor adjustable but putting a velcro sealed seam right on the knee joint was a mistake, when it gets hot I sweat, when I sweat the knee armor makes it hotter, and the seams chafe. It's not a problem with long underwear on, but who wants to where thermals when it's 84 to 92 degrees? Not me.

The bike is still too heavy, part of that is my fault, which is why I'm eating yogurt & carrots (not at the same time). The camera gear & computer are heavy, perhaps switching to a Sony Alpha 900 & 3 lenses would lighten the load, I suspect switching to soft bag would help but there are obvious security issues with that, might be worth the extra hassle, I need to think about it some more. Everything is a matter of trade-offs it a matter of picking the right ones, which I suspect is easier if the parameters don't change.