Archives / 2009 / November

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Zone System Clarifications For Newbies

Had a few conversations with people still shooting film based on that crappy interview that I did. Quite a few of them had some questions about whether I use the Zone system for exposure and development as well as some questions about the Zone system. I thought I would share the crux of a couple of things that were revelations to them as well as myself about 20-25 years ago. Even if you don’t shoot film there are a couple of things that you might find helpful in your...

29 November 2009 | Articles, General Photography | , , , , | 0 Comments
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Some Personal News

I have had a couple of emails from loyal readers wondering if I am okay. Yes I am okay – my little rant aside (thank you for all the support, I just wanted to vent a little). I have been a little busy lately so have not had much time to put into posting on the site. Here is why. Well first off I am putting a lot of work into some portrait projects that I am working on and I have decided to shoot it all on film...

24 November 2009 | Site News | 5 Comments
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The Rules of Photography – As I Know Them So Far

Yep, There are some rules that I have figured out. You may not like them but they are so far true as far as I can see. Here they are as plain as day. You cannot do better than what you are seeing, If it looks fantastic you will get only a tiny bit of that. Light cannot be better than what nature has produced, you can try but you will not get far. You are only a jerk with a camera and somehow you think you are the...

10 November 2009 | Articles, General Photography | 3 Comments
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Seeker of Truth

I received an extremely hateful email today. I am usually conditioned to that, given that I actually put some kind of thought and position out there for the whole world to see, judge, and respond. I have responded to those both personally and privately that are seeking help. I have also mentioned a few where I thought it might be useful for other’s questions. This particular one I am going to address head on, I do not give a shit about anything else. In fact this one calls into...

07 November 2009 | Site News | 16 Comments
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Shooting Film – Scanning Film and Other Horrors

Had a couple of interesting phone conversations that started with emails from some readers that are considering shooting some film. A couple of experiences that they had in the past turned them off to it so they had a couple of questions. While they were all fine and dandy with the cost argument when wanting to up their quality game the big concern was their intent to scan the film and their experience was that scanned film looked like s**t and totally undermined what quality they may have gotten...

06 November 2009 | Articles, General Photography | , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments
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Photographers and Their Tools

Every photographer out there that has a lot of experience will tell you that you can make great photographs with just about any camera, any lens, any software, any film, any paper, etc. etc. I tell people this all the time. I have for years, especially in workshops that I have held where the focus was never what tool is required to get some desired set of results. Way back when I got my very first Hasselblad digital system I used it in a grand total of one workshop....

04 November 2009 | Apple Aperture, Articles, General Photography | , , | 2 Comments
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Things I Hate

As most of you do – I also like to keep up to date on things going on with Photography. All sides and aspects of it. Even if I do not participate in one genre or another. Even if my preferences are completely opposed to a particular style, or material, or technique, I have a healthy respect for things that are not my cup of tea and have a genuine interest in keeping up with what is going on – photographically. The only way to do that is that...

02 November 2009 | Articles, General Photography | , , | 4 Comments
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Aperture Tip – Interface Customization.

I was actually working with Aperture on my beautiful new Macbook Pro unibody yesterday and rediscovered one of the joys of using the software. I never really forgot about it, I just had a renewed appreciation for it’s wonderfulness. I thought I would share and reintroduce some of the subtle but really useful touches that Aperture provides that allow you to work more productively while we are all waiting for that Aperture 3/Aperture X goodness. One of the things that I use all the time even on my giant...

02 November 2009 | Apple Aperture, Articles | , , , , , , | 6 Comments
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Aperture Users – We Have A Converted Lightroom2 Guy

In case you have not seen this before, I wanted to share some links to a pair of professional wedding photographers that switched from Lightroom 2 to Aperture 2. Now here is the punch line – THEY ARE NIKON SHOOTERS. Yep, that is right Nikon wedding photographers that switched from Lightroom 2 to Aperture 2. I know I complain about a couple of nagging things, including NEF conversion and WB handling in Aperture but trust me, if Aperture was not the best tool for workflow and organization and… I...

01 November 2009 | Aperture vs Lightroom, Articles | 14 Comments