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Solmeta N2 Geotagger
As a nature photographer, I think it is important to be able to identify and share where photographs were taken. In the future, I think good cameras will come with built-in geotagging capability just as most smart phones and some point and shoots have currently. But until then, photographers using a DSLR can’t enjoy that capability unless the add one of three (or more) ways of entering the location information into the EXIF data.
The Solmeta N2 Geotagger is one of those ways. There are many geotagging attachments for DSLRs, bu the Solmeta is the only one that I know of that is also capable of recording compass heading too. Working off of the satilite data like other hand held GPS units, the Solmeta embeds the latatude and longitude into the EXIF data for each image taken. The Solmeta does something else that other geotagging units doesn’t, it also includes the direction that the camera was pointing when the picture was taken.
The Solmeta has it’s own rechargeable batter and doesn’t draw any power from the camera until the unit’s power gets low. That allows a fast satellite acquisition. The actual GPS unit clips into the hot shoe bracket of the camera. There is a cord that goes from the GPS unit to the 10-pin connection on the camera that allows the unit to embed the data as the pictures are taken. Included with the purchase is a pass-thru adapter for the 10-pin connector so that you can still attach other accessories/flashes to the camera without affecting the GPS unit.
On the Nikon D300, it works great. The EXIF data for each image contains the coordinates and direction of each shutter activation. This can be used in a multitude of applications and programs such as Google Earth, SmugMug, and others. It’s interesting to see where each image was taken and it’s relation to other images taken.
The downside? (There’s always a downside!) It broke after a week of use. The cable that goes from the 10-pin connector on the camera to the Solmeta unit broke off inside the Solmeta breaking the circuit board inside the unit. In other words, it is NOT the strongest built accessory on the market.
Would I recommend it to someone else? Yes, but with hesitations and some conditions on it’s use. At under $150, it is a good investment and is very competitive in pricing, but it has to be handled with care and not knocked around. It almost has to be babied and that is NOT my style. As a result, I no longer am able to geotag my images, but am working on getting a new unit.
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
Zabriskie Point Gully, Morning Light
The above image caught my attention. Without looking at the caption, I knew EXACTLY where it was, where it was taken, and when it was taken. I had been there. I saw it. I didn’t shoot it. Why not?
Because the photographer, G Dan Mitchell of G Dan Mitchell Photography, sees in a ways that I haven’t learned yet.
The image is of the gullies near Zabriskie Point in Death Valley. I saw the view and have a great image of the scene, I just didn’t see the details and think of the possibilities as Mr. Mitchell did. He has the uncanny ability to take what seems to be an ordinary scene or situation and make an extraordinary image.
In the image above, he isolates the subject so that you are brought into it by not only the shapes, but also the colors. And he is capable of this in all kinds of images.
Branch on Playa, Panamint Valley
It’s a branch on a playa. We’ve all seen it before. I have. I didn’t shoot it. Why not? It’s just a branch. But Mr. Mitchell has made a photo that makes you stop and think for a moment. The composition is nice. Again, the colors are similar so your eye tends to just relax and take it all in. But I think the subject matter is the key. As I said, we’ve seen it before, so we don’t have to focus on the subject per say, but we are allowed to take the time to really examine the details of the image.
At first I thought that he “specialized” in landscape and nature photography. No, it seems that he has the same vision everywhere he looks.
Construction Lift, Building Interior
No, there is nothing special in the image, but I think the image is special. It’s simple. Again, the colors are similar except for the splash of orange on the construction lift. This shot keeps drawing me back.
He does this over and over and over. He can take an ordinary street scene and make it a memorable photograph. He can take what should be bad light and capture the scene so that it is interesting.
Il Trovatore by G. Dan Mitchell
This scene is “just” a street scene, but Mr. Mitchell has made it something that makes you look deeper into the image. It’s well composed, tells a story, and makes you ask questions about what you are looking at. It’s a simple image, but a great picture.
In one of his most recent images is surprisingly simple, yet very affective.
- Sail Boats, Pacific Ocean
A blue ocean, fluffy clouds in the sky, and throw in a few sailboats and he has created a simple, pleasing image.
I have been looking for a photographer who consistently shares their work, doesn’t specialize in iconic or grand landscape/nature shots, and sees possible images in everyday situations. I have always known that you don’t have to travel to remote locations to find a compelling image, but you do have to know how to see. Dan Mitchell has that vision. I am trying to learn that vision.
Mr. Mitchell writes a short narrative with every image posted. In it you can get an idea behind his thinking of each image. I don’t love every one of his images, but even the ones I’m not fond of are good and when examined, have something to teach. By looking at his images and reading his posts, I am beginning to learn the possibilities of what can be found and seen through photography.
By examining his site, I’ve learned other things also. I love his image naming system. For the most part an image title consists of a short description of what the subject is and where it was located. He is protective of his images, but he does so in a positive, almost friendly way. He shares ideas on lenses, packing, and how to shoot. And he does it all without being perceived as a “rock star” photographer.
Mr. Mitchell is one of the photographers that I want to be. He lets his work speak for him and is active in the community. I highly suggest that you take a few minutes and visit his site. If you look at his images, you will begin to see in a new way.
Posted 8 months ago. 5 comments
DSLR Camera Bubble Level
This is one of the best thirty dollars I have ever spent. I have a real problem when shooting keeping the camera level. Especially when hand-holding it for my shots. But even on a tripod, what appears level to my eye is off level just a little bit.
When shooting landscapes, I want my camera perfectly level so that when I compose the scene, I don’t have to worry about any edge being lost when I straighten the image in Lightroom. The JOBO Dual Bubble Camera Level does a great job.
It slides into the hot shoe on the top of the camera and has one level each for horizontal and vertical shooting. All you have to do is attach it to the camera, compose your shot, check the level, make any last adjustments to the camera level, and take the picture.
I have found that by using a tripod and the bubble level, my work has slowed down and I take the time to think my images through a little better.
If you are looking for a simple way to improve your landscape photography, this is a well spent thirty dollars.
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
I bought the Nikkor 50 f1.4 as an all-around, keep-on-the-camera lens. I wanted something that would work in low light, I could use everyday in most situations, and was small and light. The cost was a plus at under $250.
It is a very light, small, and easy to carry and store/pack. It is usually on my camera at all times. I like being able to pick up my camera and having a lens that is fast enough to capture what I am seeing in just about every situation. It has become my “walk-around” lens. I’ve really learned to use this piece of glass as both a challenge and a tool.
The lens brightness is a great tool. It may be a little soft at f1.4, but at f2.0 to about f11 (maybe f16), I find it tack sharp.
The challenge comes from a fixed focal length. A 50mm lens isn’t limiting, but it does make you think your image through. You can’t zoom (unless you use sneaker zoom) so you have to frame and compose the image very carefully. The shallow depth of field at the more wide open apetures makes it a little easier to be creative.
It takes a little getting used to working with prime lens, but that is both the fun and the challenge.
A weak point of the lens is that it isn’t a Silent Wave Motor lens and uses the a screw drive from the camera body. This means that 1) your body must be able to focus the lens. Not all can. 2) It can be comparatively louder than other lenses. Also, I sometimes find that it doesn’t always focus when the camera is moved in small amounts.
The bottom line is that it’s a great all around fast piece of glass that is capable of taking some great images.
Posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
The Going Pro podcast is hosted by Skip Cohen and Scott Bourne, two pillars in the photography community. I have been listening to it since the first episode and usually there is some good information in each episode. But in episode thirty three, every idea was important and common sense.
They talked about how to behave as a professional. What they really did was remind us about how we are supposed to act with everyone we deal with in everyday life. They talked about respect.
How do you show respect?
Dress appropriately. Don’t over dress. Don’t under dress. Dress according to the both the situation and your personal style or brand.
Have a good hand shake. Firm. Confident. Look the person you are greeting in the eye and say their name. And then remember their name and use it in the conversation.
Focus on the person you are talking to. Don’t be looking over their shoulder for someone bigger and better. You choose to walk up to that person and start a conversation. Don’t waste their time.
Show respect in what you call them. Don’t assume a first name basis relationship upon the first meeting. Especially if they are a well established individual in the industry or they are older than you. If I was meeting either of the hosts (and I have), I would refer to them as Mr. Bourne or Mr. Cohen until they said to call them Scott or Skip. Not because they are older (I’m not sure they are), but because I respect what they do and what they have done. Calling someone by their honorific is a sign of respect.
Honor peoples gifts. A business card is a gift. If someone you are dealing with gives you a business card, take a moment to look at it, read it, and complement them on some aspect of the card. The Japanese have a ritual about business cards and take the exchange of business cards very seriously. If someone thinks enough of you to give you a business card, show them respect by actually looking at it.
Don’t interrupt. Even if it is just to say hello, the person you want to talk to is already in a conversation, don’t think your presence is more important than that conversation. I am guilty of this and it is something I am working on correcting. I don’t want to wait to say a thank you or just acknowledge a great contribution, so I interrupt with a quick thank you or such. I will be waiting from now on. It’s polite.
The small, seemingly inconsequential points above have been mostly lost in today’s society. We are all about being cool and casual. We have forgotten that there is a proper, polite, and respectful way to deal with people.
If you remember how to show respect, you will get more from the relationships you are trying to form. Both in your personal life and in business.
Besides, it’s the right thing to do.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Copyright RJ Kern
The above image caught my eye on the club wall of The [b]school. How does your eye not want to follow the graceful curving lines of the light painting?
A fellow [b]schooler, RJ Kern, took the image and I had to visit his site. To put it mildly, I was surprised. He has tons of images on his blog and they are all good. In addition, he shares some of his secrets about how he takes the images. It is rare that a good photographer of his caliber is willing to honestly share his techniques.
Based in Denver, he has some great winter images and the thing that caught my eye was that he had couples and weddings shot in the snow and cold and the people all look comfortable and happy. I have no idea if this is his doing or what, but it is the first time I have seen image of people in the cold where they look good.
His work includes wedding, portraits, landscape, food, and some macro work. Intermingled among the images are glimpses into his life as well as his thoughts. All of his posts are short and easy to read, but usually packed with information.
He has an interesting goal of 101 Goals In 1001 Days. It’s a list of ambitious goals to accomplish over the next few years. It’s worth the read just to get ideas for yourself. He also writes a lot about lighting, but in very simple, easy to understand terms and in doing so, gives you the attitude that you can produce the same quality of image if you spend some time practicing.
If you are looking for some inspirational images and thought provoking blog posts, I encourage you to take a few minutes and visit RJ Kern’s website.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago. 2 comments
Dan Bailey is an Alaskan photographer who specializes in outdoor, adventure, and travel photography. If you look at his images he has an amazing eye. You can see some of his images on his website: Dan Bailey.com
He has written and published two ebooks. I have purchased both and have read Making the Image: A Conceptual Guide for Making Stronger Photographs. It is a quick read, but very well done.
His book touches on the basics of good photography. The table of contents includes Light, Color, Focus, Balance, Empty Space, Relationships, Simplicity, Moment, Viewpoint, Details, Decisions, and Creation. There is very little that is really new or earth shattering in the text, but his approach puts the subject in a new light.
In his discussion of light, he makes it clear that a photograph is about good light and how to see it. In the section on balance, he talks about the rule of thirds. And in the chapter on simplicity, he discusses “less is more”. The last chapter is on creativity and discusses the creative process including how to get ideas and solve problems. I think there is something for all levels of photographers who are looking for a small nugget of information to make them better.
The difference between Bailey’s book and most other books is the images that are included with the text. Most photo books have small images to highlight the point being made. Bailey’s book includes a full two page spread of the image. The text is place directly on the included picture and in most cases the image demonstrates idea discussed in the text very well. Not only do you get the text for the subject, but he includes the EXIF data for each image.
You are not buying a book on how to make better images as much as you are buying a book of great images that also includes information on how to take better photographs. For $11 you get a book of images and information at a price that shouldn’t make you think twice.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago. 1 comment
Lensbaby Composer
The Lensbaby Composer is not a lens that you are going to use everyday or even very often, but it does have a creative place in a photographer’s kit. I think of it as an inexpensive, weird version of a tilt/shift lens.
Wheel Taken with a Lesbaby
The Lensbaby is very simple in concept. An element is placed in a ball and socket type of flexible container. The lens is not ground so that the image is not sharp throughout the image, but so that the farther away you go from the center, the blurrier it gets. The photographer can determine how sharp the image is at the edges by inserting a magnetic aperture ring in front of the lens. The different apertures are stored in a container attached to the magnet used to remove the rings from the lense. Like in a normal lens, the smaller the aperture, the more sharp the image from edge to edge.
Using the Composer is not difficult, but there is a learning curve. The whole purpose of the lens is to add creative blur to an image. By moving the ball and socket portion of the lens, you can move the location of the sharp area in the photograph. I refer to it as the sweet spot. It takes practice to learn how to move the lens so as to place the sweet spot on the subject.
Focus is also an issue. The Lensbaby doesn’t have an automatic focus system, so you have to focus manually. This takes practice to focus the lens and move the sweet spot to an off center point. I have found that if I focus on a subject and have the sweet spot at the center of the lens and then move it to the point I want it in the frame by keeping the lens pointing at the subject while turning the camera, I get good results.
Crankshaft Taken with Lensbaby
As for the images that the Composer produces, they range from awesome to bleh. I think the subject matter has a lot to do with it. I have found that textures work real well. Also, the amount of blur can be controlled by the use of the aperture rings. Creative use of aperture is needed to produce nice results. I have found that there are some people who like the blur created in the images and others who really don’t like the blur. There seems to be no in between.
With a price around $250, it is a lens that is within reach of almost all photographers and should be considered if you are looking for a way to jump start your creativity and have some fun with your photography. If you do, you will understand why their Twitter name is @SeeInANewWay.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
I have traveled Highway 395 through Bishop many times for lots of trips. On almost every trip, I stop at Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light Gallery at least once. His work is amazingly beautiful and inspiring. In addition, the gallery always has a section where a guest artist’s work is displayed and their work is usually equally impressive.
Unfortunately, Mr. Rowell died in a plane crash in 2002. The Sierra Club Book publishing company of San Fransisco brought together more than 175 of his images and writings along with those of guest authors document Galen’s body of work and a lot of his life.
Each of the ten different authors document one aspect of Rowell’s life and/or photography and each essay is accompanied by several of Galen’s images that directly relate to the writing. Sprinkled throughout the book are short writings by Galen and others that highlight certain aspects of his photography. The book also covers his equipment and some of his thinking in taking different images.
Rowell is able to make any place look special with his photographs. His images cover the globe from the foothills of San Fransisco to the mountain ranges of Tibet and South America. All of them are beautiful and inspiring.
He demonstrates why you sometimes need a person in the scene to give the viewer a measure of scale and he shows how to use color in a way that draws the viewer into the shot. By examining the images the book contains, you can see how an artist captures light in different scenes. His composition is precise and well thought out. All of his images seem to have nothing out of place and everything included in the image was intended to be exactly where it is supposed to be.
This book should be required reading for any photographer who is interested in shooting the outdoors. It documents a advocate who is not only the photographer of nature, but also part of it.
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago. 4 comments
Yosemite National Park holds a special place in my heart. I remember as a little kid going there with my parents and learning about the glacier carved valley and camping under the granite walls. I returned again in the last few years and explored more of the park including Tuolumne Meadows and more of the back country.
In between my more frequent trips there, I have been researching the park including it’s history, wildlife, and photographic value. In doing so I discovered a great resource for learning about both the power of photography and the park itself.
Yosemite Nature Notes is a video podcast series produced by Steven N. Bumgardner for the National Park Service. He has produced 13 videos that document different part of the history or natural history of the park. Each video is 8-10 minutes long and includes interview with rangers and some awesome footage. I have shown many of them to my classes and every time I do, the kids want to go there and see it all first hand.
I think episode nine is my favorite. It shows a phenomenon called frazil ice in Yosemite Creek. This just makes me want to visit in the winter and spring. Episode ten is about rock falls. Rock falls are when a part of the valley wall breaks away and falls into the valley below. It’s something to think about next time you are in the valley.
From a photographic perspective, the videos are great ways to see potential locations for shooting. Episode seven about the Tuolumne River shows some great rapids and falls that look interesting and have motivated me to get into shape to make the hike to shoot them.
If you have time, take a few minuets and watch a couple of episodes. You won’t be disappointed.
Please use the form below to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Posted 1 year ago. 1 comment
