Weblog
November 19th, 2007
Another post for bored photographers…
The Magnum Photo blog has posted dozens of photo blogs that will probably take you a good couple of days to explore. All this reminds me that I should update my links page, but I’m not sure I can keep up with the fine collection Magnum has amassed here.
May 9th, 2007
The travel photography blog of photographer Tewfic El-Sawy makes for a good read. He describes his blog as “opinionated and (sometimes) acerbic commentary on travel and editorial photography.” Topics include travel photography contest news and photographer spotlights.
After having a quick look through the site, it looks to be informative and well worth an add to my RSS reader’s feeds.
August 20th, 2006
Google has publically launched Writely, a free online word processing application. It writes PDFs, will publish directly to your blog, has collaboration tools including subscribing to an RSS feed of a document), automatic off-site backups and more.
It is, of course, an impressive application, but I’m not sure if it will usurp Word as the de facto word processor. It seems everyone already has a copy of Microsoft’s offering. Writely may not take off, but perhaps it will have the positive effect of inspiring some improvements in the software we already have. I mean, it’s not like Microsoft doesn’t like to update their products. This may just mean that there are actually some relevant additions to the next release.
Though I did, in fact, use Writely to create this post and it worked fairly well. It didn’t include the title of the document, but it warms you that this feature may not be supported. It also used breaks instead of the paragraph tag for the html, so that was a bit unusual. Since I typically use paragraphs, I edited the post’s HTML after the fact, but I suspect most people won’t notice or care. Not to mention this just came out - a few improvements are probably already on the way.
I didn’t expect to be switching over to a new method of posting to this site, but it was worth a test. Now that I have made that test, I know for certain that I will be sticking to my trusty Wordpress administration panel.
July 11th, 2006
I was only able to spend a few short days in Osaka when I was travelling through Japan. It seemed, even more than Tokyo, the very definition of ‘urban.’ Many people have a vision of Japan as a futuristic, modern city that covers virtually every inch of the archipelago and if they only visited Osaka, they would be justified in believing that.
The photos I have uploaded include images of the Osaka Skyline, the Dotonbori Shopping and Entertainment District and The Umeda Sky Building. When time permits, I also have images from Osaka castle and Osaka Aquarium that I intend to process and upload as well, so stay tuned.
And as always, a few samples:
July 4th, 2006
I still haven’t seen Bangkok. I’ve been here a few days now and I haven’t wandered too far from my guesthouse. And I’m okay with that.
I have as much time here as I want, so I’m biding my time, waiting for the weather to cooperate. It has rained every day that I have been here, though certainly not all day. It’s been those tropical storms that charge into the city hoping to catch unsuspecting vendors off guard so that wares might be blown away or soaked.
When it’s not raining, it’s threatening to with spitting drops randomly reminding you that the sky is boss and you better pay attention to it. Combine that with the overcast clouds that still manage to let enough sun through to harshly light the scenes on the ground and my camera just doesn’t want to come out to play.
So, I’ve worked and I’ve wandered. The processing of my backlog of photos is progressing nicely as I sit in a room free from distractions. No Internet, no TV, no people. Just me plugging away at images I shot long ago. Until I go out to shoot new ones, I have plenty to keep me busy.
June 30th, 2006
This post marks my departure from Japan and a return to travel for me. That means that I won’t have the opportunity to waste endless hours scouring the Internet for all things photographically interesting. Instead, I will now shift back into travel writing mode (and I hope that’s at least somewhat interesting).
My upcoming plans are vague and mutable, but here’s the gist: I will be leaving Japan on July 1st and heading back to Thailand. My return ticket takes me to Bangkok where I will spend a little time photographing the city. When I first swept through the metropolis, I took a stroll up and down Khao San Road, and that was about it before heading off to other parts of Thailand (and many people have said I made a wise choice).
But, I will have at least a week or two to spend in Bangkok and/or nearby destinations inside Thailand. That may turn into a month depending on how much I’m enjoying myself.
When my Thailand fun is finished, the plan is to head down to Australia. The cheapest entry point is Darwin - one of the most Northern cites in the country. I’ve been told that there’s not much good reason to stay in Darwin, so I expect to quickly buy a ticket out of Dullsville (if that’s what it turns out to be).
But that’s where the planning ends. I mean, I don’t even have a guidebook for Australia yet. I just know that soon after arriving in the country, I will likely be putting that working holiday visa of mine to use with whatever job I can find. Prices down under are going to come as a shock to my stretched budget, so I expect to be temping/fruit picking/working construction/dreaming of a photography job/whatever work I can find sooner than later.
I aim to keep posting fun stories and adventures on a regular basis, so I hope you’ll come back and keep up with me.
June 29th, 2006
Photographers of Getty Images have been busy at the World Cup and have been posting their photos and experiences on the Getty Images Sports Blog. The page provides some interesting insight into what it’s like to shoot such a major event and also features the occasional useful tip from some of the better sports photographers in the world.
June 28th, 2006
Creativebits has a brief look at PhotoShop 1.0 that will undoubtedly spawn some sighs of relief that the product has come so far from its early days. Though, one screenshot does reveal that even in 1990, PhotoShop had support for 32-bit colour!
If you’re a Mac user and Software update hasn’t told you so yet, OS X version 10.4.7 is available.
Microsoft has announced the acquisition of iView media whose Media Pro software is an invaluable tool for photographers seeking to organize large collections of images. The iView line will continue develop under Microsoft and will likely serve as part of a larger Microsoft foray into digital imaging.
Lastly, DIY Photography, in this article, shares some musings on the art of photography.
June 26th, 2006
DIY Photography has an article that explores photographer’s rights and their sense of respect for their subjects.
The question of photographer’s rights is frequently a tricky issue as a travel photographer where local laws and customs are frequently unknown to you, but as this article mentions, erring on the side of being respectful is a good tactic. Unfortunately, sometimes you won’t always know the proper way to be respectful.
As an example, while shooting the morning precession in Luang Prabang, Laos, I watched a photographer break every rule for shooting the monks and their daily ritual. A little reading beforehand or talking to any of the enthusiastic novices in the area would have told this photographer what was acceptable behaviour and what was not. In fact, at most of the temples in the city, there are signs posted that list the guidelines for photography, so I truly don’t think this photographer could have even used ignorance as his excuse.
He’s an example of someone who probably knew the rules and chose not to exercise much respect. I’m more forgiving of those who err out of ignorance in such cases - it can be difficult to keep track of who wants to be treated how. But wherever you go, with the first English-speaking local you find, just ask about local attitudes towards photography and you’ll be well on your way to being able to treat others as they would have you treat them.
The point being that common sense is the foundation of the respect you may have for your subjects, but frequently, you may need to do some research to discover just what respect means for different people.
June 23rd, 2006
DSLRBlog.com has a guide to DSLR lenses that’s worth a look for anyone in the market for some new glass.
If you are going to be shopping, before making your purchase, I would recommend making a stop at Fred Miranda’s review section where you can get multiple reviews on each product (lenses and camera bodies) from users who have already made the purchase.
Most Popular Tags on dsphotographic.com:
