goldengod

Obligatory Dueling Shot
by Andrew Ferguson

I’m getting really curious about you guys. I’ve long since realized that my favourite part about writing is interacting with my readers in the comments, via email and in person.

I like hearing what people have to say about what I write, even when they disagree with me. Actually, especially when you disagree with me: That’s when I’m most likely to learn something new!

That said, I’ve decided to run polls on here every once in a while. It’ll sate my curiousity and help me structure what kind of articles I write.

So without further ado, I give you the first poll ever run on goldengod:

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Those of you reading by RSS feed or syndicated on my LiveJournal may not be able to see or participate in this poll normally. I’d really appreciate it if you could take five seconds to click through and answer the poll.

Get specific about your gear in the comments, if you’d like! I’d love to know what everyone prefers to use and why.

Mounted in Times Square by Stewart Butterfield

The New York Times is reporting that the mayor of New York City is considering new laws restricting public photography. The new rules would require photographers and videographers to obtain permits and million dollar liability insurance policies before shooting in NYC.

Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks.

I normally leave the important issues surrounding photographer’s rights to more experienced bloggers like John Harrington and Thomas Hawk. However lately, it’s a cause that I feel the need to add my voice to.

After reading the article, I’m frightened by the way that the proposed rules are said to purposefully use vague language. This gives the police broad discretion in enforcing the law, putting the legitimate photographer at the mercy of the whims of individual officers.

Anyone wanting to express their polite opinion to the municipal government can do so using this feedback form.

Wow, do I suck. Last week Mashable posted a massive link list of more than 90 online photography tools. I forgot to add it to my ‘photography resources’ post before it went live yesterday. So here’s your notice! Go check it out, bookmark it, add it to your del.icio.us, whatever! This is the biggest collection of online tools for photographers that I’ve seen gathered into one post so far.

There are a ton of tools, reference information, and links to other photography blogs. The post tries to be useful to all skill levels of photographer, but there just isn’t that much for advanced ones. Large swathes of the post are aimed at beginners and snapshooters.

If you’ve got a spare afternoon though, there’s definitely something new here for you to do with your photos. I’m digging through the list myself, seeing what I can find that’s new to me.

Now if only their photography blogs section was a bit more comprehensive… :P

Last week I made you smile, this week I’m going to share some useful resources. These links are all good reference materials for a number of different aspects of photography. Here’s the weeks catch:

• Top 5 Books for Photographers - Joe Szymanski of Mostly Photography puts together a solid list of five must-read books for photographers. Fair warning, they’re popular. I was only able to get the Ansel Adams book from the library without having to wait for it.
• Are Hotlights Good Enough? - Christopher Scholl of Photographer’s Journey answers my hotlight-related prayers. I’ve been wondering how good constant light sources can be for photography and what kind of advantages they offer over strobes. There’s some useful stuff here; I’ve filed it in my reference section for when I have a lighting budget.
• Camera Shutter Life Expectancy Database - A comprehensive list of digital cameras and user-reported statistics on their shutter life. It’s a great resource for when you’re thinking of getting a new camera and want to know how long it’s likely to last.
• DSLR Sensor Cleaning Demo - I expect to watch this video approximately fifty times in the next seven days. I need to clean my sensor, badly. I haven’t actually done it yet because I’m way too nervous over it. I’ll get to it sometime this coming weekend, hopefully. Wish me luck!
• Inside Lightroom - These guys have a massive stack of Lightroom develop presets. I’ve been browsing through their options and I’m thinking about integrating a few into my workflow. I prefer to do my editing without presets, but it can get pretty time consuming.

Now if you’ll excuse, the fact that I’ve set myself a deadline for sensor cleaning is making me freak out. I need 50cc’s of a paper bag, stat…

What’s in Your Camera Bag?
by Jon MacKinnon

Flickr’s Interestingness search is becoming worse each day. More and more, attempting to use keywords to find photos results in a frustrating amount of false positives. Keyword pollution is becoming a serious problem.

What is “Keyword Pollution”?

Dan Heller defines keyword pollution as “…a term I use to describe an image whose keywords are such that the number of false positives causes the searcher to get exasperated and quit.” He writes an extensive dissertation on keywording and how it related to the future of stock photography. I think Dan’s definition is pretty accurate and I really like some of his in-depth observations.

You can think of it like the videos you see on YouTube tagged “south park” or “stephen colbert” that have nothing to do with either. People do that to make their videos to show up in the search results for popular topics. It was a common tactic among internet spam sites back in the day.

I find it especially frustrating when I’m trying to find photos of camera equipment for this blog. People tend to tag their photos with the camera they used, despite the fact that it’s already listed in the EXIF data. This means it’s hard to find pictures of a Canon digital camera instead of ones taken with a Canon digital camera.

Popular blogger Darren Barefoot touched on Flickr keyword pollution recently as well, directing his wrath at the photos people take of what’s in their bags. It makes it hard for him to find pictures of individual objects instead of big piles of them. Another example is when I was searching for CC-licensed photos of weddings. Out of 24 total photos on the first page for “wedding”, 8 photos are of wedding cakes all from the same account. On the second page, the numbers go up; 14 out of the 24 photos are cakes. I find it frustrating to have to waste my time sifting through unrelated photos in order to find what you do want.

Why Does Keyword Pollution Happen on Flickr?

The short version is that Flickr’s “interestingness” algorithm is easy to cheat. The formula is based on activity. How many people view, comment on, add tags to, and favourite your photos is often what pushes it up in the search. People will often artificially inflate this by submitting their photos to communities like Delete Me and Score Me that result in a lot of activity, even if the photo is terrible.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done to prevent this. The downside to anyone being able to edit and/or tag stuff means that there’s no governing organizational system. The practice of inputting incorrect keywords isn’t evil or anything, it just makes life frustrating for those of us trying to find legitimate content.

I’m predicting that one of the next big things across the board in Web 2.0 will be content moderators to help streamline the user experience by weeding out these false positives. Netscape has already implemented this by taking user-submitted news and having Netscape Anchors, like Muhammad Saleem, help moderate the content.

Is all of this a big deal? No. It’s a minor annoyance that I don’t enjoy dealing with, like flyers in the mail or bureaucratic red tape. Without a cohesive system to govern tagging, it gradually becomes more and more frustrating to find what you’re looking for.

Now if only Google had bought Flickr…

Purpose by striatic

It’s been a while since I’ve written about photography books. I spend so much time reading photography blogs online that it becomes second nature to seek the information you want online first, forget paper. I’ve recently taken up learning from dead trees in the form of pop science and photography books.

Inspired by Joe Szymanski’s post on the top 5 books for photographers, I went to the library last week and got a stack of new books to read. Sadly, I could only get one of the books oout of the five he recommends.

However, some random browsing and a recommendation from the Strobist made up for it and I got three solid books to take home. The rest I’ve put on reserve when they come in.

Secrets of Lighting on Location by Bob Krist

This is an amazing book. Krist gives you a quick refresher to outline the basics without bogging you down. After that, he goes into intricate detail on intermediate and advanced lighting concepts. I can easily see why many photographers call this book their lighting bible. One thing to keep in mind if you’re considering picking it up is that the entire book is written for film photographers. If you know your stuff even vaguely though, you’ll have no problem translating the instructions to your digital camera and newer strobes.

The Negative by Ansel Adams

This is technically the second book in the Ansel Adams Photography Series, but I’ve decided to start with it anyways. So far it’s tough going. It’s a very technical book and it’s pretty dry at times. That being said, there’s some incredibly useful information in here. For example, I’m learning about the Zone System for the first time. I just have to stay awake long enough to absorb it.

Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach by Kenneth Kobré

I’ve only barely cracked the cover on this one, so there’s not much I can say. I’m both attracted to and repulsed by photojournalism but my knowledge of the field is sparse at best. I’ve taken this book out partially to determine if it’s a field that I’m interested in and partially to broaden my overall understanding of photography.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Okay, I lied. This one’s not a photography book. But it’s so good! I’m a massive Murakami fan, so I can’t help mnyself. He writes what I can only describe as incredibly beautiful dreamscapes. These simple, emotional stories containing elements of the fantastic beyond comprehension. It reminds me of the feeling you experience when you’re dreaming. You don’t really question why you’re a pirate captain bent on stealing Queen Elizabeth’s favourite knickers, you just know you have to get the damn panties!

What photography books are you interested in? Got a favourite book to recommend? Leave a comment and let me know!

BC Hydro Building at Dusk by Andrew Ferguson

So I’m downtown on Richards Street at around 7pm, slowly meandering home and taking photos. Mostly photos of the sky, testing out my sexy new polarizing filter.

I also recently read an article on overcoming the problem of converging verticals at Digital Photography School and wanted to try working with vertical lines. Therefore, photos of the sky and tall buildings. Sounds simple enough. When I take photos of buildings, I find it really makes a difference to get high up. We’re used to seeing tall buildings from ground level, so a photo from up higher is much more likely to catch the eye.

The best buildings to get high up are parkades. They’re the perfect structure for getting up high to take photos. They’re plentiful in major cities, sometimes as tall as ten stories, and you can almost always get on the very top of it and not have to shoot through glass.

I got the shot I wanted of the BC Hydro building, which you can see above. When I finally finished, I headed back down the same staircase I came up. I’m really proud of this photo and I was already excited even before I left the roof, because I knew I’d gotten the shot.

I stepped into the cramped concrete stairwell, still half smiling. Then I suddenly realized that two obvious junkies preparing to get high were blocking the way out. I had a brief panicked moment in the back of my head where I thought, “I’m about to get mugged by drug addicts.” I decided to go with the direct approach. I stepped up to the two of them and said “Excuse me guys, I understand you’re a bit busy here but can I please get by?”

No response for almost three full seconds. One of them finally goes “Oh… uh… sorry” and lets me pass. They sounded so confounded by my politeness; it was sad but a little funny. Trying not to laugh, I made my way down the stairs and back out to the street.

So keep in mind the moral of this story: If you run into junkies while you’re out taking photos, be polite.

Apparently some of the photography links I’ve been finding lately are important for people to see but really depressing. So this week, my goal is your amusement. One of these five links is guaranteed to make you smile:

• Proposal in the Rain by Shay Stephens - I am such a romantic sap. I totally let out a full-on girly heartstrings-tugging ‘aww’ when StumbleUpon served this one up. Shay Stephens was hiredto take photos of a rainy but beautiful proposal in Central Park.
• Sous La Mer by Alberich Matthews - NSFW Warning; breasts. You have been warned. If you can stand the sight of a shapely bosom or two without turning into Mr. Hyde, definitely check these out. Alberich captures the ethereal beauty of underwater movement in still photography.
• The Food Photographer - A pretty hilarious video of a ‘famous’ food photographer at work. I think I’ll try that yelling technique next time I’m taking photos.
• When I Grow Up I Wanna Work in Advertising - A spoof of Monster’s careers ad created for the ADDY awards. It runs a little long, but it still made me chuckle a few times. At least at my company, some of those descriptions are pretty accurate.
• Capture the Ethereal Beauty of Everyday Objects Using Polarized Light. - Having just bought a polarizer, I really want to try this. It may take a lot of work to turn something like this into a usable photo, but it’s really neat to see this hidden beauty of the plastic products that pervade our daily life.

…but I don’t mean the kind of ‘guaranteed’ where you get your money back or anything. That cash is mine now. Enjoy your week!

Remember last month when my employer was kind enough to send me as an observer to one of our monthly pinup photo shoots? I only mentioned it briefly in one of my digital photography link posts, so I understand if you don’t remember. I didn’t want to get too excited over it and annoy you guys.

All that aside, the photos are live now! If you want to check out the final product of the shoot I saw or just drool over the model, point your browser at the Bodog Girls site. The current series featuring Jamie is the one you want.

Many thanks to my boss Lisa, senior creative director Jackson, art director Lisa (different Lisa) and photographer Dexter Quinto for being kind enough to let me tag along. I learned quite a bit about the work it takes to put something like this together and how a good photographer controls complex light in a studio setting.

Trade secrets? Nothing I’m allowed to say, on pain of death by improbable James Bond trap.

(Olive oil …lots of olive oil.)

Down is the New Up by dro!d

It sounds like digital camera manufacturer Nikon is building up to a big DSLR announcement next week. All the major tech sites are reporting rumors about a new high end Nikon D3 digital camera.

News.com reports that things kicked off in the Digital Photography Review forums with a Nikon insider leaking some secret info about a new Nikon DSLR.

Engadget continued things with a post about Nikon D3 rumors. Nothing too concrete is covered, just “…hopes that it’ll sport 18.7-megapixels, a nearly full frame sensor, and an uncanny ability to cope with low-light conditions.” I can understand the excitement; Nikon *finally* jumping on the full frame bandwagon after years of resistance would be big news.

Returning for a second round, Engadget shared a final insider tip with us:

…a “photo editor at a major newspaper” has tipped us on a phone call he received from Nikon in which his presence was requested at a meeting where a “new professional camera that is leaps and bounds better than anything Canon is offering” would be showcased.

As expected, that’s about all the details he could pry from the caller, but since the meeting is purportedly scheduled for June 26th, at least we’ve got some sort of timeframe to get our hopes up about.

I’m pretty firmly in the Canon camp, but Nikon fans should definitely mark their calendars.

Actually, I’ve been noticing a strong trend towards Nikon low-end DSLR’s with my friends. I know, they aren’t much of an objective study group but it’s all I can afford this quarter.

I irresponsibly blew the Objective DSLR Survey Budget on a new circular polarizing filter for my Rebel XT lenses. I’ve got some time to play with it this week and I’ll have some impressions for you later on.

EDIT: I’ve noticed a lot of traffic coming here from Google: Welcome, searchers! Take five minutes and read a few other posts I’ve written about digital cameras:

• Tenant’s Insurance: Like Photographer’s Insurance for the Hobbyist
• Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR Rumor Mill
• Canon EOS 40D Announcement & Availability

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