I can personally support this data as I am spending more time marketing my work than ever.  It’s really tough sometimes, but, it’s required if you plan to stay in business.

My snow adventures this year lead me to experiment with HDR and snow scenes and the results were intriguing as you can see in the attached photo.

A Frosty Morning at the Ranch

HDR (high dynamic range) is a relatively new concept in photography and you either love it or hate it.  It is a technique that requires practice and in many cases discipline as you can easily get carried away with some of the settings that are available.  Here in my photo, I just let things go a bit wild and removed the notion of reality.  I wanted saturated colors and an almost animated look so the photo may seem strange but that was the plan.

HDR is something that you can achieve using Photoshop or other 3rd party products like Photomatix which I prefer.  Some recent cameras are offering it was a built in feature as well so you might want to give it a try.  I’ll do another post later to describe more about what’s required for HDR.

Within the first 3 days of the safari in the Samburu Reserve, I had more wildlife imagery than I had imagined possible in a such a short time.  And not just “rapid fire” action photos but many “keepers” that ranged from landscape panoramas to wildlife portraits.    As we ventured on to Lake Nakuru and then to the Masai Mara, the photography continued to be fantastic.  We photographed more leopards, lions, and cheetahs than even Joe and Mary Ann could anticipate.

These guys know how to run a photo safari and will wait for the action to happen and for conditions to be right for photographing.  Their guides are the best in the industry because they know photographers and what is required to get great imagery.  Lodging was superb, the food was amazing, and everything ran wonderfully.

Back home, I’m editing roughly 10,000 images while my husband works on the 500 videos he recorded during the safari.  The imagery will be something to talk about for years to come as the experience was an adventure of a lifetime.  And with any luck, it will greatly complement a wildlife book I’ve been wanting to complete.

In my excitement of finding some new inspiration, I went off on a tangent this spring and created some canvas prints with my Epson 9600 in anticipation of doing a small show during the summer months.  These prints weren’t your average 8×10 or 11×14, they were in the range of 40×60 and they were dynamite.  As luck would have it, not only did I get that summer show, I was invited to hang my work in a local gallery in Philipsburg, MT, called West Wind Gallery and Framing right on main street.  People really enjoyed the large prints and sales have been steady considering the economics of today’s art environment, especially in a small town.  So, my spring printing frenzy turned out to be a wonderful introduction of my work while also giving me a new means for sharing my passion with others.

West Wind Gallery and Framing has many artistic pieces to offer. If you’re passing through western Montana, take a day to check it out and maybe I’ll see you there.

Philadelphia, PA… The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has introduced a comprehensive new Social Media Tutorial on its website, asmp.org. The information is intended to guide imaging professionals through the ins and outs of the networking sites which have become an integral part of the business of photography. Contributors are experts in their fields who provide state-of-the-art data on social media marketing, blogging, posting images and video, legal considerations and terms of service.

According to ASMP Executive Director Eugene Mopsik, “ASMP believes that social media is crucial to imaging professionals as a tool for promoting their work. In 2009, we issued a report on the Terms of Service (TOS) of major social networking sites in light of unclear terms and conditions. We have now gone a step further in more comprehensively addressing the use of social media from a marketing and promotional standpoint.”

ASMP Education Director Susan Carr stated, “Thanks to social media, there are now a number of new ways to connect with clients and prospects — if you know how to navigate it properly. This tutorial is designed to help imaging professionals understand the available options, how to take advantage of opportunities, and what issues to be aware of.” The tutorial is available at no charge to all in the photographic community.

ASMP is the premier trade association for photographers, providing members with all the tools, information and support needed to run successful photography businesses. Over 7,000 strong with 39 chapters throughout the country, ASMP members are recognized as a community of forward-thinking professionals.

Find out more by clicking here.

Clark's Nutcracker

Being a NANPA member, it seems timely to post a photo taken on National Nature Photography Day (June 15th).  The conditions were not optimal and it wasn’t a planned event but seeing a number of different birds coming around my feeders seemed like a promising photo shoot.  So, I took a break from the office chores and took out the long lens.  Surprisingly, in spite of the less than great weather conditions, I was able to capture these Clark’s Nutcracker’s staging for the suet feeder in a nearby spruce.  A few minutes later, these tiny western bluebirds, both male and female, took a break on the same spruce.  Not bad for an impromtu photo shoot, often the best kind.

Western Bluebird (male and female)

I hope you had a great nature photography day!

To use this video feature, you need to set a few things on the camera first.  In the Live View/Movie func. set, you need to set the LV func. setting to Stills+movie and review the other settings like the Movie rec. size (1920×1080 (30)) to ensure they are as you prefer.  I also disable the sound unless I attach an external mic as the sound isn’t very good without one.  You can add sound later via a video editing program but if you’re really serious about great video, an external mic is required.  As they say, in video, sound is everything!  Next, you need to have your camera on a tripod for best results.  Compose the shot, set the focus, depth of field, shutter speed, and get all those details set up.  Then ensure you switch to manual focus and then press the live view mode button on the top of the camera beside the viewfinder.  When you’re ready to record, press the function button to start and stop.  It’s that simple.

Recording with an HDSLR can be tricky but with a tripod and some patience you can get good results.  You can see a short clip from a snowstorm I recorded this past February,

Make sure you have fully charged batteries, compact flash cards that can record at least 30fps and are at least 4GB in size.  The FAT file system used on the flash cards limits the recording session to 12 minutes or 4GB, whichever comes first so you’ll want to be on the watch for that.  The video recording will just stop if it reaches capacity.

Video editing is another story but it isn’t too difficult.  Canon’s MovieEdit Task that’s part of ZoomBrower 6.7 does a fair job and is simple to use and free if you already have ZoomBrower from your camera CD.

There is a lot of information out there about HDSLR video and one good article I found helpful is from the Canon Digital Learning Center titled Canon 5D Mark II:  Movie Mode Basics.

Get the most from your Canon 5D Mark II and learn to use the video features.  It’s great fun and you will be amazed at how quickly you get hooked!

Registration of copyright has become much easier than in years past.  In fact, for many things, you can now use the eCO online filing system created by the US Copyright Office.  Click here for details.  After you create a login id, you fill out the information online, pay online, and in a few months your copyright registration will arrive.

To keep the process simple, it’s best to create a folder on your computer where you store a thumbnail copy of what you need to file for copyright.  Then, each quarter, go to that folder and create a zip file of those images for uploading to the online copyright site when you register.  The most challenging piece of the process is determining whether your images are published or unpublished.  The copyright website offers some insight on this as well as ASMP, NPPA, and other professional organizations.

When you have a copyright violation, unregistered works rarely win any legal battles.  However, if you have taken the time to register, the legal case becomes much stronger.  So, do the research and register your images.  It helps all of us if you do!

For example, the driver that Epson recommended I try for my Epson 9600 was actually for Windows Vista 64-bit.  I installed it and it worked, almost.  For some reason, the paper size was not being calculated correctly and this started creating a real problem for me.  So, I found this Virtual PC software and installed it on my Windows 7 64-bit machine.  I then installed the printer and the printer driver for the Epson in the Virtual PC domain and everything started working correctly.  The paper size wasn’t a problem anymore.  I did this same thing with my Epson 3200 scanner and now I don’t have to upgrade my scanner either.  It seems that the vendors won’t come out and say they aren’t going to create drivers for Windows 7 for many of these things and in many cases the Windows Vista drivers just don’t cut it.  So, at least for now, there is a workaround.

For more information about Windows Virtual PC, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/.  It will save you a lot of headaches!