- Here's your March Issue of the Dan Bailey Photo Newsletter
Published: Sun, 03/12/17
Hi ,
It’s March already, and oddly enough, I’m not sure I’m done with winter yet! I’ve had so much fun snow biking this season, especially since we finally had lots of snow this year after three dismal winters. Of course, since we’re still having single digit temps here in Anchorage every morning, I guess I can rest assured that winter will stick around for a few more weeks.
I'm gearing up for the spring Fujifilm X Photographers Summit in the Great Smoky Mountains, which is scheduled for April 5-9, and then get ready for my Scotland trip, which I’m planning of May.
From what I understand, there are still a few spots left in the April Fuji summit, so if you’re a Fuji shooter, or if you’re interested in checking out the system in depth and learning from four established pros. (Bill Fortney, Jack Graham, Karen Hutton and me), and enjoying a few days of nature and travel photography fun and camaraderie, then definitely check out the info page. Plus, I'd love to meet you down there!
If you can’t make this summit, we’ll be holding another one in Portland, OR, September 6-10.
In addition, I’ve got a few spots left on my 2017 Midnight Sun Alaska Glacier Photography Workshop, which is happening June 23-25.
This promises to be an incredible weekend- I ran it last year and we had a blast, shooting helicopter aerials over the Knik Glacier, camping on the shores of a glacier lake, hiking, kayaking and rafting around the icebergs, eating by the campfire and staying up late to photography the surrounding landscapes of the Chugach Mountains under the midnight sun. And, I’ll be bringing along a pack full of Fuji cameras and lenses for you to try out as well.
June is definitely the best time to be in Alaska, so if you want a truly unique photography workshop and outdoor experience, then please contact me or visit my workshop page to register. I promise you won’t be disappointed if you join us.
And, I’m working on doing at least one photography related event when I’m over in Scotland. Stay tuned for details.
Creative Photography Tip - 3 Vital Concepts for Successful Imagery
I’m sure you’ve collected a ton of photography info from all the stuff you’ve read and heard from other shooters over the years. Probably enough to overwhelm you at times.
What if you could distill all that down into a few simple concepts- almost like a mantra you could recite to yourself as you’re composing your imagery. Sort of like the last thing I say out loud when I’m about to take off in my little Cessna, is “Fuel, Flaps, Trim.”
Essentially, I’m verifying that I have enough gas and the fuel selector is on the fullest tank, the flaps are at the optimum setting and the trim wheel is set in the neutral, takeoff position. (FYI, my Cessna 120 doesn’t actually have flaps, but if I’m flying any other kind of plane that does have flaps, that would apply, so I keep the nemonic the way it is.)
While out riding my fat bike the other day, I came up with a trio of concepts you could use in a similar way for photography. Hopefully this helps keep you on track when you’re trying to create compelling imagery.
1. Relate
Relate usually applies relationships, which can imply how your main subject relates with the other elements in the scene, but it can also apply to how other elements or aspects relate with each other and form a complete, or better yet, an abbreviated story that works and has strong visual and emotional impact.
When I think about Relationships, I often consider things like Foreground/Background, Leading Lines, Patterns and Color Relationships, such as Light vs. Dark. Warm vs. Cool, Saturated vs. Subdued.
So next time you’re behind the camera, run through these three concepts in your mind and see how they kick start your creative photography mind.
2. Orientate
This one is rather comprehensive, because can apply to a number of different aspects in your composition, such as
- Orientation, or direction of light falling on your subject.
- Orientation, or placement of your subject within the frame.
- The implied direction you lead your viewer through the frame, based on how you arrange, or orientate the subject elements.
As with Relate, it’s not so much of a “tip” as a concept that you think through as you’re gauging the light and thinking about how you’ll frame your scene. That’t exactly the point, though.
The more you infuse the “thinking” part into your photography process, the better you’ll be able to navigate all the different elements in your scene and bring them together (or leave them out) in order to create a compelling image.
3. Abbreviate
Photography isn't about reproducing your subject exactly, it’s about representing your subject matter in such a way that it evokes a mood, feel or sense of place. You don’t always need to show the entire subject in order to make a great photo. In fact, in most cases, the less you show, the better.
This can be tricky, though. Show too much and you’ll clutter the frame and the shot will lose impact. Show too little and there might not be enough info for the viewer to lock on to whatever story you’re trying to tell.
The trick is to show just enough that you engage your viewer’s mind and invite them to imagine the rest of the scene. You can read a little more about this concept in this blog post, called Photographers: Don’t Reproduce a Subject, Abbreviate It.
And just so you don’t forget them, let’s say them all together now:
- Relate
- Orientate
- Abbrevaite
I’ll add a fourth one in next month’s newsletter, but for now, these 3 ideas will get you off to a good start. I hope they help. Let me know what you think.
I realize that there is a lot more to a great image than just these three things, but they can help jump start the rest of the process.
I also talk in great depth about these concepts in my Outdoor Action and Adventure Photography book. I show you how to analyze scenes buy thinking geometrically and quickly bring together (orientate) all your potential elements into a great shot.
I realize that many of my readers don’t shoot Action and adventure, but the concepts I talk about in the book apply to any kind of subject. I just use the concept of adventure as a base for illustration because it’s such a challenging type of subject to capture well.
You have to be on your toes, and so if you understand how to handle this kind of genre, you’ll have a super solid foundation that will translate to any kind of subject. Plus, it will make you highly proficient at capturing children, grandchildren and golden retrievers.
The Kindle version of my book is only $19 right now. That’s not very much money to get 300 pages of in-depth information and insight that’s guaranteed to make you a better photographer. You can’t even get a large pizza for
19 bucks, and then it’s gone, with almost nothing to show for it.
Gear Corner
Fujifilm X-T20
The new Fujifilm X-T20 finally hit store shelves the other day, and then just as I figure it might, it quickly went to backorder with what was probably a mass of orders. Well, they're in and out of stock each day at B&H, and there are a few available at Amazon and Amazon UK.
Having been a huge fan of the X-T10, I see the X-T20 as an amazing upgrade and a great choice for a wide range of photographers. Essentially, the X-T20 gives you the same image quality, colors, high ISO performance, ACROS film simulation and the same autofocus system as the X-T2, including the AF-C Custom Settings Menu, but in a remarkably less expensive body. (The X-T20 costs about 40% less than the X-T2.)
Sure, there are things that have been stripped down, but just as with the X-T10, it’s not “dumbed down.” It doesn’t have all the pro features, but it has everything you need to make killer images of any kind of subject matter, even sports and action. To see the main difference, you can read my previous email notice about the
X-T20, or get your order in now so you don’t fall behind with the increasing demand.
A Look at the New Fujifilm XF 50mm f/2 lens
I’m a huge fan Fujifilm’s f/2 series lenses. The 23mm f/2 and 35mm f/2 are both very small and compact, quite fast, and they’re weather sealed. Plus they have that sexy “summicron” look. I heard one photographer refer to them as the “Fujicron” lenses. In short, I think these f/2 series lenses truly epitomize what the X Series is all about: compact, classic and
super high quality glass.
Well, Fuji just came out with the next one in the series, the XF 50mm f/2. It’s the bridge between the tiny 23 and 35 and the 90mm f/2. It’s also very small and light, and it’s incredibly sharp.
Basically, it’s a less expensive and smaller alternative to the 56mm f/1.2 lens. It’s half the size, half the weight and half the cost. And it’s weather sealed.
With an effective 76mm angle of view, it’s ideal for portraits. The 9-bladed f/2 aperture produces wonderful bokeh and strikingly soft backgrounds, and it focuses MUCH closer than the 56, which makes it a wonderful lens for shooting nature closeups, details and for isolating your subject matter again a tight, clean background.
I’ve been shooting with it for the past week, and I already love it. If you’re looking for a killer portrait lens and just don’t have the budget for the 56, or if you want a smaller, lighter more versatile lens for travel, I’d highly recommend taking a look at the 56mm f/2. They’re shipping right now from Amazon, and are on preorder status at Amazon UK and B&H Photo.
Tokina 70-200mm f/4 for Nikon
I’ve always liked Tokina lenses. I had an old Tokina 17mm saw a lot of action and a lot of abuse back in the 90s and 2000s. They produce great imagery and they hold up very well. Believe me!
The Tokina 70-200mm f/4 AT-X PRO for Nikon is a great lens for the price. Essentially $500 less than the Nikon version, the Tokina 70-200mm f/4 give you similar size, weight, speed and performance as the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 VR, which I referred to as the “Adventure Photographer’s Dream Lens” back when I was shooting my Nikon D700.
You can’t go wrong with Tokina glass, so I you want the performance of a high quality telephoto zoom that will give you way more options than any kit zoom, this could be an ideal piece to round out your kit. And it’s on $100 rebate at B&H right now.
Rebate Deals on Photography Gear
There are a lot of rebate deals going on right now, too many to list. Here’s the full list of everting that’s on sale at B&H.
Save $5 on Fujifilm INSTAX Mini Monochrome Film
Fuji recently came out with black and white Instax film, and it's $5 off right now. How much fun is that?
If you an INSTAX printer or camera, you’ll probably want to check it out. If you new to INSTAX, read my post below to see the kinds of fun and creativity you can have with these mini prints. Even if you’re not a Fuji user- The Wi-fi printers work with any smart phone and tablet.
Synology DiskStation NAS Network Hard Drive
Last year, I ran out of space on my mac, which has 4 internal hard drives. I already had a couple of external drive hooked up, but instead of just adding more of those, I went with a Synology DiskStation system.
The Synology offers a comprehensive storage system that hooks right up to you router. With multiple hard drive bays, you can store vast amounts of information with adequate RAID redundancy and have it easily accessible, not only on multiple computers, but also on your mobile devices, and with multiple users.
As long as I have wifi, I can browse images on my hard drives using iPhone or iPad from anywhere. And since I shoot so many JPEGS with the Fuji cameras these days, I can not only access those images, I can download them right to my device if I want to share or send them to a client.
The key behind this is the excellent companion apps they offer that let you access your drive contest and do a wide variety of tasks. For example, you could set up and host your own Dropbox or Evernote type folder, share photos and galleries with friends, family and clients, or set up an iTunes server, or even Wordpress server.
Synology has a number of models, from 2 to 12-bay systems. I got the 5-bay DS1515+, which offers up to 30TB of redundant storage, and when I full that up, I can daisy chain another 1515+ to the system and double my capacity. Even the simple 2-bay version give you a lot of power and options.
You can check out all of the different models here.
Awesome Website Templates from Photocrati
Photocrati is running another 33% off special right now. If you use a Wordpress based website and are looking for a great template that’s geared towards photography, Photocrati offers over 60 customizable designs, lots of gallery templates, e-commerce options and a great support team.
Built by photographers for photographers, Photocrati makes building a killer photographer website very easy. I used a Photocrati-based site for my main website for years, and I’m thinking of switching back, and that’s the great part. Since I bought the theme once, I can go back without paying anything else. Once you own it, it’s yours and you an switch back and try out different designs as you wish.
Luminar Updates to v. 1.1.3
Luminar keeps getting better. The latest release offers speed and performance upgrades, faster opening for RAW files and improved support for Wacom and other tablets. And Luminar does a great job with RAW files from any camera, even Fuji.
I’ve been getting really spoiled by the wonderful simplicity the Luminar workspace offers, and I love the images I’ve been getting. I’ve never been a preset guy when it comes to photo processing software, but the Luminar presets are flexible and give you a wide range of looks. And more keep coming.
Another thing I like about Luminar is that you can run it on up to 5 computers. You could run it on your main desktop, laptop, work computer- that’s 3 right there… maybe you have a second computer at home or a work laptop. Pretty generous. Adobe only lets you run on 2 at a time. I’ve found this quite limiting.
Anyway, as one of my readers, you can use coupon code DANBAILEY to save $10 on the program, or you can download the demo and see what you think.
Around the Web
• We’ll start with Robert Rodrigues, Jr., as I often do. I just love his great, honest insight. Read his post called Why I’m Not an Expert at Anything.
• Looking for a new creative technique? Yuga Kurita has written about a technique he’s been doing with Photoshop that looks at manipulating colors in a new way, much like photographers had to do in the early days if digital when the cameras had to take three shots to render color.
Read HOW TO USE AN OLD PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE TO CREATE SURREAL DIGITAL IMAGES. It’s a little involved but it looks like you could have a lot of fun with this.
• If you use Lightroom, you probably get bogged down with keywording like I do. Here’s a tip from Lightroom Killer Tips- How Using Keyword Set Can Speed Your Keywording.
• In July of 1994, while trekking in the Karakoram Himalayas of Pakistan, I shot one of my favorite and most notable images, my “Sunrise on K2” image. It was used as the lead off gallery shot in Climbing Magazine’s 20th Anniversary Issue, and I even made a poster of the image which I sold to outdoor shops around the country.
Here’s the story behind the image, as well as some info and history about K2, the world second highest peak.
• Now this is pretty cool! I’ve wanted Nikon to offer something like this for years- A digital back for an old manual camera. Well, Nikon still hasn’t done it yet, so this guy used his Sony NEX as a digital back for his old 1980 Nikon FE film camera. Check out how he did it!
Thanks for reading the March 2017 issue of my newsletter, I hope I left you with some good info, or at least a few things to think about.
As always, be sure and share this with your friends and followers, and keep in touch.
Enjoy the rest of the month and happy shooting!
Best regards,
Dan
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