- Read the Dan Bailey Photo Newsletter, Nov 2016 Issue.
Published: Mon, 11/27/17
Hi ,
With December just a few days away, we’re officially heading into the season of shorter days and incredible winter light. At least those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. I love this season, especially up here in Alaska. During the shortest days, the sun isn’t very high in the sky, and so when it’s clear, we get about five hours of Magic hour per day. This is when I shoot most of my mountain aerials.
Winter photography is such a great time for shooting landscapes and your creative opportunity are endless. No matter if you shoot wide open landscapes, closeup and macro of ice crystals or outdoor action or portraits, you can take advantage of that warm winter light and get some great imagery! Just make sure you bundle up and carry extra batteries.
Here are a few winter photography tips I wrote on the Mastering Photo blog a few years ago, and also an article on how to deal with photographing in flat winter light, when it’s not magic hour.
If you live in an area of world that’s still hanging onto fall, you can read this article called Photo Tips and Favorite Gear for Successful Fall Foliage Pictures on B&H Explora. (I was one of the contributing authors.)
Anyway, I hope you find time to get outside with your camera a lot this winter. Even if you’re not out shooting, it’s wonderful to take walks in the snow, and aside from the exercise aspect, you’ll find that walking is a great way to ignite new creative ideas in your head. It’s actually been proven through scientific study that walking activates the brain unlike any other kind of activity and it actually lead to enhanced creative thought.
It’s a commonly held notion that our shift to walking upright is one of the main factors in the evolution of our creative problem solving abilities. Walking enhances creativity, so take advantage of that and make sure you’re getting out on regular walks. I promise you , it will do you good, whether you take along your camera or not.
Returning to My Photography Roots
I spent my Thanksgiving in the Boston area this year. It was the first time I had been back to that area in almost 20 years, and having lived there for 7 years during and after I attended Berklee College of Music back in the 90s, I was eager to take a walk down memory lane.
Those of you are familiar with my history know that my photography roots lie in Boston. That’s where I lived when I first started shooting. I bought my first real camera at Bromfield camera and spend countless hours walking around Back Bay and shooting photos around the city as I begun to learn the craft of photography.
You could say that my street photography was actually my first style of shooting, simply because that’s what I had as available subject matter. I had a lot of fun and I still have some of those photos from those first rolls of film. I’ll be digging them out and posting them on the blog soon, so stay tuned. Here are some photos I shot last week.
I also went to Bromfield Camera in downtown Boston, which is still in business, and I told the owner that I bought my first camera from them on February 2, 1990. I still remember that the guy who sold it to me was an Irish man named John, and the owner knew exactly who I was talking about. Almost 28 years later, the shop still looks very much like it did back then. I think they have a new sign, though.
Where were you when you first started shooting? Have you ever gone back to revisit some the very first locations and subjects where you shot as a beginning photographer?
Creative Tip - Vary Your Creativity and Take Breaks
Creativity is funny thing. For most of us, we generally think of our creative outlets as leisure activities, and at the same time, we perceive them to be such important aspects of our personalities and our development and journey as functioning human beings. Just as some people crave exercise to stay sane, we creative types get cranky when we can’t shoot on a regular basis or when we go days without practicing our craft.
The thing is, though, it’s easy to fall into creative ruts, and this can turn creativity in a chore if you force yourself to go out and shoot when you’re not inspired, for whatever reason.
This is obviously not how we want to view our photography, or any other kind of creative pursuit. One way around this is to engage in other types of creative outlets. This helps keep the creative wheels greased inside your brain and it can actually enhance your creativity since you’ll be engaged in a relative new outlet.
For example, one of my other main pursuits is playing music. I just went on vacation for a week in Boston and hardly took any pictures during the second half of the trip. However, I played tons of music. During that time, I stayed with a friend who has a wide range of guitars and a handful of exotic instruments I’d never played before, like a bazouki, an oud and some percussion instruments I’d never seen before, as well as some guitar books I hadn’t read.
I was in heaven. I played alone and also with a handful of people, and I didn’t miss picture taking. I left feeling inspired about my own creativity, even if it wasn’t photography based. This kind of break/shift is actually a good thing, because I know that the minute I pick up the camera again and start shooting, that love will come right back, even if I don’t shoot any photos for a week or two. I won’t force it, and that’s the point, because my creative drives will still be getting satiated.
So, if you’re feeling like you’re in a creative rut, or even if you just want to expand your creative passion and light some different fires, I would highly recommend experimenting with different outlets, like drawing, sketching, music, writing, editing videos, or doing various crafts.
Try expanding on your photography in a new way. Make a scrapbook of one of your recent trips. Write a travel story about your recent adventure. Write a song.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject, my good friend Dawn (who is a portrait photographer from Connecticut and your fellow subscriber) just wrote and recorded a fun Christmas song called "The Christmas Groove". Get in the spirit. Check it out.
And if you feel that generous holiday spirit, drop 99 cents and download the song.
Also, I hope you read my recent post called Why Being More Creative Leads to a Better World for Everyone.
Read an Interview with Me at Thirdeyemom.com
I love meeting fellow photographers when I travel, especially people I’ve communicated with online or who follow me. When I was in Minnesota earlier this fall, I met Nicole, who runs a great travel blog called Thirdeyemom.com. She’s got some great posts on her site, and she just ran an exclusive interview with me. I thought she asked some great questions and I really enjoyed sharing my insight with her.
Luminar 2018
As you have probably heard by now, Luminar 2018 is officially out now. If you’re one of the people who have already downloaded the program, then I hope you’re enjoying it and getting a feel for how it works and what all the tools do.
It’s a pretty comprehensive program, and it’s certainly powerful enough to handle most, if not all of your image processing tasks. And with the Catalog feature coming in early to mid 2018, this will make the program even more useful as a full workflow solution. I’m using Luminar all the time now as my main processor and I can’t wait for the catalog module to come out!
Of course, as with any new program, there may be a few bugs, so even though the support people might be busy with post-launch responses, it’s good to let them know what you find. If you have a specific problem, I might be able to help. If the program is giving you trouble, pass the issue along to me and I can forward your concern directly to the support team. I’ve done this for a couple of people and was able to get them some immediate attention.
If you missed the Luminar launch, you can take advantage of the Cyber Monday deal they’re offering this week, which includes a handful of preset collections and a free wide angle landscape eBook by Ian Plant.
Also, if you use my special coupon code, DANBAILEY, you can save $10 on the program.
You can read my full review of Luminar 2018 here. You can also see my post that shows you 3 examples of how I use Luminar to expand the creative aspect of my photography.
Luminar vs ON1 Photo RAW
Luminar is not the only software that’s trying to compete with Lightroom. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is now out as well, and it also looks like a promising solution, although it does cost about 30% more than Luminar 2018.
I haven’t used ON1 Photo RAW, so I can’t comment, but I know a lot of people are asking how it compares to Luminar. Nicole S. Young has posted a feature comparison and review of how Luminar and ON1 Photo RAW stack up.
Cyber Monday Deals
I pretty much sat out the whole Black Friday thing this year. I figured you guys would already get enough Black Friday email and I don’t want to always make this newsletter about what deal you can get and you should buy this lens/camera/software/eBook. Plus I was on vacation in Boston, playing music and eating turkey and stuff.
That said, since this month’s newsletter coincides with Cyber Monday, I figured I’d let you know about some the good deals that are in effect this week.
Cradoc Software - Save 40$
If you’re a full or part time pro photographer, then Cradoc makes excellent software to help you run your business. I’ve used Cradoc fotoQuote for over 20 years to price my work, and I’ve used fotoBiz X for the past few years as my main business software for contacts, invoicing, quotes, and keeping track of how productive specific shoots, trips and projects are. Right now, you can save 40% if you buy the fotoQuote/fotoBiz X Bundle. This sale ends tomorrow.
Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Lens - $150 Off Today
The Rokinon 12mm has become the Go-To wide angle lens for a lot of people who do night photography. A good friend of mine has one, so I’ve seen how good it is. It comes in Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Sony and M4/3 mounts, and it’s on sale for $150 off until midnight tonight. If you’re looking for a killer astrophotography or ultra wide angle travel lens, this is a great choice at a great price.
X SERIES UNLIMITED - Save 25% - 3 Days Only
If you haven’t picked up a copy of my super popular eBook, X SERIES UNLIMITED, you can take advantage of my Cyber Monday deal and get a limited time 25% discount. Simply use discount code CYBERX in your shopping cart to get the savings. This deal expires on Thursday night, so don’t miss out!
If you already have a copy and you’d like to add your testimonial to the list of reviews, just email me with your comment and I’ll get it posted!
Other Deals
B&H Photo has some specific Cyber Monday deals for Nikon, Canon and Sony, and they also have some great deals on things like laptops, iPads, monitors and accessories. You can see the full list here. Again, these are only good until midnight tonight, although B&H often extends deals or posts new ones during the rest of the Cyber Monday week. Of course, Amazon has a bunch of great deals too.
Around the Web
I always like when I can share things that you guys shoot or write about. I think that helps make this less about me and more about us. In a way, we’re all in this together, and I think this helps foster that. So, if you have galleries, websites, new work or great articles you’ve written make sure you tag me on social media so I can see them.
With this in mind, I’d like to share a few photographer galleries and feature the work of some great photographers out there in other parts of the world. The first three are people subscribers or people I've met or talked to directly via email.
Morton Larsen is a Norwegian photographer from the town of Romsdal. He shoots dramatic photos of mountains, fjords, landscapes and nature. I love some his black and white imagery, and also his abstracts. Browse through his galleries and enjoy his unique visual take on this region.
Martin Bereau is a Canadian photographer who shoots travel. He has galleries from Scotland, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and a number of other locations around the world. You could spend a lot of valuable office time browsing through his galleries.
Magdaline Teo is a photographer based in Singapore. I met her this fall at the Portland Fuji X-Photographer Summit. She shoots a variety of landscape, travel, nature and closeup and I like here use of color and composition. She’s got a lot of work on her site, but here’s a link to her “best of” shots.
Chris Williams is a Pacific Northwest based landscape photographer who shoots some very dramatic imagery. Most of his work is black and white, but he’s got one gallery of color images. His mountain shots are stunning, as are his Hawaii photos. Definitely worth a look. He's the only one of these four people I haven't talked to, as far as I know. I could be wrong. I stumbled on his work because he's an X-T2 user.
That’s all for now, . I hope you have a great week! Enjoy my recent posts and be sure and share this newlsetter with your own friends and followers.
Happy shooting!
-Dan
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