Why Pro Photographers Are Worth It

Sometimes you hear people say, "Why are your prices so much more than "such-and-such" and "so-and-so"? Well, probably because they are one of the many individuals who have recently picked up a camera and decided they were a "professional photographer". Chances are more than fair that they do not have what real, working photographers have: knowledge, experience, training, etc.

Below is a "Top Ten" list that speaks to the reasons professional photographers are worth your investment....

10 Reasons Why Photographers Charge What They Do

10. Professional photographers are in business, and as a business, need to make a profit. Because they make it their career, they dedicate themselves to becoming the best they can be, and share that knowledge with their clientele.

9. Professional photographers have to buy professional equipment. Nope, they don't just pick up a point-and-shoot from Wal-Mart and declare themselves a professional. They spend thousands upon thousands of dollars getting multiple camera bodies, the finest lenses, flash equipment for every situation, tripods, light stands, backdrops, props, carrying and storage cases. And then when you think you have it all - you need to get backups for everything to make sure you never miss an image.

8. Professional photographers continue their education, and learn as much as they can about the business. They join groups like Professional Photographers of America or the National Press Photographers Association. They attend seminars and training by some of the best names in the business. They concentrate on becoming the best they can be.

7. Professional photographers don't just snap a picture, they create a photograph. They understand positioning. They understand lighting. They understand placement. You're not just paying for the ability to place a finger on the trigger and snap a picture. You're paying for the years of experience it took to create the perfect image.

6. Professional photographers can spend hours producing one professional photograph.

Time can include:

* creating the marketing
* answering emails and phone calls
* meeting with the client to talk about the event
* setting up for the event
* drive time to and from the event
* time for the actual photographing
* running to and from the lab
* meeting with the client for previews and decisions
* processing the image
* retouching the image
* mounting the image
* framing the image
* packaging the image
* dropping off final images
* production work
* follow up work

Add it all up, and you can see why one portrait session may include hours worth of work. It's impossible to stay in business if you only make a few pennies per client.

5. Professional photographers have to be more than photographers. They have to be CEOs and marketers, and bankers, and salespeople, and production workers, and janitors, and buyers, and negotiators, and networkers, and drivers, and organizers. And photographers. That's a lot of skills for one person to master.

4. Professional photographers will do it all. Want to get married at the top of a 14,000 foot high mountain, where the only way up is a 30 minute ski-lift ride? A professional photographer will be there. Want a portrait running through the waves on a Southern California beach? A professional photographer will be there.

3. Professional photographers aren't just order takers, they provide total customer service. Professionals photograph dozens or even hundreds of clients a year. They understand what looks good, how to put together albums, and how to group multiple photographs together. Their goal is to provide you with what you need and what's best for you - not just have you sign on the dotted line.

2. Professional photographers watch for the newest, most innovative, creative products available. They stay up to date on industry news, and find things that perfectly match their clients taste. They don't try and fit you into something you don't like - they find out what you want and search the world over for the perfect things. They are the professional.

1. Professional photographers have the knowledge and the skill to make you look the best you can be. I can buy a hammer for a few dollars at the hardware store. Yet I spent hundreds of dollars for a handyman to repair my deck. I can buy a needle and thread for a few dollars at the fabric store. Yet I spent over $100 on alterations at a local tailor. It's not about the tools; it's about the outcome.

Sure, anyone can buy a camera and take a picture. You can head down to your local discount store, wait several hours and have a minimum wage clerk place you on an X and snap a few pictures. But they can't get what a professional can get. They won't concentrate on expressions. They won't advise you on outfits and locations. They won't provide 110 percent customer service. You won't get a professional portrait.

Isn't it time to see a professional?

Let's Not Do It Again

Loyal readers (yeah, like I have any) will remember that this time last year I got roped into participating in a local photo exhibition/competition, and it didn't go well. I swore then I would never do it again.

Well, I did. And I think it was somewhat worse this year.

(Note: Names of individuals have been shortened to just their initials. That way it could be anyone whose name starts with a particular initial. By keeping it vague, I keep from getting bitched out)

The theme this year was "Wetlands and Water" in order to show "concern for the environment" and to make the rules a bit more focused than last years' debacle. I wasn't starting out to submit anything, because I didn't care about it. When asked to participate, I said no. But then I took a really cool (at least I thought) shot of a sunset over the Thornapple river reservoir back at the end of August. We were having spectacular sunsets due to some volcanic activity in the Aleutian Islands, giving us intense colors at sunrise and sunset. The water was nearly calm, and I got a wonderful reflection of the sky in the water. It was a perfect example of "water" for this photo thingy.

I went to my local professional lab, and got the image printed. I unfortunately told someone there - "K" - about the competition, and she opened her stupid mouth and told "S" there at the lab what I was doing with the image ("S" was involved in last years' debacle, and I had sworn to her I would never do it again). So I got pissed off at "K" for blabbing about my image. Why can't women keep their mouths shut?

So I go ahead and get the image printed as an 8x12, and get it matted and framed. And due to screw ups, this cost me more than I was planning on, especially for an event I cared nothing about. I submitted it last week, and that was that.

Cut to tonight, when there was the "artist opening" at a local library. I go out there to see how things went, knowing that I have a nice photo (again, I think so) but it won't win any prizes. That would be even more stupid to think anyone would like my work. I walk in, and noticed that there's not as many images submitted as last year, to start. I take a look around, noting that some of the shots look pretty good, and some are just "formulaic" in their approach to the subject. Also, I take much notice about how crappy some of the matting and framing is. It looks like a kindergartner did them, or someone with mental problems. In sort, some of these suck. I also see an image by someone I don't care for, because she's one of these "I bought a camera, so I'm a photographer" people (you know the type). I shrugged it off, and moved on. I then ran into "P" who told me she was glad I submitted something (I purposely didn't tell her I was submitting anything). She then moved off to talk to someone else, and I turned to on of the other display areas to see more photos.

And to my shock and amazement, I see an image from "K"!! I can't believe it! Of all the fucking nerve!! Up until last week she didn't even know about this, and now she's got stuff in the show!! She must have went out and shot something really fast and got it ready. I guess it's my fault, because I mentioned this show, but I never told her much about it. But the nerve of her. What a bitch. As I stand there in shock, I actually see her and the previously-noted person I hate looking at the submissions. Well, before she can see me, I turn around. There's no way I can face her after this backstabbing she gave me (typical how women seem to do that).

Well, as with last year's losing to shitty photos, I got pissed off and left. I don't think I was there for ten minutes. I got int he car, and drove off, fuming and getting more pissed off by the minute. How DARE she do something like that, and also how can this group even call this a photo exhibition when they let craptastic and shoddy matting/framing be accepted? Again, like last year, NO MORE!!! I dont' even want to hear about this event again. In fact, I don't want to hear about any photo exhibitions.

I never found out where my photo will be hanging for the next month, and I don't really care. When it comes time to pick it up, it's just gonig to sit there. Since I don't know where it is, how can I pick it up? And what the fuck will I do with it once I have it back? Last year's photos are sitting gathering dust in a corner. I entertained the thought it going and picking it up, and smashing it right in front of the people. I mean, I don't care about it, so who can say anything if I destroy my own work?

And as to "K"? Fuck her (figuratively). I want nothing to do with her, nothing to do with her place of employment (the lab where I got my stuff printed) again. Bitch.

So ther moral of the story? Don't get involved in anything, and never talk to anyone. Keep all your thoughts and ideas to yourself, because someone will steal them. Trust no one.

Banned in (Not) Boston

If you don't get the title, you're not old enough. Try and Google it for the answer.

Today I got banned from a group on a photo sharing site. And man, am I upset about it.

Well, not really. Actually, not at all.

The person who runs the forum is a real narcissist, and someone who flaunts his monetary status to all. He looks down upon others less fortunate, and does not suffer criticism - or just plain observations negative to his opinions - at all. He has stated in the past how he will not "take my big fat wallet" into places, because he was not treated like a god. He recently stated that he was "used to the Hilton" and not "roughing it" in a Holiday Inn. I'm sure you see a pattern.

He runs his forum with an iron fist. If you stray off topic by a vowel or consonant, he closes down the thread. People who disagree with him disappear, just like in Stalinist Russia. And now it happened to me. Here's why, and you will see that I am completely innocent.

A person posted an Off Topic thread about their browser. I replied - with the sarcasm I am known for - that they angered the "God" of the forum, and he will come and smite you. It was pretty funny.

So this morning I get a message from our antagonist. Here is the message:

"Do you have a problem with the way I run the forum?"

I replied:

"I was being sarcastic.

Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes on any of the *******-sponsored forums knows that you come down hard on people who post things not photography related.

You can run your little forums however you see fit; with either a heavy hand or light touch. It means nothing to me.

It may come as a shock to you, but there are many of us who are on forums for "the heck of it" to read what others say about photography. And we don't live and breath what one person's view contains.

I can quite easily quit your little forum because - in the real world outside of cyberspace - neither it nor you matter to me. I'm here to read what others say, possibly learn something, possibly help others to learn. But I don't life and breath it, and I don't blindly follow people. And I'm sarcastic.

So I guess if you don't want people like me in your little internet fiefdom, you should ban us "casual" readers/posters. I'm too old to worry about little things like this."

So a few hours later, I get a message saying I'm banned, and another message from our antagonist:

"As you wish...you are banned. And banned from any and all ******* activity."

I then penned (can you say "penned" when using a computer? Hmm...) a reply...

"You know, you just proved the point of a lot of people. You have too big of an ego, and can't take criticism or just plain observations.

You inquired as to whether I had a problem with the way you ran the forum, and I replied in a succinct manner - I don't care how you run it. It's your forum. And because you didn't like what I wrote in a personal message to you, you banned me. I did not "wish" for it, as you state. I said if you didn't like people of my kind, you should ban us. So you are being prejudiced and narrow-minded towards people who don't have your mindset. Oh yeah, and since I'm not a rich know-it-all, you hate me because I'm poor as well. Figures.

Of course, in all the forums I am on via this vast internet, you run yours more heavy-handed than anyone. Every other forum allows "semi" off-topic things, as long as they don't get out of control. I run five such forums in the science discipline. But that's not the point.

Have fun in your little world that has no concept of humor or relaxation. Of speaking the truth and hearing the truth.

I know I will have fun blogging about you and your treatment of people. I rarely talk about people beneath my social and mental status, but I can, and will.

Heh. Whatever. Life goes on. For some of us who work to live."

Well, turns out that he blocked me, and my message can't get delivered via the site's message program. Now, if I really cared, I could email him directly, but why bother? He and his type have major psychological issues, and will never admit their shortcomings or that they have a problem, even though people around them can see it plainly.

I just wrote this because I find the whole thing funny. The antagonist of this piece must be a small, insecure little man, as evidenced by his attitude. Some may feel sorry for him, but because I feel nothing, I could care less what he does, or what happens to him. He is to me what Orwell called a "non-person."

So there you go, dear readers. The story about how I was "Banned in Boston."

(I purposely kept the real names of the forum, the group, and other things that can be recognized anonymous, because "mr. antagonist" is more than happy to sue anyone he thinks wrongs him.)

I'm in Stitches

You ever get on a run of silly ideas and want to play with things? I am on that right now. And it all has to do with stitching things together.

I'm not talking about sewing or something like that. I'm "stitching" together photographs. Panoramas. Panos.

I made my first one a few weeks ago when we had a storm go through. I had read about how to shoot images to make a pan, but had never done it. So I figured "why not try one?" So I shot three or four images, took them off the camera and into the photo program, and voila! - a panorama. It was kind of easy, thanks to the software. The only thing I could think of to do different was the way to shoot the images in the first place. I mean, they turned out great, but if I had shot vertically instead of horizontally, I could have gotten more of the cloud detail of the storm higher.

So this evening we had a storm come through, and this was my chance. I went up to a local "lookout park" and watched the storm come in. I set the camera for the correct exposure, and proceeded to take ten images in vertical format, pivoting around and making sure I had enough overlap. I then took them home and let the computer "do its thing." It took a while (because the images are huge, and it takes a lot of CPU cycles to compute the information) but I got a really cool image.

My ultimate plan would be to do this at night under the stars (preferably during an aurora) but I don't think I could ever get the shot, due to the time needed for the exposures. See, the stars move from our vantage point, and taking their photo involves more than a "snapshot." It takes many seconds for each exposure, and I don't think there is any way to get all the shots and then align them. It might be an unrealistic goal right now.

So in the meantime, I'll stick with the daylight stuff. But at least I can say it's cool.

The Great Frozen Lunar Eclipse Adventure

The Great Frozen Lunar Eclipse Adventure
(or, how to lose feeling in your extremities while taking photos in the winter night)

It was a dark and snowy night. Well, it was semi-dark and while not actually snowing, there was a lot of snow on the ground. But it works for this story.

I had been looking forward to the February 20, 2008 total lunar eclipse for quite a while (last year, in fact). This was to be the last eclipse visible from my area until December of 2010, and while that’s only a couple of years away, it’s too long between eclipses. I had just gone through a longer drought than that, and it wasn’t pleasant. The lunar eclipse we had in March of 2007 was clouded out, and the one in August was nearly as bad; we had hazy, scummy skies at the lakeshore. So this was the last best shot for a while.

I spent the day trying to find a remote switch for my camera, among other things. But all events during the day lead up to the night.

Because it has been nearly permanently cloudy for over a month, I was sure no one had been up to the observatory (James C. Veen Observatory in Lowell, Michigan), so that meant the road probably hadn’t been plowed. In the past, this would not have been a problem, as a friend of mine cleared it off with his plow truck. However, the truck - a 1964 Toyota - finally died a horrible, lingering death last fall, so now there’s no free plow service. And we don’t even want to think how much a real plow service would charge for a .33 mile road and lot. No way.

The Clear Sky Clock for the observatory was indicating that it might be at least partly cloudy for the event, so I made plans to go up and shoot the eclipse through one of the telescopes. And that meant getting the road cleared off. After some phone calls, we got someone to go up and take care of it. I was getting all my stuff ready to go out there in the evening, when Ron called and said "I hope people appreciate this." It was a major pain (actually he said something not appropriate for kids) to clear the road. It was ice/snow/ice/snow - about two feet deep. They had to plow five feet, back up, then five feet more, etc. And then they couldn’t get the whole upper lot cleared, but there was enough for six or seven cars. Yeah, I guess we’d better appreciate it.

So I pack everything in the car: cameras (digital and film) and laptop, snow shovel (you never know), and road salt (again, because you never know) and headed out to the observatory. The skies as I left the house were crystal clear, and it looked to be a great, albeit cold, night.

As I’m driving towards the observatory, I notice something I don’t want to see: clouds. Sure, the moon was shining through breaks in the clouds, but there were clouds nonetheless. As I got closer and closer, the clouds got thicker and thicker. When I finally got to the bottom of the observatory drive, the whole sky was covered. This did not bode well for our hero. But the Clear Sky Clock had it “sort of cloudy” for the 8pm block, so I was hoping that it would clear out. I had a backup plan: I would wait around at the observatory until 9.30, and if it didn’t’ clear out I would race back to Grand Rapids to a church I know, as I’ve used their lit steeple for moon shots before. So on up the road I go. It is now 7.30pm.

I made it up fine, but was then glad for the shovel, because I had to then shovel my way to the door of the building. Remember, no one had been there since January. So I struggled to shovel a path through the previously mentioned two feet of ice/snow/ice/snow and cleared the steps. I then opened the door and went inside ten minutes later. And because it was still cloudy, I didn’t bother to bring in any of my equipment. Why haul it all inside if I can’t use it there, right?

I immediately turn the furnace up, so the library will get warm, and where I can go to warm up. I then ascend the stairs of the west dome to get everything uncovered and opened. Because of previous problems with the dome slit opening (the bottom shutter sticks to the top sometimes in the winter), I immediately tried to open the dome: yep, the shutters were stuck. And with the moon being high on the ecliptic, I needed the lower shutter to stay down. So I lowered the shutter to just above the rim, and went downstairs to the utility room to find tools. I found a hammer with a head falling off, and an old screwdriver, which I took up into the dome and proceeded to knock apart the shutters. After some straining, sweating, and cursing, the two pieces came apart! Hurrah!! I then opened the shutter, and as it was opening, I beheld a clear sky!! Yes, while I was working on the dome, the skies cleared out. I just hope they were clear all over (since I was looking northwest).

I then went over and flipped the switch to turn the dome, and guess what? The dome didn’t turn!! All the freezing and thawing had frozen the dome in place. I now had to - while working the motor switch - manhandle the dome back and forth. After a while I got it to go most of the way around, but it stuck just short of the position I needed it to be to get the moon in the telescope view. (the good news is, while turning the dome, I saw that it was indeed clear from horizon to horizon, and the full moon shone brightly into the dome.) I backed the dome around half way, climbed up on the desk, and as it came back around pulled as hard as I could until the dome moved past the position where I had to have it for the event. And even then, it wouldn’t go any farther north in that direction. There was much snow out on the roof leaning against the dome. I was lucky to get it to move that far.

All of this took about one half hour. It was now 8.15pm.

I then turned on the power to the telescopes, uncovered them, and went back down to my car to haul in my gear. I then received a call from one of the other observers who was watching the eclipse from the warm comfort of his living room window. He asked if I saw any shadowing yet, which I told him I did. The partial umbral phase wasn’t supposed to begin (first contact) until 8.43, but as the moon got closer to the umbra, there was definite darkening of its leading edge.

I attached my digital camera to the telescope I was going to use for the evening, a four-inch Takahashi refractor. It is perfect size to allow the entire disc of the moon to fill the frame. Our other telescope in the dome, a sixteen inch, is too powerful for this situation. I then rotated the camera to the correct position, centered the image, and attempted to focus.

Focusing a digital SLR is extremely different than focusing a film camera, primarily because the focusing screen isn’t really designed for manual work. It’s rare for a photographer with a digital camera to manually focus his images all the time. While it takes just seconds to focus using my film camera, this new digital took a bit of doing. And still, to be sure, I took a few shots of the moon, removed the card from the camera, and loaded the images into my computer to check the focus. After three attempts, I got acceptable focus. Now to wait for the main event.

I wasn’t going to take a lot of photos of the partial phases of the eclipse, because I have seen many eclipses over the years, and have many photos of the non-totality phases. I just wanted totality and near totality. Heck, I have a whole series of images from the August 1989 eclipse where I shot every five to ten minutes for the whole eclipse. Believe me; I’ve got partial phase images!

During this time, I’ve been receiving a few phone calls from other people about the event, and then one of the other club members came up to check it out with me. He went up in the dome while I warmed up a bit. I then got a call from my friend Sharon and her sister Sally, who missed the turn to the road and needed a bit of direction clarification. I soon had them pointed up the observatory drive. They arrived and brought their cameras in, and I showed them up to the dome. The girls hadn’t been here before, so they were taking it all in. I showed them the moon through the scope (albeit through the viewfinder of my camera, but still…) and they got their stuff ready to shoot.

To fast forward a bit, there was swapping of cameras for a while as all three of us took turns shooting photos as the moon got closer and closer to totality.

When totality arrived, I took a couple of images, and then let them have a go, and then told them we needed to go outside. When we walked out the door, it was a different sky than when they arrived, as the formerly bright full moon was replaced by a dim, reddish full moon. The surrounding stars, once dim or invisible because of moonlight, now blazed forth in their glory. I took a few minutes to point out some constellations for them with the laser, and then got to work on my next task: a wider-angle shot of the eclipse.

Just a note on the eclipse itself. We saw a hint of turquoise at times, and during mid-totality it seemed to be darker then the previous eclipses. Must have been stuff in the atmosphere causing it. Definitely darker than the January 2000 eclipse, when I previously froze taking photos.

I put my lens back on my camera, took it downstairs, put it on the tripod, and went back outside. I had been thinking of how I could get an “artsy” image of the eclipse (my idea from the summer one was to get the eclipsed moon right next to the lighthouse on the lake, but it didn’t turn out), so I went around to the back side of the observatory where I could see the moon hovering above the dome. Perfect spot. I then proceeded to take a few photos, bracketing the exposures and painting the dome with a flashlight to get it to show up in the images. I did this for a few minutes, and when I really couldn’t feel my fingers and toes, trudged through the deep snow back to the building, and told the girls they could go back up and shoot through the scope more, as I was going to warm up in the library. I did that until I could feel things again, and then went up to the dome, joining the girls as they were having fun taking shot after shot. I took a few more as we got halfway out of the eclipse, and then left them to shoot what they wanted.

We took a break for a while to warm up again, and I showed them the AV presentation, and we chatted a while about astronomy, photography, etc. We then went back up to the dome, where the un-eclipsing moon was getting brighter and brighter, and they decided to pack it up and go home. As we packed up, I moved the scope over and showed them Saturn through the main scope, and the Mars, and then the Orion Nebula. Geeked was about the right word to describe how they felt, and they promised themselves they were going to come back again and again and see more things, and photograph more things.

I closed the dome, covered the instruments, and we took our equipment out to our respective vehicles. I closed up the observatory, followed them down the drive, and went home. It was just after midnight.

Arriving home, I lugged my stuff in the house, transferred the images from the camera to the laptop, and then took it downstairs and worked on the images while I warmed up. After about a half-hour I could feel all my toes and fingers, so I finished with the photos for the night, uploaded a couple to some websites, emailed to people, and finally went to bed (a nice, warm, toasty bed) just before 3.00am. A full, rich (and cold) day.

Now I can't wait for December 2010, and the next eclipse.

The Sad Death of Instant Photos

I can't believe I didn't heard this on Friday when word got out.

Polaroid Closing Instant Film Factories

Wow. I remember when it was all the rage for people to use Polaroid cameras. We still have a SX-70 that my Dad got when it was new. As kids, we thought it was really cool to take a picture, and then watch with held breath as the image slowly appeared on the small, milky square.

We also had the regular Polaroid cameras, where you had to pull out the tab and picture, wait sixty seconds, and then peel it apart, but the "magic" of the SX-70 was so awesome!

Later Polaroid cameras used the same type of film, and I learned (in photo school) to manipulate the images as they were developing, using pencils, pens, and the like. We did some really artsy stuff back then. I remember using Polaroid backs when doing photo shoots as well.

But in this ever-increasing digital age, "instant film" isn't really needed. We have the instant gratification on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

Ah, Polaroid Instant Film. You had a good long ride. Rest in Peace.

So I Did It

I broke down and actually submitted some photographs to a local show/contest.

I was told a few months ago that there was going to be a photo contest in the surrounding townships to "explore the beauty of nature around you." People were encouraged to "discover the hidden gems of nature in your backyard."

Well, the person who told me of this thought that my photographs of the aurora (northern lights) over the observatory would be perfect: it's in a township, and it's nature. How much more do you need?

Well, I said yes, but didn't really mean it.

Fast forward to the last week of August. For reasons that are too painful to go into, I decided to enter this show. But I had one possibly insurmountable obstacle: where were the negatives for photos shot nearly six years ago? I have a terrible filing system - no system. All of my negatives are in three big boxes (you know, the kind you get 10 reams of copy paper in?) and that means I have to go through them. It took a while, but I eventually found the negatives. Now I had to get some good prints of them.

The only place to go is the local pro lab - Corporate Color/Prolab Express. So here's my daily journey to getting my negatives made into prints for the show...

August 30 - Drive out to the new place where CC/PE is (even father away from my house, but better than downtown). I had the negatives to my friend Sasha who works there, so they can be scanned for printing. I am having four negatives scanned at high resolution, and small prints made of each for color comparison. They will be ready after the Labor Day Holiday.

September 4 - Back out to CC/PE to pick up the CD-rom of the scans (plus the original negatives and prints). Now I need to take them back home, make sure I don't need to adjust anything, and get the back out to the lab. I can do it all via the interweb tubes, but wish to make this personal. Because I have some questions, Sasha agrees to help me that evening with the scans. She does, but ends up taking the CD-R home to work on them. I already have the copies on my laptop, so I will try my hand as well.

September 5 - After I put the touches on the scanned images, I upload them to my account at CC/PE, but then I drive all the way out there to do the actual order. Sasha thinks I should just get some 4x6 copies to double-check the color saturation, which I do. Meanwhile I ask around about mounting and framing, and a few places want nearly $150 for each print. Mind you, I'm currently unemployed. I can't afford anything like that.

September 6 - Drive back out to the lab again. I look at the prints with the help of Sasha, Becky, and Kathy, and decide on the two I will have made into enlargements. I order them via the computer, and come home. Two hours later I don't have the confirmation email, so I check my account - oops! I never hit the "submit" button, so the order was never processed. I quickly rectify the situation.

September 7 - Back out to the lab to pick up the 8x12 enlargement prints. They look okay. Sasha, Becky, & Kathy think they are great; sure winners. Kathy gives me suggestions on naming the images. I thank them, then go and find out about mounting/framing. To save money, I have the prints mounted at one place, and I purchase a frame at another one. I then take everything home and proceed to put them together: Clean the glass, make sure there is no dust on the glass or prints; glass in the frame; then print; then fasten it all in the frame.

All weekend - Worry about why I am doing this.

September 10 - Deliver the prints to the Township Hall. It's out of my hands now.

Judging will be later this week, and an "artist meet and greet" next week Tuesday, when the winners will be announced. Also, the top twelve images will be made into a 2008 calendar.

Now, because I don't think my stuff is any good, I'm really not sure why I entered this show. I really have no great expectations (please, no Dickens comments) about my changes for recognition. The main reason is that while my photos do show the "natural beauty" of the area, because it is about astronomy, it might be (literally) over the heads of the judges - who are all local professional photographers. They might not like it because they can't understand it.

So that is okay, I guess. But if I find out that I lost to someone who took a snapshot of a deer in their yard, or a rock, or a duck, I'll be pretty pissed. We'll find out in just over a week.

Eclipse Observing

I know this is a few days late, but what the heck.

Tuesday morning's eclipse is now a few days past. It was a really great show, especially out over Lake Michigan.

My brother and I left around 4.30am to get to Grand Haven pier, in order to have a nice, flat horizon in which to see the eclipse. Plus, I had a thought about some great photo opportunities.

We had to walk about a half-mile from where we parked to the pier (because there are closed gates all over the place at night - you would think they were trying to keep people out), and just as we got to the beach the moon because fully immersed in the umbra of the Earth's shadow. It was a darker eclipse than I had seen in previous years, and the cameras came out. While we were shooting, there were some interesting side notes.

We weren't the only ones there. There were other people on the pier to see the eclipse, and some of them had cameras. We talked with one woman for quite a while, and she was hoping to get some nice images. She was from the Grand Rapids area, and had been to the observatory years ago, and promised she would be going out there again.

I also ran into Steve, who has been a frequent visitor to the observatory in the past few months. He had thought the pier would be an excellent place to see the eclipse, so he came out to hang out on the beach. I spent a little time explaining eclipse physics to him, and hopefully he came away with some good information.

As it got lighter I wanted an image of the moon next to the lighthouse, so I left my brother and walked out past the one lighthouse to the end of the pier. There, I was able to get a shot of the fully-eclipsed moon - which was dimming in the rising light of morning twilight - next to the lighthouse. I then turned around and shot the bigger lighthouse bathed in the glow of said twilight. I could even see Venus low in the eastern sky through the thin clouds.

We ended up leaving around 7.15, since the sun was up and the moon was down. As we walked back to our car, the woman we had been talking to drove by and waved. Hours later, my brother actually ran into her at Meijer, as she was shopping with her kids.

All in all it was a good morning, except I was dog tired all day, and even on Wednesday. Now to hope that the next eclipse, in February, will be clear. But it's Michigan, so...

Planetary Sunsets

Look at the image below....

Is it...

1. The view from a planet around the star Gliese 581?
   
   
2. The star of the doomed planet Krypton? See the stellar material being blown off the upper left? Soon it will explode, but not before a young Kal-El is sent to Earth, to his destiny?

Or is it just an ordinary summer sunset here on earth; the haze and humidity and rayleigh scattering turning the sun red.

Nevertheless, it was a great evening to photograph sunsets. No matter what planet you were on.

Is "Romantic" Astronomy Dead?

On CNN's site today is a link which says "Technology is taking romance out of astronomy." It's about Geoff Marcy and his search for planets outside of our solar system. In the article, Marcy is quoted as saying...

"There are no eyepieces anywhere. In fact, we don't have an eyepiece for the Keck telescope... Some of the romance of astronomy is gone."

He's absolutely correct, in my opinion.

Now, I'm not a Luddite. I know that the advances in technology are allowing us to peer farther into space than we have ever done before, opening up new vistas of wonder to the scientific community. But it is impersonal.

I remember having a conversation with a colleague a few years ago as we were sitting in one of the domes of our observatory doing some imaging. We were using a Paramount system, with the latest and greatest CCD cameras and filters. Sure, we were getting tremendous results, but it was antiseptic; there was no real work involved.

The telescope guided itself, the dome moved by itself, the filters changed automatically for each of the exposures. We just sat there in the dark and talked, looking out of the dome opening. Heck, we didn't even really need to be in the dome.

Our conversation was about the so-called progression of the art of astrophotography over the years. As we sat there letting the computers do all the work, I complained that the image would be good, but there's just something about putting a film camera to a telescope, meticulously focusing the image, and then being extra-extremely meticulous is keeping a star in the crosshairs of a guiding eyepiece for up to an hour at a time (in all kinds of temperatures) that gives a person more of a sense of accomplishment than just letting the scope and computer do all the work.

To take a photo with a film camera takes time, patience, and experience. The person earns the resulting photograph. With electronic imaging, you get a pretty picture by sitting around doing nothing. It takes no expertise at all to make a couple of mouse clicks and sit back in a lounge chair for a while.

(I'm not going to talk about the time it takes to manipulate the image in Photoshop or something like that. This has nothing to do with processing of images).

Technology is wonderful, but we are losing something in the transition. Wonderment is being supplanted by instant discoveries. The search is what is important to learning, in my opinion.

And it's not just the high-tech imaging that is ruining astronomy: it's other technology as well. Just try to get someone to go out and look up at the night sky; to put an eye to an eyepiece. Especially today's youth. Why would they want to, when they can sit in their homes and look at "pretty pictures" on the internet? Why take the time to learn the beauty of the night sky and take your own photographs when you can download a great Hubble shot? In this "age of the internet" people "want it now" without any exertion. Click and download, don't do it yourself. Sure, I think the work by Hubble and other instruments are glorious, and they serve a purpose. But photographs that I have taken personally mean more to me than anything I can download. They are personal; it was my knowledge and expertise that brought the image to life.

And this extends to astronomy and science in general. I said above that it's hard to get people to look up. Just try to get those same people to name constellations, or to point out a specific star or planet? Well, I can. I can go out and travel throughout the cosmos because I am familiar with the night sky. (Sometimes I think the people who swear they see "UFOs" wouldn't see them if they knew the night sky).

Some people say "I don't have time for stuff like that" but they can spend their time on frivolous things without thinking twice about it. I say if you have an interest in something, you make the time for it. You don't make excuses.

For me, my relationship with the cosmos is a personal one. It allows me a deeper understanding of the Universe because I take the time to learn. I don't "want it now." And so I pity those who don't spend time out under the stars.

Take the time. Gaze upwards. Experience the wonder of the Universe above you.

And bring a friend.

My Life is a Dark Room

But not a Darkroom. I'm selling it. "Everything Must Go!" "Best Offer!!"

Here's a list of what I have...

1 – Beseler 67C Enlarger w/B&W Head
1 – Beseler Dichro 67 Color Head
1 – Beseler pm2L Color Analyzer
1 – Omega Color Analyzer
1 – Beseler 2.25x2.25 Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 35mm Slide Carrier
1 – Beseler 110mm Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 126mm Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 35mm Negative Transport
1 – Beseler Analite 300
1 – Patterson Negative Focuser
1 – Negative Focuser (needs mirror)
1 – 11x14 Speed Easel
1 - 8x10 Speed Easel
1 – 5x7 Speed Easel
1 – 3.5x5 Speed Easel
1 – 8x10 Combo Easel

1 – GraLab Timer
2 – Unicolor Uniroller Base Units
1 – Unicolor 8x10 Paper Drum
1 – Unicolor 11x14 Paper Drum
1 – Unicolor Film Roller w/4 Negative Reels
1 – Omega Stainless 2-Reel Negative Tank w/2 Reels
1 – Omega Stainless 1-Reel Negative Tank w/1 Reel
1 – Stainless Film Tank w/2 Reels
1 – 110mm Plastic Negative Reel
3 – 11x14 Plastic Paper Trays
2 – 8x10 Plastic Paper Trays
3 – Cesco-Lite 8x10 Plastic Paper Trays
1 – 8x10 Paper Safe
6 – 16oz Chemical Bottles
4 – 96oz Chemical Bottles
6 – Negative/Paper Clips
1 – Kodak Color Print Filter Viewing Kit
1 – 8x10 Paper Squeegee
1 – Yankee Safe-lite SL-2
1 – Kodak 32oz Beaker
1 – 16oz Beaker

How much, you ask? As much as you're willing to spend. The two Color analyzers were originally over $500 each.

I'll take $800 OBO for the set.

State of the "Art"?

For those of you who read this, please excuse this rant, but I have to get it off my chest.

In today's issue of the local newspaper, there is an image by a local photographer of the flyover for President Ford's internment a few weeks ago.

Here is a link to the image

It shows the 21 planes during the flyby up the Grand River. Looks good, doesn't it?

Except it's fake.

The photographer - who shall remain unnamed in case he somehow finds this (and me) and wants to sue - was quoted as saying "that's the photo that I had in my head. I think it's much more powerful that way." Well, to this photographer, that statement is bullsh*t.

I've been a photographer for over 25 years. In that time, I've shot my fair share of formal and informal events: from weddings, portraits, social gatherings, sports, etc. I've also done quote a bit of nature and specialized photography. And what you see is basically what I've shot.

Now, I'm not against working on the print to get the best available product from the negative. Heck, even Ansel Adams, perhaps the greatest American photographer who ever lived, considered (in musical composer terms) the negative "just the notes" and his finished print "the performed works." I've done my share of dodging, burning, and spotting in the darkroom to make a final print. And yes, in this age of digital imaging, I've used the computer to "fix" little things (a hair out of place, a straggling thread on a sleeve, etc.)

But I have never... NEVER... manipulated an image because what I saw in the "real world" wasn't what I saw "in my mind." To be, it's utter fabrication; it's blatant prevarication. You are, in essence, saying "that's not really how it happened, I know better."

This photographer is proud that he has manipulated his image to fit what he "thinks it should have been." In doing so, he's lowered himself to be as bad - if not worse - than someone who has stolen works and paraded them as their own (copyright infringement).

Thank you for letting me vent.

Floating in Space

Here's hoping some photos turned out tonight.

I had noticed that the ISS (International Space Station) was going over my area this evening, and thought I would go and take a look. I've seen it many times before, but as an astronomer, I always get a kick out of seeing anything up there.

Discovery undocked from ISS about 50 minutes beforehand, so - even though they were going to Immelman the ISS, I thought I might be able to see both objects. After checking the predictions, I realized that they would be going right over my house, all lit up with Christmas lights. This was a photo opportunity!

I got out the camera and wide-angle lens, and waited. Sure enough, at 5.59pm there was the bright light in the southwest sky, traveling to the northeast. I sharting shooting photos a few minutes later, and could see a dimmer object in front of the ISS (which should be the shuttle). I framed it so ISS was going from upper right to lower left in the frame, with the house (and lights) at the bottom.

It should turn out, but I won't know until I get the film developed. Ah, to have a digital SLR... someday.

Conjunction Junction?

Of a planetary nature.

This morning, the planets Mercury, Mars and Jupiter were only 0.3 degrees apart, and there won't be a "triple conjunction" like this until 2053. So naturally, I had to witness it.

The original plan was to just drive up to a local overlook and take some photos as the planets were rising in the morning twilight. That way I could get the shots, see the conjunction, and get back home, as it was surely going to be cold outside. But plans never survive the first minutes, as usual.

I got up around 6.30am, got dressed, grabbed the camera stuff, and headed out the door. I headed the car out to the northwest on the expressway, and halfway to my destination I decided that my brother was correct the night before, and the planned observing place would be too light, even in morning twilight. And by light, I mean light pollution. So I banged a u-turn on the expressway and headed southeast out of town towards the observatory. I had taken photos on the moon - and even another conjunction years earlier - on an out-of-the-way county road south of Lowell.

I could see morning twilight getting stronger as I headed east on the various roadways, and the star Vega was shining bright in the northeastern sky. By the time I navigated my way to the new destination, I could clearly see the planets hanging low in the southeast sky.

I jumped out of the car, opened the trunk, grabbing my tripod and camera. I had to work fast, as the skies were getting brighter by the second, and I needed to shoot these photos before it was too bright.

Oh yeah, did I mention yet it was really cold? And windy? I had to stand to the side of the tripod so the wind wouldn't shake the camera during the exposures.

I wasn't sure about the correct exposure times, so I bracketed. I learned that years ago in photography class: film is cheap, bracket to get the shot. So I ran the shutter speeds up and down from a 1/2 second to 15 seconds, hoping to get something.

The only problem I had was cold hands, as I had to take my gloves off to work the settings and dials on the camera. By the time I had shot the last frame, I actually couldn't feel my fingers. I could have shot more - as I had more film - but I decided that 20+ images was enough. I had seen the once-in-a-lifetime triple conjunction and taken photos of it.

It was now after 7.30am, and I drove back into town and dropped the roll of film off at the local one-hour place, and went back home.

After a little nap, I went back up and picked up the photos. They turned out, but they could have been better. So I went back home, scanned the best ones in, and sent them in to Spaceweather.com and the local television station. I just hope they use them.

I normally would have sent the photos to a second local TV station, but the meteorologist there back in November said - on the air - that someone else was his "go to guy" for astronomy images. So screw him.

Now let's hope for clear skies Wednesday night for the Geminid meteors.

A Little Black Spot

Was on the Sun today.

The planet Mercury went across the disc of the Sun today, which it does periodically. I had seen this type of event in 1999, so I wasn't going to be too upset if I didn't see this one. But I managed to.

I used our 4-inch refractor at the observatory, with a Baader solar filter, and was fortunate to have about one-half hour of clear/semi-clear skies to take a few shots with my camera, and with my brother's digital SLR.

I had some equipment problems (focusing) and they didn't turn out as good as they could have. However, I did get a really cute picture of Paula's dog Willy peeking at the eyepiece.

Dark Side of the Grail, or Python and the Moon

It's the Full Moon!

Tonight's full moon will be bigger than usual, thanks to where it is in its orbit around the Earth.

Exact time of the "full moon" is 11.13pm EDT. So get ready to be mooned big!!!

In fact, I'm going out to photograph it.

Interesting fact 1: There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark.

Interesting Fact 2 (regarding the line above): [During the recording of Dark Side of the Moon] Studio time would be typically interrupted for one of two reasons, either soccer or Monty Python television broadcasts. In fact, Pink Floyd were such Python fans that they used some of the money they made from the initial success of the album to help fund Monty Python's The Holy Grail film.

Flitting

While trying (unsuccessfully) to take photos of hummingbirds in the back yard, I just happened upon a butterfly on one of our bushes.

You can see the images at my website.

The Wedding Report

Well, I’m still kinda sore from yesterday as I write this, but here’s an overview of the wedding shoot. And again, why did I come out of retirement? Oh yeah, because I needed the money.

I hadn’t been feeling good for a few days anyways, just from the stress of having to shoot this wedding. I mean, I don’t want to screw it up, but I haven’t done a wedding in years/decades, and am nervous.

So I get up around 7am to get ready, doing the usual: shower, shave, etc. Put on some good clothes, gather my gear, and I’m off to the church. Arriving a little after 8am. I thought I was going to get the evil looks for being 5 minutes late, but not even the bride or groom where there yet!! So I put my stuff out of site and start thinking about how I'm going to shoot certain things.

Oh yeah - the wedding was at 10am. And I had to be there to shoot stuff beforehand.

Suddenly I realize that I left one of my lenses at home. Not usually a big deal, but this was the one the cross-screen filter fit. And I needed that filter for the unity candle and the rings later. So I had to drive like a maniac down the highway to get the lens. It took about a half-hour, and by the time I got back, the bride had finally arrived.

I’ll skip the details of the ceremony, as it was just a wedding ceremony. Everyone’s filed out of the place to the receiving line, and we’re setting up the lighting units (I was able to drag a friend of mine out of retirement as well to help with the shoot). Now, since the reception was just next door, the wedding party is back in shortly and making life really hard on us as they are rushing the shoot. That ticks us off, as you can’t rush formal portraits if you want them to look good. But we did the best that we could, and I just hope things turned out okay.

We get done, and they just go right next door to the reception, barely giving me enough time to switch lenses to catch the “entrance of the couple.” What is with this “hurry up” stuff? They (the wedding party) were making noises like “people are waiting for us at the reception...” Well, that’s what they are supposed to do. I’ll bet 99% of the people there are well aware of how long it takes photographers.

Suffice it to say it was a typical wedding reception. Well, maybe not typical, as there was no alcohol allowed, and there was no dancing (Baptist church).

And another thing: this wedding wasn’t in the “church” but in a “multi-purpose room.” And in the basement of this church, there was a “Saturday meeting” going on, and WE couldn’t make any noise upstairs at the wedding, in case we disturbed the people downstairs. What?!? Since when is a regular Saturday dealio more important than a wedding? We even had to whisper in certain areas of the upstairs, and I couldn’t take flash photos “in case the flash was visible downstairs and we disturbed them.” What a bunch of crap. But I was able to work around it. I’m just glad that it’s over, and I won’t have to go back there.

Or do another wedding. I’m back into retirement as far as weddings go. No amount of money (well, I guess it depends) will make me do another one. I’ll stick with the portraits and such. It’s much easier, less stress, and actually more lucrative.

Wedded Bliss?

I don't know about that. All I know is that the stress I was feeling about shooting this wedding is mostly over now that it's done with.

First wedding I've shot in years. I think it worked out fine. But I know one thing...

I'm really tired and sore. I haven't done that much standing and walking at one time in months.

And - hee hee - my hand's cramped up from holding the camera nearly nonestop for 6 hours.

More later.

A Stressful Day

So far.

And it's thanks to a local store and their "one hour photo" idiots.

Last night I had done a test shoot with some new strobes for a wedding that I have to shoot this weekend. For a model I used a girl I know: went over to her house, set up the lights, etc.

So today I get the pictures back, and there's this 1/4 inch faded black stripe down the center of each image. What!?!?! That's all I need!! Two days from a wedding, and my main camera is broke! And I don't have a backup, since it's down for repair as well. I've got to check this out.

So I jump in the car and race downtown to the local pro lab, and roll out the negatives in the big light table. Under magnification, I can't see anything on the negatives. I ask Sasha – one of the people down there – to take a look, and she can’t see anything either. She goes and calls one of the techs down to look. While we’re waiting, Kevin comes out of the back and looks, but he can’t see anything. So what’s going on?

The lab tech arrives, and she takes the negatives upstairs and scans them in quick and prints off a couple of shots. In about 15 minutes she comes downstairs, and shows me their images.

Whew!!! Relieve sets in!! It’s nothing on the negatives – it’s the fault of the one-hour idiots. See, if you’ve ever taken your prints to a one-hour place, you will see black data on the back. It’s the codes for that picture, in case you need to have another copy made. Well, these idiots here have something wrong with the machine, and it bleeds through the whole picture, so it’s visible in the front – causing me MUCH stress as I thought my camera was broke.

But it’s not, and I can shoot this wedding on Saturday. More on that later. I need to go de-stress somehow. I could use a hug. Anyone? Anyone?