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Why I'm leaving Professional Photographers of America

Submitted by Leander on Sat, 2012-01-28 00:54

This Friday I received a very ignorant email from the PPA in regards to SOPA and PIPA.  Given the wealth of resources available to this organization I was surprised to see their stance be so short sighted, and quite honestly, misinformed.  Here's a couple of tidbits that really stuck out to me:

"It is important to recognize that Google, while it claims to be a friend to copyright, is anything but. PPA is one of several associations joined together in a lawsuit against the search engine giant for illegally scanning and posting copyrighted photographs on the Internet."

"So when a behemoth corporate money-maker like Google attempts to stand on the backs of photographers to increase its profits, we as your association take exception."

Essentially it seems they have no idea what a search engine is or how it works.  There's also this bit:

"Both pieces of legislation (SOPA in the Senate and PIPA in the House) targeted off-shore pirating of works produced in the U.S."

This statement is just plain incorrect. PIPA and SOPA are designed to target sites based in the US. 

I'm ashamed to admit that I've been giving money to this organization for the past two years.  Quite frankly I owe more to Google for developing my presence than I owe PPA, and Google did it for free.  I do have other issues with Google about privacy and user data.  However, by and large they've still been more useful to me than PPA has been over the last couple of years.    

Backing these bills, in my opinion, is a sign of ignorance and fear.  I wholeheartedly believe in organizations like the Creative Commons and believe it represents the future of distributing content.  If the PPA wants to take a position fundamentally opposed to that they will no longer receive my membership dues.  In fact, I'm going to take those funds and donate to the EFF and Creative Commons.  

The terrifying part to me is how many photographers rely on the PPA as their only source of information on these matters.  

Here's the full text of the email:

Dear Photographer,

We know that many of you have been following the developments with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). There has been some confusion over the proposed legislation, which frankly is the intent of the bills' opponents. We wanted to take a moment to correct some of the bad information, and to let you know where we stand.

We were disappointed by some of the heavy-handed tactics used by opponents of the bills. The objective of those tactics was obviously to create fear and hysteria, while at the same time spreading false information about what the bills would actually accomplish. We want you to know the following:

  • Both pieces of legislation (SOPA in the Senate and PIPA in the House) targeted off-shore pirating of works produced in the U.S.
  • We do not feel that the measures were perfect—no legislation is. But the greater good demands that measures be taken to protect the rights of creators like you.
  • It is true that those mega-corporations opposed to the bill could possibly have been inconvenienced by the legislation. It is their job to make money, and their actions merely represented those purposes.
  • It is not true that the public would have been deprived of works to which it has rights, but rather, only those works that are copyrighted and being sold illegally by rogue off-shore websites.

Particularly disturbing to every photographer should be the attempts by Google, Wikipedia and others to define copyright as censorship. The tact is both offensive and intentionally false. Of course, the word "censorship" was chosen by opponents of the legislation for its obvious emotional value. Americans in particular are born with a deep-seated aversion to anything that loosely resembles censorship. Those feelings are amplified in photographers and other creators. After all, you earn a living by SHARING your work, not depriving people of it. So when a behemoth corporate money-maker like Google attempts to stand on the backs of photographers to increase its profits, we as your association take exception. (As a side note, we appreciate all of the words of support you regularly extend to us as we defend those rights.)

It is important to recognize that Google, while it claims to be a friend to copyright, is anything but. PPA is one of several associations joined together in a lawsuit against the search engine giant for illegally scanning and posting copyrighted photographs on the Internet. A similar lawsuit filed by publishers and authors is also underway. It is our opinion that following Google's lead in defending intellectual property is something like depending on the fox to defend the hen house.

That Americans have bought into the false and misleading rhetoric issued over the past few weeks by opponents of the bills is unfortunate. We were surprised that a few creators were swayed by last week's Internet blackout. And we were disappointed that some members of Congress, who are typically more reasoned in their consideration of copyright issues, crumbled in front of the scare tactics used by the bills' opponents.

We will continue our Capitol Hill work on your behalf to educate members of Congress. Copyright is not a "Hollywood issue." The vast majority of copyright holders in the U.S. are small businesses. While Hollywood makes an easy target, the tactic is little more than a smoke screen designed to draw attention away from the true issue—online companies wanting to increase profits at the expense of mom-and-pop creators.

Americans have always valued and defended small-business rights. Each of us must work to be more enlightened about the real issues, and encourage our friends and neighbors not to be led astray by the fear-mongering of Internet bullies. In the meantime, PPA will continue its efforts to defend the rights of photographers now and in the future.

Best wishes for a successful 2012,

David Trust,
Chief Executive Officer
Professional Photographers of America

 

 

What is this? An update?

Submitted by Leander on Thu, 2011-06-23 15:04


 

It has been a long time since I updated the blog.  But I'm back!  

Not only am I posting a new entry here I'm also updating my portfolio pages and I've completely redone the site in a new layout.  

Hopefully the new site will be easier to navigate and more appealing to the eye.

So what have I been up to?  I've managed to stay fairly busy. I stopped by The Flash Bus in Durham, NC to watch Joe and David do their thing.  I learned a few things and had time to meetup with a few other local photographers.  Speaking of local photographers I've been working more with a friend of mine, Tommy White, in his studio and on some of his weddings.  I've also been wrapping up from the Blue Ridge Photo Fest last month.  It was a real treat to work with other photographers and meet Rob Knight from Atlanta. He hosts his own workshops and seminars at DPhotoA.  Definitely worth checking out! Juan Pons was extremely helpful in getting the event planned out and setup, he really deserves a lot of credit on this one.  I don't think this years Photo Fest would have been possible without his help and guidance.  Juan also hosts his own events and workshops over at Wild Nature Tours.  

I've also been working on a few personal projects.  My favorite thus far has been working on project involving dancers and dance students form the area.  A shot from a recent shoot is what's featured in this post.  So far I've managed to con talk a few very talented dancers into helping with this project.  I'd like to say thanks to Kasey and Maegan for their time, you guys are awesome!  I'm hoping to do more of that work in the future and possibly commit a whole portfolio to it. If you're interested in such a project feel free to get a hold of me!  

All in all I've been still plugging along.  Still shooting, still making mistakes, still trying new things.  After all you miss all the shots you never take. 

Nikon Coolpix P7000 Follow Up

Submitted by Leander on Mon, 2010-11-01 19:49

I've had  a little more time with the Nikon P7000 since my last write up on it.  It still has its flaws but overall I'm happy enough with it to keep on using it.  The image quality is outstanding.  I've ordered a few larger prints, one of them an 8" x 30" panorama, and I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival from White House Custom Colour and Bay Photo.

Thunder Hill Sunrise. Four frame vertical panorama. Nikon Coolpix P7000 at 42.6mm f/5.6 handheld.

For landscapes, especially where one uses a tripod, the P7000 is a really nice performer.  If you're much of a hiker the smallers size and weight will be appreciated too.  I'm looking forward to trying some waterfall shots with it and a GorillaPod.  Colors are pretty solid and vivid and the noise isn't bad up to about ISO 800.  

Shore Bird, Bald Head Island, NC. Nikon Coolpix P7000 at ISO 800 and 42.6mm.  No fiddling in post.

I apologize for subjecting you to my attempts at wildlife photography, but with the 200mm equivalent reach it's the P7000 does a pretty good job of bringing far subjects in closer.  Even on the long end the P7000 delivers sharp and clear images for a compact. 

The camera also has a few advanced features.  The first one that was of interest to me was the Nikon CLS support.  Now, the built in flash will not act as a commander but the hot shoe allows you to use a SB-800, SB-900 or SU-800 as a master. I used a SB-900 which is a bit unwieldy on such a small camera.  I would recommend investing in the smaller SU-800 IR commander unit if you really want to get into this sort of shooting.  CLS support works as advertized but be aware that you can only control Group A.  Groups B and C cannot be fired from the P7000 even with an external commander.  You'll just get an warning about incorrect Speelight settings if you try to enable those groups.  Kind of a let down but at the same time I don't think the you'll be relying on a Coolpix for doing studio lighting work.

Test of the P7000's CLS abilities.  Single SB-600 in an umbrella, SB-900 as a commander. I apologize for the bad background but this was just a quick test. 

The second feature that really drew me to the P7000 is the five shot auto exposure bracketing.  This is a feature that's usually reserved for higher end DSLRs and is essential to creating HDR images.  The nice thing about the P7000 is you can decide if you want to bracket using shutter speed adjustments or ISO adjustments.  I wouldn't recommend the ISO setting since the HDR process tends to introduce quite a bit of noise and bumping the ISO up won't help that any.  Get a tripod and use the shutter adjustment mode, you'll be much happier with what comes out.  

 

Thunder Hill Sunrise HDR.  Nikon Coolpix P7000, five brackets, combined in Photomatix and tweaked in Nik Color Efex Pro.

While I wouldn't make huge prints of a HDR from the P7000 they're suitable for web viewing and medium sized prints.   The shadows tend to be pretty noisy after tone mapping. Running the image through Nik Dfine takes care of some of the grain but it's still pretty noisy. However, for a camera in this class it's still pretty good.  If you like shooting HDR it's the compact to get.

What's the final verdict?  It's not the world's most perfect camera.  It is plagued with small issues.  You'll gain a few gray hairs waiting for it to record RAW files, it freezes sometimes requiring a reboot and compared to a year old G11 the AF is OK to mediocre.  But overall I feel the Coolpix P7000 delivers a solid package for someone wanting a little more out of a compact camera.  The specialized bells and whistles and superb IQ overshadow the flaws.  It's the camera I've decided to carry around and that should tell you something. 

Well back to normal blog posts.  I'm really not much for gear reviews simply because I don't really enjoy pixel peeping.  I'd rather be out shooting. :-)

Nikon Coolpix P7000 Preview

Submitted by Leander on Tue, 2010-10-05 23:23

Normally I stay away from gear reviews on the blog.  Mainly because I don’t want to be labeled as one of “those kind of photographers” that sit around all day testing gear without actually doing any practical shooting.  But, it’s been a long, long time since I purchased a point and shoot digital camera.  My last purchase in that department was the Canon SD500 back in 2004.  I’ve been pretty happy with it for most of my compact shooter purposes, plus Nikon keeps me busy buying big gear that I usually don’t get around to keeping up with the compacts.   A few times this year I managed to get my hands on a Canon G11 from Lens Rentals; that really put me on notice as to how obsolete my SD500 was.

 

Belk Library

Nikon P7000, 37mm (~173mm FX equivalent), f/5.6 ISO 100 

After a little research I decided I’d go for the Nikon Coolpix P7000.  There were three main features that sold me.  Five shot bracketing, support for Nikon CLS with a commander unit (such as a SB-900, SB-800, SB-700 or SU-800) and a built in intervalometer.  Thanks to Juan Pons I’m now getting hooked on doing some time-lapse work so that last one was a biggie.  The Panasonic LX5 finished number two in the race with the G11/G12 coming in third.  I’ve shot a little with the P7000 this week and so far it’s been a mixed bag.  Here’s a brief list of what I’ve encountered:

Pros:

  1. Solid construction, feels tough.  It’s also fairly lightweight for a camera in this class.
  2. Optical viewfinder.
  3. The rear screen is crisp and usable in almost any lighting conditions.
  4. Very low noise, especially for a compact.  ISO 1600 is very good for web use.  I can’t attest to the print quality just yet.
  5. Five shot bracketing.
  6. Great image quality even at the long end of the zoom range.
  7. Stereo microphones, a stereo mic in and pretty nice looking 720p video.
  8. If you use Nikon Speedlights it has a hot shoe and is CLS capable.

Cons:

  1. Unusable RAW mode.  Much to slow.  Around 23 seconds to write a five shot NRW bracket to a Class 10 SDHC card. The same SDHC card in a G11 recorded 1 RAW image per second, so it's definitely something with the P7000.  I don’t recommend using the RAW mode at all. 
  2. Slow response in the menus.
  3. A little too much reliance on menus instead of dedicated dials like the G11/G12
  4. Distortion Control is a must on the wide end.
  5. No articulating screen.

I do have some mixed feelings about the P7000.  Overall I feel like it's a very capable compact camera that's hampered by a few flaws.  Hopefully the sluggishness can be addressed in a firmware update ending my biggest gripe with it.  Not having a usable RAW mode make the bracketing pretty much useless by extension if you’re doing HDR work.  As a regular JPEG shooter it’s great however.   I’ll do a more in depth review when I get some more quality time with the P7000.  I'm going to be doing some CLS work with it too.  It does look pretty ridiculous with an SB-900 mounted on it, but doing off camera lighting with a compact will be neat to try. However, for now the wife is making me take a vacation.  ;-)

HDR isn't going away ...

Submitted by Leander on Fri, 2010-09-17 20:41

Personally I don't do much with the whole DSLR video thing.  But with my interest in HDR this caught my eye:

 

It looks pretty neat, almost animated, different to say the least. Certainly more on the artistic than realistic side.  Unfortunately for all the HDR haters out there the technique making its way over to video, not to mention still cameras coming with some sort of built in HDR these days, means it's here to stay.    

Strobist Meetup - 9/8/2010

Submitted by Leander on Tue, 2010-08-31 23:34

Last minute update on the Srobist meet up! I'm sorry to have to delay once again by about a week. With work and other projects I've not had time to pick a location or find models. So, it will be next Wednesday September 8th 2010.

Sorry for the delay once again! It will be next week come whatever circumstances!

Update for Tonight's Perseids Event

Submitted by Leander on Thu, 2010-08-12 14:09

First of all, I think I made a mistake in the original post.  I am planning to be out at Thunder Hill at 9:30, not 8:30. It doesn't get dark that early this time of year.  Checking the Clear Sky Clock for that time it seems we may have an OK time.

You can use this chart to figure out predicted conditions, just line up the blocks with the time of day.  If there is more blue the seeing conditions will be better.

It looks like the cloud cover may cooperate, but the seeing won't be perfect.  Given these factors I still plan to be out there, you don't need a perfect night to observe a meteor shower.  

Keep an eye on the weather, cloud coverage and Clear Sky Clock for more up to date info.  Obviously if a down pour or other severe weather comes up it will be cancelled.  

Five Tips for Photographing a Meteor Shower

Submitted by Leander on Tue, 2010-08-10 20:35

This week is peak time for annual Perseid meteor shower.  Astrophotography was actually my first photographic interest, being a Astronomy student in college spurred my interest in photography.  I've compiled five tips for making good looking astrophotos and some specific ones for meteor shower events.

 

 

1.) This should go without saying, but a sturdy tripod and a remote trigger are necessity.  You can get around the trigger by using your camera's count down timer.  This allows you to get your hand away from the camera when the shutter goes up and reduces vibration.  Also check to see if your camera supports a mirror lock up mode for shooting.  Most do for cleaning only, usually the mid-to-higher end models have it for shooting.  This will further reduce vibrations introduced by the mirror flapping up.  

2.) As far as lenses go, the wider the better.  A fisheye works best.  Some of these things can streak all the way across the sky so having a full 180 degree is desirable.  An f/2.8 maximum aperture will be beneficial too, although i've squeaked by at f/4 before.  If you don't have a fast wide angle lens I highly recommend renting one from a site like LensRentals.com.  These guys are the best in the photo rental industry in my opinion.  I've used them several times for several jobs and never had a single bad experience.  *Lens Rentals is not a sponsor of this blog, I just really happen to like them.*

If you don't like the fisheye look you can use software like Fisheye Hemi to "defish" the photo in post.

3.)  Keep your exposures around 20 seconds or less.  There's a couple of reasons for this.  Firstly it keeps the thermal noise down on the sensor (this can be a problem on sticky summer nights) and secondly you probably don't want to streak the stars too much.  You really want to meteors to be the only thing streaking, this gives the best impression of motion.  If you've got a motor drive telescope mount you can use that to track with the motion of the Earth.  Most these mounts have a place for a camera tripod thread.  

4.)  Don't be afraid of higher ISOs.  Meteors are relatively faint, chances are you'll miss a few if you're at ISO 100 or 200.  I typically shoot at ISO 400 or 800 for these and with most modern DSLRs that's not really a problem.  Even a five year old model will be fine at ISO 400.  

5.) Find a dark sky.  This may be the hardest part of all.  Every year more poorly designed street lights and billboards go up that fill even country skies with nasty light pollution.  I recommend getting at least 15-20 miles outside of an medium sized urban area.  Go even further out if it's a larger one. Also, know your sky.  The Perseids will appear to come from the constellation Perseus.  Study a star chart for the time of night you plan to be out to know in what direction to generally point your camera.  You can find free ones on skyandtelesope.com. 

Upcoming Events

Submitted by Leander on Fri, 2010-08-06 12:30

Just a quick reminder of some upcoming events I'm holding.  All of these are free and open to whoever shows up!

First on August 12th at 8:30 PM I will be out at the Thunderhill Overlook on the Parkway observing and photographing the annual Perseids Meteor Shower.  For those who don't know I do have a background in Astronomy and Physics. In fact astrophotography was what originally got me into photography as a whole.  So expect to learn some things!

Please contact me if you need directions to the Thunder Hill Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Second, on August 18th I'll be doing a Strobist meetup.  Location is yet to be found and we also need models.  If you're interested in suggestions for either of these let me know! 

Please keep a check on my Events page for more info!

Worldwide Photowalk 2010 Wrap Up

Submitted by Leander on Tue, 2010-07-27 18:08


Thanks to all the folks who came out for this years Worldwide Photowalk in Boone, NC.  A good time was had and we all got to meet some new faces!  If you participated please upload your best photo to the Worldwide Photowalk site so it can compete for the grand prize.  

 

 

 

If you want to share your photos from the day you can upload them to Flickr and put them in the Boone, NC group or the official Worldwide Photowalk 2010 group.  You can tag them with “WWPNBNC” if you want to make them easily indentifiable.  


I had a great time and I hope everyone who came out did too.  I look forward to next year and the possibility of more get togethers between now and then. Keep a watch on this site for updates!

 

 


 

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