CalevPhoto

On Photography Etiquette

Recently I found myself in a situation that many of us I am sure have experienced.  I took some photos I was rather proud of and posted them on a forum.  Now I knew that I am a beginner in this area of photography and I still have a ways to go, but I still wanted to show off my work.  I do have rather thick skin and wouldn’t have minded some constructive criticism.

Water Smorgasborg by Joseph Calev

The response though was certainly not what I expected.  A different poster basically said “yeah, that’s not bad for two months with this equipment.  Now take a look at my awesome shots! You should try taking something like this!”.

To be honest, I did not appreciate this at all.  Yes, his shots were clearly better than mine.  However he provided no constructive criticism on my own shots.  I was just a beginner hoping to shine a bit and he threw a giant gobo on top of me.

This brings back an earlier story where I was on the other side.  A photographer posted several recent shots and asked for criticism.  I wasn’t crazy about either shot and posted constructive criticism.  I offered opinions on cropping, post processing, and angles.  I did not post any of my own shots.

Another photographer also responded and included several of his own shots in the discussion.  He offered much of the same feedback that I did.  Shortly after this, the individual left the forum never to return.

I believe it is worth having a discussion about photographer etiquette.  In general I find photographers are decent in terms of etiquette when actually shooting.  When I am photographing a patch of flowers, another photographer has never sat right next to me.  Similarly, I have not yet had an issue with another photographer interrupting wildlife I was photographing.  I do often have issues with non-photographers, who thrust their point and shoots on top of me when I am photographing macros, stand in front of me when I am photographing landscapes, and scare away wildlife I am photographing.

However I am discussing photographers here.  When it comes time to online discussions though, it seems we photographers are far less knowledgeable.  Therefore I would like to present my list of dos and don’ts.  Feel free to add your own.

Never post your own photo to a thread someone started to show off his/her own photos unless it is requested.

Photographers post their photos for different reasons.  They may want to show off or they may want criticism.  The general rule is never post your own photo on the same thread.  It simply is not polite.  You are taking the opportunity from another photographer and disregarding their work.

There are exceptions of course.  Sometimes a photographer will say “show me your best x shots”.  Other times the photographer may have a question on technique.  He may show an example photo where a problem occurred and ask for remedies.  In these situations it is perfectly acceptable to post your own shots.

If you comment on someone’s photo, add a “like” if the feature exists on the site.

This is a small courtesy.  Even if you’re not crazy about the shot, if you take the time to comment then click the ‘like’ button if the site has it.  This provides a good feeling for the other photographer.  If you want to provide constructive criticism, do it in the comments and still like the photo anyways.  Few photographers want to hear “this sucks”.  Many do want constructive criticism, but would like positive comments mixed with the negative.

The way I look at it, if the photo caused me to write a comment, then it must have been a decent photo for me to notice it in the first place.

Understand what the photographer is aiming for before commenting

Different photographers have different goals.  The goals of a stock photographer and a fine art photographer are quite different.  Make sure you understand these goals before commenting.  An awesome photo for stock photography will likely suck for fine art and vice versa.  If you strongly criticize a photo using the wrong goals, your comments will not be useful to the original poster.

Be careful about posting your own photos as example shots

Say someone has a question about lighting.  You response with a photo showing the discussed lighting technique.  This is perfectly OK.  Where the line becomes grayer is when someone mentions he/she is having a difficult time taking a type of photo and you reply saying “look at these awesome photos I took using this technique.  If you were nearly as awesome as I you would do the same”.

You are trumpeting your own horn here rather than providing any constructive proof.  Try to be more modest when posting.  It is OK to post awesome (in your eyes) example shots, but simply mention them as an example of the technique.  If the shots are truly awesome, others will call them out as such.

Try to understand what the photographer is looking for in critique

I am admittedly quite difficult in my critique.  If I do not like a shot I will plainly say so.  I will also give very specific reasons why I do not like it.  Some people greatly appreciate this feedback.  Others do not like it at all.

I openly do not like FlickR.  The reason I do not is due to what I call “the FlickR syndrome”.  This syndrome is very easy to catch if you are active on FlickR, as it is extremely easy to receive a ton of very positive feedback on an otherwise awful shot.  This leads some photographers to believe that every shot that leaves their hard drive is blessed and all other photographers will be blinded by the sheer awesomeness of their photos.

These photographers then post their photo someone where someone like I sees it and they simply cannot believe that something can be wrong with one of their photos.  I must clearly be an idiot for not recognizing the genius of this photo that hundreds of mindless FlickRites have proven.

The lesson of this is to try to understand what the photographer wants.  Sometimes it is OK to specifically ask what type of feedback the photographer desires.  Other times this is obvious from the original message.  If the photographer states that he took some shots he is very proud of, maybe it’s best not to comment.  If on the other hand the photographer states “give me your worst”, then absolutely do so.

If someone follows you or friends you, consider following them back

You are not above any other photographer out there and they should not be thought of as your flock.  When someone friends you they are truly interested in your work.  It does not mean they think you are better than they – just that your work interests them.  Do the right thing and take a look at their work.  Many times I have been greatly surprised that immensely talented photographers – way above me in talent – have chosen to follow me.  I use that as an opportunity to follow them as well so that I may learn more from their photography.

Be careful when commenting on photos about people

We have all seen a lot of photos of ugly people.  We have also seen photos of nice looking people in truly awful poses.  I remember one photo a photographer posted to a forum that he was quite proud of.  It was of a rather pretty girl stooped down in a way that looked like she was about to go to the bathroom.  In another I saw a very young girl posed in a way that in my opinion was completely inappropriate for the age.

You have to remember before commenting on these photos that the subject may be the daughter, spouse, or close relative of the photographer.  Also, the subject himself/herself may read the post.  If you want to provide constructive criticism, provide it on what the photographer did – not the model.  Be careful when stating what you don’t like about a shot though as many models are quite self conscious.  Remember, most of these people are not professional models at all but are simply someone who volunteered for the shoot.  If you say something about them that makes them uncomfortable, they may never volunteer for that photographer again.

Always assume your photo sucks when posting it

Few people like posts that say “see my awesome shots”.  As I said before, post your shots with humility.  Let others call out the quality of your shots.

Choosing your best shot

This year I have decided to do my own 365 project in order to improve my photography.  The experiment has been extremely rewarding and I have learned a ton so far.  I am currently on day 103 and the rules simply are that I must take at least one photo each day and post it at my 500px site.

Another rule is that I must pick one shot and only one shot.  This means I need to go through my shots until there is one left. Often this can be quite tricky as I may like several shots.  This exercise, however, teaches me to find flaws in my photos.  Until I realize these flaws, I won’t know how to improve.

This weekend I was presented with an interesting dilemma.  I had photographed during lunch by my office that day and had taken a number of photos.  That evening, I sat down with my wife and kids to select that day’s photo.  After a bit of culling, it came down to two shots.

Red Leaf by Joseph Calev

At first glance, the first photo seemed the best to me.  I rather liked the pattern caused by the missing part of the lea.  I wasn’t crazy about the gleam on the left of the shot or the fact that the right most “point” is off the photo.  In addition some of the points are more OOF than I would prefer.  Still, I thought it deserved being the shot of the day.

My wife preferred the second shot.  She couldn’t narrow it down, but really liked it.  The funny thing about the shot is I took just this one, then moved on.  When I looked at it in the viewfinder it didn’t look like anything special.  Typically I wait until it is downloaded on my machine before deciding whether to delete it.  Upon examining it on my machine it escaped deletion (I delete around 70% of my shots each day) but I wasn’t keen on using the shot.

In terms of criticizing the shot, I am not crazy about the blown out highlights, but most of all it didn’t really impress me as being that unusual.  The first shot tells a bit more of a story.  There used to be a leaf with this shape and some insect had a snack – leaving the outer edge of the leaf (which evidently must not have been as tasty).

In the end, my wife preferred this shot and I had already published the following shot a few days earlier.

Imagination by Joseph Calev

As I try to do something different each day, I went with my wife’s suggestion and published the red leaf.

The next morning, I awoke to a ton of e-mails and my first 100 vote photo!  I find it rather intriguing how so many people liked this photo but it has now reached the rare echelon of photos my wife wants me to print.

The next day, I let my wife make the full decision.  She chose this photo, which promptly received not a single vote or comment.

Calligraphy by Joseph Calev

For the record, I and my older son preferred this shot, which in retrospect I probably should have made the photo of the day.  It’s not a great shot, but I have a feeling it would have at least received one vote.

So what have I learned from this experience? What seems obvious is you never know how some photos will be received.  Everyone judges photos differently and there will always be someone who hates a particular shot.

Going forward I will continue to listen to the opinions of my wife and kids.  At times I will let their choice trump mine, while at other times when I am more sure of myself I will make the choice.  One thing with the Red Leaf photo is my wife really, really liked it.  So perhaps the lesson is when someone really likes a photo, it is best to pay attention.

Make Your Obstacles Your Strengths

I am sure we have all had frustrations when photographing various things.  Perhaps the light isn’t what you hoped it to be.  Perhaps you were expecting to be alone only in a church only to find three hundred other photographers armed with strong flashes also camped out there at the same time.

For me, this happens in particular when I am travelling.  Typically when I travel I have one chance to get the shot.  After that, we will visit a different place or leave the area.  On some occasions when I have a good hotel location, I do receive multiple chances – but the reality is I usually have to take what I get.

Until recently, I found I would get annoyed quickly.  I would get impatient at the person with a camera cell phone attempting to photograph something that just isn’t possible with it but refusing to believe that this is the case while standing right in front of my camera.  Even more annoying was on a recent trip to China a guy sat right in front of what I was photographing and then motioned for me to get away so his wife could take his picture.  OK, I still get frustrated at these people – but I now have a new strategy.

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Sometimes you just need to realize equipment will not help

As some of you may know, I have been eyeing a large telephoto for quite some time.  I have long agonized when I will finally purchase my large telephoto and which one will I buy.  Will I buy the more portable 500mm F4 or the longer but heavier 600mm F4?  Perhaps I will go all out and spring for the 800mm 5.6, or perhaps I will go the sports route and get the 400mm 2.8?  I have spent a great deal of time debating this and bugging others about it.

This weekend, though, I decided to do something a bit different.  Given a home I had to photograph in Monroe, I decided to take a trip to Ben Hierland’s Wildlife Park.  I took along my 100-400 and my 7D and used my monopod for stabilization.  I’ve had my 7D for a good month now, but this was the first time I had actually used it for wildlife.  The idea was that the crop factor should give me a good idea what magnification I truly needed and which lens would work the best for me.

I must say I was completely shocked at what the answer turned out to be.

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Are Modern Economics Killing Professional Photography?

There has recently been a growing chatter about the rise of the amateur photographer and the threat this poses to professional photographers making a living today.  The claim goes that, since these photographers offer their photos for free or for pennies on the dollar, true professional photographers can no longer make a living.

This argument has grown quite heated at times.  One the one side, you have professional photographers trying to convince good amateur photographers to sell their photos for a good rate.  On the other side you have amateur photographers complaining that professional photographers are trying to control the market.

There is no denying that the market has changed.  Places like Shutterstock and IStockphoto have certainly changed the equation and people on FlickR giving their photos away for free are also changing it.  Journalism has also significantly changed, meaning many once employed photographers are now looking for jobs as newspapers fold and news organizations look for amateur photographers on the ground.

However, just because the market changed does not mean professional photography is going the way of the dodo – far from it.

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An Entertaining Blog

Lately, I haven’t done much with this blog because I have had difficulties determining what its actual purpose is.  Day after day of blogs discussing some particular insect I ran across – when most of these insects were the same as ones before – became rather tiresome.  I suspect this was tiresome not just on me – but also on those who read this blog.

I had some decisions to make.

At various times, I considered turning this into more of a review blog.  The idea was to review various pieces of equipment and books and then get a cut when someone ordered something from my links.  I did post several of these blogs, but came to realize something very quickly.  Those who are well known for writing about photography are generally not well known for their photography itself.  In other words, the more one writes reviews about lenses and other equipment, the less one progresses as a photographer.

I also thought about using this as a stage for my best photography.  This can get rather boring too though.  Hey!  Look at this!  Some pictures are better than others and some I do want to show off, but I want this to be an entertaining blog – not one where I attempt to stuff my photos down your throat.

So what type of blog will this be?  My goal is for it to be an entertaining one.

I must admit that the implementation of this idea is not entirely set.  I do have some ideas which I will begin to implement very soon, but my hope is that those who do read this blog find it entertaining.

While I will no longer provide any equipment or book reviews here, that doesn’t mean this blog will not teach something.  I do hope to teach others about the nature around us and other things, but I also plan to do this in a manner that is not tediously boring.

I apologize for being vague here and ‘pardon the dust’.  Rather than explain this further, I think it is best to begin showing you…

A Status Update

Wow! Things have been amazingly busy.  Between a very hectic schedule at work and a lot of things at home – including gutting the entire interior of our house, I think I am finally back to the stage where I can begin to write blogs again.

Photography-wise, much has happened in the last several months.  I purchased the Canon TS-E 17 and the Canon TS-E 24 II lenses for a number of purposes and they are now two of my favorite lenses.  I will discuss them more in a future blog.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased Lightroom – along with Photoshop CS4.  I am still getting used to Lightroom and have barely used CS4 yet – though I hope to ramp up on them soon.  I do rather like Lightroom – particularly the keywording feature – though I must admit I’m still getting used to non-destructive editing.  I think the thing that annoys me most about it so far is I cannot (or at least I haven’t figured it out yet) overwrite the original JPEG.

I typically use the RAW file as my negative and the JPEG as my currently edited version.  If I change an image significantly – I’ll generally save it as a new file.

I have also learned quite a bit about time management lately.  In the past, I heavily participated in photography forums – most particularly a photography alias at my work.  I have come to realize though that these forums are not that incredibly useful.  In particular I began to notice the following.

1) I was writing more about photography equipment than on actual photography.  This may sound rude, but I have noticed that those who write the most about photography generally don’t take the best pictures.  The reason is the exhausting amount of time it takes to create a decent review and research things.

2) In most forums, the truly professional photographers are few and far between.  If you really want strong criticism of your photos and techniques, you’ll generally need to go directly to the photographers – not to the forums.

Therefore I have ceased participation in most of these venues.  I do still occasionally post in a few places – but only when I have a very particular question and I know there are members there that are very familiar with that subject area.

This has allowed me more time lately, which I hope to channel into consistently writing blogs.

A great book for a greater cause

Check out this book!

You probably know that I am into photography and I am a member of the Microsoft Photography Club. This year Photography Club Members from around the world spent five months assembling and publishing a world-class, fine art photo book. The time and talent that went into this project makes every copy of the book a gift to its owner. We even put a full book preview online (160 pages of preview!) 100% of the profit from sales goes directly to the United Way and you get a valued and timeless reminder of how you too make a difference for those in need.

You can preview the book, or order the book, from your desk. Not only does this book make a wonderful addition to any collection, and a thoughtful gift, each copy you purchase contributes directly to the ongoing, important work of United Way. This book is offered for purchase at the cost of printing plus $25.00. This additional amount is contributed directly to United Way in your name and is fully tax deductable as a charitable contribution.

Even if you don’t think you’ll buy a copy of the book, go take a look at the online preview anyway. It really is amazing!

And yes, my photo is in the book.  It is this one.

Upcoming purchases and debates

Recently I have been debating quite a bit two questions.

1) What will I get next?

2) What do I eventually want to get?  In the end there should be some limit to what I buy?

In terms of what to buy next, I have had several thoughts given my budget.  I have already decided to pickup the Canon TS-E 17mm once our kitchen remodel is finished.  The question is what else to purchase.

Option 1

Canon 200mm F4 Hybrid IS Macro – This is only a rumor of course.  However given Canon’s press release about a hybrid IS coming out in a lens before the end of the year this is a very possible reality.

I am very torn about this one.  Recently I sold my Canon 180mm macro because I just could not get dependable results out of it.  I do not know what it truly was, but while I can get consistent results from the MP-E 65, I found that the sharpness on the 180L was lacking.  I suspect this new macro would not have this issue.

Canon 85mm 1.2L

This is one incredible lens, but my main worry is how much I will use it.  I would mainly use it for shots of my kids.  It would certainly allow me to sell my Canon 50mm 1.4 that I hardly ever use.

Canon TS-E 24 II

At first it seemed silly to buy this together with the TS-E 17mm.  However, they make an incredible combo.  While the TS-E 17mm has the width, the TS-E 24mm has the advantage that it accepts filters and has more shift.  For real estate, the TS-E 17mm is the best for interiors, while the TS-E 24mm is better suited to exteriors.

Buy nothing and save for the 600mm

This is my dream lens, but it doesn’t seem very logical to put everything into this lens right now.  Besides, at the end of next year they’ll probably announce a replacement.

And the answer is…

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Time for some planes

I apologize that it has been so long since my last post. We are in the midst of a huge remodel here that has taken a great deal of my time.  I have also been busy photographing homes for Nelya as her business has really taken off.  Of course I have been photographing and I have a backlog of interesting shots to talk about.

Last weekend we took the kids to see the Blue Angels in their annual show in Seattle.  This was the first time I finally had a lens that could catch them decently in the Canon 100-400.  The lens worked fine and for the most part I felt the focal length was adequate on the full frame 5D Mark II.  The autofocus was quite slow, but I was still able to get some decent shots.

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