Photography and life in Belgium

My blog has moved to miklav.com

2011-03-23T22:42:00.004+01:00

My blog has moved to my main website. This blog on Blogger will not be updated any longer. All 100 posts below are migrated to my new blog.

The new blog can be found at http://miklav.com/blog

.

Microstock in February

2011-03-16T22:40:00.002+01:00

I should have posted it earlier...

February, 2011 was my Best Month Ever (BME) on microstock. I started to put more efforts in that business a couple of months ago and it started to pay back. Very nice indeed.

What is very surprising is that it was my BME on iStock despite lower commissions and my non-exclusive status.

Also Alamy was performing nice in February. The sales there are irregular, but I see them more and more often as my portfolio grows.

One very important thing with microstock for me is that I do see the result every time I am starting to put more efforts. Every time I start shooting and uploading more actively I start see increase is sales very quickly. That is indeed a good motivator :)

Microstock - hobby or business?

2011-02-04T15:05:00.001+01:00

Many microstock photographers treat their photography as a hobby not as a business. That is very natural when you make just a little supplement out of it rather than a full-time income. Some photographers who have grown their microstock activity to a full time job still a kind of a hobby attitude. That is also natural taking into account the background and the speed of the growth from a pure hobby to a job.

Recent changes in microstock, particularly commission cut at istock and fotolia caused a lot of negative reaction from the photographers. Of course it's extremely unpleasant when the agencies reduce the share paid to photographers. Although legal it is perceived by many as a very unfair step.

How to react besides expressing your thoughts in various forums is the question for many. Is it worth to boycott such agencies, is it worth to unite the forces? Are there any other options?

I tried to summarize my thoughts on these 3 questions:

Boycott it or not?

I think it mainly depends on whether you have significant revenue from these agencies or neglectful. If it's neglectful you can easily stop working with the agency. You should realize that you would only please yourself doing that but the agency wouldn't notice your leave.

If your revenue is significant I would take a step away and try to look at it as one of your income streams, emotions aside. If the stream is significant, and if it will remain significant after the commission cut I would rather keep it. However I would explore other possibilities to extend other streams and/or add more streams.

Can photographers influence the behavior of the agencies? There are suggestions to unite forces which is supposed to increase the negotiation power. The fact is that about 80% of the agencies' income is generated by approximately 20% of top photographers. That means that even uniting 80% of average contributors that isn't too much value for the agencies. It would only make sense if the very top photographers would unite to negotiate the policy of the agencies. If you aren't one of them any attempt to unite with your peers is pretty much useless.

One other part of the picture is ever increasing competition. The growth of supply is higher than the growth of demand. I suppose that will cause further saturation of microstock contributor with the middle layer being affected the most. I mean top contributors making a full time income for several people in their "picture production factories" will certainly be able to survive. They will have to optimize costs but I have no doubts they will stay successful. The low layer of hobbyist contributors will not be affected much. The main difference will be increased threshold for the acceptance of their pictures as the agencies can afford to become more selective. Other than that the hobbyist making a hundred or a couple per month will just continue at similar level... I suppose еhe most affected by competition will be the middle layer, i.e. the people just making the living from microstock but being around the threshold of their survival level. If they will not be able to grow significantly they will probably be pushed towards the low tier.

It's again about the same story about 20% of people making 80% of income. Most of increasing competition are eating from the 20% piece of the pie. Even the pie is growing too, number of eaters is growing faster. If you manage to get to the top tier you'll compete for a portion of 80% piece of the pie - the piece is much larger and the number of competitors is much lower.

Is it still possible to get to the top tier, or did it become a close club? It's very difficult but is certainly possible. Daniel Laflor is one of the recent examples, Cathy Yeulet is one before; and there are some other too.

Christmas present for myself - new lens

2010-12-30T22:24:00.002+01:00

I made a nice Christmas present for myself - new lens Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro. Very happy with the results of the first test. Good for portraits and for closeups.

portrait: f5.6, eye: f6.3

Hackintosh on ASUS P5Q-VM motherboard

2010-12-03T09:58:00.004+01:00

I can confirm that MAC OS X Snow Leopard works just fine on a PC based on ASUS P5Q-VM motherboard.

Computer:

ASUS P5Q-VM motherboard
7 GB RAM (historically: 3 original plus 4 upgrade)
ATI Radeon 4730 video card
dedicated full hard drive for MAC OSX
temporary USB keyboard (normally use PS2 one which can be enabled after setup)
USB mouse

Installation of MAC OSx

Installed new empty HDD in the system (SATA)
Switched BIOS to AHCI mode (which requires changes in Windows running from another HDD)
replaced IDE DVD drive with SATA one (IDE wont work)
Installed MAC OSX using NAWCOM boot CD and MAC OS Snow Leopard installation DVD
Installed hack pack from NAWCOM Boot CD (including PS2 keyboard driver)
Changed video resolution in the system settings (no need to manually install drivers, only adjust /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist)
Installed sound driver (ALC1200_1063 worked, but not other ALC1200)

Remark: I select which OS to boot via BIOS by pressing F8 during initial computer startup. No need to bother with various settings in boot loaders.

Many thanks to all the people who made it possiblle and who shared their experience in various forums and blogs.

So if you have similar setup and want to build a Hackintosh yourself, you'll need the following:
- NAWCOM boot CD : http://prasys.info/2010/10/nawcoms-bootcd-the-sucessor-to-empireefi/
- MAC OS X Snow Leopard installation DVD (you are expected to buy it, e.g. at Amazon)
- Sound driver: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=161430
- Compatible computer
- PC keyboard works with MAC but the keys work differently. Most annoying one is that Alt is used on MAC pretty much as Ctrl is used on PC, i.e. copy/paste is Alt+C/Alt+V on MAC with PC keyboard. You can change that by using DoubleCommand utility
- By default you'll get read-only access to Windows NTFS drives (FAT32 works with read/write). You can use freeware NTFS 3G driver (note there is a commercial version available from the same vendor)
- There are MAC versions of Skype, FireFox, Filezilla available - they work just fine. And OpenOffice too.

Recent shoots

2010-11-16T10:44:00.007+01:00

I haven't been active with stock photography since February. Too busy with my other job. However I learned a lot during the break. Not only via reading, but also via attending 2 conferences related to stock photography: CEPIC in Dublin and StockInRussia in Moscow. There wasn't anything revolutionary, but it was a great help to sort the things in my mind. Ironically, not doing stock photography for 8 months I came to the next level of understanding it.

I re-started doing stock shoots immediately after StockInRussia. Due to bad weather it had to be a studio session, and it was with several models. It was fun and I got some nice pictures, but I wasn't really satisfied. 6 models showed up instead of 4; duration of stylist's work was underestimated; the look of one model has changed before the shoot so what was planned for that model wasn't suitable. Also had to use an unknown studio which was ok but not exactly what I needed. They are all my own faults indeed - lesson learned to plan better next time.

After getting back to Belgium I had an outdoor session with a child and her mother. This was affected by the forces of nature but I am still quite happy with the result. Both the models and myself wanted to catch nice autumn look with yellow/red leaves on the trees and on the ground. Unfortunately most trees suddenly lost their foliage just 2 days before the shoot; and the weather was cold and overcast during the shoot. Luckily no rain, but it was really dark gray overcast. The grass with the leaves was very wet, so we had to exclude everything related with lying down on the leaves and playing with them. Despite the obstacles, the result was good. Using very nice models in a nice park we we've got several nice pictures at the end. I hope we will continue working together with these models in the future.

Now the weather is bad, nice autumn views have gone - thus it's the time to shoot indoors. Finding a suitable indoor location isn't that easy - I have several ideas and conversations are in progress.

Meanwhile to avoid loosing time I've done a shoot in the studio. This time only 1 model so that I can do my planning better; and I made a very detailed plan for the shoot. Not everything worked what I planned, but this is normal. Pictures look good; and I liked the model and the stylist.

Jonathan Ross in stock photography

2010-10-14T16:54:00.003+02:00

Jonathan Ross is one of the most successful traditional stock photographers in the United States. His photography business is called Anderson Ross. Jonathan works primarily in traditional RF and RM areas but tries new directions too like microstock or video. In microstock Jonathan operates under nickname avava.

I knew Jonathan since his appearance in internet forum microstockgroup.com couple years ago. I met Jonathan in person for the first time at CEPIC conference in Dublin a few months ago where he was one of the presenters. And finally I met Jonathan a few days ago at microstock conference STOCKinRUSSIA in Moscow (Russia). Jonathan was invited as one of the key speakers, and also gave a masterclass on stock photography. You can see a short interview with Jonathan that I took during the break:

I've written down a few bullet points about what I heard from Jonathan (combined from Dublin and from Moscow):

Be ready for change. Traditional stock photography market changed a lot last years but it still alive and isn't dying; microstock market keeps changing too. Be ready and look for opportunities.
Jonathan regularly puts aside a part of his budget to try new things. He made successfull micrstock experiment back in 2008; the next test was video, and so on.
Plan your shoot. As Jonathan works on location, the team visits the location in advance, take some snapshots to visualize and to remember the place. Then the shoot list is written with every future picture described in 1-2 lines. The list for 5-hour-long shoot typically takes 10-12 pages.
Be prepared with your plan, do follow the plan, but be open to variations and new ideas during the shoot. And don't be afraid to skip some pictures if you see something doesn't work - don't spend too much time trying to make adjustment for one picture, just move on to the next one.
It takes time to rearrange the light setup, so when you are doing the shoot, maximize the use of each setting before you move to the next one.
You will find yourself repeating your own pictures again and again - with new models, in new locations yet similar to what you've done before. This is perfectly fine for several reasons.

Nothing is truly new in photography, so you can't be "original" with every new photo;
Buyers need variety. Same buyer needs same subject again and again, but they want a new picture;
Styles change - cloths, cars, mobile phones, etc. So same photo taken again in a couple of years will be quite different;

Microstock experiment Jonathan made was very successful. Jonathan produced around 3500 photos (meaning final processed portfolio); production cost was around $16.50 per photo (which is very high in microstock's standards). What Jonathan said in microstockgroup forum: "I have returned over $120,000 in two year since my upload of the 3500 with another 2000 to upload at Istock I hope that helps give a base of what my returns are. This is also slightly before 2 years so I can't say till we get to December what my 2 year sales are, I can only share what I have made to this time."

Reference links:

Website of Jonathan Ross - http://www.andersenross.com
Jonathan is one of co-founders of Blend Images agency - http://www.blendimages.com/photographers.shtml
His portfolio @ Getty - http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?assettype=image&artist=Andersen%20Ross
His new project - http://www.spacesimages.com
The microstock experiment mentioned in the video: http://www.fotolia.com/p/200440429 or http://www.dreamstime.com/avava_info
Interview with Jonathan Ross by John Lund: http://www.johnlund.com/Interview-andersonross.htm

Belgian taxes for stock photographers

2010-09-27T19:45:00.001+02:00

I thought it might be useful to share how taxation works in Belgium.

Remark: This is not an official tax advise and I am not responsible for any misunderstanding. I simply share what I learned from my accountant and what works for me.

Stock photography falls under simplified light taxation that applies to art/copyright works.

That means you don't need to register a business (even self-employed is not necessary), you can declare the income as your personal.

The tax applied is 15%

You are allowed to declare 50% of your overall stock income as your cost, so 15% is taken from half of your income (up to the ceiling of 13,840 Eur for income 2009 - and you can declare 25% of income as cost for the second 13,840 Eur).

On a practical side - if you are filling paper tax declaration you need to request tax office to provide you the second part (that is usually used by business); if you are filling your tax online in tax-on-web you can enter data directly.

You declare your total income per year in Euro in field 1190; and half of the a mount as cost in field 1191 (if your annual income is <13,840 Eur).

How to count the amount: Typically you don't receive any supporting documents from stock agencies (unless it's a German one). So just write down yourself every dollar amount that you transferred during reporting year from stock sites to your paypal account (or to your bank account or whatever method you used); and convert every transaction to Euro using historical exchange rate on that date (find in internet). Of course you keep Euro amount if you are receiving money from European agency. Then sum all Euro amounts and use it your for declaration. Attach your calculation to your declaration.

Vacation

2010-07-14T23:20:00.003+02:00

It's hot here at French Riviera, but sea is warm and nice :)

Photo editing - how to reduce artifacts

2010-06-22T14:04:00.003+02:00

Artifacting is a native issue of digital photography. It appears on nearly all digital photos - sometimes a little, sometimes strong. Microstock agencies don't like artifacts, istockphoto is particularly known for that.

Artifacts is something quite easy to address if you apply a systematic approach. I am getting nearly 0 rejects for artifacts for the last +/- 12 months if not longer:

shoot exclusively in RAW , not too high ISO
good exposure, particularly no underexposure, and no pulling shadows up
very little or no sharpening when processing RAW
if converting RAW to separate file before opening in photoshop use TIF not jpeg

in result you should see very little artifacting (BTW check on the edge of shadows at 400%-500% zoom).

What I am doing next with 100% of my pictures is applying TopazLabs DeJPEG filter (photoshop plugin). There is an old free version and there is up to date commercial one (which isn't expensive). The "official" purpose of the plugin is different, but it helps very nicely to remove that little artifacting. The key is to apply DeJPEG at very low settings, don't overdo it. I made several presets for different degree of artifacting/noise; and I am thinking about making a tutorial about that when I have some time.

When applied at minimal settings, DeJPEG filter smooths areas without detail while keeping details sharp, and adds a very little noise. This is an example (crop enlarged to 300%):

the version "more DeJpeg" not only smoothened stronger, but also has more noise added.

CEPIC microstock conference in Dublin

2010-06-14T14:12:00.002+02:00

I came back from microstock conference organized by CEPIC in Dublin on the 8th of June. Took some notes and some videos - will post after get them processed.

16bit vs 8bit editing in photoshop

2010-04-12T15:30:00.000+02:00

The question discussed many times and still often asked - whether to process RAW files in 16 bit or in 8 bit mode?

The answer depends on quality of the source file and the intended use of the image. When you work with well exposed photograph and don't edit it intensively, the difference between 8bit and 16bit isn't significant. However in case you need best possible quality there is a difference.

Even if you save the final result in 8-bit file (e.g. JPG only supports 8-bit mode), there is a difference depending how you edit your file.

Whether it's a big deal or not is rather subjective.... but the difference is pretty obvious.

I made a simple example - took a well exposed image, didn't apply very much editing, didn't have too many layers. There are 2 frames in the animated gif: one is the result of 16 bit editing, converted to 8 bit at the end; the other frame is result of 8-bit editing - i.e. same file was first converted to 8 bit, then editing applied. It enlarged to 400% to make the difference more visible.

In case you have underexposed image, in case you have higher ISO, in case you apply intensive editing - you will see much bigger difference between 8 and 16 bit. But even this example above is sufficient for me to do my editing in 16 bit.

Internet upgrade at home

2010-03-23T21:03:00.003+01:00

Got my Belgacom ADSL line upgraded today to VDSL. Download speed came from 4Mbps up to around 15Mbps, and more importantly the uplink went from 0.5Mbps up to 1.5Mbps - very helpful for uploading photos to retouching agency, and to stock agencies. (I am talking about real tested speed)

The nice thing that the upgrade was free to me (including VDSL modem), because Belgacom has improved their subscription plan that I was already using. But I had to ask for upgrade myself.

The only negative part is that the websites that were slow remain slow regardless the speed of my internet connection....

One more photo from session with Thomas and Emmily

2010-02-24T00:38:00.005+01:00

This is one more photo from the same session with Thomas and Emmily:

This picture was planned, based on several advertisement photos. It's not a copy of any specific picture, but I had a particular image in my mind which I tried to create. I've got what I wanted and I like the result. Even though the concept might be arguable with sunglasses shown in the darkness :)

Photography studio found

2010-02-04T00:31:00.013+01:00

I had an issue with a place for taking studio photos. I've done it at home for some time but it wasn't a good option. I have too little space, and reflections from walls create a color cast on the pictures. I photographed in some places abroad, but I didn't have a good place in Belgium that I could use regularly.

Finally I found a studio near Mechelen and tried it last Sunday. The location is good - not too far from Leuven (less than 40 minutes by car), close to a railway station (though small one), and close to Mechelen too. Also good that it's large enough and have high ceiling. Very good price; and rather good selection of backgrounds. The only imperfection is that the lighting kit could have been better, and selection of softboxes/light modifiers isn't large. But that isn't a big issue taking into account the items I could bring myself in addition to those already in studio. It is also very convenient that the studio is accessible 24/7 via pre-paid badge system and online reservation.

One picture from that shoot:

Copyright Mikhail Lavrenov

Update on stock photography improvement plan

2010-01-04T15:00:00.001+01:00

This is end of the year update on my stock photography improvement plan.

Although I wasn't yet able to achieve all of my targets, I am happy with the progress.

Since beginning of October I had 4 photo sessions specifically for stock - i.e. much higher rate that I had ever before. Unfortunately due to personal reasons I wasn't able to organize any sessions in December otherwise the number would have been even higher. For the same reason I wasn't able to produce consistently 100 stock pictures per month - something I definitely need to address. In 2 months I produced around 220 pictures (fully processed and ready to upload).

As I already mentioned in my previous update I am satisfied with the partial outsourcing I made. I only outsourced retouching part, i.e. I am still doing myself RAW processing, white balance, brightness/contrast, masking and keywording. I only outsourced the least creative part and it saves me quite a lot of time. I will certainly continue using that service.

As I mentioned in my plan I didn't waste time processing non-stock photos for stock. Combination of this, plus higher number of stock-oriented photo sessions plus outsourcing resulted significantly increased output. The only reason I stayed below target was personal circumstances that consumed a lot of my time that I could have devoted to photography.

Thus the adjustment of my plan is that I will aim to produce around 150 good stock photos monthly - that will allow me to stay above 100 even when I will need to take some breaks.

I believe I made a good progress with item 5.1 of my original plan - take better photos i.e. to improve various small elements such as model's smile, clean background etc.

Point 5.2 from my original plan is still open. It was about making analysis of what subjects sell well and make sellable photos. The word "analyse" here is related to both evaluation of the market bestsellers and evaluation of my own portfolio and my own bestsellers.

While I keep doing some basic analysis I plan to work seriously on item 5.2 later, after the previous items will be successfully implemented and will become a normal routine.

First full month with outsourced retouching

2009-11-03T21:43:00.002+01:00

This is the first report about progress of my stock photography improvement plan.

October was the first full month when I used outsourcing for retouching. Also, I focused on production of photos specially for stock. Thus I didn't loose time processing my random family/friends pictures for stock.

I must say I am quite happy that I decided to outsource. I easily produced 100 stock photos (which was my target for this year) and I feel that I can quite easily produce even more.

A positive side effect was improved acceptance rate. My acceptance rate at istock was around 75%, but in October it went up to ~98%. I believe it happened mainly because I didn't spend time on non-stock photos; and didn't experiment with processing/filters etc, making just straightforward adjustments and editing.

In October I had 2 stock photo sessions. In November I already had 1 and 1 in scheduled for this weekend.

Sunday shoot in Leuven

2009-10-19T16:00:00.001+02:00

The better plan you make, the higher are chances it will fail. So was with my last shoot - the plan was to shoot Thomas in railway station but we were kicked out by police.

Indeed they were formally right - but we were not on people's way and I wasn't photographing the station itself; and I photographed in the same station several times in the past... (I think it's clear by now that I didn't bother with the official permission). So we had to switch to plan 'B' and photograph Thomas near the station but outside.

Although I know the place I still visited it in advance to check possible spots for taking pictures (both in station and around it), and that was helpful. The session lasted only 2 hours but we didn't loose any time, so it was productive.

I was pleasantly surprised with Thomas. He is only doing modeling for 8 months but he is doing it very well. He understood pretty well what I wanted from him and he did it all nicely and quite naturally.

Just one picture so far as I didn't have time for retouche/processing:

New tripod - Slik Pro 330DX

2009-09-25T23:54:00.005+02:00

I just purchased a new tripod a couple of weeks ago.

My 10 years old Manfrotto 190 is still in good order. However it is
* too heavy
* too big
* too cold in the winter (no rubber coating)

I wanted to get a replacement. I don't use tripod daily so I didn't want to spend too much. However I do use one regularly so it should be a decent tripod that could hold my DSLR with lens. Thus I was looking for a device that:
* is reasonably light (though no extreme needed);
* is small enough to put in my travel bag for air travels;
* has rubber coating;
* doesn't cost a fortune;
* is stable at full open and can hold Canon EOS 5D Mk II with lens

I found that Slik Pro 330DX seems to be a good match to the points above. It is surprisingly stable despite quite thin legs at the end; and the central column is very easy to remove.

I thought about taking Slik Pro 330 without default head and attaching a lighter and smaller ballhead, but at the end I decided that it's not worth the extra cost for my needs.

The picture is from Slik catalog, © Slik (http://www.slik.com)

Taking my stock photography to the next level

2009-09-24T23:55:00.007+02:00

After doing stock photography for a few years I reached lately (yet another) plateau. Adding new photos to portfolio doesn't improve sales. This isn't an unusual situation; but in addition to that I am not satisfied with my past pace of growth. I believe I now learned enough to seriously take my stock photography to the next level.

There are few quite obvious (to me) areas that I need to address:

1) I need to take more pictures specially for stock.

So far most of pictures taken by my camera aren't made specially for stock. At the same time O noticed that pictures taken specially for stock take less time to post-process; and session organized specially for stock generates many more usable photos. Thus the conclusion is simple:

2) Don't spend time processing non-stock photos for stock.

Post-processing (selecting good photos from the shoot; RAW processing; editing in photoshop, keywording) takes several times more time than shooting. One of the main reasons I didn't organize too many shoots specially for stock was too big back-log of unprocessed photos. The previous point will address that to a big extend. Further reduction of post-processing time can be achieved with another simple step:

3) Be more selective processing photos for stock. Don't waste time trying to improve imperfect pictures.

Still, processing pictures takes a lot of time and it is still much longer than shoot even if I select pictures more carefully. So the next focus point is to reduce post-processing time. So, my next step is:

4) Outsource part of post-processing.

This one is being tested right now. I decided to try to outsource retouching work to India. Retouching is a routine procedure that takes a significant portion of my time now but isn't very expensive when done by somebody else. I will keep other, more creative parts of post-processing for myself.

This is now in test mode - I found a company to do the work (via a recommendation), tried a few pictures with them, agreed on price and send them the very first batch. I hope it will work.

As a possible next step I consider outsourcing keywording but that is yet to be decided.

So to summarize all of the above: I need to take more pictures, be more selective which ones to process and need to reduce post-processing time. Yet another step to improve my stock photography is:

5) Take better photos.

Technically my photos are already good - vast majority of my pictures are accepted by agencies without problems. However I need to take better stock photos. There are two parts in that task:

5.1) One is relatively simple and is to improve various small elements such as model's smile, clean background etc.
5.2) The other is much more difficult - to analyse what subjects sell well and make sellable photos. The word "analyse" here is related to both evaluation of the market bestsellers and evaluation of my own portfolio and my own bestsellers.

I plan to work seriously on item 5.2 later, after the previous items will be successfully implemented and will become a normal routine.

My plan for the remaining months this year is to implement items 1 to 5.1 and to produce at least 100 good photos monthly. If it will work well I will need to increase the number next year and to start seriously working on item 5.2.

Shutterstock meeting in Denmark

2009-08-16T12:39:00.005+02:00

A few days ago a group of photographers from Shutterstock had a good time together in Aarhus (Denmark). The meeting was organized via Shutterstock forum. Starting with a group dinner on Friday night we spent the next day in photo studio of Yuri Arcurs - the world's most selling microstock photographer. Yuri very kindly organized a tour in his studio followed by shoot of a few of his models. Yuri is a very nice guy, easy to talk to; and he is sharing a lot of good advise to other photographers. We all had a great time, and here is a short video about the event:

Leuven from above

2009-07-27T17:06:00.003+02:00

A few days ago I visited the bell tower of Leuven University Library (located on Ladeuze plein). The tower hosts one of the largest carillons in Europe (it even was the largest for some time). Normally the tower isn't accessible to the public, but it's possible to visit it once or twice a year, with the excursion to carillon followed by a nice concert of carillon music.

The excursion was lead by Luc Rombouts, carillionist and the official bell ringer of Leuven.

The picture above shows the University Library with the tower photographed in twilight (more than a year ago). We visited the tower under bright daylight, and almost whole Leuven can be observed from the tower.

The first picture is the view at Stella Artois and the channel to Mechelen:

The second photo is the view at Leuven station (with construction works on the other side of the railway) and new city hall:

And here is the rest of it.

Updated guide about selling photos online

2009-07-17T18:04:00.004+02:00

I updated the guide about selling photos online - http://stock.miklav.com/

Part 4 of the guide needs to be extended further, it's in my "to do" list.

Updated design of my website miklav.com

2009-07-07T12:44:00.002+02:00

I changed significantly the content and structure of my website. Graphic design stays the same, but I added Retouche and Wedding sections and updated photo gallery.

Come and see updated miklav.com! :)

Leuven - pictures of Oude Markt

2009-06-11T14:14:00.005+02:00

To continue on previous post - a few pics from Oude Markt in Leuven. Oude Markt is a nice medieval square in the center of the city. Cobblestone surface, old buildings on all 4 sides full of cafes, bars and restaurants. You can see how it looks in a usual week day evening.

Pictures of Leuven

2009-06-08T12:29:00.004+02:00

I didn't realize that I have too few pictures of my home town until I got a request from a customer a few weeks ago. Luckily the weather is nice lately so I went to the center of Leuven to take some pictures.

The City Hall of Leuven is nice, so I took some photos at the end of the day, when the lights started to turn on but the sky wasn't completely dark yet.

A few more pictures of the City Hall

I went also to Oude Markt the same day. For those who doesn't know Leuven Oude Markt is a nice old square surrounded by medieval buildings - it is full of bars and restaurants and some people call it the "largest bar in Europe". It will be the subject of my next blog post.

Some of my tools

2009-05-12T15:21:00.002+02:00

Just a quick note about a couple of tools that I use in my photography process.

As part of my backup process I record my photos on DVDs. I don't like simplified consumer version of Nero software that came with my DVD writer, so I tried some free tools. I tried several of them which I didn't like - some for uncomfortable interface (e.g. many clicks needed to add a folder to a disk); some failed during recording (which I wouldn't expect to happen at all these days with mature technology). Finally I chosen imgburn that I prefer over the others: http://www.imgburn.com - reasonable interface; some advanced features, and good reliability.

The other tool that I use often is FTP client. Again I tried several options and for the last year I use Filezilla: http://filezilla-project.org, which I know also recommended by many other users.

Good time to photograph tulips

2009-04-30T21:19:00.002+02:00

It's great time to photograph tulips now while they are blooming. It's a long weekend in Belgium and in neighbor countries and the weather is nice. A good place to go is Keukenhof in Netherlands, not far from Hague. Thousands of tulips of all different sorts and colors, and many other flowers.

Trying macro photography

2009-04-28T17:05:00.005+02:00

I've tried macro photography with Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens having +4 lens attached; and with old manual Russian-made Helios-44 lens + cheap Chinese extension ring.

The option with EF 85mm and +4 lens means full electronic control with autofocus.

Cheap extension ring is a piece of metal only, no electronic connection between camera and lens. This is why I used old Helios-44 - because it has manual aperture control.

The result with EF85 is in general good, but chromatic aberrations are strong on contrasty edges (depending on particular scene of course).

Helios-44 resulted much less CA however the transition between area in focus and completely unsharp part isn't very pleasant to my eye. EF85 produces a softer blur.

I must note however that the comparison isn't fair because I tried 2 lens in different conditions. Now as I noticed some interesting point I'll need to find some time to make a real comparison.

Testing CF cards transfer speed with Transcend and Hama card readers

2009-03-03T12:39:00.005+01:00

A few days ago I became a happy owner of new Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera. Thus I decided to buy a larger compact flash card. I wanted 32GB with a good speed. However the price of top-range brand name cards seemed a bit too high so I decided to make a compromise - i.e. to get large capacity and reasonable speed, but not the fastest possible.

I bought Silicon Power 200x card and I got interesting results testing data transfer speed.

I did a basic test on my PC, using USB card reader. My older cards shown on the picture are rated 100x (PQI) and 133x (Transcend). They both demonstrate read speed of about 40 MB/s (reading large file from card to hard drive of my PC). However the card from Silicon Power has only shown 16 MB/s in my initial test with Transcend M5 card reader. I repeated the test few times with the same result. At first I was very disappointed, but when I repeated my tests with Hama card reader I've got the speed of ~44 MB/s from the same card!

The writing speed is approximately the same for Silicon Power and for 133x Transcend and is about 9 MB/s (100x PQI is notably slower).

I paid about 70 Eur for the Silicon Power card while the brand name 266x-300x cards are priced above 150 Eur, so I am very happy now with the saving I got :)

My main surprise is that cheap Hama reader overperformed the Transcend by so much - but only on 32GB card. The tests with 8GB and 2 GB cards didn't show a difference between 2 card readers. FYI Hama reader is a box from blue transparent plastic and called 'Cardreader 19 in 1'. It has partnumber 00055114. I've got one in Germany for 9 or 10 Euro. (The one from Transcend looks nicer - it's a square white glossy box in "Mac-style" but it failed miserably with large card.)

Finding photo models

2009-02-25T18:38:00.004+01:00

There are several ways to find models. Relatives and friends might be easy to access, but they are not necessarily good models. Another possibility is to use special web sites where models and photographers find each other. Make-up artists can be found the same way.

Quite often the same model can be found on different sites at the same time. Sites provide different options and different communication channels to the users.

Probably the most popular in Belgium is http://modellennet.be. Currently it lists more than 2000 models (mostly from Belgium and some from the Netherlands). In Dutch.

Another popular site is http://www.eye-on.net (former photograaf.be). Current list is above 800 models. The site is in Dutch. It is supposed to grow beyond a basic meeting place for photographers and models, but these services are yet to be developed.

Less popular is http://models.handelsgids.be/?zoekenHome/

Speaking about Dutch model the most popular site is http://DutchHeaven.nl

Very popular international site: http://www.modelmayhem.com. It is not so popular in Belgium (only 300 models) as it is in some other countries, but is it a good resource for photographers. The site is in English.

Site popular in Germany: http://www.model-kartei.de. It lists more than 20,000 models, and on top many make-up artists, studios for hire, etc. Although the site is in German it is quite easy to search for models if you learn a few basic words.

Leuven station in twilight

2009-01-19T16:12:00.003+01:00

One more photo of Leuven railway station that I made almost a year ago. This time you could see a large version if you click on picture (and then click "All sizes" above the picture).

Winter photos

2009-01-07T11:38:00.005+01:00

Unusually for Belgium we've got real winter this year - lot's of snow and freezing all week. It was a nice sunny day yesterday so I went out to make a few pictures. This one is made in Heverlee bos:

It was -10 centigrade and I didn't have any issues with the camera at that temperature. However fully charged batteries died extremely quickly - it was showing "battery low" after about 15 minutes of use. Fortunately I have a good habit of always having several charged batteries with me. By the way Canon compatible battery behaved better than original Canon. It was showing "battery low" but kept working, while Canon battery quickly went down.

Data backup

2009-01-05T23:10:00.004+01:00

I was keeping in mind for a long time that I need to improve my data backup strategy. This topic was recently discussed in one of the internet forums I read; and following that discussion I finally made a move :) I should have done that earlier, but luckily I am not too late because I didn't loose any data yet.

Until now I was backing up my RAW files + edited PSD files on 2 recordable DVDs, both stored at home. Personal non-photography data was occasionally copied on another hard drive on the same PC. Although my personal experience with recordable CDs and DVDs is good I've read many times about CDs/DVDs becoming unreadable after several years. Also saving the data on the same PC (even on a separate hard drive) isn't safe at all.

So my new plan is the following:
* Keep making a copy on DVD, but just one copy. That's for RAW + edited PSD files.
* Make 2 copies on 2 external hard drives (different brands). One of them stored off-site (swapped monthly). RAW + PSD + personal non-photography data.
* Keep a copy of most important data in online storage - I've chosen Amazon S3 for reasonable price and good SLA. To keep costs low this will only be used for selected most important RAW files and selected personal data.

Enjoying my new lens

2008-12-17T08:10:00.000+01:00

I am still enjoying my new lens (Canon EF 85mm f1.8 if you don't remember) :)

Another example of a portrait. This time no studio - just sitting in a cafe, one flash bounced from the ceiling, f1.8:

Christmas markets are now opened everywhere around. I visited one in Leuven on Friday. My new lens allows to take pictures at low light handheld with reasonable ISO. This one was taken with f1.8 and ISO250 (with shutter speed of 1/160th).

First reviews of Canon 5D Mk II showing up

2008-12-15T10:11:00.000+01:00

The first hands-on reviews of production units of Canon 5D Mark II started to appear in the internet.

There is one detailed review from Phil Holland

DXO Mark database now includes results for Canon 5D Mark II. It's interesting to see it in comparison with other models. It looks that the new 5D has capabilities very similar to 1Ds Mark III; and it's nice so see that the noise of the new camera isn't any worse comparing to both old 5D and to 1Ds Mark III.

New lens - Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM

2008-12-01T12:45:00.004+01:00

I just made myself a Christmas gift - Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM. I am very glad I did - I tried it in a studio in the same day and I love it! It gives quite sharp picture full open (f 1.8) and it gives absolutely pin sharp one when closed just a little. Also background blur looks very nice with bright spots looking round rather than polygonal. Another nice thing is that autofocus is very fast. Well, I read all that in the reviews I found in the internet before buying this lens, I am just glad I can agree with all statements.

For studio use with my cropped EOS 40D it needs some space; but I bought it having full-frame EOS 5D Mk II in mind... If everything goes well I consider buying one next spring.

This picture was made at f3.5

Photo of my younger son

2008-11-28T14:33:00.002+01:00

Just a photo of my younger son made a few months ago. I was browsing un-processed RAW files when noticed this one...

EOS Discovery days

2008-11-24T17:19:00.003+01:00

Last Friday I went to Canon's "EOS Discovery Days" in Brussels. Thanks to Bert Stephani for sharing an invitation, otherwise I would have missed it.

Canon has shown a lot of their photo equipment: all SLR models, many lenses and printers. It was allowed to try everything, unfortunately only at the counter desk (where light was less than ideal). Contrary to my expectations EOS 5D Mark II was still a pre-production unit, so we were not allowed to try it with our own flash cards... Canon Belgium expects to get new 5D in the beginning of December.

I am planning to buy EF 85 mm f1.8 lens so I tried it and a few other... This is not very meaningful shot made with EF 1.8/85 (in fact I could have more testing opportunities in a specialized photo store...).

The formal part of the event consisted of a few presentations. I've got a bit controversial feeling about the whole event - on one hand it seemed to be aimed at professional photographers i.e. those already familiar with Canon cameras and lenses; on the other hand the presentations were made as if people in the room didn't know about Canon... Anyway, the presentations were nice, particularly the photographs shown :)

Presentations were followed by a workshop by Bert Stephani. I always like when professionals give their practical advice - even if I already know the subject there are always some small things that are very helpful (and that I would hardly think of by myself).

A nice addition to the even was a book EF LENS WORK III available for all guests for free. Not just a catalog of Canon lens, but a lot of detailed information and nice illustrations and use examples.

Blogger blog backup

2008-11-19T19:40:00.002+01:00

I found today that one of the blogs I read regularly was completely screwed up. Hacked or failed - anyway all records and comments were lost. So it made me thinking about backing up my own blog while it isn't too late.

Quick search via google resulted few options, with a free little tool from Codeplex looking like a most complete and easy backup and restore solution.

So far I only used it once for one backup and it worked well. It was very easy to configure; it was fast to make a complete backup of all my posts and comments. I hope I'll never need a restore option but it seems to be equally easy with that tool.

One remark: I still need to make a backup of my blog template myself (manually).

Few quick notes

2008-11-04T12:11:00.002+01:00

Belgian photographer Bert Stephani has published in his blog an invitation to Canon Discovery Days in Anderlecht with free workshop that Bert will conduct. The event will be in Dutch and French.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II starts appearing in the shops. B&H has it listed for $2,699.95 with indication that they expect it in the beginning of December. Checking German portal idealo I found several listings for around 2,200 Euro with camera not being available; but there is one entry for 2,400 Eur and two for 2,500 Eur showing the camera is available from stock. So I hope we will soon see the hands-on reviews and tests of Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

For those living in Leuven - note that the city hall services are moving from the center of the city to the new office next to the railway station. They will be open at new address from the 2nd of December.

Lake Baikal

2008-10-30T20:06:00.004+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous post I visited lake Baikal a couple of weeks ago. Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. It is enlisted in the Unesco World Heritage program.

I was in the region for a short visit only, and I had very little time for photography. I only managed to make a few snapshots but you can find outstanding landscapes of Baikal in the internet.

Being away

2008-10-18T09:13:00.002+02:00

I've been traveling the last few weeks and didn't have time to blog. Last week I was in Siberia, about 6300 kilometers from Brussels. I was lucky having fantastic weather (unusual for this time of the year) - it was warm and sunny, and there were still some red and yellow leaves on the trees... I had little time for photography but I made a few pics - they will follow later, after I will get back to my normal PC.

Sony multimedia player

2008-09-17T15:44:00.007+02:00

I plan to go for a relatively long travel in a couple of weeks and I borrowed Sony nwz-a818 player from a family member. As it has 8GB of memory, and a very nice screen (though small) I though that it would be not a bad idea to put some videos on it, besides mp3 music.

However it appears that it isn't so easy to find what video format is supported by that player, and how to encode to that format.

Sony NWZ-A818 supports MP4 video files
Frame size should be 320x240
DivX and Xdiv are MP4, but normal divx files will not be played by NWZ-A818
An easy and free solution that I found it to use Handbrake tool to convert my video files (and DVDs) to mp4 files compatible with that player
Handbrake can't open many types of source files, so another cost-free option is to use XviD4PSP utility. I like Handbrake better because it's easier to control output quality, whilte Xvid4PSP is a bit tricky.

Remark: Perhaps there are other (better) ways to achieve the same target, but this works fine for me.

Remark: the same applies to Sony NWZ-A816 player.

Step-by-step procedure for Handbrake:

Download and install Handbrake from http://handbrake.fr
Select the source for conversion - a video file or DVD
Select the destination - output MP4 file
In "Encoder" field select Mpeg 4
Leave default "Audio encoder" value at AAC
Type correct values in "Size" i.e. 320 and 240
Click "Video" tab, and select compression quality. For me the results were better by using the "Constant quality" slider - value around 85 works fine.
Click "Audio & Subtitles" tab, and select in "Bitrate" field value 128.
Click "Start" (in the left top corner)
Copy the file from your PC to the player and enjoy :)
If the size of converted file is too high, repeat the procedure above but use lower value in step 7.
If the quality isn't good enough, repeat the procedure above but use higher value in step 7.

Step-by-step procedure for Xvid4PSP:

Download and install Xvid4PSP tool from http://www.winnydows.com
Open your video file (click Open) or your DVD (click DVD, then select correct stream)
Under "Format" select MP4 iPod 5.5G
Under "Video Encoding"select x264 1P 768K Turbo
Under "Video Encoding" click "E" button to edit settings. Dialog window will appear.
In the top right corner select MPEG 4 (next to "Codec")
At the bottom (next to "FourCC" select MP4V)
"Encoding mode": leave 1-Pass Bitrate
"Bitrate" depends on your source. If it's already heavily compressed it's better to put maximum value of 1500. If your source is good quality (e.g. DVD) you could put something like 800.
Click "Rate" tab. Enter the same bit rate value as in item 9 into "Maximum bitrate" field.
Enter the same value as in item 10 into "Bitstream buffer size" field.
You could click OK now, or you can first click "+" to save these settings for future use, then type the name and then click OK.
Open menu item "Video", "Resolution/Aspect..."
Select Output resolution to 320 x 240 and output aspect to 4:3, then click Apply, then OK.
Click Encode to start re-coding, and define the output file name and destination when asked.
Copy the file from your PC to the player and enjoy :)

Canon EOS 5D update

2008-09-08T21:48:00.007+02:00

There were rumors (or, rather speculations) about Canon EOS 5D replacement (aka EOS 5D II, aka EOS 3D, aka EOS 7D) for over a year. It didn't happen. However now, a couple weeks before photokina the rumors activated again, this time supported by some "secret" advertising on Canon US and UK websites. Will it happen this time? Will Canon EOS 5D successor be announced at photokina 2008? We will see - it's not too long to wait now :)

[Update 12-Sep] There are messages that Canon will announce 5D successor on the 17th of September: French magazine "Chasseur d'images" , and a Swedish source

[Update 17-Sep] And today it was announced. Finally!

Photographing in Leuven

2008-09-07T17:17:00.003+02:00

The weather Friday afternoon wasn't good at all - gloomy gray skies and rain. I had to photograph an artist (composer and performer). She was tired, I was tired, and everything was gray and wet - not an ideal scenario. And my radio flash slaves didn't work (I forgotten to switch them off last time and the batteries died). Normally I check everything before the shooting - camera, lenses, batteries, flash cards - but I didn't check the slaves and of course they didn't work. So I had to use only 1 flash on not so long cable...

Nevertheless we spent a few hours and got a satisfactory result.

This is one of several pictures that we selected together:

Neuschwanstein castle

2008-08-24T23:10:00.004+02:00

Last week I came back from my trip to Bavaria (or Bayern). I went with my family so I didn't have too much time for photography and just did a few touristic snaps. We stayed in Schwangau i.e. very close to the famous Neuschwanstein castle:

Sunset is very tricky in the mountains - while it is still not dark, the direct sun disappears quickly when the sun goes behind the mountains. I missed nice low sun on the picture above literally for 5 minutes.

Another finding is that the nicest photos of that castle that I've seen before are all taken from the spots (on the mountain) not accessible by normal tourists.

Apart from photography we really liked the place. Very nice views - mountains, hills, and many lakes; nice weather; and relaxing atmosphere.

My blog and I are alive :)

2008-08-20T17:53:00.001+02:00

I am back from holidays but busy with some urgent things. More meaningful posts due to come soon ;)

Beginners skin retouching tutorial

2008-07-28T18:40:00.002+02:00

I plan to create several photoshop tutorials that will compliment my article about selling photos online.

This is the first tutorial, and it is step by step beginners guide to skin retouching. Other tutorials will appear as time will allow; and they will be published both in this blog and on my website.

The guide assumes that you have photoshop installed on your computer; and that you know at least basic operations with digital files and with photoshop.

Remark: I photograph in RAW format, and I convert RAW files to 16-bit TIFF files which I then process in photoshop. This allows maximum quality, but it is the subject for a separate article (which I plan to publish some day).

Another remark: Screenshots are shown small in this tutorial because of blog formatting limitations. You can click on any picture to see it full-size.

1. Start photoshop. We will be using default screen layout in this tutorial. You can always get back to default layout by selecting menu Window, Workspace, Default Workspace.

Open the file you wish to edit. In this example we can see that the skin isn't ideal (no make-up was applied), and the form of nose might need to be adjusted a little.

2. We will make all retouching in a separate layer. That allows much more flexibility in case anything goes wrong. So first of all we need to create an empty transparent layer. Click the "new layer" icon in the bottom right corner, as shown on the picture:

3. Once you got new layer it will be named Layer 1. It is a good practice to give layers meaningful names - in case of complex editing you might get tens of layers, and giving each of them a meaningful name helps to understand later what have you done.

Double click on layer name for changing it, as indicated on the picture:

4. Then the old name will be highlighted, and you can type the new name

5. That's how layers palette will be shown with the new empty layer created and renamed:

6. There are 3 main tools used for retouching. They are marked on the picture: 1 is healing brush, probably the most useful tool; 2 is Clone Stamp tool and 3 is Eraser Tool (which is helpful to clean some wrong edits; or make an edit subtle).

Let's select the Healing Brush (by clicking on icon marked 1 on the picture)

After you selected the tool, make sure that the Sample mode is set to "Current & Below" as shown on the picture:

7. There are actually several tools under one icon. The default for photoshop is "Spot Healing Brush", but we need "Healing Brush Tool". To select it you need to click the icon in the toolbar and hold the mouse button pressed until the small menu will appear as shown on the picture. Then you need to select >"Healing Brush Tool" from the menu.

After you selected the tool, you need to define it parameters. Right-click anywhere on the picture and you'll see the tool setting dialog as shown on the picture. The main parameter that we will change is the brush size; the other settings should remain as shown here:

8. How healing brush works? It takes samples from the picture - from the place you indicate - and applies those samples elsewhere. When it "applies" the sample, it tries to copy the texture from the original location, but to match the color with the color where the sample is applied.

It is usually a good idea to take samples from the place where color & texture are similar to the place you need to fix. For selecting the source of sample you need to press the Alt button, and click left mouse button while Alt is pressed. The cursor will look like a small target during that operation:

9. Now you can apply the sample. When you release Alt button, the mouse cursor will show circle as large as you defined in step 7. The size of circle indicated how big will be the sample taken and applied. To apply the sample at one spot move mouse to that spot and click left button once:

10. And here the result:

11. I usually prefer to do retouching with the photograph enlarged to 200%.

Bear in mind that you can click-and-move the mouse to fix large or elongated stains.
Sometimes it's better to use Clone Stamp Tool instead of Healing Brush. I will not go too much into details, but basically Clone Stamp copies entire sample to a new location "as-is", without changing any colors or anything. This is useful when you need to adjust the color of the spot; and most of the times I use with opacity 20-40%. Sometimes I use it with even lower opacity when I need to fix glares or skin color inconsistencies.

12. This is the result. I used almost exclusively healing brush here, with just a few touches of clone stamp:

13. You can compare "Before" and "After" by making the Retouche layer invisible/visible. You can do it by clicking a little eye icon next to the layer (number 1 on the picture). If you make background invisible (by clicking on eye icon number 2) you can see how the retouche looks like:

14. Now let's adjust the form of the nose.

First, create a new layer and call is Nose.

Then select the Lasso Tool as marked on the picture, and make the selection around the part that we need to adjust. Allow some margin on the cheek that will fill the space later.

15. Now we need to smooth the edges of selection - either via menu Select, Modify, Feather or by pressing Ctrl-Alt-D on keyboard. Let's use radius 10 in this case.

16. Now select menu Edit, Transform, Warp. You will see the grid as shown on the picture:

17. Click-and-hold the mouse at different points, and move to adjust the form of nose. Watch the points where edited part connects with un-edited nose. It's not so easy to explain in words but it is actually quite simple operation when you try it. Just don't try to perfom too complex form change... Click Enter when done.

18. And this is the result:

Don't forget to save it! Keep in mind that many file formats don't support multiple layers, so it's usually better to save your edits in TIF or PSD file; and only export to JPG after all edits are finished.

Update regarding selling fine-art prints online

2008-07-22T16:10:00.006+02:00

This is an update to my previous post regarding Print On Demand services.

First of all I would like to make a general comment. I am a beginner with print on demand (POD) service, so my notes thus far is about my first impressions and first learnings.

Second thing is for photographers used to sell photos via stock and/or microstock agencies. With stock agencies, photographer's work is over after the picture is available from the agency' website. Selling via POD is very different. With POD artists need to advertise and promote themselves actively. Unlike stock photography, uploading the work and waiting for buyers to come does not work with POD.

RedBubble is Australian company operating worldwide, and having people in many different locations.

In one sentence RedBubble is free, and it is artistic community with commercial possibilities.

Unlike other print on demand (POD) services, RedBubble is completely free. There are no "basic" and "premium" accounts - all accounts are at the same level, and any member can upload and sell as many pictures as he or she wants. There is no entry inspection - any member can upload any images that are in line with terms of service.

RedBubble is an artistic community place, not an art store. That sounds similar to DeviantArt, but in fact RedBubble feels completely different. Members can share their art works (photographs, drawings or paintings) and they can choose whether the work is for sale or not. Another option is to share/sell t-shirt designs. Members can comment each other work, can mark any work as their favorite, and can add other members to a watch list.

Selling art work is an option, and it's up to the artist to define the margin on top of base RedBubble price. Art pictures can be ordered as post-cards, as unframed prints, as laminated prints, or as framed prints (with several framing options). It is important to know that the artists have to promote their work by themselves. I am not sure how much marketing RedBubble is doing, but if you want your art work to be purchased on RedBubble you need to advertise it yourself.

It's worth to note that RedBubble has very quite simple and logical interface.

There are ways to combine images in groups for promotion, or to promote individual pictures. These are a few examples:

Twilight pictures:

Beautiful Belgium:

Imagekind is another POD service. It focuses on high quality photo and art prints (no t-shirts). It has many more framing options comparing with RedBubble - many more types of paper, more types and colors of frames, different matting and glazing options.

All work uploaded to Imagekind is for sale. There is community at Imagekind but it's hard to say that it is community driven. Similarly to RedBubble artits can put other artists in favorites list; and can comment the work of each other. However forum is completely separated from the main site.

Artists can register at Imagekind for free, but free accounts are very limited. Artist can upload maximum 24 images with free account; and they all have to be in one gallery. The number of keywords is limited by 10 per image, what significantly reduces sale opportunities.

Artists can upgrade to Pro ($7.99/mo.) or to Platinum ($11.99/mo.) level, that offer unlimited number of uploads. Uploads can be placed in various galleries; much higher number of tags per image is allowed (50 and 100 corresponsingly) and there are some other benefits.

In my option free account allows to get the feeling about the site, it interface and about other artists, but artists would have to upgrade to paid account for any serious commercial activity. Still, promotion of your art is pretty much in your own hands.

Similarly to RedBubble there is no moderation of uploaded images at Imagekind.

Imagekind has very clean, simple and logical interface.

Combining images in groups doesn't make sense with small gallery and with number of tag limited by 10, so I can't test it. Promoting individual images outside of Imagekind is possible, similarly to RedBubble:

artistrising.com is a division of art.com that focuses on POD from un-known artists. It is much smaller and younger than any of the above services.

Out of 3 services, artistrising has the most complex interface that isn't easy to understand for novice users. Also, the site is the slowest for me.

Artists can register for free at artistrising. Free account allows up to 50 images to be uploaded, that can be placed in up to 50 collections. Premium account is $50 /year and it allows up to 2000 images to be uploaded (and categorized in up to 50 collections).

Another difference between two accounts is that Premium level allows Fine Art prints while free account only allows Poster prints to be set up. Fine Art is meant for large size high quality pictures; and setup of every single picture will cost artist some money (variable fee).

Unlike the other two services, artistrising has to review and approve all submitted images before they will be available for sale. In theory it should make the site more attractive to the buyers and prevent crap from appearing at the website. However, if promotion will still be made by the artists themselves, the overall quality of site content will not make much difference for buyers (i.e. if they will come from elsewhere to see specific artist/specific work).

There is forum at artistrising, and similarly to the other two sites the artists can comment each other work; and can add other artists to their Favorites list.

Twilight photos

2008-07-21T23:36:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I went to the fields near Diest to make some twilight landscape pictures. I found the highway lamp rather interesting (and I am not so happy with my landscape pictures by the way).

Kasteel van Perk - one more photo

2008-07-18T23:55:00.003+02:00

One more picture of Kasteel van Perk.

This is pseudo-HDR made from single RAW file.

Kasteel van Horst

2008-07-15T22:27:00.003+02:00

Yesterday evening we went to kasteel van Horst for a walk. Our younger son was sleeping too long in the day and wouldn't go to bed early in the evening, so we decided to get to Horst.

I just wanted to get a few sunset pics, and hopefully play a little with remote flashes. Well, the latter wasn't really possible with very active toddler, but I managed to get a few simple pics. This one is HDR from 2 exposures. I am not completely satisfied with the result, particularly at full size but it's not too bad.

Kasteel van Perk @ sunset

2008-07-08T23:40:00.005+02:00

Kasteel van Perk located in Steenokkeerzel. Our friends had a party there last Saturday.

The castle is also known as Castle de Ribaucourt and is apparently considered as one of the most beautiful of the Brussels area (I didn't know that).

I didn't have much time for walking around and photographing it, but I will indeed add it to my list of future visits.

Blog template change

2008-07-04T19:17:00.004+02:00

Today I decided to change my blog template. I like simple things, but the previous template didn't hold the visual elements together. I checked default Blogger templates but didn't like any of them too much. I spent some time looking for templates in the Internet, and I found one that I liked. It appeared to be designed the way that didn't assume customization. Unfortunately I wasted a few hours of my time trying to modify it before I gave up.

Finally I picked one of Blogger native templates - although I didn't like the default look it's not so difficult to adjust it.

There are still some adjustments to be made, I will finish them soon.

YongNuo wireless flash trigger

2008-07-02T11:10:00.001+02:00

I am one of numerous fans of strobist.

I use fill-in flash outdoors quite often, on-camera or on extension cord. However I wanted more freedom and flexibility (as I wanted to start doing more advanced things) so I started considering wireless (radio) triggers.

If you read my blog regularly you must have noticed that I am in favor of low-cost solutions when they provide good quality results. So triggers like Pocket Wizards or other brand name were out of question for me. Reading Strobist and flickr forums I found that Cactus V2s is a very reasonable option. So that was my starting point.

Checking eBay for Cactus I found similar, but slightly different triggers from YongNuo. According to flickr discussion it's slightly improved version of Cactus from another supplier. The case for receiver is exactly the same for both, and both use the name PT-04. Transmitter seems to be slightly different. I am not sure whether the circuit of YongNuo is really better than Cactus but most important is that it uses more convenient batteries. Instead of rather expensive batteries in Cactus, the YongNuo device uses 12V A23 battery in transmitter (which is $1-2) and 2x AAA batteries in receiver.

I ordered a set from Hong Kong eBay seller John Camera Store (ebay id copijohn). It took less than a week for parcel to arrive from Hong Kong.

You can see on the picture above how the transmitter and receiver look like. They feel plastic and not very sturdy, but in fact they aren't too bad. When I tried using them, they worked flawlessly.

Remark: I've read in many forums about Cactus triggers missing the shot. So far I have only made a few quick tests with YongNuo so I don't know how will it behave in real shoot and at longer distance. But with my limited tests I noticed that I need to insert the transmitter in camera hotshoe quite firmly, otherwise it will not work. Once it is sitting well in place I didn't see any missed shots.

There is one problem I found that is associated with this purchase. However the problem isn't with the trigger but with my Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash.

Traditional/old/non-TTL flash units use one central contact on the hot shoe for triggering the light. Modern electronic TTL flashes have several additional contacts - different for different brands (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony/Minolta). Most modern flashes can still be triggered by central contact while in manual mode. This is used by universal third-party external triggers.

Apparently Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash only triggers from central contact while in manual slave mode (at least the Canon version). In any other mode it needs all hot-shoe contacts to be connected to Canon camera. In general this is not a big problem, as I still can manually switch the light output in this mode. It is a bit annoying that AF assist LED is constantly blinking in that mode, but this isn't really critical.

However the bug (or "feature") I found is that the unit continuously generates multiple flashes in this mode as long as central contact is connected and charged capacity allows. It means that in full power I get just one flash (because recycle time is longer than the central contact is triggered), but at lower power (1/2, 1/4, etc) I am getting 2-3-4 flashes instead of 1.

Searching in the internet I found few other people complained about the same issue. Writing to Sigma technical support in the UK and in Japan didn't give any result ("thanks for your email, but we don't know about that").

There is one idea how to solve the issue - the "Test" button generates only one single flash, so soldering external sync port to "Test" button contacts could be the solution. I haven't tried it yet because it doesn't seem to work well. I found one person who tried that with a cheaper (but very similar) Sigma EF-500 DG St and he told me there is some delay in flash triggering via "Test" button, so it is only possible to use with with shutter speeds like 1/30-1/40.

Adding external sync: discussion in POTN forum.
And, there was a discussion on photocamel forum about multiple flashes.

Another idea I have is to try using intermediate trigger between the radio one and the flash, that will connect the central contact for a very short time, regardless how long is it connected on radio trigger. I am not sure it will work well because if it will be too short the flash might not trigger reliably, while if it's not short enough, the flash will still produce several flashes. Anyway, I am going to give it a try in a few weeks. (My friend has little devices at his disposal that are very suitable for this purpose, so why not trying it?)

For the time being I will only use my Sigma with radio trigger in full-power; or I will use my other strobes - I have two old thyristor units that I bought on a flea market.

External battery for my flash

2008-07-01T15:00:00.000+02:00

I have been thinking about an external battery for my flash for quite a while. My main flash (Sigma F-500 DG Super) doesn't have a high-voltage power connection, and anyway high-voltage batteries are rather pricey for my not so often use... So I haven't done anything with that until I found the post on shutterbug.net last week.

In the nutshell that post explains that using external low-voltage low-cost high-capacity sealed lead-acid battery (6V 4-4.5Ah) helps to reduce re-cycle time significantly for many flash models. While I didn't see such batteries in the shops in my neighborhood there were plenty available via ebay, with the price around 10 Eur (plus delivery). So I ordered my battery last week.

Incidentally there was a post on Strobist on the same subject just the very next day after I ordered my battery. While the main post was about high-voltage batteries, the reader's comments discussed low-voltage option as well, and there was reference to the same shutterbug post made in the comments.

Now about my own results:

I have bought 6V 4.5Ah lead-acid battery (about 20 Eur including delivery).

It charges my Sigma EF-500 DG Super for ~1.5 sec at full power (vs ~6 sec from AA batteries).
My old manual thyristor National flash (pe-3066g) also charges much faster than before (around 3.5 sec).
However my Sunpak 4000AF isn't any faster - I suppose it has a current limitation circuit, so it still takes about 9 seconds to charge...

I bought a little bag for 3 Eur that just perfectly matches the size of the battery; and I spent 2 Eur for the contacts in car accessories shop. I found some wires at home, so I soldered the contacts to the wires. Also I spent about 20 Eur for charger, but any AC/DC transformer or motorcycle charger that can produce 6.5 V 1.5A current will do the work.

About my posts

2008-06-30T22:38:00.002+02:00

While I am blog reader for several years, I started blogging just a few months ago. One thing I noticed about myself is that most of my blogs require some preparation - process/post some photos, find some links to other sites or forums, etc. As I am constantly running short of time I tend to postpone writing in my blog, even when I know what I want to say.

Another thing is that sometimes I don't have anything worth sharing for several days; but sometimes I am getting to more than one post a day.

So taking that all into account I will start using the technique widely used by more experienced bloggers - I will start a draft post when I just get something in my mind that is worth sharing, and I will complete my drafts as time allows. This should help to spread my posts in time more evenly.

P.S. The readers of this blog will not see any incomplete drafts until I finalize them and "publish".

Lighthouse in Marken

2008-06-23T21:06:00.003+02:00

Last Friday I managed to get to Marken in North Holland. Marken is a former island now connected to the mainland by a causeway. Its main attraction is the traditional Dutch houses in this little town but I was interested to see the lighthouse. It is called Paard van Marken and it looks very nice.

Cars aren't allowed there, so it's about 2km walk (or bicycle ride) from the car parking. I was there around 10 pm, right after the sun went behind horizon. The sky was still painted in nice sunset pink hues, but unfortunately it was right behind me when I photographed the lighthouse. So for the next time I need to get there before sunset. That way I will also get some time to visit the village of Marken :)

The weather was windy, so it wasn't very easy to avoid camera shake despite the tripod. Simple workaround helped though - I holded my jacket just like wings, so most pictures came out sharp.

The lighthouse is automated and people living in the house attached to the lighthouse aren't lighthouse keepers! They maintain the website www.thijsvandetoren.nl (check "fotos").

Selling fine art photo prints online

2008-06-20T14:34:00.004+02:00

I keep learning new things and exploring new opportunities. Selling prints via print-on-demand service is one thing in my "to try" list. I don't give it a high priority because my main focus is stock photography and I don't have that many pictures that would fit as "fine art", but it is still something I would like to try.

A few months ago I checked the possibilities and I found not too many options. DeviantArt provides on-demand service, but it's much more a social network than print service. RedBubble is one of such places but I found it was criticized quite a lot (frankly speaking I can't recall the details now, but the registration process doesn't work there anyway). One site that I liked was imagekind - it has a nice interface and nice team. The site is relatively new and doesn't seem to generate much sales. Also, I've got an impression (possibly wrong) that it is making more money from and putting more efforts towards payed contributor accounts, rather than focusing on external art buyers. I did sign for a free account and uploaded a few photos - but I didn't give it an attention since then. Apparently the interface was significantly updated a week ago. Free account implies many limitations - the gallery size is limited to 24 pictures; and the number of keywords (or tags) is limited to only 10 per picture. I am not sure if it is really worth to upgrade to a paid account if there are not that many external buyers.... Perhaps I will give it a try for a couple of months, but I think I need to extend my fine-art portfolio first.

Another print-on-demand site art.com generates more sales but it doesn't keep the doors open for the artists from street. However it has a daughter site artistrising.com that is open for everyone. It has fewer limitations for free account comparing with imagekind (50 pictures vs 24, and more keywords), and the images submitted to the gallery need to pass through the approval process (which is rather good sign - preventing the site from being flooded with garbage means better focus on buyers). I have just registered with artistrising but my first submitted pictures are awaiting approval.

From what I have read in various forums, fine-art print-on-demand business doesn't seem to be very successful for most contributors so far. However this is still very young business model and I think it does have a chance to develop.

Power of photoshop

2008-06-14T23:08:00.002+02:00

Looking at digital art works I often wonder how they were made. Some artists give an idea about their work process. When I saw pictures made by Erica Leighton I liked many of them.

I just picked one relatively simple example of her work. Here are 3 photos she used as a source. Before looking further, what do you think can be done with these 3 pictures? -

These pictures are stock photos, clicking on them you will get on corresponding stock agency pages.

That's the work of Erica based on the above 3 photos:

I don't know Erica so I can only guess how she works... I suppose she first has a picture in her mind and then looks for appropriate source photos. Even with this simple example (I mean technically it's not too difficult) it looks very impressive what can be achieved with very average source material.

another interesting blog

2008-06-07T00:30:00.003+02:00

I've been busy all week with various personal/family things and my mind stayed too far from my blog. So I will keep it very short for this time - I just want share one more interesting photography blog that I recently discovered: John Paul Caponigro blog.

Apart from that, are you familiar with Strobist? I found that video quite interesting:

Boeing 747 crash in Brussels airport

2008-05-29T22:43:00.002+02:00

Cargo airplane Boeing 747 operated by Kalitta Air crashed in Brussels on the 25th of May. Luckily without victims and without severe damages other than the plane itself.

The picture below was taken on the 27th of May, 2 days after the crash. I was passing by that area in late afternoon and noticed that the broken plane is still there. Apparently pumping the fuel from the plane was still in progress at that time (finished on the 28th), so they were unable to start removing the plane until it was done. Quite a few spectators were coming to see/photograph the plane.

Photography related videos

2008-05-27T13:51:00.008+02:00

I've been watching quite a few photography related videos lately. Some of them interesting to watch, some are useful for work, so here is a quick summary of what I've discovered recently.

Interesting interviews with photographers can be found on WorldPressPhoto web site. First, click on 2008, and then click on one of the icons. If you click the picture of president Putin you will see the interview with Platon about how he has made his award winning portrait of the Person of the Year 2007.

Google has a series on YouTube called "Authors@Google". They have recently posted a video of famous American photographer Joe McNally speaking to Google employees in their headquarters (thanks for Strobist for posting about that in his blog)

Just in case it doesn't play you can go via the link

Useful photoshop tutorials (videos) can be found on Layers magazine website.

Digital Photography School has recently posted a selection of 24 photography podcasts that will inspire you.

Belgian fine-art nude photographer Pascal Baetens is actively involved with fine-art tv project since last year. Fine-art tv features weekly programs devoted to photo artists from around the world. Past issues are viewable too.

Another Belgian photographer Bert Stephani runs interesting blog. Not so many videos but very many photos. Besides good pictures and interesting comments on his website, Bert has recently started running 'The decisive photographer' workshop. I did not attend it myself, but the review on Bert's blog look interesting - so it's worth to consider attending if Bert will continue running it.

Park of UZ Pelenberg hospital

2008-05-22T23:52:00.003+02:00

Apparently the park of UZ Pelenberg is very nice. UZ Pelenberg is a division of UZ Gasthausberg hospital on Leiven. It is located not far from Leuven and apparently has a very nice park.

I was there yesterday afternoon (for family reasons). Although bright sun isn't my favorite lighting for landscape photography, but with many old trees around it looks nice even that way. Just my small G9, no polarizer (unfortunately)...

TinEye - image search service

2008-05-19T22:14:00.004+02:00

TinEye opened their service as public beta a few days ago. This is very long waited service that will be very useful for photographers.

Basically it searches the a picture in the internet, but the trick is that it looks for image itself, not text description or file name. Alterations of the image can be found too. When text, logos or other pictures are added on top of my picture, TinEye is still capable to find it. When I am looking for a logo, TinEye will find all pictures where logo is clearly visible.

This is one of my best selling stock pictures:

TinEye was able to find a heavily altered version:

and even a version with ad picture and text added on top:

This is great tool for authors to find their pictures in use and also to trace copyright violations. I am already impressed with the result - although the number of images that the system has indexed so far is quite low and very many pictures can not be found yet.

The service isn't opened publicly - you need to be registered to use it. In order to get registered you either need to get an invitation from them; or apply at their home page (they accepted my request in the same day).

Leuven station in the rain

2008-05-17T17:19:00.003+02:00

It's gray and rainy day today after two weeks of sun. It reminded me about the picture of Leuven station I made last winter...

I like railway stations. People waiting, people coming and leaving, trains coming and traing passing by... Leuven is my of my favorite stations (it looks nice and it's not far from my house) so don't get surprised if you will see it again :)

Blond girl from an uncomon angle

2008-05-15T10:20:00.005+02:00

I took this photo 1.5 years ago. Something attracts me in this picture, and I am not sure what. Perhaps the angle that is not so common, or may be something else...
You can see here two versions of the same picture (click to enlarge):

The one of the left is the original edit I made 1.5 years ago. The one on the right was re-worked recently. Not only I decided that it will work better after the turn, but I made the color warmer and used some dodging and burning. I tried not to overdo with the editing (which is my habit with most of my photos). I like the new version better than the original one - and what about you?

Strobist lighting

2008-05-14T20:19:00.005+02:00

I often use flash for outdoor photography under daylight, but I still need to practice "strobist" style lighting in the dusk.

One particular setup I was thinking about is to repeat Leuven station photo with flash-lit figure of a commuter. I am not fully satisfied with the result I got but I think it's decent for the first attempt.

It was made a couple of months ago but I din't have a combination of free time and good weather to try to make it better.

Photographing toddlers

2008-05-13T21:38:00.011+02:00

Have you tried photographing toddlers? Little children are cute, they are very natural and they make so many interesting poses and impressions... but if you tried capturing them you know how difficult it is!

First, child might be afraid of you. He will be shy, turn away and may be even run away from you. If it's your child, or your relatives or close friends this will not be a problem of course...

But they move very fast! Faster than you can zoom and frame the picture, and very often faster than autofocus of your camera. This makes photographing them really tricky. If you aren't used to that you will need to try again and again... and then child will get tired and bored.

If child isn't afraid of photographer; and if child isn't moving very fast; and if child isn't asleep it means that child is trying to grab your camera :) Or at least leave his fingerprints on your lens :)

There is no one magic solution to these issues, but there are a few basic things that can help:

If child doesn't know you, take some time without camera for child to get used to you;
To keep child at one place try to use a toy, or place on a chair or on rocking-horse;
To detract child from you/camera ask somebody else to call the child or to play with him.

Remark: pictures above are snapshots of my son. They aren't perfect but they illustrate both the issues and possible solutions.

Remark 2: I used the words 'he' and 'him' not just meaning boys. Using male pronouns is the norm of English when speaking about unknown person (although politicians and managers often say 'him or her' these days trying to please everybody)

Remark 3: Apologies for being pedantic and boring :)

Stockxpert conference in Moscow

2008-05-05T13:15:00.005+02:00

http://www.stockxpert.com/events/moscow/en/index.html

This is just a short note about the event. The full article is published in Microstock Diaries.

Stockxpert conference was attended by ~150 Russian-speaking visitors from Russia and other countries (I noticed people from Estonia and from Ukraine, but there might have been others).

Besides two main invited guests – Ron Chapple and Lev Dolgachov – Jupiter’s own team included Patty Vargas (Senior Director of content in Jupiter), Steve Kapsinow (community Xpert in SPX), Stockxpert founder Peter Hamza and a few other people.

Left to right: Lev, Steve and Ron

Ron and Lev remained the main speakers through most of the day. In the beginning, Ron was speaking about ‘Creativity & Business’.

Ron's presentation was covering various topics. Ron was speaking about growing stock market and new markets created by new technologies. On photography side Ron was discussing that clients want new ideas and that copying successful pictures isn't a good idea.

Then Ron shared his 5 ideas for success in stock photography business.

After Ron's presentation a quick slide-show of his own favorite pictures was shown and then Ron has answered several questions about photography, about working with model and about model releases.

The day continued with Lev's presentation in Russian. Lev has shared his perspective on microstock business and it's near future. Lev elaborated on constantly changing environment that forces every stock photographer to keep up with the pace. One of his other focus points was to do what you like and not force yourself doing something you aren't interested.

The lunch was followed by Ron and Lev workshops. Ron has shown how to use natural light, and Lev was speaking about studio work.

Ron showing how to work with model using natural light

At the end of the official part, Jupiter and Stockexpert perspective was shared and some questions answered.

You can find more details (including all main points from Ron's and from Lev's speeches and main topics covered by Jupiter) in the full article in Microstock Diaries.

I enjoyed the day, and I saw that most other participants enjoyed it too. It seems that Jupiter/SXP team was also satisfied with the outcome. One item that was particularly interesting for me was too see that Jupiter looks at SXP as integral part of greater corporation and is already trying to get it to the right place – something we don’t see happening with Getty/iStock neither with Corbis/Snapvillage.

Peter Hamza - stockxpert founder

Photo exhibitions in Belgium (continued)

2008-05-04T23:08:00.002+02:00

follow-up to my previous post

This weekend I visited a small photo club exhibition in Leuven and annual international photo festival in Knokke-Heist.

Exhibition in Leuven is very small - just one room. It seems to be typical for photography club shows that the level of pictures is very un-even. There are some nice photos and some so-so.

The festival in Knokke-Heist is spread over several locations. The cultural center of Knokke hosts Frans Lanting 'Life' project, and a selection of World Press Photo pictures. Laguna Hall hosts Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition, and International photo competition gallery. (I mention only main expositions, there are few more shows in the city). Again, as the last year, several good photographs from Vietnam catched my eye. Don't get me wrong, there are good pictures from different countries, but it seems Vietnam is the only one showing several good photographs at once. I don't know why - Vietnam isn't so wellknown by it's photographers. Perhaps fotofestival in Knokke is the only place outside their country they managed to know so far...

2008-04-28T08:38:00.008+02:00

The Stockxpert conference is over and I will write a report about it in a few days.

The day after the conference we went around Moscow with Ron Chapple. Ron is a very successfull stock photographer. He has about 35 years of photography experience, he is doing stock photography for over 20 years, and doing very well on microstock with 14 months experience so far.

It was a great day. We started early to catch the good light and to avoid too many tourists. As I am a lazy person I would for sure not start so early on my own. I would have missed the opportunity of making pictures in wonderful early morning light that we got. The picture above is St. Basil Cathedral - and the Red Square is just on the opposite side of the Cathedral.

The picture below shows Ron in front of the former KGB building.

As we started at 6 am and stayed on our feet up until 3 pm we got tired and decided to stop. That allowed me to catch one of the workshops that was organized by Russian photographers. They used the opportunity of many Stockxpert contributors being in Moscow for the weekend and organized few events on Sunday - and I catched the last one. The workshop was about studio light and work with model. It was led by photographer Vlad Gansovsky and one of his models. Vlad is Russian nude and stock photographer (http://vladgans.ru, http://www.surart.ru, http://www.stockxpert.com/browse.phtml?f=profile&l=najin). Workshop was very interactive, and I learned quite a bit (and I truly enjoyed it).

2008-04-24T22:15:00.007+02:00

After economical decline in Russia in the end of 1980's and almost complete collapse in the beginning of 1990's, economy started to grow at the end of XX's century and is growing very rapidly in the last few years. There are still huge social problems, corruption and there is still a long way to go, but things are moving fast.

Part of the growth resulted many more private and business cars on the streets. Moscow can't cope with the current number of cars and tremendous efforts are made for a major road reconstruction in Moscow. As part of this efforts a new bridge across Moscow riverhas been recently constructed:

There are more and more modern office and appartment buildings (some of them skyscrapers) built everywhere in Moscow, between boring grey blocks from the previous decades.

Every time I come to Moscow I see it changed significantly.

Stockxpert contributor conference

2008-04-21T19:58:00.004+02:00

Stockxpert agency organizes contributor conference this Saturday in Moscow, Russia. I will be attending it and I will share my experience in this blog.

I am particularly interested to talk to Ron Chapple who is long time professional photographer, veteran of traditional photo stock and also successful in microstock. The other items of the agenda also look interesting.

iStock was the first microstock agency that started organizing events for it's contributors on a regular basis - but iStock is community driven so it was quite natural move. The next was LuckyOliver but that startup company didn't succeed and is being closed down now. Other agencies didn't organize anything similar so far, so we can consider Stockxpert being the second (although it is doing it very different comparing with iStock).

Photo exhibitions in Belgium

2008-04-17T15:25:00.005+02:00

A few days ago I received an invitation to a photo exhibition in Leuven:

The club Foto Gamma Leuven will have an exhibition at Diestevest 39 te 3000 Leuven (close to the station) on 26-27 April and on 1-4th of May (open 10:00-18:00).

http://www.fotogamma.be/

International annual photo festival in Knokke-Heist is running from March and till the 1st of June. The main guest this year is Dutch photographer Frans Lanting (http://www.lanting.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Lanting)

Details at http://www.fotofestival.be

Another event possibly interesting for photographers will be 2008 Steam Festival in Maldegem on the 3rd and 4th of May. Maldegem is not far from Gent and from Knokke, so it's possible to combine a visit to steam festival with the visit to Knokke photo festival. There will be 2 guest steam engines in Maldegem and one local on the show. Besides that there is interesting program including steam train rides, model railways, etc.

More details and pictures at http://www.stoomcentrum.be/EN/indexEN.html

Canon G9 - first impression

2008-04-11T14:27:00.012+02:00

While my EOS 40D was in repair I have purchased Canon G9 camera. I had a few reasons for that - having some backup for my SLR, but also having a compact camera that is easier to carry with me in case I don't have SLR; and also having a camera that other family members can easily use.

In case you don't know, Canon G9 is not a usual compact camera. It has a number of features that make it interesting for serious use: good quality pictures, RAW format, full manual control, image stabilization, hot shoe for external flash.

I haven't used it intensively, neither I run a formal test - this is why I titled this post "first impression".

Some reviews of G9 that I have read position that camera similarly to range-finder in comparison with SLR (and by that they distinguish it from cheapy plastic full-auto ones). I must admit that it doesn't really feel as a rangefinder. In fact it feels similarly to full-auto models. However controls and functionality do make different impression indeed.

RAW format
Although RAW files from G9 have the same CR2 extension as from Canon DSLR cameras, Canon Digital Photo Professional software doesn't work with the files from G9. The only native Canon software that works with G9 RAW files is 'RAW Image Task' that is called via Zoom Browser EX.

I use different workflow anyway, but just need to warn you: 'RAW Image Task' enforces some sharpening and some noise reduction even when you set corresponding parameters to 0. In case you use 3rd party RAW converter such as Adobe Camera RAW there is no problem (and you can clearly see the difference).

I am not sure about the older versions of Adobe Camera RAW, but version 4.4 works with G9 RAW files without any issues.

Image quality
The optics is quite good - no visible vignetting and quite sharp picture with good resolution. Cityscape picture with tiny aerials shows good detail through the whole frame.

In some situation barrel distortion is obvious, but it can be corrected in post-processing.

Chromatic aberration / purple fringing is reasonable, and can be fixed in RAW converter or photoshop when it shows up.

G9 image looks much noisier comparing with EOS 40D or even EOS 350D, and I don't mean color noise. I mean the picture is less smooth, it resembles EOS picture when sharpening is applied. When you enrlage G9 picture to 400% or 500% you can see that color transition between pixels isn't very smooth even on single-color surface.

placeholder - to be replaced with sample picture

Depending on your requirements this effect might be not too important for you. It can be reduced in post-processing; and also down-scaling the picture to 6 megapixel can reduce the effect a lot. Microstock agencies that are extremely picky about the quality of pictures accepted my test shots (filtered and downsized to 6 MPx).

Functionality/features

Full manual control - you can set ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
Aperture priority and shutter speed priority - similarly to DSLR you can set it manually, and you can set the camera to underexpose or to overexpose in this mode
External flash - just same as with DSLR can operate in ETTL mode or in manual mode
Histogram - can be seen after the shot is made, but also can be seen before releasing the shutter. That helps to evaluate the right exposure.
Autofocus works quite well, although you can not select the exact point other than central one.
Image stabilisation works well. A good portion of my 1/13th second pictures taken handheld appeared sharp afterwards (indeed shorter exposure means higher per cent of sharp pictures).
Macro mode works well, but you can only take the lens very close to object in wide-angle mode. Still quite nice, not possible on DSLR without special macro lens.
Battery life is quite long. Even when battery indicator flashes at low level, quite a few shots can still be made.

Conclusion

There are no miracles - Canon G9 has quite obvious limitations and the quality of images is below DSLR. Still, G9 is very nice camera with good features capable of producing decent quality pictures.

Canon RAW files and in-camera settings - continued

2008-04-02T10:44:00.002+02:00

This is a follow up to the story about in-camera setting affecting RAW files for Canon EOS 350D.

I have made a quick test on my EOS 40D and found no difference in the RAW files that were photographed with different sharpening setting on the camera (called "Styles" on that camera).

I have placed camera on tripod, and made 2 shots with identical lighting and identical aperture/exposure/ISO settings; with the only difference being the sharpness level. I photographed RAW+JPEG. While I can clearly see a difference between 2 JPEG files, the 2 RAW files look virtually identical.

I would be interested to know about other cameras. RAW format is indeed supposed to b e independent from in-camera processing settings but it is not the case for EOS 350D. I wonder if there are other cameras having this issue.

2008-03-28T20:35:00.002+01:00

My EOS 40D is back from repair. Although it took longer than expected it was still very reasonable (<2 weeks including long 4-days Easter weekend) and I am still quite pleased with Canon service center in Germany. They did repair under warranty (i.e. for free) and besides the repair upgraded the firmware.

Meanwhile I was testing my new Canon G9 that I purchased as a backup to SLR plus macro plus camera suitable for family members.

Besides that I am going to test whether in-camera settings affect RAW files from EOS 40D (see the story in the previous post).

So the test, and my impressions about G9 to come out soon. Sorry I am too tired due to some family emergency (that seems to be getting better now).

Canon RAW files and in-camera settings

2008-03-26T23:19:00.004+01:00

A friend of mine has discovered insteresting thing about RAW files from his Canon EOS 350D.

Apparently in-camera settings do affect RAW file unlike common belief. Camera mounted on tripod, manual settings, and 2 pictures made - one with sharpening set to zero in camera; and another with medium sharpening. When both files are processed by RAW converter (sharpening in converter set to zero) there is a very clear difference:

(click to see full-size)

The same effect was experienced with several different RAW converters. However original Canon converter allows to remove sharpening from the second picture (while setting sharpening to zero in non-Canon converters still keeps it)

Somebody has told me it's not the case with RAW files from EOS 40D - I will indeed test it after I will get the camera from repair.

Interesting that the situation with RAW files from Canon G9 is almost the opposite. There is no way to change sharpening settings in camera, but I compared RAW processing by Canon and by Adobe converters. Picture converted by Canon converter does have sharpening and noise reduction applied even when parameters set to 0; but converting with Adobe Camera RAW it's not the case - zero sharp level really means no sharpening.

Remark: When talking about EOS 350D and G9 I am talking about different RAW converters. EOS350D processed by Canon Digital Photo Pro (DPP) while G9 processed by Canon RAW Task (via Zoom Browser). I don't know if RAW processing engine is the same of different for these 2 applications.... Canon DPP doesn't recognize CR2 files from G9 (even the latest upgrade).

2008-03-25T21:15:00.000+01:00

My EOS 40D is still at Canon. Long Easter weekend contributed to the delay. They expect to have it ready tomorrow.

Meanwhile I've got Canon G9 as a second camera to serve as a backup, and a compact that I plan to have more often with me thatn the SLR. Also a tool suitable for other family members.

And the weather is playing jokes. Just when I expected spring (and when many trees have already blossomed) there was so much snow in Belgium... it wasn't pleasant at all with temperature above zero and dark grey skies. The snow is already over but it's still gloomy. Hope will get better before the weekend.

2008-03-17T13:56:00.002+01:00

My camera suddenly broke last weekend (EOS40D). Still switches on, but nothing on LCD screen, controls half not working etc... I didn't drop it, didn't have any water or anything - it just happened one of the times I was taking the camera from the bag.

Took it to Canon service in Germany today. It's actually the first time I have to use Canon service. My initial impression is very positive, and they said the repair takes normally about 3 days. I really hope it will work that way because I have many plans for the next few weeks.

The camera is under warranty so I hope they will not charge me for the repair...

2008-03-11T14:03:00.002+01:00

I've got a new computer. As I am doing many other things besides photo processing, and computer is shared with my family members I am using PC. I must admit that 3 GB of RAM and Intel Quad 6600 CPU make a big difference in photo processing. Adobe Lightroom works on that PC just fast.

The PC I used until now is AMD Athlon based with 1.7 GB RAM and I have it for about 3 years.

2008-03-06T22:13:00.002+01:00

I am busy reading 'The moment it clicks' - a new book largely commented/referred in photography forums.

And just a few days earlier I received the POTN photography book (book published by members of Canon digital photography forum, using blurb.com service).

More about both to come later.

2008-03-01T20:42:00.006+01:00

Another photo of Leuven train station. It was raining, but the sky was still nice blue after sunset (or may be during sunset as it's not easy to say with completely overcast sky). Rain wasn't heavy and stopped while I was taking photos.

2008-02-27T13:45:00.003+01:00

I finally sold my old camera. My Canon EOS 350D was collecting dust on the shelf since last September (when I bought 40D). I thought I might need a backup camera, but I didn't use it a single time. Finally I decided to let it go. I put it on eBay and to my surprise it went out the same day (with "buy it now" option).

I don't think I need an SLR as backup at this moment (and in case my photographing regime will change I would go for another 40D). However I am thinking about having some backup, that would also be suitable for use by other family members. Some compact automatic camera... but then I am thinking whether to go just for some camera (i.e. not too expensive) or to go for a powerful compact like Canon G9 (but that one is rather pricey). Not an easy choice...

Picture of Leuven - passage over railway

2008-02-23T15:28:00.002+01:00

Another twilight picture of Leuven:

This is passage over railway, between Brugstraat and Tivolistraat.

Picture of Leuven - Ladeuze parking

2008-02-20T23:28:00.004+01:00

Continue showing pictures of Leuven. This is underground Ladeuze parking, just under the square shown a couple of posts below.

What I like in this picture is a combination of strong symmetry and random chaotic elements.

Evolution of professional photo business

2008-02-18T14:54:00.005+01:00

I have a strange feeling when I read comments of long-time photo professionals about non-professional photographers that harm photo business.

There is so obvious controversity in what they say that it makes me wonder how blind some people are.

What I've heard/read from well-known successful pro photographers is that you should treat your photography as a real business enterprise, and run it as a business company. Diversify; explore opportunities; build and maintain customer base; make conscious business decisions; book keeping; costs; equipment depreciation are all the terms that even self-employed individuals should use.

The same time the same people react purely emotionally to non-professional competition stepping in their area of interest. Of course it's painful. Of course it does hurt the business. But why reacting emotionally and not with facts and proper actions?

Digital photography is the fact of today's life, together with personal computers and internet. These things made photography available to anybody more than ever before. Making decent quality shots is much easier now than in the past; and distributing pictures is extremely easy with the help of modern digital communication.

This is reality of life, and any business decisions in any industry are made based on reality. Yes indeed the grass was greener, the sugar was sweeter, the music was better and the kids were polite 20 or 30 years ago... But this is just emotions, while business operates on facts.

You have a successful business model that used to bring you good and stable money; and you are top-level professional in your area; and common public recognizes you as such as well as the customers.... and then the day comes when you start seeing the amateur mass starting doing the things you are used to do. And they are doing that cheap/free. It is obviously an unpleasant situation. But is it uncommon? No it isn't. There are many examples in history when some activity that was only done by a small group of professionals eventually became a commodity.

Take computer programming. Back in 60x there were few thousand people worldwide who could do that. It was science and magic. They were paid top premium indeed. Today any student can do programming. There are probably more people today who can do programming than car mechanics. Did programmers complain that they aren't highly valued anymore? However today there is still a difference between real good programming and just programming. The profession has changed, but it isn't dead and is not going to be any time soon.

Take writing as a different example. Internet has made virtual publishing accessible to everyone. Many amateur writers started publishing their books in internet; and services like lulu.com appeared that allow self-publishing of paper books. Plus journalists, plus bloggers - huge flow of text went to internet. What impact does it have on writers and on book publishing business? Does it change their business? Of course it does. Did it kill their business? No it didn't and will not.

So, the only thing I am trying to say is the following:
Professional photographers teaching beginners to treat their photography activities as business, need to re-apply their own words to themselves in the new context of changing business environment. Don't complain - it will not help. Don't boycott - it will not help. If something harms your business - act on it. Take it in your business model if you can. Or adapt your business model. Or build a new business model.

Real good photography requires talent, hard work, education and lots of practice. Professional photographers are used to earn money not only from great pictures, but also from some generic ones. The latter piece is now starting getting taken by amateurs. What I see myself is a) professionals can successfully compete with amateurs b) there will always be demand for real great pictures where professionals will never get a competition other than other professionals.

Selling digital artwork via Internet

2008-02-12T00:10:00.001+01:00

The work on my website continues. Today I've done with the major re-work of my article about selling photographs via internet. The previous version of the article was revised, partially rewritten, completely restructured and significantly extended. You can see it at http://stock.miklav.com.

I still have to write the last part about stock photography evolution and photographer evolution (made just a brief outline so far) and I already know what I will add next (how to edit digital photograph for stock).

2008-02-11T00:06:00.001+01:00

Nothing special to report today. The nice weather stays (and the forecast is still good for the next week) so I am getting use of it going around with my camera.

Today's picture made in the center of Leuven - University Library at Ladeuzeplein.

Leuven photo

2008-02-08T10:48:00.004+01:00

It was nice weather yesterday and I went out to make a few pictures of Leuven railway station in sunset. It has a nice roof that has been built for several years and got completed recently (well, almost completed, there are some little things here and there that still need to be made, but the roof itself is now done). I like how it looks and I like how it is lit in the night. This is one of the pictures I made yesterday:

(architect: Samyn)

One of my To Do items is to photograph the station in low morning sunlight, in high contrast...

YXTM C40DS Grip (Canon BG-E2 equivalent) and Phottix BP-511A Battery Review

2008-02-07T15:45:00.000+01:00

Having had my Canon 40D for several months now I decided to buy a battery grip.

The grip gives photographer a vertical/portrait grip with its associated controls and shutter release. And it gives you room for two BP-511 batteriess.

I don't feel comfortable paying well over hundred Euro for a piece of plastic so I decided to give it a try with a 3rd-party device instead of genuine Canon BG-E2 (or BG-E2N).

Searching on eBay I found a few options and finally selected one offered by HK Supplies (Hong-Kong eBay vendor, with eBay username etefore. I bought some accessories from that vendor in the past and was quite satisfied with the quality, price and speedy delivery). Their offer also included 2 Phottix bateries (Canon BP-511A equivalent).

My order arrived in about 1 week and my first note is that it was nicely packed.

The grip appeared to be not a completely no-name but an Asian local company named YXTM. Their model name for this grip is C40DS (which is equivalent to Canon BG-E2)

You can see the content of the box on the picture above. I took one of the batteries out of it's little red box; and the grip is still in the larger box.

Besides the grip itself there are 2 battery containers - one for 2x BP511 and another for 6x AA-size batteries. Comparing this grip with the photos of genuine BG-E2 they appear virtually identical. The C40DS grip is made quite well - no cheap feeling, strong, attached without any problems to my camera, and the buttons feel good. The tripod socket also feels sturdy. No flimsy parts, good solid feeling.

Talking about batteries I should note that I used some no-name ones in the past and never got any problems. I had one battery out of 4 suddenly died after 1.5 years of use but with the price under 10 Euro per battery I believe it's much better deal than the brand-name batteries.

The new Phottix batteries that arrived with the grip are marked as 1600mAh, slightly more than the Canons 1390mAh so they should perform better (at least on paper). I don't have time or desire to do any formal testing/measure, but my feeling is that the batteries aren't any worse than the original ones. They look well made from outside, they fit without any problems to camera, charger and to the grip; and camera works just fine. Again, I didn't measure the number of shots I can make with substitute battery but it feels quite similar to the original.

I would definitely recommend both the C40DS grip and Phottix batteries to anyone thinking of increasing their shooting capacity.

Remark: Please note that there are other battery grips on the market that are marked "BG-E2 equivalent". Some of them don't have the index and focus point buttons; and some reviews suggest that some of the grips are flimsy - so be careful which one you select!

Call center movie

2008-02-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

Not related to the subject of this blog at all - very well made funny call center movie.

I've seen it a while ago and enjoyed it. If you ever had to deal with technical support - and especially if it was somebody on the phone sitting thousands kilometers from you - then you know what I am talking about. I had such experience recently (not the first time unfortunately) and it reminded me about this movie... helps to relax when you are getting angry with those guys. :)

Enjoy! http://callcentermovie.com/movie/movie2.html

Alternative to Photoshop

2008-02-02T17:55:00.000+01:00

I was wondering for a while whether there is a decent alternative to Adobe Photoshop. I mean a serious photographer shooting always in RAW, who doesn't want to loose any of the data captured by the camera - i.e. processing the files in 16-bit until the last save.

Remark: To outline my photo editing needs:

minimum: Full 16-bit editing, including layers, noise removal plugin, curves/levels, blurring, cloning, color adjustment;
optional: Support of Canon EOS 40D RAW format;
important: easy to use interface suitable for intensive workflow

Recent version of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 looked promising, so I decided to give it a try.

Unfortunately it isn't suitable for people like me. I will list the limitations in the order I experienced them, not in the order of importance:

PSP X2 can't open RAW files from my Canon EOS 40D - not critical;
PSP X2 can't properly handle TIF files saved with ZIP compression - not critical;
PSP X2 can only save 8-bit and/or flattened files in common formats (TIF, PSD), and can only save multi-layer 16-bit picture in it's own format - not critical;
Most filters/effects only work in 8-bit mode as it was with photoshop several years ago. - not critical, as long as layers, curves, levels and blur work in 16-bit mode;
Some tools only work in 8-bit mode, e.g. clone - this is critical for retouch;
Using on the same PC, PSP X2 works much slower than Photoshop CS2 or CS3 - may be critical, but probably can be addressed by a faster PC with more memory.

Overall functionality of PSP X2 is quite impressive; and many (most?) of Photoshop plugins work with PSP. The price of PSP X2 is much more attractive comparing with Photoshop. Also, some workarounds are possible to overcome the above listed issues.

However, considering limitations altogether, and considering intensive workflow my conclusion is that Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is not a decent replacement of Adobe Photoshop CS+ for serious photographers. Perhaps one of the next versions will make it suitable...

Other alternatives?

GIMP isn't - not only it is very uncomfortable to use but it still doesn't support 16-bit editing.
Photoshop Elements 6 isn't an alternative either because of very limited 16-bit support - only a few filters supported in 16-bit; and adjustment layers don't work in 16-bit mode.
Googling for 16-bit programs I found Picture Window Pro 4.0. Tried that one - yes, it supports full 16-bit editing, but the interface isn't convenient and no layers supported at all.

Conclusion: At the moment there seem to be no other software than Adobe Photoshop CS3 that can suite my needs. It is priced high, but not without a reason. And, despite it's high price there are options available to obtain it cheaper than a standard price (I mean, legally). Checking on eBay I found quite a few offers in a range of 250-350 USD for a full-boxed-retail-version.

GIMP isn't too bad, but lacks 16-bit support and has non-friendly interface
PSP X2 is actually quite good, the only serious missing point is lack 16-bit editing.

Remark: 16-bit editing is very important in case of intensive digital manipulation. Editing in 8-bit will result very quickly a non-continuous color representation. You can easily see that effect as a comb when executing Levels command. This might not be an issue for personal photographs or for minor editing, but this is not acceptable in most professional use.

Remark #2: I've got impression that PSP X2 beats Photoshop Elements 6 if you compare them. Actually PSP X2 is positioned in the same market area as PS Elements and isn't competing with the "real" photoshop. However, adding 16-bit support and keeping it low-price would make it a serious alternative to Photoshop itself rather than just Elements.

Redesign of my main website

2008-01-29T23:41:00.000+01:00

I am busy with the major redesign of my web site http://miklav.com. I've done a big portion of the work, but many things still need to be finished.

What I've done so far:

Changed the menu structure, added some sections to the site
Formatted section about selling stock pictures as a separate sub-site
updated CSS style definitions
updated and cleaned HTML code to properly use CSS and to get rid of old-fashioned table-based formatting

Still needs to be done:

Completely replace photo gallery (content, design and programming behind it). I do have new design ready, but the content needs to be finished
Clean remaining links to the old sections of the site
Clean unused files and folders
Re-work my article about selling pictures online. Split in several parts and add some notes that I have in my mind.

Photos of Leuven

2008-01-22T23:11:00.000+01:00

One of the ideas I have about this blog is to show Leuven and surroundings. Something like "a photo a day" - although I don't think I will be able to post one photo from Leuven really each and every day. Anyway, I will show some, and the picture you see is the first one in this series.

This picture was taken in Grote Begijnhof (Beguinage) of Leuven - nicely preserved historical district.

If you are interested to know a little about Begijnhof, read further:

The Beguinage of Leuven lies on the banks of the River Dyle, in a quarter called "Ten Hove", south of the city center.

During the 12th century, we see the origin of many new religious movements, most of them trying to return to the old ideals of "living like Christ in his time". One of these were the "wandering preachers" in Germany. Unlike them, the Albigensians or cathars, in southern France, rejected all ecclesiastic authority and Christian dogmas. Also the Apostolici rejected all ecclesiastic discipline and most dogmas. They also postulated complete renunciation of earthly goods. It is in this context, we see the first appearance of the name "beghina", mostly in a pejorative meaning, indicating a person who "begs" or stammers (derived from a French word)
After the crusades, under Greek-Byzantine influence, a mystical movement invade the western world. Especially women were attracted by this ideal. They didn't want to withdraw into the wilderness but retired to hermitages near a cloister, a church or a chapel. These women wanted to devote their lifes to contemplation. This evolution caused the origin of so called "double cloisters". Cloistered women lived in the immediate neighbourhood of regular monks.

In the beginning, most religious women lived apart. They were certainly stimulated to go and live in groups, convents, because in this way, it was easier to get overview and control over this religious movement. (about 1240) The oldest, still existing document mentions the Beguinage of Leuven in 1232. This beguine convent was founded outside the city walls of those days.

You can read the full article at the website of Leuven University: http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~maarten/pics/begijnhofleuven/Begleuhis.html

Selling photo prints

2008-01-21T17:38:00.000+01:00

I was thinking for some time already about selling a part of my work as fine art prints. While I focus mainly on stock photography, I am making some pictures that I consider myself "artistic".

I knew about two possibilities so far: DeviantArt and CafePress. The former didn't make a very good impression and I am not sure if it's worth spending my time. The latter is mainly for souvenir items like mags and t-shirts, and they don't produce a good quality matted fine art prints.

I've made a mini-research in the last few days to see what other photographers are doing, besides selling directly from their personal website, and I discovered imagekind. The first impression is quite positive, and I will give it a try.

There are various free and paid options for imagekind accounts. I will start with a free one to see how it works - upgrade is always possible later.

The artist can define several galleries for his online portfolio (only one gallery allowed in free account), and the look of every picture can be customized by selecting default frame and passepartout (which buyer can still change when making a purchase).

The only thing that worries me a little is whether the inkjet prints are really as good and professional as chemical ones - imagekind ia making inkjet prints only.

Indeed the other question is whether I will succeed getting customers there, but this is not something that really worries me - I am just giving it a try at this point.

Cafe Wentelsteen

2008-01-19T23:38:00.000+01:00

This is how the Wentelsteen cafe looks inside, with our photographs on the walls:

There is another room where all walls are full of photos but I didn't bother to photograph it.

Unfortunately the cafe is not on a good spot and there is no much publicity about it's activities. Anyway, it's nice to have an exhibition even if audience isn't huge :)

Photo exhibition in Leuven

2008-01-11T21:08:00.000+01:00

I am a member of Viewfinders photography club. Our club had got an opportunity to present the members work in the “Wentelsteen” culture-café, just off the “Vismarkt” in the heart of Leuven.

The location is the ground floor of a very old building, once part of the university, where Vesalius and Justus Lipsius gave lessons. The building is restored but it has retained a lot of atmosphere, which seems to ooze from every sagging wooden beam and crack in the plasterwork. Great place for a quiet drink, or a meal, or just to admire the work of the Viewfinders :)

Six of my own pictures are exhibited there. All pictures are for sale - framed or unframed.

The exhibition runs from January 5th, 2008 to February 2nd (though we’ll be taking down on that day). It is open every day except Mondays, from 11h or 14h on Sundays and bank holidays.

The address is: Cultuurcafé Wentelsteen,
Busleydengang 6D (Vismarkt) 3000 Leuven.

P.S.: The exhibition was put on a short notice and I didn't have time to make photos of the place. Will try to make some later and post here in the blog.