Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Free Book Winner
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Giant Flying Saucer Cloud
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Book Review: Fast Track Photographer
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Spotlight Effect
There lighting effects in Photoshop but this is an easy way to add a little focal interest to the image. While I used more of a ring a circular spotlight would also work. The Overlay added a little more drama as it could also darken background (move left spike more left with a curve)
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Eye, the Brain and the Camera
Monday, October 18, 2010
ZD Soft Video Recorder for screen capture
The reason I want to mention this piece of software is because of the great support I received from the firm. It's too often that service doesn’t measure up when we are dealing with a supplier and when they do, we should let others know.
I had a 2.x version of this software on my XP computer and it was not migratable to the 64-bit Windows 7 PC. When I originally bought it in the beginning of 2007, the website stated that the cost was only $29 and upgrades were free but a new license was required for each machine. I downloaded version 4.1 and thought the old key might work. Nope.
I wasn't sure that since this was a new computer, I would qualify for the upgrade, but I forwarded the old confirmation email with Key to them and explained my situation. Within a day I received a reply with the key for 4.1. Now how great is that!
There are times, when viewing materiel on the web, I find it easier to capture and watch again at a later date than re-visiting the site and sometimes finding the material gone. The software is used for capturing any video on a screen and outputting to various video and audio different formats. It has worked perfectly on the old XP and now is doing the same on this machine.
The software is now $39.
ZDSoft
Feature List (from their website)
Useful capture wizard.
Adaptive screen sharing component. (to other pc)
Easy to start/stop recording with a single mouse-click/hotkey-hit.
Easy to view recordings in the built-in media player.
Easy to manage recordings in the built-in file explorer.
Wide range support of PC games based on DirectX and OpenGL.
High performance screen capture driver for legacy PC.
Fast real-time audio/video compression. (22 video codecs)
Good audio/video synchronization.
Customizable audio/video quality.
Option to output uncompressed audio/video.
Options to capture selected view, entire desktop or game screen.
Option to capture from external device such as webcam.
Options to capture from speakers, microphone or external lines.
Option to mute capture.
AVI/WMV recording files. (15 codecs)
BMP/PNG/JPG screenshot files.
Customizable hotkeys.
Sticky view selection box.
Tracking mouse cursor view.
Option to capture mouse cursor or not.
Option to keep original mouse cursor size or not.
Option to add mouse click effect or not.
Option to show recording indicator or frame rate in game.
Disclaimer:
I have not received nor will so in the future any funds, discounts, gifts or special favours from this company. I post here only to highlight the good performance of a company.
Niels Henriksen
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Artist or Photographer?
One thing I know I'm not is a 'commercial' or 'professional' photographer. Even these labels have many interpretations. By these terms I mean a person who can consistently deliver quality materiel under stressful and changing environments. Its not too hard to achieve success under great conditions. The good photographers deliver no matter what happens, every time and I know I would run into trouble pretty quickly.
For me photography is first and foremost about pure enjoyment. Like exploring with a microscope or telescope but with less magnification. Being able to capture a fleeting moment in time which was 3D and render into 2D flat image. By use of selective focus, DOF, time and digital enhancements I can try to reveal a unique charm, even though they are not always pleasant, or character to that moment in space. I am creating an interpretation of a real event, like portrait painting of a person.
I therefore tend to think of myself as an artist who uses the camera-tool, as opposed to the brush-tool, to create images maybe even art work. I tend to shun the label photographer because for many people this has certain connotations, like above, which could lead to think that I have more abilities than I really have. Like delivering a wedding shoot or family portrait.
I tend to photograph subjects I like and the way I want, but then again I'm not making a living from that approach. But there are people who do enjoy my art work.
I'm in the process of printing 3 images in sets of 5 for future prints. I will test a bunch of fine-art or rag papers to see which one works best. Since these images are shown here, in this blog, are somewhat the same it will make it easier to fine-tune the ink adjustments for them all.

Note to Regular Readers:
As I mentioned in the previous article, this summer has provided me with a great opportunity with time to explore and to just look and think and to not spend so much time at the computer. Unfortunately this has also led to a dearth of articles recently and I want to thank all for still dropping by to check up.
In my articles I many times discuss how to stimulate and increase your creativity and now I find myself with some self-doubt about where I am going with my photographic art. But this is common for most of us from time to time, but I still don't like it.
I have been thinking that I need to change my approach to selecting scenes and subjects. Up until now, I have been photographing any image when it made a good composition but when I look over my portfolio, I now realize that there is not much tying the images together. Maybe the odd few but most are stand-alone photographs and most are not focused on people. If there are some they are more ancillary to the image.
I therefore need to find some new and story-telling types of images where they could form a theme base portfolio.
I will keep you informed about my progress to stimulate myself with some new ideas.

Photo Tip
If it's bright sunny day and scene to be photographed is sunlit then automatically shift to bracketing.
Even with today's modern cameras and post editing tools the dynamic range captured has never been greater but I have on times been lazy and only realized later the information was either missing in the highlights or too dark to really bring out the tones.
Learn how to change to this mode in a few seconds. Once it becomes instinct in programming your DSLR you will turn it on when needed. If you have to think about how then it just doesn't happen.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Mini Home Photography Studio
This morning is starting off as those perfect summer days. Sitting on the porch reading the paper and listening to the rain fall. It also gives me a few moments to catch up on a few indoor activities like writing this article as this afternoon is forecast to be sunny and 28c (85F).
If you live in a climate that gets -40c (-42F) in the winter and snow, then the summer is not a time to be indoors too much, which includes computer time. Also the fact that I got a 150cc Vespa scooter a couple of months ago is keeping me constantly on the road. I did throw the camera in the back a few times and drove to sections of the city looking for interesting shots. Great view and easy parking.
Home Photography Studio
For the SoFoBoMo 2010 project this year, I decided to use a few items I already had (light box & light tent) and built a fabric holding frame out of PVC tubing for seamless backgrounds.
The PVC tubing is the regular beige-ish 1/4” plumbing tubing cut to lengths and pressed together into a frame. I haven't glued the frame together as it makes it easier for storage when taken apart. It's reasonably strong but may come apart if handled roughly.
Light Tent
The light tent is made of Corplast sheets for frames and mylar sheets. Corplast are coloured or translucent plastic sheets made with square tubing format. This makes them somewhat rigid and ideal as a light box frame because it still lets some light through.
The assembled frame and light box is shown below. Each of the frames, four (4) for a three-sided box, is held together with the green masking tap (easy removal) for quick setup. This makes it easy to remove panels or place at strange angles.
Light Box
The light box was actually made of a light table for my 4x5 or 120 film negatives but I quickly found other uses. The box consists of a;
square ceiling light box with dual U-tube florescent blub (broad spectrum),
wooden frame to encase metal box,
foil lined inside to bounce more light back and diffuse source intensity,
white (5700c) 1/2” plastic translucent sheet to cover light box surface and provide for diffusion of light direction. (This is at the bottom of light tent, as I liked the slightly reflective surface)
With just a few materials, which can be configured in many ways, creative lighting sources and light modifiers can be setup easily.
Niels Henriksen
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
SoFoBoMo 2010 Finished
Monday, June 21, 2010
Volunteering Your Photographic Services
Interspersed will be the photographs I worked on for the Mill displays and some photographs I took at the 200 year celebration of the Delta Stone Mill. I was asked to edit 12 old scanned photographs for display that was going into 2 window frames that would each hold 6 of the 5”x7” photographs. I was invited to the ceremony on 5 June and took a few photographs for my own pleasure. I may donate some of these to the Mill later if they wish to use them.
First and foremost, do I have the skills and equipment to produce excellent images for this work?
I know some might say “well they are asking for this for free so what can they expect?” Most people do want excellent results but even when 'for free' the work reflects my abilities and my quality standards. There is just no way that I would ever produce a photograph or work-of-art that didn't reflect the best in me. No one is going to remember or even know when viewing the final product that you did this for free. Even if they did, they will think that this is the best he can do, not knowing its not your preferred venue and apply that judgement to other venues that you do charge for.
My quality standards are a major part of my brand and that represents me and how I want to be remembered.
How will my services and products be used and what copyrights will I be assigning to organization?
Does the organization reflect my values in life? As a business for hire you do not, in some countries, have the right to refuse work but when free, that changes things. When I donate funds to charities I give to the organizations that I like. These same with my services.
If producing photographs or works of art, how will my products be used and what copyrights am I assigning to the organization?
Do they want all rights in perpetuity? There is nothing wrong with giving away everything as long as you are aware of this ahead of time. I always ensure that I have a licencing agreement that specifies exactly the rights for their use by the organization.
What liabilities, if any, am I undertaking?
For many, this will not be easy to answer because this is where experience comes into play as to what can go wrong. If photographing people or expensive objects, who is responsible if someone gets hurt or an object gets broken or if a person trips or I bump someone and damage gets done because of my activities. What if one of my lamps overheat and a fire starts, who pays for repairs? What if someone expected privacy at the event (didn't know someone was going to photograph them) and they take exception to the images posted publicly and used commercially and they decide to sue you. There are so many what ifs that only experience can tell which ones may apply in this situation.
Check the insurance coverage of the organization and find out if it covers you for certain activities. Does the ticket to event grant use of their image at event. Always have your own liability insurance coverage. I cannot stress how important this is, as one day something will go wrong. There is a difference if you are a business providing a free service as opposed to a volunteer donating your time. But negligence is negligence and the rules are different for almost every state and country. Seek legal advice, as it will be money well spent. Just like paying for a course at college.
Who pays when a patron breaks one of my pieces of equipment?
Does their insurance cover your cost or will they reimburse you to repair or replace items. This is one area you definitely need to ask about as this happens more often than you think. Large events are crowded and if drinking is involved, it becomes too easy for someone to stumble around and knock over and break one of your photographic items.
Are others volunteering and What are they paying for other services?
Am I the only one providing a free service or are others also participating for free. I am not a big fan when I am the only person donating a free service and everyone else is getting paid well. But again it really depends on the event.
Are they paying top dollar for other services or are they getting a discount for some? If everyone else is getting the going rate, why am I at least not being compensated a little? Is it because they expect to get it free from me?
This is somewhat tied to the question above but if it appears that the organization has sufficient funds, but they have a policy of always trying to get work for free first then that may not sit well with me.
Don't be Afraid to Ask for some funds.
If you need an assistant or to rent some piece of equipment. If you are a business earning revenue then you could ask for a tax receipt if they are a charitable organization.
Even when free there are opportunities
There may be opportunities at the event to display your promotional materiel. Don't be afraid to setup a display area if you have the materiel. This could range from sample images, brochures and business cards. I don't recommend that you aggressively promote yourself to everyone you meet as I believe this is just in bad taste. But if someone asks, then sell your services.
Always dress appropriately. If its a wedding then and suit tie might be in order and the same for a fundraiser. If its sporting event then a vest or nice T-shirts with your logo or websites or services printed on is OK.
Donate your services wisely and eventually good karma will come which will lead to new work.
Niels Henriksen





























