Thanks for joining me on the flagship podcast of the PictureMethods blog where we deliver free insights and inspiration for photographers. The show drops on the first Friday of each month.
On today’s show I have a special guest. None other than Leo Laporte is here. Leo is an OG podcaster – I learned podcasting from Leo. I was on his famous TWIT network for three years and still make guest appearances now and then. NOBODY knows more about technology in general than Leo and he’s very tapped in to the consumer camera market so we’re gonna talk about computational photography, mobile phone cameras and more. You gotta hear this.
We have photo news, and of course a Q&A segment. In the insights segment I’m going to share my photography pet peeves and then invite you to send me yours. As usual, I’ll close the show with a word of encouragement.
Hey if you missed last month’s show – visit the podcast archives on PictureMethods.com or on your favorite podcast player – I had my pal Photo Joseph on the podcast and he was great. Be sure to hit the archives – you can find them in the show notes and catch up on every episode.
And now here’s this month’s photo news:
The first bit of news is sort of in house. In case you missed it, Picture Methods is holding a contest. We’re giving away an Olympus camera and lens, a Robus tripod and a Platypod. I’m also giving away a $250 credit at my online store good for a print or other gift items featuring one of my bird images.
To be eligible to win, just follow me @ScottBourne and/or @PictureMethods on Twitter. You can also enter by subscribing to my free quarterly newsletter and there are a couple of other ways to enter. You can find all the info at bit.ly/olycameragiveaway.
Moving on…
Panasonic announced the Lumix DC-S1H a full-frame camera designed for video. The camera uses a new 24.2MP full-frame MOS sensor and Venus Engine image processor to handle full-width video, including full 3:2-ratio 6K recording at 24 fps and DCI 4K at 60 fps with 10-bit. The camera costs just under $4000 and should be available at your favorite retailer by the time you hear this show.
Adobe has released an update for Lightroom Classic CC and Adobe Camera RAW that brings a number of improvements – including GPU Accelerated Editing. Adobe says the new feature allows Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw to “take advantage of the more powerful graphics cards (GPUs) while editing, providing a smoother and more responsive experience.” Adobe says the acceleration will be “more pronounced with larger resolution monitors (4k and above) as well as with more powerful GPUs.
U.S. airline safety regulators have banned select MacBook Pro laptops on flights after Apple recently said that some units had batteries that posed a fire risk. The FAA also reminded airlines to follow 2016 safety instructions for goods with recalled batteries, which means that the affected Apple laptops should not be taken on flights as cargo or in carry-on baggage by passengers. If you are a traveling photographer who relies on a Mac laptop please take a note of it.
A portrait of Beyonce shot by photographer Tyler Mitchell will be added to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, notes CNN. The image, one of several Mitchell created with Beyonce for American Vogue’s September issue last year, was a landmark in photo history: Mitchell became the first African American to shoot a cover for the magazine. The National Portrait Gallery confirmed that the acquisition of the image has been approved, although it does not yet know when it will be exhibited to the public.
In a serious cybersecurity alert, 30 Canon cameras have been found susceptible to critical vulnerabilities via both Wi-Fi and USB connections.
The affected camera models are at risk of being infected by ransomware and malware, whereby cyber-attackers can hold photographs and videos taken on the camera to ransom.
The vulnerabilities were discovered by cybersecurity firm Check Point, which alerted Canon about the problem affecting every product category across its mirrorless, DSLR and compact camera lines.
It’s possible other brands are impacted and we’ll be covering this closely at http://www.picturemethods.com.
If you have news that you think would be of interest to the Picture Methods audience, send me an email – scott@picturemethods.com. If I think it is a fit I’ll add it to next month’s news rundown.
Interview Segment
Now for the good stuff. My good friend Leo Laporte has been around the broadcasting and podcasting industry for as long as anyone I know. He’s got lots of great insights, and he’s an extremely great guy – I am lucky to have him as a friend and it’s an honor to have him on the show. He’s the host of The Tech Guy weekly radio show and the founder and host of TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TV technology host and technology author.
My thanks to Leo for coming on the show. You can find all of Leo’s stuff at TWIT.TV. Next month, I’ll have another guest but I cannot tell you who. It is a surprise so you’ll just have to tune in to find out.
Insights
Today’s insight segment is about a bit unusual. I am going to spend this portion of the segment pointing you to other photography resources. Since I do this show for love, not money, I don’t see this as helping my competition, I see it as helping my audience. I don’t have time to list EVERYONE in the business I admire, so if I don’t mention someone, it’s not because I am not a fan, it’s because I have limited time.
In no particular order, here are some photography resources I think you should know about and probably follow. (I will have links to each in the show notes.)
1. John Paul Caponigro is an Environmental Fine Art Landscape Photographer. He is the son of the American photographer Paul Caponigro He was trained as a painter and later as a photographer. He’s probably the one guy I would go to for advice on fine art photography printing and his photography, as well as his teachings on the subject, are some of the most thought-provoking around. He works at a very high level and I think all of us could learn something from his very deliberate, and thoughtful approach to the craft of image making. You can find him at https://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/
2. Derrick Story has been helping people learn how to have fun with their photography for several decades. He and I taught the world’s first public course on Apple’s Aperture and we did several lynda.com courses together. He’s been a regular on several of my podcasts and has been a guest on this show, the Picture Methods Photography Podcast. Derrick is a writer, photographer, teacher and photographer. He is a great resource for those who want to learn how to travel light and still make great photographs and he’s also known for teaching people lots of fun photo projects. He’s entertaining and friendly and you won’t be sorry for following him. You can find Derrick at http://thedigitalstory.com/
3. Rick Sammon is a Canon Explorer of Light and author of 40 books. He was born to be a photography teacher and always has lots of fresh ideas on how to make a great picture in just about any situation. Rick likes to say he specializes in not specializing, but people photography seems to be a dominant theme with Rick. He’s been on this show and loves to answer people’s photography questions. He leads workshops and travels the world with his camera and is possibly the only person in the industry who is an active shooter and who is older than me. For that reason alone I am glad he’s still around 🙂 You can find him at http://www.ricksammon.com
4. Jerry Ghionis is probably one of the best wedding photographers in the world. He’s certainly won more awards from WPPI (The Wedding & Portrait Photographer’s International) than just about anyone and his work is mind-blowing. I’m lucky to have spent a fair amount of time with him and he’s easily the most creative human being I have ever met. He sees things nobody else sees. He understands light the way Merlin understands magic. He’s a Nikon Ambassador and he teaches all over the world. If you want to learn how to capture light, photograph people, or tell a story, especially if you’re a wedding photographer, and you’re not following Jerry, then you’re missing out big time. You can find Jerry at https://www.jerryghionisphotography.com/
5. Tracie Maglosky isn’t the household name she SHOULD be, but she absolutely knows how to make art. She has an eye for beauty that is nearly unrivaled. I have been privileged to get to know her as she is a fellow Olympus Visionary. Her creativity and sense of style has led her to the chance to speak, photograph and teach all over the world. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and she’s won a ton of accolades in her career. Her work with pregnant women and newborns is particularly stunning and some of her images just take my breath away. I highly recommend you follow Tracie because she is the real deal. You can find her at https://www.traciejeanphoto.com/
There are many more that I could add to this list, but time being constricted I’ll leave it at five. If everyone likes this segment I’ll start adding an abbreviated version of it in each show from now on. Leave a comment on the show notes page if you think this is a good idea.
Q&A
Okay – it’s time for everyone’s favorite segment of the show – photo Q&A.
Question number one.
As an active marketer of your images, how much processing do you typically do to your product to make it sellable? I have heard people say that images should be largely unedited, but I’ve seen images of yours posted on Social Media as “photo paintings” that you mentioned sold well in some markets.
Ed Bartel
Buffalo, NY
Question number two comes to us from down under.
I would like your opinion on whether you rate the use of back button focus in different circumstances. I use it almost exclusively and I have to be very mindful when switching back to conventional shutter button operation due to the muscle memory I’ve developed.
Mick Jones
Plainland Queensland
Australia
Last question
I recently made a trip to the Canadian Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise, etc.) and Glacier National Park in Montana. I used my Panasonic GX85 with the Lumix 12-60 lens and my Panasonic LX7 cameras. While both cameras did an excellent job of capturing details, almost all of the photos of the surrounding mountains and glaciers had a blueish tint. Since I always shoot RAW, I was able to easily correct this issue, but I’m curious as to why this happened. I used Auto White Balance. As an aside, all photos of closer subjects have accurate color. The weather was clear and sunny in all shots.
Ted Gamble
Murfreesboro, TN
If you have questions for the Picture Methods Podcast, send them to me at Scott@picturemethods.com. I only add questions to the show if they include name and town and come in via email. I cannot promise that every question I receive will end up on the show, but I do read them all and appreciate the emails.
As I get ready to wind up this month’s episode of the podcast, I want to remind you that if you subscribe to my free quarterly newsletter, you get more great content that I do not share publicly and you also get to enter exclusive contests for photo gear. You can use the link in the show notes to sign up and you can unsubscribe at any time. I only send out four emails a year. PERIOD. So don’t worry, I won’t spam you and I will never sell or share your name with any third party. PERIOD.
Encouragement
I want to sign off as I always do with a word of encouragement.
If you’re struggling to get your work seen, and you think that because you don’t have a large social media audience you will never push through the noise, I want to offer some advice and some encouragement.
Social media can be used successfully to promote your work, even if you don’t have a big following. Just do your best to show up in relevant places, comment and try to be helpful. Also use hashtags. I have a relatively small following on Instagram (mostly because I don’t buy followers) but of the nine thousand plus people who follow me they mostly do so because they found me via hashtags. Hashtag everything but make sure your hashtags are the ones your intended audience are using.
Also do not think that social media is the be all end all of photography exposure. It may come as a shock to you, but back in the day, before I had social media – or even personal computers, I found ways to show my work. Knocking on doors at doctors office waiting rooms or at co-op galleries or at coffee shops, etc., I found people willing to hang my pictures. I handed out business cards, flyers and mailed post cards featuring my images. I purchased ads in relevant print publications. The point is, I have lived more than half my life without any such thing as social media and I did pretty well for myself.
Get creative. Look for unconventional places to show your work. Yes it’s hard. Yes it’s competitive, but you can nevertheless rise to the top, which means you have a chance. That is all any of us can reasonably expect.
Remember to show the work show the work show the work every way you can – every chance you can. Maybe you don’t have as many followers as I do, but you will some day. Some day you’ll surpass me by a mile. Just do the work, believe in yourself, buck up, and make it happen. YOU can do it. But ONLY you. It has to be YOU doing the work. If I can do it, you can do it. Believe it.
Wrapping up…
Next month, I’ll have a surprise guest join me on the show. I’ll also have the usual photography news, inspiration and encouragement along with your questions. I hope you’ll listen in.
Also, please do me a favor if you like the show. Please subscribe (for free) to the iTunes version of the show – even if you listen somewhere else. It helps us gain traction. Please consider subscribing (for free) to the blog – you can use the little black box that appears in the sidebar of every post to do that. It will give you updates every time there’s ANYTHING new at Picture Methods. And lastly, please consider signing up for my free quarterly newsletter – you can do so at http://bit.ly/picturemethodsnewsletter
If you do sign up for either blog updates or the newsletter you are automatically eligible to win cool prizes during the regular giveaways I do for the show and the blog. You must be 18 years old to participate. Open worldwide except where prohibited by law.
I really hope you enjoyed episode number eight of the Picture Methods podcast – see you next month.
And while we’re all waiting for the next episode, let’s root for each other!
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One Response
Hi Scott
I would love it if you added some resources to each podcast. There are so many good ones out there! Here’s one you might want to consider: Gavin Hardcastle at phototripper.com. Especially his very entertaining youtube videos! This is a photographer who’s really having fun.