As quickly as the "Stuff ____ say" meme became interesting, it became blasé. I'm officially over it. (For those blissfully unaware, there's an Internet meme that's reached maximum saturation, and it involves video clips of people in any group—a town, a profession, a stereotype—saying clichés that are particular to their unique town/profession/stereotype.) But I want to share one more example especially of interest to this audience. "Stuff Photographers Say" (where "stuff" is, of course, standing in for a much less genteel word) is a cute take on the things we all say—at least on occasion—for good or bad. You can probably use this video (linked to via Mark Silber's blog) to gauge just how much of a gearhead you are, especially. After this, i think I'm officially done with this "stuff." 

http://www.silberstudios.tv/blog/2012/02/sht-photographers-say/

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I shoot too fast. I'm no frenetic machine gunner, mind you, but quite often I don't take enough time to consciously pre-plan my shots. Ansel suggested that we visualize; this is no doubt great advice. Not only does it make us more deliberately aiming at a specific end result, but it also forces us to slow down, take our time, and make deliberate, conscious choices when making pictures. John Davenport recently wrote an interesting post on this very topic at the DPS blog. He's developed a surprisingly simple, and effective, technique for slowing down his pace so that he sets up shots more deliberately. He uses the video capability of the smart phone in his pocket—which many of us are also carrying—to not only explore a scene prior to shooting, but by narrating the video and explaining his setup he's also slowing down and thinking through his compositional and exposure choices as he explains them. Plus, as an added benefit, he's created an artifact that can help other photographers (should he decide to post it on his blog) and help himself in the future as he looks back at how and why he set up a shot the way he did. Read all about it at  http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-i-stumbled-across-an-amazing-way-to-slow-down-my-shooting-process

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File this under "you learn something new every day." I've been working with Pocket Wizard radio transmitters for five years or so, and in that time I've also been unofficially evangelizing for them, as my results have been mostly worry free and consistently excellent. If you're going to work with strobes, don't even bother with the antiquated cable tether—step into the 21st century and use a radio trigger to make your strobing life simpler and easier. Then today I read this Strobist post on working with remotes and discover that I've completely overlooked some basic physics that affect—apparently quite dramatically—how successfully wireless remotes work. Turns out not only does the orientation of the transmitter and receiver make a huge impact, but so does the makeup of the area in which you're working. No matter whether you're using PocketWizards or any other brand of wireless radio remotes, take the time to read the owners manual and determine the peculiarities that will make a big difference in your success. And, of course, read the Strobist blog to find out more about David Hobby's experience.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2012/02/core-knowledge-working-with-remotes.html

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Believe it or not, spring is going to be sprung before we know it. And in Washington D.C. that means the official state flower, the beautiful cherry blossom, will be in bloom. From March 20th to April 27th is the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a big party on the mall in D.C. to which we're all invited. Photographers, especially, should consider visiting because those darn cherry blossoms are about as photogenic as any subject you can imagine. To that end, the Foto DC organization today kicks off its annual National Cherry Blossom Photo contest. In their words, "mark your calendars, watch the weather, grab your camera, wake up your imagination, and see the Blossoms in a bold new way." Enter the contest to ring in spring and you could be one of four photographers to win $500, or one of the top 100 to be exhibited during FotoWeek DC's November photography festival. For rules and regulations, and to submit entries beginning next week, visit cherryblossom.fotodc.org.

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Do you remember contact sheets? They were a function of film photography: you'd shoot a roll of film and make a contact print to help you determine which selects to make "real" enlargements from. Well Thames and Hudson publishers has released a book in conjunction with the Magnum photo agency, filled with famous contact sheets of iconic photographs. "Magnum Contact Sheets" is of interest to any fan of fine photography, or maybe for a news buff interested in seeing a little more context surrounding the creation of some world-famous photographs. But it should be especially of interest to photographers because perhaps no other artifact offers the same glimpse into a master's working process than to peruse his contact sheets. What frames did Cartier-Bresson make immediately before and after an iconic shot? How did he arrive at "the" shot? Perusing these classic—as well as some contemporary—contact sheets is not only an enjoyable read but it's a concise photographic education as well. Read more about it and purchase it direct from the Magnum web site.

http://agency.magnumphotos.com/Magnum-Contact-Sheets

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I love the DIY Photography blog, mostly because it's usually got great tips on hacks and homemade devices to make taking pictures better and more fun. But today they've got on their extra-fun hat, and they're behaving more like my favorite fun photo site, Photojojo. That's where I go to buy totally unique, fun and funny photo accessories. The DIY gang just returned from the PMA show (where all the newest and bestest photo stuff is announced) to compile a list of favorite items from the show floor. These are the types of projects that you wouldn't be surprised to learn were funded by Kickstarter, or where the exhibition booths are manned by the actual inventors of the products on display. There's some pretty cool stuff in here—from miniature rolling dollies for video to my personal favorite, the Swivl, which is a remote controlled camera operator. Don't worry photographers, it's not all about video. Take a look and see what you can expect to find on the shelves of your favorite photo retailers in the coming months—if you're lucky.

http://www.diyphotography.net/the-awesome-stuff-pma-per-me

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I recently bought a new camera. Well, it's a used camera but it's new to me. It's an old Polaroid 600 SE (the "Goose") and I did a decent amount of research prior to my purchase. The Internet certainly does make camera research easy, but there's one site in particular that can be immensely useful. It's called Camerapedia, and it's exactly what the name suggests: an encyclopedia of camera information. It's the perfect place to research old cameras and lenses, to learn things like which generation of a camera model included what features, or to distinguish subtleties of lens mounts and film formats and accessories—all of which can get you in trouble if you're purchasing a used camera and you don't know exactly what you're going to get. But even if you're uninterested in buying old cameras, Camerapedia comes in handy for researching brand new cameras too. In my opinion, though, it really shines at delivering hard-to-find, useful information about old cameras for collectors and the occasional odd purchaser who intends to shoot with his antique—like me.

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Camerapedia

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A friend just sent me a link to a story in the Huffington Post about an artist who colorized old photos. He was asking what I thought about the pictures and the concept behind them. They're causing a bit of controversy. Artist Sanna Dullaway has started a photo restoration and colorization business, and in an effort to show off her talents, drum up business and garner a bit of publicity—an act which has clearly worked—she colorized classic black & white photographs. One could construe this colorization as a bit of blasphemy—dramatically changing the look of iconic black & white images. But I don’t think they’re blasphemy; I think they’re great. The reason I love them also makes for proof positive of a photographic construct: because black and white is inherently abstract, and color automatically looks more "real," so therefore these newly colorized iconic images of iconic people we've never seen in color... Well, it just makes them more real and relatable, and it serves as a reminder that they really inhabited the same world we do. That's a wonderful realization, no matter how you come about it. See more of Sanna’s work at her post at 9gag.com.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/sanna-dullaways-colorized_n_1216072.html
http://9gag.com/mygrapefruit

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