An Open Source Workflow for Photographers?

In the 24 odd years of teaching, invariably at least one student will ask if there is an alternative to buying "industry standard software." There have always been alternatives to the industry leaders, but the fact remains that much of the industry has been structurally locked into the leader (and usually with a pretty sound logic behind it).

Let me say that I strongly advocate an industry standard workflow. The standardized plug-ins make negotiating things like color space matching very easy for beginners. And if you are doing anything that will appear in print, there is a whole other dimension to press profiles that needs to be added to the mix.

There are OPEN SOURCE software solutions. This recent PETAPIXEL article about an entire free, open-source workflow solution intrigued me. And to the student/s about to ask me the question on a Photoshop Alternative, here you go.

It really looks quite impressive and comprehensive— addressing most of the concerns in a full-process workflow.

However for me, I'll stick with the 90 plus percent marketshare leader. But I will certainly check this out (and keep it book-marked for those adventurous enough to jump into a full-on Linux workflow.

Pumpkin Cream Pies…

I try and eat a bit healthier, but my "achilles heel" is the occasional crappy food item. It's sort of an ongoing joke to those in my life. A long running joke is for my office mate Ty to inquire: "What crappy food do you have today?" with a slight wink.

I do sympathize a lot with the typical college student. I get that eating a meal quickly (prepared by someone else to save you time) at a cheap price has a value far beyond economy, and as long as it is a "controlled consumption," it has its place. Therefore, any self-righteous pronouncements that I don't eat fast food will not be on this blog.

That said, McDonald's just up its game this autumn. They released the PUMPKIN CREAM pie (a stripe of sweet creamy goodness enveloped in the pumpkin filling, baked in a crust and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar).

At the local MickyD's, they're also 2 for a buck!

Just the right snack for this holiday season.

USING NATURAL LIGHT

F-Stoppers is a great resource for photographers. Admittedly, they do shill quite a bit for their products (some of which are great, some of which aren't).

One of the things I appreciate is their sharing of information. This video is a wonderful intro into shooting with natural light. While its targeting the world of video, its principles apply to all "light capturing," whether it be digital photography or videography.

Busy Business and random musings

I have been busy.
Finishing  my Thesis this summer, attended the DT&L conference, did some overhaul work on the house, planning for 7-8 sections–prepping for some I've never taught before, etc., etc., etc.
…and that's not even factoring in family commitments and family life (full of the typical frustrations, pains and sorrows, angers and frustrations…and punctuated with just the right amount of joys mixed in).

I haven't vacationed in about 15 years-- the closest thing is sightseeing when I get a conference grant for a few hours every few years. I forgo a lot of leisure activities (but adopt other hobbies that take less time to help keep me sane).I gotta say that I have been so close to losing hope and giving up when the busy factor gets overwhelming—but I don't.

I often think about my students; some who have full time work, family commitments, and then attend classes to better themselves (not unlike me). How close may some be to giving up? How many have been taught (either by others or the harshness of life) to just give-up or take an easier road when it seems too tough? How many lose hope and cannot see the light at the end of a very long metaphorical tunnel?  How many are dealing with additional pain (literal and figurative) on top of that? Pain and problems that I cannot begin to understand, and are toughing it out in spite?

I can honestly say I have empathy for them. I am often just on the cusp of throwing in the towel. I often deal with things no one knows about as well.

Perhaps the cliché thing to do here is to tell you that "I feel your pain."
Reality is, I do not. I feel MY pain, and you feel YOUR pain. There are things that no one can fully comprehend about another person and their individual journey through life, so the best we can do is empathize.

Empathy doesn't mean turning our heads the other way and pretending that everything is OK. It doesn't mean pretending that you paid something when in fact you didn't. It doesn't mean allowing you to take what you need at the cost of another person… that's actually called "showing preference."

It means acknowledging that we are both dealing with life, and that I (as a fellow human being not wishing harm onto any other) will do my best to help you on your path, and you will do your best to help me. I can relate in some way to your condition, since I also have mine. I will help you (and others) with your pain where I can, and you will also help me (and others) in turn.

We don't need pity. No one really needs pity, it just creates the wrong condition for us to proceed. What we do need is more empathy.
Empathy for everyone.

To All the Cameras I've Owned Before…

Morguefile photo courtesy Michael Rickler

My first camera was a used box camera that my parents helped me buy when I was 8 or 9. The cost of film (as well as the oddball film-size that became increasingly hard to buy)  meant it was short for my world...but not before running its paces through every trick in the "Trick Photography Book" I got from the Library. I was the hit of the cub scouts (for which my younger brother deserves kudos for being pressed into service as a model).

Then came the 110 camera for fifth and sixth grade. The "smallness" of the 110 was novel-y cool for the time, but the absolute crappy quality of the prints and enlargements never impressed me (even as a kid). It was only the fact that every other kid around me had the same style camera--slim little brick with a fixed focus lens (ditto btw on the suburban fad of the plastic molded skateboards of that era) that I kept it for so long.

Junior High (for you young'uns--now commonly referred to as "middle school" and attended a year earlier than junior high) gave me another dose of camera fever. Nothing but a 35mm SLR would do for me at this point,  and they weren't exactly cheap.  I was taking Vis Art electives in school and working on a skill badge in scouts related to photography, and I pled the case to my patient parents for a 35mm film SLR. My dad was my hero when he went out Christmas eve and came back with a set of boxes under the tree! A New FUJICA fully manual SLR, on camera cheapo flash unit, cases and gadget bag.

At that point, I became the "family photographer," constantly shooting anything and everything (often blurry and poorly exposed), but gaining confidence and quality through Junior high and into High School. It was also the first time that other kids (executive's kids that were 'better off' than a teacher's kid) showed up with equipment that was far better than mine. I think it as the first time I remember "holding my ground" on what I had and knowing that my dad worked hard for every cent. It provided me with my first opportunity to learn to ignore that nagging voice of camera-envy in my head, and blunting that tendency of so many to have equipment envy (or G.A.S [gear acquisition syndrome] as it is called in camera circles these days).

The old FUJICA was a camera that I would use for years and years-- in fact into college for my basic film photography classes—despite the fact that it was pretty much a "crappy camera" by most auteur's standards. I guess I learned to do with it what I needed. Compose, expose/shoot, develop.

Then came a string of faceless cameras that served mostly for the pragmatic purpose of capturing moments with family--Polaroid Instant Cameras, Consumer 'point-and-shoot' 35mm cameras, and the like. I vaguely recall at least one Vivitar and early Samsung in the mix. They seemed to lack any real characteristics that would imprint them on my psyche.

In the 90's came a camera that I will always remember. It was a gift from a friend who knew I wanted a TLR; a used TLR Rolleicord. I had always wanted a medium format film camera, and to this day I have to say the engineering on this relatively unassuming camera is one of my favorites.
I think—no for sure I know that its one of the finest cameras I've owned. It was a camera given in kindness, and enabling me to shoot and develop larger format negatives for the first time.

And then came the digital revolution! Along came another string of Digital Cameras that were each good for a while, and for what I wanted at the time. Kodak, Polaroid, GE, Olympus, Nikon, Canon (all PnS and Bridge cameras) followed by my Canon REBEL (which despite using to this day, I am now ready to part with btw). I still love and shoot with my 'hobbyist' Rebel (and it still ranks on the list of top cameras I've owned to this very day)… but …
I'd have to say that the Rolleicord is probably still my favorite overall cameras.

Not having shot with it since the mid-to-late 1990's, I have decide to part with it (although I vacillate between the idea of parting, and just having it near me for memories and inspiration). The eventual decision to sell it comes with the decision to part with anything— not because I don't love the camera, but I hope a collector who can use it more than I,  perhaps even cherish more if not as much, will do good by it. Clean it up and rework it a bit more while I accept the challenge in my life of trying to divest from quite so much "stuff" in  general.

I intend to focus on having one or two really solid cameras that I love and use constantly.

But what a camera!

Stop equivalencies and light ratios (oh my…)

When I was an undergrad, there was a mandatory photo class that you took as a Graphic Design major. I had my trusty manual 35mm SLR film cam, and two lenses: a  50mm prime, and a 200mm telephoto… all of which I got as a gift for Christmas and Lunar New Year (btw, it was not a very good telephoto — but it was a gift from a relative that I got in 8th grade purchased at a whopping 70$!). I think I had a polarizer and a haze filter also in the gadget bag, and an on-camera flash that must've been something like a GN20 or so.

I remember sitting through a few lectures at the time that only made partial sense. One was the discussion on Ansel Adams' “zone system.” I recall someone saying how it could dramatically improve our work (we shot and developed pretty much exclusively B/W as undergrads), but never fully understanding it beyond the reference to tonal range. The other was the “light stop equivalencies.” I pretty much metered everything in camera (I never once checked out the Minolta meter;-)

I also vaguely remember getting bawled out by a grad student in the darkroom for adding my prints to the rinser at the same time as hers. I pled ignorance (they never told me I couldn't in the class I had) to which she only became more irate at me, and insisted they 'needed a separate lab for grad students' to the lab monitor.

Well, here's to memories and the simultaneous “complexification” and “simplification” that the world of digital brought us.

We now have 1/3 stops ;-)

Here's a little handout from one of my classes (which makes a bit more sense to me now).

Enjoy!

A Lifestyle to Strive Towards...

I have a hard-drive littered with things that folks have shared. This is one that I have retained and will open every now and then. It's attributed as Zen— and while these are components of mindfulness, in actuality they transcend that and help to codify a lifestyle choice that (I would offer up ) we should all aspire towards.

Typically I credit them, but this one has been re-blogged, pinned, and reposted so many times that I can't find the origin point. Google's image search engine  has many possible source points (goodreads.com and zenquotes.com are two big candidates).

I suppose in the end it doesn't matter where its from. Enjoy (and strive)!

GREAT PHOTOSHOP RESOURCE

I regularly come across these, and on occasion repost them. They are curated by others (Michael Zhang for Peta Pixel here…or in some other instances a collective of others) and offer many different tutorials and “how-to” guides. This offers 50 “GO TO” tutorials on some of the most frequently required items.
Enjoy!