Friendly photographers

I had a chance meeting with a surly photographer just as I was getting started with my first dSLR. He was arrogant and condescending, making sure to point out that he was a real photographer, while people like me were just an irritation that had eroded the art and business of picture taking. In his eyes, the exploding popularity of digital photography was a travesty, and he had no interest lending his experience to help hacks like me get better.

The impression stuck with me, and I began to expect that "real" photographers would be guarded, even grouchy, about where they shoot and how they get the shots. Unfortunately that expectation stuck with me for more than a year, until quite by accident I found the Photo Walking Utah group and realized that grouchy photographers are the exception, not the rule.

I attended my first Photo Walking Utah event last weekend and learned more in few hours of conversation than I would have learned from hours of solitary study and effort. The photographers who run the group all volunteer their time, their knowledge, and even lend out their expensive gear to help others get better.

Others have summed up the event last weekend quite nicely, so I'll skip that and just post some pictures I took. Not only are they some of my favorite shots, I even had some of these professional photographers "favorite" them on Flickr--something a grouchy photographer would never do!

A decade in a frame

This week marks the 10th anniversary of my engagement to my wife, and to mark the occasion I surprised her with a framed print of my proposal atop Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. This post isn't entirely self-indulgent--the process of making the print taught me some things about scanning film negatives and reducing noise, and left me with a new appreciation for digital sensors, memory cards, and shooting RAW format.

(The pictures, by the way, were shot with my old Fuji film camera by an Australian tourist who just happened to be at the peak at the same time we were. Both he and my future wife were surprised when I dropped to my knee with the ring, though thankfully only one of them starting yelling, "Crikey! Oh, wow! Crikey!" If your engagement wasn't accompanied by a passable impersonation of The Crocodile Hunter, I'm afraid you missed out.)

The first step in getting the prints was to scan the negatives at 1200dpi, which created enormous files that looked as though they had been washed alongside a new pair of jeans. (Step 1 below.) Some quick adjustments in Lightroom brought me to the image in step 2, with Photoshop getting me the rest of the way to image 3, which I eventually sent to the printer.

Of course the devil is always in the details. The scan was incredibly noisy, and not the consistent high-ISO noise I'm used to from my D300. I experimented with a few noise-reducing Photoshop plugins before settling on NoiseWare (which I bought before finding this discount code, darn it) which did a commendable job, as you can see in a 100% crop below.

Unfortunately, you can also see that the old axiom "garbage in, garbage out" remains undefeated. Even after NoiseWare did its trick, if this level of sharpness had come from my camera today I'd clean my lens and try again. But given the amount of detail that was in the original scan I'm actually pretty happy with the result, because from a normal viewing distance the print looks terrific. And even more importantly, it earned me a kiss from the woman who answered, "Of course I will!" ten years ago.

Here are the three images I scanned; as usual, you can click for a bigger version.

Suck less

This video by professional photographer Zack Arias is so powerful I had to re-post it here. It's directed at photographers, but its message can be generalized to every walk of life. Visit zackarias.com for his work.

A few days in Phoenix

I'm one of those guys who needs regular exercise in the sun to feel like myself. Eventually I suppose I'll have to learn to get along with winter weather, but this year, at least, when I felt the winter gloom setting in I took a trip to Phoenix to hike and bike.

I didn't carry my camera on our bike rides (the weight and risk of damaging it in a crash made me wary) but I had a great time snapping shots during our hikes through the desert. Click a picture to see a larger view.

A picture of me atop Pyramid Peak.

A panoramic view of a storm approaching Glendale.

An unfortunate staple in the Phoenix desert: litter.

Trails wind for hundreds of miles in this state trust land.

Kate with the crazy hair

My three-year-old daughter had the misfortune of waking up with particularly bad hair the same day I set up my new studio lights. I suppose I could have taken time to make her beautiful, but she isn't old enough to be vain and her hair was so amazingly messy I just couldn't resist shooting her just the way she was.

Somehow I can't see these pictures making it into her wedding video, but the good news is I love the new studio lighting, and the seamless backdrop should be here soon. When it gets here I'll need some models to come enjoy a free photo session here in Wasatch County; if you or someone you know needs a headshot or senior portrait, maybe we can help each other out.

So iff you're interested in a free studio photo session here in Heber City, let me know! And don't worry--I'll let you brush your hair before we get started.

(Before I wrap this up, here's another picture of my Kate--so you'll know her hair isn't always so delightful.)