I am a sucker for beautiful space photography so you can imagine I how delighted I was to discover that NASA has recently released an updated high-res version of the famous Blue Marble photograph for 2012.
This is certainly not the first time that NASA has updated the 1972 photograph but the Blue Marble 2012 photograph taken using the VIRS instrument aboard NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite – Suomi NPP is being called the ‘most amazing high definition image of Earth’ by the space agency.
Blue Marble 2012 is a beautiful composite image using a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. NASA has made this photograph available via their Flickr account where a super high resolution 8000×8000 pixel image can be downloaded – that’s my new desktop wallpaper sorted! Fascinating.
View full size image on Flickr
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Each year superb landscape photographer Jim M. Goldstein invites readers of his blog to take part in his best photos of the year project. As you might have guessed from the name this project involves readers of his blog choosing their ten best photographs from the previous year. I decided that this year I should take part too.
I found it incredibly difficult to pick just ten photos from the previous year as all of the photographs I have taken mean something special to me, but ten is the limit so in the end it was just a case of being brutal and making the tough choices.
The photos I have chosen are in the gallery below (in no particular order) and each one links through to a corresponding Flickr page. I am not going to provide descriptions for each of the photographs as I think that photographs should really stand up on their own without requiring descriptions. That said, it is often interesting to know more about a photograph’s location information and technical data so all of that information is available via the individual Flickr pages if you are particularly interested in that stuff.
So after much deliberation here are my top ten choices from the year 2011.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my best of 2011 and I’m very much looking forward to seeing all of the work from the photographers involved in the project.
Wishing you the very best for 2012.
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I’ve been thinking about it since Thursday and wanted to take a moment to post something about Steve Job’s passing.
I found out that Steve Jobs had passed away just under a week ago while eating breakfast and scanning the headlines using my iPhone, which has become part of my morning routine over the last few years. It was of course incredibly sad news and shocking despite knowing that Steve had been unwell for some time. I think it is fair to say that we all realised this was going to happen, especially following his resignation as CEO of Apple back in August but I don’t think anyone expected it to happen quite so soon. It was perhaps poetic that I along with many others learned of his passing while using one of Apple’s iconic devices.
I was of course saddened to learn of his death but not having known the man personally I didn’t feel the emotional connection that some people seem to have felt, judging by the numerous tweets and blogs posts that I have subsequently read. I did however spend my drive that morning on my way to work thinking about Steve Jobs passing. I thought about the legacy he leaves behind and the impact he has made on the technology landscape. He was multifaceted. A perfectionist and by all accounts could be very difficult to work with or work for but he was unquestionably driven and his drive has to be the biggest factor in pushing him to succeed and create the innovations that he will be forever be remembered for. I did not however intend for this post to simply be a shrine to Steve Jobs – there are already plenty of those available elsewhere, no doubt written far more eloquently than I could possibly manage.
While driving home that evening I turned on the radio and caught the second half of his 2005 Stanford speech. I do remember hearing this speech before only this time it felt even more poignant and personal and I have to admit I actually had a tear in my eye towards the end. I don’t think I have ever shed a tear due to the passing of a company CEO or somebody in the public eye but this was a little different. When you listen to Steve talk about life and death you forget who is speaking and just hear a universal message that applies to us all. The video is posted at the end of this post and the whole speech is moving but here are a couple of extracts I felt were particularly poignant:
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
– Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech, June 2005
The sentiment is both incredibly profound and completely true and has been at the back of my mind since hearing it. It makes me think about my own life and making the most of the time I have. We each have a responsibility to ensure our own individual happiness as nobody else can do this for us.
Stay hungry, stay foolish and thanks for everything Steve.
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There are currently 50 lion sculptures scattered around the streets of Bournemouth in a public art event called Pride in Bournemouth 2011. Each lion is sponsored by a local business and decorated by local artists before being placed at various locations around the town. The lions will be auctioned off on 18th September 2011 with the 75% of the net proceeds being donated to The Born Free Foundation and Julia’s House charities.
I couldn’t resist taking some time this weekend to try and find them all. Some were much easier to find and photograph than others! 
Find out more on the Pride in Bournemouth website.
There is a PDF document with the lion locations and some information about the lion’s name, artist and sponsor which is available on the Pride in Bournemouth website and I have also put a copy here.
NOTE:
* You may notice that there are only 49 photos in the gallery and there is supposed to be 50 lions. Well quite simply there was one lion I was just unable to find. I spent some time wandering around the area it is supposed to be but I couldn’t see it, so I am assuming it was not there for some reason. I have emailed the organisers to find out.
** You might also notice that lion number 15 is not actually in the shot, the plinth is there but the lion has been removed. I am guessing this may be due to vandalism but hopefully it will be back soon. If it returns I will update the shot.
2011/07/24 – Both of the missing lions have now been photographed and added to the gallery.
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Trafalgar Square in London used to be famous for it’s many tens of thousands of feral pigeons but due to the costs associated with cleaning up after them and concerns about hygiene and potential damage to local monuments the Greater London Authority turned to using trained falcons as a form of pest control. Hardly any pigeons remain in Trafalgar square but you can often see handlers with the falcons, which are perhaps even more photogenic than the pigeons.
In the shot above the photographer is doing his very best to capture a photograph of a falcon perched on a lamppost ten or so feet away just off camera to the right of the frame. The photographer spent such a long time with his eye pressed against the viewfinder in an attempt the get the best possible shot than he failed to spot the falcon that had landed just a few feet away from him in a prime spot waiting to be photographed.
I took this shot because it was an amusing spectacle but it got me thinking about what we could be missing when we focus all of our attention intently on a subject. I guess it’s worth looking up from the camera every once in a while to see what’s unfolding around us as we could be missing a great opportunity! There may not always be a large bird of prey sitting just a few feet away posing for a photo but there may be something unexpected and equally as exciting just waiting to be discovered.
I don’t know how this ended up but I really hope the unidentified photographer managed to get the shot he wanted.
Here are a couple of shots I was able to take:
Happy shooting.
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When I initially saw this video of a photographer’s near miss with lightning I was absolutely shocked.
Admittedly it resulted in a spectacular photo and fortunately everyone was okay on this occasion but I would seriously have to think twice before choosing to stand quite so close to the action in future.
Video of the moment this was taken can be viewed below:
This is one incredibly fortunate photographer. Wow.
Be safe!
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© The Camera Store
I saw this superb viral video earlier today and simply had to share it.
According to an article on the Huffington Post:
Battle at F-Stop Ridge, a promotional video for The Camera Store, a 32-employee photography shop in Calgary, features eight employees in a field battling it out with tripods, cameras, lenses and a hand grenade (or, in this case, a flash).
Jordan Drake, who runs The Camera Store’s video department, told The Huffington Post that the video took two days to produce and only one day to shoot. He spent about seven hours editing it.
You can read the article in full on the Huffington Post web site.
The video is certainly over the top but as far as I’m concerned that’s a good thing!
Enjoy.
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I thought maybe I’d take a moment to talk about backup.
Okay so it’s not very sexy or glamorous but backup is important. It is one of those areas that may not seem worthwhile when everything is working as expected but if the unthinkable were to happen and your work is lost then the value of a well thought out backup strategy is priceless. I think it’s extremely important that photographers should take the time to ensure their work is fully backed up. If you can imagine for a moment that all of your work was suddenly lost forever? How would you feel? I know would feel incredibly upset, after all these are not just photographs, they are stories and experiences, moments frozen in time that can never be repeated and this is not even thinking about all of the time that has gone into getting those shots and the subsequent editing of them. It’s absolutely clear to me that I needed a backup solution because I want to ensure that no matter what happens my photographs are going to be safe.
So there are lots of different approaches to backup and I don’t think one is necessarily better than the other. You can spend a large amount of money on specialist hardware but you can also do it more cost effectively. The most important thing is that you have your work backed up in a way that works for you, the actual method is secondary.
There are backup solutions as well as data protection solutions. Some backup solutions also employ data proctection while some do not. Backup generally means that the data is backed up in multiple locations while data protection generally means you have your work stored with a version history, so even if you were to make an administration error and accidently delete some files from disk you will still be able to go in and retrieve them easily. In this post I’m really talking about the basic act of ensuring that your data is backed up in more than one location, this is basically protecting yourself from hardware failure which is a legitimate concern and something that is likely to affect us all at some point in time (it has certainly affected me).
I have my photos stored on multiple RAID drives in my computer, this happens seamlessly and once setup requires no intervention. It just means that my computer uses multiple hard drives to store the data and that if one drives were to fail I can simply replace it and carry on without any loss of data. This way I am covered against hardware failure on my primary drives. I also have a large external hard drive which is connected to my computer and backs up my photos every night. This runs automatically and backups any changes or new files, this includes all of my Lightroom & Capture One catalogues that contain all of my edits – it is important not to forget about the catalogue files if you are using non-destructive editing software (and if you’re not then you really should be!) because without them I would still have my photos but I would have to edit every one again individually which could potentially take a huge amount of time.
With this setup I am confident that my files are backed up in multiple locations and even if multiple hard drives were to fail in my computer’s RAID configuration I still have everything backed up to my large external drive.
So far so good, this covers me from hardware failure but it doesn’t cover me against some other potential issue such as fire, flood & theft. For these reasons it is important to have an off-site backup solution, this could be as simple as a hard drive stored at a trustworthy friend’s house or even some DVDs stored offsite (but be aware than most cheap DVDs and CDs have a limited lifespan and could potentially be unreadable a few years down the line). For these reasons I find that a cloud-based backup service is the best option.
There are a number of online backup services available and I am currently using a service offered by Mozy. For less than £5 per month all of my photos and software catalogue files are automatically backed up to the cloud every day. Mozy offers version history, file encryption and unlimited space so for the money I find this gives me incredible peace of mind. Sure, the initial upload can take some time (I think it took two or three weeks for my initial upload) but now all my new photos are uploaded quietly in the background overnight and I can relax safe in the knowledge that everything is backed up securely.
I also use Dropbox across my various computers for file sync and while I don’t suggest you use this as your only backup solution I do think it can have a place in your backup workflow. Dropbox allows you to easily synchronise files across many different computers as well as allowing you to easily share large files with other people. Dropbox also keeps a file version history and the ability to restore deleted files. I find this particularly useful when taking photos using my iPhone. It is simply a case of using the Dropbox app on the iPhone to upload the files while on the move and then they are instantly available on all of my computers and backed up via Dropbox so that if I were to lose my phone I would still have my images. I can then include the iPhone photos as part of my regular backup workflow when I return to my computer.
I am currently considering buying some Drobos for my backup solution to use instead of my existing RAID solution as they offer some additional features but the principle remains the same. It doesn’t really matter how you do it but you should really take the time to ensure that your work is fully backed up and that if you suffer a hardware failure or theft then it is as the very worst an inconvenience. Without a backup plan you are taking a huge gamble.
You can create fee Mozy and Dropbox trials, so why not give them a try to see what you think (these are not affiliate links and I do not benefit from you using these services in anyway, they are just products that I actually use and value):
http://mozy.co.uk
http://www.dropbox.com
http://www.drobo.com
Have I missed anything important? Do you have anything to add? If so let me know.
Happy shooting!
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Just a quick one today but something I’ve been thinking about recently.
I make a conscious decision not to watermark the images I put online. Firstly I should probably say that I generally licence all of the photos I put online under Creative Commons agreement, so I generally don’t mind people using my images provided that they give me a credit. So perhaps this attitude goes some way toward shaping my perspective on this matter.
I often find watermarks on images to be unsightly and actually detract from the photography I’m looking at. I find them to be a distraction and often a barrier preventing me from being able to fully enjoy the work. Now, I will agree that some watermarks are placed with care and more subtly than others but often the very fact that the watermark is there seems to spoil an otherwise great shot.
I guess there are a couple of main reasons that people add them to their work. Initially I guess the addition of a watermark probably gives some sense of protection or ownership over the image and another reason is an attempt to ensure that the photographer responsible for the work is given the credit they deserve. Through my personal experience of providing images under the Creative Commons agreement I have found that people generally have given me credit when using my images (not always but mostly that I am aware of), I certainly can’t complain – but who knows, perhaps I’ve just been rather lucky. But secondly I imagine that the type of people who will use an image without giving credit are probably the same people who will think nothing of cropping a photo to remove a watermark they don’t particularly like. When you put images online you have to be aware of the risk that your work will be stolen, this may not be a very pleasant prospect and I certainly hope that this doesn’t happen but the only way to truly keep your images safe is to never put them online, but then wouldn’t it be a terrible shame not to share your work with the world at all?
I think that from a copyright point of view it’s rather difficult to protect images online. Sure you can add a watermark, lots of metadata and keep the original RAW files safe but the photos you put online can potentially be used anywhere if someone is determined and having given this some thought I think this risk is an acceptable one. If you want to give people an opportunity to actually see and enjoy your work then these risks are worthwhile in my opinion. If it comes to making money from the work then big companies don’t generally use images without permission (there are of course going to be some high profile exceptions) and then you are left with the companies/individuals who would probably never choose to pay for any work anyway.
I just can’t help thinking that by making great photographs available under the Creative Commons agreement you give your work the maximum chance of exposure without too many downsides. If you become aware of your work being used without permission then you can deal with it on a case by case basis but I would argue that the pros of this approach far outweigh the cons. There are of course steps you can take to make your images less appealing to potential thieves, you could for example avoid making full size versions of images available online and ensure images are always a medium jpg quality rather than high quality. These steps may go some way towards reducing the usefulness of the images offline.
Having considered the items mentioned above I chose not to watermark my online images and hope that when people decide to use my images they will be kind enough to give me a credit as required by the Creative Commons agreement. I would certainly be interested to hear what you think. Am I naive and misguided? Is it foolish for me to believe in good karma with regard to the sharing of photography? Why not let me know your thoughts?
Happy shooting!
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So I was thinking about podcasts recently. I find myself listening to a lot of podcasts in general but more specifically I listen to a lot of photography podcasts.
Some of these photography podcasts are better than others with some being aimed toward the beginner while others are aimed more toward the advanced/professional photographer. I think they all have value and I personally never tire of hearing people discussing about the fundamentals of photography.
So here is a short list of some of the photography podcasts I’ve been listening to and if you haven’t checked them out already then you probably should:
This Week in Photo
One of my favourite photography podcasts. Usually featuring a panel of guests discussing the latest news in photography and answering reader questions. Hosted by Frederick Van Johnson the podcast is full of current information and interesting conversations.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/this-week-in-photography/id272987532
Photography Tips from the Top Floor
Tips from the Top Floor is a wonderful podcast from German photographer/trainer Chris Marquardt. Chris covers a lot of ground and answers plenty of listener questions. This is a really entertaining podcast and generally features lots of hints, tips and advice to photographers at all levels.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=73329429
Camera Dojo
The Camera Dojo podcasts are hosted by Orange County wedding, portrait and commercial photographer Kerry Garrison and aimed at helping photographers improve their skills.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/camera-dojo-take-better-pictures/id262942668
The Photo Life – Pro Photography Podcast
Hosted by Travis Schreer this podcast is aimed more toward the professional photographer and features a lot of conversations with leading photographers. Some of these interviews are absolutely fascinating.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-photo-life-pro-photography/id397998102
Photography Monthly
The podcast from one of the UK’s leading photography magazines. Lots of tips and information for photographers at all levels. Hosted by Grant Scott, editor of Photography Monthly magazine.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/photography-monthly-podcasts/id308014800
Professional Photographer
Another podcast hosted by magazine editor Grant Scott and based on Professional Photographer magazine. It features lots of industry news and interviews/discussions with some of the big names in photography.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/professional-photographer/id338214944
Canon Blogger: Learning Digital Photography
All about learning photography with photographer, blogger and IT guy Jason Anderson. It’s quite basic stuff but pretty interesting and often involves guests. Despite being labeled as Canon the vast majority of content is non vendor specific.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/canon-blogger-learning-digital/id271139084
The Two Hosers Photo Show
This one is really aimed at beginners but it’s still interesting to hear two guys (one pro and one amateur) discussing the basics of photography.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-two-hosers-photo-show/id416173296
So are there any glaring emissions in the above list? There are plenty of photography podcasts out there so please let me know if you believe I have missed any good ones and I’ll gladly add them to the list.
Happy shooting!
