Things you do to get the shot

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Johns Hopkins, TipsLeave a comment

The things that you do to get that shot.

A few days ago I posted the following picture on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/markdoddphotography/) BTW, if you like my photography, be sure to like this page.

20160307-DSC_3363_AuroraHDR_HDR

Although I did like it, something was not quite right. I had taken it on my tripod at the lowest height setting I could use. After someone commented on my Facebook page that they thought the hands were too close to the edge of the photo I realized that was what was bugging me about the photo.

Since I do not have a super wide-angle lens what was I going to do. My widest lens is a 18mm-135mm and that is the lens I used for this photo and was already at the widest setting of 18mm. I thought about it for a few days and decided I’d go back and just set the camera on the floor.

So yesterday I went back, set the camera on the floor and got ready to take a few photos. I’ve done this kinda thing before with sheer guesswork and multiple attempts. Take the photo, pick up the camera, check the image and repeat until I got what I was looking for. This takes forever and there is no sure way to know if I got the shot until I picked up my camera and took a look at what I just shot. Not to mention that you had to remember where the camera was when you picked it up so you knew where to place it when making an adjustment.

My camera does not have a flip screen or wi-fi, so I had no way to view the image live. Also it is inside and my camera doesn’t have a high enough ISO to let me hand hold it and get a noiseless photo without using a flash, which would destroy the look. What else was I going to do.

Then I started thinking. I have a cell phone, it has a forward facing camera so you will see on the screen what it is pointing to. Can I use this to see what I would see through the viewfinder. Turns out the answer is yes. I placed the camera on the floor, slide my cell phone under the viewfinder so the lens is lined up with the viewfinder, and low and behold, I could see on the screen what the viewfinder was showing.

Here is the picture of the setup on the floor at the base of the statue.

20160318-P1020408

I did have to use my lens cap to prop up the right side of my camera to make it level. So if you are going to do something like this, have a few small items that are the same thickness as your cell phone just in case you need to prop one side of you camera up like I did. I lucked out in that my lens cap was the same thickness as my cell phone

Here is of one of the photos I took with this setup. I think it turned out rather well with much more space between the hands and the edge of the frame and showing much more of the dome itself.

The Statue of Jesus in the Billings Building of Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Statue of Jesus in the Billings Building of Johns Hopkins Hospital

I do have a Black and White version that is colorized like the first photo on my store page so be sure to check that one out as well.

#tips #gettheshot #Hopkins #Baltimore

 

Discount offers and free stuff I can send your way

On By Mark DoddIn Free Stuff, General Blog PostLeave a comment

Below is a list of discount offers and free stuff I can send your way.

Due to my affiliation with some vendors I”m able to offer you some discounts off their products provide links to free downloads

Here is the list I have for you at the moment.

Discounts

Discount on Aurora HDR + Bonuses

 

Free Software

Trial Downloads



#discounts #Freesoftware

Something new from one of my favorite Artists

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog PostLeave a comment

One of my favorite artist/photographers is Trey Ratcliff of StuckinCustoms.com. He is well-known for his amazing travel photography and easy to follow tutorials, not to mention the co-creator of Aurora HDR.

This time he is doing something a little different. This seems it is a much more personal tutorial series and looks like he gives insights on what inspires him, how he became to be the artist that he is, and details on how he creates his work. All of this was taken in Africa and you’ll get to see some great images along the way.

I’ve like his earlier tutorials and own a few and just wanted to mention this one now before the price goes up.

You can watch his trailer for the series below to see if this might be something you are interested in. There is a link below the video to go to his store to see the detail information on what you get in this series.

Preorder or order (depending upon when you see this) “The Becoming and Artist Series with Trey Ratcliff” by clicking here.

When you get to the store page your see more details on what each episode will cover.

His Preorder Price is $49 for the series and will end April 3rd, so get it now.

 

Aurora HDR Software and Macphun

On By Mark DoddIn Fall, General Blog Post, Johns Hopkins1 Comment

Great Photo editing software from Macphun

My primary photo editor is now Aurora HDR that was developed by Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs in collaboration with Macphun. If you do HDR photography I would say this is the best program to use for that.

Macphun makes a whole series of photography apps in addition to Aurora HDR. When I’ve taken a single photo instead of the multiple brackets that you need for HDR photography I sometimes use the Macphun apps of Intensify and Noiseless CK to do select edits, but they do have an entire suite that you may like.

Check out the complete line of Macphun software. Click on their logo below to visit their site.

 

 

And don’t forget you can get 10% off any of their products using my coupon code

 

Mac Phun 10%off Coupon Code MDPDEAL

 

A recent photo edited with Aurora HDR

This is my photo of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Billings Building also know as the Dome.

I know it needed a little punch added to it so I brought it into Aurora HDR, the Macphun/StuckinCustoms application. Click the slider to compare the 2 photos of the original iPhone image and the edited image from Aurora HDR. It didn’t need much adjustment, but you see the possibilities especially in the sky.

 

#Macphun, #AuroraHDR #photoeditor #Freestuff

 

Free stuff – ON1 Photo Effects

On By Mark DoddIn Free Stuff, General Blog PostLeave a comment

Seems it is my day for finding free stuff for you that I think you can use. This offer is for ON1 Photo Effects. It is for both Mac and Windows.

I already own and use the full ON1 Photo 10 software and it is one of my secondary photo editing software packages, so this offer doesn’t benefit me.

But for those of you looking for a great app to add some punch to your photos or fix some issues with your photo, I recommend it. And you can’t beat the price of $0.00

So go and download it now before they change their minds. You can get by clicking on the following.

I would check out their other software while your there and they do offer other items for free. Check the complete list out under their “Free” menu

They also have some great videos so you can the most out of their products.

#on1 #freesoftware #photoeditor #mac #windows #freestuff

 

Free Essential HDR Course by Macphun using Aurora HDR

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, RecommendationsLeave a comment

Macphun announced a Free Essential HDR Course today that is using Aurora HDR in the course.

So if you have thought about using Aurora HDR or just looking into improving your HDR experience go ahead and sign up. Hey, it’s free!!

But First…..

If you don’t already have Aurora HDR, click the image below for the Stuck in Customs store where you can either buy Aurora HDR if you already know you want it, or at the bottom of the page you can download a trial version that you can use while you are taking this course.

Now that you have the software let’s get you to the course

Click here to see the course details and to Sign up for the “Become a better HDR photographer in 10 weeks” course.

I’ve signed up myself as never hurts to learn how to improve your craft and software skills. And it’s free, can’t beat that.

#AuroraHDR #Macphun #Freecourse #Software #Training #StuckinCustoms #Trail

Created another book with Nowvel

On By Mark DoddIn Chattanooga, General Blog Post, Ruby Falls, TennesseeLeave a comment

 

Created another little book with the Nowvel app.

I’ve created my second book with photos that I took in the Chattanooga area of Tennessee. I love these little books it creates.

If you want to check out the iOS app I used called Nowvel, they’re giving 50% off the first printed book – you’ll see the offer when click on the image below

Also, be sure to read “My Review of the Nowvel App“

 

Nowvel book

 

#Nowvel #photobook #Chattanooga #Rubyfalls #iOS #App

Thank you to the buyer from Harrisburg

On By Mark DoddIn American Kiwi Photo, General Blog Post, HersheyLeave a comment

I wish to thank the buyer for their purchase of

“The Smoke Stacks Stand Resolute“.

As always, I’m grateful for a purchase of any of my work.

This photo is of the 2 smokestacks from the original chocolate factory in Hershey PA. These smokestacks along with the cocoa bean elevators are some of the remaining pieces of the original chocolate factory that was in the middle of Hershey on Chocolate Ave. The factory has since moved to new modern facility across town. The picture is from the hill that overlooks the town and Hersheypark.

 

This is the photograph as selected by this buyer

 

The Smoke Stacks Stand Resolute-Sale

This is an example of one of the many ways you can buy one of photographs. You can buy any of my photographs in a variety of media formats from just the print, Metal prints, Canvas prints, framed and unframed. Click on the image to see what other options they could have chosen for this image.

 

#Hershey #Smokestacks #ChocolateFactory #Hersheypark, #icons

Subscription software, not a fan

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Tips, Washington DCLeave a comment

Software by subscription…

I will start this by saying I will try to not mention products by name as I don’t want to single out any particular company as they are not the only ones doing this.

I recently had to decide wither or not to license some software I use for my photo editing by subscription license or try to get the standalone application license. I had been given access to the subscription license for one year but that year is about up. Now it is time to pay the full price of the subscription or get the standalone application or I lose my ability to use the software.

So I started to compare pricing. At first glance the subscription service didn’t look that bad. But then I started to think about things a bit. Ok so for the monthly subscription I can get the software I’m using plus several other features/software included in the “packaged” deal. Sounds pretty good right. Then I looked at the “packaged” deal and realized I’ll never use any of the other apps/services except the one program. So started looking to buy a license for just that application. The fun began as for this vendor it is not so easy to find the pricing for the standalone application. The site keep on redirecting me to the subscription service page anytime I clicked on links for pricing information. I eventually found the application pricing only to find out the discount that I qualified for in the past years is no longer an option and can now only get it at full retail pricing. I think this is the result of their push for the subscription model pricing. I fell they are trying to make the standalone app look less appealing and they were intentionally trying to steer me towards the subscription licensing versus getting the standalone app.

OK monthly fee versus one time purchase, which do I choose.  Next I though how long do I think I’m going to use this app. Well I’ve used it for a year now and have become dependent upon it so switching to something else would be a pain, so I will stick with this application and thus will be using it for sometime. Since I’m one of those folks that doesn’t always upgrade to the latest version of software as I don’t think I need the new features or it doesn’t work on my computer given that I have an older model computer, I am happy to just stick with and older version most of the time.

So decision time. With the monthly plan I would pay just as much as the standalone app price after about 14 months, then after that it would be costing me more. Given that I don’t know if a new version of this app will come out within the next year and that I may not upgrade to anyway, I didn’t see any benefit of the subscription service. I determined it would cost me more over time and that if I cancelled the subscription service I would not longer have access to the application.  That is one of the Big drawbacks to subscription based software I think. One reason I like the standalone application purchase better. For my example if I cancelled after 14 months, even though I would have paid the same as the standalone purchase, I would no longer be able to use the application if I had not purchased the standalone version

If it was just one application vendor I used software for that did this subscription service model I might be ok with it, but it seems more and more software vendors are going to this model.  Individually the prices are low, but when you have to buy a subscription each for application you use, that low monthly fee becomes a large monthly for all the applications.

I”m just hoping that these companies will not go to solely subscription based licensing as I think it will make the software be out of a lot of folks price range if they think about the total cost over time or it is going go get folks into more debt as it is so easy to just put that on a credit card and forget about it. I have a feeling that this particular vendor will be going that way as with every new upgrade of their suite of applications more and more of their applications have become available by subscription license only.

For business I think the subscription licensing makes sense as most will have up to date computers and would need to stay up to date on the applications. The subscription method would keep them up to date and would save them money over time versus the individual upgrades each time. But for the people who occasionally purchases a product it will end up costing them a lot over time. So I’m just not a fan of subscription based licensing.

 

Union Station Ceiling of Gold

 

Union Station Ceiling of Gold

The view straight up of the ceiling in Union Station in Washington DC. I ended up putting my camera on a planter edge and thus the plant in the picture as tripods are not allowed in Union Station and there was not enough light to get a good picture if I hand-held my camera.

So consider that my tip of the day. Don’t be afraid to creative to get the picture. This planter was in the right spot for me to lay my camera down on to get the shot. Since my camera doesn’t have a flip screen nor built-in wifi it was sheer guesswork on getting things lined up so it took a few shots until I got it right. With newer cameras especially the one’s with wifi that will let you see the image on your phone this would have been much easier.

#Software #Subsciption #WashingtonDC #UnionStation #Train #Station #Amtrak

Made it through the storm

On By Mark DoddIn Carroll County, General Blog Post, Maryland, Tips, WinterLeave a comment

We survived and made it through the storm.

The weekend storm is now the largest single snowfall event on record for the Baltimore area. The only time we have had it worse was the back to back snow storms in 2010. What made it worse was that it was one right after the other, but still not the amount of snow we received this time.. Like many around us, I spent yesterday digging out for 6+ hours just to get my 100 feet of driveway clear and unbury the cars. We got lucky in that a neighbor’s son who had a plow on his truck cleared our spur of the road and another neighbor had already cleared the main private road out to the county road.

Thank goodness I bought a snow blower a few years back or I think I would still be out there and very sore instead of just a little sore and stiff. I’m still recovering from all the exercise today though with sore muscle that haven’t seen that much use in a while. Despite all the work it takes to clear it, it was a beautiful sight to see everything covered in snow there for a while.

The beauty of the snow

20160124-DSC_3252

The scene outside out house before we got to clearing the road. Yes our road is buried in there between the stake and the pine trees. Now that things are cleared and all the snow is piled up it doesn’t look so pretty.

I was hoping to get another series of photos with the snow on the trees, but by the time we got things cleared out enough the snow had fallen off the trees. It was just way to deep for me to walk in before so I wasn’t able to get the entire tree line as I’ve done in the past like I had hoped to. Also, the snow was only on the south side of the trees this time. During the storm the high winds from the north kept the snow from sticking to the north side of the trees.

A tip when taking pictures of snow

I learned over time from various web sources that when you are photographing snow you should slightly overexpose your photo. The thinking behind it make sense to me in that all the snow glare is making your sensor think it is much brighter than it actually is and thus it is setting your f-stop higher that you want it to be, an Aperture of f11 instead of f8 for example. Since the f-stop is higher it is letting is less light and as a result you will get dull looking snow instead of the crisp white snow that you see. For the above picture I over exposed my photo by 1 f-stop. It is straight out of the camera untouched.

Here is a photo I took back during the 2010 storm before I figured out this tip. And you can see how dull it looks. Granted it was cloudy in this picture but it was still very bright outside at the time.

DSC_0173 - 2010-02-06 at 14-48-03

#Storm #Snow #Snowmagedon #WinterStormJonas