Digital Photography Musings
In this episode of Woven Shadows, Jerry shows how you can create an inexpensive light setup that will bring you professional results, all for around $100.
You can download the episode here.
Please leave comments to suggest topics for future shows. Our goal is to answer your questions regarding digital photography.
Guess not many ppl will wanna go to National Parks and in the spirit of sharing, tot it might be good to share so u can bullshit and say u’ve been there.
A 360 degree pricky bamboo
White lil’ mary poppins umbrella
Trunk infested with red toxic
Fernleaf
Another infested trunk
A very fat trunk
A very screwed up trunk
A very dead “caterpiller”
A face looking from the river
Something we ignored didn’t know at 1st
Nasi Goreng USA #1
Nasi Goreng USA #2
Nasi Goreng Special (USA alike)
Nasi Goreng Paprik
We challenged to try similar food there, and i’ve got 4 fried rice under my belt for the 2 days. A personal record tat i wouldn’t wanna repeat. The lousiest presentation Nasi Goreng was eventually the most tasty one - Nasi Goreng USA #2, the left most floating restaurant (view from Mutiara resort) - Liana Restaurant.
Have to mention that the 1st night dinner, the waitress was a foreigner tat speaks Bahasa Melayu! Yes, she was extremely over voluptous and bends over 90 degrees and shows her cleavage while taking order, not tat i’m into it though, seriously.
But the point here is her command of BM & friendliness in serving us our food. Been here 2 months teaching in a local school language. My respects goes to kind hearted ppl like this.
It was a Sunday, not like many Sundays. It wasn’t exactly planned to be like this, but I was so glad that i was part of it. Under Pa’s some sort of DANIDA programme, a group of highly qualified individual, mainly from Denmark, China, and Thailand came to town. Was looking forward to a relaxing trip and it turned out exercising a little more than relaxing.
The gathering point was at Renaissance Hotel. While Pa went to basement for parking, I was dropped off at the entrace with the coldbox of beer beverages. Got in the lobby and some of the members were already there. First impression was great, seldom there’s a chance to do a foreign handshakes 
The journey starts at approx. 3pm 4pm. Got on beside the driver Mr. Lim, and did a backward shot on those on the van.
Looks like not many likes to look over to tiny digital cameras nowadays, wait till i get a dSLR! Then u’ll all pose like making love to the camera ei? hehe..
We reached the natural park in Kuala Selangor in 1.5 hours. A quick boring briefing of the park was conducted but I was busy talking to Thun (my apologies for the mis-spelling ya). A charming Thai which u instantly feel the heat warmth that he reflects while talking to him. Nice guy, buddy material given the chance
Here, he was caught doing the middle finger peace sign.
In no time, mosquitoes action time!
Saw some monkeys along the path, swear that i saw a monkey wearing some clothings. Nobody believed me and so i blamed it on my eye sights..The monkey was wearing a light purple body hugging outfit, ah nvm so wat if it’s true.. we see them in circles wearing like tat, no big deal.
Mr. Carsten is trying hard to find the mosquito that bit his somewhere, or wasn’t he?
Halfway thru, there is a 4 storeys tower to climb - really didn’t expect to come here to work out! Was the last few to go up and ah hah, now we are seeing something.
If u look closely, there’s a peacock laughing at the left side of the green bush and a crocodile at the right swamp, chewing a snake in his mouth while a donkey sits at his tail! Uh? Nah.. I din see much.
Thun, Rikke (starting to get the hook of ur name after knowing the alphabets), me and Michelle, and it’s here where the ice starts to melt and conversations starts to flow in. It’s always a good combination - the right scenary, the right location, the starting of 2 person. Ermm.. tat sounds weird?! Well, u know wat i’m trying to say
This is the mangroves’ leaf. We were asked to lick it and so i licked. End up, i’ve licked the whole surface of the leaf and kinda addicted to the saltiness. Once salty, forever salty.
And soon we were queuing up to dinner get somewhere nearer to dinner.
Wuah, horny lil’ monkey climb up the toilet wall to peep. Must be a male monkey - you’ll never know who (or wat) is interested in what you are doing.
On the left, trees found in Malaysia’s national park; on the right, roots found in Cambodia’s Ancient Siem Reap Temple - Angkor Wat. Cambodian root going to fame after being touched by Angelina Jolie; Malaysian mangroves trunk, nobody even talks about it, only when tsunami is over that we start to realize how important it is.. another conclusion from this is tat the sticks are bigger, fatter and stronger - after it sees Angelina Jolie.
Dinner time!
During Chinese New Year, chinese usually do a “lou sang” - my lousy direct translation spells, “scoop alive”. Scooping & tossing the mixture which includes raw (where the alive comes in i guess) fish. It’s a practice believed to be originated from Southern China and is practiced for prosperity, fortune, luck, etc..The higher you scoop, the better it is. We usually end up making a whole mess on the table but this time around with many virgins in this, the table was clean and neat.
Quoted this somewhere on the net and it made sense to me..
Traditionally practiced on the seventh day of CNY (however now it is available a month before the festival until it ends), which is considered as the birthday of all human beings, the Cantonese community partakes in a dish called “YeeSangâ€160, a simple mixture of thin slices of raw fish, shredded vegetables, crackers, herbs and sauces.
All the ingredients for the dish are served separately on the same plate, and would then be tossed and mixed, carried with chopsticks high in the air by all who are present at the table, while saying out loud the word “LohHeiâ€160, which means liveliness, prosperity and longevity. This practice is said to herald prosperity for the coming year
Greeted by this scene at the restaurant, too hungry to appreciate it yet.
The scooping process, everybody is smiling 
Eating with the soft sun shining, so the dishes won’t get cold too fast?!
The fish was steamed yet still smiling to us.. 
This sets up the mood to further finish up the dishes!
Our top hammer of the day! Seems like Thung u were enjoying it 
The hammering process was HARD! But when u think of the meat inside.. ahh.. !
Camera-eyed girl by the water, we were snapping it mirror style, face-to-face
And then we saw fire flying around the sky The last time i was there, guess i’ve not hit puberty yet. This time, i’ve got to enjoy “Xmas in CNY” with 3 really nice ppl, rowing calmly along the waters of Sg. Selangor..
4 in a boat, facing each other, side by side, and you dun move much or else u’ll sink it.
Michelle & Than (pls dun mind if i get the spellings messed up ya) Pan sitting in between the boatman and my side, their function? to stabilize the boat. There were couple of times when the boat was swinging left to right and guess who was the one shouting? Hmm, was trying hard to figure out how young Michelle is, cuz i’m pretty sure she looks much younger than her number really is.. and i’m quite sure i’m right here..
Tatiana Jintana (just got it right looking at ur email address) is from Thai and she speaks good english! Loves to share her things and a joy to chat with, the boat ride was great with all 4 of us worrying bout the boat sinking. There were a couple of times the boatman row closer to the fireflies, and we stretch out our palm to harrass play with them. Suprisingly, they will sorta stick to the palm guess it must be the good smell of my hand. If you were caught trying to smuggle 1 single piece of firefly out of the place, authorities will slap you with a RM100 fine, yes that’s for 1 cute firefly.
Before we start our journey back to KL, this happened:
This picture can be used as a good evidence of smuggling in the dark. Apparently the smuggling was for beers. Too bad the guys wallop all the cans and tat the gals have no more to enjoy. Geez, gentleman??
Was a tiring day, and the trip was outshined by the ppl and companionship a little more so than the destination and long journey :).
It is true that most magazines have their own photographers on staff, however, some publications also use freelance photographers on a regular basis. Does that mean that you can submit your own shots? Yes, often, as long as you follow specific guidelines. First of all, submit your photos in a digital format. This is because a digital team is going to clean up your pictures before they send them on to the printers. The best bet for you is to send your images along in CD-ROM format. To submit your pictures properly, make sure you know the correct pixel size and resolution to send them in. This will make sure the magazine can see your image no matter what operating system they’re using. Because of this, you’re going to have to make sure your pictures can be seen by multiple operating systems and computers. What that means is that if you don’t have the software to make your pictures the proper resolution, invest in some, if you intend to make this a regular activity - Gimp is great open source (free) software for photo manipulation. Send your photos as JPG or 24-bit PNG. JPG is generally the most compatible format. Also, you send your photos at 5×7 at 300DPI.
When you submit images, include your name and address, as well as a description of the CD’s contents. One way to do this is by using the program Adobe Photoshop. With Photoshop, you can store your images in folders on your computer, choose “file,” “automate,” and “contact sheet.” Then, simply choose your paper size and the number of images you want on each “sheet of paper.”Make sure you make your images of adequate size so that they’re easily seen. If the images are too small, they’ll be too hard to see and will not likely be picked. Editors don’t have a lot of time to review images, so make sure their job is as easy as possible by making your images as large as possible within reason. If you want to get your CD back after you submit it to the magazine, enclose an envelope with return postage. Be aware that even if you do this, the CD may become their property regardless. If there are any other concerns to be addressed, enclose a short note with your CD or call them. Be aware that your concerns may not be addressed regardless (after all, these people are very busy), but you can at least give it a try. Whatever you do, don’t submit very large images, especially if they haven’t been solicited. These take up a lot of space and can be very hard to read. Only send images that are relevant to their particular topic that you have found images for. Never submit the memory card from your camera and instead make sure you submit your images on a CD you can afford to lose, in the format they request. Make sure the CD you use is high quality enough that the image is going to be of good quality, too. If you do things right, you could have success in submitting your images to a magazine, such that this may land you a full-time job taking photographs for a publication — maybe even one of the magazines you submitted images to. Regardless, it looks great on your resume to have done this, so go ahead and submit as long as the publication invites you to do so. It could just be a path to a new career.
Have you ever envied enhanced digital photos? Have you ever wondered how people did that? Have you ever found out that most people use software called Photoshop by Adobe, but this can be on the expensive side for the amateur or even for the average educator who may not use it all the time. Photoshop is a wonderful application that can really do so much, but not everyone has the means or time to figure out the program.
So what to do to doctor up our own digital photos? Well, Picnik is a free online photo editor that allows you to edit, change sizes, and yes, add all sorts of bells and whistles to a photo.
Here’s a photo I took on a Picnik.
It’s also pretty easy to use. Just play around with it because the navigation is pretty intuitive. Here’s a video that shows you some of the things Picnik can do.
Journey to the center of the camera. This week Mike explanes in simple terms why Camera raw is the way to go with digital photography. Convert to DNG Vibrance, fill light and more, oh much, much more.
The Best of Family Portrait Photography Book: Professional Techniques and Images
To make a good family portrait, there are a lot of literature of it. This book is one of them. In this book you will find artwork from 30 of the industry’s top photographers is used to highlight both clear-cut shooting strategies and colorful, cutting-edge approaches to family portraiture in this handbook intended for idea gathering and inspiration.
Advice on focal length, perspective, and maximizing the potential of digital equipment highlights the technical aspects of family portraiture while group posing strategies demonstrate how best to flatter each subject and convey a sense of family unity.
A lengthy discussion of lighting—the backbone of portraiture—and the manipulation of shadows and highlights instructs photographers on how to create mood and interest in a variety of lighting scenarios, both indoors and out.
Specifics on adjusting body lines, colors, and shapes, working with young children, and creating a comfortable atmosphere ensure that the photographer captures the unique personality of each family with dynamic and attractive images.
The Best of Family Portrait Photography: Professional Techniques and Images
Buy / Check the book price
About the Author
Bill Hurter is the editor of Rangefinder magazine, the former editor of Petersen’s PhotoGraphic, and the author of The Best of Wedding Photography, Group Portrait Photography Handbook, The Portrait Photographer’s Guide to Posing, and Portrait Photographer’s Handbook. He lives in Santa Monica, California.