Zack Arias Creative Lighting Presentation

Zack Arias has just posted a PDF he used for a PDN virtual trade show. If you're interested in lighting it's worth taking a look at. The comments section of the blog post is a Q&A session on lighting as well. Read the blog here.

Camera Recommendations

A family member emailed me today asking what camera I would recommend for a beginner. This is a question I've gotten a lot over the years! I thought I would share my response this time with everyone. A disclaimer though, all of my recommendations here will likely be out-of-date in only a month!

The first site I point everyone to is http://dpreview.com/. They have the most in-depth reviews on the internet of every camera make and model imaginable. Besides the raw specs, you'll also want to know if the menus on the camera are user-friendly and see some sample pictures from the camera as well. http://dpreview.com/ has all of that.

Now, here are two entry-level cameras that I recommend. I'm not saying their cheap! But both of these are very good starting points if you want to seriously dig into photography.

Canon G10

I own the Canon G9 myself, and the G10 is its recent successor. The G10 packs many of the same features of an SLR into a compact camera. It's 14.7-megapixels and can shoot RAW files giving you complete control over your images. You can shoot on aperture-priority, shutter-priorty, and manual mode; or keep it one of the auto-scene settings. The 28mm wide-angle lens is also a huge plus for a camera this size. It has an E-TTL hot shoe as well if you decide to add a flash later. The gives you a lot of options, especially for portraiture, as you could later move your flash off-camera with a connecting cord to the hot shoe or a radio trigger attached to the hot shoe.

One thing I learned the hard way with the last compact camera I owned is to never buy one that doesn't have an underwater housing available. Even if you don't want the expense of buying it when you buy the camera, you want the option for later. Then in a few months when you're about to take a beach vacation you can pick-up the waterproof housing. I own the one for the G9 and highly recommend it for snorkeling or to keep your camera safe while out on the boat. At the time of this writing you can buy the underwater housing for the Canon G10 for $174.95 from B&H.

Buy the Canon G10 from B&H
or Amazon: Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm VR Lens

If you want to jump into the world of DSLR cameras for ultimate control over your pictures, then the new D5000 is a great way to go. The kit I'm listing here comes with a 18-55mm vibration resistant lens, meaning that you can hand-hold it at slower shutter speeds and still come away with sharp pictures. The great thing about owning a DSLR, whether its Nikon or Canon, is that you can add lenses, flashes, and other gear over time and the whole system will grow with you. One day when you're ready to dig deep into macro photography or underwater photography or sports photography, you don't have to scrap everything and start over with a completely new system.

The Nikon D5000 would last you a long, long time though. At 12.3-megapixels it's not going to be obsolete immediately. I huge plus is that it also shoots HD 720p video. This works with any wide-angle or zoom setting and with any lens you put on the camera too! The D5000 has 19 auto-exposure scene modes to help you make the transition to a DSLR, but as soon as you start learning more about photography you're going to want to stay in either aperture-priority (where I live most of the time), shutter-priority, or full manual.

Buy it from B&H
or Amazon: Nikon D5000 12.3 MP DX Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens and 2.7-inch Vari-angle LCD

Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector Product Review

Looking to improve your photos? One of the most powerful and useful pieces of equipment you can buy, and also one of the cheapest, is a 5-in-1 reflector. In fact, a good quality reflector is an essential piece of equipment for every serious photographer. The Westcott 5-in-1 reflector is an extremely well-made product and very affordable at only $40 (at the time of this review). I own the 40" (1 meter) reflector and highly recommend it.

"5-in-1" means that it contains silver, gold, white, and black surfaces plus, with all of the covers removed, a translucent surface. Let's look at each of these:

• White Reflector - Do your subjects have raccoon eyes? A white reflector can be used to bounce light into shadows. If you are using a off-camera flash you can also bounce light off of the white reflector itself to create a larger light source.


• Silver Reflector - A silver reflector serves the same purpose as white but produces more specular highlights. The result is a higher-contrast image.


• Gold Reflector - Light takes on the color of what it bounces off of. The favorite of photographers shooting bikini-clad bodies on the beach, a gold reflector will warm up an image giving skin tones the Bay Watch look. (Or add warm light to the bouquet of flowers on your dinning room table>) Tip: You can also use a gold reflector as an out-of-focus background for portraits.


• Black Reflector - Taking away light is just as important as adding light. A black reflector can be used to make one side of the face in a portrait darker. It can also remove reflections.


• Translucent Fabric - Do you want really soft light? The bigger your light source, the softer your light. Holding the translucent disc is one way to do it. You can also shot through it with an off-camera flash.

All of the above equally apply to still-life and food photography as well. The reflector collapses to 1/3 of its size and slips into a carrying case. It's light and easy to take with you.

At only $40.00, it's a great value and something that you will use often and for a very long time. However, if you can not afford one now, then go pickup some white, silver, gold, and black pieces of flexible poster board and/or rigid foam core. In a limited way they can serve the same purpose (other than shooting through them of course!). All pro photographers that I know of will still supplement their lighting gear, including reflectors, with basic white and black foam core as necessary.

You can follow this link to buy it from B&H: Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector.

Or buy it from Amazon here:

Oahu, Hawaii Panoramic Photography

Until recently I would stitch together a panoramic and then crop it to whatever dimensions it happened to be. I've recently started cropping all of my panoramic shots to a 3 by 1 ratio. I really like the consistency it has added, even though some of my pans could be 5 to 1 or 6 to 1 ratio. The later is really too much actually. I will still shoot it as wide as possible, but then forcing myself to crop it to 3x1 makes me select the most important part of the image.

Hotels filling the skyline of Waikiki on Oahu, Hawaii

Kahanamoku Beach section of Waikiki Beach in Oahu, Hawaii

Hotel skyrises along Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head on the right in Oahu, Hawaii

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Batteries Not Included

One of the things that David Hobby convinced me of in the Strobist DVDs is that I should mark each set of my rechargeable batteries that I use for flashes. I've always tried to keep the same ones together, but... it's much easier to do if they're marked. It's better to drain and then recharge them all together as one unit. It's also makes them darn pretty!

You can buy a set of colored electrical tape at Home Depot. Unless I find other things to color-code, my current tape set will last me a lifetime of pretty battery goodness.

I'm also now putting the year on them as shown on the red ones below which I bought this week. I couldn't tell you when I bought the others. I know one pair is more recent, but which? I drained all of them last weekend doing some shoots in my garage, and I know one pair is weaker than the others. Having them color coded can, in theory, help me to remember which set is to be avoided unless necessary. That is, IF you pay attention to which is which. Which, I didn't.

What I need next is a plastic 4 AA battery-holder pack from Radio Shack or out of an old toy at a junk store. Take out the end connections so that the batteries are not connected and you're left with a nifty backup battery holder which can easily slip into your pocket for shooting a wedding or location work. It also keeps them from rolling around in your camera bag.

Napali Coast Aerial Photography from Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of beaches along the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Visit my Hawaii photography gallery for more Hawaiian punch.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Waterfalls of Kauai, Hawaii

Here are some waterfalls shot from a helicopter over Kauai. This first one has the nickname "Jurassic Park Falls", because it's the waterfall when the helicopter first approaches the mysterious island in the original movie.

Manawaiopuna falls waterfall otherwise known as Jurassic Falls on the island of Kauai in Hawaii

Manawaiopuna falls waterfall otherwise known as Jurassic Falls on the island of Kauai in Hawaii

One of the many amazing things about the waterfalls in Kauai is how the cascades flow one into another into another, like Namolokama Falls:

Namolokama Falls cascading waterfall in Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii

Mount Wai'ale'ale is the wettest spot on Earth. Basically, clouds always cover the mountain, and it always rains. It's also one of the coolest places on Earth you can visit from a helicopter. Cool in both ways. The temperature drops several degrees as you enter the crater as well.

Cascading waterfalls inside Mount Waialeale crater, the wettest spot on Earth, on Kauai, Hawaii

Cascading waterfalls inside Mount Waialeale crater, the wettest spot on Earth, on Kauai, Hawaii

Waterfall inside Waialeale Crater the wettest spot on Earth. Kauaii, Hawaii

This Kauai waterfalls link will take you to a search results page on my website where you can see more. You can also visit my Hawaii photography gallery.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Waimea Canyon, Hawaii Photography

Some credit Mark Twain with calling Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, but my guidebook, honest to the point of boredom, says he actually never visited Kauai. Oh well, it's still a big hole in the ground. This panoramic image shows the view from the public overlook:

Waimea Canyon on Kauai Island, Hawaii

To the left is Waipo'o falls:

Waimea Canyon State Park and Waipo'o Falls waterfall on Kauai Island, Hawaii

This an aerial shot of Waipo'o Falls from a helicopter.

Waipoo Falls waterfall in Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai, Hawaii

This shot of the canyon is one of my favorites from Kauai. I love the light and dark contrast looking down into the canyon.

Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai Island, Hawaii, USA

You can view more of my Hawaii photography by clicking the link.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Red Dirt = Nice Landscape Photography

One afternoon on Kauai I set off in the rental car to do some landscape photography. Along the way up Waimea Canyon Drive I came across one of the many things Kauai is known for, it's red dirt. They actually dye and sell 500 T-shirts out of just one bucket of the stuff. My guidebook, in retrospect, said "Kauai's infamous red dirt has ruined many new pairs of Nikes in its time." That, I can attest, is true! In fact, there are still red dirt stains on my Nikes to this day.

Red earth of Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

Waimea Canyon Drive is a twisting, turning road straight up. It's also a fun ride back down, after dark, and driving as fast as you can. I squealed the tires on the rental car on more than one occasion.

By the way, this shot would look great with a red Ferrari digitally comped into it. If you're an automotive advertising image buyer, by any chance, give me a ring!

Vista across Kauai to the Pacific Ocean along Waimea Canyon Drive, Kauai, Hawaii.

I had pulled over to the side of the road and immediately heard the water from this little water fall (more like a tiny drip, drip by Kauai standards):

Waterfall and red earth in Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

I'll be posting images of Waimea Canyon and Kauai's waterfalls later this week.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Watch Your Coconuts

I finally wrapped all of my editing from Hawaii. I'll be posting Hawaii travel photography all of this week.

Caution Falling Coconuts sign at Salt Pond Beach Park on Kauai, Hawaii.

Sheraton Kauai Resort on Kiahuna Beach, Kauai.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith. All Rights Reserved.

Arkansas Winter Snow Scene

This Arkansas snow photograph is from this past February in Northeast Arkansas during a brief "blizzard", at least by Arkansas standards, which... mostly melted away the next day. The snow was blowing hard for awhile though. Look how it's sticking to the sides of the trees. The moment I saw the scene it looked so much like a great calendar shot that my heart and brain both were racing as I was composing the scene, checking all corners of the frame, and trying not to screw it up!

Arkansas winter snow scene with an antique rusty pickup truck and a snow-covered barn in the distance.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Is travel photography supposed to be fun?

I got back from Washington D.C. last Wednesday. I haven't blogged about it since then because I've been too tired. For that matter, I had plans to shoot some travel photography videos during the trip but I was too tired for that as well.

Several people have asked me if I had a good time. I know they mean well and it's a usual thing to ask, so I say, "yes". The truth is I didn't, nor did I mean to. For me there is a difference between a trip meant for fun and a work trip. I take some trips as vacations (though I'm always shooting during them anyway), but for a dedicated travel photography trip there is rarely any fun involved, especially with business money backing it and knowing I must perform to recoup it. There is just nothing about it that is fun really with the sole exception of when everything comes together and you can create some great photographs. That euphoria lasts until the next shutter click and then it's over.

In D.C. I walked almost everywhere. In fact, I think I walked more than on any other trip I've every taken, and if you were to know some of the things I've done before to get a photograph you would know that's not a goal to aspire to. I shot from sunrise to sunset every day. Most days I took a Subway sandwich back to the hotel for lunch and took a shower while my memory cards were transferring then it was back to it. Most nights I was in bed at 11 with memory cards or backups still transferring.

It was HOT in D.C. for those days. Luckily, I had great weather other than that though. It only rained the morning of the day I flew home, and I think I used it to my advantage during my shooting that morning.

A couple of days into it my travel injuries came back like they always do. My right calf hurt for several days. The middle toes on my left foot are still very sore. I couldn't move them for several days. The longer I walked on them each day the more the pain went away. Then there's the pain in my left ankle that first appeared after my kamikaze photo walk all the way around San Francisco, across the Golden Gate, through Sausalito, and back up the San Francisco hills to my hotel. That was several years ago. It comes back like travel's version of Santa Clause, just without the shiny bows.

I got some great material though, including some of a particular subject one of my editors had pointed out for me. It's really not covered by any of the major stock houses, and I'm hopeful that those images will pay for the trip themselves and sales from the rest will be profit. It's impossible to say though. The truth is it's entirely random. Of course, that's never mentioned in the photo books but it's reality. You create the very best pictures you can, but the reality has been for me that my best pictures by any aesthetic or technical standards rarely produce well. More often it's the totally unexpected or run-of-the-mill shots.

Out of all of pictures on my first trip to D.C., when I was an aspiring pro but still very much an amateur, I took one shot that has been licensed more times than any other during my still young career. I doubt it has produced more in total revenue, but it certainly has been licensed more times. There's nothing wrong with the shot, but if you were to ask me to assemble my top 1,000 photos I've every taken, irrespective of financial gain, that shot would not come close to making the list. I tried going back on this trip and making the same shot. I hoped to update it to a digital version from the original scanned 35mm transparency. It wasn't there. I thought about going back and trying again the next day, but why? Whatever magic that particular frame had has already come and gone as far, at least with me behind the lens.

I don't mean to give the impression though that traveling to D.C. for a few days as an American photographer is much of a hardship. It certainly isn't, not when you're in your own country. I don't believe your senses are quite as awakened either. Working in another country is always harder but more exciting as well.

I was reading Joe Morahan describe a photo safari trip to Africa in Rangefinder magazine today. I've never really known if all travel photographers work as hard as I do, or if I was just being stupid. I felt a lot parallels in Joe's statements though:

A photographer's day begins long before snrise and ends well after sunset. To paraphrase the old Irish proverb, "You can sleep when you're dead." Well, I was close; I was dead on my feet. But the beauty of Africa defies description.

The trip was an opportunity of a lifetime. The costs are high, and Africa's fragile political landscape is constantly changing, rarely for the better. As a result, there is no time to waste. Shoot, shoot, shoot--plan the shoot, shoot the plan. When not shooting, I was ready to shoot--you just never know what you will see next in Africa.

...How long does it take to cull, edit and prepare a month's work? A long time if you have 22,000 pictures to review. But what a trip it must have been for those relaxed campers. I now see in print what they were viewing live and I hope I captured the essence of the safari experience

A few days in D.C. is no comparison with a month in Africa of course. I identify with him though, especially the strenuous days and the feeling of not really experiencing any of a trip until you are back home. And with editing, it took me a year-and-a-half to edit my last trip to Europe and that trip was my honeymoon! I guess when you spend more time touching your camera on your honeymoon than your wife you are either mentally unstable, have an incredibly understanding wife, or... maybe both.

I shot a few thousand images during my short D.C. trip. With each day I shot more and more on "Continuous High" mode on my Nikon DSLR, otherwise known as "machine gun" mode. Just trying to guarantee I got the shot I wanted, often stretching what is possible when hand-holding a camera. Culling through my images this weekend I found that I shot 4 panoramics of exactly the same scene, each about 12 shots each. In all, I shot nine panoramics at that same location plus medium, wide, and telephoto shots all within a matter of a few minutes. I don't even remember all of it. I knew I shot a panoramic or two, but nine? In retrospect, I know what I was thinking. I will shoot panoramics on a tripod around home but when traveling I often shoot them handheld. If you don't pause completely between each shot you'll have one or more frames blurred, screwing up the whole pan in the process. I've done this often. So, if it's worth shooting once why not shoot it four times? Over the years this has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn really. In short, "Shoot it to death and ask questions later."

Looking back through all the pictures it's like I'm just know seeing them, where I'm not rushed and can study them. As I edit through the images, with each great shot I breathe a sigh of relief, but it's really all the missed shots and missed opportunities that I spend any mental cycles on. The shots that I got I don't really care about. Instead I think about the locations I didn't get to, when I should have gone to the trouble of hauling around a tripod but didn't, or when I should have hauled around my 70-200 2.8 but didn't, or when I should have gotten closer or gotten lower or held the freakin' camera more steady.

Most of all, I think about the next trip, and how I'll plan and shoot it all so much better the next time. As a travel photographer I think that is where the fun comes in--anticipating the next trip.

Into the Light

This is a great video on photography. You should watch it.



The video is by Ibarionex R. Perello who hosts The Candid Frame photography podcast where he interviews photographers. You should check it out as well. I listen to nearly all of them. Recent interviews include Douglas Kirkland and Greg Gorman.