Jiuzhaigou For Photographers

As the most expensive National Park in China, you might think twice about spending the yuan to visit this park.  However, you would be doing yourself no favours, and unfortunately, the peak fall season is also one of the best times to view the spectacular scenery.  The park operators have it all worked out, and the entrance price of 220 yuan – plus another 90 yuan for the green bus to travel around in the park – is only valid for one day’s entry during the months of July to March.  Outside of this period (April – June), the entrance ticket can be used for two days, and the bus fare is reduced to 80 yuan per day.

Jiuzhaigou is situated in the northern reaches of Sichuan province and used to be difficult to access.  Now there are several flights departing daily from Chengdu and buses from Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport can take you to either Jiuzhaigou (88km away) or Huanglong (53km).  We stayed at MIGU Youth Hostel, which is part of the Hostelling International chain of youth hostel accommodation, and was only a half hour walk from the entrance of the park.  The rooms are clean and serviceable for 120 yuan/night; if not of the 5 star quality of the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort on the other side of the park, at least the owner speaks English, Mandarin and Japanese very well.  Beware that you may need to pay extra to operate the heating unit though, as electricity is still considered a relative luxury.

We arrived in late October and spent two days exploring Jiuzhaigou.  We were worried that we had missed the fall colours, and although it was clear that peak colour had passed, we still think it’s worth a visit.  During our visit the ground was covered with fallen leaves but there were still a fair number of trees holding onto their coloured foliage, and the scattered leaves in the lakes provided interesting contrast with the deep blues and turquoises of the water.

Jiuzhaigou was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992.  It has gained popularity in the last few years and tourism is now responsible for the majority of locals’ income with over 1.5 million visitors annually (mostly local Chinese).  On our first day we made the mistake of taking the green bus all the way to the top of the right fork of the Park, and whilst the day started off quietly enough, by 11am it was thronging with local tourists and jostling is in order to secure enough space for your tripod.  As many of the paths are boardwalked, you will also need to deal with vibrations as the thousands of people stampede past whilst you are trying to take that 2-second exposure of a waterfall.

So here are some tips that will hopefully help you to make the most of Jiuzhaigou:

Tip #1: Wake up early and get to the park before it opens at 7am.  You can only buy tickets for the day, on the day, during peak season.  At 6.45am there will already be 20 people lined up, if not more.

Tip #2: To avoid the crowds, catch the bus to an approximate halfway mark in the park.  Our first stop was Mirror Lake on the second day, and there was not a soul in sight; it was a fabulous relief from the crowds and we didn’t need to fight for tripod space.  We shot Pearl Shoals Waterfall, then Nuorilang Falls, then caught the bus UP to Long Lake on the left fork.  If we were to do it again, on Day 1 we’d still stop off in the middle, head downwards towards the entrance of the Park, then go to the Primeval Forest at the top of the right fork later in the day.

Tip #3:  Pack your own food/beverages.  Don’t waste time trying to catch a bus back to the Visitor Centre as there are no kiosks or eateries anywhere else in the park.  The Government has actually done a very good job of keeping the park clean and man-made structures are kept to a minimum.

Tip #4:  Try to shoot the waterfalls in the morning period.  Most of them face west, so later in the afternoon it can become very bright and exposure is horrendously difficult to control.  We had to use an NDx4 filter in addition to our GNDs to be able to achieve a slow enough shutter speed in the bright light.

Tip #5:  If you only have one day, we recommend the right fork.  The 5 adjoining lakes of Arrow Bamboo Lake to Golden Bell Lake are probably the most picturesque group in the Park.  Heading towards the entrance, Mirror Lake, Rhinoceros Lake and the Shuzheng Falls are also very pretty.  If you do have two days, the left fork leading to Long Lake is probably better in the afternoon as the boardwalk faces east out towards the Lake, and it can be hard shooting into the sun in the mornings (we only did a morning shoot at Long Lake).  The Upper Seasonal Lake did not contain a lot of water at the time of our visit, and there are fewer bus stops along the left fork.  We most certainly felt that the right fork offered more photo opportunities.

Tip #6: Be patient, especially as it gets later and more and more tourists arrive.  You may think that you will never get your shot, but there will be very brief periods where there are gaps between groups of people walking past.  The only downside is that it takes longer, and you may cut into the time you have allocated for each area – however the only advice we can give here is that if you really want to do everything in the park, you may need to think about spending more days shooting (maybe 3, or even more).

Tip #7: Beware of ACE – Asian Composition Envy.  We made this term up after noticing the phenomenon in numerous places we visited throughout China.  What will occur is that you will spend time setting up your tripod and camera for the composition you want, and then you will patiently wait for a gap in which you can actually take the photo.  In the meantime, at least 5 other people will come up right behind you, try to look at your LCD screen, look at the scene towards which your camera is pointed, then immediately take the same picture whilst standing right next to you.  In some cases, they will go so far as to stand in front of your camera, and ask you to take a photo of them, posing in front of your carefully selected scene.  The only solution we suggest – smile, take the photo, and they will be on their way soon enough.

Tip #8: Pack some warm gear as it can be quite chilly in the mornings and evenings when the sun is not shining directly on you.  It didn’t rain during the two days that we visited, but we were very lucky – on the last evening steady precipitation soaked the ground and didn’t let up until well into the night, so some waterproof gear might not be such a bad idea either.

Tip #9: Enjoy yourself!  The Park really is a gorgeous display of natural scenery, so whilst there are some downsides to visiting in peak season, you’re there and you might as well make the most of it.

For more information, the website www.jiuzhai.com is not bad, but a Google search of “Jiuzhaigou” will bring up more than enough sites to trawl through.  Hopefully we’ve managed to give a brief overview from a photographer’s point of view that will also help if you do decide to visit the Park.

-M.

 

HDR Workflow Tutorial

I’ll be using the following image of Shenlong waterfall in Yunnan for a step by step tutorial in my particular method of processing HDR images.

The Final result of an HDR image

HDR images tend to be very popular because of its innate properties as well as the fact that the web seems to be flooded with HDR imagery out there these days.  As a personal opinion, I use HDR to present exactly what it stands for : High Dynamic Range in an image – meaning that there are minimal blown highlights and minimal areas of pure black shadow. However, HDR as it has come to be recognised online, has almost become synonymous with the imagery that one particular software program called Photomatix produces. The results are often stunning, surreal, heavily oversaturated and tend to look more like digital art than a photo. There’s nothing wrong with this appearance but I still like to present photographs as photographs rather than digital art as such (definitions clash I know).  I’ve been given the odd compliment here and there that many of my HDR images veer away from the photomatix trend in a good way; which is the reason why I thought I would share some of the workflow and photoshop techniques I use to create the final result. Note that there are many other ways to process and present these images that are by no means less effective or worthwhile.

Step 1: Choosing the right images

One of the important things to recognise when taking shots for an HDR image is that many of the images look awful on their own.  You can take any number of exposures of a given scene and the best results are achieved when you can calculate these exposures manually, however, the easiest way to take an image is to use the camera’s autobracketing function to take three images.

0EV image : neutral exposure : I try to take this image as though I were not shooting with an HDR in mind such that shadows and highlights are balanced as well as possible ( I do use filters even with HDR shots). Often, if I’ve done a decent job, I will only process this image and not go on with my HDR workflow.

Balanced lighting in the image : note the histogram on top right

-2EV image: this image will look dark and unusable but don’t ditch it! The purpose of this image is to have no blown highlights at all so the histogram should be gathered to the left.

Highlights are correctly exposed for (but nothing else) - note the histogram on the top right - this image is probably a little too underexposed even for a -2EV

+2EV image: this image will look blown out as though you’re staring at a lightbulb but once again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Its purpose is to capture shadows in the image exposed to a neutral degree hence the histogram should be gathered to the right.

Ouch! what a sight for sore eyes. Note though that it has served its function by lightening the foresty hills . Note the histogram is bunched to the far right.

The wider the exposure bias in your images, the larger the dynamic range of the final result. If I’m serious about creating a good image, I use a tripod so that all 3 images are exactly aligned. If I’m even more serious, I might take 5 or more exposures for the one scene though I find that in most instances, the standard 3 will suffice.

Step 2:  The Photomatix steps

I wont’ discuss how to use Photomatix at all. Needless to say that it is a very simple process to produce an image from this program. In the screenshot are the typical settings that I use on the tonemapping function of this program.  I choose to use the details enhancer by default.

Importing into photomatix is as simple as dragging and dropping the images into the photmatix window and clicking OK at several prompts

My typical settings on photomatix : others not shown in the other tabs include settings for temperature, smoothing and micro-contrast

The final result from Photomatix’s effort at producing HDR creates some very attractive textures and a heavy degree of saturation. Often, it warms the temperature of the scene somewhat too. It’s shortcomings however are:  Bizarre looking skies that are completely unreal  (a good thing if this is what you’re aiming for) , terrible grain where the program has tried to turn pure blacks into a midtone , uneven lighting which varies from the original image wildly at times.  (In the above example, I was not happy with the darkening of the middle of image,the odd highlights in the water, and the inappropriately darkened bottom right) So this is why I find it necessary to undertake the following steps.

Step 3: Creating the base image to edit:

Typically, I open the Photomatix image as a base layer in photoshop.

I then open the +2EV  image and adjust the colours to match roughly what I want in the final result. Copy the image and add it onto the original image as a new layer and you will see only the +2EV image layer.

The photomatix image is at top left. The +2EV image I've adjusted to match the colour before dragging and dropping into the photomatix image as a new layer

Step 4 : Realistic looking shadowed areas

Create a layer mask over the new layer and select the brush tool. Using black on the layer mask deletes the current layer hence exposing the underlying Photomatix layer. Using white on the layer mask recovers the layer. I use settings on the brush that are soft, and at about 30% strength so that the change is gradual. The aim of adding this layer is often to retain the ‘photographic’ quality of the +2EV image’s shadowed areas while retaining the textures from the Photomatix layer. As a result, I end up ‘erasing’ most of the new layer’s areas where there are highlights in the original scene and retaining most of the new layer’s areas where there were shadows in the original scene.

The two layers visible : Since the +2EV image is on top, that is all you will be able to see at this stage

Setting the brush to small percentages and flow means that any change will be gradual and less likely to need undoing

In the layer mask on bottom right, you can see that the areas I've retained from the +2EV layer are in white. Any areas in black on the layer mask are effectively 'see through' areas to the underlying photomatix base layer

Step 5: Realistic looking highlight areas ( eg water, sky)

Next, open up the -2EV image and adjust the hue/saturation and vibrance to the same degree as you did for the +2EV image.  Copy the image and add it onto the original image as a new layer. You should now only be able to see this new shadowed layer on top of the +2EV layer and the Photomatix base layer.  Create a layer mask as above.  The aim  of this layer is to retain the photographic feel of the bright areas of the original image while getting rid of the shadows from this layer that are unusable.  Often, I end up retaining 100% of the sky from the -2EV image with no contribution from the Photomatix layer at all.

The process described for the +2EV layer is repeated with the -2EV layer. I only want to retain bits of the water from this layer, meaning that most of this layer will be deleted through the layer mask being brushed 'black'

You can repeat the procedure with new layers for other exposures that you took if there is a particular aspect of each exposure whose appearance you want in the final image. An example of this is for waterfall images. Because of the way I shoot these images, the best water motion is often contained in the 0EV image which I will add as an additional layer, removing everything else (using a layer mask) but the water I wish to retain in the final image.

The end result should be that you have an image with good dynamic range where shadows are visible and highlights are well controlled. By blending in the original images , the resultant image looks more real than the original image that Photomatix produced for you.

The final result of melding the three layers together. Now all that's left is to do is"flatten" the image

Once you are happy with the exposures and general appearance, ‘flatten the image’ and then whatever workflow for all your non HDR images comes into play….but that’s a post for another day!

So , just to show you the evolution again , We went from

The three native images:

To a Photomatix generated image : (weird lighting)

To a more natural looking image by blending in the original images: (soft looking image)

And finally, some more adjustment to colours, levels, sharpening layers and borders for the final result:

Hooray all done!!!

Well, that was probably a bit of a lengthy read but I hope it would at least have given you some ideas as to how to to about producing these kinds of images after taking the shot!(bigger version at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmtoh/4142172567/)

-D

 

Sharing the Day

The year of wedding shoots finally came to an end this past weekend and what a year it has been.  We started off by attending the weddings of two couples as one of ‘those’ guests carrying lots of photographic equipment but weren’t the real photographers. Then , within the last two months, we’ve shot our first 3 weddings as primary photographers and have learned so much from these three days. Aside from all of the techinical mumbo jumbo (choosing iso, filters, apertures shutter speeds, carrying ladders around etc etc) we learned that shooting for a good 8-10 hours does bring on mental and physical fatigue toward the end of the day. Neither of us are caffeine junkies so that was never going to be a viable solution and there’s only so much that sugar can do (besides adding a few more fillings to my growing collection of 7 and Marianne’s 5).  The best way I’ve found to keep the energy levels and concentration going is to be involved with the wedding and the people there. Each of the three weddings has had a very different ‘vibe’ to the day and how well you as the photographer settle into that vibe undoubtedly adds to your willingness to ask for certain shots, take them, and keep up the enthusiasm.

So, without further ado, here’s a few of the spur of the moment shots from this last weekend’s wedding and the mini story behind them.

Usually, wedding vows are sacrosanct, a protected bit of speech that gets memorised and repeated. Well, I don’t know if it was improvisation on the day or premeditated , but the groom certainly did some on the spot alteration to the enjoyment of all around and probably a red face here and there !

Some creative posing on the ‘car’ shot:

Some blokey antics by the groomsmen:

Hiding from the photographer maybe?

We hadn’t planned on shooting at the gate, so we just left them alone after positioning them and told them to do whatever they liked.

Celebrations in style with cigars

And of course the traditional bridal waltz was ditched for a bit of air guitar halfway through.

And finally, the shot taken for the night, and a close to 2009 for Marianne and me!

We now wait for 2010 to see what the year of the Tiger brings us. Thanks for looking and reading all of our dribble throughout the year.

-D

 

Another Holiday, Another Wedding!

We are just back from our holiday to Yunnan Province in China’s southern region, and some of you might have already had a peek at a few of the images that Dylan has edited and added to the “Recent” gallery on our website.  We had a wonderful time and some of the sights were just as we expected – spectacular, to say the least.  Hopefully we have managed to capture some of this in our images!

With Facebook, Twitter and WordPress all inaccessible through the Great Firewall of China, it was difficult to post updates throughout the trip, which gave Dylan more time to edit his images.  Luckily Flickr was still available to soothe his penchant for posting new images.  I will eventually get to my own images, but with our third and last wedding to shoot this Saturday, I may not get to them for a few weeks!  I am looking forward to reliving the memories when I finally sit down to edit them though.

It has been quite a year for Everlook Photography, especially the last six months.  With 3 exhibitions in July, September and October, we are receiving the exposure we expected, and our website statistics are reflecting this.  It was also very exciting when we received that first request to shoot a wedding as primary photographers, and the feedback has been excellent.  We have already had enquiries for next year!  So thank you to those couples who gave us the opportunity to share in their Special Day and capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments. 

We are hoping to wind down over December and I would like to give the website a new look.  Whether or not I will find the time is another question!  With the Festive Season fast upon us, the days just seem to be filling up with social engagements.  I am also keen to begin making our new house a cosy home and there are plenty of things there to keep me busy (the garden is a mess!). 

So, until the next images are ready for viewing, here are a few to tide you over…

-M.

 

Let’s Hope This Works!

Over this last weekend, Marianne and I completed shooting our second wedding this October.

It was a simply a wonderful day and one of those days when you could stream ‘love is all around’ subliminally through the air and it still wouldn’t seem corny. It was also one of those days that reminded me just exactly how much of a privilege is to view such happiness and capture it through a lens. There was a not even a trace of anyone being there out of obligation. As a photographer, it is a dream to be working in this environment as it can’t help but rub off on your emotions as you shoot. (Mind you it might be a tad embarrassing if the photographer shed a tear!). I could keep writing superlatives about the day and all those involved, but the point of this post was to demonstrate (hopefully) that a bit of location scouting does wonders for the shoot. Because we had limited time between ceremony and reception, knowing exactly what we wanted to do and where helped Marianne and I no end to capture the emotion of the day.

We were fortunate that there was really only one entry to the greenery. What Marianne was wanting to capture was the grandeur of the trees, however, that would have dwarfed the bride. A compromise at wide angle resulted in this shot.

Entering the Garden

 Glen Ewin is set in the Adelaide Hills which is currently lush from the heavy winter and spring rains. Everywhere you looked there opportunities for green bokeh. This shot from Patrick hopefully shows this off.

Photographing the bride and groom signing the registry is one of those tasks that is far easier as a primary photographer than someone in the crowd vying for an angle.  (I wasn’t prepared enough the weekend before to bring a pen so hence the car key mime )

 

After the ceremony and congratulations, we had the problem of finding somewhere to take shots of relatives. The previous week was dry but in the week leading up to the wedding, it had been raining most days. As a result, many of the women (bride and bridesmaids included) had started to sink their heels into the turf. The caretakers were also quite keen for us to limit damage to the grounds. Fortunately other than the nice textures of the wall, Clare and Emily had left their bouquets on a bench along with a champagne glass which I only spotted after a couple of images had been taken.

 By the time all of the posed family and group shots were done, it was technically time for the reception on the running sheet already! This was mainly where the preparation had helped us. Most of the compositions were largely in our head from the previous week’s visit. I had to take images of the bride looking out into the water. This is just one of many taken which I could consider a ‘keeper’.

Next up – there were plenty of grittily textured old walls and wooden doors on the estate. Sadly, the one we had eyed with beautiful overhanging flowers could not be used as someone driving a Lexus had parked right in front! grrr….. Anyway, a bit of tripod work and half serious posing the week before gave us the composition below. I ended up with a white bottom the previous week so for the day, we brought a towel for Clare and Hien to sit on ( you might be able to peek the corner of it in the image ).

Marianne had an idea to get the bridal party walking down one of the many green paths and frame the image the willows and lilies in the area. Lighting on the day was quite dark here and she couldn’t use the flash without blowing out the foreground. The blue sky from the scout shot would have been good in the real one!

There was an attractive stone alcove a short walk from where we were. By this time, people were getting hungry, the crowd was waiting to cheer the entry of the bride and groom, so we bid them a few cheers and let them on their way ! I don’t think we could have got Clare up where Marianne was given that the ledge was only 10cm wide or so.

Marianne and I now have 1200 or so photos to sift through for Clare and Hien. It will be a pleasure even if our sore eyes don’t tell us so. Our first pass last night told us we wanted to give them at least half of them. Now it’s time to relive the day in retrospect and see if we managed to capture enough of it to paint the beautiful storybook day of October 17 2009 for Clare and Hien

-D

 

Where Did September Go?

Last month was just one of those months that I *THINK* happened, but I honestly have no idea what actually transpired within those 30 days.

I was away in New Zealand for the first week, attending a work conference in Wellington.  The weather was brisk and not particularly conducive to exploration, so I spent most of my time within the confines of the Duxton hotel.  I did manage two forays to the waterfront, and on the last day visited the Te Papa Museum.  There are some gorgeous Maori exhibits on display.

Traditional Maori Dwelling

I was finally able to spend some time in our new house and four weeks later, Dylan and I have settled in well and are enjoying the lifestyle change (closer to the city, morning drives to work together, waking up to filtered light streaming in our floor-to-ceiling windows).  There’s still two rooms to sort out and maybe 15 boxes to unpack, but that’s alright.  We have 30 years to organise ourselves because I don’t think we’ll be moving anytime soon again!

Front of our house

The last half of September was devoted to preparing ourselves for our first wedding gig, and also for our last major exhibition for this year.   We were delighted to be accepted by The Adelaide Festival Theatre for inclusion in the annual OzAsia Festival, which is now on, until 17 October.  Our display consists of 8 photographic images taken in China and Malaysia, and is showing until 1 November.  OzAsia celebrates the Asian cultural backgrounds of artists who are now living in Australia, and is a feast of dance, theatre, music, film, culinary and exhibition delights.  See the last post for details of our exhibition, titled “The Sum of Cultures”.

Malaysia's National Mosque

September ended with Dylan and myself getting all our gear ready for the wedding gig on 3 October 2009.  My brother Patrick Lim joined us for the day, and we are quite pleased with our first efforts.  We did a lot of location scouting beforehand and are thankful that we did so – the day went to plan (as much as Wedding Days can) and we felt organised and well-prepared.  The trawling through Wedding Forums online also helped a lot… thanks to the masses of photographers out there who willingly share information and tricks they have learnt!  It has always been an intention of mine to have a more thorough ’technical’ section to our blogs where we randomly pick something photography-related and have a ’step-by-step’/'how-to’ guide but as is evident, this is yet to get off the ground!  Someday…

We have a second wedding to shoot on 17 October, and armed with our experiences from last week, we are very much looking forward to it.  After that we are flying to China to catch the last colours of Jiuzhaigou and to explore Yunnan province for three weeks.  We will be back mid-November with a host of new images from this diverse country.

All in all, busy times!!  It will be Christmas before we know it.  In the meantime I will try to be more vigilant with our updates…

-M.

 

OzAsia Exhibition Now Showing!

Our latest exhibition is on display now in The Piano Bar at Adelaide Festival Centre!  Titled, “The Sum of Cultures”, the images from China and Malaysia are a reflection of our heritage on our photographic vision. 

Monk asking for Alms, Petaling Street, Malaysia

OzAsia is an annual Festival – now in its third year – that celebrates the diverse cultural Asian backgrounds of artists now living in Australia.  Officially opened on 3 October 2009, the Festival is a mix of theatre, dance, music, film, culinary and visual exhibition delights.  Our display will be showing until 1 November 2009.

Here are the quick facts:

Location: Adelaide Festival Centre, The Piano Bar

Address: Accessible from King William Road or North Terrace (The Piano Bar is just off KW road)

Exhibition Times:  The Piano Bar Opening times (Regular hours, but also open in evenings and weekends – subject to shows during those times)

More Information: http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/

 

An distant memory

One of the nice things about moving house and packing, is that sometimes, you discover elements of your past self inadvertently. I discovered and old 3.5″ floppy disc the  other day while go through my drawers and true enough, its contents were a time capsule. I remember now that to help me through difficult times in university and early work stressors, I would write to vent. It’s by no coincidence that since meeting Marianne, the muse has long been lost. I can’t even vaguely remember the last time I wrote something poetic. I like to believe that my artistic expression has moved on to the visual medium of photography.

This is the poem titled “Drive By”. It was written in 1999 during which people who know me, will know the problem that created this poem.

I remember when we used to cry

Never a reason , never knew why.

You used to smile and gently stroke

The tears of ire which soured our bliss

With every phrase and heartless kiss

You fed me hope , my love to yoke

I never knew that in my peace

You’d sold your heart , another’s lease

You loved me still or so it seemed

Illusions I wish I’d never dreamed

Left me alone to play my part

But all the while we drifted apart

A rotting raft I captained in death

He stole your light, incurred my wrath.

 

It was so clear, the cold in your grasp

Each phrase  of love a forceful rasp

But I was blind and drowned by love

Fighting the swirl for the air above

And yet it seemed, all so sudden

The day they rose ,the truths so hidden

You crushed my will, my arms in leather

The air above , a distant shimmer

I’ve driven by the places we met

Swallowing down the bitter regret

I’ve walked alone the riverside walks

Throwing crumbs to the silent flocks

Cool wind blows past , my eyes sorely blind

But my memories of you ,still  burn in my mind.

 

The fire had faded, the embers still warm

When displaced I did, my intentions of harm

I hated the man I’d see as a joke

A thief of the night, stealing my hope

I could not accept , the blame was all mine

Love you or hate you, the thinnest black line

I’d placed you upon that altar of guilt

Roses around you, threatened to wilt

But around your face, they flower and live

That this was cold fate, I’ll never believe.

My thoughts were awry , a danger to you

So I’ve let you be free in all that you do

Drive by your home once in a while

Remembering your touch, the warmth in your smile

Then drive away meekly to aimlessly roam

My heart still beating without a true home.

The fire has faded , the ashes are cold

Swept and forgotten , my story now told.

—–end of sadness circa 1999——-

ok, now for something a little more cheery : an image of sunrise taken this morning from Saint Kilda Beach.

The days still pass as water flows

The ebb and tide through dusk and dawn

As grief abates and gladness glows

Tears forlorn, so far, so gone.

—-end of peace circa 2009—-

 

Are We Being Too Lenient With Our Artist’s Rights?

With the advent of the digital age the vast possibilities for exposure to the entire world and the sharing of information through the World Wide Web is something that I cannot imagine living without.  If I have a question, all I have to do these days is plug it into Google – “Google it!” – and voila! there it is, all the answers arranged for me (mostly) in order of relevance.  No more poring through reference books and taking 3 hours to find the one answer I need.

This led me to thinking about the legal sharing of information and that led to thinking about our photography, which, like most photographers these days, we have available for viewing through our website, blog, facebook and all sorts of other online applications.  Dylan and I are quite diligent with watermarking and reducing the size of our uploaded images, partly because we don’t want viewers sitting there waiting for 5 gigabytes worth of images to come up on screen, but more importantly, to protect ourselves and our copyrights to those images.  However, no matter how careful you are, there are always programs (and people) that will find ways to remove any trace of whom those images belonged to.  This saddened me a little, thinking about it, because the Internet is such a powerful tool to say to the world, “Hey! Look, I wanted to share this with you because it makes me happy, so here it is!”  But in order to do so, you need to have a certain acceptance that you are risking your art, because there is no way you can be sure that someone else hasn’t downloaded your image and is passing it off for their own, or not giving you credit for its use, or any of the myriad of other discourteous ways of using something that isn’t of their own creation.

Now I am literally speaking about photographic image files as ‘art’, as this is what I am primarily concerned with in this particular post.  (Yes, I think photography is art, and there’s a topic for another blog post!)  There are plenty more things that should command respect where it’s due.  For example, if one sees a composition of a subject, and it has proven to be a source of inspiration for one to take a very similar image, one should really give credit to whomever it was who thought of that composition in the first place.  There aren’t any ‘but’s about it.  Fair enough if the two images share the subject but otherwise look nothing alike in terms of composition angle, lighting, etc., but seriously – credit where it’s due, please.

West Beach Dawn

Okay so speaking of credits.  When should you ask for a physical gain (i.e. payment) for use of your images, and when should you just be happy with a credit line?  This is not for assignments or commissions.  This is for images you’ve taken (for the fun of it), and they’re on show on Flickr or your website, or YouTube, or whatever.  Someone has come along, and looked at your photos, and you get an email: “Your images are great!  I was wondering if I could have permission to use it [in a book/on my website/on my company's website/in a flyer]?”  Alright, fantastic news!  Someone wants to use your photos!  So… what do you do now?  Tell them they can license your image(s) if they wish, or just ask for a credit line?  Let me clarify that this is coming from an amateur photographer point of view here, that income from photography itself is not substantial and that it is funded in large part - if not solely – by a day job. 

I am a strong believer in licensing images for use.  One of the reasons is this; if I agree to just a credit line and no monetary payment, how does that impact on the thousands of professional photographers who rely on photography for their income?  What am I saying?  “Well, sure, you can just credit me, I’ll be happy with that – then you won’t have to pay [such and such] for almost the same image!”  And because for me photography is really just a hobby, and I have a professional day job that provides me with the funds for this rather expensive pastime, should I not care that I am basically doing someone else out of a small part of their income?

Another reason that I believe images should be licensed is this; if I try to ‘get my foot in the door’, and start off being very generous with the use of my photography (i.e. credit line only), when and where can I say, “Okay, well now I’d like you to pay me for my image(s)”?  Don’t get me wrong, if it’s for charity or other worthy causes, non-profit organisations, sure, I have no qualms with just a credit line.  But if there is a benefit in using my image, then I honestly think that I should have a share in it too!  What if it was my image on the front cover that sold that book?  Or my image that lured people to a website that results in business for that company?

West Beach Sunrise

I have to admit, this post has been partly brought about by requests that we have received in the past few months enquiring about the use of our images.  In each case, I politely replied that our images were available for licensing, and if they could provide me with more information, I would send them an approximate pricing for the image(s) in question.  No one emailed back. 

I felt a bit silly - after all, I’m not a professional photographer - and wondered several times if I should just go back grovelling and say, “No no, here, you can have it, I just want to be published, you don’t need to pay me at all!”  But no.  I shall not.  Because what does that ultimately mean?  That I don’t place a value on my images?  That just anyone can use them for the sake of exposure?  That they’re second best just because they were free?  No.  There IS a value on my images, even if it’s just in my head.  I had the artistic vision to take that image.  If no one is prepared to pay for it, that’s okay, I will continue on my merry way and know that it IS good enough, because they bothered to enquire about it.  I invested time and money in making that image – and whilst that wasn’t something that I consciously thought about when I took the photo – it’s the truth. 

I have had a few enquiries on DeviantArt to use a certain leopard photo that shot to fame as a Daily Deviation some months ago.  Many people asked if they could use the photo as a reference for their own art.  I was more than happy to supply them with a web-resolution copy of the image.  I simply asked for a credit line, because they weren’t USING the image, they were REFERENCING from it.  They will produce their OWN art based on it.  That’s a big difference. 

DeviantArt artists asked if they could reference this image

So to all of you reading this post, I hope I have given you some things to think about, whether it is you the artist trying to make your way in this world, or you the publisher who is looking for material for your next book.  Don’t forget, these are just MY opinions, and no one has to agree with me.  I just thought I’d put it out there, and hopefully I’ve made some valid points, and shown that it isn’t just about the money – there are a lot more deeper issues than that.

-M.

 

Indie Snobbery and my #5.5-10 fave songs

This post is unashamedly driven by last week’s countdown of triple J’s hottest 100 songs of all time. While I liked many of the songs in their list, I get the distinct impression that the vote was based on what people liked and what people thought ‘would be cool’ to be in the list rather than what they consider to be the best songs of all time as a whole.  I have no issue with that except to say that the list really then does not stand out from the usual popularity contest poll. I was hoping that people could transcend the ‘indie snobbery’** that goes with many of tripleJ’s listeners and actually vote for a few pop songs which , like it or not, shaped the music industry in massive way. Only Michael Jackson really got a look in and probably would not have done so save for his death during the voting period.

Now for a little sidetrack:

**By Indie snobbery, I mean the fact that once a band gets signed by a big ‘commercial’ label and their music becomes more accessible to the wider public, some will inwardly accuse the band of ’selling out’ and hence not have time to listen to them any more. Whilst in some cases, the band’s music and ethos actually does change, in many cases, the music remains the same but popularity deems them avoidable by these so-called indie snobs who would rather bring up an obscure band in sophisticated conversation rather than a popular one. Adds more to the cool/chic factor doesn’t it. Two great examples in recent times from triple J are the bands ‘Kings of Leon’ and ‘Snow Patrol’. Both of these bands were heavily played and lauded  by presenters when they were relatively unknown. Both have made it big in the commercial music market recently and have been the brunt of jokes made by a certain afternoon presenter who now deems the music unbearably trite and sinfully subscribing to mass appeal.  Now to me, Snow Patrol have always had that commercial alternative kind of sound and NOTHINGS CHANGED…..oh except they became popular , what a sin.  I don’t particularly like them, but I’m sure not going to avoid them because they 10 million other people are dying for their autograph. So, to the indie snobs out there, open your eyes a little, there is stuff in the popular music market that is worth listening to The same also goes for those who shun the indie/alternative music industry – there is stuff there that is accessible to your ears – just give anything a chance and you might be suprised. My approach is to know nothing about what’s popular any more and listen on merit whatever is presented to me on whatever station. There’s too much good music out there of any genre to get caught up in a perceived genre war.

Anyhow, back to the top 10! – Ironically, not many of them were particularly mainstream at the time of release lol. These (I think) are the songs that I best remember in the context of various stages of my life. I can’t pretend I know enough about music to construct a list of what I think deserves to  be in there for all time;  so I’ve gone with the approach that if I can’t remember the song right now, it can’t have had too much impact on me.

#10 : Garbage – I think I’m paranoid : When garbage first started out, I remember listening to their first album relentlessly while on holiday in Malaysia. The electro-grunge kind of sounds really stood out and Shirley’s vocals were the quality of existential drawl that typified my attitude to life at the time.  I think I’m paranoid was the first song from their second album which I bought and religiously listened to for a good 6 months , finding something to like about every single one of the songs on the album. Sadly, their change of sound on their third album was not to my liking but ironically, this was when their popularity also skied! <slaP> for my snobbery!

#9 Ultrasonic: Annihilating Rhythm:   Sooo, I’m not sure if many people remember this track but it was also a track that had me going. About the age of 18-19, I was so musically and fashionably tasteless that it was hopeless. The fact that I was tasteless, however, was something that I was proud of in that at least I was not conforming to the standards of ‘cool’ going around at the time. So then I ventured into the rave scene and dance clubs where every night I would be questioned for ID (tastelessly bad dressing perhaps?).  This track was an anthem at Thursday nights (techno nights at the club Heaven) and something that I would ‘go-off’ to every time I heard it. Dancing was such a good way to let off steam for me back then that this track would be a trigger for me to go nuts on the dance floor (yes I was one of those poorly dressed asians on the dance floor you had to stay away from because 1) you were afraid they might hit you with a flail limb as part of a maniacal dance move 2) you wondered if they were on speed because they didn’t care about what was going on except for this seemingly fascinating patch on the ground they were staring at). shhh, don’t tell anyone , but if I was particularly energetic at home, I’d go nuts at home to this track in my bedroom too.

#8 Jane Siberry : It won’t rain all the time:   Once again, this song seems an obscure choice save that it was the closing track to once of my favourite movies of all time ‘ The Crow’.  Her songs were fragile, sometimes offkey in falsetto and often with lyrics that didn’t flow to any particular rhythm. During my years of depression in university (real or imagined), it would allow me to wallow and release through catharsis. Remember , ‘It won’t rain all the time, The sky won’t fall forever, your tears won’t fall forever’. How very very uplifting. ( at the same time, I was also listening to concrete blonde’s ‘Tomorrow Wendy’ which is probably equally as cheerful). Such a shame that Brandon Lee die, this film would have made his career had he survived the filming.

#7 Sigur Ros : Glosoli: (Glowing light in English):   I recently stumbled across Sigur Ros and paid them attention while planning a trip to Iceland this year.  Having visited iceland now, it’s not hard to recognise how the environment shapes and influences the moving music they have and will continue to write.  I don’t understand a word of what they say , nor can I sing along, but it’s uplifting anyway (no sarcasm here at all). Dare to dream, dare to take that extra step ….even if it is over a 400m cliff – well, that’s the message from the film clip.

#6 Guns and Roses : November Rain:   This song was just epic! From memory, it was toward the end of the glam rock days where bands like Poison , Motley Crue and a few others would literally just sing about having fun in some inane way or other. The evidence is in the song titles “Don’t need nothing but a good time”, “Smoking in the boys room” etc etc..I never thought about the transition of rock music but watch Mickey Rourke’s opinion of this subject in the movie “The wrestler” and you’ll find it’s quite accurate. At some time in the 90s, rock bands went from singing about fun and taking drugs to being depressed and suicidal (but still taking drugs).  Not only was this song epic, but I still have such strong visuals of the ridiculously over the top 9 minute film clip which featured slash playing his guitar to sweeping panning views of a deserted church, Axl Rose with his hair done to make shampoo advertisrs proud, the ludicrously short wedding dress of the bride, the laughable drama of people jumping for cover from rain (some even jumped through the wedding cake) , and lastly, the uncalled for death of the bride and mourning scenes played to axl rose conducting an orchestra! Just epic LOL

#5.5 : Regina Spektor : Samson : Hmm, a 5.5? I guess I admit that I couldn’t count when I wrote this list – there were a little more than 10 songs so I’ll have to add a few more along the way. I couldn’t not include this song – this was the song that I played for Marianne on our wedding day reception. I think most people on the audience probably had no clue what the song was but I like that private little relavence between us that we shared. The story of course relates little to us other than that we continue our love unrecognised and without glitz and glamour.

Damien's shot of me playing Samson

That’s enough of a rant for now – I’ll write about my top 5 later on.

-D