The role of copyright and how it works is a mystery to many photographers. I can certainly understand why, especially with communication and digital image delivery constantly evolving. I’m not an expert on copyright but would really like to share my passion and basic understanding of the subject. When it comes time to dive deeper please refer to the ASMP website and the Library of Congress Copyright Office.

What is copyright? As it pertains to photographers, it is protection afforded the creator of an original work. It verifies that you are …

Full-sized images have been added to the previous post so you can better compare RAW vs. JPEG. Now if you click on one of the small photos a full-sized image will open in a new browser window (except for the little detail shots, they are just sampled from the full-sized images you’ll be downloading prior). I will mention that the files are large, 3 – 6 MB or so each. Lots of detail to view.

I’ll also mention that since RAW Canon CR2 files won’t readily show in a web …

There are lots of great reader comments on the tech article pages (the camera meter / histogram video, the battle of the bulbs shootout, studio color management, etc.). A couple of times it’s been pointed out that shooting RAW files (instead of JPEG) is advantageous for everything from color balance to exposure. This is very true. So before tackling some of those specific questions, I’d like to back up a little and show graphic illustrations of the difference between RAW and JPEG (also called JPG). Understanding this will help …

In episode 6 : create product photo backgrounds with no shadows and multiple colors using simple lighting equipment.
Subscribers view video on the website.

Here are the images, a little larger, with a bit more info. It’s a challenge posting large images in a blog without linking to external sources but I think I’ve come up with a solution for that in the future. For now I hope this will do…you can download this image, uncropped at full-size if you’d like to check out the detail.
Thanks, Jim T.

Below, just tungsten …

A sneak peek at Monday’s upcoming video: these photos were all shot using two cheap clamp lights on the exact same grey background. No colored gels were used and no color retouching has been done to the photos (these pics are straight out of the camera). So how did I come up with four completely different backgrounds? Here’s a hint: only one camera setting was changed.
Do you have it figured out (comments below)?

Today’s look around the net has a little something old and a little something new.
First, the new:
You know what’s cool? Seeing David Hobby (Strobist.com founder) in the pages of USA Today (both articles and videos) this past Tuesday. I pretty much assume everyone knows what Strobist is…if you don’t, just go to the website and you’ll figure it out quickly. What a phenomenon he’s created in two short years of online publishing. Along with Flickr (more on Flickr later in the post), his website has dramatically elevated the level of …

So why do you even need color management? Well, if you do product photography you need to reproduce your clients products accurately. If you photograph people you need nice skin tones. Even if your photos have random, crazy, vibrant, whacked out color then you need color management if you want your prints to look like they do on your monitor. Everyone can get great results once in awhile but the methodical photographer will get great results consistently and repeatedly.

A couple things were on my mind when it came time to …

Some photographers scream, some whisper with their images. As a commercial photographer in a midsized midwestern market I sometimes have to do both.
At the moment we’re working with a local jeweler to create some new images for their website. The company’s whole identity is about to be redone and the creative team (jeweler, agency, web designer and photo studio) is starting from scratch. It’s also one of those jobs without a huge budget (but will provide other benefits) so there will be artistic freedom for the whole team.

Photograph copyright Michael …

Today’s tech section is a chance to tie up some loose ends started over the last month or so. A little stick-in-a-can (from the DIY lighting videos) and a little bulb shootout follow up are on tap.
I’ve been promising stick-in-a-can and screen info and here it is:

The screens are made using 1″x2″ lumber. These are the kind of “L” brackets we use, along with the supplied screws. Always drill a pilot hold to thread the screws into when dealing with thin wood. As with all projects, find the straightest lumber …

Can you always trust your camera’s light meter? The answer is all in the histogram…
(subscribers, video may be viewed on the website):

Here are some selected books on the topic of photographic exposure.

Reference photographs used in the video

normal histogram
overexposed histogram
underexposed histogram

Canon 20D on aperture priority auto / no exposure compensation

black card
gray card
white card

black/gray/white cards