Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

JPEGmini is a company that has a unique approach to optimizing your JPEG format images in an effort to help you save storage space. I took a quick look at their offering and shared my thoughts on it with Sarah Perez in a recent TechCrunch article New Startup JPEGmini Reduces Photos’ Size, Not Their Quality. I thought I would share a little more about my take on the service in the event it’s something you feel is worthy of trying or using.

Test1 – Web sized image (800 px x 500 px)
Test2 – Full size image (5616 px x 3744 px)

What is JPEGmini?

• JPEGmini is NOT a new file format.
• JPEGmini is a re-compression engine with a twist:
  

  JPEGmini works by analyzing the input image using a unique quality detector which imitates the human visual system, and based on this analysis applying the maximum amount of compression which will not cause visible artifacts. For further details, see the technology section

• JPEGmini is an online service… for now

Does It Work?
The quick answer is yes and no. JPEGmini excels at compressing larger images versus smaller images. Compression gains are also made most significantly on “first-generation photos created by digital cameras”. In other words if you’ve edited a photo already in photo editing software you may not see huge file size reduction namely because the file has already undergone some level of compression.

I was a skeptic when I learned about this site. I ran a quick test to compare the following:

I tested two images of different types.

• An image with not a lot of detail and similar tones. Such images have a lot of similar data that is easily compressed resulting in higher compression savings.
• An image with a lot of detail and varied tones. Such images do not have a lot of similar data to compress resulting in less compression savings.

I also tested two different files sizes for each image:

• Web sized image (800 px x 500 px)
• Full size image (5616 px x 3744 px)

The results were notable with file size saving from 67% to 87%. But I also ran each image through Photoshop’s “Save for Web & Devices” at 60% quality to attain savings from 71% to 85%. Bottom line Photoshop reduces file size for web sized images better in this simplified test by 4-7%. On the other hand larger images attained greater file size reduction with JPEGmini over Photoshop by  4-7%.
Note: Photoshop is not optimized for compressing very large images with their “Save for Web & Devices” function and JPEGmini states they perform better with larger images.

Full Test Details

Pros, Cons & Thoughts
The pros clearly are that you can reduce the size of your large image files with the JPEGmini. In scale this could help you save money by reducing your demand for new hard drives. You can compress images without buying expensive software like Photoshop. All metadata is preserved.  Image quality suffered very little when comparing the original image and the JPEGmini version of the image at 100%. In fact most people would not notice a difference. That being said I did not run print comparisons of each file before and after JPEGmini compression.

On the other hand the service is only available online requiring you to upload images, wait for the compression engine to process your files (can range from minutes to hours) and then spend the time to download them. It’s also important to note that the service only works with JPEGs. The significance of this is that you’re compressing your image files multiple times and each compression ultimately results in loss of data. Compress an image repeatedly and you can impact image quality. For more on this refer to my previous article (pre-blog) guest written by Oskar Breuning JPEG Compression: Data Loss & Image Impact. Lastly the biggest concern I have surrounds the JPEGmini Terms of Service (TOS) namely the following User Submission section:

You hereby grant ICVT and our designees a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers), assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable right to use, host, store, index, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, and display and perform your Content on the web and on mobile devices, solely in connection with our provision of the Service

Uploading an image places the image on their server. While files are only kept for roughly 1 week, images can be used by JPEGmini’s parent company to market their service. Personally the broad nature of this section makes me too uncomfortable to use the service beyond testing. Of specific concern is the right claimed to sublicense images that they deem irrevocable. Not very photographer friendly in my eyes. Note: Dror Gill the CTO of the company has stated that photos are not used for promotion without confirmation from the owner in a comment on the TechCrunch article.

My hope is two fold for JPEGmini…

1. Clarify Modify the ToS to be more photographer friendly and less JPEGmini-centric
2. License their technology so it can be utilized in established programs and mobile applications or launch their own desktop & mobile applications.

Technorati Tags: photography, technology, JPEGmini, Photoshop, compression, JPEG

Ever wonder why mobile phone photography is exploding?

A discussion I had last night crystalized why this is indeed the case. Mobile phone photography, in particular iPhoneography, has distilled down the simple and core attraction of taking photos…  simply put it facilitates taking photos for the sake of taking photos and exploring visually. There is no preconceived notion of what is right, acceptable or marketable. You see something interesting, you shoot it and there is no major post-processing effort required.

There are catalysts to this craze including the BestCamera, Hipstamatic and Instagram apps that are bridging phone photography to social media and making a big dent in how most people think of photography. In the near future when someone says in conversation they took a photo, the interpretation by default will be that the photo was taken with a mobile phone and not an SLR. You want proof? Just last week the New York Times pointed out that the iPhone 4 is just quickly rising to become the most popular camera used on photos submitted to Flickr.

To Be A Poppy

Of the three community based photography mobile apps previously noted, I’m most heavily using Instagram. Why?

• It’s free
• It has a similar posting vocabulary to Twitter (hashtags, @ replies, etc.)
• Vibrant community of users (2 million who joined in 5 months!)
• Easy to share via Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Tumblr, and Posterous
• The app keeps improving with new features
• Like Flickr there is an API facilitating new services and sites to view & share photos (ex. Postagram, Webstagram, Instagallery etc.)
• The user interface is refined and simple from registration to sharing & reviewing photos

Clarity of Message

Rating:

I won’t sugar coat it. Instagram has had their rough spots (ex. their version 1.6 release having cache issues for some), but overall the functionality, and track record of regular incremental improvements has been impressive. It is the Flickr of the Mobile world and my most frequently accessed app on my iPhone and iPad. Instagram is by no means a finished product and ever expanding and improving. Instagram clearly has a larger plan expanding beyond the basic app, the release of their API and burgeoning sister apps like Postagram are a sign of the future. The mobile market is huge so it’s likely that there will be multiple players in this field and I’ll be keeping close tabs on BestCamera and Hipstamatic. For now I’m having the most fun with Instagram because its so simple, makes it easy to share output from other photo editing apps and most importantly has made it easy to take photos for the pure and simple joy of taking a photograph.

If you made it this far and you’re on an Android phone fear not, Instagram is rumored to be coming to Android.

Bonus: My Recommended Instagram User List (for the time being):

• JimGoldstein (my account)
• JKost (Julianne Kost)
• JohnCurley
• Sapphie
• JoshJohnson
• NPR
• Kelco
• Joey
• ExplosiveLimes
• MartinGommel
• DocPop
• IGersSF (Instagram’ers San Francisco)

Other Names You Might Recognize:

• JackHollingsworth
• Darren Rowse (AKA Problogger)
• treyratcliff (AKA Stuck In Customs)
• DavidSanger
• Zarias (Zack Arias)
• TheTrudz (Trudy Hamilton)
• TigerBeat (Steve Rhodes)

Technorati Tags: photography, iphoneography, app, review, iphone, ipad

This month some great eBooks have been released by Digital Photography School, Craft & Vision, and Enzo dal Verme. Each address a different topic and are great resources no matter what your level of experience or expertise. January’s eBook releases include:

Nuts and Bolts and Shots – Tools and Techniques for Creative Photography
by Neil Creek and Digital Photography School – $14.99
This eBook is a follow up to Photo Nuts and Bolts – Know Your Camera and Take Better Photos and rather than focusing on your camera gear it provides great insight to taking better photos through technique. There really isn’t a stone left unturned by author and photographer Neil Creek. This book is great if you’re looking to improve your photography as a beginner or intermediate.

Craft &Vision – Winter in the Canadian Rockies
by Darwin Wiggett and Craft & Visiion -$5
Darwin Wiggett is one of the most knowledgeable landscape photographers and a subject of a past EXIF and Beyond podcast. Highlighting over 40 photos from the Canadian Rockies this eBook is a real treat for the eyes. The 2nd half of the book discusses techniques to capture amazing winter photography and highlights details to each featured photograph in the first half of the book.
Note: Get 20% off with the code: ROCKIES20

How to Shoot a Reportage – The Manual
by Enzo dal Verme – €4.99
This is one of the most complete walk books I’ve seen on how to shoot reportage. Very thorough in its content it details logistics, technique and information only a seasoned professional would know. Well worth a read and an eye opener no matter what your photographic interest. Much of the knowledge provided is something that can be applied to any specialty and might just change how you work through your next shoot.
Note: Get 20% off with the code: JGOLD20, good for 1 week

Technorati Tags: photography, ebook, technique, creativity

Strictly Business is an event put on by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and is one of the best resources I’ve found to learn best practices and critical business skills every professional photographer should employ to excel in the business of photography. The last time I attended ASMP’s Strictly Business event I wrote up a quick review with in a few hours of the close of the event. Back then, 3 years ago, blogging and social media were not yet on the radar of ASMP and I think I took the organizers of the event by surprise. Now ASMP is running their own blog, fittingly named Strictly Business, and extending the value of the Strictly Business conference year round with insightful posts to help photographers succeed. This year ASMP is holding Strictly Business 3 in three cities: Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago and it is open to everyone (ASMP members and non-members). That being said I wanted to share with you, a twist on the traditional review, a list of 11 reasons ASMP Strictly Business 3 should be in your future:

11 Reasons ASMP Strictly Business 3 Should Be In Your Future

1. You’ll meet friendly open professional photographers who want you to succeed
2. Everyone is approachable. Everyone!
3. You’ll learn best practices on negotiation, estimating, licensing, copyright, web & traditional marketing, still & video production, portfolio building, etc. from expert organizers/mentors
4. You’ll have the opportunity to learn something relevant to every niche of professional photography
5. You’ll learn about tactics that work not just from organizers/mentors, but also from your peers in attendance
6. You’ll network and build a circle of peers who are serious about succeeding
7. Perhaps most importantly you’ll learn what mistakes everyone makes and how to avoid making more
8. It will take you out of your comfort zone
9. You will leave wiser than when arrived
10. It will be your wake up call on how to be a professional photographer whether its new to you, you’re in a slump or you need a refresher.
11. You will leave motivated

Lastly I want to thank ASMP for their generous invitation to take part in their New Business Models discussion panel organized by Shannon Fagan. I had a great time sharing my ideas, hopes and concerns and most of all receiving feedback from numerous photographers whom I hold in high esteem. I had a great time learning, sharing and meeting others.   Once again Strictly Business turned out to be an incredibly valuable experience.

Technorati Tags: ASMP, photography, best practices, business

Collagewall is an all-in-one printing service that allows you to easily configure and order photo collage prints to hang on your wall. A friend, Josh Norem, tipped me off to the existence of Collagewall.com not that long ago and I was instantly intrigued by the possibilities. After a quick review of the site and their demo videos I knew I had to try it.

First and foremost I have to say Collagewall is the best print service and product I’ve used all year. The online configuration and ordering system is amazingly simple and the unique peg and paper socket mounting system makes installation simple.

How Does It Work?
After creating an account on Collagewall.com and logging in you can create photo collage project from nearly 200 layout templates or create your own. Next you upload your photos and assign them to an image location in the template. The online system allows you to zoom in/out  of and pan with in your photos. Once your design template is populated with images you finalize your order and with in days your images and an installation kit arrives at your door.

Installation
Collagewall utilizes a foolproof means of installation. A paper template is provided that assists you in placing each mounting peg in exact location for a symmetrical and evenly spread display of your photos. The back of each photo then has a grid of paper sockets that attaches to each peg. There really isn’t a way you can mess up an installation and it removes any need to measure or calculate placement of your images. In my case I have plaster walls so I had to utilize a drill bit (that was provided) to prime the wall before I hammered in my pegs. I was warned about this during the configuration process online, but in my infinite wisdom ignored that warning when I tried my first install. I quickly found out that the pegs bend when hammered into an unprimed plaster wall. Lesson learned heed the warnings provided.

Ultimately the installation of my photo collage took 20 minutes. I was originally going to surprise my wife with a canvas wrap triptych of our son’s baby photos, but ditched the idea when I found out about Collagewall. While she was out on an errand I quickly installed the photos and had time to spare while I awaited her return.

Print Quality
As easy as the configuration and installation was the bottom line as to whether I would ever use Collagewall again depended on the print quality. Having looked at ink jet prints until I’m blue in the face I was extremely pleased with the silver-halide prints that were part of the delivered package. Each photo is printed at a high-resolution of 320 dpi on Fuji Archival Paper and they look incredibly sharp. I expected the photos from my Canon 1Ds Mark III to look great, but I was blown away that even my iPhone 4 photos came out looking incredible. In the end print quality exceeded expectation.

Final Thoughts
As you’d imagine I am really happy with my Collagewall experience and I would certainly recommend using the service. Unfortunately its available only to those in the United States at the moment.  My experience wasn’t perfect as the drill bits provided did not hold up well and broke easily. All-in-all that hardly impacted my experience negatively and I later learned that additional drill bits can be requested for free. Price seemed a little high when I placed my order, but after seeing the quality of the material and prints I think you get what you pay for. That being said I do hope the pricing comes down as I’d still like to get more bang for my buck. Ultimately I’d love to be able to present large prints in this fashion and not just be confined to photo collages.

In the even you missed my earlier giveaway of a $200 gift certificate to Collagewall be sure to take advantage of the 15% discount that is good for my blog readers through January 15th.

After the jump you can see the photos of the installation… Read more…

There are few photographers who are as skilled with the written word as they are with a camera as friend, photographer and author Guy Tal. Guy’s latest eBook “Creative Landscape Photography” is a comprehensive and well-thought book that is perfect for intermediate and advanced photographers who are looking to hone their creative skills.

What is refreshing about “Creative Landscape Photography” is that it is not just instructional in its 86 pages of  descriptive text, but in its consistent use of reader exercises. Guy consistently spurs the reader to take part in  exercises provided with in each section of the book. These exercise are a great bridge to Guy’s popular Creative Landscape Photography workshop even if you’ve yet to attend one. Rather than passively absorb knowledge relayed in the book,  the active participation that is prompted with each exercise helps reinforce the concepts discussed.

The best way to use your imagination is simply to not stand in its way.

What I found most compelling about Guy’s writing is that it is incredibly positive and supportive. The thought of being creative can be a menacing proposition to many, but Guy provides written mentorship that is invaluable. Exceptionally well organized, the book contains sections including  the Creative Process, Concept, Visualization, Composition and Capture. Not only does each section include Guy’s inspiring photographs they include quotes from other inspirational thinkers. A book containing such a great balance of technical information and creative philosophy is a must for ones library.

Creative Landscape Photography can be purchased  for $9.95 on Guy Tal’s web site.

Technorati Tags: photography, ebook, review

“Ansel Adams In The National Parks Photographs of From America’s Wild Places” has just been released today (10.18.10) and I was quite fortunate to receive an early preview of the book. Unlike “Ansel Adams in Color” a book I just purchased, “Ansel Adams In The National Parks” only contains the iconic black and white prints that Adams’ is best known for. This latest release of Adam’s work is also a refreshing read in contrast to recent controversies swirling over a find of lost glass slides that have been purported to be Adams’.

“Ansel Adams In The National Parks” excels in that Andrea G. Stillman, the books’ editor, has pulled not just amazing photographs from the Adam’s archive, but also his writing & correspondence that breath life into an otherwise historical photo anthology. As one would expect viewing the artistic images and reproductions of his finely crafted prints is nothing less than inspirational. What separates this book from his others are the great anecdotes and quotes that bring Ansel Adams down from the pedestal so many of us keep him on to a mere human with family, everyday challenges and a variety of relationships spanning the average to celebrity. Especially fascinating was being able to read these anecdotes in relation to select images featured in the book adding an entirely new dimension to his photographs.

What I found most interesting as a landscape photographer was the inclusion of several image sets at the end of the book. These image sets reveal the seconds in relation to some of Ansel Adams most iconic photos. This provides a great opportunity to catch a glimpse of what Ansel Adams saw, photographed and selected as he reviewed his work.

Will every photograph in “Ansel Adams In The National Parks” be new or as high impact as Moon and Half Dome? No, but you will certainly see work that sheds light on a journey of life, art and creation. This book has made a great addition to my library and is one I’ll be viewing often.

A photograph is made, not taken. – Ansel Adams

Recommended blog reading: The Subtlety of Greatness and Today’s Loss of Appreciation

Technorati Tags: Photography, Fine Art, National Park, review, book, Ansel Adams

This book was provided gratis by the Hachette Book Group

Easy Release

A month ago quite a bit of buzz started to circulate with in the Twitter photography community about Easy Release (iTunes Link), a program that enables you to create model and property releases on your iPhone incorporating a digital signature of subjects and/or property owners. The potential immediately grabbed my attention and I approached the application publisher for a review copy. The review of the application was the easy part, but my background research on the acceptability of “digital signatures” in the form of an electronic touchscreen signature took much longer. Now that my research is complete here is the review…

Easy Release is just that… easy to configure, easy to use and easy to see its value. I give the team behind Easy Release a lot of credit as creating an application that is simple to use is quite a difficult task. The added perk to Easy Release is that it makes obtaining, logging and sending releases a very cool process. The out of the box thinking to obtain releases digitally is exactly the type of application I’ve been waiting for to maximize the business potential of my iPhone.

The Process (Ex. For a Model):

1. Click the “Plus” sign to create a new model or property release
2. Enter the “Shoot Name” and “Shoot Reference ID”
3. Enter Shoot location information “Shoot Country” and “Shoot Region/State”
4. Enter the Shoot Date
5. Enter the Model’s Name
6. Take a photo with your iPhone of your model
7. Enter the Model’s date of birth, gender and ethnicity.
8. Enter the Model’s address
9. Enter the Model’s Parent’s name if a minor
10. Enter the Model’s Email address and phone number
11. Enter the name of a Witness
12. Review the Release summary
13. Sign your signature (the photographer) with your finger on the screen
14. Let your Model review the agreement. They tap to agree.
15. Model signs the release using their finger on the screen.
16. Click to create a PDF of the signature and send it to your model & yourself via email

Fully written out the process seems long, but it takes only a few short minutes to complete.

Easy Release

Additional Features & Real-World Experience
The application allows you to customize your releases with a logo, specify a default language from 12 translations or add your own custom release text.

Of course it would be easy for me to just idly claim Easy Release is easy to use, but having tested this in the field I can attest that not one subject I asked to use the application had a problem or showed any confusion when reviewing the release or signing it. Logistically using Easy Release was much simpler than dealing with a paper release and fumbling for a pen. The convenience to email the release in PDF form to both the model and the photographer is also a huge time saver. Lastly and most importantly the biggest benefit was speeding up the process to obtain a signature.

Easy Release

What to Be Aware of…
The one weakness of Easy Release is that some stock agencies might not yet accept “digital signatures”. At the time I received my review copy of the application it was unclear to me if Getty accepted “digital signatures” in the form of an electronic touchscreen signature. Right off the bat I was able to confirm with Rasmus Rasmussen (@theprint) that iStock does not yet accept these type of “digital signatures” and prefers pen on paper signatures. I had to wait a few weeks to hear back officially from Getty as to whether “digital signatures” in this form were currently accepted. The response: “…the Getty legal team is reviewing this, but at this time digital signatures are not allowed on releases.” That being said the people behind the application are former Getty employees and are aware of this. If you’re outside of the Getty sphere and/or work independently then this is a non-issue.

Rating:

Easy Release is a solid application that is ultra intuitive to use. Not only did it live up to my expectations, it surpassed them. Whether you’re a semi-professional or full-time working pro photographer this is a must have application to have at your fingertips. For those that have been holding off on upgrading to an iPhone, this app alone might be reason enough to do so.

Technorati Tags: photography, release, iPhone, app, Easy Release, model release, property release