Tim Grey’s Blog

There’s something to be said for taking automation to extremes, and I had the opportunity to get a close look at some very cool automation that is put to effective use while spending some time in Manhattan over the holidays.

During my visit, I accepted and invitation from B&H Photo to visit their facility and get a “behind the scenes” look at their operations. Of course, as a photographer and certified “gadget geek” just visiting a store that sells just about every digital camera, lens, tripod, and accessory you could possibly want is pretty cool. On top of that they have incredible audio and video products. And the place is huge (and clean, and organized).

But what really impressed me from a technology standpoint wasn’t anything they were selling at B&H, but rather how they go about moving product from the warehouse to the customer. You see, while B&H is huge, they sell so many products you couldn’t possibly fit inventory for all those products in the same space. So there are display items for customers to review, and when they want to make a purchase the product gets delivered via a network of automated rollers. It is incredible to watch, as bins roll around overhead, take rides in little elevators, and make their way (quite quickly) to the customer. When you’re ready to pay, those products get delivered to the checkout area so they’ll be waiting for you when you go to pay. Amazing.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that this visit was going to inspire my latest DVD. I was so impressed with the efficient use of automation at B&H’s store, that I started thinking a lot about how automation can be helpful in a variety of situations. That thinking led me to decide to create a video tutorial DVD that covers the various automation tools in Photoshop. The result is “Photoshop Hands-On: Automation”, which is in production this week and will begin shipping this weekend.

So, thanks B&H Photo for a great tour of an impressive facility, and thanks for the inspiration too!

For the last few days I’ve been speaking at the FOTOfusion event in West Palm Beach, Florida. To take advantage of the great weather in sunny Florida, I rented a road bike while I was here, and went cycling for a couple hours each day. Unfortunately, during one of those rides I lost the little bag that contained my hotel room key, my driver’s license, both of my debit cards, and about $60 in cash. Oh, boy. I knew this was going to be interesting.

Getting a replacement key to my hotel room was easy. The incredible staff at the Hyatt Place Hotel in West Palm Beach had already proven to be very friendly and helpful, and I had enough interactions with them over the prior few days that they knew who I was. I was off to a good start.

Fortunately my bank had a branch just a block away from the hotel, so I headed over to see about getting a temporary debit card (having already called to report the cards lost). The staff at the bank was very helpful, but their computer systems and odd cross-state rules made things difficult. I spent over an hour and a half at the bank, answering a series of questions to prove I was who I said I was, watching them struggle with their internal systems, only to ultimately find out they couldn’t issue a replacement card on the spot. Fortunately, after considerable effort, I was able to get enough cash to cover my needs for my remaining time in West Palm Beach.

There was now just one more hurdle to overcome: getting onto my flight without any form of legitimate identification.

I arrived at the airport four hours before my flight, anticipating the worst and wanting to ensure I had plenty of time to deal with whatever challenges awaited me. I went to the airline check-in counter to check my bag, and let the airline representative know I lost my wallet and didn’t have any identification. She asked if I had a voter’s registration card (does anyone actually carry that around with them?), a library card (I get all my books through Amazon, opting for the Kindle version I can read on my iPhone whenever possible), or anything. Nope. Nothing. Except for a photo of my passport on my laptop. She asked to see that, and checked my bag for me.

She told me it would be up to TSA whether they’d let me through security. I had already done my homework, and so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. But naturally I was still a bit nervous at this point.

Next stop, security screening. Fortunately, I happened to time things perfectly, and there was no line at all. I went to the first TSA officer who was there to check ID, provided my boarding pass, and told her I didn’t have identification because I had lost my wallet. She called a supervisor, who sent me to another officer for a special check to confirm I was who I said I was. He again asked if I had anything else, such as a social security card, library card, voter’s registration card, or anything. Not a darn thing.

So, I had to fill out a form with my vital information, and the officer, who was exceedingly polite and understanding, made a phone call for my screening. It took a total of about five minutes, with him asking me for a previous address, any professional licenses or certification, and a variety of other questions about my background that would help establish that I either really was me, or had done a phenomenal job memorizing all the details of my life. Before too long he told me I was all set, and could go through security. Well, “extra” security, of course.

I had, naturally, experienced “secondary” security on plenty of occasions in the past, so I knew what to expect here. My bag and various other possessions were swabbed to check for explosive residue, everything got a good once-over, and I got patted down (though the officer patting me down didn’t venture too far into the territory used by the “underwear bomber” in the attempted Christmas Day attack, which while perhaps a little uncomfortable would have at least made me feel they were actually being thorough).

All told, the extra questioning and screening took no more than ten minutes compared to what I would normally experience. It was frankly no big deal, and I was impressed overall with the way things were handled by TSA (especially Daniel, thank you very much).

So, what could have easily turned into a big nightmare was actually no big deal. Much better than my recent experience at Newark Liberty International Airport due to the security scare there. Of course, I’m writing this from Palm Beach International Airport, having gotten through security, but I’m not on the flight to Atlanta yet, and then I still have a connecting flight to Seattle. So there’s still potential for things to go horribly wrong, but so far it has been smooth sailing. Surprisingly smooth sailing based on my prior experience with TSA.

It has almost become cliché to talk about how digital has changed the photography industry. Some of those changes have been very good (such as the control photographers are able to exercise over their images), and some of those changes have been bad (such as the significantly more time photographers need to spend in order to manage their growing library of images).

As we (for the most part) embrace digital photography and cast aside film, there has also been a very significant impact on the cottage industry that had grown for many years to support photographers. While we used to drop off rolls of film at a photo lab and perhaps chat about our recent excursion over a cup of coffee to the person behind the counter, now we sit (often alone) at our computers, processing our images and producing our own prints.

The result has been a huge decline in the amount of film processed each year, and as a result a precipitous decline in the potential revenue for film processing by the many small labs found in cities and towns large and small. Some labs saw the writing on the wall and quickly started offering digital services. Some of those, and many others, couldn’t generate enough revenue and started going out of business.

Obviously such a change is a bad thing for the folks whose livelihood depended on those labs. On a broader scale I think of it more as simply a change rather than something inherently “bad”.  But it is a change that stared me in the face this holiday season as I visited various malls and shopping centers to do some shopping. In many cases I simply recognized a business as occupying the same space where a photo lab had previously operated. In other cases the sign had been removed but left clear evidence of a photo lab that had been shuttered, such as the photo shown here.

I don’t miss film. Not one bit. So in a way I don’t miss the photo labs that went along with film. But I do feel bad for those who had their livelihood harmed by the changes that have taken place in the industry. Hopefully they all found jobs somewhere else in the industry or doing something else they love. Even good changes can leave challenges in their wake. But I do think that overall the advent of digital photography has been a good thing for photographers. Not entirely, but mostly. I just wonder what sort of upheaval the next big change in photography might bring. Predictions?

I used to refer to the “in-seat sigh of relief” when flying. The idea was that getting to the airport could be stressful, actually getting into the terminal could be stressful, checking in can be stressful, checking your bags can be stressful, going through security can be stressful, waiting to board your flight can be stressful, and getting on the plane can be stressful. In other words, there’s a lot of stress involved in air travel today. I actually used to look forward to each and every moment spent on an airplane. I even got my private pilot’s license (”certificate”, actually, to those on the “inside”) so I could spend even more time in the air. But I digress…

With all the stress of air travel today, and with as many miles I spend in the air to go on photo shoots, speak at events, run workshops, and more, I’ve had my share of challenges. But I could always (well, mostly) count on the sense of relief I would feel when I finally settled into my seat and could just relax until reaching my destination.

I had just such a sigh of relief last Sunday after I boarded Continental flight 1881 at Newark Liberty International Airport, headed home to Seattle. It was bitterly cold on the east coast (at least to this California native, with apologies to those in the midwest), and strong winds had moved in, promising a bumpy flight. Those winds also led to flight delays, with the delay for my own flight being estimated at about 45 minutes. But at least I was in my seat, with my seatbelt fastened and carry-on bags stowed, ready to head home. In fact, I was so relieved and relaxed (and tired) that I soon fell asleep. Then I was awakened by the pilot’s announcement, only to face the “adventure” I described in my previous blog post.

Today it was time for “Newark, Take Two”. Despite the security lockdown I had endured a few days earlier, the fact that the airline couldn’t get me onto another flight until over three days later, and the particularly troublesome fact that my luggage had gone on to Seattle without me, the time leading up to the flight was stress-free. The morning went smoothly, the drive to the airport went smoothly, security went smoothly, everything was going smoothly. OK, I’ll admit, breakfast at the airport didn’t go all that smoothly, but I’ve learned to expect poor service at Newark airport…

But when I sat in my seat I felt a little uneasy. Instead of the “in-seat sigh of relief” I felt a bit of anxiety. What fiasco might cause a delay this time around?

I tensed up when the pilot made a PA announcement just after everyone was on board and the door was closed. But he was just letting us know that a few more bags needed to be loaded, and then we’d be on our way. Sure, I thought, I’ll believe it when I see it. But we did push back from the gate, relatively on time.

Then another PA announcement from the pilot. We were number fourteen in line to takeoff, so it would be about 45 minutes before we could takeoff. I just wanted to get into the air so I would know I really was on my way home this time.

Fortunately, this time we really did take off, and we landed safely in Seattle. So the second take was a success. I even got reunited with my luggage after over three days of separation.

All is (more or less) right with the world again. But I’m not really looking forward to my next flight out of town in less than two weeks, though I’m very much looking forward to speaking at FOTOfusion. I’ll hope to see some of you there, and that none of us has any adventures getting there!

As I write this I’m sitting in the back seat of the car that picked me up at the airport. As I slid into the back seat, I realized the “in-seat sigh of relief” still existed, it had just changed from the seat on the plane to the seat in a car at my destination…

I had decided a six month hiatus was far too long, and that with the New Year I would start writing regularly on my blog again. I had no idea I would start with such a newsworthy story to write about…

It had been a long day already and I had gone for a run earlier in the day, so I was pretty exhausted and looking forward to sleeping for most of the flight home to Seattle. I had settled into my seat on Continental Airlines Flight 1881 at Newark Liberty International Airport, and soon was asleep. All was right with the world…

I awoke to a PA announcement from the pilot. We were still on the ground. He was saying something about getting off the plane, going through security, it would take two hours. I was still waking up so it didn’t make a lot of sense. But people started getting up and gathering their carry-on baggage.

I asked passengers around me what was going on, and they clarified that there had been a “situation” and we would need to get off the plane, exit the secure area of the terminal, and then be re-screened by security. Oh boy. I already knew what an “efficient” process that could be, and under these circumstances surely it was going to be much worse. Our captain was clearly a certified optimist if he thought we would be back in our seats in two hours.

When I say “we” would have to be screened I don’t just mean me and the people around me on the plane. I don’t just mean everyone on the plane. I mean everyone on every airplane and in every corner of the secured area at Terminal C at Newark. Everyone. That’s a lot of planes and a lot of people. You might call it a mob scene.

After getting off the plane and heading toward the exit, there was a crowd like I had never seen at any airport. And this time the crowd was trying to exit the terminal, not enter it. This was insanity.

We started to hear rumors that someone had walked into the secure area through the exit of the security screening area, and that the TSA personnel lost track of him and didn’t know where he was. Other than the PA announcement from the pilot, there were no further announcements. Ever.

After exiting the secure area, it suddenly looked like a Red Cross shelter during a natural disaster. People were everywhere, nobody knew where to go, and nobody knew exactly what was going on.

Finally working through the mob, I sat on the edge of the baggage claim carousel and tried to settle in for a very long wait. People were already lined up to go back through security, but there was no movement. Security personnel had even blocked access to most of the escalators, so you couldn’t move easily between the several floors of the terminal.

Still not a single announcement about the situation from anyone. I got all my information about what was going on by getting online and checking the major news websites. The lockdown at Terminal C was the top story on all the major networks.

I kept checking the status of my flight on my iPhone. I had an incredibly difficult time placing phone calls (simply too many people trying to make calls at the same time, I’m sure), but was able to get a data connection. The estimated departure time for my flight kept getting moved out, half an hour at a time. It was as if the airline was perpetually suggesting we would be leaving in an hour, except their clock apparently wasn’t moving. That magic hour never passed.

Of course, I’m an information junkie, so I kept checking the status. And then I saw a word I really didn’t want to see: canceled.

There had still be absolutely no announcements, so I figured most people on the flight didn’t know it had been canceled yet, and I rushed to find an airline agent who could get me on another flight so I could get home to teach the first night of the class I was to teach at the University of Washington Extension. A woman at the International counter told me I had to go to the Domestic counter, but that my flight was indeed canceled and it would be at least a couple days before I could get a flight home.

I went to stand in line at the Domestic counter, and everyone in line was equally frustrated and appalled at the situation. When I got my turn with an agent, he said I could be put on standby for a later flight that night, but that I would never get on it. He said the next flight he could get me on was Thursday morning. This was on Sunday night. I couldn’t get another flight home for over three days. I asked if there were any other airports I could go to so I could get an earlier flight home. Nothing.

I asked about my bags. He told me to go downstairs to the Baggage Service counter and they could pull my bags for me. He made it sound so simple…

At the Baggage Service counter I was told my bags would go on the next available flight to Seattle. I told the woman I wasn’t able to get on a flight until Thursday. She said, “No problem, they’ll be waiting for you there when you arrive.” I explained that I really needed my stuff, but she said there were tens of thousands of bags affected by this situation, and they weren’t retrieving bags for anyone. I told her I thought it wasn’t legal for my bags to be on a flight without me, and she told me it wasn’t legal for a passenger to do that, but it was legal for the airline to do that.

I did get a toiletry kit from the airline, but no change of clothes. And they wouldn’t provide any ground transportation, hotel, spending money, money for clothes, or any other benefits. She explained that since this situation was not the fault of the airline, they were under no obligation to do anything about it. So I was on my own…

I had arrived at the airport shortly after 4pm for a 6pm flight (which had been delayed due to strong winds). I boarded the flight at close to 7pm, had to get off the plane at around 8pm, found out my flight had been canceled at about 10pm, and didn’t actually leave the airport until 1am.

I can’t say this whole situation has done anything to improve my already less-than-favorable opinion of TSA, airport security, airline personnel, or airline customer service. I can say it reinforces my opinions about why the airlines consistently have such a difficult time earning a profit, despite all those fees they pile onto the cost of your ticket.

To add insult to injury, when I checked in for my flight at the airport, the nice little computer told me the flight was overbooked and if I agreed to take a later flight they would give me a $300 voucher. If only I had known…

I have the luxury of “setting my own hours”, since I’m self-employed, but as you can probably imagine that often means I put in far more hours than I would if I had a “real job”. Of course, sometimes I struggle with a decision about working versus taking some time off for fun.

Today I had to struggle with just such a challenge. This weekend I depart for Santa Fe to teach another great workshop (and as I write this it isn’t too late to join me there!), so I have plenty of work to catch up on before I leave. At the same time, I have season tickets to the Seattle Mariners, and today there was a not-so-often day game scheduled. So I had to decide between just getting work done and enjoying a day at the ballpark.

I opted for both.

I realize I looked like a bit of a fool as the security personnel at the entrance checked my back, noticed my laptop, and said it looked like I planned to do some “computing” during the game. And I look like an even bigger fool sitting in my seat with my laptop out, working on an article. I’m secretly hoping everyone thinks I’m a sports writer covering the story, but I know they realize if that were the case I’d be up in the press box.

Still, it is worth the potential humiliation. I’m able to get a change of scenery from my normal home office, and I’m able to enjoy a tasty (though probably very unhealthy) hot dog with all the fixin’s while getting some work done.

Who knows, perhaps I can even catch up on email while watching the Seattle Mariners claim victory in today’s game. With the Mariners leading 2-0 as I write this, I’m counting on them to win. But I don’t think I’ll be caught up on email anytime soon.

Oh, and the only thing this really has to do with photography is that the image documenting my little geek-at-the-ballpark experience was captured with my phone and then sent to myself via email so I could post this blog via my laptop. Amazing what we can do nowadays!

We all know that weather predictions can be—shall we say—a little less than accurate. In fact, I’m sure we’ve all heard (or made) jokes about how inaccurate weather predictions seem to be, with many theories about the arbitrary ways meteorologists must go about predicting the weather.

I’m wrapped up with the third full day of photography as part of a workshop in the Palouse region of eastern Washington, and we’ve been tracking the weather obsessively using various applications on our iPhones.

This morning we were supposed to wake up to partly cloudy skies, but instead I arose to brilliant sun with not a cloud in the sky. That turned out perfectly, because it offered great conditions to photograph a crop duster spraying the wheat fields near Pullman, Washington.

The rest of the day was predicted to be sunny as well, which we were excited about because that was ideal for the view from the top of Steptoe Butte. But when we drove away from the restaurant after a nice dinner in Colfax, Washington, we were disappointed to see clouds forming to the west.

As I mentioned, we were obsessively checking the weather with various applications on our iPhones, and the hour-by-hour forecast was getting updated every hour, with the forecast changing wildly each hour. We have seen this a few times during the workshop here, so I’m not sure if the Palouse is a region where it is particularly difficult to forecast the weather, or if this is just one of those weeks where the weather is especially unpredictable.

As it turned out, the real weather in the morning was much better than we anticipated based on our photographic plans, but the afternoon was much worse than forecast. Naturally we made the best of the conditions that were given to us, and turned out some photos we were all very happy with in the process.

Sunshine can be so exhilarating after a few days of overcast, rain, watching the sky, and obsessing over weather forecasts to see when you’ll get some better weather for photography. Last night the forecast called for a lot of cloud cover this morning, but when I woke up and looked out my hotel room window, I was thrilled to see bright sun with some scattered clouds. It was proof that patience really does pay off.

Of course, the excitement over the sunshine and great clouds also meant I got a little over-enthusiastic with the shutter. I captured 1,004 images today, which is double the total I took during the three previous days here in the Palouse combined. Today’s photography was great fun, but it does mean I have my work cut out for me in terms of filtering the images down to my favorites.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the sudden great weather here was that it gave me an opportunity to experiment a lot more with different perspectives and a variety of lenses for each scene we photographed. There was very little waiting for clouds to pass and lots of great light, so between helping students on the workshop I would move around and try a number of variations for each subject. It turned out to be a great exercise in composition. The only problem is, now I have a very high percentage of images I really like, so I’m having a difficult time deciding which are my true favorites. I guess that’s a good problem to have!

Part of any photo excursion is dealing with environmental conditions as they change. The Palouse region of eastern Washington state is known as an arid region, getting an average of just under 20 inches of rain each year. That compares to an average of about 37 inches per year for Seattle. And yet, we’re getting some rain here in the Palouse on the first full day of a photography workshop I’m leading along with photographer Wolfgang Kaehler.

So, with overcast skies we loaded up to head out to the “Art Barn” in Uniontown, Washington. Part of the draw is a wheel fence that was built around the property over the course of 30 years. With flat lighting we decided this was a good option to warm up our photography for the week. The hope was that by afternoon things would clear up. They didn’t.

We worked the area for several hours, capturing many images in the cold and damp weather. Certainly not the conditions I would have asked for, but when you do photography outdoors you often have to work with what you’re given. Since we’re here for a full week we can return to specific locations when the conditions are ideal, but while we’re waiting for the weather to improve we’ll still find opportunities to make images.

Of course, we also spent the afternoon doing image critiques and talking about image storage and backup, since the conditions had only deteriorated and photography didn’t seem like a good priority at the time. But in many cases I find you can be surprised at the great images you can get when you thought perhaps it wasn’t even worth taking your camera out of the bag.

I love photographing while scouting for great locations much more than going somewhere I already know will be good. There’s so much more adventure when you don’t know what to expect, and I love the joy of discovering great subjects and locations that are new to me.

I’m in the Palouse region of eastern Washington state along with professional photographer Wolfgang Kaehler, just getting started teaching a photography workshop. We arrived yesterday, and on the way here scouted out some of the locations we planned to take the students to during the workshop.

In this case Wolfgang was already quite familiar with the area, and knew some areas that were expected to be good. But nature has a way of being unpredictable, and crop rotation by the local farmers only contributes to the unpredictability.

Of particular interest was locating some canola fields for their vibrant yellow flowers. But of course most of the fields were wheat. But it was a great adventure driving along the many country roads (many of them only gravel or dirt) and looking for great fields, great barns, and great vantage points. We were lucky enough to have some great clouds to make things more interesting. We stopped many times to capture some images while scouting.

It’s very easy to get so caught up exploring and looking for great scenes that you neglect to keep track of where you are, what you’re seeing, and which places you want to visit again (and what time of day you think will be optimal for those locations). Fortunately, Wolfgang was well-prepared. We kept track of where we were and where we were headed on a map. Ideal locations were marked, including whether they were best in the morning or late afternoon. So now we have a great list of locations to share with the students, and should get some excellent photography this week. It’s all about proper planning…