http://timgrey.com/blog Thoughts on Photography, Digital Imaging, and Travel Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:02:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Earlier this month I captured what I consider to easily be the best bird photograph I've ever taken. I was co-leading a field photography workshop in southwest Florida with Canon Explorer of Light photographer Arthur Morris, visiting some of the best places to view and photograph birds around Fort Myers, ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/bio-of-a-photo-darling-egret/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/inspiration-in-manhattan/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/flying-without-identification/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/shutters-of-the-wrong-kind/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/newark-take-two/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2010/what-a-way-to-start-the-year/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/worklife-balance/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/weather-predictions-gone-wild/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/savoring-the-sunshine/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/taking-what-youre-given/ 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 ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/scouting-the-palouse/ I was sitting on my couch reading, trying to ignore the uncomfortable heat. It was about 9pm, the sun had just set, and the sky was turning an incredible pink, but somehow I wasn't inspired to go outside. I think the head had stifled me and convinced me that ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/storm-front/ As a photographer, I'm sure you've experienced this. You're in an unfamiliar place, perhaps photographing or just attending an event, and you meet another photographer. There's an immediate bond and connection. The conversation flows freely. There's a sense of camaraderie. I've had an experience like this on many occasions. In several ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/the-family-of-photography/ I got an email the other day letting me know about a change in the terms of service for the Kodak Gallery. The bottom line: no more free photo storage if you don't spend money. Of course, there's no shortage of websites that allow you to store your photos at ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/no-more-something-for-nothing/ I can't even fathom going on any trip -- even a business trip -- without a camera. In some extreme cases I'll just take my point-and-shoot digital camera along with me, but whenever possible (which is most trips) I'll bring my digital SLR along as well. A tripod, however, can be ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/the-tripod-compromise/ It is interesting to me how often I find myself taking a photograph of something interesting without having any idea what it really is. This makes it all the more exciting when I discover at a later date exactly what I had been photographing in the first place. I had ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/late-discoveries/ I've been publishing my Digital Darkroom Questions (DDQ) email newsletter for over seven years now, and from time to time I've explored ways to bring new value without fixing what isn't broken. I have resisted the urge to include images in the email for a variety of reasons. I've ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/video-answers/ This week I'm teaching a five-day workshop at the Art Wolfe Digital Photography Center, and it happened to coincide with Inauguration Day. In fact, class was scheduled to start right about the time Barack Obama was to be sworn in. And would you believe every single student was there ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/photoshop-can-wait/ There's a weird time warp that happens when you write magazine articles. You get an assignment, and of course wait until the last minute to fulfil it, so there's a bit of a lag there. Then you submit the article, and it is generally at least a couple months ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2009/in-camera-cropping/ I love applying targeted adjustments to my images via layer masks and adjustment layers, and quite often those targeted adjustments start with a selection. That's why I often spend about a full day out of a typical five-day workshop teaching a variety of ways to create selections. Of course, ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/extract-gets-extracted/ OK, I grew up in California, so I totally don't get the whole "snow day" thing, but it always sounded so cool when I was a kid. But that's not the snow day I'm talking about. Actually, it is, but in a different context. I recently attended the ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/snow-day/ I was doing a little holiday shopping in Seattle over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and will admit to being a little shocked at what I saw... Lots of cameras. OK, that's not exactly a surprise. And in fact at first I wasn't shocked at all. I hardly noticed. Then I ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/films-comeback/ Today I spent some time playing with photography. You see, I obtained a Canon MP-E 65mm 1X-5X macro lens for a week from BorrowLenses.com, and thought it would be fun to play with this lens since I haven't shot with it for several years. I really don't do very ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/playing-in-photography/ I'm pleased to announce that Joe Becker of Seldom Seen Photography is the winner of the "wide angle" photography contest I announced about a week ago in the DDQ email. Joe's winning shot, shown here, is of an old car at the James Cant Ranch, a historic sheep ranch, ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/we-have-a-winner/ I'm thrilled to announce the availability of my latest book, Photoshop CS4 Workflow. This book has long been the "crown jewel" in my library, documenting my recommended approach to optimizing your photographic images using all the power Photoshop has to offer. This book covers the full workflow from downloading and ... http://timgrey.com/blog/2008/photoshop-cs4-workflow-released/