Category Archives: Commentary

Commentary, Ideas, Technique

Learning – and re-learning – photography lessons

1 Comment

How many of us have had one or both of the following experiences?

  1. You plan to photograph something that requires some prior preparation – perhaps a very early arrival. You are virtually certain that you’ll have a great photographic opportunity. The clock goes off and you think, “Maybe I can wait just a few more minutes. I’ll still make it.” Or perhaps it is time to drop what you’re doing and head on out to photograph that late evening scene – but you’d rather just sit in camp a bit longer. And, be honest now, in some cases you just decide it would be easier to stay where you are. And the result? You – OK, I –  miss a great photographic opportunity. (First rule – you have to be there!)
  2. It doesn’t look like anything special is going to happen. You are not feeling terribly inspired, but somehow you manage to load up your gear and head out into the field. When you get there nothing seems all that special, but still you move ahead. Suddenly, and without warning, something wonderful does happen – and perhaps you even gloat a little bit afterward because you were the only one who dragged him/herself out there to photograph it. (Hey, that’s the “first rule” all over again!)

I sort of relearned that lesson again this past week while I was in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park. This time I decided to take it a bit easy and instead of backpacking simply get a camp site at the large campground at Tuolumne Meadows. Perhaps the fact that I could sleep in and that I didn’t have to work hard caused me to, well, catch up on some sleep on the first couple of days. I was starting to fall into that trap when I finally decided that I needed to get “out there” even if I was oh so comfortable sitting around camp .

And on Thursday night I wasn’t quite certain what I would shoot, so I more or less figured, “Might as well shoot in Tuolumne Meadows.” When I got there I saw the beginnings of some amazing cloud formations – and I switched gears from “lazy photographer mode” and became “organized and productive photographer” for the next couple of hours. And I think I was rewarded for my efforts. The next five or so daily photographs posted here will tell the tale. Or so I hope… :-)

Like they say… first rule : Be there!

Commentary

Thought I found a photo contest with fair terms… but only for a moment

5 Comments

(Update 7/7/11: After posting a link to this old 2009 post I realized that not all of the original links are still live. Rather than start modifying the following post, I will leave it as it was written, even though access to the original posted source material may no longer be possible. Aside from the specific contest – which is long since over – and any individual involved in it, the general lesson is that it is critical to read contest terms carefully before you decide to enter.)

(Update: I just receive a, uh, “personal” email from the contest promoter. I won’t share the content of that message here at this point, but I did write what I think was a very civilized email in reply,  I offered “Scott” the opportunity to post a response here as a comment, and I offered to correct any “false statements” in my post.)

(Update #2: “Jeff” says that that I was apparently incorrect about the lack of contest terms assigning legal liability to entrants: See these terms. This longer “terms” page also includes names of “vendor sponsors” who also have acquired rights to use submitted work.)

I’ve recently posted a few times on what I and others refer to as intellectual property rights grabs masquerading as photography contests. (For example, see this post describing unethical terms in contests presented by the Sierra Club and by Costco.) The short story is that entrants (not just winners!) in these contests agree to provide to the contest organizers and typically a whole range of their associates) a cost-free, unlimited, perpetual license to use their entered photographs in essentially any way imaginable (and some contest specify that even currently unimaginable methods are included!) without any compensation, credit, or control – and many additionally assign to the entrant full legal and financial liability for the use of the photograph.

Just because one enters the contest. That’s right. If you enter and lose – and the odds are that you will lose – you are fully subject to the contest terms. Continue reading Thought I found a photo contest with fair terms… but only for a moment →

Commentary

Workshop on the Business of Outdoor and Nature Photography

Leave a comment

This looks interesting: Gary Crabbe and Charlie Borland are presenting a Business of Outdoor and Nature Photography Workshop this November in the Bryce Canyon area. They say that the workshop takes place during the day, leaving photographers time to do photography during the “good light” before and after. Of course, any photographer knows that this means completely packed 18 hour days starting at 3:30 a.m. and concluding when you can no longer keep your eyes open. :-)

Commentary

Three Columns and Urban Trees

Leave a comment
Three Columns and Urban Trees

Three Columns and Urban Trees. San Francisco, California. July 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three columns and trees in an urban garden in downtown San Francisco, California.

This photograph was made while I was on one of my “walk and photograph” trips into downtown San Francisco. At this point I was wandering through a very busy, urbanized section of downtown San Francisco with my camera at the ready. As I rounded a corner of a building I spotted this scene with interesting morning light and a single person mostly hidden behind one of the columns below the trees reading a book. I quickly squeezed off two frames before a car entered the scene from a garage exit below the trees and other pedestrians began walking through.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, summer, city, urban, travel, moring, brick, tile, column, three, sidewalk, cement, concrete, light, shadow, wall, person, book, read, sit, green, trees, leaves, branch, trunk, building, urban, downtown, street, wet, water, stock, feet, legs, shoes