A couple of site subscribers recently wrote to say that they were having problems signing up for the site or logging in after joining. I think I have identified and resolved the issue, but please let me know if this is affecting you – I’d like to work with you to resolve it.

Thanks!

Dan

I’ve been a card carrying member of the Sierra Club since I was in college and I generally am a strong supporter of the causes they promote. I’ve always appreciated the Club’s use of photography to promote environmental and wilderness protection issues. I recently received an email inviting me to submit photographs for a contest they are sponsoring, and I thought I’d submit a few of my photographs.

As I generally do these days, I decided to read the contest rules – which include the following:

All entants agree that entry in the contest and/or acceptance of the grand-prize package constitutes permission for Sierra Club, its affiliates, subsidiaries, successors assigns, advertising and promotional agencies, to use entant’s entry materials, including the photograph(s) entered in the Contest (the Photograph(s)), for editorial, advertising and publicity purposes without further compensation, with or without entrant’s name, and with or without modification, in any medium now known or hereafter created throughout the world to the extent permitted by applicable law. Each entrant and winner agrees and acknowledges that to the best of his or her knowledge, Sierra Club’s use of the Photograph(s) will not violate the rights of any other person or organization and Sierra Club will not incur liability for payment to any other person or organization. Each entrant and winner agrees to indemnify and release Sierra Club and its officers, directors, employees, agents and advertising and promotional agencies for and from any and all claims associated with the use of any submitted or winning Photograph, including without limitation any rights of publicity, right of privacy, defamation, trademark or copyright claims.

(Emphasis added for clarity)

Unbelievable! By merely entering a photograph in their contest (and, by the way, I don’t see anything to prohibit someone else from entering your photograph without your knowledge) you have just given the Sierra club and just about every entity they ever do business with or collaborate with in any way an unlimited blanket license to use your photograph for any purpose they see fit for all eternity in any medium (including those not invented yet – really) with no credit to you for your work and no payment for the use. Oh, but it gets worse. Despite giving away your rights to your intellectual property, the Sierra Club will let you retain all liability for the use of the photograph.

I’m trying to refrain from using the language that best describes these “terms” – so I’ll just say you would be a fool to enter this contest.

Remember that I’m a Sierra Club member who supports the goals of the group and the contest and a photographer who wanted to enter the contest. When I contacted the contest coordinator the response was basically “don’t annoy us.”

Afterthought: I suppose you could point to the typo in the first line of the material quoted above (see “entants”) and point out that the conditions don’t apply to you since you are an entrant rather than an entant. But you’d still be in big trouble if your photo won…

From the Night Photography blog by Andy Frazer:

Mare Island Nocturnes: Last month, Tim Baskerville hosted a Nocturnes AlumNight get-together for Bay Area night photographers at the decommissioned Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in Vallejo, CA. Over thirty photographers spread out over the island shooting historic buildings, cranes and drydocks until the wee hours of the morning.

You can see some of the most interesting shots from that night right here.

A few of my photos show up in the set that Andy links to.

By the way, if you are into night photography you should visit The Nocturnes web site and subscribe to Andy’s blog.

I often see questions from new first-time DSLR buyers that go something like this:

I just bought my first DSLR. It just came with the kit lens, but I want the best lenses and I have [some predetermined amount of money] to spend. I’m going to buy them later this week. I want to shoot everything from family photos to landscapes to sports. What are the best lenses to buy?

When this or a similar question is posted in an online photography forum the answers typically include a wildly diverse set of recommendations. Among them will inevitably be a few of the standard gems: “Got a cheap 50mm prime and don’t shoot anything else.” “You’ll need the f/2.8 16-35mm L zoom. Nothing else is good enough.” “A full kit includes the following four high-end zooms… You’ll also want a set of large aperture primes…” “It must be the f/2.8 version of Lens X.” “It must be the f/4 version of Lens Y.” “If you want good IQ  you’ll need primes, and don’t even think about using zooms.” “You must invest in the best lenses now!” Even more confusing, you’ll hear some gear-heads speak of “magical lenses” that produce a “wow” effect, produce extraordinary “micro-contrast,” “great colors, contrast, and tones,” “lovely rendering,” and “drawing style,” “3D effect,” among other supposed wonders.

And so on…

For the most part you can safely ignore pretty much all of this stuff. This sometime well-intentioned “advice” falls into several categories, none of which really address what you need in your current situation and a number of which are based more on gear-head fantasies or repeated myths than on photographic reality.

With someone who is new to DSLR photography, especially if they are new to photography in general, it is very important to keep the context in mind. While you are excited about your new camera – and you should be! – there is a lot you don’t know yet. What directions will your photographic interests take? Will photography end up being your passion, one interest among many, something you do occasionally, or a passing phase? Will you gravitate toward landscape, sports, abstract, street, night, or some other genre? How big is your budget, both in absolute terms and in terms of what portion of it you want to devote to photography? How much time will you devote to photography? Will you make prints or share photos electronically? If you make prints, how big and how often and for whom?

Continue reading Beginner Question: What Lenses Should I Get For My New Camera? →