Arrested Development

I just read of another photographer arrested by police. It seems as if this happens more often than I've noticed it in the past and, while it's entirely possible some photographers may have brought in on themselves, the quantity of these confrontations and arrests, lead me to believe that not all arrests are justified.

The last eight years of the present Republican administration brought forth new policies and laws that have, as a consequence, reduced the rights of this government's citizens. From the formation of Homeland Security (which sounds Orwellian in its context), to the government's obsession with eavesdropping on, what used to be, innocent communications, we've found ourselves looking over our shoulder and shuddering at the thought of a tipping point, into a type of big brother government.

I posit the aggressive tactics of the police, over the last few years, are a part of a shift away from a citizen government (...by the people, for the people...) towards one where we not only have to look out for the criminals, but also keep one eye out for municipal government police, hiding behind their shields, to thwart any repercussions for their questionable behavior.

Last week, with the election of a new President, one who, at least outwardly, talks of "change", a movement towards civility, and, as in his election evening speech, wants to make the his new administration inclusive, rather than the us vs. them approach of the current, may, by it's very nature, should it come to pass, return to a time when parents, even those that are photographers, can see these protectors of society as heroes and not possible adversaries.

If, in fact, the aggressive nature of some of the police today is a part of the Bush administration's constant erosion of citizen's rights, then I can only hope the new Obama administration works to restore them, thereby helping to build mutual trust between law enforcement and photographers.

Free Money

Yesterday, the United States elected a new President and, from all accounts, he was one of the first to leverage the full power of the Internet to capture the votes needed.

The use of Internet social engineering is not new, but it is new for national election campaigns. Barack Obama's team created a means to raise money, far above the Federal funding, devised new means of communications to not only direct the volunteers, but also to motivate them and made certain everybody was speaking the same language.

Photography has been gently stepping into the social networking pool with blogs and Flickr (the Yahoo owned image posting site). There are some web sites using Twitter, a kind of group messaging service where anything up 140 words per individual Twitter can be shoved onto the Internet. Followers have the ability to see your Twitter entries in real time--almost as soon as they are sent. My news site, Photo News Today, uses Twitter to send notices of each entry, sometimes up to 50 or 60 per day (look at the top right of the main page where it says "Click Here to Follow Me..."). The people and companies following my entries, therefore, have the most up to date photographic industry news on their desktop, throughout the day.

I'm sure there are others doing the same, but where the industry misses this social networking phenomenon is with the manufacturers and distributors. There are few even offering a blog from either management or marketing. Updates to products, new products, and tips can be leveraged, at no real cost to these companies.

What they reap is attention. The more a product or brand is in front of a prospective customer's eyes, the better the odds the customer will purchase that brand.

Now, there are companies advertising on photographic blogs, for instance Strobist (David Hobby), but these are used as everyday ads, requiring the blog visitor to see and act upon the ad.

Let's look at the possibility of this in reverse. What if, and I'm just asking here; what if a major company, such as Canon used a blog to announce instances of Canon mentions on other blogs or even, heaven forbid, have someone in marketing Twitter these mentions everyday, throughout the day.

Here, a potential customer can subscribe to the Twitter service and follow Canon. As mention of Canon products reach the Internet, customers can click on the Twitter, go to the mentioned web site, and read about the products use in the field.

If word-of-mouth is one of the best advertising mediums, then think of how this approach could affect the bottom line. Low cost (employees time), high return.

One of the arguments I would expect to hear is the lack of audience. Yes, this is a new medium and if will take some time to mature. However, what better way to get the word out about new technologies, than by having it freely available on major company web sites.

This is just one of the emerging technologies currently available, there are others: Facebook, MySpace, instant messaging, and so forth.

I believe the time is ripe to start investigating and adopting these services, especially in the light of the dawn of the Obama Presidency. He has shown it works quite well.

Photo Industry Editorial

I've been posting news about the photographic industry for over three years now and, during that time, have been fortunate to communicate with photographers, developers and other industry veterans.

The game has changed over the past few years, both with the growth of digital cameras and the plethora of new products. Today, photographers, from novice to professional, have a marketplace rich with opportunity to further their craft and gain new skills.

While the megapixel race has slowed, what we do with those megapixels has diversified exponentially. I believe the reason for the slowness is due to hitting a sweet spot, where the current amount is enough to provide quality enlargements for a core group of photographers. This is not to say that cameras, now hitting the 20 megapixel mark are not selling; they are, but to really advanced amateurs and professionals needing the higher resolution.

The core group, hobbyists and pros (wedding, editorial, etc.) have no need of the upper megapixel count, as they get what they need with eight to 14, or so, megapixels. While I thought, at one time, when full-frame sensor cameras came down in price, they would supplant the APS-C cameras, this has not happened. Now, I'm seeing room for both formats to coexist.

The APS-C sensor offers considerable quality and also an advantage for some photographers--the magnification ratio. The 1.5/1.6 magnification factor allows a photographer to get more throw from their lens kit. While there is some trade-off in the wide-angle range, the telephoto lenses become longer. For the average consumer, this is the baker's dozen concept; purchase a 70 to 300mm lens and get a 112 to 480mm.

As more SLR cameras enter the marketplace, with prices just north of $500.00, increasing numbers of consumers are leaving the point-and-shoot models behind. This leads to additional accessory sales and opens a window for quality third-party lenses at reachable prices. I see this market exploding over the next few years.

Not to leave the P&S cameras out of discussion here, as manufacturers replace models with increasing frequency and have added additional features. The only downside to this is the confusion, by the consumer, as to which one fits their needs.

The photographic software market has matured considerably this past year. Management software (single function), such as ACDSee and Thumbsplus, is now being consolidated into image editing; Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture and Bridge, for instance.

There is still room, however, for management software, especially for the non-professional photographers, who are amassing prodigious amounts of images on their computers. Where the proverbial shoebox was the catch-all for prints and negatives, the home computer and CD-ROM/DVD house increasing collections of pictures.

The second generation of photo editing software, beyond Photoshop, offers the working pro more options than ever before. The Aperture/Lightroom work flows, incorporating image management, noise reduction, sophisticated lighting alterations and more, have become, in some instances, a one-stop interface for advanced hobbyists and working professionals.

Although the world economy has slowed, photography, as a hobby, has always been supported by discretionary income. As money tightens, we may see less purchases overall of the higher end cameras and accessories, but not a real slow-down of picture taking. People still get married, have babies, celebrate events, such as birthdays and Christmas. While some will vacation at home, they will mark day-trips and their experiences with pictures.

Professional photographers may see some rough times ahead as more and more companies, the mainstay for professional income, fall by the wayside or reduce their budgets. This, of course, impacts new purchases of cameras, lenses and high-end accessories, but most photographers should be able to weather this storm.

The Monochrome Christmas Card

Another Halloween has gone, which means the Christmas season is close. If I remember, from my years in the photo finishing industry, this is the time of the year when more images are captured than at any other time. We would get bags of film delivered right after the new year and the plant operated at top volume for most of the month.

Now, in the digital age, some of us print everything at home or we use mini-labs and mail order for processing. Now is the time to stock up on paper and ink so you're ready for the rush, if you do everything at home.

For the past, I don't know, five years, at least, I have created the family Christmas/Holiday card. One season I designed a black & white image on light-grey card stock--about 100lb weight or index weight.

My family loved the idea and some congratulated me on going against the grain, by not doing color. They said the cards were easily noticeable amongst the glitter and foil of the others.

Now, for a confession. I didn't have a color printer at that time. My Epson 1280, which had been giving me trouble for many months, finally sucked its last picolitre of ink (1 thousand cubic micrometres) and, no matter how much I cajoled (read: cursed), nothing was going to bring it back. The last few months, when it was on life support, I had to clean the pick-up rollers almost daily; they were so slick they would grab more than one sheet or, most of the time, nothing. I had to hand feed the printer. So, the death of the 1280, while immediately disconcerting, put me in the market for a new printer.

However, I couldn't afford to lay out the money at this critical time, as Christmas was near and my wife, Allison, was begging (read: nagging) me for the cards, so she could get them in the mail.

There are times when lady fortune smiles, but sometimes it's just gas. I was caught in a dilemma. I had to produce a self-designed card, but felt I didn't have any way to print them. I could, I thought, send them out, but that would mean giving up control of the entire process--sometimes a mistake or flaw works its way into the final design and you don't catch it until you see the print. Sending a card outside, for printing, would mean I could get back hundreds of cards with a glaring mistake. Also, there was my ego working. I had tasked myself with the production and just wasn't ready to give it up.

That's when the idea of a B&W Christmas card came to me. I could, I thought, create the entire design and print them on the home-office laser printer, an inexpensive Brother HL-5040. I use that as the family's default printer, on the home network, to keep ink-jet costs down.

I shot the image, designed the card and fed the laser printer sheet by sheet (I used heavy card stock which wouldn't feed by itself). Once I printed a batch of fifty, I'd flip and reverse the paper and feed it through a second time, to print the message on the inside.

That's the story of the monochrome Christmas card. I was able to wink at lady fortune and she winked back. It wasn't gas, but a real smile after all. This year, I'm fully stocked on ink, the printer is new and I have plenty of paper. All I need is an idea...