It’s a matter of performance

digital asset management software - photo mechanic

Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits I’m guessing but willing to bet a very large sum that the most common digital asset management software on a news photographer’s computer is Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits. I’ve used this almost perfect piece of DAM software since the day it first became available in 1996. Its evolution has [...]

High Speed Corners – Shutter Speed #2

High speed shutter stops bike racing action

Finding the spot was easy. I knew that when I laid down on the wet sidewalk I’d have a great low angle to frame a bike racer against the skyline as he made a turn into Uptown Westerville. The low view would place the rider in an exaggerated angle with the city’s small town building [...]

What is your simplicity quotient?

Creating a perfect photo is the right thing to do

How do you measure the quality of your work? Do you sit quietly in a corner hunched over a laptop analyzing your Photoshop skills? Do you make display prints and share them with friends, family and other photographers? Is there a Web gallery with your photos for everyone to see? Are these your best images? [...]

Photos require an emotional response

If you’ve ever heard me speak you know about my insistence that you must create images that tell stories. It doesn’t matter if it’s a commercial food photo, a senior portrait, sports action, a news feature, or a landscape panorama, it must tell a story. Your images must be evocative. They must evoke a emotional [...]

What’s old is new again

iPhone camera always at my hands

Is there a moment when you’re not thinking about photos? Is there a time when you don’t have a camera ready? Is there a photo you missed because you couldn’t answer “Yes” to these questions? Several times a week I pick up one or both of my granddaughters after their sports team practices at a [...]

D300 or iPhone, it’s all about the photo

D300 or iPhone - Its's all about the photo

Before I left the park Sunday I’d already uploaded to The Best Camera a photo of my grandson enjoying himself for the first time this year at Planet Westerville. In my Nikon D300 was a near duplicate image of the seven-year-old struggling to get high enough to leap into the air at his greatest apogee [...]

So much to do in so little time

Spring training in 10 minutes

“Your pizza will be ready in 25 minutes.” Just enough time to find a feature. My daily hunt for another photo to add to the My Final Photo collection is the most challenging aspect of my daily life.

Gotta love those specular highlights

Gotta love those specular highlights

Never stare into the sun! Unless you’ve a camera in your hand, it’s early in the morning, the rowing crews are beginning the day-long series of races and you only have an hour to work before the next shoot. Again, it’s time to break the rules. Go ahead. Stare into the sun. Only this time [...]

It’s all a matter of perspective

Lens choice is a matter of perspective

Lens choice modifies the mood and impact of your photos. My first thought shooting this group of almost Spring fitness seekers was with a telephoto view to compress their figures against the chaotic water falling over Hoover Reservoir as the background. I chose a point on the entrance road leading to the parking lot at [...]

It’s all in the eyes

Gymnast prepares for horizontal bar event

An annual assignment for me is the Arnold Sports Festival where as many as 17,000 athletes compete in about 40 sports. This will be my 16th year shooting the weekend having made the transition from processing color film in a utility closet to a staff of six photographers all shooting digital and delivering photos in [...]