by successfulbob | photographers health, photography, photography education, photography gear, success education
This will be a new series of posts about our health working as photographers. Let me preface this by saying I am not advocating that you follow blindly anything I share here. These are ideas and programs that are working for me. I have found most of these to also be regular problems for other photographers too. Consult with a physician or do your own research before embarking on any ideas shared here in this or other Photographers Health posts.
I reiterate – I am not a medical professional. I don’t play one on TV. I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night…
Computer Work Station Practices for Photographers
We spend an awful lot of time at our computers these days and that can be a severe health issue in and of itself. We hold ourselves in odd positions for long periods of time. We don’t move enough thereby putting ourselves at risk for back and neck issues, carpel tunnel syndrome and more.
My work station at Bob Coates Photography.
Here’s how I’ve started to take back my health from the computer station.
Here’s a place to find good set up information for your work station. OSHA gets you moving in the right direction.
A quick review of the important stuff.
• Top of the monitor at or just below eye level.
• Head and neck balanced in line with your torso. (You might want to get someone to watch you while you work to make sure you are in a correct position. If no one is around to help you set up a video camera and watch yourself for a while you might be surprised by what you see.
• Elbows close to your body and supported.
• Some support for your lower back.
• Wrists and hands in line with your forearms
• Plenty of room for your keyboard and tablet.
• Feet flat on the floor
Here’s a link to a more in-depth checklist for good practices and to see how your current workspace is helping or hurting you.
As photographers we have an additional piece of equipment to work with that is not addressed in the guidelines above, a tablet. If you are not already using a tablet for your work I’d put it high on your list. “But Bob, I tried a tablet and I can’t get used to it. I hate it!” “No Excuse!” I reply. The way to fall in love with your tablet is to hook it up. Make sure the settings are correct for the click and double-click sensitivity and pen pressure. Yes there are settings and preferences and ways to test all that before you get started. Most who don’t like a tablet didn’t realize that this machinery is also software driven to customize your experience. Once you’ve got the settings correct for you disconnect your mouse for four to five days. By the end of that time you will be an old pro and realize not only the health benefits of not having your hand in an awkward position trying to make selections with your mouse leading to possible Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, but the time savings. Where you put the pen on the tablet is where your Curser will appear. This seems to be one of the most difficult things for newbies on the tablet to grasp. You don’t drag your Curser from place to place. You put your pen where you want it to be. Very cool.
When you use a mouse you do a lot of work moving your wrist back and forth. When using the pen tool your wrist is held in a more neutral position using your arm and fingers to do more of the work making it much easier to make selections. This is a classic tablet I bought well over ten years ago. They design them a bit more sexy these days!
My tablet of choice over the years has been the Wacom brand. They have all different types, sizes and styles of tablet at different price points to meet every need and every budget. That sounds like an ad but it’s not. It’s an industry standard piece of equipment. I have a larger Wacom Tablet for my work station in the office that I bought a bunch of years ago and a smaller one for when I teach on the road with my laptop. If you have a question about which might be best for you drop me an email with info on the type of work you do, how long you do it, in the office? on the road? etc… and I’ll give you some ideas.
I mount my tablet on a roll-out tray so it is right in front of me. My keyboard is on the desktop right in line and above that and the monitor straight above that.
This is probably enough info for today. This has definitely turned into a two part post! In the next installment I share more ideas on staying healthy while working on your computer. Please don’t hesitate to share your ideas here too!
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Using a watercolor photo treatment that looks right was very difficult in the past. Most automated WC actions look like they had are done by a machine. I have a feeling that getting all the subtle nuances inherent in watercolor into a math equation would be amazingly difficult. It’s still not easy even when you do it by individual strokes.
Enter England’s Tom Shelbourne. He has developed a watercolor palette for Photoshop CS6 and CC that can move you way down the road to having more realistic watercolor techniques at your fingertips. You can go to Russell Brown’s website and download it for free. It takes you step by step, inch by inch (OK Layer by Layer) through a technique that helps you with the line drawing, setting up brushes and the opacity for laying down washes and getting more detail oriented as each layer is completed. This is NOT a push button watercolor system, but it will move your imagery much further in a realistic direction. Watch a video explanation of the WC Palette here.
If you like what you see there but feel the limitations you can go to Tim’s web site The Artists Quarter and Tim Has tutorials that take you even deeper into creating fine watercolor art with unlimited variations. I bought his watercolor tutorial ‘Fast and Loose’ and it really opens up the creativity and possibilities!
I wanted to create a tribute as a thank you for the Code Talkers service performed during WW2.
Bill Toledo – WW2 Navajo Code Talker in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Here is the original photo I started with of a Navajo Code Talker taken with the Panasonic Lumix GX7. I wasn’t able to get Bill to a cleaner background but we did move under an overhang so I could get some better light on his face for depth with a bit more shadow. You can see it’s a busy background. Fortunately, when creating paintings you have the option of only showing what you wish to show.
Digital Watercolor of Bill using some of Tim Shebourne’s techniques
Here’s the same photo after spending some time working with a few more of Tim’s techniques. I haven’t finished the tutorial yet so I know there’s even more realism down the road in creating Fine Art Watercolors with my photography as a base. I highly recommend you check out Tim’s tutorials if you want to have realistic digital watercolor as part of your offerings.
Another watercolor version combining a US flag to help tell the story.
The images are created in honor of the Navajo Code Talkers service to our country, but I would like for you to take time to remember all of our veterans, living and fallen during this Memorial Day. As General George Patton said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
Two quotes grace today’s Sunday Photo/Art Quote. Since they are from the minds of sixth graders I will not try to expand on their thoughts because I don’t want to color your interpretation of their words…
“Art is your emotions flowing in a river of imagination.” Devin, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
Art is the colors and textures of your imagination.” Meghan, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
Simple changes of words, tremendous change of meaning. I invite you to start the conversation here…
Yours, In Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, photography gear, photography lighting resources
Traveling light these days!
Thought I’d share what my shooting kit is these days for a couple different scenarios. Panasonic Lumix has made me lean and mean these days. My favorite camera for travel and for hiking is the Lumix GX7. It has all the features I like and has an extremely low profile. The screen tilts up and down for low angles or overhead shooting. The screen is quite viewable even in bright sunshine but just in case there is a 90 degree moveable viewfinder. The camera is capable of in-camera HDR or up to a seven stop auto-bracket, in-camera Panorama, and a host of other specialty settings I’ve been enjoying putting through its paces.
Let’s start with the hiking kit as you see pictured above. 45mm Leica DG Macro-Element f2.8 Aspherical lens for going after those close up details like flowers. Added to that the Lumix Vario 12-35mm f2.8 for the medium to wide angle scenic landscapes and the Lumix Vario 35-100mm f2.8 to help compress longer distance scenes or trying to reach a bit further. Note the mini-tripod. I tend to hike more often traveling light which means no full size tripod but with the mini I can place on or lean against a rock, tree, car or fencepost to help steady the camera. Very handy indeed. Of course, a fully charged spare battery is always in the kit. The Westcott twenty inch Five in one which folds to a very manageable 8 &1/2 inches rounds out the equipment list. So I’m covered from 24mm to 200mm – 35mm DSLR equivalent along with a MACRO and it weighs less than four and a half pounds.
Conversely, my DSLR weighs four and a half pounds with a single lens.
Wildflowers captured with the 45mm Macro
For travel I swap out the 45mm Macro for the 7-14mm f4 Asperical lens which covers me from 14-200mm 35mm DSLR equivalent and I the kit is still well under five pounds.
Both kits are supported by the Tenba Mirrorless Mover 20 bag which fits comfortably on my belt and holds all the lenses and gear including spare cards, cleaning cloth, etc.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, Lumix Lounge, photography education, success education
TAKE OFF THE FILTERS…
I’m not talking about the filters on your camera.
Talking about the ones in your head.
Ever notice when you go on vacation or to a photo seminar or go shooting with a friend that there are times when you start to see art all over the place? Or, when a fellow photographer comes to your neighborhood he or she makes stunning images in the space you spend a lot of time in? You missed it but it was there all the time?
The Amazing Brian. Sometimes it helps you tooooo much…
Your brain is incredible… But sometimes in order to protect itself it puts you on automatic pilot. It has to control the amount of stimuli it gets… and sometimes leaves out the things you really want to be paying attention to. Drive somewhere and wonder how you got there? Always turn right when you leave the driveway? Always brush your teeth with your right hand? Eat the same foods quite often but neglect to taste them? This is a result of your mind conserving itself by putting you on auto-pilot. There are things that the body needs to attend to without you thinking about it. Making sure your heart beats. That you breathe in and out and much more. The problem comes when it starts to make more and more things so automatic that you are almost an automation.
Fight back from the easy path. As the eastern religions and people who champion meditation will tell you, “Be in the Moment!” How to fight back to see more and be connected to what you see hear and feel. Take your brain off auto-pilot and move it into manual transmission.
Drive a different way to work or the store. Walk backwards. (although if you can’t take a little ribbing don’t do that one in front of others). Brush your teeth or shave or apply makeup with the opposite hand you are used to using. Listens to the water falling and splashing on the floor during your morning shower. Try a new restaurant or order different food from the one you normally go to…
Letting the brain go and be in the moment. Working on new directions for my photography.
If you want to take it straight to photography put a different lens on your camera for a week. Try new settings on your camera. shoot only from the waist. Or, do like I did and totally change the format of camera you use. When I moved to the micro 4/3rds format with the Lumix cameras things changed a lot. I originally found the system because I was looking for a camera that was light enough to have with me on vacations but still had enough of a file to produce larger prints. Then I found I was able to have my camera with me all the time and worked hard at being, “In the Moment” more often. Now I’m getting more and, I think, better images to work with.
So here’s your assignment. Disengage the automatic transmission in your brain. Go stick shift. You’ll be surprised what you start seeing and capturing with your camera!
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography education, success education
One of the ways I keep in shape with my photography skills is to practice and try new things on a regular basis. Yesterday I was having an IPA (that’s India Pale Ale for the brew bereft) I quickly photographed the chilled glass of beer and then the bottle before enjoying my libation… By the way it was quite tasty!
Then, before I went to bed I decided to build a mock up of a magazine ad for the brew. Here’s what I started with…
IPA beer bottle capture.
Frosted beer glass with a nice head. Images captured with the Lumix GX7 and the 20mm f1.7 lens.
Then it was off to Photoshop with three different textures and the tools to separate the bottle and the glass from the background. Using Layers and Blend Modes some drop shadows and a little VooDoo Magic I came up with this…
IPA ad mock up.
How have you stretched and practiced your skills lately?? Let me know…
Yours in Photography, Bob
