Tag - You're It!

In Flickr and in my blog, I do my best to tag and label everything, but I admit I'm sometimes sloppy. This is a big mistake. Case in point:



I don't like this picture. I don't like snow, period. But oddly enough, this was indexed somewhere in Google. According to Flickr, the keywords "Bethesda blizzard" take you to a page at Google, and this picture is relatively high up on the list.

Here's another example:



I like this picture, but it isn't my favorite in the album. However, it shows up in a Google search if you type "Kessab Syria".

Conclusions:

1) If I want to get the word out, I have to do a better job of tagging.

2) My popular photos aren't the ones I like the best. Especially not the blizzard shots, (shudder).

3) The more descriptive, the better - instead of just cities, specific buildings/areas of interest. Also, if I'm taking pictures of flowers, I should jot down the botanical names. Street names are useful, too.

I'm therefore going to spend the next few days back in Flickr. I'll add whatever tags I can. I don't remember every name of every butterfly or plant, but I'll do my best.

Speaking of blizzards, a post about winter and photography is inevitable. Not today, though. Till Monday! Have a great weekend!

Back at Penn

A month or so ago, I mentioned my plans to return to Penn and take more pictures. Last weekend, I did just that. I spent three hours in what was the freezing cold, but it was all worth it.

My photography strengths don't lie in architecture. Frankly, it's a struggle for me. It's not the buildings themselves - it's a matter of what story I'm trying to tell. I don't always have one. Anyway, here are some pictures that made the cut:







A few things I learned about my choices:

1) I'm obsessed with College Hall (the green building) and the Fisher Fine Arts Library (the last two pictures). This is amusing, since I don't remember ever having taken more than one class at College Hall, and I didn't spend much time in Fisher, either.

2) Although I practically lived in Houston Hall (the fourth picture) in college, I didn't take too many pictures of it. I'll admit that I don't think it's the nicest building there. I also struggled with the interior shots there. I took some pictures of the Hall of Flags, but none of them turned out well.

3) I took NO pictures of the places where I spent the most time, aside from Houston Hall. Honestly, those buildings weren't pretty at all (DRL, Stiteler). Don't get me wrong, though, some of my best classes were in those less-than-pretty buildings. :)

4) Some abstract options looked nice (like the last picture, and a few others), but most did not. Penn is a historic campus, and my abstracts are better suited to modern contexts.

5) These pictures don't really tell a story, but they would make nice postcards. This is progress for me.

6) I used a wide-angle lens for the most part, except for the abstracts. I'm not sure if a point-and-shoot would have been good enough.

Some things for you to think about:

1) Make sure your buildings don't look like they're leaning. That happens if you tilt the camera upward to try to include the entire subject in the frame. You'll notice that I don't have full shots of some of the buildings. This is because even with my wide-angle lens, I couldn't fit the entire picture. I opted to showcase the open space (Penn is in the city of Philadelphia, but you'd never know it) and the grass instead. With a point-and-shoot, you'll have to make some sacrifices, since your shots won't be as wide. This means you'll need to stand further back, and crop liberally.

2) The cloudy day was great in terms of being able to avoid harsh reflections, but I had to add saturation and luminance to every picture I took. Some of this can be done if you have a point-and-shoot (and don't shoot in RAW), but you may want to be mindful of this by trying to use a setting such as "Vivid" - or something along those lines. You'll save time when you post-process.

3) I had to turn up the ISO for almost every picture. Low light isn't always your friend. This especially applies to the last picture in this set, which was taken indoors.

4) Keep an eye on your white balance, especially if not shooting in RAW. I forgot to change one of my settings, and a few of my pictures were blue. It's no big deal for RAW images, but it's hard to correct JPEGs. For the outdoor pictures, I used Cloudy. For interior pictures, I used Tungsten (so that they wouldn't look yellow).

5) Go with what you like. I focused on a few buildings, and ignored most others. It's fine.

6) Experiment and have fun. Many of my pictures didn't turn out well. I'm glad I tried different things, though.

Till tomorrow!

Backup Plan - (Almost) All Set

Yesterday, I discussed the need to revisit my backup plan. After having evaluated the offerings against my requirements, (also discussed yesterday) I ended up purchasing a point-and-shoot - a Canon SX210 IS. Why, you ask?

1) I didn't want to spend too little, or too much. My point-and-shoot of choice needed to be more than just a toy.

2) I needed something small.

3) As long as I'm buying something new, the more resolution, the better. I know there are concerns about distortion, but I'm not worried.

4) Wide-angle capabilities. I use my wide-angle lens on my DSLR the most, and I wanted something that was at least of some use to me. It's obviously nothing close to what I have.

5) I may as well shoot decent video for fun.

6) I can tweak at least some of the settings - manual focus, aperture, shutter speed. All are useful to me.

7) It's a Canon. I like Canons. It's how I am. :)

So, will this replace my DSLR? Not a chance. Here's why:

1) No macro capability that I can live with. Macro shots are my favorites.

2) Noise distortion at ISO > 400.

3) No shooting in RAW. As I've discussed, I can't live without this.

4) The zoom is good, but it's obviously nothing like that of a telephoto.

Some advantages:

1) If I'm hiking, I'd rather take this than my DSLR. I have less to lose if something happens with this camera.

2) In ideal conditions where I'm taking landscape or "postcard-like" pictures, I can take this rather than all of my gear, if I'm going on a quick trip.

3) While I wait for my DSLR to be repaired, this will absolutely force me to focus on my technique. I take too much for granted with my camera, admittedly.

My backup strategy won't be complete until I purchase a high-end DSLR. However, what I have is good for now.

For everyone else, some considerations:

1) You definitely want to think about two cameras of some sort if you're a) On a trip b) Photographing a special occasion c) You're on a trip to an exotic place.

2) If you stick with one camera, I urge you to have two (large) memory cards and two batteries. If you can take a laptop with you, all the better. That way, you can load the pictures on the laptop, at the very least.

3) Don't pack everything together. I am still upset about my Hawaii debacle. Had I kept the memory card in my purse, or had I had my laptop with me, I wouldn't have lost all of those gorgeous shots. It doesn't look like I'm returning to Hawaii anytime soon, so I'm still upset.

I haven't gone out on any photo shoots with my point-and-shoot yet. I'm going to try to before my NYC trip, so that I can practice using it.

Here's another Penn "teaser" picture - this time, of my favorite building:



Till tomorrow (I will discuss my Penn lessons learned this week, really)!