Thinking of Spring

wheat, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Its supposed to be cold here this week and I really don't like that. So I was going through my files and found this shot taken last May of ripening wheat.

Two Steers

Two Steers, originally uploaded by edrahe.

This is my first picture taken with my Leica D-Lux 3.

A cow egg

I showed this shot to a coworker and she said it is a cow egg that will hatch next spring. And I thought it was a round hay bale enveloped in fog on a windswept Iowa field.

What I did over Christmas vacation

046, originally uploaded by edrahe.

My wife and I spent Christmas with her parents in Oskaloosa, Iowa, a sleepy farm town (population 11,000) 49 miles southeast of DesMoines.

On Dec. 22 there was last minute Christmas shopping and my mother-in-law was finishing the last minute preparations for our big family gathering that afternoon. I, however, didn't have anything on my schedule and I read in the morning paper that Barack Obama would be making a stump speech at the Oskaloosa Middle School at 9 a.m. Sounded a good thing for a political junkie to do on his vacation so I grabbed my camera and went.

It was an interesting experience all around. And I talked my way into the press area (I knew that battery grip on my XTi was good for something), and probably got as good a picture as any of the working press. In fact, my shot looks very similar to the one that ran in the DesMoines Register the next day. The local newspaper, the Oskaloosa Herald, apparantly couldn't send a photographer. While they had a good write up they used a stock shot of the canditate. Had I known they needed a good picture I wouldn't let them use one of mine.

Ron Paul for President

Ed's Photo Daily endorses GOP canditate Ron Paul for president in 2008.

Red Meat

Red Meat, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I feel sorry for vegetarians, especially during the season of Christmas office parties and home entertaining. It was 100 percent corn-fed, 21-day aged prim filet, cooked to perfection. You could almost cut it with a fork. And it was delicious.

Photoshop Fun

verson3, originally uploaded by edrahe.

This is one of my first attepts at selective colorization. Or is it selective black & white?

Illinois Farm Bureau Photo Rights Grab

The Illinois Farm Bureau, the champion of the rights of rural Illinois citizens, seems to be engaged in a scheme to replenish its stock photo library with all rights and royalty-free photographs with absolutely no regard to the itellectual property rights of the same members it claims to represent in the halls of Illinois government.



Farm Bureau members who are amateur photographers whould beware of the fine print in the rules of the Illinois Farm Bureau's photo contest. (When you get to that site click on the cow picture for a PDF of the full contest rules)



The fine print in the entry rules contains the following provision:
"By submitting a photo, you authorize the Illinois Agricultural Association, more commonly known as Illinois Farm Bureau, to use your photograph for purposes of promoting the photo contest and other activities. You waive any claim of ownership or right to compensation for use of the photo."

WHAT????

Simply put, if an amateur photographer farm wife or farm husband enters picture of daughter Susie posing with her county fair grand champion Holstein, that picture becomes the all out property of the Illinois Farm Bureau and it can use the picture any way it wants. To any amateur photographer this would be flattering. What's puzzling is why the Illinois Farm Bureau feels the need to claim all rights -- the copyright -- without just compensation to the original copyright owner?

Stock Photography is a multi-million (at the very, very least) industry in the U.S. Formerly the bastion of hardcore weekend shooters and professional photographers, the proliferation of the Internet and photo sharing sites like Flickr have made photography accessible to the masses.

To the chagrin of legions of pro shooters a great number of these masses are darned good shooters who could care less about making a buck or two from photography, though more and more amateur shooters are wising up. Like me. I'm no New York shooter but I've learned over the last two or three recent years that publishers are willing to pay to license pictures. To the chagin of legions of pro shooters some amateurs don't realize that their photos are valuable to someone who needs that particular photo.

To the delight to large publishers, such as the Illinois Farm Bureau, these organizations take advantage of uninformed amateur photographers and devise photo rights grabs under the guise of "photo contests." The Illinois Farm Bureau isn't the first nor last organization to use this ploy. But I for one am calling foul on this one.

Photo contests are great, especially one that really do highlight the picture documentation of modern rural lifestyles. The Illinois Farm Bureau if it so choses can administer this contest without confiscating all rights of the entrants.

I

A classy cat

A classy cat, originally uploaded by edrahe.

The more I examine this photo the more I like it.

A Turnip

A Turnip, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Well, what can one say about a turnip?

Thanksgiving Cat

063, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I had hoped to take a picture of yesterday's Turkey coming out of the oven but I didn't get around to it. This is one of the almost 100 pictures I took of my niece's cat so she could use a photo for her christmas card.

Another hunting pose

Deer Hunting 2007 H, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I wasn't going to post this one because I thought it was overexposed. Then I worked with it a little bit in photoshop and decided I have a halfway decent picture.

Its Hunting Season

Its Hunting Season, originally uploaded by edrahe.

My nephew, left, and his hunting buddy, right, took time out from their deer hunting today to pose for an environmental portrait. So far they haven't had any luck bagging a deer, but its only Saturday.

Autumn Bluffs

Autumn Bluffs, originally uploaded by edrahe.

How's this for a colorful magazine cover shot? The only thing that bothers me is the junk trucks in front of the red barn. Others in the office say that the trucks make the picture interesting, and "real."

Corn picker in the weeds

030, originally uploaded by edrahe.

This is another from Saturdays shots on the farm. Its an old two-row ear corn picker. When I was a youngster I remember my Dad using it. It has seen better days.

The purpose of this post is to also test the Flickr.com blog feature. Hopefully this'll make posting updates less of a chore.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

On a roll

Sometimes you just get a lucky shot. The more I contemplate this photo the more I really like it. This is my cousin with my Dad's 1940 John Deere AR, which has been featured before in this blog. I looked up the shot settings and they're exactly the same as the tractor shot in the previous post. I had the SB24 to camera left and the SB28 way off to the right. The muffler blocked the '28 and threw an interesting shadow on Gordon's face, which I think makes the picture.

Up and running again

Under which day does this fall? Oh well, I've lost track. FINALLY this morning I found some halfway interesting stuff to photograph. Whenever on of my Dad's vintage John Deere tractors is outside I always snap a quick portrait. This morning both my father and cousin happened to be in the vicinity and I had my lights set up. For those who are interested in these things, it was shot at ISO 100, f7.1/ 200. I had a bare SB24 and SB26 on either side of the scene at full power. This will be a classic to add to our family photo album.

I haven't forgotten about my blog

Okay, as I was saying..... I'm back from my latest travels but unfortunatly I haven't been out to take any interesting pictures. Check back on November 12.

On the road again

Greetings blog fans. There probably will not be anymore updates until next Saturday. I'm in New Orleans today attenging the annual Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association and Farm Equipment Wholesalers Association conventions. I'm comfortable ensconced in the Ray "School Bus" Naquin suite at the Sheraton New Orleans. The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.

The Toy Tractor

DAY 57: Four or so days from press deadline and we're having a production meeting this morning and the question comes up: "What do we have for cover art?" Yep, nadda, nothing. The product spotlight is tires and tracks and the feature story is regarding the equipment warrantly database. Luckily I have my "studio lights in a bag" with me at all times and over lunchour I came up with a usable cover shot to illustrate tires and tracks using a portion of the above toy tractor. Though this isn't the final shot, the one we're going to use is pretty cool, considering the only things I had to work with were a toy tractor, a couple of lights and brollies and a white background.

Better car shot

Day 56: Playing catch up. Another angle of Granddad's car

DAY 55: If you've been following this blog for any amount of time you've probably figured out that my father doesn't throw away much. Today's picture is of my grandpa's 1953 Ford that he bought off the showroom floor that year. It has about 39,000 miles on it and purrs like a kitten.

DAY 54: Having pretty much retired from taking towboat pictures, step-dog and I took a drive to the river to see what was going on. Step dog was just glad to get away from the cat for a while anyway. I hadn't taken a picture of a river towboat for about three months so its quite lucky that I caught a newly sold, repainted and renamed boat, the mv. Steven Durbin.

Top of the muffin to you II

Here's another angle. Don't know which one I like best.

Top of the muffin to you

DAY 53: Like a lot of offices accross America, donuts, bagels, muffins and cakes show up here on a pretty regular basis. Since I failed to update last night, I was doing some test shots today in the office and captured a rasin bran muffin in its natural corporate habitat.

Another old tractor

DAY 52: My Dad's 1930something John Deere Model A.

A burnt out bathroom

DAY 51: Not much commentary on this one.

Throw the door out the window

DAY 50: From a burnt out house I know.

Back in Business

After a week hiatus we're back, picking up on DAY 49. The neat thing about this picture is that could've been taken with available light. I played around with the off camera strobe. ISO 100, f/6.5, flash off camera right, full power.

Check back on October 15

Okay, I haven't exactly been slacking, but I haven't exactly been shooting a lot of photos. I'm waiting for something good. In the meantime for your listening pleasure check out the newest from my favorite country swing band, the Quebe Sisters.

Nothing to show

I really shouldn't be posting a picture of the day just for the sake of posting the picture of the day. I'm going to the farm tomorrow a.m. to see what I can find.

On the campaign trail

There will be no updates today, but hopefully two tomorrow. The presidential candidates were stumping in St. Louis. This morning Rudy Guilanni was in Clayton for a fundraiser, but he skipped mass. This evening the Clinton campaign sent Carl Bernstein to shill his new book A Woman in Charge, about Mrs. Bill Clinton. Leanne and I took part in "An Evening With Carl Bernstein," held in the Blanche on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus. We were sitting in the orchestra section, row E and I almost drowned in all the BS cascading from Bernstein's mouth.

However, this is not a political blog, and yes, I will shut up and take pictures in the same manner the Dixie Chicks should shut up and sing.

No wonder my sinuses are stuffed

DAY 48: It started Monday afternoon with a scratchy throat and by Tuesday morning my head was really stuffed up. It didn't occurr to me until today that being out in the bean dust Sunday might have something to do with it.

Working with light

DAY 47: Not much to say about this shot.

Something a little different

DAY 46: A shot of bean harvest.

Don't try this at home

DAY 45: I managed to get this shot today without burning my corneas. Bean harvest is underway and as any farmer knows you can count on breakdowns at the worst time. With it being Sunday and the parts department closed my Dad had to make a temporary weld so that my brother could get back out in the field. More bean harvest photos later this week.

The truck again

DAY 44: Using my "Speedlite on a Stick" I got more of the look I was going for. I'm trying to cut the cords to go truly off camera flash. Stay tuned.

Not quite full moon

DAY 43: I wanted to get a picture of the full harvest moon this month after I read a short article on photographing a full moon. The clouds didn't cooperate until tonight when the moon wasn't quite full. I've tried moon photographs before but couldn't get the exposure right against the dark sky. Then I read that its daylight on the moon and thus you set your shutter and f/stop for daylight as one would on Earth. Well, duhhhhhh. That did the trick.

Sunset on deck

Day 42:A generic stock shot from a cruise ship deck

More product photography

DAY 41: Want a cup?

Kitchen table photography

DAY 40: Wow, that sounds like a long time. Today I experimented shooting through an umbrella and using a white foam board as a reflector. I'm satisfied with these early results. The butter churn belonged to my great grandmother. The apples seem a little flat.

Back to the truck

DAY 39: Another shot of the pickup truck featured in an earlier post. This would be a good subject for strobist stye.

Safe at second base

DAY 38: I haven't had a chance to shoot a game lately so I was glad to be able to get out on Saturday to shot a middle school game. I got a lot of good shots but this is one of my favorites.

Making progress

DAY 37: It isn't even noon and I am posting the picture of the day. I was back on location in the backyard with my model, stepdog. This is more of the result I've been looking for and now I'm going to see if I can find a bipedal model to help me out. The dog just won't sit still and doesn't pay attention to SIT, STAY, etc.

A dog and a birthday cake

DAY 36: It's a good thing I don't blog about the media, or else I'd burn up a lot of pixels here railing against Dan Rather and his excuses benind a $70 million lawsuit against his former employer. Don't get me started. Instead I will comment on today's tripple post. Today I had the opportunity to make a very quick shot of an office birthday cake. The room was well lit but by playing with exposure and flash intensity I was able to isolate the cake. Sure, it could've been repositioned and the camera angle could've been better, but it is an interesting study.

As for the other two shots of stepdog I figured out that getting down on dog's perspective helped immensely. This time I put my Speedlite 430EX on the end of my monopod and connected it to the camera with a hotshoe cord, or whatever you cal it. By varying the intensity and position of the bare flash I was able to get good results from these early experiments. More to come, I'm sure.

Eperimenting with off camera flash

DAY 35: I was up all night reading the Stobist again and decided I'd take the plunge--set the camera on manual and take the flash off camera and get creative. I headed out to the backyard with my stepdog and studio flash head. I would've done alright, I think, if stepdog would've cooperated and I had gotten outside before sunset. Nonetheless I was able to experiment with a few shots and began to think that this method is going to be fun and interesting to learn.

Pickles revisited

DAY 34: Some people might think they need to pay upwards of $100 for a light tent to shoot product photography. Though I have some lighting kinks to work on, I built a light tent using a cardboard box, an old lamp and some big sheets of paper. I shamelessly stole this idea from another photo blogger, but I hope he doesn't mind. The strobist has many usefull tips on innovative and thrifty ways to improve your off-camera strobes. There's some great stuff there.

A snoozer

DAY 33: Okay, I know, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. And believe me, the barrel is almost empty. But have no fear. Earlier this evening I read about a photographic device that out of the factory can cost upwards of a hundred dollars. The article explained how using $10 worth of new materials, some duct tape and items you might find in your kitchen drawers, a person could build one of these devices themselves. Hopefully I will have a pictures shot utilizing this device for tomorrow's picture of the day.

Leftover from Monday's leftover Sunday commentary

In yesterday's post I directed the reader to an ad I found on Craigslist in which a bride-to-be is looking for a student/beginner to photograph her wedding. Flags went off fast talker wanting Ansel Adams quality work for free, or $15 an hour. In this particular case I sent an email to the poster and told her I was curious whether anyone answered her ad, and I directed her to yesterday's post. I expected two things from this: She wouldn't answer, or I would get a response telling me to mind my own business, or worse.

To my pleasant surprise bride-to-be sent a very rational reply setting me straight, explaining her photographic needs and why she decided to advertise for a photographer on craigslist. This poster may be the exception to the majority of photo jobs posted on craigslist. Her response follows:

Ed
I read your blogspot, and obviously you are not exactly sure what you are talking about. I am willing to pay a fair price for what I get. I feel that most of the professional photographers I have come across in the St. Louis area are not as good as they like to think they are. Their images are grainy, not very clear and just not as good as I would hope. They seem to be not using a very good camera.

I am willing to pay someone what they are worth, just not so happy with my options at this current time. Trying to find someone who is independent and more artistic. Who can make a picture look like art and not just take a picture like my grandmother could, but take a picture like an actual photographer. I am not just about going cheap, I am
trying to find someone different and with unique traits that I have not been
able to find with my so-called professional options. Sure, I have found some
great photographers too, but I cannot afford them. I am looking for a middle
ground. I cannot afford the best quality pictures, just not possible, so I am
looking for someone who can do pretty good pictures at a little less then what
the great photographers charge. I have yet to find a middle ground until I
turned to craigslist. I either found exceptional photographers that I would
love, but cannot afford. Or terrible photographers that still charge too much for their terrible quality.

So far, I have had a nice response. I found a student photographer who takes wonderful pictures at a fair price, not cheap by any means. I am looking into the rest of my options as of now and came across at least one other that I would be comfortable using. I
haven't been able to check out all of them yet, I recieved far too many replies.
All of which have been reasonable in price.

I have recieved many replies, I would say in the 15-20 range and most of them have been better then I would have thought. Some are not, but that is the chance I take when putting an ad on craigslist. Thr prices are fair, unlike some photographers who claim to be professionals charge.

So just because I do not want to pay $1500 for someone who uses a camera that outputs pictures very similar to what I could take with my Kodak Easy Share, does not mean I am not willing to pay a fair price for their work.
Sincerely.....

Well said! (And congratulations on your upcoming big day)

Sunday commentary leftovers

I know its Monday but its my blog and I can add to my Sunday commentary. The topic was about not giving it away. Mark Loundy is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers and I haven't seen anything he's shot. I've been reading a lot of Loundy's stuff here and here. This guy knows what he's talking about when to comes to the need for independent photographers to be good business people as well as good shooters. He's a good writer, too, and tells it like it is, and how it ought to be.
And then there's this gem from the St. Louis version of craigslist. The bride is looking for a wedding shooter -- a newbie or student okay -- to shoot all day at three location and in return turn over a CD of the images and all rights for a "price to be determined." I emailed this bride and ask her how many photographers jumped at this opportunity. Even if I never hear back from her I fear this uninformed bride will find an uninformed photographer who will actually be dumb enough to take on this job on her terms. Again, if you're good enough to shoot the kind of shots she specifically describes in her ad then you're good enough to charge a fair price for them. And she should be willing to pay for quality work.

The tractor cruise

Day 32: Before I comment on today's post I'd like to mention that Day 31's offering will be featured on the front cover of the Monroe County Independent Sept. 22 issue. On Saturday I caught up with the Gateway Two Cylinder Club whose members were on their annual tractor cruise to Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Never mind I was shooting into the sun and that particular stretch of road was not good for getting a lot of tractors into the shoot.

The Sunday paper

DAY 31: I took a Sunday drive to the farm today. Though it was overcased I had hoped to get some farm action shots but there were none to find. Corn harvest is just about wrapped up and soybean harvest is a week or two away in most places. I brought along a copy of the Saturday New York Times (I get the Saturday and Sunday Times delivered at home but I don't read the editorials) featuring an article about a musical about the flood of 1993 and Valmeyer, Ill. The musical is currently being presented by our local community theater group and many of the cast members and audiences are flood survivors. I lived it and have no desire to see the play but I I showed the article to Dad and he sat down to read it on the back bumper of an old truck he's getting ready to take to the shredding mill. There was my picture of the day! It would've been better if I'd had my wide angle lens ready and if you could see his face, but I think its a good picture anyway. Your thoughts are always welcome.

Adding to the collection

Yesterday I found a $20 Aires Viscount ragefinder camera, circa 1959, at a church flea market. This purchase officially makes me a collector of vintage cameras because I have three vintage cameras now. If you have three of any object when one of them would suffice then you are a collector. The other cameras in my collection are a Yashica EZ-matic and a Crown Graphic. All three cameras do work. For this picture of the camera I placed it on the trunk of my car.

Sunday commentary

Don't give it away
After a month this blog is doing for me what I intended. I'm getting out more trying to take purposeful and interesting pictures. It is rather subjective to conclude that I've done that but I think I have.
I've also been reading more about photography, especially the business of photography including magazine, book and newspaper publishing, studio and wedding photography, and stock photography. One question that kept popping up in my mind while doing all that reading is: "What kind of photographer am I."
Well, a pretty good one, if I might say so myself. Last year revenue from my assignment and stock sales paid for five day cruise to Mexico. That may sound impressive until you consider that cruises these days are cheap if you know the right time to book. What I'm trying to say is that I sell -- excuse me-- I LICENSE a picture or two a year and my health or livlihood hardly depend on photo license income. However, I truly believe that if I had to, as in had no other choice, and if I really hustled and worked the phone and took lots of pictures I might be able to eek out a very, very modest living as a photographer.
So, when I license a photo I try to get as much money as buyer is willing to pay. I might not be a well known photographer and I might not be a fulltime photographer but if I have a picture a buyer is willing to pay for I want to get the same amount of money as that buyer would pay to the "more professional" photographer.
The consensus among the professional photographers writing on the subjet is that digital photography and the internet has made it possible for any putz with a camera to get in on the action. Many of these so called putzs post their photos on microstock sites such as istockphoto and sell what is called royalty-free photography for rock bottom prices. I would go so far as to call it the Wal-Martization of stock photography, only worse.
And don't get me started on those folks on craigslist looking for a wedding photographer willing to shoot a wedding and then turn over a CD of images for $250 or $300, if that much. What's worse is the putzes who take these jobs. Some of these discount shooters might be good. If they're that good, they should be getting more for their work. If they end up shooting crappy photos then the bride and bridegroom got what they paid for. Crap.
The system will weed out this new breed of crappy photographers because it simply isn't true that any putz with a digital camera can shoot good pictures. What we really have to worry about is these photographers who do shoot decent photos and give them away. Stop selling yourself short. It depresses prices across the board and if you're a good photographer just starting out it just doesn't help you to give away your services at discout prices. If you shoot like a pro then you should charge like a pro. People will still pay for good photography.

Now that's a yawn

DAY 30: I actually went out on self assignment this morning and got some decent pictures. The gem of the day, however, happened after I got home. I was experimenting with a high ISO in available light and was taking pictures of Pepper doing nothing. I almost missed this shot of her huge yawn but was quick enough on the trigger to get it. I guess that's what she thinks about me doing test shots on her all the time.