-Nikographer / Jon
Thursday, November 08, 2007
The Colors of Fall - 2007
Assorted recent images I've taken in the Maryland and Virginia area.
-Nikographer / Jon
-Nikographer / Jon
Thursday, November 01, 2007
photo use - please read
Nikographer 11/1/2007
I often get asked by someone regarding the use of my images. Here's my take on all that, and guidelines for requesting use.
Background
I take photography fairly seriously, and devote a lot of time to get the images I share on my web site. I've also spent a substantial amount of money to buy my photo gear.
Professional Photographers
Professional Photographers rely on work to make a living. Sales of images put food on the table, etc.
Stock, Microstock, etc
These days images can be purchased for very small amounts of money. There are numerous web sites that sell limited use, unlimited use, photos for nearly nothing.
Free Images
There's also a fairly large amount of work out there that can be had under the creative commons license model, with varying conditions, for free. The most basic condition being attribution, noting where the image came from.
My Take
I'm open to selling my work. I've made a few sales, and been happy to do so.
I've also given away some of my work. However, I only give my work away to non-profit, conservation or education efforts. So, I support nature conservation, education, and well intentioned efforts that probably cannot afford to purchase rights to a photo, let alone afford to hire a photographer to shoot something for a specific purpose.
Your Request
If you are requesting an image of me, and you are a for-profit venture, please specify what you are willing to offer in payment for limited use rights to my work. Failing to specify anything regarding payment will tell me you are looking for something for free, and I will not be interested.
If you fall in to another category, say non-profit, conservation or education organization, please provide me with a link to your web site so I can research you request. I am usually very open to this type of request. If you are from a for profit agency working on one of these types of projects, I will have to think more about it.
In Summary
I don't spend time taking photos to help others profit for free from my work. I imagine there are quite a few people that think use of an image is honor enough, regardless of why and where it is being used, but for me, the context matters greatly.
Thanks and please respect the working photographers of the world, and offer payment when you want to use something in a commercial way.
Note: I retain all rights to my photos, and no one is authorized to use my photos without prior consent.
-Nikographer / Jon
Nikographer 11/1/2007
I often get asked by someone regarding the use of my images. Here's my take on all that, and guidelines for requesting use.
Background
I take photography fairly seriously, and devote a lot of time to get the images I share on my web site. I've also spent a substantial amount of money to buy my photo gear.
Professional Photographers
Professional Photographers rely on work to make a living. Sales of images put food on the table, etc.
Stock, Microstock, etc
These days images can be purchased for very small amounts of money. There are numerous web sites that sell limited use, unlimited use, photos for nearly nothing.
Free Images
There's also a fairly large amount of work out there that can be had under the creative commons license model, with varying conditions, for free. The most basic condition being attribution, noting where the image came from.
My Take
I'm open to selling my work. I've made a few sales, and been happy to do so.
I've also given away some of my work. However, I only give my work away to non-profit, conservation or education efforts. So, I support nature conservation, education, and well intentioned efforts that probably cannot afford to purchase rights to a photo, let alone afford to hire a photographer to shoot something for a specific purpose.
Your Request
If you are requesting an image of me, and you are a for-profit venture, please specify what you are willing to offer in payment for limited use rights to my work. Failing to specify anything regarding payment will tell me you are looking for something for free, and I will not be interested.
If you fall in to another category, say non-profit, conservation or education organization, please provide me with a link to your web site so I can research you request. I am usually very open to this type of request. If you are from a for profit agency working on one of these types of projects, I will have to think more about it.
In Summary
I don't spend time taking photos to help others profit for free from my work. I imagine there are quite a few people that think use of an image is honor enough, regardless of why and where it is being used, but for me, the context matters greatly.
Thanks and please respect the working photographers of the world, and offer payment when you want to use something in a commercial way.
Note: I retain all rights to my photos, and no one is authorized to use my photos without prior consent.
-Nikographer / Jon
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Great Falls National Park, September 2007
I visited Great Falls National Park a bunch of times in September 2007.
Going exclusively to the Maryland side for over a year, I worked the overlook with some new ideas, and captured some new things. I combined the motion blur of the water falls using a long exposure, while also capturing a near motionless Great Blue Heron for some neat results...
I also took a handful of sunset photos, and even witnessed a rescue of a kayaker that had dislocated their shouldered while having fun on the river.
Then I decided to check out the Virginia side of the Falls and I was really impressed. Here are a couple of HDR's from the Virginia side.
-Nikographer / Jon
Going exclusively to the Maryland side for over a year, I worked the overlook with some new ideas, and captured some new things. I combined the motion blur of the water falls using a long exposure, while also capturing a near motionless Great Blue Heron for some neat results...
I also took a handful of sunset photos, and even witnessed a rescue of a kayaker that had dislocated their shouldered while having fun on the river.
Then I decided to check out the Virginia side of the Falls and I was really impressed. Here are a couple of HDR's from the Virginia side.
-Nikographer / Jon
Tioga - Bald Eagle
A few shots of Tioga, the male bald eagle at the US National Zoo (http://www.fonz.org/)
Eagles at the National Zoo.
Eagles at the National Zoo.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Blackwater Visit 8/11/2007 - Assorted sights
I went out to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge again, probably about my 12th or 13 visit during the past 9 months.
While the Wildlife Drive is a great area to see a good variety of birds and wildlife, I enjoy venturing out in to the neighboring area, specifically along Maple Dam Road.
During this visit I spotted Eagles, Osprey, Herons, Egrets and a few others along the Wildlife Drive.
While on Maple Dam Road I spotted numerous Bald Eagles, a few Snowy Egrets, and the highlight of the trip a pair of Great Horned Owls! The only other wild owl I've EVER seen was another Great Horned Owl along this same road a few months ago.
Here are some of the 800+ photos I took and a short video clip, hosted on youtube.com.
This is the second bird in the same tree.
and then it was gone... but I saw it again later in another tree with its mate in another tree down the road ;)
I'd say it was a great day to observe wildlife, and in addition I got some sweet photos. The owls were like icing on the cake.
-Jon
While the Wildlife Drive is a great area to see a good variety of birds and wildlife, I enjoy venturing out in to the neighboring area, specifically along Maple Dam Road.
During this visit I spotted Eagles, Osprey, Herons, Egrets and a few others along the Wildlife Drive.
While on Maple Dam Road I spotted numerous Bald Eagles, a few Snowy Egrets, and the highlight of the trip a pair of Great Horned Owls! The only other wild owl I've EVER seen was another Great Horned Owl along this same road a few months ago.
Here are some of the 800+ photos I took and a short video clip, hosted on youtube.com.
This is the second bird in the same tree.
and then it was gone... but I saw it again later in another tree with its mate in another tree down the road ;)
I'd say it was a great day to observe wildlife, and in addition I got some sweet photos. The owls were like icing on the cake.
-Jon
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Eat with your mouth open!
I've been shooting a lot of the Golden Headed Lion Tamarins lately.
Here are a bunch of photos, all taken with off camera flash (Nijoin D200 with SB-800 and a Tamron 18-200mm.
-Jon
Here are a bunch of photos, all taken with off camera flash (Nijoin D200 with SB-800 and a Tamron 18-200mm.
-Jon
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Frog photos with double off camera flash (SB-800's) and video
This frog was so cool. It spent hours calling out in to the night.
I took photos of him on three nights in a row, and quickly setup to remote flashes on the first night and went to town. I triggered the flashes remotely with the on camera flash on commander mode. I experimented with TTL and manual modes on the flashes and mostly shot in manual mode at outputs of about 1/8th to 1/2 power. It wasn't until the last night that I moved one of the flashes towards the front of the frog. I also tried shooting at the higher power on the flashes and lowering ISO to still get a good exposure, and decent shutter speed and f/stop. I realized if I am providing all the light for the photo, and I am shooting under-powered flashes and higher ISO I am doing something wrong! Why shoot at 1/4 power flash and ISO 400 when I can shoot at 1/1 (full power) flash and ISO 100 and get the same light and exposure?! So I tried some light that. After a while I raised the ISO in favor of wearing down the batteries on the flash unit any more than I already was and I was swapping batteries a lot over the days I shot these.
Some lighting shots. My brother's pond is maybe 12 feet wide and 9 or 10 feet deep. Mostly I had the flashes near eachother and behind the frog on the right and left.
For some I used the on camera flash too as a third light source, it may be the source of the reflection on the frog here
Here's one with the side lighting
And finally here's a 5 minute video of still shots and the audio from the pond and the frog's calls. I didn't take the time to synchronize the images of calls with the sound of calls... The sound is just for that added flavor or feeling of the frog and the pond.
-Jon
Tags: Maine, ME, Pond, Frog, Water, Video, Audio, Flash, Lighting, Nikon, D200, SB-800, CLS, wireless, remote off camera flash.
I took photos of him on three nights in a row, and quickly setup to remote flashes on the first night and went to town. I triggered the flashes remotely with the on camera flash on commander mode. I experimented with TTL and manual modes on the flashes and mostly shot in manual mode at outputs of about 1/8th to 1/2 power. It wasn't until the last night that I moved one of the flashes towards the front of the frog. I also tried shooting at the higher power on the flashes and lowering ISO to still get a good exposure, and decent shutter speed and f/stop. I realized if I am providing all the light for the photo, and I am shooting under-powered flashes and higher ISO I am doing something wrong! Why shoot at 1/4 power flash and ISO 400 when I can shoot at 1/1 (full power) flash and ISO 100 and get the same light and exposure?! So I tried some light that. After a while I raised the ISO in favor of wearing down the batteries on the flash unit any more than I already was and I was swapping batteries a lot over the days I shot these.
Some lighting shots. My brother's pond is maybe 12 feet wide and 9 or 10 feet deep. Mostly I had the flashes near eachother and behind the frog on the right and left.
For some I used the on camera flash too as a third light source, it may be the source of the reflection on the frog here
Here's one with the side lighting
And finally here's a 5 minute video of still shots and the audio from the pond and the frog's calls. I didn't take the time to synchronize the images of calls with the sound of calls... The sound is just for that added flavor or feeling of the frog and the pond.
-Jon
Tags: Maine, ME, Pond, Frog, Water, Video, Audio, Flash, Lighting, Nikon, D200, SB-800, CLS, wireless, remote off camera flash.
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