JPEG Wins

Shooting in RAW is okay, for me, if I have to do a bunch of editing.  But I have found that my acceptance rate with stock photography is much better with JPEG.  Why?  Because I don’t tend to have to edit them much after the fact.  The most common error I still encounter is artifacting however it is much less than before. 

The other good thing about JPEG is it uses much less memory…

RAW vs JPEG

I have been experimenting a lot in RAW for stock photography but I seem to have many of the same issues that I had with JPEG.  ARTIFACTING!  This seems to be a problem.  I have read on the subject and there are ways to correct it but none that seem simple.  The rest of the issues can occur with both file formats, such as no clear focal point or poor lighting.  So after months of shooting in RAW I am going to test things out and shoot in JPEG for a while.

If anyone has any brilliant ways to reduce artifiacting I am all ears.  That is without photoshop or other expensive editing software.

Inspiration

I am extremely ready for the warmer weather.  I feel like there has not been much inspiration in my photography.  I want color and lots of it.  I am so glad spring has started.

What are You Looking At?

Funky Beetle

My sister’s the biologist expert and she says this is a beetle so I have to accept that but he is weird looking.

Walk Bridge

Bridge crossing the Boise River down by the old Albertson’s cooperate office.

Personal Lesson in Lighting

I thought I would head down to the library and take a few pictures of things that looked smart. I contemplated taking my tripod but figured it would only get in the way. “There should be plenty of light in the building, plus I have my off camera flash.” Well here is what I learned:

1. Indoor lighting is nothing compared to outdoor lighting, I was shooting with a shutter speed of 1/10.  Kind of hard to hold that still.
2. The subject had a reflective surface so the flash was not working to my liking plus the angle I was shooting at didn’t compliment the flash either.
3. Time wasted!!
4. I SHOULD OF TAKEN THE TRIPOD

Split Tree

Interesting trail with a tree split on each side of the fence.

Ornamental Grass

No-Rip Nylon

Lighting and diffusion are very important when taking pictures and for those of us that are financially limited it is difficult to buy some of the professional lighting that is available, especially the quality equipment. However, there are options… It is easy enough to make a light stand with items from Home Depot such as PVC pipe and a shop clamp on light but what about diffusion? My research has lead me to no-rip nylon. It spreads the light well and allows for the color of the light to shine through rather than a tint of some kind. I originally found some at JoAnn Fabrics but I have been there twice since looking for it and their customer service sucked. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Next option, which I found very useful was to order the fabric from Hancock Fabrics online. Much easier and way less frustrating!

Exotic Bird

Another photo taken at the Zoo…. Try from different angles to get around the glare in the glass.

Blue Frog

Don’t forget about taking time to go to the zoo for some pictures.

Original Ideas

On this journey of finding what is unique and original I am finding that it appears everything has had its photograph taken from every angle and in every color. I hope some day to be proven wrong but for a person, myself that is, with no imagination it is very hard to come up with original photograph ideas. I love looking at other people’s work to be inspired but that could lead less original work… Keep pressing on!

Squirell

Even though this little squirrell is sort of cute he still is a rodent. Then again some people think mice and rats are cute.

Tractor

I took this at the State Fair back in August. The tractors were too close together for me to get a good shot of one without a lot of distraction so I cropped it down.