Through the Gadling Lens: picking a good travel camera bag

by Karen Walrond on

This week, I’m going to be traveling again — and I decided that I finally had it with my cheap little roller bag that I’ve been using as a carry-on and carry-all for my camera equipment. To date, every time I’ve gotten on a plane, I have shamefully packed my laptop into a protective sleeve, and tossed into the bottom of this rickety little roller bag. And my camera and lenses? Merely packed carefully at the bottom of the bag, in amongst a ton of pairs of rolled socks.

Yes, you heard me, rolled socks. You know, for padding.

I know. I know.

Anyway, this week, I decided to finally act like a grown-up photographer, splurge and by myself a real travel camera bag. So I thought I’d tell you how I went about it.
Lest you think I’m completely beyond hope, this isn’t my first camera bag. Last year, I bought myself a Crumpler bag, which, actually I love:

For clarification, this bag is the Crumpler Sinking Barge. The reason I’ve been a fan of this bag for so long is because it generally doesn’t look like a camera bag. It also appealed to me because it has a compartment to pack my laptop, in addition to a camera body and a couple of lenses. Plus, I’ll admit that I liked the little dreadlocked dude as a logo.

The thing is, though, that I haven’t used this bag nearly as much as I thought I would. The first reason is because once I’ve loaded it up with my camera, my lenses, my laptop, chargers, and then crammed in my phone, its charger, some a paperback (or my journal), a small makeup bag, my wallet, passport and other documents and say, a tin of roasted almonds into the small space that remains, this thing is heavy. Plus, rarely did all of those other things fit in the small remaining space anyway, requiring me to get a second carry-on bag — and frankly, I resented having to have a second bag when this first bag was so heavy. And so, this bag eventually got left behind in favour of the small rickety roller bag. I use the Crumpler solely for day photo trips in and around town.

So this week, I headed to my favourite local camera store to look for a new bag. An aside: every person should have a favourite local camera store — not a photo lab that happens to sell some stuff, but an actual, honest-to-God camera store, staffed with knowledgeable employees who have actually picked up a camera or two before. In Houston, for the past 15 years, mine has been Houston Camera Exchange. I often visit this store when I have no idea what I want; however, on this particular day, I walked in with a list of requirements:

1. The bag had to be large enough to carry at least one camera body and at least 2 or 3 lenses, as well as my laptop with its power cord.

2. The bag had to be large enough that it could carry my journal and my roasted almonds, in addition to my laptop and other photo-related gear.

3. The bag had to be small enough to fit in the overhead compartment of a plane.

4. The bag had to not look like a camera bag, screaming to passers-by that it was full of expensive camera equipment.

5. The bag had to have roller wheels, so I didn’t get back strain carrying it.

Luckily for me, one of the first people I ran into was Mallory, who apparently has been described at the store as the “Bag Lady.” If there was one thing Mallory knew, it was camera bags. So I asked her to share with me her favourites.

The first bag Mallory showed me was the LowePro Slingshot 200:

A good-looking bag, no doubt, and the coolest part is (as Mallory demonstrates, above), you don’t have to actually take the bag off to take the camera out. This, my friends, is huge, when you’re out in the field — sometimes there’s nothing more annoying than having to get out from under your camera bag to take one fleeting shot. The bag even has a compartment to carry those roasted almonds. And, quite obviously, there’s lots of room for camera bodies and lenses. It even has an all-weather cover in the bottom of the pack, so you can cover it in inclement weather. At around US$ 89.00, this bag has a lot of bang for the buck.

The downside? It looks like a camera bag, to me. Also, it doesn’t have any room for my laptop, or much of anything else, for that matter. So while this is Mallory’s favourite bag (and admittedly, looks like a pretty good daypack), I decided to pass.

The next bag Mallory showed me was the National Geographic NG W5050:

“Dude, National Geographic makes camera bags?” I asked, incredulously. “That’s sort of… brilliant.” Mallory agreed, and I have to admit, I almost fell for this bag. It’s got great room for camera body and lenses, and it doesn’t scream “camera bag.” There’s some room in the top compartment that would definitely hold my journal and my almonds, and there’s a hidden compartment in the back (against your back, if you were wearing it) where a laptop could easily fit. Not only that, it’s kitted to hold a full size tripod, if necessary, as well. And at $150, while not cheap, it also isn’t in the realm of really expensive bags, either.

Thing is, though, I rarely travel with a full size tripod (I have a Gorillapod that does the trick, when necessary). And the problem of the bag being too heavy isn’t really solved by this bag. So we went on.

Next up, the LowePro ComputrekkerAW:

Holy moly, does this thing carry a lot of stuff. Like, a LOT of stuff. And when it’s closed, it doesn’t look any different than any other backpack, which is very, very cool. It has a secret compartment for your laptop, so more bonus points. The bag retails for about US$ 150 — but since this is quite a heavy bag, you might want to upgrade to the rolling version of this bag. But it’ll cost you: the wheels take the price up to US$ 275.

So. This bag, you would think, would pretty much be right up my
alley — except, to be honest, while it appears to hold every type of camera gear I could possibly imagine, I couldn’t imagine it holding much else — like my journal, or makeup bag, or my beloved almonds. So I put this bag on the short list, and kept wandering around the store, until I finally came across …

… the Jill-e rolling camera bag:

People, I had found my bag. It has enough compartments for a camera body and several lenses, as well as for my MacBook laptop, and all associated chargers. There’s enough room above the compartments for me to stash my journal, a few toiletries, and yes, my beloved almonds (not to mention that the room exterior pockets). The bag doesn’t even begin to look like a camera bag — in fact, it just looks like a regular weekender. But the best part? Even though the bag is heavy, it comes with wheels — without compromising the design of the bag. It wasn’t cheap — this bag retails for US$ 289 — but frankly, I was willing to pay the extra money. And while I wouldn’t use this on a day trip, I have smaller bags that I can fold up and pack in my suitcase for quick daytrips. This is a hell of a bag.

So, that’s my Great Camera Bag Adventure. I’d love to hear what bags you use, and if you’d recommend any other makes and models. And of course, as always, if you have any questions, you can always contact me directly at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom – and I’m happy to address them in upcoming Through the Gadling Lens posts.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
Through the Gadling Lens can be found every Thursday right here, at 11 a.m. To read more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Through the Gadling Lens: The best summer photographs from the Gadling Flickr pool

by Karen Walrond on

It’s so hard to believe that July’s over — how did this summer pass so quickly? I know, I know — it’s still August, and here in Texas, this means that we’re really entering the blistering heat of the summertime, but I can’t help it: historically, August has always meant back-to-school shopping, and getting ready for that first day of the semester. And yes, it’s been a few years (*cough*decades*cough*) since I was in school, but what kind I say: old habits die hard.

Anyway, this week I thought I’d share some of the coolest summer photographs that were taken around the world this summer, and shared in our Gadling Flickr pool. Think of it as a walk down International Memory Lane; or, if you’re not ready to let go of summer yet, let these images serve as inspiration as you squeeze those last drops out of the waning season.
May 9, 2009 — Portugal:

To start things off, take a look at this great shot shared by t3mujin. I love this shot for a couple of reasons: (a) to me, a holiday really hasn’t begun until I’ve got a fruity beverage in my hand (although, I must say, for my liking this one is lacking a paper umbrella), and (b) t3mujin did a great job of capturing the light and the colour of the beverages. No flash here: the use of the light source from the left, with the dark background make the vibrant colours of drinks look most enticing. Great job.


May 21, 2009 — Coney Island, New York, United States:

Next up: this cool shot shared by Rubys Host. This image was taken during Fleet Week — an event which occurs every Memorial Day since 1984, where the United States Navy and Marine Corps dock several of their ships in New York for the public to tour, and in honour of the enlisted men who have lost their lives in military service. I love the editorial feel of this shot: the uniformed officers next to the tourists in beach attire; the military helicopters next to the giant ferris wheel. I particularly love the vignetting of the photo, as well, giving the feel of looking at the entire scene through a telescope or periscope. Great shot.


May 23, 2009 — Le Marais, Paris, France:

One of my top two favourite cities in the world is Paris (the second is Buenos Aires) — there’s nothing like Paris in the summertime. There’s just something about a good glass of wine, some great stinky cheese and a crusty baguette, while sitting in a sidewalk cafe, just watching the world go by.

*sigh*

Anyway, you can see why I’m particularly drawn to this photo, shared by Luke Robinson: the cobblestone streets, the cafe with its little sidewalk blackboard proclaiming the specials du jour, even the little dog — you can almost hear the accordion player in the distance, can’t you? And I love that the photograph was processed in black-and-white — because the scene truly is timeless.

July 4, 2009 — Warwick, Rhode Island:

Ah, American Independence Day: a day of crowds, bad junk food, warm beer and cranky kids staying up way past their bedtimes in order to watch the 20 minute of fireworks that end all too soon. At least, that’s how I used to spend July 4th. But in recent years, my family and I tend to spend our July 4ths more quietly — just a few friends and family, a homecooked meal, and staking out a spot in the city away from the crowds, where we can still see the fireworkd. That’s why, I think, I love this photograph shared by insEyedout — I love the sense of solitude, and quiet and peace conveyed in this image that he took on July 4th — and those adirondack chairs feel like their just calling me to sit comfortably to look at the fireworks across the bay. Beautiful emotion captured here.

July 11, 2009 — Victoria, British Columbia, Canada:

If you’ve been reading Through the Gadling Lens for a while, you know I’m a sucker for a photograph with graet colour, so it’s likely no surprise that I would feature this shot shared by Bryn Tassell of an electrical storm in British Columbia, Canada. I love the long exposure (read: allowing the shutter to stay open for a while — I’m guessing the camera was sitting on a tripod), which softens all of the details of the water, and, of course, the serendipitous strike of lightning, illuminating the shot. I also love how, in essence, every colour of the spectrum is represented in this image, slowly merging one to the other. A truly amazing shot.

July 19, 2009 — Barrie, Ontario, Canada:

For some reason, in our family this summer has been full of taking my 5-year-old daughter to play in fountains — both here in Houston and in New York City. Which probably explains why I was drawn to this image shared by Bryson Gilbert of a swimming area on a lake in Ontario, Canada. The lake, the marked swim area, the huge towering fountain the background — I don’t think this image could scream “summer” any louder if it tried.


July 25, 2009 — Mount Rainier, Washington, United States:

And finally, I love this astonishing photo shared by fiznatty of Mt. Rainier in the distance, towering over the lush green fields and trees at lower altitudes. This might be summer in Washington state, but the snow capped mountains in the distance remind us that cooler weather isn’t far away. Really breathtaking.

So nice job, Gadlingers! Also, if you’ve taken a photograph this summer that you’re particularly proud of, please add the link to the comments below — we’d love to see it for some late summer inspiration. After all, in this, the last few weeks of summer, we need to keep clicking, and grab as much of the warm weather as we can while it lasts. And of course, as always, if you have any questions, you can always contact me directly at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom – and I’m happy to address them in upcoming Through the Gadling Lens posts.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
Through the Gadling Lens can be found every Thursday right here, at 11 a.m. To read more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Through the Gadling Lens: 5 of the best travel photographers of all time

by Karen Walrond on

I’m in the middle of a crazy travel time: I’ve been to both New York and Chicago in the past two weeks, and there doesn’t seem to be much relief in sight in the upcoming 2 or 3 months: Portland, Atlanta, London and Paris are all distinct possibilities. And while being away from my family for all of these trips doesn’t please me in the least, I can’t help but be a little excited at the prospect of some great photo ops coming my way.

Like most, I often search Flickr and other sites for some inspiration. In addition, I’ve been known to pour through the work of some of my photography idols — Herb Ritts, Annie Leibovitz — the people who got me interested in photography in the first place, to get some ideas. But since I’m in the throes of traveling, I thought that this week, I thought I’d share the photographers who, in my opinion, are absolutely the tops when it comes to travel photography. Greater minds may differ, though, so I hope you’ll challenge me in the comments.

With that, on with the show:

Landscapes: Ansel Adams

I think it’s arguable that Ansel Adams is the most recognizable name in photography — I’d heard of Ansel Adams and his stunning images of Yosemite before I’d ever heard of an SLR camera. According to the official website, American photographer Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California, at the beginning of the last century. Originally, he was training to be a professional piano player, but eventually left music to pursue photography. In addition to being a photographer, he was also an avid environmentalist — and his passion for the environment is obvious in his images of Yosemite, and other areas of the Southwest United States.

Of course, the subject matter of Adams’ photographs is pretty breathtaking, but the reason I love his work is not because of his composition, so much as the way he processed the images. Again, from the official website: “Adams developed the famous and highly complex “zone system” of controlling and relating exposure and development, enabling photographers to creatively visualize an image and produce a photograph that matched and expressed that visualization. He produced ten volumes of technical manuals on photography, which are the most influential books ever written on the subject.”

In other words, Adams was one of the first photographers to codify the idea of visualizing the resulting image before you actually squeeze the shutter, and then using the developer chemicals (or, these days, Photoshop) to ensure that the resulting image accurately reflects what you visualized. He was one of the first photographers to think of the image as a form of expression, rather than documentation. And for this, in my mind, he will forever be a rock star.

(For more information about Ansel Adams, be sure to visit the official website.)

Portraits: Steve McCurry

You may not know his name, but chances are you’re familiar with his famous photograph of the young Afghan girl with the piercing green eyes, which graced the cover of National Geographic Magazine in the mid-1980’s. Steve McCurry is an American photographer born in Philadelphia, and graduated cum laude from my dad’s alma mater, Penn State University, from the College of Arts and Architecture. But my favourite part of his official bio describes how his career got its start:

“His career was launched when, disguised in native garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls of film sewn into his clothes of images that would be published around the world as among the first to show the conflict there. His coverage won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise.”

See what I mean? Rock. Star.

I seriously can’t get enough of McCurry’s work, and frankly, he’s my very favourite photographer of those I’m featuring here on this post. In particular, I love two aspects of his work:

a) He is masterful when it comes to understanding colour and light. When you look at his images, it’s clear that the colour palates of compositions are at least as important as the subject matter itself. The light of his images is always breathtaking, and the catchlights in his subjects eyes’ always draw you right into the image; and

b) He is prodigious when it comes to capturing a glimpse of the spirits and souls of his subjects. When you look at his portraits, you’re not just looking at a pretty face, or a weathered expression, you’re catching a glimpse of the thoughts and emotions of his subjects as well. I absolutely believe that this ability of capturing a quick flash of someone’s soul in a photograph is one that is truly a gift, and can’t be taught. But that’s not to say I don’t try to tap into my own ability to do this every single time I click my camera.

(For more information about Steve McCurry, visit his official website. Also? Be sure to check out the posters and fine art prints he has for sale. I purchase the portrait of the woman in Peshawar, Pakistan to hang in my studio for inspiration.)

Wildlife: Jim Brandenburg

American photographer Jim Brandenburg has been a photographer with National Geographic for more than 30 years. As I look through the gallery on Brandenburg’s website, it occurs to me that his portfolio entirely and decisively debunks the myth that all you need to take a good wildlife photograph is a long lens: his images of the animals in the prairies and other wild locations show emotion in these animals; whether it’s the sheer, frozen determination on the faces of the bison caught in the blizzard, or the apparent hysterical laughter on the face of rabbit on Brandenburg’s image, entitled appropriately, “Laughing Rabbit.” In addition, his panoramas of wide open spaces are wonderful studies in colour and pattern and repetition. Really inspirational work.

(For more information on Jim Brandenburg, be sure to visit his official website.)

Architecture: Julius Shulman

If you’ve ever been struck by the way many historic images of mid-century modern houses are shot, chances are you have photograp
her Julius Shulman to thank. Shulman was widely considered the most innovative architecture photographer of all time — and sadly, he died at the age of 98 this month. In the obituary announcing his death in the L.A. Times, the late Robert Sobieszek, former photography curator at the Los Angeles County Musum of Art, described Shulman’s work as follows: “He has a sense of visual bravura of composition, so that he can take a rather mundane house and make it look exciting, and take a spectacular house and make it look triply spectacular.”

His most famous image is the one you can see above, and I can tell you that it must have been a doozy to capture. The multiple light sources — the ones hanging on from the ceiling of the house, the lights of the city below, and the fact that the women seated appear to be lit from a source near the floor as well — makes this nearly an impossible image to expose properly, and yet Shulman does it flawlessly. The women add perfect scale to the image, without distracting. And he did all this without a digital camera. Amazing.

(For more information about Julius Shulman, see his Wikipedia entry, with links to external sites discussing his work.)


Underwater: Chris Newbert

I’m a scuba diver, but one type of photography I’ve just never been able to nail down is underwater photography. I’ve been diving in some of the clearest, stillest water possible, but still — the water never seems still enough to get a sharp image, it’s difficult to hold the camera steady while you’re floating, and the diffused light through the ocean totally distorts colours. I just can’t get it right, and unfortunately, I don’t get enough opportunity to dive in order to practice.

Which is why, I suppose, I’m absolutely blown away by the photography of Chris Newbert. Newbert is also a photographer for National Geographic Magazine, and his images of translucent underwater creatures is breathtaking. Are you looking at those? Incredible. According to his official bio, Newbert has been shooting underwater since the early 1970’s, and has received worldwide accolades for his work. It’s truly breathtaking.

(For more information on Chris Newbert, visit his official website.)

So, that’s my take on the top 5 travel photographers ever. If you have any other photographers you’d like to add to my list, be sure to leave them in the comments, below. As always, if you have any questions, you can always contact me directly at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom – and I’m happy to address them in upcoming Through the Gadling Lens posts.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
Through the Gadling Lens can be found every Thursday right here, at 11 a.m. To read more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Through the Gadling Lens: The 7 most common questions from new photographers

by Karen Walrond on

Last week, I mentioned that i was in New York City on a holiday. Part of the reason we chose New York is because my cousin got married their last weekend. Whenever I’m invited to a wedding, my standard wedding gift is an album of photographs that I take of the event, so as is often the case when I’m a wedding guest, I found myself walking around with my camera and huge 70-200mm lens, snapping photos randomly. Also, as is so often the case when I’m a wedding guest (and, I assumed, because of the scene the large lens makes), many people came up to me asking (a) if I was the official photographer, (b) if I was a photographer in real life, and (c) why they could never get their photographs to look decent. And so this week, I thought I’d share some of the more common questions I received during the weekend, and my answers.

And so, on with the show:
1. Why are my pictures coming out blue/yellow/green?

One of the most common questions I often receive occurs after someone has shot several shots, and the images that result all have a strange hue — often yellow, but sometimes green, or even blue. This problem is usually an easy one to fix, related to the adjustment of the camera’s white balance.

In essence, different sources of light have different qualities. Natural sunlight tends to be the whitest of lights. Incandescent light (from standard lightbulbs) tends to have a yellow hue. Fluorescent light, on the other hand, has a greenish tone. In order to correct for this, check your camera’s manual on how to adjust your white balance — the camera’s ability to adjust for the light illuminating your subject. In other words, if you’re shooting indoors under mostly incandescent light, set your camera’s white balance for shooting under incandescent lightbulbs. If you’re shooting under fluorescent light, ditto. The colour tint problem should go away.

What if your pictures are blue? Well, that’s probably because you left your white balance adjusted for incandescent light, but you’re shooting in natural light. Again, simply adjust your white balance.

2. Why are my photographs so grainy?

Occasionally, I’ll get a question about the graininess of a photograph — the photograph, even though shot in bright light, looks grainy in texture. This is a common mistake, and one, I’m embarrassed to say, I still occasionally make.

This has to do with the ISO setting of your camera. You might remember that the ISO has to do with the number of “light catchers” your camera is employing — the darker the surroundings, the higher the ISO should be. Unfortunately, the downside to upping your ISO is that photographs tend to become more grainy.

To fix this, when shooting in bright light, make sure to lower your ISO as much as possible — if it’s a truly bright, sunny day, you probably don’t need more than 250 ISO, when handholding your camera. If your shooting in darker circumstances, to reduce graininess, you can either (a) keep the ISO low, but use a tripod, to reduce camera shake (see below), or (b) use a flash.

The moral of the story: Always check your ISO before shooting.

3. How do I stop my subjects from getting red eye?

You know the issue: you’re taking what you’re hoping is a stellar portrait of someone, only to have the image return with a demonic red glow in your subject’s eyes. This is because either (a) your subject is possessed, or (b) the light from your flash reflected in your subject’s pupils, causing a red eye effect (and for some reason, this is more common in people with lighter coloured eyes, than darker ones). It’s annoying, but somewhat easily fixable.

To reduce red eye, you can do one of the following:

a) Turn off your flash. Make sure you actually need your flash before you turn it on — it could be that you just need to nudge your ISO setting up a bit (see #2, above).

b) “Bounce” your flash. If you can adjust the direction that your flash points, then point it up, to the side, even behind you — any direction except directly at your subject.

c) Less effective, but still often works: have your subject look slightly away from the lens, and not directly at the camera, when you’re using your flash.


4. I look at other people’s photographs, and they’re always so impressive. Mine are so blah. Why?

Your framing looks great. Your subject looks beautiful. You checked things like ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and they’re all appropriately set. So why does the resulting photograph look so blah, when other photographers can get images that truly captivate.

Chances are it’s all in the post-processing, my friend.

I’ve mentioned before that my views of Photoshop have changed — when I first started shooting, I thought that Photoshop was deceptive, a tool primarily used for making subjects look thinner, or less grey, or remove them from the image altogether. It wasn’t until a kindly camera shop employee taught me that really, Photoshop is just a 21st Century darkroom, and can be used accordingly, to simply enhance what you’ve captured on film. An example:

The following shot was taken straight out of the camera:

A decent enough shot, but not necessarily one I’d write home about.

Now, take a look at it after about 15 seconds of post-processing:

See how much warmer it is? And all I did was (a) sharpen it a little, (b) bump up the contrast a bit, and (c) add a bit of vignetting (i.e., making the outer edges of the image slightly warmer and darker). I didn’t remove any pixels or anything “deceptive” — I just used Photoshop to enhance the image in a way that conveys what I found beautiful about this bloom in real life.

Moral: don’t be afraid of post-camera processing. Photoshop is a common choice, but there are many, many tools out there to process photos, some of them online and free. See this earlier Gadling post for tips, tricks and a few other tools for processing.

And a warning: once you’ve become comfortable with post-processing, however, be careful not to fall into the trap of #5, below:


5. Can’t I just Photoshop it later?

Once you’ve seen the magic of post-camera processing, there’s a danger that you begin to use it as a crutch: you stop checking your white balance on your camera, thinking you can “Photoshop it later,” for example. Or you notice some ugly electric company lines in the background before you take the shot, and think, “oh I’ll just Photoshop them out when I get in front of my computer.”

My advice: fix the issue before you squeeze the shutter. Yes, you can adjust a lot of things during post-camera processing, but in my experience, it’s a lot more work to do it then, and frankly, I’m never as happy with the results as if I’d just ad
dressed the problem in the first place. So, before you squeeze the shutter, note the following:

a) Is the horizon straight? Nothing can ruin a good sunset-over-the-ocean shot like a crooked horizon. Fix it prior to taking the shot, it’ll take a lot less time.

b) Are all the vertical lines (building walls, etc.) vertical?

c) Is there anything cluttering the background that you don’t want? In other words, if there are electrical lines running through the background, or trash, or whatever, then adjust accordingly — you can simply move so that they’re no longer in the frame, or when you get really good, you can even play with your aperture setting, to ensure the background is out of focus — whatever. But fixing it ahead of time will be a lot quicker (and feel less deceptive) than trying to erase pixels on your computer.


6. Why isn’t the focus on my image sharp?

This can be the most frustrating thing about taking a shot — when you upload it onto your computer, the image is out of focus. Just so you know, I’ve been shooting for over 15 years, and this *still* happens to me. There are a couple of causes for this:

a) You’re camera isn’t set on auto-focus. Sometimes this happens — I have a couple of vintage lenses that are fully manual, and I think I’ve focused properly, but it turns out I didn’t. It happens. But if your camera autofocuses, by all means, use it. It’s just one less thing you’ll have to think about.

b) You didn’t focus the shot on the proper subject. Sometimes what you want to do is focus on something that isn’t actually in the centre of your frame — you’re trying to focus on something off-centre, or in the foreground. There are two ways to do this: first, you can read your camera manual to see how to adjust your camera to focus on something off-centre (most SLRs will allow you to change the point of focus pretty easily), or secondly, in some point-and-shoots, you can put what you want to focus on in the centre of the frame, push the shutter release halfway down to get it to focus, and then without lifting your finger, move the subject to the part of the frame you want it to be, and then continue to push the shutter all the way down to take the shot.

The upshot: check your camera’s manual to see how to manipulate the autofocus. But rely on the autofocus.

And now, a caveat: sometimes focus is overrated. Two of my very favourite shots I’ve ever taken were accidents, and completely out of focus:

See? So the moral here is: even when you take a shot that’s out of focus, try to look at it objectively. It might actually be the shot you never realized you wanted.

7. Why can’t I take a decent portrait?

Usually the way to take a decent portrait is to just practice, practice, practice. But a couple of tricks that I use to help enhance my portrait shots:

a) Get in close. One of the biggest mistakes that I see people make is that they don’t get close enough to the subject to really take a lovely portrait. Fill your frame with as much of your subject as your lens will allow. And note that a lens in the range of 85-110mm tends to take the most lovely, magazine-cover-type tight portraits.

And finally, my favourite portrait trick:

b) Shoot a lot of photographs at one time. Often the reason portraits result in less-than-favourable images is because the subject isn’t entirely comfortable with having their shot taken. So one of my favourite tricks is to just take a ton of shots: let the subject pose, and take the shot. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then another. Usually, by this time, your subject will say something like, “Oh my GOSH! HOW MANY ARE YOU TAKING!” and start laughing. At this point, TAKE A FEW MORE. This is when you’ll end up getting the most natural shot.

Works every time.

So I hope the above tips help. As always, if you have any questions, you can always contact me directly at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom – and I’m happy to address them in upcoming Through the Gadling Lens posts.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
Through the Gadling Lens can be found every Thursday right here, at 11 a.m. To read more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Through the Gadling Lens: how I manage my photographs while I’m on vacation

by Karen Walrond on

Last week, I received an e-mail from Gadling reader Nick:

Can you spend some time discussing what happens after you get home from vacation – photographic workflows, etc? That’s one thing that seems to be missing.

As it happens, I’m currently on vacation: last week, we had friends staying with us in Houston, and this week my family and I are in New York City, so this topic is pretty timely. That said, I’m not entirely sure I’m the right person to be giving advice on this since:

1) I’m a photoblogger. I update my blog, Chookooloonks, often, and readers tend to expect almost daily photographs from me.

2) I take an obscene number of photographs. Really. Like hundreds, sometimes almost one thousand shots a day. Especially on vacation.

3) I’m generally not an expert on archiving photographs. Okay, honestly? I’m really pretty bad at it. But when I get back home, it’s at the top of my to-do list to sort out. So look for a post on that later.

So, anyway, unless your a pro photographer, you likely won’t feel the pressure to take as many photographs as I do each day, or feel the need to publish your images daily; still, my method of managing my shots when I travel for pleasure might be helpful to you, and provide you some tips and tricks to managing your own vacation shots. In addition, I’d love for you to share your own methods and workflows in the comments below (especially if you’re a professional photographer). And again, what I’m discussing here is not about photograph archival, just managing my current workflow. We’ll deal with archiving in a later post.

And so, on with the show:
1. I pack with photo management in mind. I’ve written before about how i pack for a trip, and those words from 8 months ago generally still stand: in addition to my camera and lenses, I take a very large memory card (a minimum of 2GB), and my laptop computer. In the last 5 years, at the very least, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a holiday of more than 2 days when my laptop hasn’t accompanied me. My sister laughs at me that I never leave my laptop at home, but the reason becomes more apparent, below.

2. Each day, I take tons of photographs. I can’t stress enough: i take a lot of photographs. A lot. Like, for every composed shot, I often shoot at least 5, sometimes 10 images. If my subject is in surrounded by constantly varying circumstances (like the water fountains, above), sometimes I take even more. It’s all about the law of averages: if I take 10 photographs of one subject, at least one of them is bound to be one I like. The same is true for any photographer, particularly if the photographer shoots digitally. That’s the beauty of digital cameras — you can see your work immediately.

Two notes about this, however:

(a) First, even though I’m taking multiple shots, don’t misunderstand: I’m not asking my subject to pose-and-readjust for each shot. These are shots taken in rapid succession, quickly squeezing the shutter. This sort of rapid-shooting technique is often easier to do with a digital SLR than a point-and-shoot, because point-and-shoots often have a delay in the shutter release. No matter. Still take more than one shot. Also:

(b) I rarely delete shots just by looking at the small display on the back of the camera — I actually only delete them if they’re OBVIOUSLY out-of-focus (and sometimes, not even then), or the camera misfired. You often never know what images you think are great (but actually aren’t) or which images you think are lousy (but actually aren’t) until you see them on a computer screen. Resist the temptation to delete. This, my friend, is the reason you packed that large memory card.

3. Each day, I download all of the photographs I take onto my laptop. Yup, that’s right: I download every day. Usually in the evening, usually with a glass of wine at my side. (Of course, I’m the mom of a young child, which means my clubbing-in-foreign-cities days are over, since our evenings out usually end at our daughter’s bedtime; however, if your night doesn’t end until the sun comes up, morning might be a better option for downloading your images). The upshot is that basically, I like to start each day with an empty memory card.

When I download the images, here’s how I do it:

a) I create a folder just for that day. The name of each folder that I create starts with the date of the day I shot the images, in yearmonthday format (e.g., today’s date would be captured as 090709). I do it in this way so that over the years, the days’ folders will naturally be in chronological order. Occasionally, I’ll add a little additional information — so the folder that contains the image of the Statue of Liberty, above, might be labeled “090707ladyliberty,” if most of the images shot that day were in and around the statue.

b) The day’s folder is stored in a general folder called “photography.” I could, I suppose, put each day’s folder on this trip in a folder entitled “New York City trip,” but I don’t. Generally, all my days’ folders are just stored in my photography folder, but I generally find them pretty easily, because of the steps that follow.

4. I scan the photographs I’ve just downloaded, picking some of my favourites, and doing some preliminary Photoshopping. I will admit that I might be somewhat singular in including this step — most people I know wait until they get home before they begin processing their shots. However, In the past I’ve mentioned how I use Photoshop as a tool of expression, rather than a tool of deception, so this generally means that I can edit my photographs pretty quickly. Besides, since I shoot hundreds of photographs a day, the thought of sitting down to finally go through my images at the end of a holiday is pretty intimidating — I’d rather just look through them daily, remembering particular moments at were funny and special, as well as critique the day’s work, so that I can remember not to make any similar mistakes on the following day.

5. If I have an internet connection, I upload some of my favourites. Again, because I’m a photoblogger, this often means uploading a favourite image or two onto my blog; however, even more importantly, this means uploading my images to my Flickr account. For those who might not be familiar with Flickr, this online service allows you to upload and store images onto your own private account (for free; or, if you’d prefer, in a paid pro account which allows you to upload unlimited images per day). You can set your account to be public (so you c
an show all the folks back home what you’ve been up to), or private, so only you (or your family or friends) have access to the images. Some notes about Flickr:

a) Flickr allows you to tag your photos with various keywords, as well as group them into various “albums” — so you can place all of your vacation photos in a group called, “My Excellent New York Adventure, July 2009,” for example. The beauty of this is that when, 4 years from now, I’m looking for an image of the Statue of Liberty that I took, I can simply do a search on my Flickr photos of “Statue of Liberty,” and it will pull up the images I took in July 2009, complete with the date that I took the shot (which Flickr automatically stores from the information embedded in the photo by my camera). I can then go back into my “photography” folder on my hard drive, and go to exactly the specific date I took the shots.

b) On Flickr (and in general, anytime I upload an image onto the web), I only share low-resolution images. There are ways on Flickr to protect your images from being taken, but frankly, it’s not that hard to bypass them. So while I save my post precious photos offline (or make certain images private on Flickr), I also limit the amount of use a person can make of one of my images by keeping them relatively low-resolution.

And that, my friends, is about it. Once I get home, I really cull through the photographs, finding ones that perhaps I didn’t notice before, adding Photoshop finishing touches, and deciding which ones I want to print — and this is relatively easy to do, because I’ve already organized the shots by day, and pretty much know where everything is. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have yet to really nail how I archive my photos once I return home and put on these finishing touches — but over the next few weeks, I hope to hone my process, and share it with you in a later post. In the meantime, I’d love to hear any tips you might have as to how your organize your photographs while you’re traveling. And, as always, if you have any questions, you can always contact me directly at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom – and I’m happy to address them in upcoming Through the Gadling Lens posts.

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
Through the Gadling Lens can be found every Thursday right here, at 11 a.m. To read more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.