Preserve Your Rights
I first got into photography a long time ago… in junior high school, to be exact. I was the photographer for our junior high school yearbook. Seriously. 
I used a Graflex 35mm camera with black and white film. It was fun. The camera broke not too long after (I still have it, I’m sure it’s worth a fortune on eBay 
) so it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that I started up again.
Once I did get back into the swing of things I started looking for ways to make money or gain recognition as a photographer. One day I was reading the Parade section of our Sunday newspaper and saw a photo contest. They paid $500 or something like that for first place, and $100 for each of the runner-up selections. That looked like a possible way to make a bit of money.
Then I read the fine print and realized that the $500 prize was a drop in the bucket compared to what the contest folks could get for my photograph. By entering the contest I was allowing them to do whatever they wanted with my photograph… essentially I was transferring ownership of the picture to the contest company. It wasn’t worth $500 then, and it isn’t now either.
I flashed back to this memory when I read this blog post about how various web sites are using the same technique (or something similar) today. Same scam, new audience.
Just be careful where you post your images. Read the fine print. Make sure you retain the rights you want to retain, because once they’re gone there probably isn’t a way to get them back.
Telephoto AF Micro Nikkor 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF Autofocus Lens
Not too long ago I posted my initial impressions of my new 200-400 VR lens. I still have not managed to give that lens the workout it deserves, so I am not ready to provide any additional comments just yet. Instead, today I bring you my initial impressions of another new lens, the Telephoto AF Micro Nikkor 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF Autofocus Lens. More alphabet soup.
Why Film?
A few posts ago I mentioned that I had purchased a new film camera. Yes, a new film camera. One that uses chemistry to capture images. Why would I do that? It’s a fair question, and one that I will answer now. It’s all about future-proofing my images.
Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 G-AFS ED-IF VR Autofocus Lens
First Impressions
Wow, talk about alphabet soup. The title of this blog post is the way Nikon describes one of their newest lenses. It’s quite a mouthful, but each set of letters represents an important feature. I had been anticipating the release of this lens since last summer when it was first announced. It took quite a while for Nikon to ramp up production, and even today it is very difficult to find this lens in stock anywhere. I was fortunate enough to pick one up about a month ago during the few days B&H Photo Video had them in stock, and I have started taking pictures with it. So far, I am very pleased.
Continue…
VHTF Nikon BL-3 @5x Retail… Such a Bargain!
Last year I purchased a film camera. Yes, you read that correctly, a film camera. Two, actually. The answer to the question “why would you do that?” is coming soon in another blog post. This is about something different. About people and how desperation makes them do strange things.
Continue…
Follow the Bouncing Ball
Most of the photography that I have done over the past decade has been wildlife or landscape subjects. I own a macro lens, and I enjoy using it when the flowers are out. I even bought a used 600mm lens a while back for use in Yellowstone and other areas where wildlife is plentiful. For the most part flowers and mountains don’t move too much while you are trying to take their picture. Wildlife does, of course, but frequently you can get classic “posed” shots.
I also have two boys, aged 5 and 6 at the moment. They’re both playing soccer in a kids league. It has been an interesting experience trying to adapt to sports photography. Kids rarely stop moving.
Deciding on a Fisheye Lens Purchase
Toward the end of last year I decided that I needed to purchase a fisheye lens. The question was, which one? No, I don’t mean that I had to decide whether to purchase a Nikon lens or something else. I started buying only Nikon glass a few years back and have not regretted it at all. The question that I faced was whether to buy the DX fisheye or not.
The DX lenses from Nikon are intended to be used with their digital cameras. In a nutshell it means that the lens is designed for the smaller focal area found in most current digital camera bodies. Until now I have always decided to get the full-featured “film” lens because they work just fine on my film cameras. The will also work on the digiital cameras but the focal length is effectively increased due to the smaller sensor. This is great for longer lenses (a 300mm becomes a 450mm on a digital camera with the smaller sensor) and stinks for wide angle lenses.
So why would I even consider it for the fisheye? It’s because the fisheye lens geometry is so precise that it will only work properly on one type of camera or the other. Decisions, decisions… what to do?
I’ve Got Something to Say
This site was one of the very first sites that I ever set up. It started out hosted on the free member pages that America Online offered. Eventually I decided that I wanted to get a domain name and set up a site where I had more control over how things were done. I still have the original code that I used on AOL though.
