Rush Hour

A while back it looked like there was to be a group photo exhibition held locally based around the theme Invisible People. The exhibition ultimately fell through – I’m not sure exactly why – but not before I got out and took a fairly conceptual approach to it. Working with long exposures, my aim was to allow the people in busy scenes to blur and become ghost like to portray the invisible, anonymous part of city life. These were both scouting shots, as I learned soon after shooting them that the theme was meant to be approached more realistically and focus on behind the scenes kind of people rather than artistic interpretations. Still, I think there’s probably a bit of potential to develop a series out of my approach so I may give it a go throughout 2012.

Crossing

The Annapurna Himal before dawn. 57 second exposure @ f11

Things have been quiet here over the past couple of weeks but things have been far from quiet elsewhere. Busy, busy, busy best describes life at the moment. I will endeavor to get back to a more regular blog posting schedule over the next week or two but for the meantime here’s a little update on various happenings.

While in Nepal I spent some time photographing for the Esther Benjamin’s Trust, an NGO that works in the field of human trafficking. I’ll have some photos to share with you from that (hopefully next week) but I can say that I was pretty happy with the work created that day and it was a pleasure to work with the organization.

Still on the NGO side of things, I also provided some work to the Asia Foundation. I believe they’ll be publishing something from it today sometime so look out for it. I’ll post a few shots from that series in the next couple of weeks as well.

Since returning from Nepal, other than editing the above-mentioned photographs, I’ve been busy teaching at Taipei Photo School. A few new students have come on board and it’s been great to meet them and help them in their own creative journeys. I’m looking forward to the follow up classes with the students I’ve already worked with, and the initial class for another student who’s booked for next week.

My cameras have mostly been sitting in their dry box for the past couple of weeks although they did come out the other day for a business portrait session for a couple of guys who are about to launch a new company. We got good weather for the outdoor shoot and came up with a number of good ideas. The resulting photographs are very strong and should help give them a good professional image when they launch their new venture.

More business portraits are in the cards next week as well which will see me shooting lawyers. I’m looking forward to it as it’s a guy I’ve known online for a while but have never actually met in person.

Marketing is an essential part of a freelance photographers life and a bit of time has been dedicated to that recently. A batch of print promos went out the door the other day to a selected group of photo editors that I want to work with, and an email promo went out this week. One of the keys to success here is getting your work in front of the right people, and half the battle is knowing who the right people are. Research, research, research is the key.

Finally there are a couple of other things in the works that you should hopefully see and hear about later this month. I’m excited about them and am eager to get them out but patience is a virtue.

Yeliou, Taiwan.

The Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk is always a popular social photography event and this year it’s moved from the height of summer to the cooler temperatures of October. For the third year I’ll be leading a walk and this time we’re heading out of town. Yeliou on Taiwan’s north coast will be the location and it’ll take place on Sunday October 2nd starting from 2pm. We’ll stay out there wandering around until it gets dark which should be around 6pm. Click on the Photowalk banner below to sign up now or read on for more details.

Worldwide Photowalk 2011

We’ll meet in front of the entrance to the Yeliou Geological Park at 2pm and head into the park. Once inside, people are free to wander around in a large group, a number of smaller groups or in ones and twos. It’s not a big area and is impossible to get lost as there’s only one way in and one way out. We’ll meet up again after the sun goes down at the entrance, and head into one of the many seafood places along the harbor for some food and drinks. For those that want some extra photo opportunities, there’s a small fishing harbor near the entrance that is good for a bit of exploration.

What To Bring

• Camera – any type is fine.
• Hat and Sunscreen
• Money – Entrance to the park is NT$50, plus whatever you wish to spend on food / drink.
• Tripod – optional, but if you enjoy seascape photography, a tripod is advisable.

Getting There

• Bus from Taipei – Koukuang buses from Taipei Station (next to Main Station) take about an hour to reach Yeliou. Take the bus bound for Jinshan and get off at the Yeliou stop.
• Bus from Keelung – Keelung Bus Company has buses bound for Jinshan or Danshui that pass Yeliou. It takes about 30 mins.
• Bus from Danshui – Buses from outside Danshui (Tamsui) MRT bound for Keelung go past Yeliou. They take about an hour.

Prizes.

That’s right, there are some prizes on offer. After everyone has submitted their photos at the main photowalk site, I will select a winner. That person will receive a copy of Scott Kelby’s “Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It” book, and will go on to the international contest. From there, 10 finalists will be chosen by the team at Kelby Media and each will receive the following.

Finalists.
• Nik Software Suite
• OnOne Software Suite
• One Year NAPP Membership
• One Year Kelby Training Subscription
• Scott Kelby’s Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It Book
• $100 B&H Photo Gift Card

One of those finalists will take home the grand prize which consists of

• Full Adobe CS5 Suite
• Epson R3000 Printer
• PhotoshopWorld Ticket
• Full Library of Kelby Books
• iPad (32GB)
• $500 B&H Photo Gift Card
• 2 Light Kit w/Box Stands, Clamps & Case from Westcott
• Nik Software Suite
• OnOne Software Suite
• One Year NAPP Membership
• One Year Kelby Training Subscription

It’s a fantastic prize list this year.

All in all, it’s going to be a fun day. The walk is limited to 50 participants so don’t hesitate to sign up today. Here’s the sign up link again.

Worldwide Photowalk 2011

Yellow

It’s been a couple of weeks now since Google+ went live and it’s quickly found favor with photographers around the world. A lot of people are spending a lot of time setting up circles, uploading photographs, sharing work and generally exploring the service. There’s a real buzz (no pun intended) around it, an excitement that is infectious. Hangouts, huddles, lists of photographers, circles, streams and more. Well over 1000 photographers have added themselves to the unofficial photographers list as I write this and it’s growing by the hour. I’m probably not just speaking for myself when I say that I’ve discovered more great work by photographers I previously didn’t know in the past couple of weeks on Google Plus than I had in the previous six months. And that’s great.

It’s obviously early days still for this new social media service but it’s still worth asking where it’s going. As it seems to stand at the moment, photographers are busy creating various photo circles and then posting work to those circles. If the work is good enough, they’ll get a +1 or maybe a comment saying something like “Wow” or “That’s awesome”. You don’t need to be a genius to see where this may end up. Could we find ourselves posting in what has become a bubble, sharing work only with people who are predisposed to like it? Is it meaningful if you post a new photo and a circle of your fans tell you how wonderful it is? Does it become a bit like preaching to the converted?

One of the most commonly heard complaints about Flickr is that it offers no meaningful critique or interaction. A bunch of “wow” comments and some adding of photos to favorites and not much else. If you don’t play the game, your photos sink without trace. Does Google+ risk falling into the same traps? Or is it an unavoidable aspect of online photo sharing? When I first started posting photos online at photo.net back in about 2002, there was a much smaller pool of people doing so and it was more conducive to constructive feedback. It got to a point it just became a ratings game and a lot of photographers left, heading for the new (at the time) option, Flickr. The same thing happened at Flickr, it soon descended into a backslapping, high-five type service. Is it inevitable that online services that allow for photos to be shared will ultimately become nothing more than a lovefest?

That may be all that people want. Perhaps having somebody say wow is all we need to validate our creativity and our reinforce our decisions to spend thousands of dollars and invest thousands of hours on the pursuit of photography. If that’s the extent of it, then by all means embrace that. Not everything needs to be instilled with any deeper significance.

For a lot of photographers however, that may not be desired. You may want feedback from more experienced photographers, or you may want an opinion on whether a shot works or not. So make it happen. Create your own circle of photographers interested in critique or advice or feedback of some kind and share with them. If you’re on Google+ now, you have a great opportunity to set it up in ways that will work best for you. Experiment with your circles and you can avoid the backslapping bubbles. Put a call out for creatives in different areas and see who is interested in viewing your work. Find and work with mentors. If you’re a working photographer, create circles for photo editors, art buyers and clients you’ve already worked with and share new work with them. Create another one with dream clients and share to that.

The best way to avoid Google Plus becoming a bubble is to be proactive from the start. Make connections, interact with people and seek new opportunities. Join hangouts discussing the art and business of photography. Collaborate with photographers from across the globe on a project. Reach out to people you wouldn’t normally come into contact with and create meaningful interaction. If you treat it the same as all the other photo sharing and social media options, you’ll get the same results as you got from the others. If you want more than that, then do something different. As they say, you get out what you put in.

Pedestrian Bridge

It’s been about two years since I first led a photowalk in Taiwan, and until the end of 2010, I’d been arranging approximately one per month. I took a break as I was just too busy to continue organizing them but popular demand saw one take place last Sunday. It may appear that arranging a photowalk is as simple as choosing a time and place and that’s it. Do that and it’s almost guaranteed that some will complain that there’s not enough direction or they don’t know where to go or what to do. The only real solution to avoiding that is either keep everything together in a group, in which case I spend so much time looking out for people that I barely get to take photos myself, or put in a chunk of time beforehand to research and plan routes and post-photowalk meeting places which ultimately costs me time and sometimes money. Over the past six months there have been a few requests for more photowalks. One was postponed due to lack of response and a bad weather forecast, and so when I was asked about another one, it was only because I knew the people who asked didn’t require handholding on the day that I agreed. Keelung was the chosen place, and it was specified that all I was doing was setting a meeting time and place. I specifically said in the invite that people should just go wherever they want and do their own thing, and that’s what ended up happening, which made it a pretty perfect photowalk.

Container Port

Still, I was a little bit apathetic about the whole thing. It was planned to be a long one – we were meeting at noon and goign all afternoon – and a hot one. The temperature was somewhere in the mid-thirties (Celsius) and Keelung is one of the most humid and wet places in Taiwan, so walking around for 6 or 7 hours may not have been the most comfortable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. To that end, I decided to leave all the heavy camera gear at home. I elected to go with just my Android smart phone and use the new photo app Lightbox Photos for in-phone editing. Walking around without needing to carry a bag and a bunch of stuff was just the recipe for a hot summer afternoon.

Come On In

To make things a little more interesting I also decided to live blog all the shots I took to a tumblr account I recently set up at craigfergusonimages.tumblr.com. Every photo I took was processed in the Lightbox Photos app and then sent straight to Tumblr. A few were also cross-posted to Twitter and Facebook.

Where Hip Hop Goes to Die.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the capabilities of the Lightbox App. It’s one of the newer apps on the market and has some pretty good functionality. The social sharing aspect of it is great and the few filters it has are pretty good although I found myself using the same ones over and over again. I hope they’ll add a few more options in that regard in future updates.

Keelung Does Hollywood

Additionally, being free of a lot of gear when wandering around on what is, for me, basically a social event, was liberating. On one hand, I was able to use it as a location scouting type opportunity and I made mental note of a couple of places that I will return to with my basic kit and photograph properly. When moving around with a group of people, there’s not always the opportunity to really get into the location as a group of photographers are not exactly unobtrusive, but it following others into areas does open up some ideas that I may not have had if I had to gone there alone.

Sleep

I’ll leave you with a few other photos from the photowalk. The full set can be seen at the craigfergusonimages.tumblr.com.

Light

Looking At Keelung

More Alleys

Walk Away

Keelung City

Keelung Port

Blue

A Chinese Taoist priest blows a ceremonial horn during a ritual. Other than this post, the photo can only be seen at 500px.

When I first started sharing photographs online, photo.net was my place. I was an active member there for quite a few years. That gave way to Flickr which came along with what I thought were better features and options at the time and I eventually started using that more or less exclusively. All good things come to an end and Flickr is no exception. I still post from time to time there, and use the groups option a bit, especially now that I’ve started hosting a weekly photo challenge for my local photography community but that’s about it. For the past year or two, I’ve been mostly without a good place to share and discuss creative photography. That’s all changed now with my discovery of 500px.

500px has been around for a while but it’s only recently that it has exploded in popularity. I first found out about it a couple of months ago, and joined for a free membership to try it out. To date, I’ve only uploaded a few photos due to time constraints from a very busy shooting schedule for me. You can get an upgraded membership for only $50 which gives you additional features including a portfolio page, statistics, unlimited uploads and more. I have the intention to do this later this month once I get a bit more time to participate.

The photography on display is of the highest quality, showing some amazing creativity from photographers in a large variety of genres and styles. There’s definitely no filler here, it’s all top notch work.

Editors Choice screenshot from 500px

If you are a photographer looking for a good community to share work among, or simply a lover of quality, creative photographs, get over to 500px.com today. Give yourself a bit of time – you may find that a few hours go by as you browse the galleries. If you decide to join or are already on there, I can be found at 500px.com/cfimages so feel free to start following me. I have a lot of new work that will be appearing there in the coming weeks.

A woman looks at a photograph in the 2011 World Press Photo exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan.

It’s time again for the World Press Photo exhibitions to begin in various parts of the globe. I always make a point of getting along to the exhibition each year, although usually I end up rushing through it on the last day. This year I made the time to view the gallery early and I have to say the 2011 version features some strong photography. For anyone who has already seen the list of winners, you’ll already know that. If you haven’t had a browse of the 2011 winners, they all can be seen on the World Press Photo website.

Of all the photos, the ones that most grabbed my attention were Uwe Weber’s image of a crowd crush at the Love Parade which took third prize in the spot news singles category and Thomas P. Peschak with his image of a Cape gannet which took out the nature category. In the photo stories section, I was particularly impressed with Kemal Jufri’s series on the Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia and Corentin Fohlen’s work on the red shirt protests in Thailand.

In Taiwan you can see the 2011 World Press Photo exhibition at the Shilin Paper Factory until May 15th. The venue is at 31 Fude St Shilin, a short walk from exit 2 of Shilin MRT station. For other cities and countries around the world, check out the exhibition calendar on the World Press Photo site.

Across The River

I’m often asked by various photographers in Taiwan for recommendations regarding photography resources around the island. Camera stores, studios, schools and galleries are not always the easiest to find, so for any Taiwan photographers or visitors to Taiwan who are in need of any of these, this is for you. The list is mostly geared towards Taipei as that is both where I live and where most people traveling will find themselves. If you have any recommendations that you’d like me to add from other cities, let me know and I’ll put them in. The Taiwan photography community, at least the English speaking one, is generally fairly close and most people at least know of each other. As such, I’m not going to be including any information of photographers here, although I do have plans for a future post that collects information about all the working pros and presents it in one place here.

Taiwan Photography

Camera Stores

Taipei

By far the bulk of Taiwan’s camera stores are located in one area of Taipei city. The area covering Bo Ai Rd and Hankou St is often referred to as Camera St due to its wealth of camera stores. Here you’ll find dozens of stores all offering more or less the same thing at the same prices. If you’re shopping for a basic camera, popping into any of them will probably get you what you need. For those wanting something a little higher-end, here are three stores I’ve bought gear from in the past and can recommend. I’m just going to give the addresses because they don’t have English names on display. They do all have English-speaking staff however.

No. 2 Bo Ai Rd – 02 2381 6982. As well as new gear, this store also has a small range of used equipment.
No. 28 Bo Ai Rd – 02 2331 3202. All new gear here. They probably have a bias toward Canon but Nikon, Sigma etc are all represented.
No. 61 Hankou St. Mostly new gear here but they also have a couple of cases full of used gear.

No. 65 Hankou St. Darkroom chemicals and equipment and photographic paper for prints.

In the same area is JS Foto, a store that caters mostly to the used market. They don’t open on weekends so if you are looking for a used bargain, head down during the week.

Here is a Google maps link to the area with the above stores.

If you’re looking for studio gear, bags, tripods, grip and more, then Key Photo is the first choice of people throughout Taiwan. They don’t sell cameras or lenses but they do have everything else. They’re located at 5F No. 37 Dongxin Rd, Taipei in an office building above the Carrefour supermarket.

For gray market gear, the best choice is e-What. They have a large presence on Yahoo Taiwan auctions as well as two physical locations. The original store is just next to Zhishan MRT Station on Fuhua Rd and the newer store is next to Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT. A map showing both locations is on their website.

Finally for Taipei, if you’re looking to get prints made in almost any size, Jazz is the place to go. They’re located on Bade Rd Section 2 at number 433, between Fuxing and Dunhua.

Taichung

Zhongzheng Road running west from the train station has a couple of stores across from each other. Kedah at no 158 has been in business for years and always gives good service. There’s a smaller store with no English name opposite.

On San Min Rd heading away from Taichung Park is another small store that carries a selection of new and used gear. Their phone number is 04 2224 8856. Check David Reid’s comment below for the rest of their details.

The biggest Taichung store is IK Cameras. They have a store at 48 Wenxin Rd Section 1 near the intersection with WuQuan Rd.

A Google map link with all three locations plotted is here.

Kaohsiung

I’m not as familiar with the stores in Kaohsiung and have never actually bought anything there although I have done some browsing. Most are clustered on Jian Guo 2nd Road between Fuxing 1st Rd and Minzu 2nd Rd’s. One that isn’t in that area and seems to have the most comprehensive range of equipment is located down near the Love River. Both locations are on this Google map but I can’t promise you that it’s as accurate as the Taipei and Taichung ones.

Studios

A lot of Taiwan photographers have opened up their own personal studios recently and a couple are available for rent depending on time and availability.

D Studio is located in Sanchong quite close to Sanchong Elementary School MRT Station. It has a choice of backdrops and is outfitted with Bowens lighting and modifiers.

First Zoom Studio is in Shilin a 5 minute walk from Shilin MRt and the world famous Shilin night market. This is predominately a video studio but they also have a set of Elinchrom lights and modifiers and choice of three backdrops for photographers.

Photography Lessons and Workshops

Taipei Photo School (run by yours truly) is the only regular photography school in Taiwan that holds classes and workshops in English. Individual and group classes, day long workshops and ongoing courses are all possible.

Down in Taichung, Henry Westheim of Asia Photo Connection runs occasional workshops in his personal studio.

Galleries and Cafes

Taiwan is light on when it comes to galleries specifically for photography. There are often shows held in one-off locations such as during a TEDx event, permanent galleries are rare. In Taipei, one of the longest running is TIVAC, the Taiwan International Visual Arts Center. Located in an alley behind Fuxing North Rd, they have regular revolving exhibitions. You can get all the information about the latest exhibitions via their Facebook page.

In the camera stores section above, I mentioned Jazz as a place to get prints made. They also have a small gallery on the second floor that features a changing roster of photographers. Jazz is located close to Tivac, at 433 Bade Rd Section 2.

Down south in Kaohsiung you can find Camera Coffee. This is a cafe run by a commercial photographer and features exhibits on its walls. It’s a favorite haunt for photographers in the southern regions. You can find Camera Coffee at 33 MinQuan St, Kaohsiung City. It’s open from 2pm until 11pm.

In Tainan, the Fotoaura Institute of Photography located at 2F 83 Chenggong Rd has gallery shows and some classes.

Photo Tours

Another one of my initiatives is Taipei Photo Tours. Customized photography tours that are designed specifically for your interests and lasting anywhere from a couple of hours to a few days. These are available to photographers of all skill levels and interests and can be photography lessons if desired.

I will maintain this page as an expanding resource as I learn about more things or have additional recommendations. If there’s anything you think should be included, let me know. You can find my contact details at the top of the page. I hope this will prove useful to all Taiwan photographers.

Ferris Wheel in Neihu

The end of another work week and time for another look at what’s been on my radar this week in the world of photography. This is becoming a semi-regular feature here, although I make no promises that it’ll stay that way. Before we get into it, if you haven’t already listened to the interview I conducted earlier this week with Selina Maitreya, you should do so. We talk commitment and how it relates to your photography business ahead of the upcoming 2 day Clarion Call telesummit that you can join for free.

The new issue of F8 magazine has just hit the net. Starting from p29, there’s a 7 page feature with some of my work which I naturally invite you to check out. The magazine itself is packed full of great photography so spend a bit of time browsing it.

The IGVP critique forum has its first photo essay posted for critique. Featuring a series of images from Yves Choquette, it’s ready and waiting for your opinions. If you haven’t already joined IGVP, this is a great time to do so.

Back in September 2010 I talked about photography grants. One of the listed grants was for Burn magazine and their Emerging Photographer Fund. The call has just gone out for 2011 entries so if you’re interested head on over. The grant is awarded by the Magnum Foundation.

Marco Ryan has a post on his personal site outlining his plans to donate any fees and income he generates from a series of workshops throughout 2011 to support Focus For Humanity grants. Workshops are planned for places such as Egypt and Cambodia and feature instructors including Matt Brandon, Gavin Gough and Karl Grobl.

Crowd funding is one potential new method for providing resources to photographic and journalistic endeavors. One recent project that was successfully funded was for Larry Towell and his Crisis in Afghanistan project. I was among 143 people who pledged some funds, and another of the backers, David Campbell, analyzes the process and offers some suggestions for future improvements in this important post. It’s early days yet for this funding model and David’s thoughts make interesting reading.

Finally, to end the round up on a lighthearted note, have a laugh at Shit Photojournalists Like. It’s a relatively new tumblr blog that will brighten your day.

UPDATE

Here’s a bonus extra link that I just saw. Adventure sports photographer Michael Clark has just posted a new video The Art of Motion on his website. Shot on a Red One Digital Cinema Camera, it’s a must-see.

My next newsletter will go out next week, so if you are yet to sign up, feel free to do so in the form below. Thank you.

Copyright violations and piracy is rampant in some markets.

Essential yet often misunderstood, copyright is something it’s worth taking some time to get your head around. At it’s most basic level, copyright is exactly that, the right to copy. As the creator of a photograph, copyright belongs to you (and for 70 years after your death, your heirs) in most cases from the moment you press the shutter. Like any rule there are exceptions, those being when you give/sign copyright away such as under a work made for hire agreement, as an employee or if you negotiate the rights away at some point in time.

Before we go any further, let me remind you that my eBook Tips, Tricks and Pics is available to purchase for $5.

Today, we’ll just keep it simple and look at the vast majority of situations where the creator of the photograph holds the copyright. The easiest thing to remember is that if you shoot it, it’s yours. You and only you, can decide who can reproduce the image, display the image, publish the image, etc. Often overlooked, this also means that you can decide who cannot use the photograph.

The © symbol is often seen on works, so does that mean that photos without the copyright symbol are fair game? No, it doesn’t. While there are good reasons to include it, the absence of a copyright symbol does not mean that the image is public domain. You do not lose any rights by not displaying the copyright symbol.

It’s good practice for photographers to formally register their works with the US Copyright Office. This offers extra protection in case there is an infringement and you need to file a lawsuit against the offending party for statutory damages. Not registering images doesn’t mean that they aren’t protected copyright, it just means they aren’t registered. To register an image, or group of images, it must be both original (ie created by you and not a copy of someone else’s), and mustn’t have already had the rights signed away. Photographs fall under two categories – published and unpublished. Published images include works that you’ve sent to an agency, posted publicly on your blog or website, delivered to a client and so forth. Registering is possible to do online, and you can include a large number of images in the submission for a single, low fee, so it makes sense to do so.

Registration is not required for Australia, UK, Canada, NZ etc. Under the Berne Convention, works from outside the US are treated as registered.

There will be a follow up to this post in the near future.

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