This is The Digital Story Podcast #801, July 27, 2021. Today's theme is "The 5 Photo Tips We Seem to Forget." I'm Derrick Story.
Opening Monologue
One of the great things about hanging around other photographers, as I've been doing during the online workshops, is that they remind you of things that we sometimes forget. This latest batch comes complements of the Ultimate B&W Workshop that we just wrapped up on Saturday. I think you'll get a kick out of these. I hope you enjoy the show.
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The 5 Photo Tips We Seem to Forget
I have this running joke with photography: If there are 10 things to remember for a successful picture, and I forget just one of them, I'm usually disappointed with the shot.
That doesn't leave us a very wide margin of error. These next five are perfect examples.
5 Things to Remember
- Resetting the ISO to Auto after jacking it up to 6400.
- Shading the front of my lens when shooting in the direction of the sun.
- Remembering to shoot a little wide and crop to taste in post.
- Acknowledging that it's not good enough just to carry an extra battery, but knowing that it must be recharged as well.
- Not forgetting that B&W mode solves every color problem and can be a fix for harsh midday lighting as well.
2 Seats Open for Mastering Capture One Pro 21 Online Workshop
We have two seats open for Mastering Capture One Pro 21 Online Workshop that begins on Aug. 4, 2021.
We will cover best practices for using this app, plus all of the new tools and goodies that have been recently introduced. All of the sessions are recorded and made available to workshop participants.
Also, if you visit our TDS Workshops Page, you'll see a variety of topics including the new IR workshop.
And remember, Patreon Members get a $15 discount on this already affordable workshop.
Instagram's Shift in Focus Is a Reminder of the Risk in Building Businesses on Someone Else's Land
You can read the entire article here on FStoppers.
With the news that Instagram's focus has shifted to be far less centered around images, many photographers who have spent years building their following and brand on the app are left out in the cold. This isn't the first, nor will it be the last time you are reminded of the dangers of building a large part of your business on someone else's platform.
When Instagram launched a decade ago, it would have been difficult to predict that it would evolve into anything that wasn't centered around photographs. At first, I wasn't particularly interested in the app -- it seemed like a niche platform you could take photographs and put filters over the top of them, rather than something aimed at photographers -- but, I was eventually lured into trying it. It was restrictive (square crop only) but enjoyable, and the algorithms that dictated your success and views were intuitive. I became a little obsessed with getting more followers and more likes, which can be seen as a negative reaction, but its impact on my desire to create more and better images was positive at least.
Over the last few years, however, I have grown increasingly disillusioned with the app, to the point where I no longer post to it. Where once I was getting clients and growing analytics, a change from the chronological feed, followed by myriad other prescriptive alterations to who sees what meant it became frustrating and demotivating. I more or less gave up on using Instagram altogether, but that's because I didn't get particularly "big" to begin with. Photographers with six-figure (or more) followings could still harness it to make money and get unimaginable exposure. So, what's the problem?
Instagram has openly stated that they are moving away from photo sharing and photography, with a stronger focus on the more contemporary desires of social media users.
Virtual Camera Club News
Inner Circle Members: A big thanks to those who support our podcast and our efforts! (And welcome to our new members.) We have a new poll on the Patreon site for our members: Are You Looking to Buy a New Camera in 2021? Be sure to stop by and chime in.
My Writing on Medium.com: I now have more than 25 published articles on Medium.com. And if you haven't visited the site, and enjoy good writing on a variety of topics, I suggest that you may want to take a look. You can just go to the home page and enter "Derrick Story" in the search field. And if you like what you read, then follow me!
EV Explorers for Those Who Are Interested in Electric Cars: I've created a new group on DerrickStoryOnline titled EV Explorers. The tagline for this group is: "Bringing Curiosity and Nimbleosity to the World of Electric Vehicle Transportation." Here we can share information, tips, discoveries and more about using electric vehicles for our photography adventures. If you want to join this group, click on this link for an invite. We're going to keep this as a private group for now, but you are invited to join us.
Affiliate Links - The links to some products in this podcast contain an affiliate code that credits The Digital Story for any purchases made from B&H Photo and Amazon via that click-through. Depending on the purchase, we may receive some financial compensation.
And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.
See you next week!
Product Links and Comments
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