Photographing trains...Stay off the Tracks!!!

Lately, I've heard from many travel photographers, amateurs and professions alike, looking to make images of railroads, their yards, tracks, passenger and freight cars, and locomotives.

Making photographs while on train tracks and in train yards is very dangerous and there is much cause to stay off railroad property, and their tracks:

• It's illegal to be on or very near to railroad tracks for photography without the permission of the railroad which owns and/or uses the tracks. (Many railroads share tracks with other railroads. You need at least the permission of the tracks' owner.)

Nature photographers' clothing and gear color really matter!

Birds typically have sharper vision, and significantly superior color vision than humans. Birds can see certain light frequencies, including ultraviolet, which are invisible to most humans.

Their superior eyesight can diminish the nature photographers’ ability to get closet to birds, desirable to help photographers make sharp, detailed images of these beautiful feathered animals.

Nature photography has five keys for success I call “Wildlife Photography's Five P's”: Preparation, Practice, Patience, Persistence, Propaedeutics.”™ This article concentrates on “propaedeutics,” learning connected with any art or science. The more we learn about wildlife as photographers the more successful we can be making wildlife images.

Learning about avian eye physiology helps bird photographers understand how bird’s superior vision affects the photographers’ ability to make great images of birds, thus aiding them in maximizing their bird photo opportunities.

It's US Independence Day: Time to celebrate and photograph spectacular fireworks

Today, in the United States we'll celebrate our nation's birth. In Philadelphia, America’s birthplace and it's first capital, that means the annual “Philly 4th of July Jam and Grand Finale Fireworks” held at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art tonight, where more than a half million Philadelphians and visitors will enjoy one of the country's best Independence Day concerts. This year it will star The Roots, Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Hudson, Aloe Blacc, Ariana Grande and Vicci Martinez performing live, with actor and comedian Marlon Wayans serving as host, followed by one of the largest, most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

I'll be there. If you're there too, look for me south of the Art Museum.

This year I'm going to continue experimenting while photographing the fireworks. I'm going to use a variety of neutral density filters to enable me to use longer exposures, and capture more fireworks' bursts in my images. I'll be experimenting with neutral density filters which add 1, 2, or 3 f/stops to my exposure. I'll explain below what that means in terms of shutter times.

National Nature Photography Day at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

Sunday, June 15th is the ninth annual National Nature Photography Day. This day was designated by the North America Nature Photographers Association to promote the enjoyment of nature photography, and explain how photographs have been used to advance the cause of conservation and protect plants, wildlife, and landscapes locally and worldwide.

Many National Wildlife Refuges across the US will be celebrating this day with family programs.

I think it's especially auspicious that National Nature Photography Day is on Father's Day in the US. This is a great opportunity for fathers and their children to enjoy a day walking in the wild and making nature photographs together. Going out into a national or state park, wildlife preserve or wildlife refuge to experience nature “in the raw” can be a wonderful family activity at any time, but on Sunday's special day, it seems like a perfect time for dads (or moms) to introduce and build their children's interests in the outdoors, wildlife, the natural world, and photography.

I was invited by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge to run a special National Nature Photography Day program at the Heinz Refuge. The program is free for all to attend.

C&A moving Calumet Photographic forward, though not without bumps

As reported last week, New Jersey based photography retailer, C&A Marketing Inc, which purchased some of Calumet Photographic's assets and debt, opened the Oak Brook Calumet Photographic store last Sunday, May 11^th.

The opening was generally well received with customers noting many of the old Oak Brook staff had been rehired by C&A to run the store.

Customers reported to me that the store had Pocket Wizard, Sekonic, Gitzo, Manfrotto, Calumet, Quantum, Nikon, Canon, as part of a large variety of name brand products, in the store for the opening. Some customers said they were disappointed that many higher end products, for sale mainly to professionals and enthusiasts, were not in stock, such as Nikon professional bodies and lenses.

Calumet Photographic to open Oak Brook store on Sunday, May 11

As reported last week, New Jersey based photography retailer, C&A Marketing Inc. outbid the proposal of CalPhotoUS, owned by former principals of Calumet, to purchase specific assets and debt of the former Calumet Photographic for just under $4 million. The purchase includes the option to open five of the former chain's 14 stores.

C&A Marketing announced yesterday that on Sunday, May 11, they will hold the “grand reopening” of the Oak Brook Calumet Photographic store. The Oak Brook Calumet Photographic store is located at 1600 West 16^th Street in Oak Brook, Illinois. Beginning on Sunday morning at noon, the store's phone at 630–860–7458 will be available to the public.

Calumet Photographic acquired by C&A Marketing Inc.

The Calumet acquisition decision has been made by the US Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Illinois.

New Jersey company, C&A Marketing Inc. outbid the proposal of CalPhotoUS, owned by former principals of Calumet, purchasing some assets and debt of the former Calumet Photographic for just under $4 million. The purchase includes the option to open five of the former chain's 14 stores. CalPhoto had offered $2.825 million for the remnants of the chain.

Chaim Pikarski, executive vice president of C&A Marketing Inc. said they would decide soon how many, if any, of the old Calumet stores, they would reopen, and if they would move any of the stores to new locations.

Digital Darkroom: Microsoft Internet Explorer - Update

Many photographers use Microsoft Windows for their computing, to run their digital darkroom software, research, and communicate on the Internet. Many Microsoft Windows users make heavy use of the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser for their use of the Internet.

Yesterday, I reported on the problem with all versions of Internet Explorer from versions 8 through 11 (current version) which is that all the versions contain a particularly vulnerable “zero day exploit” through which hackers can install malware from a website you visit, which they have either hacked or setup themselves. 
Once you've visited the website while using Internet Explorer, the malware secretly installed on your computer can give a stranger total control of it, without your knowledge. You might not even notice it's running.

Digital Darkroom: Stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer, at least for now!

Many photographers use Microsoft Windows for their computing, to run their digital darkroom software, research, and communicate on the Internet. Many Microsoft Windows users make heavy use of the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser for their use of the Internet.

As many know, along with being a professional photographer, I am a network and tech security consultant. If you haven't heard about the recent serious problems of Microsoft Internet Explorer (all versions), or hadn't taken it seriously, please take my warning seriously.

IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE USING INTERNET EXPLORER!

The problem with all versions of Internet Explore from versions 8 through 11 (current version) is that all the versions contain a particularly vulnerable “zero day exploit” through which hackers can install malware from a website you visit, which they have either hacked or setup themselves. Once you've visited the website while using Internet Explorer, the malware secretly installed on your computer can give a stranger total control of it, without your knowledge. You might not even notice it's running.