Google Picasa Soon to be Sent to the Freeware Graveyard

It's not often the death of software used by countless people is announced this far in advance, but Google is giving Picasa users plenty of warning that they are finally putting the dated, outmoded software into the freeware graveyard.
On the official Google Picasa Blog, Google announced yesterday,

“As of March 15, 2016, we will no longer be supporting the Picasa desktop application. For those who have already downloaded this—or choose to do so before this date—it will continue to work as it does today, but we will not be developing it further, and there will be no future updates.”

Getting it sharp from a telephoto

Telephoto prime and zoom lenses are among the most useful lenses for a wide variety of genres. They are used for sports, wildlife, travel, and street photography. Many photographers use them for portraits and close-up shots as well.

Technically, telephoto lenses have a focal length or 60mm or more for a standard 35mm or full sensor size camera, though most people think of telephoto lenses having a focal length of 85mm or more. Lenses with a focal length greater than 300mm are considered to be super-telephoto lenses.

Telephoto lenses help us bring distant subjects closer, fill our frame with the subject, show detail difficult to see, capture action, and produce a shallow depth of field.

Avoiding Beginner Photography Issues and Mistakes Revisited

Travel photography requires versatility and knowledge of a variety of photographic genres. Beginners must be serious about learning the craft if they want to produce solid travel images. When engaged in travel photography, beginners have two major issues to overcome; a lack of confidence and a lack of basic photo knowledge.

It's hard to study and learn from practical experience when you have little confidence in your equipment. Often, when I'm leading photowalks or workshops I hear, “If only I had your gear.”

Happy New Year - It's time to change the copyright notice in your camera!

Happy New Year. I hope it's a healthy and prosperous new year for you and your family.

It's January 1^st so it's time to reset the copyright notice in your camera(s) to reflect the new year, so your 2016 images will have the correct information.

Most digital cameras today, can automatically insert your copyright notice into the metadata of every image you make as they are stored.

Each of my cameras will be reset on the upcoming new year's day morning to insert “Copyright © 2016 NSL Photography, All Rights Reserved” into every image I make.

If you haven't been inserting your copyright notice in your images, to date, to protect them, I suggest you consider start doing it today.

I'm often asked the question when I run workshops, or anytime I'm with enthusiasts and we're talking photography, “You're a pro, so I understand why you place your copyright on your photos, but why should I worry about it? I'm not selling my photographs, nor using them in my work.”

It's a great question.

Avoiding Beginner Photography Issues and Mistakes

Travel photography requires versatility and knowledge of a variety of photography genres. Beginner travel photographers must be serious about learning the craft if they want to produce solid travel images. Beginner photographers, especially when engaged in travel photography, have two major issues to overcome; a lack of confidence and basic photo knowledge.

It's hard to gain essential knowledge and experience when you have little confidence, which often shows up in beginners thinking their equipment is letting them down.

Often, when I'm leading photowalks or workshops I hear, “If only I had your gear.” Just about every beginner I've worked with has gear capable of capturing magnificent images. Today's consumer Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) and Digital Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens (DMIL) cameras are excellent. I've proved this to more than a few beginners by swapping cameras with them, then making some great shots with their gear, better than they've produced with mine.

Top 8 Photography Myths

Like many fields of endeavor, photography has many misconceptions and myths which can hold photographers back from producing their best work. Here are my top eight photography myths.

8. Never shoot into the sun — Most photographers will tell you to always shoot with the sun at your back, so that your subjects will be well lighted with few shadows. The problem is that precludes getting wonderful backlighted images, especially portraits with great backlighted hair which can make very interesting and outstanding portraits possible.

Time to reset your camera's clock for the change to Standard Time in US

On Sunday, November 1, 2015, most of the US will have switched from “Daylight Time” to “Standard Time.” Note, I said “most of the US will have switched.” Arizona, except for the Navajo Nation, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, don't switch between “Daylight Time” in the spring, and “Standard Time” in the fall. They stick to “Standard Time” year round.

Moreover, the switch between “Daylight” and “Standard” time doesn't universally occur across the globe. More than 100 countries never change to “Daylight Time”, and more than a few countries switch between the two on different dates than other countries.

Tripods according to TSA - Straight from D.C.

The rules and regulations about what items may not be carried into scheduled airlines' airplane cabins is definitive. TSA (Transportation Security Administration) lists items in their Prohibited Items List which are definitively banned.

It's to be expected TSA can't list everything which might be a good idea to prohibit. There are far too many items that travelers might take in their carry-ons, to think any group of people could possibly imagine them all or even most.

Unfortunately, when we try to use the list to evaluate if a questionable item would be permitted or prohibited, we find it's virtually impossible to use the list to predict what a TSA TSO (Transportation Safety Officer) will decide.

Intro to Night Photography: Cityscapes — Focus, Noise, Exposure, Effects

At night in a city, virtually any city, the scene before you changes dramatically. In some locations the architecture and spirit of the city is merely enhanced, shown with a different, though recognizable look.

In other locations, the city at night transforms into a new place, sometimes brighter and more adventurous, sometimes more alive and mysterious.

Either way, making images of cities at night can allow you to often capture a “new city” with a different life than it has during the day. Making photos at night has its own challenges, but it's still subject to the same set of constraints as daylight photography; aperture, shutter speed and light sensitivity. The difference is, these constraints often push you and your equipment “to the edge,” compared to photographing the same city during the day.

Last week I discussed night photography trade-offs and constraints, the potential of star trails at times, and the equipment needed to produce high quality night photography in cities.

This week we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of actually making our night cityscapes. We'll talk about focus, noise and camera settings