10 November 2008
TWIP Podcast #55 - Safari
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Scott under:
Audio Podcast
This Week in Photography - Episode 55 Safari
Download this week’s show at Pixelcorps.
NOTE: During this episode we misspoke regarding which drives do and don’t work with the Drobo. The Seagate 1.5TB drives have been disqualified. The largest Western Digital drive is 1TB. We regret the mistake. And by the way, Scott uses exclusively Western Digital 1TB Green Drives in his Drobos with zero errors or failures since installation in May, 2008.
Hosts:
-Alex Lindsay is back and has taken over again
-Scott Bourne coming in from Gig Harbour
-Steve Simon from New York
-Ron Brinkmann from Seattle
Bandwidth provided by Cachefly.
Show is also sponsored by - Drobo.
Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke
HOUSEKEEPING
Linking Contest
The winner of the last linking contest has been announced and it is Scott Jones who won about $1000 worth of stuff. A new linking contest has started. Link from your blog or website to TWiP Photo and you could win a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4.
Photo Products of the Year
TWiP is taking your nominations for your favorite camera and software picks of the year. Scott is amazed by the nominations so far of the Canon 5D Mark II considering it isn’t even out yet. Scott has pre-ordered one even though he has switched to Nikon.
NEWS
Canon EOS 5D Mark II on Schedule
The 5D Mark II is apparently on schedule to ship at the end of November with a street price of $2699 for the body. Typical accessories will also be available at launch including things such as the Battery Grip, Wireless remote, etc.
Google Image Recognition
Google has moved the filters for face, image and news images to the results page. This option was previously buried in the advanced tab. Ron mentioned a site where you could upload a photo of a shoe and it could find a product that matches the photo so these type of recognition things are only going to get bigger.
Election was a Boom to Newspapers
The recent US election resulted in increased sales for newspapers as those seeking momentos of the historic election snapped up all the copies of most major papers across the country. Scott is ahead of the game and has saved all of the Kindle versions of those same papers 
Alex thinks that photography is what makes these things sell.
Aperture Releases 2.3 Update
Supports new cameras including the Canon 50D, Nikon D90, Sony A900 and Nikon Coolpix P6000. Still no support for the Canon G10 or LX3.
Cecil Stoughton Dies at age 88
Cecil was the chief photographer for the Kennedy White House and is most famous for the photo he captured of Lyndon B Johnson’s swearing-in as President on Air Force One.
SITE OF THE WEEK
Blibfoto.com is the site of the week and was sent in by Scott Hamilton. It’s a daily photo journal with a great community which encourages people to get out and shooting.
FLICKR CHALLENGE & POLL
The last winner of the Flickr Assignment ‘Yellow’, was Dawn who won with her photo - ‘The Fairy Godmother’. The next assignment is Straight Lines and there will be a great prize pack which will include at a minimum a 1-year subscrption to Lynda.com
POLL RESULTS
Last week’s poll - As a photographer, do you like to be photographed? 30% Yes. 68.9% said Yes. This week’s poll - Do you visit Photo exhibitions or galleries? A)Whenever possible. B) Not as much as I like C) Never.
Steve comments that when he visits exhibitions he comes away inspired and with some great ideas for his own work. If you have an idea for a poll question, send your suggestions to Scott at twipphoto@gmail.com
Andy is an African wildlife photographer who leads photography workshops throughout Africa. Andy spends about 2-3 months on safaris leading approximately 5-7 workshops in places like Zambia, Namimbia, South Africa, etc. Alex asks Andy for his favourites and the first one that comes to mind is Serengeti National Park. The park is 6000 sq. miles. Another favourite is Ochu Bongu Delta in Batswana.
Alex asks Andy for a story that really surprised him. Andy talks about a trip where they stopped for a picnic lunch next to a watering hole where about 75 elephants were playing in the mud and crossing the water. He enjoys the interaction between mother and babies or a mating pair of animals.
Alex’s next question is if there specific seasons to go on a safari. Andy says that the rainy season is not the best time to go on a safari because the animals don’t congregate and the grass is taller and greener so the subjects are harder to find and photograph. The transitions are his favourite times.
Scott asks if big lenses like a 600mm are really needed. Andy’s recommendation is to bring the largest lens that they can afford financially and weight-wise. A 70-300mm, 300mm prime, etc are good choices. The general rule is that the less the vegetation, the longer lens you’ll need.Before starting a safari he gets people to think about their images and what the end purpose of the photos.
Next up Scott asks Andy about his deal with Banana Republic. The clothing retailer is using his photos as a backdrop for a photoshoot for their Summer 2008 campaign and also using the images for their in-store art campaign as well as in print and marketing materials.
Steve asks about Andy’s use of color and B&W photography and wonders if he goes out thinking in B&W or decides after what to convert. Andy shoots in film and look primarily for form and gesture and then backs into thinking about B&W or color. An example of form would be photographing elephants and waiting for them to move into a position where all four of their legs are separated. Andy tries to travel in smaller, loose groups and encourages people to try to fill up their bingo card with each of the species early so that they can focus on making those images better.
Ron asks Andy to talk about his arial photography on the safaris. In East Africa they are not allowed helicopters or low flying aircraft so they shoot from hot air balloons. In Botswana they use helicopters and his pilots worked on the Planet Earth DVD so they are very aware of how not to stress out the animals. Andy likes to have multiple flights for people as well so that they can look at their photos from the first shoot and then try to improve them again on the next flight.
Scott asks Andy to talk about his new photobag company. He was disappointed with most bags on the market and needed a good bag that held all his gear, didn’t weigh much and you could use once you got to your destination so Andy invented his own bag. You can find out more about his Kiboko bag at http://www.guragear.com/
Learn more about Andy at www.andybiggs.com
DROBO - PREMIERE SPONSOR OF TWiP
Ron is now feeling 100% drooby and Steve is going to get some 1TB drives to start using his Drobo soon. Visit http://www.drobo.com/twip to receive a $25 off coupon on either model of the Drobo.
LISTENER QUESTIONS
Gary Pachel just bought a Mac with Aperture and is wondering if there is a central repository of Aperture plug-ins and if not, could Scott share his Top 10. Scott says that there is a central place to get all the plug-ins that Apple is aware of and you can find them here: http://www.apple.com/aperture/resources/plugins.html. Scott’s top 10 includes all of the Nik Software plug-ins and the Tiffen DFX Plug-in. Alex likes DP Matte but just because they make it :). Another site that Steve mentioned was http://www.aperturepluggedin.com/
Next question is from Nicole Young regarding lens repair and is wondering if anyone on the panel has had their lenses repaired? Ron & Steve have both sent their lenses out for repair. Ron needed a lens cleaned after a trip to Morroco. It was not cheap so you have to look at the cost to repair it next to the cost of the lens itself. Steve thinks that it’s alway best to send it back to the manufacturer’s repair place. Most will give you an estimate for $80 or so and then you have to decide from there if you want to get it afford. Scott just buys new lenses and Alex tends to follow Scott’s method and just replaces most day-to-day stuff. Steve suggests that for non-professionals, your homeowners insurance may cover them.
Last question is from Ray Roscher and he is looking for a recommendation for a light meter with a budget of $400. Scott says the choice is easy - a Sekonic L358.
NEXT WEEK
Send your questions to twipphoto@gmail.com as next week’s show is all Q&A!!
TIP OF THE WEEK
Steve’s tip is that if you’ve never been to a photographic exhibition, chances are that there is one going on in your city so you should check it out. When Alex got into advertising, the way he found ideas and inspiration was by looking at other people’s photos. One of his favorite magazines was Archive Magazine which is a book of ads. Alex created a scrapbook of clippings from this magazine and realized the things he liked as a photographer which had an impact on his photography.
WRAP UP
Ron Brinkmann - www.digitalcomposting.com or www.twitter.com/ronbrinkmann
Alex Lindsay - Pixelcorps.com or www.twitter.com/alexlindsay
Scott Bourne - www.scottbourne.com or www.twitter.com/scottbourne or www.f64.com
Steve Simon - www.stevesimonphoto.com or www.twitter.com/stevesimon
Aaron Mahler (Producer) - www.halfpress.com or www.twitter.com/halfpress
Visit the blog at www.twipphoto.com and the Flickr critique group.
Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke
17 Comments so far...
Rikki / UXXV Says:
11 November 2008 at 3:37 am.
Quick suggestion guys, when Alex is doing the intro maybe not repeat “This week in photography is brought to you by…” each time for both sponsors, maybe rewording the second part might sound more natural?
Great show and keep up the good work!
[Reply]
Chris Says:
11 November 2008 at 4:48 am.
Great great episode. Loaded up the iPod and when for a long walk in the bush listening to you guys - its something I eagerly look forward to each week. The interview with Andy Biggs was fantastic. Thanks again.
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James Says:
11 November 2008 at 6:31 am.
Great show guys! I think you should all go on one of Andy Biggs’ safaris and do a TWIP podcast from a hot air ballon!!
James
Freiburg, Germany
[Reply]
rex Says:
11 November 2008 at 9:43 am.
Great Show, just a heads up, your post shows “This Week in Photography - Episode 55 PhotoPlus”?
[Reply]
dcpatton Says:
11 November 2008 at 11:42 am.
The Facial Recognition by Google is very cool and it does save tons of time when name tagging in Picasa Web Albums. I’ve written a brief intro to the feature and discussed the accuracy of it some. I welcome any comments or insights anyone has about the technology.
Picasa Web Albums Facial Recognition.
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John Says:
11 November 2008 at 12:26 pm.
Great podcast as usual, interesting that Scott will get a 5D Mk2. Perhaps a Nikon enthusiast will get a great deal on a “like-new” camera in the near future
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Michael Says:
11 November 2008 at 3:33 pm.
This was a great episode for me as I’m heading to South Africa next month and need all the advise I can get. Keep up the great work. TWIP is part of my weekly podcast listening routine.
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Ron Brinkmann Says:
11 November 2008 at 11:50 pm.
@dcpatton - how well does it do with faces that aren’t directly looking at camera? And, generally, does it tend to be ‘wrong’ (i.e. incorrectly identify someone) very often or is it more likely to just omit a tag if it’s not sure?
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Ron Brinkmann Says:
11 November 2008 at 11:52 pm.
@james - If you pay Andy for the Safari, I’ll happily do the podcast from the balloon
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Stephen Says:
12 November 2008 at 2:26 am.
This was a great podcast. I wish I had listened to it BEFORE I went to South Africa last month!
keep up the good work. I’m really enjoying my new favorite podcast.
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JeffDM Says:
12 November 2008 at 4:26 am.
Jon; I recall that Scott has said that he needs Nikon because of their number of focus points and shots per second for wildlife photography, as well as the ease of getting to certain specific controls. While 5DII sounds like a good camera, it falls short on those.
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dcpatton Says:
12 November 2008 at 9:33 am.
@Ron Brinkmann
From my experience and tests, I found it does very well at matching images where you have the two eyes, nose, and mouth visible. As you suspected, the shots with only the top or side of a face are difficult. Instead of misidentifying them. It typical doesn’t recognized them as a face.
The only error I ran into was that it tried to group some faces of relatives together. For example, some images of myself and my sister were grouped together. (I guess we really are related after all!). But it is very easy to fix those types of mistakes since you approve all of the matches it makes. I haven’t seen it make those mistakes again so I assume it does some kind of AI learning algorithms.
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Mike Says:
13 November 2008 at 4:20 pm.
My favorite episode yet - being born and raised in South Africa, i really wish i could go back on a photo Safari - what a job you have Andy, i’m very jealous!
nice job on the podcast guys!
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Richard Says:
13 November 2008 at 6:04 pm.
Archive Magazine - Is this it? http://www.luerzersarchive.net
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Nicole Young Says:
14 November 2008 at 9:12 pm.
Thanks for answering my question on this episode! I ended up deciding to upgrade to the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 … didn’t think it would be worth spending a few hundred $$ on repairing my broken lens that only cost me $500 to buy. I should get the new lens sometimes next week.
Looking forward to seeing you all at MacWorld.
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Stu Says:
17 November 2008 at 12:40 am.
Typo on the site of the week? I think it should be blipfoto.com
Cheers,
Stu
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