First, buy some cheap crap

There's a classic style of post about just about any kind of photographic equipment that shows how starting with cheap equipment and gradually going to better and better gear is much more expensive than getting the better gear to begin with. These posts always irk me, especially when accompanied by exhortations to get the finest, most expensive gear that's out of the range of most mortals.

My approach has been exactly the opposite: When going into a new area when I don't know what to look for, I get something cheap that I expect to get rid of in a year or two. Whether tripods or flashes or
studio lights, I look for a third-party or store-brand kit as a "learner set". I'll then use that plus various internet sites to learn how to use that thing and what it is I like and don't like about it. I have found this to work a lot better than trying to understand what's useful and what's a gimmick based on internet reviews.

Once you've figured out the basics of this new type of equipment, it's time to get a reasonable one. This is where the mass-market brand-name items come into play. You can now reasonably look at reviews and comparisons, disregarding things you've found are unimportant for you, and up-rating what's really your thing. I bought my 60D this way: I made a spreadsheet of the features I wanted and the cameras that gave them. Since some features, like a flip-out display, are relatively rare, it cut down the selection to where I could borrow or rent the options until I knew what to get. I didn't do it when getting a tripod, but was lucky enough to be able to sell the Manfrotto that didn't suit me for a small loss.

The medium-quality item is likely to last you for several years, during which you'll figure out if it was just a short infatuation with a particular method or technology or something you want to specialize in. If the latter, you will surely learn enough by then to get what you need, rather than what people are trying to push.

If you tried getting the very best quality from the beginning, you're as likely as not to get something that's not suited to your needs: Too big, too heavy, too specialized. And even if you get a thing that suits you, you might find that it was just a passing fancy that you spent thousands of euros on instead of hundreds.

The main point is to make a conscious decision to get a "learner set". Know that it will be sub-par and adjust your expectations accordingly. Then you'll have a better chance at getting what you really need later.

A final note: Don't apply this to items where your safety is at stake.

POTD 31/3/2013: De-feet-ed

"De-feet-ed", ©2013 Lars Clausen

This is my entry into the current photo challenge between me and +aurin ræder. The challenge is "Feet, using extreme tele/crop". This is a detail of the Mariensaüle at Marienplatz, and while it looks dramatic, the owner of the victorious foot is actually a chubby little cherub, one of four defeating various monsters. I like it for the dramatic composition and the mixture of two very different feet.

POTD 23/3 2013: Rust Plants

"Rust Plants" ©2013 Lars Clausen
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I'm with +Mickey Blake  in Wales this weekend. While she's learning new and exciting knitting things (such as that she's been knitting her purls twisted since the very beginning), I'm going around with my camera, trying to get the best out of a cloudy early spring in the Welsh countryside.

Today I went over to Pembroke and from there out to the ocean at Freshwater West, which is a quite impressive sight (more pictures from that trip can be seen at http://goo.gl/JgDRq). On the way to the ocean, I stopped off in a little forest, and while the forest itself wasn't that interesting, there were a series of two meter high rusted metal structures that were quite interesting for a macro photographer. I could have spent hours there exploring the rust and paint flakes and plants and how they all came together in strange ways, but I wanted to get out to the water before it got dark.

This photo was the best of the trip, I love the rusted surface as the little mosses growing into the tube. My macro lens still seems to front-focus a bit, which is why the right side isn't quite in focus. I should compare the normal focus with the (very slow and light-sensitive) live-view focus. Unfortunately, the 60D does not have a focus microadjustment feature, maybe Magic Lantern will add that (if it can).

POTD 20/3 2013: Dice Tower

"Tower of Dice" ©2008 Lars Clausen
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I doubt any long-time RPG gamer hasn't at some point stacked their dice like this, only to have a fellow player "accidentally" bump the table just enough to make it topple.

This is the other picture that got sold as a wedding present. I like how clean this turned out, and how the transparency plays out. The shots were taken when I had built an impromptu lightbox and was trying with everyday lights to make effective shots, trying for some subjects that hadn't already been done a million times before. Though now later I have to admit that doing subjects that have been done before isn't such a bad thing. You can learn from how others have done them, you can compare yours to theirs, and you can get some experience in all those things that are common to almost all subjects, like lighting, background, composition, lighting, shadows, lighting, color management, lighting, lighting and more lighting.

POTD 19/3 2013: Barbed Morning Glory Wire

"Barbed Morning Glory Wire" ©2008 Lars Clausen
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This photo could be taken just about anywhere, but it's from Royal Oak, the suburb of Detroit my wife's aunt lives in ("I'm so bad, I vacation in Detroit!"). Being from a very peaceful country, I'm not used to seeing barbed wire around normal neighborhoods, so this juxtaposition really struck me. I have a thing for morning glory, since we brought some back from our time in Iran and have been growing them ever since.

This was taken with the 70-300 f/4.0-5.6 IS, which was a good lens for its price, but larger and heavier than I wanted it, especially since most of the size and weight was wasted on my crop camera. So I have since swapped it out for the 55-250, which works nicely as a walk-around lens. It's hard to tell on this small version, but the flower is not entirely sharp. The background separation is excellent, though.

POTD 17/3 2013: Dot dot dot...

"Dot dot dot..." © Lars Clausen 2007
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A more whimsical shot today, from a morning walk in a cold November. The way the gulls spread out evenly from the fall-colored tree struck me as curious, accentuated by the reflections. I deliberately darkened the background in Lightroom, as it was only distracting from the main subject. The gulls are unfortunately somewhat overexposed on the bright parts, I should have gone for "expose-to-the-right", which in this case would mean underexposing a bit. Which in turn would have made the background disappear more.

POTD 16/3 2013

"Heavenly Bubble" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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This is my entry for the first photo challenge between me and +aurin ræder: "Soft Water, High Key". It was taken at night on the Mountain View Google campus with an 8 second exposure. The "bubble" is actually water flowing up from the tube visible underneath it. This is one of the few of my shots from that night that didn't come out rather shaken, however several of the other ones are abstract enough that it doesn't matter.

I like this for the soft tones of blue, the faint hint of texture in most of it, and the little streaks of white on and around the bubble. It would make for an excellent screen background, too.

POTD 11/3 2013: Wake

"Wake" ©2007 Lars Clausen
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Today for something much more abstract. This may look to some like a computer-generated visualization of some esoteric function, but it's actually quite naturalistic. It's from an early morning in Norway on the ferry between Hirtshals and Bergen, coming out from one of several deep-fjord stops along the way. The reflected sun combined with a bit of reflection of the sky gives it a nice color composition, and the simplicity of form and stroke is almost Japanese. Cropping away unnecessary details like the coast line in the distance really helped make this piece.

POTD 9/3 2013: Roll the Dice...

"Roll the Dice..." ©2008 Lars Clausen
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For a while, I tried my hand at (micro-)stock photography, but found it an extremely full market. The only way to really get anywhere in it would be to take either a lot of pictures or very unusual but interesting pictures, in both cases mainly with people for business purposes. I later moved on to doing just art photography, uploading pictures to RedBubble.com and selling through there for a much tidier price. This is one of two similar pictures that comprise my total sales from there and more income than from all other sites together, by far. They were bought as wedding presents for an avid gamer, and I couldn't wish for a better use.

POTD 8/3 2013: Bike portal

"Bike Portal" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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Another early SLR days photo, this one from the path around Brabrand Sø, Denmark, on a slightly hazy Spring morning. The bicyclist was not entirely accidental (as I remember it), but something I waited to get. That the rays turned out so well was more luck, and even so I had to do a fair amount of fiddling to get some parts of them to not be discolored. I found this picture so successful that I used it for the professional business cards back when I had a photo business.

POTD 7/3 2013: Greedy gull

"Greedy Gull" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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An old picture, from the ferry between Denmark and Norway. The gulls were quite proficient at sweeping in and picking food from between people's fingers.

This was not long after I got my first SLR, so I was testing its limits - which turned out to be surprisingly wide. What I like about this photo is that I got the texture on the body and at the same time the wings spread out like that adds drama. It's slightly cropped from the right and bottom to focus on those parts. Unfortunately, there is a slight amount of movement to the gull, even though the shot was taken at 1/1000th of a second.

POTD 3/3 2013

"Hazy morning landscape II" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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I'm going back through some of my best pictures from previous years, to getting into the rhytm of uploading and posting and iron out wrinkles in my workflow. This shot is from not long after I got my first SLR, from a morning shot on Mols. I like how the mist creates a sense of distance and a golden, otherworld glow, but I have had trouble getting the details the way I like them.

A lack of preparation on my part...

My brother +aurin ræder and I have started a mutual photography challenge. The first challenge is to make a picture of "soft water" using "high key". Not too hard here in winter, I think, we have a nice river right downtown and snow abounds. Alas, my lack of preparation (and an unstable Gorillapod) thwarted my first attempts.

I had to wait for +Mickey Blake to come home so +The Frida Diaries wouldn't feel all abandoned and start barking. No problem, she comes home with about an hour before sundown. So I start packing up my gear, find lenses, pick a tripod (I have three, plus a monopod for hiking), look for the neutral-density filter in all the wrong places, etc. etc. By the time I get out the door, almost half an hour has gone, and it's cloudy so there won't be much late light. By bad luck of the U-bahn draw, it takes as long again to get down to Thalkirchen, plus some time to get to an interesting water spot.

By the time I found something looking like what I had in mind, the light was low enough that the lack of an ND filter was not an issue. At ISO 100, I got 15s at f/8 right away, easily enough to blur the water. Putting my Gorillapod near the water's edge, I aimed for various shots at low angles including some interesting water and snow-covered rocks. Only a few shots in, the light was too dim for that, and I had to up the ISO. A few shots later, the only way to get enough light was to take out the small but bright pocket light that +Richard Jørgensen had provided me with years back, which just happened to be in my pocket. First time I tried light painting, in theory - in practice, it was just a main light. Focusing was of course awful, though using the flip-out display with manual focus seemed to work ok. It was hard to tell, really. Eventually, my light gave out, and I had to return.

Back home, my shots turned out horrible. Every single one was either shaken or stirred blurred, or both. While the compositions seemed OK, there was just not enough detail to be really striking. It was hard to tell if the focus was off, or the Gorillapod had just bent downwards during exposure. In either case, failure.

Morale: Prepare your equipment ahead of time, so you don't have to spend valuable light-time doing it at the last moment. Also, I need to get more used to what the Gorillapod can and can't do.

Photographer for hire

If you like my photographic style, and would like to hire me for a photography session in or around München, drop me an email. Just don't expect me to be cheaper than a professional photographer - I don't want to underbid already hard-pressed people depending on this for a living. Also don't depend on me for anything hugely important, like big advertisement campaigns or really expensive weddings. I am, and for a while at least will stay, a proficient amateur. I have practised until I can get it right. Professionals have practiced until they can't get it wrong. With a professional, you will get a good result. With me, you might get a great result, or you might get a failure.

But if you like what you see, and want me to try it out on you or yours, I'm always up for challenges. I even do kids and animals well, much to my own surprise.

Painterly photos

Every now and then, I come across a photo that looks more like a painting than a photo, and they always fascinate me. I want to make photos like this.

I am not sure what makes them so painting-like, but I guess it's a combination of limited palette, deep focus, very well-laid soft light with details in the shadows yet some really dark areas. This example shows off +Hugh Jackman in this way:

My equipment

For those into the technical details of my photography, here is my current equipment:

Canon EOS 60D - just upgraded this month, after rigorous testing of the alternatives. I knew I wanted a flip-out screen, and that fortunately limited my options. The 60D won out by having much superior controls, which by now is the more distinguishing factor.

Canon EOS 350D - my first DSLR. It's old and has crufty AF, so it plays backup camera.
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro - my most beloved lens, it renders beautifully but is not long enough for photo walks. I use this for portraits as well as macros.
Canon EF-S 55-250 f/3.5-5.6 IS - my walk-about lens. Long enough to capture details, barely wide enough to get context shots.
Sigma 18-125 f/3.5-5.6 - my "vacation lens". I end up regretting whenever I only bring this, but I have nothing else that's this wide. It renders flatly and with smushed colors.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - for low light.
Induro AX-214 tripod - very flexible, good sturdy design, comes with a nice carrying bag and a little bag with extra spiked feet. It's nice.
White foldable bounce, 60cm wide - portable yet useful.
Strobist flash - somewhat less automatic than Canon or even Promaster, but very flexible powerful for the price.
Canon remove release - best $25 I ever spent on camera equipment. Lives unobtrusively on my strap and allows immediate or 2-second delay shots. Nothing else, and that's what I need.
Lightroom 4 - my favorite photo program. It slices, it dices, it even uploads to this blog.
CarrySpeed shoulder strap - solves the problem of the strap having to slide around your shoulder when bringing up the camera. Well worth the €50.

I have a penchant for the odd combinations (as evidenced here and here), and they're fun to play around with, but I will eventually need something better than what I have now. An ultra-wide, a better mid-range, perhaps, and a body with good AF, swivel screen, better ISO and per-lens micoradjustment are all pretty high on my list.

Standing up for what you like

At the brewery of St. Clemens a yellow picture adorns the cover of their newspaper-style menu. On the back is a small biography of the artist (from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts) and a description of his style: "[his] artistic practice fundamentally takes place in the intersection between aesthetics, politics and poetry. The works often balance subtly between a simple, clear expression and a condensed conceptual complexity of meaning. Its apparently simple expressions invite the viewer to interact with the work themselves and take part in producing meaning. "

I read this as "the pictures are boring and convoluted. Instead of putting in the craft required, a virtue is made of sloth by leaving the work of producing meaning to the observer." Quality and hard work have become anathema to modern art, instead calling ambiguity and half-done work "inviting the viewer into the creative process." The artist does not dare make a clear message, does not dare stick his neck out by making his views known. Besides, one would rather not offend anyone, and if the work's meaning is entirely up to the viewer, there is no danger of that.

Art should say something. Art should relate to its surroundings and not just to itself. The kind of art whose only question is "is this art?" has no meaning outside the art world. So much art is self-referential navel-gazing whose only question for the viewer is "is this relevant?" with only one possible answer: a resounding no.

At the same time, many have confused "relevant" with "social realism". One can quite well relate to the world in ways other than by pointing out things that are bad. It's easy to criticize, find fault and belittle. Who in the world of art stands up these days and says "This is beautiful! I like this! This is good!"? We are all experts at criticizing, but it takes courage to be for something. 

When you proclaim your admiration of something, you put yourself at risk. You take a chance of being belittled or denied. But at least you have taken a viewpoint rather than shying away from any commitment. It forces you to dwell on your subject, to feel something for it, to vouch for it, rather than just flit on to demeaning the next thing. A "Yes" has always had greater consequences than a "No", but we are unable to handle the consequences. We like having an undo button, a way back, an opportunity not to be permanently damaged by the mistakes we commit: The house must be able to be sold again, the divorce should be painless. But if we do not vouch for something, we will never have anything of true value. If we try to overthrow our shitty society without taking the trouble to actually make something better, we just end up with chaotic crap instead of organized crap.

It is worth remembering Sturgeon's Law: "90% of science fiction is crap, but then again 90% of anything is crap." It's easy to find something to criticize, because there is so much that is reprehensible. When you stand up for something, take a chance, you no longer have the statistics of Sturgeon's Law on your side.

I try in my art to follow this, to look for what makes me happy and depict it. It is not always successful, and many a time I fall back on the critical and ironic, but I think that the experiment itself is important.