Ken Hurst Photography

New Articles Coming Soon

2012-01-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't added new blog posts in awhile but I'm excited about a few new ideas. I guess the articles have been rattling around in my brain but I just haven't committed them to ~~paper~~ the blog yet.

In one article I'm going to describe the process of taking a photo that I knew had potential and manipulating it with adjustments in Lightroom to create a final product. But that makes it sound like I drastically changed it with tools only found in Lightroom when in fact the best changes were from careful cropping. The article is not going to be as much about the technical aspects of this process as it is about the decision making, creative process. I hope you enjoy the article and that it resonates with you.

I'm also planning to devote a blog post to discussing my new "travel" camera, an Olympus PEN E-PL1, and the advantages and disadvantages of traveling light. I'm very excited about this new camera and so far I have been very impressed with the results from it.

I hope you'll check back again soon and as always I welcome your response and feedback.

Ken

P.S. Almost forgot to mention - a third post will be about how you can make the best of things when you've totally screwed up managing folders and catalogs in Lightroom. I'll provide instructions on how I made the best (notice I didn't say fix or cure?) of the situation if you're made the same mistakes as I have. In my case, I copied the same photos to different locations and made a catalog of each. Yep, you guessed it - I worked on both catalogs and now have two versions of the images in separate Lightroom catalogs. But all is not lost. Stay tuned.

Featured Landscape Photographer on PhotoShelter!

2011-10-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

With all the amazing landscape photographers (as well as photographers of other genres) who have portfolios on PhotoShelter (www.photoshelter.com) I am honored to be their featured landscape photographer on the buyer page! Thanks PhotoShelter!

See my photo of Shiprock Pinnacle in New Mexico and link to my website on the PhotoShelter buyer page at www.photoshelter.com/buyer.

Video/Film With Canon 60D

2011-10-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

The word "film" in the title of the post needs some explaining. One of the reasons I was excited about the prospect of being able to record video with a Canon 60D (or T3i or 5D Mark II) was that the "look" of video from these cameras is capable of resembling the look of film movies. With the larger than typical sensors and the ability to use high quality, wide aperture lenses these cameras can achieve the kind of look you might normally see in a film shot with much more expensive cameras. I have begun exploring the possibilities for video with this camera and I've only scratched the surface; however, that's not going to keep me from posting some examples of my work so far.

Both of my efforts so far can be seen on Vimeo.com. The first video "Flow" was a good way to tie together some of the test video I had been shooting which involved motion - from flowing water to flowing traffic.

Flow

Or go here to view it on Vimeo.com.

And my latest film, Rush:

Or go here to view it on Vimeo.com.

As always I love to hear your comments!
Ken

"Three Happy Puppies" by Ken Hurst | RedBubble

2011-10-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

"Three Happy Puppies" by Ken Hurst | RedBubble: Featured photo in "The World of Maltese & Shih Tzu" group on Redbubble.

"The Traveling Man" by Ken Hurst | RedBubble

2011-09-24T23:41:00.000-07:00

"The Traveling Man" by Ken Hurst | RedBubble: My first featured photo on Redbubble.com. Selected to featured work in the Downtown! group!

Lightroom Lens Profile Correction

2011-08-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

It's possible that I'M the LAST person to discover this but in case you haven't AND you're a Lightroom user AND a Tokina 12-24mm lens user: the profile correction for the Pentax 12-24mm lens (because there isn't one in Lightroom for Tokina lenses) does a wonderful job of correcting the chromatic aberration in that lens. It seems like I heard somewhere that they're the same lens so that would account for the profile working. I've added two samples below to demonstrate but I'm noticing after uploading the two images that the purple fringing in the "without correction" photo isn't as obvious as when I view it in Lightroom. Maybe I'll use a better example of before and after in a later post or an edit to this post.

Without Pentax 12-24mm profile correction (some purple fringing on edge of plate)

Using Pentax 12-24mm profile correction (for Tokina 12-24mm lens) in Lightroom

Oh, and before anyone says anything: the edge of the plate was NOT supposed to be in focus. It was at the edge of the frame and in the foreground. I was shooting up close with this lens at f8 with the center of focus further away from the edge, so this is more of a depth-of-field kind of thing rather than edge sharpness. I've been very pleased with this lens and I've heard the latest updated version is even better (and more expensive).

Two New Sailing Articles And Photos Published!

2011-08-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

A major project for me recently has been to start adding photos of sailboats, sailing, and sailing regattas to my photo archive. This has seemed like a logical idea since my wife and I are considering a nomadic life on the water in the relatively near future and those two activities seem like a match for each other. I wrote two articles to go along with my photos and submitted them to two different sailing publications: Sailing World and Sailing magazine. Both accepted my articles and published them along with some of my photos in their July 2011 issues. With those who are the closest to the sailing world there is a consistent thread: things need to change to either bring people that have left back into sailing or get new people involved in sailing or both. Thanks Sailing World and Sailing magazine for publishing my words and pictures!

Here's the July/August 2011 Sailing World article (click on it to see the more readable, full-sized version) - and there's also a photo gallery of images from the event on the Sailing World website:

And this article is in the July 2011 issue of Sailing magazine (click on it to see a more readable, full-sized version):

How To Customize Photos In Your Google+ Profile

2011-07-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

There's already a good article by Nancy Messieh about turning Google+ into an online photography portfolio but I thought I could provide some specifics on how to customize that group of five photos on your Google+ profile page. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here is a screen capture of my Google+ profile (or you can go here to see it live):

As Nancy mentions in her article, when you edit your profile you can upload five different photos in each of those spaces to feature your work on your page or, as you can see by my example, cut one photo into five discreet photos to appear as one panoramic image.

First of all you will need to select an image that will work in this size format. I measured the pixels (a very handy way to do this on a Mac is to press the command (apple) key, shift, and number 4 key together to get a screen selection box that shows pixels dimensions as you drag it around - then press escape after you've finished measuring) and found that the overall dimensions of the composite photos including the space between each element is 810 pixels X 150 pixels. Each individual photo is 150X150 pixels and the space between them is 15 pixels.

So in Photoshop I selected a suitable image to crop to 810X150 pixels:

Then cropped it to 810X150 pixels:

Using this image in Photoshop (yes, I'm using a primitive version 4 of Photoshop Elements) I created 5 new layers by using the rectangular marquee tool to select a 150X150 pixel region of the image starting from one end of the photo. Be sure to have the info window showing so you can see the pixel dimensions of your selection.

Once you have selected your first 150X150 pixel segment of the main photo using the marquee tool, create a new layer "via cut".

After this step, select the background layer and click on the layer visibility icon so that the new layer you've created is not visible. Use the marquee tool again and move over 15 pixels from the end of the previous selection (should be starting this second 150X150 pixel cut at 165 on the X axis. Repeat this process for each of the five new photos you're creating. You will end up with a background layer plus 5 new layers.

Then select each layer one at a time, create a new 150X150 pixel blank file, select copy, then paste into the new file, name it, save it, and you're done! You should end up with five new segments of your photo that you can upload to your profile page. You'll also notice that these files also end up in your "scrapbook" folder on Google+.

I would love to know how you've been able to customize your Google+ page too! Please leave comments if this has been useful to you or if you have some other new Google+ tricks and tweaks. And I hope you'll add me to your circles on Google+ and follow me (@kenhurstphoto) on Twitter!

Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro Lens Test

2011-07-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to stage my own lens test of my new/refurbished Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro lens to make sure it was focusing as it should and to rule out user error (my inability to focus accurately and the stability of the camera and object) although the latter is what I have considered the most likely factor in focus or image sharpness problems.

The subject for these photos is a foot long triangular shaped drafting type ruler that I used in some of my early stock photos (which rarely sell, for good reason). It was setup so that "0" point on the ruler was at the lens' minimum focusing distance with the rest of the ruler angled away from the camera. The idea was that if the camera/lens wasn't focusing where I intended it to focus, I could find out where it was focusing or if it was ever in sharp focus at all. In these photos the focus on the lens was adjusted (very, very slightly) so that the 1/2" mark was a perfect in focus as I could get it. I used a Canon 40D in aperture priority metering mode with the ISO set a 800 so that the longer exposures at smaller apertures wouldn't become too much of a factor in evaluation sharpness. Without changing focus I took 8 photos at f32, 1/13 sec; f22, 1/20 sec; f16, 1/50 sec; f11, 1/100 sec; f8, 1/200 sec; f5.6, 1/400 sec; f4, 1/800 sec; and f2.8, 1/1600 sec. On the 40D the focus was adjusted manually by using the live view mode set at 10X magnification for as much precision as possible. On a side note, I've found that using the live view at 10X also helps you to make sure there is absolutely no movement of the camera equipment and/or subject. The images were taken in RAW format, then converted to PSD in Lightroom 3. I didn't perform any changes or add noise reduction in Lightroom with my default sharpening set at amount: 25, radius: 1.0, detail: 25, and masking: 0. (On another side note, if you have any good suggestions about a better starting place for a "generic" sharpening amount in Lightroom, please let me know.)

In Photoshop I stacked all the images together into layers in one image so that I could do one crop at 100% magnification and they would all be cropped the same (just figured out how to do this myself today). Then I copied each layer into a new image file and saved it as a separate image.

My observations (besides noticiing the incredible amount of dust and goop that's obviously on my sensor at f16 and smaller) are that the lens seems to be doing its job very well and that even the slightest movement of the focusing ring can change the focus by 1/16th inch at these close focusing distances.

If you have this lens or any other macro and, like me, you've been wondering if the lens is as sharp as you've heard it was or thought there might be something wrong with it or suspected that your macro technique isn't as precise as it should be, you might want to duplicate these tests yourself with your equipment. One other note concerning macro technique: I started out in my "studio" area using a very flimsy music stand as a support for ruler. I usually like this stand because it will raise stuff up high enough that I don't have to torture my back with low camera placement. That combined with living in a pier and beam (or actually just beam - but that's another story) house that easily transmits vibrations throughout caused me to rethink that approach and settle on the kitchen counter which is a lot more stable. If you haven't tried viewing with live view magnified to 10X you probably have no idea how much vibration there is even with a pretty good tripod and tripod head.

One other thing I learned is that if I going to shoot a lot of really close 1:1 macro images I'm going to need to get a good macro focusing rack. There's always something.

So, check out these test photos! Click on an image to see the 100% crop of the original photo.

Photographer/Writer? Writer/Photographer? What Happened?

2011-05-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

I went back to this article recently to edit it because I got to thinking about my reasons for writing it. I suppose I want to suggest to fellow photographers that they might want to consider writing a brief article related to their photography when they're trying to get an editor interested in publishing their photos.

Just in case potential clients are looking at my blog to see if I'm capable of writing reasonably well, I suppose I should make this a really, really interesting and very carefully crafted blog article. However, it's doubtful anyone is going to see anything like that here so I guess they're just going to have to go on blind faith that I can string a few words together to complement (notice I didn't say "compliment") my photos. For some reason I felt compelled to write this article to announce to the world that I'm not only photographing the things I enjoy but I'm also writing about them. Actually I do like to write. It's just that I'm not a fast writer. I agonize over every sentence, which doesn't mean that I put together great sentences or articles - it's just that I agonize over them. There was the perfect quote that I saw somewhere (on Twitter I think) but I can't remember who said it or exactly how it's worded but it goes something like this: "I don't really like writing but I like how I feel when something is completed." I too sort of feel that way about writing. Fortunately with photography I enjoy every step of the process - well, except maybe keywording and captioning.

So for the obligatory photo to accompany the article and make it all easier to understand, I've included this staged photo taken with my cell phone of me editing and correcting a rough draft.. After all, a picture is worth a 1000 words. Sorry, just had to say that.

Lakefest 2011

2011-05-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged about my four day marathon on April 14-17, 2011 photographing the Lakefest Regatta! Lakefest is hosted by the wonderful people of Texoma Sailing Club and the proceeds go to their charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In fact, Lakefest is the biggest and oldest inland charity regatta in the country and they've been able to raise over $2 million since the beginning of this regatta. I was there to photograph the event and provide images for sale as prints and to write an article about the Collegiate Challenge program that race captain Dave Long started with the 2010 Lakefest regatta. Dave's idea was to invite college students from the sailing teams at Texas and Oklahoma universities to crew on "host" member's boats with the hope that this program will instill greater interest and enthusiasm in young people in sailing. The sailing world nationwide is very interested in reversing a decline in recent years in participation in sailing, especially with post-college graduate age people.

Keep checking this blog for more updates about this event. There was a lot going on and it's going to take me awhile to relate my experiences in words and pictures. In the meantime you can go to the Texoma Sailing Club website for more information about the club and to their Lakefest Regatta page for more detail, including results, of the regatta.

Featured Photographer On PhotoShelter - Again!

2011-04-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

It was quite a honor for me to have one of my photos selected for the featured photographer slideshow on the buyer's page at PhotoShelter the first time. I had even made the request to be considered for that distinction. But this time it was a bit of a shock because I didn't even know that one of my images was being considered for the new batch of featured photos in the slideshow.
You can see my photo and all the other winning featured photographer photos on the PhotoShelter buyer page. You can also see this image in the New Mexico gallery at Ken Hurst Photography.

Photos From Texoma Sailing Club "Icebreaker III" Race Now Online!

2011-03-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Photos (390) from the recent March 19, 2011 Texoma Sailing Club "IceBreaker III" race ~~will be uploaded to a gallery soon~~ are now online. A new feature ~~will be~~ is the inclusion of each boat's sail number in the keywords for the image so that if you perform a keyword search for that number you'll be able to easily see all the photos of your boat. This is new so please forgive me if there are a few mistakes and some of the boats may not be keyworded with sail numbers at first. I'm also going through the photos from Icebreaker I and gradually adding sail number to those keywords too - so check back often to search your sail number in that gallery too.

The IceBreaker III gallery can be found here: Texoma Sailing Club - IceBreaker III.

New! We can print a book of your boat's photos from one race or from the whole season. This is a new product offering that is not available directly from the website e-commerce. If there are at least 20 images of your boat that you want we can put together a publication quality hard bound 8.75" X 11.25" book with either a removable book jacket paper cover or with direct printing on the cover. It's a great way to show and display images of your boat. Just send an email and include your sail number, boat name, and which images you would like to use for the book.

Sailing With Texoma Sailing Club

2011-03-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

This was so much fun! Although I didn't actually do any sailing, taking photos of the "Icebreaker I" sailboat race, the first regular race of the season with Texoma Sailing Club, was almost as fun. And I got to bring home over 700 images ninety-five percent of which, surprisingly in spite of the severe pitching and rolling on the chase boat, were in focus.

For members of the Texoma Sailing Club who order prints from Ken Hurst Photography at PhotoShelter I will also include low and medium resolution jpegs of the prints that they order. After you have placed your order at PhotoShelter please send me an email and I will send back the relevant images to you. To see all the currently available (I'm adding new images as fast as I can finish them and get them uploaded) go directly to the Texoma Sailing Club - Icebreaker I gallery.

I'm looking forward to attending more races this season not only to photograph the races but catch a ride as crew (camera crew?) and then especially looking forward to the big event, the Lakefest Regatta, April 14-17, when there will be over 50 boats participating.

Come out to Lakefest and watch from the spectator boat!

Update (March 7, 2011): I added another 127 images last night so there are now about 234 images available in the Texoma Sailing Club - Icebreaker I gallery.

Get Better Organized With PhotoShelter Lightroom Plugin

2011-02-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

A plugin for Lightroom that has been particularly useful to me, as a user of PhotoShelter, is the PhotoShelter Lightroom plugin by Paul Kamphuis. If you are also a PhotoShelter user (and if not click on that link to find out more about the services available) you can learn more about this plugin in this blog on PhotoShelter or on Paul's software website. Also, if you're like me, you may not be aware of all the features that are available in this plugin. Aside from the ability to upload directly to PhotoShelter from Lightroom and sync metadata, one feature that I didn't notice immediately was the ability of the plugin to keep track of which images in my Lightroom catalog have been uploaded (or which images haven't). Now that I'm getting more and more images on PhotoShelter this is a really valuable feature. It's also possible in Lightroom to use that same metadata to create a smart collection of PhotoShelter images. Below I will go through the steps to filter the images in your catalog to see which are on PhotoShelter and to create a smart collection based on that metadata.

Click on "All Photographs" in your catalog

Then in the Library Filters select "Metadata".

Then to create a new column for filtering based on whether the image is on PhotoShelter ("true") or not ("false") move the cursor over to the far right of the filters panel where a very small icon of several horizontal lines appears. If you click this it will provide you with the option to create a new column of filters, which you can see that I've already done.

Now if you click on "True" only the photos that have been uploaded to PhotoShelter will be visible in your library window.

You can create a smart collection by selecting "New Smart Collection" from the Library menu:

Then in the window that opens you can select the filter parameters for the new collection and rename the collection (say, PhotoShelter Uploaded or similar).

Now you should have a new collection of PhotoShelter images in Lightroom. You can also see the PhotoShelter status (On PhotoShelter: True or False) of an individual image by selecting Photoshelter in the Metadata pull down menu (see below).

If you're already a user of this plugin I hope it has helped you to maximize the benefits of it. And if you contribute to PhotoShelter and use Lightroom, I highly recommend downloading this plugin from the links above. And if you're not a PhotoShelter contributor, go here and join!

Featured Photographer On PhotoShelter!

2011-01-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

I was excited and honored to get a congratulatory email this morning informing me that I was selected as a featured photographer at PhotoShelter this month and that an image of mine was added to the featured slideshow, which appears on the PhotoShelter Buyer Homepage and Advanced Search page. The email goes on to say that "this means you're just one of 20 members selected to represent our community of 60,000 photographers this month."

I have been amazed at the quality of photography from other photographers so it's quite an honor for me to have one of my photos added to this slideshow. You can see my photo and all the other winning featured photographer photos on the PhotoShelter buyer page. You can also see this image in my London gallery at Ken Hurst Photography.

Thanks Photoshelter!

First Attempt At Time Lapse Photography

2010-12-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've read a lot about shooting time lapse video but actually doing it is another matter. Makes your head explode! There's no getting around the investment of time needed and the need to get it right the first time so as not to waste all that time. My first attempt also corresponded with an event that only occurs oh, just every 380 years or something like that: the total eclipse of the moon AND winter solstice. This 8 second time lapse video represents 2:06 AM until 4:07 AM on Dec. 21, 2010 which is from about the mid point of the eclipse, nearly at totality, until the moon has set low enough to be obscured by the roof of my house. The first half of the eclipse, from roughly 12:00 AM until 2:06 AM, I was photographing with a 200mm lens and the constant shift in the moon's position in the sky beyond the frame proved to be difficult. So I gave up that idea in mid stream and switched to a wide angle lens, the Tokina 12-24mm f4 set at 12mm. Other camera settings were ISO 400, f4.0, 20 second exposure with each frame taken 30 seconds apart.

In spite of the difficulties, I'm hooked on time lapse video!

Violin - Images | Ken Hurst Photography

2010-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

New Gallery!

Violin - Images | Ken Hurst Photography

LR/Enfuse: HDR Plug-in For Lightroom

2010-10-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

OK, I have to be honest - the biggest draw to get me to try this software was the fact that it's nearly free. It's donation ware so you can get a fully functional version for whatever amount you're willing to contribute. But I like this software so much that I will probably donate more later.

There are plenty of HDR software tools that may be capable of getting results that I would consider useful to me (realistic) but most of the results I've seen I have little use for. Maybe if I were marketing my images to an audience that thinks the exaggerated effects and halos were cool it wouldn't matter a lot, but ever since I began the move away from film to digital image production I've been concerned about the limited dynamic range and blown highlights and/or lack of shadow detail in the digital medium. I tinkered around with various PS plug-ins and tried manually merging images in Photoshop but I was never satisfied with the result which always looked manipulated and unrealistic. As a nature photographer I just wanted that incredibly wide dynamic range image to fit within the relatively narrow range of the screen or print.

I've just recently discovered a new (to me) plugin for Lightroom (definitely that works on LR2 and is said to work on LR3 as well) called LR/Enfuse. You can find it here and also read more about how it works here. I love to read blogs and see samples of how stuff has worked for other people, so the first thing I wanted to do was to test it. Until you contribute a donation the full functionality of the plug-in is locked so the largest image you can blend with LR/Enfuse is 500 pixels on the long side, which is a bit small for testing its effectiveness. After reading a few reviews by other blogger photographers I decided to send in my PayPal contribution and get a software key to get the fully functioning version.

Here are some of the results I got from the first few tests:

This first series was really easy to do using the auto bracketing function on the camera and firing three frames in rapid succession at 0EV, -1EV, and +1EV. No manipulation in LR of original files or the resulting blended tiff. To be better able to see the results of the blend click on the images for a larger version.

Blend of 0, -1, +1 EV using LR/Enfuse

0 EV

-1 EV

+1 EV

In the following two examples I wanted to see how LR/Enfuse handled the contrast problems in shooting interior spaces with windows.

LR/Enfuse Blended Image

0 EV

-1 EV

+1 EV

In this series I metered one exposure for the sky through the window and a second exposure metering on the interior.

LR/Enfuse Blended Image

Exposure metered through window

Exposure metered in room

In this series I took 3 exposures metering through the window, at a mid tone in the room, and on a shadow area.

LR/Enfuse Blended Image

metered through the window

spot metering a mid tone area

shadow area spot metering

This last sample is the result of 6 images with differing points of focus to create a focus stack.

focus stack

In conclusion, I really like this plug-in for its ease of use, natural and realistic looking blends, and incredibly low cost.

New Gallery! Southwest Louisiana/Southeast Texas

2010-07-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

Southwest Louisiana/Southeast Texas - Images | Ken Hurst Photography

Photos from my road trip through southeast Texas - Port Arthur and Sea Rim Park along the Gulf coast - to southwest Louisiana - Cameron, Holly Beach, Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, and Sam Houston Jones State Park near Lake Charles.

All images available with rights managed license, some for editorial use only. ALL images can be delivered in TIFF or RAW format but only JPEGs can be downloaded directly from the site. Please contact me if you need TIFF or RAW format images.

Royalty Free Stock Photo Collection

2010-07-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ken Hurst Photography now has a collection of ten galleries of only royalty free stock images which you can find in the Royalty Free Stock Collection. The galleries are divided into general subject areas including Animals and Pets, Architecture and City Scenes, Business People, Education, Fitness, Nature and Landscape, People/Lifestyle, Real Estate, Religious, and Still LIfe/Object/Conceptual.

Join PhotoShelter Now - Click Below To Get Discounted Membership!

2010-07-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

Although I'm still new to using PhotoShelter for my photography business I can tell it's going to be extremely helpful in the future. So far the process has been very simple and well thought out. Currently I have the Basic Plan which will be sufficient for me in the near future although there are some limitations that so far haven't been too limiting.

I would highly recommend PhotoShelter to my photographer friends, especially those who are currently selling stock images and would like a way to market their own product and possibly, like I do, find a place to sell their fine art and rights managed stock images directly to the consumer. At first I took time to look around the site, asked a few questions of others who are on the site, and then signed up with a "Starter Plan" account just to see how the process worked. A big plus for me was the implementation of e-commerce features into the site where I can easily upload, set prices for royalty free or rights managed stock or prints, and have the transactions all handled by PhotoShelter (minus a modest 10% commission for the Basic Plan). The ease of use of these feature is powerful and can instantly provide a path to marketing your own photos.

So check out the button below and try out PhotoShelter! Using the link below should get you a discount on a Basic, Standard, or Pro plan.

New Galleries Added to KenHurstPhotography.PhotoShelter.com

2010-06-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

New galleries of images available for direct purchase from Ken Hurst Photography are being added daily at kenhurstphotography.photoshelter.com. Although the two sites, kenhurstphotography.com and kenhurstphotography.photoshelter.com, will be linked together in the future, for now photo buyers who wish to purchase stock images directly should click on the photoshelter link.

Low priced royalty-free stock images will be offered along with traditional rights managed images for those buyers who prefer to secure exclusive use of an image.

The newest gallery added is Southwest USA which includes imagery from New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

Rights Managed Stock Photos Directly Available at KenHurstPhotography.com

2010-06-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

With the integration of KenHurstPhotography.com and galleries at PhotoShelter (http://kenhurstphotography.photoshelter.com) stock photography will be available directly from Ken Hurst Photography. Gradually I will be adding images previously unavailable as stock to the site with rights managed licensing options as well as a limited amount of royalty free stock photos.

New galleries of photographs with RM licenses will include travel, landscape, and wildlife photography some of which includes digital scans of film images.

Please check back at www.kenhurstphotography.com frequently for updated content.

January iStockphoto Downloads Stats

2010-01-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Feb. 01, 2011 - What a big waste of time all this speculation was afterall. IStock's announcement back in the fall of 2010 has totally negated and made useless any of these efforts to boost sales a few points in order to make sure I qualified for the next, now obsolete, canister level. As an independent contributor to iStock my profits have dropped to an all time low of 16%.

As you can see below from the downloads stats chart for my portfolio for January, the weekly ups and downs are typical for a given month so it seems doubtful to me that the image linking is having a profound effect on sales results in my portfolio. One thing I failed to do was to track the data on the number of views of the images that were linked from before the links were added until now. That may have been more useful information. I think DeepMeta would have been a really useful tool for that analysis too. There are a few subject areas in my portfolio that still haven't been linked so I may be able to try to provide a before and after analysis of the view stats on those images.

This chart shows a 25% increase in downloads in the second week, a 29% decrease in the third, and a 30% increase in the fourth week - which averages out to be a pretty typical month as compared to the monthly averages of the last year.

The Wonders Of A Homemade Diffusion Panel

2010-01-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

I was reminded recently of some of my first efforts in creating my own home studio by fellow stock photographer and Facebook friend Todd Arena at Arena Creative. Todd has been creatively using just one studio light along with other light modifiers and he regularly posts some samples of his excellent work on his Facebook page. His one light experiments have prompted me to get out the diffusion panel I made several years ago when I was trying to use minimal equipment to produce stock photos with good lighting.

The diffusion panel I made, based on information from several sources including a great article at DIYPhotography.net, is a white diffusion screen that measures 4 feet by 5 feet and is made from very inexpensive PVC pipe and some material that I found at a fabric store. My panel is not too elegant - the sample at DIYPhotography.net is much better made - but it works well, wasn't expensive, and didn't take long to put together. I can also easily disassemble it and take it on location if necessary.

Here are a few photos and a diagram of the initial panel set up in my home studio:

As you can see the white walls of my studio tend to act as reflectors - sometimes that's good, like when I need the extra fill light, but other times it means I need to use a black velvet cloth to keep stray light from going where I don't want it.

In the first four tests the angle of the diffusion panel and monolight to the subject remained the same at approximately 45 to 35 degrees. The results of the two photos below are from positioning the panel about 60" from the subject (me) and the monolight, 300w/s set at 1/2 power, about 30" from the panel. The camera is about 64" from the subject. Exposures were f8, 1/200 sec., at ISO 100.

The next two photos show the results of positioning the monolight 6" from the panel but keeping the distance from the panel to the subject the same (64"). Camera settings were f9, 1/200 sec., at ISO 100.

The following photo was produced by positioning the diffusion panel 24" from the subject and the monolight 40" from the panel. The camera remains at 64" from the subject with settings of f9, 1/200, at ISO 100. The exposure was adjusted by -1 stop in Lightroom to match the exposure of the other images (oops).

The lighting for the next photo was with the monolight only and without the diffusion panel in place.

The lighting for this last photo was with the diffusion panel in place but with it next to and as close to the axis of the camera as possible.

Here's the setup:

And the photo from this setup:

iStock Sales Stats Show 25% Increase In Downloads For Second Week Of January

2010-01-15T22:11:00.001-08:00

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2010): The third week of January unfortunately is not doing well, as you can see from the latest download stat charts from my istock profile, to prove the idea that the image linking is boosting downloads, at least not on a consistent basis. Perhaps over time but eventually it will be hard to tell because too many other factors may be involved - like the fact that I absolutely must add more images to my portfolio soon. Future gains could be the result of a larger portfolio. This chart indicates about a 10% drop in downloads as compared to the first week of January. It will be interesting to track the last week of January.

A 25% increase (see below) in the number of downloads from January 8 to January 15 as compared to the first week of January seems to correlate with the links I added to most of my image file descriptions on Sunday, January 10. Other factors that may have also added to this increase (other than the typical seasonal ebb and flow and seemingly random nature of microstock) were my efforts to encourage new potential photo buyers to look at my istockphoto portfolio through the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, I remain very skeptical that any of these efforts influenced the 25% increase. The increase indicates that my monthly total will come very close to falling in line with the average download amounts throughout 2009. If in the next several months there is a continued increase above the monthly average for 2009 then it's likely that the efforts to include links in the photo metadata were beneficial.

I doubt there is any correlation to all these efforts but the increase in royalty amounts was more dramatic. See below:

Looking forward to watching the istock stats in the coming months of 2010.

Oh, and with downloads increasing back up to typical monthly average levels it looks much more likely that I'll be able to reach the coveted "Gold Canister" at iStockPhoto!

Poll/Survey: Designers and Stock Photo Buyers - Do You Click On Links In Image Descriptions?

2010-01-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Not exactly a scientific survey here but I thought I would put this question out to graphic designers and anyone who buys microstock (or macro stock) photos on a regular basis:

If you view a photo on a microstock site, are you inclined to click on links to other similar images (presumably within the contributors portfolio) that are embedded in the image description, such as in this image Business Man In Black Suit which has links in the description field to other business photos in my portfolio? Also, do you think that you tend to find and purchase more images you can use after clicking these links? Or is this something that has absolutely no effect on your buying habits?

If you have been following my blog you know that I've been experimenting with adding these links to photos in my portfolio, in particular to boost my sales on istockphoto so that I can reach the "gold canister" level (it's an istock thing) before the level requirements change from 10K downloads to 20K downloads on Feb. 24.

Please leave a comment below - yes or no - and if you have time, I would love to hear any other input or comments you might have about your experience as a microstock photo buyer.

Also, if you're a Googler/Blogger please follow my blog here. I would love to reciprocate and follow your blog as well.

Thanks, Ken

Ken Hurst Photography To Offer Engagement, Personal, and Family Portraits, Realtor, Business, and Model Headshots

2010-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Ken Hurst Photography will begin offering direct-to-consumer photography services such as engagement, personal, and family portraits as well as realtor, business, and model headshots. The pricing structure below is structured on a tiered scale based on the amount of the photographer's time spent at the shoot and preparing images for print and reproduction. All shoots require a $100 deposit to hold the appointment time with no refunds 48 hours prior to the shoot.

For models headshots I will substitute the 5X7 and wallets for comp cards.

Level 1 $300 - up to 2 hours shooting time and one clothing change
choose 5 digital images from the session to be retouched

     1 - 11X14 or 12X18 Print
     1 - 8X10 OR 8X12 Print
     4 - 4X6 or 5X7 Prints
     8 - Wallet size prints

Level 2 $500 - up to 3 hours shooting time and two clothing changes
choose 10 digital images from the session to be retouched
As above plus one additional 11X14 or 12X18, 8X10 or 8X12, and 4X6 or 5X7 in "standout mounts"

Level 3 $800 - up to 4 hours shooting time with unlimited clothing changes
As above plus an additional 11X14 or 12X18 in "standout mount" and a 20 page (up to 40 photos) hard cover bound book

The photo shoot can take place exclusively in my studio in Waxahachie, or in the studio and on location in the immediate Waxahachie area (the historic downtown has some great spots for location shoots), or on location anywhere in the DFW area. For Level 2 and 3 packages there is no additional charge for location shoots in the DFW area.

Please contact me anytime at the email address on my website at Ken Hurst Photography.

Early Results of Adding Links to iStockphoto Image Descriptions - Chapter 3

2010-01-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

So far it appears that the efforts I've made (using DeepMeta) to add links to the photos of popular subject areas in my portfolio are paying off. Downloads for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are certainly better than last for those days although this shouldn't be considered conclusive proof that the links are the cause of this improvement in sales. I've certainly had similar fluctuations from one week to another and even from one month to another and even from one quarter to another but the fact that the change coincided with these modifications is a pretty good indicator it had some effect.

At the end of the week I'll publish a before and after chart from my istock stats page to show the relative differences in results of those two weeks. At this time I think I have at least half of my portfolio linked to at least one subject area keyword search page and I should have the rest of the portfolio linked by the end of the week. A side benefit of this discovery of how efficiently I can change image metadata with DeepMeta is that I can clean up and improve my keywords.

Stay tuned and check my istockphoto stats at the end of the week!

Using DeepMeta To Link Images On iStockphoto - Chapter 2

2010-01-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

In my last blog I mentioned the circumstances around why I need to link the images on my portfolio at istock but in this blog I will outline how it can be done and how you can use the free program called DeepMeta (www.DeepMeta.com) to accomplish the job much quicker.

First of all you need to create a little bit of UBB code that you will then copy and paste into the descriptions in your image files. A suggestion would be to save each version of this code in a text file so that if you need to use it again you won't have to retype and copy and paste all the code again. Before I go through a step by step process of how I do this let me recommend that you read Ethan Myerson's blog ( Linking to Other Images on iStockphoto ) which will provide the detail that I will omit in the interest of saving time and space. I'll provide some extra steps to show how you can use this with DeepMeta very effectively. I am also assuming that you already have a working knowledge of the DeepMeta program for use with your iStock portfolio but if you don't I highly recommend that you try it out. If you have been uploading via an internet browser you're going to love the speed and convenience of uploading with DeepMeta.

Prioritize which images and subjects you're going to tackle first. Some of you may have portfolios of thousands and thousands of photos at istock and even with DeepMeta it's going to take awhile but then again you may not need to do this for every photo. For me, with a mere 1106 images in my portfolio, it will still take awhile so I'm focusing first on the images I think will be most likely to be viewed and therefore have the best chance of having a buyer click on the links we're going to be adding to these image descriptions. What's nice about the istockphoto interface is that it gives the contributor quite a bit of information and has the ability to sort by the number of views. Of course you could sort by downloads but what we're trying to accomplish here is to get people to look at as many pictures from your portfolio as possible in hopes they will not stray away from your photos and that they will eventually purchase one or more. So, as an example I'm going to show how I started with all the fitness images in my portfolio.

As Ethan mentions in his blog you can link to just one other image (a one-off he calls it), or to a private lightbox that you have already created, or to a search page of a particular keyword or keywords within your portfolio (as we will do with the keyword "fitness" within my portfolio). So, to get the url for the search page link you're going to use go to your portfolio, search "fitness" and check the box for within portfolio just below the search box, and then if everything looks good here copy the url address so that you paste it into the UBB code in your image description.

Here's what a fitness keyword search of my portfolio found (click on the image to see a larger, readable version):

Starting with the most viewed fitness photo in my portfolio I pasted:

[url=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&oldtext=fitness&abstractType=1023&filterContent=false&order=7&perPage=50&showTitle=true&showContributor=true&showFileNumber=false&showDownload=true&userID=861977&within=1]See more of my fitness related photos here.[/url]

which is pretty messy but that's what it takes on istockphoto to create a search url address. This code would then create a link that would take the buyer to the fitness search page of your portfolio when they click on "See more of my fitness related photos here". I threw this in just in case of some of you haven't messed around with the basics of using UBB code on istock forums or elsewhere.

Here's a sample of the image after I've added the link code to the description (click on it to see a larger version):

Then to get it to look like my sample I used the thumbnail of a representative fitness image from my collection within this link. So, I added this within the code above:

[img]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3445327/1/istockphoto_3445327-man-exercising-arm-muscles-3.jpg[/img]

which is this thumbnail:

Now if you open each image in your browser that would benefit from having this code pasted into it then click and save, you're probably going to go stark raving mad after about 10 of these. And that is precisely why I'm writing this blog. DeepMeta is going to make this much simpler.

I should mention here that I'm not revealing any hidden secrets or profound wisdom here. I'm pretty sure most of you could easily figure all this out. I'm just trying to make you aware of how much DeepMeta can simplify this process in case you hadn't thought about it till now.

Open DeepMeta and perform a search for "fitness". Then sort this list by views which is what I would recommend so that you can make sure you take care of all these images first. If your fitness collection isn't enormous - I had about 126 images to add code to - it won't take you long to modify all of them. I think it took me about an hour, and that's because I'm slow and easily distracted. Your mileage my vary.

Here's that first and most viewed image as it appears in Deepmeta:

So now you've got a list of fitness images showing in the main DeepMeta window and this image open. Paste the previously created code into the image description, click save, then double click the next image, rinse and repeat. Using two monitors I had the main DM window open on one and the image window open on the other. So it was a very simple human automated task to mouse to the next window, double click the next image, hit return a few times to move the cursor down a line or two in the description field of the image window, move the mouse over to click save, then mouse back over to the first window and double click the next image, then......well, I think you get the idea. If you know some fancy keyboard shortcuts that can make it even more efficient then go for it.

If you're new to DeepMeta you'll need to know that the next step once you've added everything to all the photos you want to modify for now is to go to the "iStockphoto" menu and click "send updates". And in a jiffy all these photos will have new description information in their meta data.

For me this was also an opportunity to discover that some of my careless keywording had irrelevant images showing up in my fitness search. So as an extra benefit I've cleaned up my keywords for the benefit of all those designers and photo buyers who go crazy searching through millions of images.

If you're still not sure what all this is trying to accomplish, go to my portfolio at kenhurst istockphoto portfolio, then search on "fitness" and click the "Search within Portfolio" box - which would take you to this page: kenhurst istockphoto porfolio fitness images. Then select one of the images on this page, click on the link in the description, and see that it takes you to the fitness portfolio page again. Now imagine you're a photo buyer and you have somehow stumbled upon one of my fitness images but it wasn't exactly what you were looking for but close. You could then click on this link and it would perform the search for you without all the extra steps you would otherwise have to go through. Without the link some buyers might never bother to see what else I have in my portfolio.

Please check back on this blog if you're planning to implement some of this information because I will continue to edit and update the information and correct some of my spelling and grammatical errors that I'm sure are widespread throughtout. Leave a comment or send me an email to let me know if this information has been helpful to you.

DeepMeta Advantages For iStockphoto Contributors - Chapter 1

2010-01-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed using DeepMeta (available free to iStockphoto contributors/photographers at DeepMeta.com) and now I'm really loving it because it's available, although still in beta form, for Mac users. So far it's worked flawlessly for me on my Macbook running Leopard. It's also available for Snow Leopard if you're that current with your OS X. And, in case you ask, my iStock portfolio is available for viewing at your leisure at www.istockphoto.com/kenhurst.

The usefulness of DeepMeta for easier and more efficient uploading to iStock was evident from the beginning but I didn't realize how easy it would be to use it to maintain and improve the meta data in my files (hence the name DeepMeta I suppose). Lately I've been concerned that my sales on istock might not maintain their current monthly levels which might prevent me from reaching the "gold canister" level before the new levels take effect on Feb. 24. So I was looking for anything I could find to boost them if even just a little bit. In a post to my fellow "Creative Network" and on the iStockphoto forums I was reminded of the idea of linking files or images by including a little UBB code which link to another similar file or a private lightbox or even better in my opinion, a keyword search page of my portfolio. There's some excellent info about how to do this on Ethan Meyerson's blog, Linking to Other Images on iStockphoto. I would recommend that you start there to get the basics down but I will be showing you how quickly this can be done to many images in your portfolio using DeepMeta.

Stay tuned for details!

Old And New! 1986 And 2009! Grandfather And Grandson! Father and Son!

2010-01-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

A bit of a personal note here. My son enjoys hamming it up and making faces when we're taking family photos at holiday gatherings. Obviously he's been up to this for quite awhile.

Fine Art Photography For Sale at Zula's Coffee House In Waxahachie, Texas

2009-12-31T15:16:00.000-08:00

Update Feb. 2, 2011: Zula's Coffee House is no longer located in the Rogers Hotel in downtown Waxahachie. It is now located at 1804 W. Hwy. 287 Business, Waxahachie, Texas. There is now a coffee shop called The Ranch Coffee House in the old location.

I've really been neglecting this blog because I haven't said anything here about the prints I have for sale and display at Zula's Coffee House in historic downtown Waxahachie, Texas - in the historic Rogers Hotel! If you haven't been to Waxahachie you really should make a trip here or stop in sometime on your way between Dallas and Austin or beyond. Waxahachie is right off I-35E about 30 minutes south of Dallas. It's a charming little city with a thriving downtown area with many interesting shops and stores including the newly opened Rogers Hotel that is home to several new businesses like Zula's that has the best coffee (and ambience) in town.

While you're there you can check out my photo study of the stone masonry faces on the 1895 courthouse. These are offered in 12"X12" prints individually as well as in package collections of 4, 8, and 12 including a print of the courthouse. Also available is a composite of all the faces and the courthouse.

Another photo that will be available soon was taken recently when the cloud formations in late afternoon created a ominous look in the downtown area.

Twittering!!!

2009-12-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ken Hurst Photography (@kenhurstphoto) is now on Twitter! I wasn't sure at first how that could enhance the site but now I can see the benefits of increased connections with fellow photographers, graphic designers, and other people with an interest in photography. Feel free to follow @kenhurstphoto to see the absolutely latest news and information about Ken Hurst Photography.

Cruise 2009

2009-07-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

The daily upload idea while we were on our European/Baltic Sea cruise failed miserably - turned out to be way too difficult to lug around the laptop so that I could upload images whenever we found a free wi-fi hotspot, which was usually a McDonald's - BUT we had a great time and I'll have some of the photos from the trip online as soon as I can sort through the 2000+ images and select the best for a photo gallery.

For now here's a few that we taken with my camera phone (Palm Pre).

2009-06-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Go to Ken Hurst Photography London/Baltic Sea Trip (or www.kenhurstphotography.com/europe) to see daily updates (hopefully) of our photos as we progress through the various cities listed in the previous post. Of course this all depends on finding a consistent and reliable ( and free) wi-fi connection in each city and on having time to sit down with a laptop and upload the latest images.

We're leaving this Friday, June 12 so watch this blog for select photos and commentary on the cruise and cities we visit along the way.

No, this photo isn't from our trip but I thought it would be appropriate and would put me in the mood, although we'll be leaving during the day and we're not flying Delta.

Baltic Sea - European Capitals Cruise Picture Notebook!

2009-05-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

It may be a bit of an ambitious goal but I'm going to try to post photos from my upcoming cruise from London to the Baltic Sea in a gallery here at kenhurstphotography.com as they happen! I'll announce the gallery and provide a link from the main page whenever I have it set up. All this hinges on finding free or cheap internet access as we make our way through our itinerary.

Here is our anticipated itinerary:

June 12 - flight to London from DFW
June 13, 14 - touring London and possibly Liverpool
June 15 - Norwegian Cruise Lines ship "Jewel" leaves Dover
June 16 - at sea
June 17 - Copenhagen, Denmark
June 18 - Berlin, Germany
June 19 - Tallinn, Estonia
June 20, 21 - St. Petersburg
June 22 - Helsinki, Finland
June 23 - Stockholm, Sweden
June 24 - at sea
June 25 - ship arrives back in Dover, England
June 26, 27 - continue tour of London
June 28 - fly back to DFW

The updates may not be everyday but if I can find Starbuck stores or other wi-fi hotspots along the way I should be able to upload at least some of my shots from the trip as they happen.

We're Going On A Cruise! Northern Europe! The Baltic Sea!

2009-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

In mid June I'll be touring London for two days then leaving from Dover for a Baltic Sea Capital cities cruise - Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm - then back to London for two more days!

So all you editors and photo buyers who need fresh new cruise ship and travel photos let me know what you're looking for so that I can get the shots you need!

Russian Folk Music! Kristall Balalaika!

2009-03-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph the Russian folk music group, Kristall Balalaika (or sometimes spelled Kristal Balalayka), that performed at the school where I teach. Beautiful music, dancing, and beautiful colorful costumes made for an entertaining presentation. I will be posting select photos from the event whenever I rework my portfolio page to include some of my event photography.

2009-02-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

The "Portfolio" page on www.kenhurstphotography.com is online again. I've added a few more of my favorite stock photos to the "People" gallery. The plan is to update the content of the other folders soon and to add some new portfolio folder categories.

Long range plans include making my entire stock portfolio available for purchase through www.kenhurstphotography.com.

Ken

KenHurstPhotography.com Is Back!

2009-01-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

A new and reworked website at www.kenhurstphotography.com is again up and running - the Portfolio page is still inactive but will be finished later - soon!

We're finding new tearsheets on a regular basis - and they're getting better and better! Above is a photo of Ashley from her fitness shoot on the cover of a new book! A great example of how stock photos can be used in a variety of context.

Ken

2009-01-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

New website is still in development with some improvements and should be online very soon!

New, Easier To Maintain Blog!

2009-01-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

In the process of redoing most of my website, I've decided that the blog portion would be much easier to keep up-to-date by using Google's Blogger. So here I am!

More news later!

Ken