Korean Photography Blog

On this past Sunday, I had a lot of free time. So I decided to check out the Photography Festival. The cost was 10,000 won and that got you a ticket in and your choice of photo cards made from the photos at the event. There was a book containing all of the photos also on sale for 10,000 won as well.

The event was held in the very nice art gallery next to the main theatre at the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center. It is a great venue and one that I hopefully will get a chance to hang my stuff in at one point in time. The main floor was for the international photos. The were professionally done but yet lacked inspiration. Don’t get me wrong, they were beautiful photos and far better than I could have ever produced but they also had that coffee table book feel where you want to thumb through it but nothing really grabs you.

As the crowds of Ajeoshis pushed their way passed my I found a couple that caught my eye. They were from the Europe side of things and really had that fantasy “Hogwarts” kind of feel to them. Of course the shots of Africa and the pyramids were spectacular as well. Then there was the local photographers display that would have been actually difficult to find had I not been there last year and asked if there were any more photos on display.

Behind the main building and down the stairs contained 3 galleries of local photographers. At first I wasn’t amused as I received a cold glare from the Ajeoshi that was looking after the first gallery. As for the photos, they were good and to be expected of photos from Ulsan. The 12 scenic sights showed up quite a bit and a few similar shots to the ones that I got showing the Taehwa Park and walking bridge.

I was about ready to call it quits thanks to the grumpy Ajeoshi but when I peeked into the other gallery I was shocked to find daring photos, patterns and awesome composure! Mind you I was followed by a family with a screaming two-year old but I was nonetheless surprised. There were some great shots of the petro-chemical facility and a very cool shot of the underbelly of one of the bridges.

All in all it is worth the 10,000 won if you want to take in some great photos and get inspired by your local city. I would shoot for mid-day or when the families are not there so that you can really stand back and take in the talent of both the international and local photogs. I also like just hanging around the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center as it is a really nice complex and great to sit down and drink some coffee that you brought over from Seattle Coffee that is just across the street.

I have been following Chase Jarvis since I saw an interview with him on Photoshop User TV. His App for the iPhone is great and his blog is really good. Not to mention he has one of those names that just resonates “I am cool” Every time I read his blog it sort of puts me back in touch with the creative community, rather than just reading about more gear that I can’t afford. Recently he wrote about “For the Love of Photography” and it set my brain on fire, thus prompting a sweating climb to the top of one of Ulsan’s higher mountain in the city. here is what Chase brought up:

But where is your love of pictures? Where are your actions that back this up?

Can you pick up a book of photographs and get lost in it?
Can you walk around with your iPhone or Android or your point and shoot or whatever and take 100 pictures knowing that they’ll never be for a client or a portfolio?
Do you love hunting for pictures?
Will you stay up late or get up early for pictures?
Do you sometimes ‘see’ life as a photograph?

I have often thought about what it takes to call yourself “a Photographer” and many of the things that Chase brings up hit home. In these days, as I walk around Ulsan, Busan and Seoul, I often see people with some very expensive gear around their necks and I am generally happy for them, but are they photographers? Many of us love to record life’s moments but like in my last post, can we find the beauty and inspiration?

I like the idea of “hunting for a photo” because I find myself doing that these days and it has spurred the love for photography again. Think about how many times you have got home from work, skipped dinner, grabbed your gear and raced madly through traffic to get a shot of the city where you live all because they sky was a wonderful colour?

How many times have you saw someone else’s work and thought “This is a challenge!” and set off to photograph the images that appeared in your head? All from that one moment of clarity or perhaps all from one inspiring photograph? I think that is what separates a photographer from some one who simply takes photos.

For moron Chase Jarvis check out his blog and his App.

Also, stay inspired and tell me what inspires you.

It is almost 12 am and I really should hit the hay… or in this case the Bunk above my desk here at the UNIST English camp just outside of Ulsan. However, I came across this quote that I felt I should share with you all. It comes from Scott Kelby’s Photoshop Insider Blog by a guest blogger named Ben Van Hook.

“That self-realization, combined with an incredible work ethic, is a recipe for success in this business. It’s not about the camera, digital vs. film, strobe or natural light, or how much gear it takes…

It’s about how you see the world. It takes time, passion, and perseverance to learn to really look at the world and not just see it, the dance between light and human emotion. It’s a very interesting dynamic, spending all that time looking thru a viewfinder. It can be a lonely pursuit sometimes, but provides for a life rich with experiences. It certainly has for me, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

This really struck a chord with me. I have always thought about how photography really makes you step back and look at the world differently. Most people try to photograph just what they see and that is fine, but I think finding the beauty that exists in each moment is what makes great photographs as well as memories that last a life time.

During the photo walk I noticed a lot of people doing exactly that, taking a second look at life and finding the beauty in it. I heard someone say “I’ve been to this park a few times and I’ve never noticed how nice it was” I think that is the true power of photography. That is why people hang photos of cityscapes on their walls. It reminds them that there is beauty everywhere, like a city it is always around us. Sometimes we just have to step back and look at it through our viewfinder.

I encourage you the read Ben’s blog entry. His photos will definitely make you want to get out there more and his words will get you thinking. Here is another good quote:

“I would encourage you to chase your dreams, never forget where you come from, and shoot the photography from the heart. Inject your personality into your pictures. Shoot, shoot, shoot photographs. Then shoot some more. Really look at the world and look inside yourself. It’s a wonderful gift we’ve been given.”

Take a look at his website too. There is some great work there. Ben Van Hook Phototography

Now I am off to bed.

Living in Korea or elsewhere as a photographer, you will no doubt get a few photo gigs here and there. While the attraction of earning a little money from your hobby (at this point) may be enticing, you must be careful while you are working here. Here are a few tips (made from the mistakes that I have made over the years)

1. Keep Your Business a Business and Your Job a Job
Too often we photographers in Korea blur the line on what violates our visas. Be careful because if you are a working photographer (making an income from your photography) you could get nabbed by immigration. While the likelihood of this is rare, all it takes is a phone call from a jealous co-worker to put you into hot water.

Awhile ago, I was doing a charity gallery for a group that helps orphans and one of my co-workers blatantly asked me if this violated my contract and visa. I looked dumbfounded for a second, I never even considered that this would interfere with my job, but looking around, the place was filled with my co-workers and bosses, the photos were also hanging with price tags and sold stickers. Nothing was made of it and I told my curious co-worker that I was making no profit off the sales as it was going to charity. I dodged a bullet there, but for the rest of you, be careful.

This also goes for self-promotion too. If you brand yourself as a photographer, you may get into trouble as immigration may see you as “self employed” and thus violating your visa. I would suggest keeping all promotional material out of the office.

2. Set your prices up front
One of the things that I still have a problem with is setting a price for my work. It seems everyone has a different price and I find that each job has a different one too (depending on travel and whatnot). One of the biggest problems that I have had is not being clear on the price because I was not confident of my own work.

What I recommend is that you have a sit down with your clients and the first thing that you discuss is the price and what they get for that price. Then state the time frame for payment, which should be before the shoot. Why I say this is that many times clients that I have had and did not pay before the shoot will use that as leverage to get a bargain from you or extra editing/reshoots or what not. You’ve done your work, your are giving them the quality and photos that you agreed on, it should be a done deal.

3. Be Firm with Pricing and Packages
There is that old saying about “give an inch and they take a mile” and it is true in the photography biz as well. When I first started I had no confidence in my work. This worked to the advantage of the clients and many times as they got a lot more from me than they would have normally received because I was afraid of upsetting them.

To give an example, one time I did a photo shoot and threw in a short slideshow of the work as an added “freebee” Well it soon became extra work for no extra money. I had to re-edit the photos and rework the entire slide show. When I was finished, the clients ask for “a deal” because the work took so long. I was annoyed but because I knew them, I reluctantly accepted. I was a huge mistake. Make sure your clients get what they pay for and nothing more.

4. Be wary of Friends asking for your services
If you have a nice camera and take decent photos, many of your friends and family will ask you to do some work for them. It is a simple thing that when people see that you have passion for your hobby or work, they well want to utilize your services. I would stay away from these jobs unless you are very clear about the above topics.

I have been burnt by this a few times where I would do a portrait shoot or engagement photos for some friends and then have them gouge me on the price because you find out that they were not coming to you to give you some work, they were coming to you to knock of $500 from the regular photographers price. While this may be fine for good close friends, often it is friends on the periphery that will do this to you.

An example of this was a few years ago I did a wedding shoot for a friend of mine. I gave him a discount because I knew that he was strapped for cash and couldn’t afford my usual rate. However, I neglected to talk to his would-be wife about it and soon received numerous emails later about styles and poses and locations. It was a slap in the face. She was asking for stylish shots like the ones she saw from websites that were charging $3000 and they were paying a lot less, only a few hundred actually. The reason was that they knew I could pull off the shots and I was eager to please because they were “friends”. Set your prices and set your packages, EVEN WITH YOUR FRIENDS.

5. Be Confident
Some people can just smell weakness and will use it to their advantage. Many times I have felt that I wasn’t worth the price that I was charging because I was just starting out. Be very clear in your initial meetings and be confident in your ability. If your clients feel that you are confident and professional, they well see that in your photos later. However, if they get a sense that you are nervous, weak and not confident in your own work, they will use that to their advantage.

Here is something to think about. The people that hire you, hire you because they have seen your work, heard of you (good stuff usually) or both. They would not have hired you if they felt that you were a horrible photographer and are hoping for the best. So with that in mind, when you show the final work, make sure that it is the best work that you can do and make no excuses about it. Do not say “well, this is the best that I could do because the lighting was bad” or “The pictures are a little off because of the conditions at the shoot” stuff like that will always take the power out of your hands no matter how good the photos are.

People have a strange way of acquiring a new skill set when it comes to saving money. Clients who have no idea about photography suddenly become more critical than the editors of National Geographic or GQ magazine. Just like the parents of the children you may teach some how become very knowledgeable about English education and the latest teaching styles (without actually speaking the language) when they think that they can save a few chon-wons on the newbie teacher.

Be confident and tell your clients that these are the best photos from the shoot and that it fulfills the agreement that you’ve made. After that, there should be no more arguing (unless the shots are sh*t). Stand up for your work and don’t make any excuses.

6. Don’t Take Jobs If You Don’t Have the Time
I have often overbooked myself and paid for it in the end. You think that if you can squeak out for a bit and get some shots that you are done. However, many of us here, are juggling our primary job, a blog or something, and then the photography business. You have to realize that you need a certain about of time for each job. So even though you may think that stacking jobs is cool, often times it affects your creativity and post processing as well.

Remember, the pro’s usually have an assistant or two working for them. They handle a lot of the editing and whatnot. Most of us here in Korea, it is a one-man (or woman) show. Keep the jobs simple and finish them in a timely manner.

7. Get Credit for YOUR Work
In this age of digital files, people email and/or post everything to facebook. Make sure that if you take photos for your clients that they give you credit for your work. I have seen a number of my shots pop on facebook with no mention of who took the shot. People assume that if it is in one person’s profile, that they possibly took it. It also takes something away from the professionalism when the shots get mixed up with party shots or “lesser” portraits. By Lesser, I mean shots that maybe don’t have the same quality or time that you put into your work and then people will just naturally assume that it is less professional.

Another thing that you must make your clients aware of is that while they are the models and perhaps purchase the photos, you still own the rights to those photos. If they have a problem with that, they may ask to purchase the rights to the photos. I include this here, because often times especially when making photo slideshows for my clients, I have had the request to include some of their shots in the video. While this may seem innocent, it does take something away from the body of work. If you have the rights to the photos, you maintain the rights to use the photos as you see fit. The video also represents you and your work.

You may wonder about this, but people usually do this when they want to pass the video off in emails as something “they did”. With a few shots of their own, people will pay no attention to who took the rest of the photos. You need to make sure that the photos you give to your clients are a representation of you and your business, not just a reflection of the people in the photo. With this being said, you may want to write up some release form or wavers for your clients.

That is it for today. Have a great weekend and get out there and shoot!

I have been a little busy this days so I must apologize for the lack of posts and information. With that compounded by the fact that I missed mentioning a few photo contests around Korea with some pretty large payouts, I am truly sorry.

Yesterday, concluded the entry period for the Korean Tourism Photo Contest. This sneaky little contest was buried deep in their site and I just managed to get a few shots in yesterday before the deadline. For future consideration please keep an eye on their website for future events.

I am not sure why they haven’t put the word out on this one. This year they also dropped the top prize down to 5 million won. In previous years, it was as high as 10 million won, which is a fine chunk of change to get from your hard work. However, I am not sure why it is so hard to find. The uploading and everything was written in superb English and everything went very smoothly and quickly.

After reading this month’s issue of Groove Magazine I came across a photo contest that ends well… tomorrow. The photo contest is for Cheongshim and the theme this year is “Family”. Again, the top prize is fairly substantial, 5 million won will be given out for the top prize and another 10 million won will be handed out for other prizes. Here is the event link for that Unfortunately, the site is in Korean and I haven’t had time to pick through it and see what the requirements are.

While reading I came across the blog of another awesome photographer in Korea. Welkinlight Photography is responsible for the great cover shot on this month’s Groove Magazine and for writing an excellent (and very informative) blog.

If you read blogs like Welkinlight, Flash Parker, and Hermit Hideaways you will see the dedication that they have to the craft and also realize that there is a great photographic community here in Korea. I hope some day to learn from them all to improve my own skills.

Speaking of learning, please pop by and check out The Seoul Photo Club on Flickr. Their group regularly has contests running with Groove Magazine and also has a lively community on Flickr. I like the fact that you get some honest appreciation and tips on your photos rather than the ubiquitous comments of “nice shots” or those flashy things that pop up every now and then.

Have a great week and get out and enjoy the rainy weather!!

I am sure that most of you now are entering into some sort of martial art, now that you are in Korea. I am sure that you have more than once, wanted to show your buddies back home your sweet moves and your spiffy do-bok. However, when you get the shots, they all some how have a green tint to them and they just don’t look as cool as you thought they did.

Being a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Kuk Sool Won, I have spent a lot of time in the Do-jeong, training and photographing my Kuk Sool family. Until recently that is, when knee injuries prevented me from training. However, I still love martial arts and will return soon to proceed on to my next challenge; staying in Kuk Sool shape!

At any rate, how do we get good shots? Well, it is tricky because of the lighting. In most of the do-jeongs in Korea, they usually have florescent lighting that makes things look like crap (in the best of conditions) plus, the padding used on the floors is usually green too, and to top it off most adult classes are held at night, taking the natural light away and forcing you to deal with the green tinted nastiness.

There are some ways around it. I can only advise you because a little experiment will go a long way. Here are a few tips to help you get some better shots:

When in doubt, shoot in black and white. There I have said it. I have never really been happy with the shots that I get in the dojeong, so I tend to convert them to black and white. This gives a sort of classic contrast to the shots. It also takes that nasty green tint away. For Kuk Sool Won, we have awesome black doboks, that this makes a great contrast to the white walls of our dojeong.

Avoid goofy posed shots and go for the action. If you have fast glass, F2.8 is choice, you can freeze the action and get some great “poses” or get creative and slow down a bit getting some blur to show speed and power. The key to getting great shots is to make sure you get some faces in the shots. If you pick up any magazine on any sport, very rarely do you see a shot of the action without a face to convey the emotion and the passion for the sport. In the dojeong it is no different.

Details are always great to shoot too. get up close and shoot your dobok or your sword. Get low and get creative. Remember, the more creative you are the more interesting and appealing your shots will be to other people who may not share the same passion for the martial art like you do.

Another good tip is to get your master in the action. We all learn from some of the best people in the world, why not show your friends back home who you train with every night? Get some nice shots (not the goofy posed kind) and let your friends and family get a feeling for the class that you take.

Lastly, take in a few tournaments and snap away at some of the higher end guys. Not only will you get to see the best of the best but if may help you with your training as well. Ask your master when the next region or national tournament is.

At any rate, how you cover your martial art depends on you. What makes you come to class every day. What drives you to train hard when you could just sit at home and watch TV? Put that into the digital realm and you will have your friends back home drooling.

This past Saturday I visited Seoul with a group of very talented photographers to check out the Seoul International Photo & Imaging Industry Show. It was a virtual playground for those with an affinity for camera, gear, printers, bags, coffee, lights, etc. I must admit that I was impressed by the displays that each of the major photography companies put out. By and Far, Olympus for some reason seemed to be the most exciting. Mind you that was possibly because there was a brand new Nissan GTR parked in front of their display.

Canon had a ton of toys to play with, each hooked up to an impressively nice iMac that allowed you to shoot and instantly see the results. With all the pizzaz that the other booths had, Canon basically said “here, take a photo and see for yourself” It was extremely nice to be able to play around with thousands of dollars of camera goodness.

The strangest part of the whole show, had to have been the “models” or Doumi as I wrote about in a recent article for Ulsan Online. It was sort of mesmerizing and skanky at the same time in that sort of “what the F**k?” kind of way. Canon was a prime example. In one part of their huge display, they had a model sitting in front of fake European cafe setting. That was fine but where they had their high-end cameras was around a “classroom” replete with naughty school girls.

Not to be out done, each of the major brands had their own models standing there for you to test you equipment out on. It was rather interesting and a clever idea. Though there was that strange feeling of sickness watching hordes of men with thousands of dollars in camera equipment photographing girls in short skirts.

The plus side of the show was the deals to be had! Most of the shops had special pricing for the show. Though, there wasn’t much in the way of dealing on the pricing, there was some pretty good prices around. Griffin Stewart and I picked up some new straps for our Canons. I must highly recommend the Lowe Pro Voyager C camera strap.

If you have a rig like mine, where you have a heavy lens, plus a battery pack, then you no doubt have felt the cut of the seams and the rough edges of your camera strap digging in to your neck. I kid you not, after a lot day of shooting, that strap feels like it is going to decapitate you. The voyager C is like a gift from above! Soft, cushioned, breathable neoprene gives amazing relief on the old neck. Plus the memory card wallet on the strap is cool along with the quick release straps.

A few things that I didn’t pick up that I saw were very cool were the new line of Kata bags. They’ve changed up their logo (the one before looked like it was barfed up from the ’90′s) and updated their like of backpacks. Very cool and extremely functional. The bumblebee back pack looks really cool. Though the website says that it is coming soon, I totally saw it at the show.

One of the highlights of the trip, as sides from the great group of people, was the restaurant we went to for lunch. Taco Rico was quite possibly the most authentic mexican food that I have had in a long long time. They had great friendly service and great food. If you are even in Gangnam pop in and grab a bite, you be amazed. Zen Kimchi has a great video about it here

When all was said and done, I set off on my own in search of stunning photos of Seoul. After getting a little turned around and then losing the light, I decided it was better to grab yet another tasty mexican food place Tomatillo’s I was in the Jongak Station area and tore into a pretty damn tasty chicken burrito. For a good price you get a drink and a plate of chips (handmade) and salsa as a set menu. It was a great way to end an awesome day.

A things that made the trip great were some helpful apps made for Korea. Having an iPhone is a great tool in a city the size of Seoul. An app that was awesome when I got turned around near Jongak station was one called “Odiyar” which was great for searching out locations. This cool app uses a map when you have the camera facing down but switches on the camera and overlays the locational on the screen image of your phone. Thanks to Jon Purdy for telling me about this one.

The other app that I found useful every time I travel in Korea is iKorway This app has all of the information from busses to trains, along with extremely useful subway maps. You can adjust the route you take by minimum time or transfers and plot by just pressing the locations. It is great for navigating the complex network that is Seoul.

I hope that many of you got out and enjoyed the great weather this past weekend. I plan to get out and get some shots of the city one I slog through all of this work that I didn’t do this weekend.

There is a Korean word that I have been using for so long that I have forgotten the English word for it. Normally we would call the places that fix or repair stuff “repair shops”, right? Well here in Korea, they get the official title of “A/S Center” Anything that you want fixed after you buy it goes to the “A/S Center” which basically means “After Service Center” and typically they are really good.

As I said on previous post there is a Canon A/S center in Ulsan, as well as many other places though out the country. In my post about Nampo-dong in Busan, I forgot to mention about the plethora of A/S centers located in close proximity to each other. There is Canon, Nikon, and Olympus and each one can fix a variety of lenses as well.

Recently, my main workhorse a Tokina AT-X Pro 12-24 F4, started acting up on me. The aperture was sticking and wouldn’t function unless it was wide open. This led me back to Nampo-dong. I went to Ilkwang Camera where I bought the lens (years ago) and they sent me to the Nikon A/S center where they had a Tokina certified technician. 4 days later and a mere 88,000 won later, It was back to working condition. They had also cleaned everything! Also they included a year warranty on the lens. Awesome!

Sadly, after my next photo shoot it broke again, so I will be visiting Nampo-dong again to take care of this problem. Not to worry, with the amount of great coffee shops like “The Coffee Factory” I will gladly return, if not just to pick up some more awesome coffee.

When it comes down to it, I am a photoshop lover. I have always been a big fan of the flexibility of the program and the awesome amount of non-photo related stuff that you can do with it. Naturally, when you can’t fork out the bucks you turn to alternatives for your photo adjusting needs. Last year I picked up Mac’s Aperture 2, while I was photoshop deficient and was impressed.

I am always skeptical of programs like picasa and other photo programs because I think that they just can’t hold a candle to photoshop, but this time around I thought that I would give Mac’s Aperture 3 a test to see it is worth the upgrade. The Apple site boasts some interesting new features that sound well… interesting.

FACES – Aperture 3 sports a cool facial recognition program that lets you organize your shots into “faces” on a cork board. You can define whose face it is or let it choose the faces and you correct the names. This is great for those people who love taking shots of people, family, and friends. I am not one of those people, so this feature has little to no use for me.

MAPS – Here is a cool feature that does have some use for me. If you are shooting with a GPS enabled camera… uh really? who has one of those? or if you want to locate your photos on the built in map, here is where you can organize all of your shots. This feature is also integrated into the book feature with a new “essay” style that uses the map as a page style. Yeah that is really neat, so if you plot your shots from Thailand into the map, a map of Thailand will pop in your book. As a geography major, I really like this feature.

BRUSHES – They have also increased the usability of the brush sets to achieve maximum results. In Aperture 2, I found the brushes a little hard to use, but they now made a huge improvement that I would say even rivals photoshop! (not really, but close) The first thing that made me say “ah cool!” was the brush styles. They have added brushes like “vibrancy” “sharpening” “saturation” etc so that you can add these elements to specific areas. The also plugged a cool feature called “define edges” which means that if you have sharp lines on your photo then brush will stop at the line. This is a great tool for making skies pop and not having everything else pop along with it.

SLIDESHOWS – I am a big fan of slideshows ever since I started helping with a local scooter club and their yearly inferno. The slideshow was key to peoples enjoyment of the event and the music and video added to the mix. Aperture 3 has an enhanced slideshow feature that lets you build cool looking slideshows, use music from your iTunes library, customize everything and have it play out seamlessly into a quicktime video. The problem with the quicktime is that this is Korea and they love “windows media player” so some of us may have a hard time showing these vids on other computers.

BOOKS - One of the best features about Aperture is the Book feature. Most people have agreed that the quality of books that Aple creates are second to none and Aperture lets you make them and buy them right from the program! It is insane how easy it is to create a cool looking book. If you are lazy, you and just select you library, choose “auto fill” and bam! the pages are fill with your shots. Then all you have to do is click “buy book” and you’re done. I love this feature because a book with your photos can have so many uses. The fact that you don’t have to even leave the application to get a book set to you is even better!

FULLSCREEN EDITING - This is a feature that I really like and it was also in the previous version. With the screen quality of my MacBook Pro, I love the fact that I can not only view but fully edit my photos in fullscreen mode. Move your cursor to the top and all of your tools appear. Move it to the bottom and a filmstrip of your photos appears. Hit “H” and your adjustments panel pops up. Tap the left or right arrow keys and it moves to the next photo. I love it!

FLICKR/FACEBOOK – The new Aperture 3 also has an uploader for these site so that you can upload direct from the program. I haven’t tested this out but I will let you know how it goes. This is a feature that has usability written all over it. With my portfolio down for now, I am uploading to Flickr and Facebook a lot to get my photos out there and my widgets also work with them. Now, Aperture 3 makes it easy to send the images to these sites. They have also put the buttons right at the top of the main toolbar. Before, there were plugins that you could buy that would do the same thing but I felt hard up paying for something so trivial. Now, I don’t have too! 9I bet the guys that made those plugins are a little annoyed at this feature). I will say that there is one annoying feature that I have not figured out how to fix yet. Every time you upload to either Flickr or Facebook, it creates a new album. So it makes it hard to add any pictures to existing albums.

DRAWBACKS – One of the first things that sort of annoyed me about this trial was actually having to rename my licensed copy of Aperture 2 before installing. The second was the fact that I had to create new Aperture 3 libraries. The whole business of importing and exporting photos sort of annoys me. I like having my photos in one place, clicking on the file, editing them, saving them and that is it. Like most apple products Aperture create libraries on your Mac and if you want to edit your photos, you must first import a version into Aperture and then edit it and them export it. I know that it means it is 100% non-destructive but it is also kind of annoying.

The other thing too is how Aperture resizes the photos. It took me a few weeks with the old version to figure out that you have can crop and do what ever to the photo but it will stay the same size and that you resize it when you export it. This must be defined n the dialogue box before you click “ok”

Is it Worth It? – If this is your only program to edit photos or if you have an existing copy of Aperture, the totally buy the upgrade. The cost is about $99 and I feel that the improvements made are well worth the money. Simply being able to use the new features and to up load directly to your flickr or facebook accounts are simple amazing. If you are like me and already have photoshop, it is a tough choice. Photoshop is a powerful tool but Aperture 3 makes editing your photos quick and easy.

I have been looking for a book on HDR written by someone who actually knows how to do it. This isn’t knocking any of the great photographers out there who have given their 2 cents on the technique, but it would be like me commenting on the world of portrait photography. Yes, I have done some, am I good at it? NO. Do I know the finer points and the ins and outs of a studio? Nope, but I know a little… but not enough to tell you how to do it.

That being said, I am not going to write about how to take portraits. Likewise, I never really got the feeling that the people who were writing about HDR were really into it, until now. This book leaves the others in the dust. Yes, there are now a number of books out that tell you how to make an HDR shot but none tell you the finer points of the programs to make your photos pop like Trey does.

The book at first glance, looks like a picture book of some of the most eye catching photography that I have seen to date and then you read and Trey tells you how to get these shots. This is a great thing because if you know anything about HDR then you know that there are sometimes limitations to what you can photograph. Moving objects for one is a challenge.

Remember, that you are taking multiple exposures to create that dynamic range. So if you have a fast moving object, how can you capture 3 photos of exactly the thing? Trey explains all in the book. I would tell you but I actually want you to buy it and use it. Speaking of which, you can pick it up in Korea here at what the book?

Trey also teaches you a cool double tone mapping technique that gives the photos a more “drawing” like look. Not my most favorite technique but one worth exploring. There is a ton of information here and I hope to show you more photos from the information that I learn from this book. This is a great book and I would really recommend picking it up if you are at all interesting in HDR.