James Schot Gallery Studio Blog

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts.  The digital age have given camera’s a new light meter – the histogram.  Before exploring this topic, I mentioned last time that I had a funny story to tell relating to environmental seals for cameras.  These seals are a nice feature to have by helping protect your equipment against inclement weather conditions, but situation had a different twist.

This is the story of a miscalculation I made and how I was able to rescue my equipment that had no environmental seal.

Read more »

If you enjoy the fine art and decorative qualities of photography, I have selected this image for you to help all those afflicted by the oil spill in the Gulf.  Below you will find detailed information about owning this photograph.  Two charities have been selected:

To help people living by the Gulf:

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans
1000 Howard Avenue
Suite 1000
New Orleans, LA 70113

To help nature and its creatures:

Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702

“Easy Corner by St. Ann” is an entertaining photograph of people and their pets gathering around a street band playing in the square by St. Ann street in the French Quarter.  This scene reflects the easy community atmosphere of New Orleans, and for that matter the entire Gulf coast region.

All print sizes will be signed and are limited to editions of 13.  From this total, 10 editions of each size are and will remain available, until sold to support the relief effort in the Gulf to the charities shown above.  Note – twenty five percent of the total sales price will be allocated to the material cost of printing and (flat or tube) shipping the photograph to you.  With each purchase two checks with be issued in equal amounts, one to each charity.

Size/price: byx10″-$99, byx14″-$159, byx20″-$229, byx24″-$299, byx30″-$399, byx40″-$499 with “by” equal to the short side.  All prints on your choice of textured (similar to watercolor) or satin paper (semi gloss pearl finish).  If you have any questions  please call 954-564-1112 or e-mail james@jamesschotgallerystudio.com.  To make a purchase we ask you provide your address by e-mail.  Your e-mail can also be used to make a PayPal request for the amount of purchase.  Otherwise, please send a money order or check (to be cleared) to the James Schot Gallery and Photo Studio, 2800 N. Federal Highway, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306. It is a lovely image, so enjoy it… Visually yours, James

EVERGLADES ADVENTURE:

The photograph at right is real, but I certainly did not hold this alligators tail. This was said in jest.  I have far too much respect for all wildlife.

Actually, most everyone thought I was a bit loony, walking through a swamp with murky water coming up to mid-thigh, in an area known for alligators, poisonous snakes, and now pythons.  My motto has been…anything for a great shot.

In this case, the great shot was to be a photograph of the rare… seductive Ghost Orchid.  Last year, I went to see an exhibit in South Miami given by nature and landscape photographer Brian Call.  I had first met him when he visited my gallery and have admired his work ever since, so I looked forward to see his new visions.

And among the many photographs he displayed there was one of the elusive Ghost Orchid.  A book (Adaptation) and movie (The Orchid Thief) have been spun around delicate bloom, and this added to my intrigued to seeing it in the wild.  Talking at the show, I told Brian I’d enjoy joining him the next time he planned to look for and photograph this spectacle, and he graciously told me he’d be happy to take me.

Seeing in the wild is the best option.  It is extremely difficult to cultivate.  Brian told me the best time is from May through August.

On May 16, 2010 we made our foray into the Everglades, going off the beaten path following a long dirt road in Big Cypress National Preserve, passing an occasional alligator we could see, and I don’t know how many lurking unseen.

We finally arrived at a spot familiar to Brian and known to seasonally have several blooms.  Thunderstorms were in the area, and although it was mid-day, once we entered the dense foliage it became quite dark.  There was plenty of mud and water to slosh through as we went deeper into the jungle…  We went several spots with the same conditions, and did find the orchid, but at the 2^nd stage as buds, not yet blooming. Oh, leaving one spot a man driving by stopped to show us photos he’d taken of a large cottonmouth he’d taken just up the road…YIKES!

[check this site for more details and terrific photographs: http://www.flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/dendrophylax_lindenii.htm

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts.  I am excited.  For starters this article will conclude going through the typical camera specification list, and before I get into my next burst of excitement, let’s finish this.

I had been using the specifications list from dpreview.com and a pocket camera made by Panasonic – the Lumix DMC-FX150.  This camera is now outdated and its selection for these articles was purely random.  There are many terrific small cameras available on the market.  Now you can, using all the articles I’ve written covering the specifications (I’m not sure if The-Triton has them on their Web site, but you can also find them via www.bestschot.com/blog), decide on which brand and what features will best fit your needs when buying a new camera.

We last left off talking about LCD Dots: 230,000, which indicates the clarity of your back display.  As the numbers have gone up to 800,000 things have improved, although the dots for the Lumix are good enough.  I did want to add that all LCD displays in consumer and pro-camera, even if they shoot RAW, will display jpg’s. Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… In the last issue I provided a brief, yet concise outline on the comparison between shooting in the JPG format vs. camera RAW.  In my workshops at the James Schot Gallery and Photo Studio this topic is discussed in far greater detail.

It’s great if you simply enjoy taking snapshots and that’s it.  I would recommend a book I thoroughly enjoyed on the subject titled “The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978,” and say to you keep snapping those jpg’s.  Those of you who consider yourselves more serious photographers will want to use camera RAW in capturing the more important people, events, and places in your life.

Those who consider themselves serious photographers would benefit from and enjoy more in-depth aspects of a JPG vs. RAW discussion, I’ll the snap shooters  all the details to just provide you all a quick sense of file format difference.

A JPG is an 8 bit file format that results in 256 levels of luminance from pure black to brilliant white, versus a camera RAW that is 12 bit (working up to 16 bit) that has 4096 possible luminance levels of information (65,536 for 16 bit). Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… Going through all the articles I’ve written, covering the list of camera specifications, using the Lumix DMC-FX150 camera, will give you a solid understanding of your pocket camera.  Irrespective of the sample camera used the information discussed is applicable to all pocket cameras.  Remember, this one by Panasonic is no longer current, and there are many terrific options by other manufacturers.

Dwindling down the list, last time we ended with Time-lapse recording. Let’s move on to:

Orientation sensor: yes – When you take a vertical picture the camera will automatically change the orientation to vertical when holding the camera horizontally to preview your shots.  In other words, both horizontal and vertical shots will show in the proper orientation without physically having to rotate the camera horizontally and vertically.  That makes images easier to preview. Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… This is the twelfth edition clarifying the list of camera specifications, using the randomly chosen Lumix DMC-FX150 camera, manufactured by Panasonic, as an example.  Believe me, I had planned on this topic of going through and discussing the specifications to cover two, possibly three articles, not 12 plus.  Nevertheless the duration and space has not been wasted, and a lot of current, useful information has been passed on to you.  Do note, this example Panasonic camera is out of date. If you are in the market for a new camera there are many great cameras to choose from.

We are nearing the end of the specifications list.  Last time I talked about technical support and Continuous Drive: Yes, 2 fps, 8 images. Let’s move on to:

Remote control: No – Simple enough, you cannot control this camera remotely. You might ask “when would I want to” or “is this important?” No, for most users this is not important.  If, on the other hand, you are serious photography buff it can be something you could explore.  I’ve used it creatively in my recent Aurora w/Eos fine art photographs, where I had to place a fixed camera at a distance away from me, to allow it to capture my working with light. Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… This is the twelfth edition clarifying the list of camera specifications, using the randomly chosen Lumix DMC-FX150 camera, manufactured by Panasonic, as an example.  Believe me, I had planned on this topic of going through and discussing the specifications to cover two, possibly three articles, not 12 plus.  Nevertheless the duration and space has not been wasted, and a lot of current, useful information has been passed on to you.  Do note, this example Panasonic camera is out of date. If you are in the market for a new camera there are many great cameras to choose from.

We are nearing the end of the specifications list.  Last time I talked about technical support and Continuous Drive: Yes, 2 fps, 8 images. Let’s move on to:

Remote control: No – Simple enough, you cannot control this camera remotely. You might ask “when would I want to” or “is this important?” No, for most users this is not important.  If, on the other hand, you are serious photography buff it can be something you could explore.  I’ve used it creatively in my recent Aurora w/Eos fine art photographs, where I had to place a fixed camera at a distance away from me, to allow it to capture my working with light. Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… This is the eleventh edition clarifying the list of camera specifications, using the randomly chosen Lumix DMC-FX150 camera, manufactured by Panasonic, as an example.

Before moving on, I would like to cover a topic seldom if ever mentioned in other media and related creative/technical magazines… I’m talking about technical support.  This is very important when you have a problem and need help.  I can only speak from my experiences.

Most manufacturers make a good, well made product.  We all know part of quality equation is directly related to the price we paid.  It’s not a 100% factor, but this does play a part, so if you’ve purchased a camera on the cheap, the construction or lens clarity or performance stats or all the above will be reflected in the price. Read more »

Welcome aboard photo enthusiasts… On we go to the tenth edition clarifying the list of camera specifications.  The (randomly chosen) Lumix DMC-FX150 camera, manufactured by Panasonic, viewable with many other fine cameras on such websites as dpreview.com will serve as our sample. The last article was completely devoted to discussing Shutter priority. It, in addition to Aperture priority, are certainly the essential in understanding the fundamentals of photography.  Now we move on to:

Focal length multiplier: - This is somewhat more complicated to explain, and I have been considering how long this terminology will be of value to photography in our changes to the digital world, but I’m not sure of the answer.  Therefore I will do my best to clarify what it means, and in doing so the attached photo with this article will prove helpful. Read more »