I have shot with film since the 70’s. About 15 years ago I switched to digital: Canon EOS 7D DSLR with a Canon 24-105mm f4.0 L lens along with a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L telephoto lens, a Canon 2X extender (allows me to shoot at 640mm for wildlife primarily), a Manfrotto graphite tripod, and various filters,, memory cards, accessories, and other equipment.
Up until very recently, I have used Adobe Lightroom almost exclusively as my primary software development tool. Recently, with the advancements in photo development software, I have begun to learn Luminar NEO, Photo Director and PhotoPad. I also use Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) as my go to for panoramas (support for ICE has been discontinued). I use Luminar Aurora HDR for HDR images.
For me, photography has always been about capturing the incredible beauty that surrounds us in this life. On my FLICKR site, I have over 5.4 million views of my images. I am grateful that so many folks have enjoyed the images I have been able to capture. That is one of the primary reasons I enjoy photography is to share the joy of the imagery with others. It also helps defray the costs of the same as companies and individuals purchase limited use licenses of my work.
In December 2023, I was authorized to shoot one of the most gifted rock bands in the world today; The Warning. The group is comprised of three sisters from Monterrey, Mexico. You can read about them HERE.
Photography, like any other array of creative technology tools in life, is undergoing a period of rapid transformation; hardware and software. This is particularly true regarding post production software tools; and the introduction of an ever increasing suite of AI tools (of varying effectiveness).
I have used The Warning live concert photos I captured (Dec. 8th 2023 in Queretaro, Mexico) as the base images to learn new software tools for post production editing. For me, software post image capture editing and processing has 2 objectives:
- Maintain the fundamental beauty of the image being processed.
- Use the software tools to create, enhance and emphasize dimensions of beauty that may be available by virtue of their application.
Frankly, “everyone” may have a camera in their hand today by virtue of cell phone technology. However, not everyone is a photographer. I do not share this sentiment to insult anyone – or to inflate my ego. It’s just a fact. A reality. I see so many bad photos on social media it is embarrassing. People ask me why I put a watermark on my images. It’s simple. Many of my images are under a licensing agreement with photo stock companies who sell licenses to those images to those who purchase the same. I also sell my images directly to companies and individuals who purchase the same. Tracking software is used to identify unauthorized users of my images across social media platforms and elsewhere. Honestly, good photography is hard work. It also requires a substantial, ongoing financial investment – as well as the time to train to use and incorporate new tools and technologies. If an image is posted on social media, it is the property of the individual who created/originated the image. “Is it illegal to use someone else’s picture on social media?” The Copyright Act of 1976, which is the main copyright law in the United States, protects copyright owners. Someone who posts an image without permission and/or attribution may be liable for copyright infringement.” “If you’re caught infringing on someone else’s copyright for social media content, the first response will likely be a cease-and-desist letter. This is a letter from a lawyer instructing you to stop using the image and remove it from your account. You may also be asked to pay a sum that represents the lost revenue to the company/individual that owns the image copyright.” It is a matter of law, courtesy and respect for others. Just be careful and courteous.
Some of the new software applications cause the files created to be very large. Some are such they cannot be loaded on my media library on this site (FLICKR and Google Photos are no problem). The photos in this article are embedded from my FLICKR site.
For the double exposure images I have shared in this article, even the background images I used are my own. I don’t use stock photography free/pay for use download imagery in my photography.
Well, I hope you continue to enjoy my photography work. You can go to either my Google Photos site or my FLICKR site to see more images. (Links to either site are in the PHOTOGRAPHY tab at the top of the page). For those who have asked questions, I hope this article addresses your inquiries. Any further questions or comments, just shoot me an email.
