Photoshop Insider

I started writing this post earlier in the week—-right after my Chicago Bears vs. Philly sideline shoot, and I hadn’t had a chance to finish it, but last night I shot the USF #10 ranked Bulls vs. Pitt from the sidelines, so I thought I’d go ahead and finish off the week with it (the top shot above is of Pitt Running Back LeSean McCoy just after scoring a touchdown during last night’s game).

So here’s where my problems started: I need to take five bags with me on my flight to Chicago to shoot the Bears vs. Eagles. They are:

1. My Camera Bag
2. My Lens Case (the 200-400mm is so big is has it’s own separate case with shoulder strap), but at least I can strap my monopod to the case.
3. My laptop bag (I have to have my computer, right?)
4. My rolling overnighter luggage (I have to take clothes)
5. My Think Tank gear belt for shooting on the sidelines

Of course, we’re only allowed two carry-ons on the plane. The easy choice was to check my overnight luggage bag (which I did), and since I was only going away for one night, and didn’t have to pack much, I took apart my Think Tank belt, and put it in my overnight luggage as well.

That still left with me three carry-ons (one over the limit):

1. My Camera Bag
2. My Lens Bag
3. My Computer Bag

…so something had to get checked or left behind. My first thought was to use a backpack camera bag that would hold my camera gear and my laptop, but on the sidelines of a game, you don’t really have any place to store your gear—your stuff has to stay with you (which is why I wanted to try out my new Think Tank modular gear belt).

So, here’s what I tried: Pelican makes a case called the “Pelican Case Cruzer” (see the photo below from Pelican’s website) and in the main compartment you store your camera gear, and up in the lid is a panel, and inside that panel is a cutout sized for an Apple 15″ MacBook Pro and an Apple Power Adapter. Plus (and this is a big plus)….it rolls!

I loaded mine with two camera bodies, a 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikon lens, a 10.5 Nikon fisheye lens, a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, an SB-900 flash (hey, ya never know), an Epson P-5000 photo viewer/backup, and an assortment of back batteries, cables, and other stuff that rolls around in your case.

Pros: This actually solved my main carry-on problem, because now my camera gear and computer were both in one crazy-rugged, rolling carry-on. It’s small size is really great, because it’ll fit in the most any overhead, or under your seat if need be. The inside dividers are completely configurable, so you can set it up exactly like you need it. Plus, it looks cool (and looks count).

Cons: Every camera bag I’ve ever owned had a zipper pouch area, or a zippered pocket, etc. where you could store extra batteries, cables, and all that extra little stuff, but with the Case Cruzer you don’t—it’s just configurable dividers and that’s it. I really miss that little zippered pouch (even more than I imagined). Also, it’s just a little too shallow, so you can’t fit a Nikon D3 without laying it down flat, which takes up a lot more room (notice in the photo above, how they have the Canon body lying flat), and the same with Nikon’s new SB-900s. The other downside is that while it’s designed to hold your Apple power adapter, it’s not really designed to accommodate the cord (especially the longer white power cord), so I had remove that part of my adapter and toss that in with my camera gear. One more con: there’s a “lack of laptop access” challenge since your laptop is stored in your camera bag. If you need your laptop during your flight, you have to pull your whole bag down, which is a bit of a hassle, since it’s so heavy when fully loaded.

All in all, I pretty much liked Case Cruzer, and it did work to get me down to two carry-ons, but it’s just not quite 100% there. I wish I could design two camera bags myself; a “Nikon shooter’s bag” and a “Canon shooter’s bag.” But in the meantime, this will have to do.

I wanted to take my “Think Tank Modular Belt System” out for a try (you can see it in the photo above from Sunday’s shoot—it wears like a belt, with different compartments for different lenses and accessories). But here’s the new problem–how do I get it to Chicago? I don’t know what everybody else does, but I packed it in my checked luggage. There’s probably a better way, but I don’t know what it is. Anyway, the Think Tank system absolutely rocks for Sports Photography. I hate carrying a camera bag over my shoulder, and on the sidelines, there’s really no place to store yours safely, so you have to lug it around (but nobody does, because nearly everybody has a Think Tank system around their waist).

Anyway, I’m amazed at how well it works; how handy your gear is, but most of all how it distributes the weight so well that you forget you even have it on. Really brilliantly designed and thought out. I still don’t know the best way to get it to the sidelines, but I sure like having it (and I used it for last night’s USF game shoot).

I also packed two of the greatest inventions known to man; Gel Knee Pads. They are absolutely invaluable!!! (I bought mine at Home Depot, and they have the word “Gel” on the front, under a clear plastic part of the pad).

So, to recap:

1. I checked my overnight luggage
2. I packed my Think Tank belt and cases in that luggage, but that only worked because I didn’t have much to pack for just an overnight trip.
3. I used the Pelican Case Cruzer to hold my camera gear, and my laptop and power cord, and I carried that on the plane.
4. My second carry-on was the Nikon lens case, so I made the “two-carry” limit no problem.

So, you can see how hard it’s become to travel with photo gear, and because of the very real worries of theft from checking camera gear in your luggage, you really have to take your gear on board as a carry-on. Also, I’m pretty queasy about shipping my gear by Fed Ex to my shoot, especially if all I can do is ship it to the hotel I’ll be staying at (I’ve had hotels turn down or refuse a delivery to a guest for no apparent reason).

Anyway, if there are any other sports shooters out there who have come up with other ideas for getting your gear to the event, and managing it once you’re there, please let me know (post a comment here), because while what I did, worked—it ain’t great.

We’re just days away from the release of the 2nd edition of my award-winning “The iPhone Book” (co-authored with my close friend and total iPhone freak Terry White), and we wanted to do something really fun to celebrate the upcoming launch of the book, so here’s what we came up with:

An Apple “iPhone Photo Contest” for photos you take with your iPhone’s built-in camera (which is a surprisingly good little camera. Just ask my wife, who has nearly 700 photos she’s taken on her iPhone). Anyway, here’s how it works:

1. You can enter up to three photos (total) taken with your iPhone (doesn’t matter if it’s the original model, or the new 3G).
2. There are five different categories; Friends, Pets, Family, Fine Art, and Office. The winner in each category gets a $100 iTunes Gift card and a copy of “The iPhone Book” 2nd edition.
3. The Grand prize winner gets a $500 Apple Store Gift Card, and a copy of “The iPhone Book” 2nd edition.
4. From the photos submitted by the deadline of Oct. 24, 2008, Terry and I will choose three finalists in each category, and then the public gets to vote for the winner in each category (the one getting the most votes wins). Then, from those Winners Terry and I will choose a Grand Prize Winner on November 3, 2008.
5. This may seem obvious, but of course, the photo has to be taken with your iPhone’s built-in camera.
6. You can edit your photos using any iPhone application available from the iTunes Apps Store, or any other image editing application, but no other non-iPhoto photos may be included in your entry (so you can’t take your iPhone photo and composite it with a photo taken with your DSLR, point-and-shoot, or a stock photo).
7. You may not give your iPhone to Jay Maisel, Joe McNally, or Moose Peterson. Not even to make a phone call.
8. There is no entry fee, and the contest is open to everyone; You do not have to buy “The iPhone Book” to enter, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
9. Whining of any kind, about anything, is strictly prohibited.
10. You can submit your photos, and learn more about the contest at the official contest site (here’s the link).

So that’s the scoop. I hope you guys will help me spread the word about this very cool contest, and if you have an iPhone, or know someone who has an iPhone, or if you’re just loose with money, I hope you’ll check the book out (By the way; the 1st edition of “The iPhone Book” was named by Amazon.com’s Editors as their “Computer and Technology Book of the Year” last year, and this new updated version is even bigger and better!).

Just in case you want to pick up a copy, here’s the link to the book on Amazon.com, (it’s only $13.59).

On Sunday I headed up to Chicago to shoot the Eagles/Bears NFL game at Soldier field (a few shots from the game are below). I’m totally beat (and sore, and tired), so I didn’t have time to do anything decent to them—I just ran them through Lightroom and well, here they are.

SPECS: All the shots were taken with a Nikon D700, at (are you ready for this), 4,000 ISO. I had to shoot at that high an ISO because of the stadium lights (it’s not nearly as bright as you’d think) to get my shutter speed up to at least 1/1000 of a second so I could freeze the action (though a number of times it dipped down to 1/800 of a second). But I gotta tell you—-the noise is so minimal that I am just astonished. In most cases, you have to blow it way, way up before you can really see any, and even then, you don’t really need to even run noise reduction software on it. It’s just sick (and I mean that in the good way). I used my new Nikon 200-400m f/4 VR lens for the long shots, and a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for the wider shots.

You can see from the shot of me on the field below (photo by Bill Smith), I had a Think Tank gear belt on (not it’s official name), and gel knee pads (the greatest invention since Coke Zero. Thanks to Mike Olivella for turning me onto those). More about this gear, and my struggles in getting it there, tomorrow.

Anyway, I had a blast, and to top it all off the Bears won! My thanks to Mike McCaskey, and everyone in the Bears organization (they are a class act), and also to Bears team photographer Bill Smith. What a night! Come on, everybody—sing with me:

“Bear Down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory. Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly. We’ll never forget the way you thrilled the nation, with your T-formation. Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you’re wearing the crown. You’re the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down!”

I gotta tell ya, people are lovin’ that free “Instant JPEG from Raw” utility Michael Tapes and Imagenomic created! Look at some of these comments posted by readers on Wednesday:

• “Works fantastic, Now I can shoot just in RAW instead of RAW+JPEG and get more pictures on the cards. It makes life alot easier and I can hand out the smaller sized JPEG´s much faster. Thanks for a great tool!”
• “Great program and it works so fast that I thought it was NOT working. You made my day.”
• “THANK YOU!!! you’ve literally saved me! “
• “Wonderful! Literally dropped my jaw after the first extract. I’ve already processed about 20 directories. THANK YOU!”
• “It works just fantastic!. The clearest jpegs I have seen after first shooting in raw, and then converting them.”
• “Wow, this is really useful! Big thanks Michael and Scott. I was exporting 600 RAW files the other night after a rugby tournament I shot and it was painful waiting 2 hours for them to turn to jpgs.”
  
• “This utility is a boone. Thank you very much indeed for it! “
• “It’s amazing. No more RAW+JPG!”
• “Michael-thanks for giving back to the photo community. As an aside, the program works with DNGs. Nice work!”
• “…thank you for a great little utility!! Very quick and effective!!”
• “Adobe’s PS development group have done a great job for CS4 and Michael Tapes has done a great, great, great …….great job for photographers, that too at free of cost and he deserves all credit and best wishes for making our lives so enjoyable in this profession.”
• “Thank You so much, it’s awesome!!!!”
• “I think this utility should be licensed by the camera manufacturers and adobe, implemented in the software that comes with the camera and/or Lightroom and Photoshop, and the RAW+jpg setting should simply disappear from cameras forever. Thanks so much for posting this. This is truly fantastic!”

Michael, if you were running, I’d vote for you! My thanks once again for doing something so cool and useful for our community!

On Saturday I shot the Florida State Seminoles vs. the Chattanooga Mocs from the sidelines (FSU won 46-7). Being a longtime Noles fan, this was really a treat for me (let the “Gators” comments ensue).

Below are some pics from the shoot (which are pretty much raw from the camera—I didn’t really have time to do anything but fix the white balance on two of the photos and add an unsharp mask).

SPECS: I shot with a Nikon D3, and a 300mm f/2.8 Nikon lens (which I borrowed from my buddy, sports shooter Mike Olivella) but I attached a 1.4 tele-extender attached to get me closer to the action, because the full-frame sensor puts me farther away than with my D300. All the shots were taken wide open at f/4 (with the tele-extender, you lose a stop of light) to blur the background, and most were taken at 200 ISO at around 1/2000 of a second. I also did use the D3’s high-speed Crop mode a number of times when I couldn’t get close enough to the action (because of the team’s bench, and their position on the field).

I had several challenges during the day; since the game started at 3:45 pm, by the 2nd half the field was 2/3 in the shadows, so plays would start in the sun, and end in the shade, which wreaks havoc on your white balance. I wound up having to increase my ISO to 800, which was no problem whatsoever on the D3 (I didn’t see any visible noise whatsoever). The other problem was my camera itself—it wasn’t shooting nine frames per second—for some reason it was hiccuping, and skipping frames all day. I brought a back-up D300, but my brother Jeff was with me, and I let him shoot with it, so I didn’t want to snag it back. (Had I been on assignment, I would have had to switch to it). Either way—the D3 goes to Nikon for repair today.

Overall, despite the frustration of the hiccuping, I had a great day of fun and football, and of course a win is a win!

If you’ve been wondering how the Westcott TD-5 Spiderlites you always hear me talking about here on the blog, work—I’m doing a live demo of them at the Westcott booth on the Expo Floor at 1:30 pm on Thursday (the opening day of the show).

I’ll be using the brand new brighter fluorescent bulbs, and I’m going to show how I use them, some of the set-ups I use in the studio, some of the accessories I use, and other stuff like that. I hope you’ll stop by and catch this “mini-session.”

IMPORTANT: Westcott will be also giving away one of my Westcott “Scott Kelby Studio Kits” (sold by B&H Photo) during the show, so even if you can’t catch my class, make sure you stop by and sign up for the drawing (hey, the total prize package is worth around $1,300 and comes with the new brighter bulbs—not too shabby!).

Here’s a page containing images of all the city winners for our Worldwide Photo Walk:
http://www.photoshopuser.com/photowalk/winners.html

Our friends at MPIX (the only photo lab we use a NAPP headquarters) just took the wraps of their totally redesigned site. I’ve just been through their redesigned site and it’s way more than just a new look. The new site is much more visual, even easier to use, has much more functionality all the way around, and it makes the process of uploading, managing, and buying prints just crazy easy. (It’s such a big improvement, they’re calling it MPIX 2.0. I think it’s more like 3.0, or at least MPIX CS3).

Anyway, they’ve got an online tour of the new site you can take, and on the last page they have this little slogan that so nails what they do, that I think it oughta be their official slogan, in huge letters, right on their home page! It reads:

“Shoot today. Upload tonight. We ship tomorrow.”

I thought that pretty much nailed it (If I were MPIX, I’d have that flying on a flag outside the building!). Anyway, if you haven’t checked out their new site, click here to jump over there (don’t forget to take the tour if you’re new to MPIX).

One last thing; One of things I use MPIX pretty often for, is sending large prints, or specialty prints like metallic or stretched canvas prints as gifts, delivered right to their door. I just sent my brother’s girlfriend a huge print, and a canvas just this week, shipped straight from MPIX to her house. They shipped them same day (because I got the order in early), and they ship everything packaged flat—not rolled up. I totally love that. Anyway, I can’t recommend them enough (and if you have any doubts, go read the comments photographers who use MPIX posted after I wrote about them back in March. Here’ the link).

This week, Westcott introduced the brightest fluorescent bulbs yet for their popular Spiderlite TD-5 studio lights. I got a chance to work with these in the past few weeks, and these new brighter bulbs just make a huge difference (they give you at least a full-stop more light).

The bulbs themselves are only about 30% larger in size, and they’re now 50-watts each (where the old bulbs were just 30 watts). So, when you get a 5-pack of their lamps, here’s what you get:

(4) 50-watt Fluorescent lamps (equivalent of 200 watts each), plus….
(1) 20-watt Fluorescent lamp (the modeling light)
For a total of 900 watts of power.

The 5-pack of bulbs above sell for around $179 (retail), and a single lamp goes for around $45. You can learn more about them, and Westcott’s Spiderlite kits by clicking here.

I believe Westcott has updated all the kits that they sell direct (well, the kits from around $800 and up), to the new blubs, and B&H Photo is now including these new brighter bulbs as part of their “Westcott Scott Kelby Studio Kit Deluxe Kit” (I’m really delighted that B&H is now including bulbs with the kit). Here’s the link to my kit with bulbs at B&H Photo.

Anyway, I know a lot of you either already have one of my kits, or are thinking of picking one up (I’m using my kit on my Lightroom Tour again myself), and these new bulbs really make a difference.

Note: I don’t get a kick-back, royalty, etc. on sales of these kits. B&H Photo has made the “Scott Kelby” kit available as a courtesy to my students who see me using the Spiderlites in my seminars, here on the blog, and during my Lightroom Live Tour, which kicks off again very soon. My thanks to B&H Photo for packaging them together and making things easy for us all. And as always, B&H offers free shipping to NAPP members in the US too. 

Just one more day to the history-making Worldwide PhotoWalk, and I am just totally excited!!! We now have nearly 8,000 people signed up for the walk, and we’re working hard to help our leaders make the most of their walks.

My Gear for the Walk
I’ve had a few questions about what equipment I’ll be taking for my walk, and I thought I go ahead and answer it here.

For my walk (in Dunedin, Florida), I’m taking my Nikon D300 with just one lens; my 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6 lens. The reason I’m taking my D300 (rather than my D3 or D700) is because I just want to use one lightweight lens the whole time, that gives me both wide angle, portrait, and a long zoom in one. If I use that lens on the D700 or D3, it will crop my image down to 5-megapixels. My dream is that Nikon would come out with a 18-200mm VR f/4 FX format lens, so then I would take my D700 or D3, but until that dream comes true (and I’m not sure it will any soon), I’m just travelin’ light.

The Two Most Important Rules For Tomorrow:

(1) The walk is for fun. It’s for meeting other photographers in your area and having fun. That’s it. The contest is just for fun, too, so don’t take any of this too seriously. It’s a social event—not a cut-throat competition, so keep smiling and let’s enjoy our time together.

(2) There’s absolutely no whining. If you get the restaurant and can’t find a seat—-you can’t whine. If it rains on your PhotoWalk—resist the urge to whine (your leader has a back-up plan). If someone steals your shot—don’t whine. Just don’t whine in general. Just have fun. If you come across a situation where you really, really want to whine, refer to rule one. Also, there’s no whining about not being able to whine.

Be A Good Walker
Most of the cities have lots of walkers, so you’re probably going to wind up in some crowded situations (just imagine 50 photographers all walking down a single sidewalk). Be patient. Be really courteous to other walkers, and to anyone you meet during the walk. Be respectful. If someone you see on your walk doesn’t want you to shoot them, don’t. Be nice to your city’s walk leader. Believe me, it’s more work than you’d imagine, and they have really been working hard to make their walks a success for you (I’m really impressed with how involved and enthusiastic the walk leaders have been).

You’ll Be Surrounded By Potential New Friends
We’re all in this together, and there’s no easier place to make new friends than a PhotoWalk. You can just walk up to anybody there and say, “So, what kind of stuff do usually shoot?” or “How do you like that camera” (or lens, or camera bag, or filter, or whatever?), and instantly you’ve got a conversation going. This is really what makes these PhotoWalks special. You’re out there sharing a couple of hours with a bunch of people who are just like you—wanting to meet other photographers. If not, they wouldn’t have signed up to be part of the group (they could just walk that same route all by themselves on any given day). Take the initiative. Extend a hand, or a warm smile. You’re among friends.

Another Cool Prize:
MPIX.com (the photo lab Matt, Dave and I use exclusively), has thrown in another very cool prize for our 10 Runner’s Up; they will create a beautiful 20″x30″ poster-sized print for each winner of their winning runner’s up image. My thanks for MPIX.com for taking it up a big notch!

A Word of Thanks
I’m just so grateful to all the leaders around the world who have come together to do something really special, and just want to give my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to them for being willing to organize a walk for their city. Also, thanks to everyone who is participating, and to those taking the plunge to try something new. I think you’re going to have a surprisingly rewarding experience.

Also, I want to thank the walk’s sponsors; Peachpit Press, Adobe Systems, MPIX, PhotoWalkPro.com, Wacom, Epson, B&H Photo, and CDW. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Let’s Do It!
Charge your batteries! Format your Memory Cards! Clean Your Lens! Blah, blah, blah, etc. Everybody, have a safe, fun walk and I hope you get some amazing photos!

All my best,

-Scott