Shooting Outside Gallery

Subscribe by email to Shooting Outside Blog   Merry Christmas Happy Holidays to all our readers   I'd like to wish all of you the very best of Christmas and all Holidays celebrated at this time of year across the globe, and remember to remember those in need, to those we've let slip from our lives for any reason. They are still out there and deserve your love and your attention. Please be with them. Add a Comment Below

If you're new here, click to Subscribe to the latest post. Why Do We Do Our Photography? Ever wondered what it is about your photography that keeps you going? For some of us it is the ability to sell it online or in galleries, at local shops, at events, doing wedding shoots or sports, portraits, on greeting cards, mouse pads, or coffee mugs. For some of us it is just about the social interaction on sites where feedback or tagging is as much a function of the photograph as is the actual picture taken. And finally for some of us it is about gifting to friends and family. But there is a higher reason for some of us, it is quite literally a reach into our souls for a profound effect on our spirit. We Simply Love what we capture    Our photography ends up somewhere, and some of it we delete, some we hang onto because we possess a delusion that somewhere down the line, we might use it for some be able to utilize it for one legitimate attempt at an artsy effect, and th

Subscribe by email to Shooting Outside Blog   When we need inspiration as photographers, we can always turn to our National Parks. Here's an article written by Katie Eucker I found at the National Parks Conservation Association. 5 Tips for Visiting National Parks in Winter Posted on: December 2 2013 5 Tips for Visiting National Parks in Winter By Katie Eucker, Senior Manager of Travel & Corporate Marketing As the manager of NPCA’s ParkScapes travel program for the last seven years, I’ve planned national park trips for hundreds of park lovers all across the country and in all seasons—Texas’ Big Bend in the spring, California’s Yosemite in the autumn, Montana’s Glacier in the summer, and even Alaska’s Denali in the winter. Winter adventures are some of my favorite trips. If you’re thinking about a national park trip this winter, here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years. 1. Plan for an extra day at the start of your trip.  If traveling by pl

Subscribe by email to Shooting Outside Blog Apple Mac PRO Auctions at $977,000 One-off (meaning one-only) product designs created by Jony Ive and Marc Newson sold at a special (RED) charity auction at Sotheby’s in New York City over the weekend, with the pair’s four designs smashing all bidding estimates. The Mac Pro, for example, was expected to fetch between $40,000 and $60,000 but ended up going under the hammer for almost a million – $977,000, to be precise. The auctioned model of Apple’s high-end powerhouse PC looks identical to the recently revamped model except for one difference – the color. The regular model, which goes on sale in December with a starting price of $3,000, has a black exterior, whereas the auctioned model is red. Let’s hope Apple popped in a bit of extra memory for the buyer’s additional $974,000. The solid gold Apple earbuds, meanwhile, were picked up for $461,000. Yes, $461,000 . These were expected to go for no more than $25,000.

Subscribe to Email Updates New Art at Fine Art America by Rich Collins   Latourelle falls is an amazing waterfall scene to hang on your wall. There are so many views, this one of its thundering crash into the pool and cascading boulder. It lends a both a dynamic and calming effect in any room. And a 16x24" is only $61.55 unframed, unmatted on Luster Paper, or a metal Print at $125.95 plus shipping. View to Purchase Any Size at my Gallery One in a series of Latourelle Falls   Subscribe to Email Updates

Subscribe to Email Updates Latourelle Falls 4a  Latourelle falls is an amazing waterfall scene to hang on your wall. There are so many views, this being a perennial favorite, with the slim falls and the massive rock wall behind. It lends a calming effect in any room. And a 16x24" is only $61.55 unframed, unmatted on Luster Paper, plus shipping.  Get this print before the New Year prices go into effect. View to Purchase Any Size at my Gallery One in a series of Latourelle Falls   Subscribe to Email Updates

Subscribe to Email Updates Honoring Our Veterans From the earliest of battles to the present day, on this day we honor our veterans for having served in action, in so many ways. Some with a single flag in ceremony of the freedom we all enjoy. Others are able to celebrate this Federal Holiday by choosing to join one another in prayer at their churches and in communities at parades. We here at Shooting Outside wish all veterans of all wars and actions worldwide, a grand thanks.  Subscribe to Email Updates

Subscribe to Email Updates New Art at Fine Art America by Rich Collins View to Purchase any Size at my Gallery One in a series of Latourelle Falls for sale now at my Gallery for only $154.42 for a 16x24 Canvas Print Subscribe to Email Updates

Subscribe to Email Updates New Art at Fine Art America by Rich Collins View to Purchase any Size at my Gallery One in a series of Latourelle Falls Subscribe to Email Updates

Subscribe by Email to Shooting Outside   Thinking in Terms of Going Medium Format?    The Mamiya 645DF+ with 40, 60 and 80 megapixels, starting at $13000 with a 90mm lens and digital back If you're like me you've at one point or another considered shooting MF, (Medium Format). The lure of capturing photos which can be enlarged to huge wall prints is attractive for all the right reasons. Imagine gracing your home with extra-large prints for the look you see only in the very best Parade of Homes residences. Even in smaller homes the effect that gives is beyond compare. Or for the photographer who sells their art, it offers yet another market to reach into. Or, if for no other reason than to gain a truly better exposure, the reward is unparalleled.  But Do You Have What it Takes? First off it takes money but we'll get into that later. The ads and descriptions from sites that sell these MF bodies and the manufacturers that make claims, all seem to lead us to

What's Your Choice for Easiest Wild Animal to Shoot?   Marmot, Squirrel, Ground Hog, Woodchuck, Rodent, Whistle-pig, Land Beaver, or Varmit? Actually all of the names above have been used to describe this member of the squirrel family and all of them are correct, including Puxatony Phil. With the possible selection of the birds which frequent our yards and parks, though we don't normally think of birds of this genre, of a wild animal, my guess is the common Ground Hog. I visited Palouse Falls State Park in Eastern Washington and upon arriving in the early morning, it was nearly frosty out. Quite chilly on a July morning for that part of the country and had come to shoot the falls from a very high promontory viewpoint, so by the time I had taken out my gear, set it up and shot for an hour, I relocated to an alternate area right off the parking area, and then set up again for another shoot of the falls. It is a real gem of a waterfall to photograph, partly because

Subscribe to Shooting Outside by Email   Reflections on a Lake Reflections on a Lake is meant for a quiet room, a den or library, an office or Boardroom, a bathroom, a bedroom or a dining room. You can purchase any size offered at my Gallery at Fine Art America online. And if the size you are looking for is not available, let me know in the Comments section or via email below.    Location of Lake I found this lake on a drive to Mt St Helens, and until recently I had forgotten the name and the route I took. It is called Silver Lake and it lies WNW of Mt St Helens., and East of I-5 by about 6 miles on Hwy 504. That I happened to catch a shot of this foggy quality on a very cool morning in December of 2007 was fortunate and lucky. I have sold this photo for placement in homes and offices over the years and it always looks great on the wall. One client placed it on their fireplace mantel, which when printed at 20x30" transforms their living room into a tranq

Subscribe to Email Updates Ooooooh Scary My Grand Daughter designed while I carved this Ghastly pumpkin and then asked if I would "Please GrandPa, put this on your blog". How can you resist a Grand Daughter? So here you go. These are the ones she chose. They are in order of her choice and they are sized as she chose them to be.   When I asked her how she wanted her pumpkin carved she said, "I want it scary GrandPa". Ok sweetheart here's my scary carving. Tonight she and her parents are hunting sweets while GrandPa is home waiting for the spoils of victory. Good luck Sweetheart. Subscribe to Email Updates

  Subscribe to ShootingOutside by Email Free Photo Questions Answered Today If you have a photography question, you can ask me here in the Comments Section below. I'll do my best at answering them  within a day, but I will limit the time this is available, and there may be times when I'll send you to a link where I've located your answer if I am really busy. And don't fear asking tough questions. The basis for most tough photography techniques is grounded in simple science, even if the image comes out looking artsy. So fire away on subjects ranging from Photoshop, shooting mechanics, lens and camera use and settings, white balance, portrait, macro, memory card, hard disc drives, computer set up for photography use, RAID storage and backup etc. But be quick as time runs out at midnight, tonight. Subscribe to ShootingOutside by Email

   Google+ this Post    Fall a Good Time to Backup and Cleanup Drives Subscribe to Email Updates For whatever reason I started a long time ago, going through a full scale backup and cleanup of all of my image files. Its a good time of year for me as the lack of warm weather allows for some indoors file management. Perhaps you too can begin this habit.   Accidents Do Happen We don't want an accidental loss. once a hard drive dies, it does so in a complete and total way, in some cases. If the loss occurs because of platter or drive head damage, temperature limits, or any other type of internal failure, and you haven't taken the time to back up your data, in this case photography, you'll find yourself wishing you had kept a regular backup procedure in the works all year long. All of your data will be forever lost. I have a habit of doing a synchronous backup, that is files which are new or have had any changes made by a photo editor such as Photoshop or Li

  Google + this Post Subscribe to Shooting Outside by Email     Something Altogether New Believe it or not I've haven't used Lightroom and don't see why I should. But perhaps you have or want to . This write up is a beginners course, if you will and I'll be learning as well as we go along. Before we get started, you should know that Matt Kloskowski is offering a free look at Lightroom this week FREE for registered members . Better hurry, only today and tomorrow left. Lightroom is Designed For? When looking at what the top feature us of Lightroom is, some will say it is the RAW management capabilities, others might tell you it is it's minimalistic features which speed up the editing process vs Photoshop, while others may mention the simple file management. Cnet did a review (Lori Grunin) on 06/09/2013 giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Within the normal Good, Bad and bottom Line descriptions she includes,  The good: Adobe's latest version of

Google+ this Post   Subscribe to Email Updates A Bit Controversial, but "That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It". Who took the first lightfast photograph? Well as far as I'm concerned it was Henry Fox Talbot. He achieved the first lightfast photo. Lightfast is the ability of any photograph, in this case, to be able to hold the image, be it black and white or color, in the presence of light. All attempts before Mssr Talbot failed to be lightfast. In other words, they faded away. Henry's lasted.  Here is his 1835 positive of     Latticed window at lacock abbey Rough Crude and Full of Noise   Obviously this was not in focus. His whole purpose was to develop the technology titled Calotype, or Talbotype, which ending outflanking the technology known as Daguerreotype in that era in causing prints to last. This is really where hanging prints on a wall or placing them in frames all started.  He used silver iodide, instead of silver chlori

Google + this Post Subscribe to Email Updates Otterbox Has Done it This Time From what Otterboxclaims you can now have a a completely sealed iPhone case. To me that means if I'm swimming I can now create underwater stills and movies. That is gonna sell a lot of Otterbox cases. Here is their official line. Actually it's good down to 6.6' of water depth so maybe no diving. Two-piece case with snap assembly for easy installation Internal foam cushions device and holds it in place inside the case Includes an adjustable lanyard for convenient carrying and tethering Waterproof: fully submergible up to 6.6 ft. (2 m) for 30 minutes (IP-X8) Drop proof: protects device from drops up to 6.6 ft. (2 m) Dust proof: blocks entry of dust and debris particles (IP-6X) The other feature is there is as you can see above, a layer of internal foam for drop protection, as is the case with many of the Otterbox cases. There simply is no other way to go. I'll admit, I do

 Google + this Post Subscribe to Email Updates There are 5 key settings which can make you a Much Better Photographer        Why Are You Still Shooting in Auto Mode? _______________Go Manual Mode If you're one of those, and admit it if you are, who just want to get the shot and share it, fine. Just keep using that auto mode and sharing to your heart's delight. It's fast and a lot of fun to toss those cute shots up on all the most popular social sites we all know so well. Everybody does it. And there is nothing wrong with it and no reason to stop. Or is there? If there's nagging little niggle in the back of your head that keeps tugging at a desire to get on track to better shots, remember the five adjustments you need to become familiar with. And we begin this discussion with your camera in the Manual Mode. As we go through these know that when adjusting one of these, Exposure, Aperture and Shutter Speed it automatically adjusts another.   W