e-person's blog

Per semplici foto stock, cerco persone ambosessi, anche famiglie composte da genitori, nonni e figli/nipoti.

L'idea è di realizzare foto di vita quotidiana, nei nostri rispettivi ritagli di tempo.

Il compenso potrà essere una modesta cifra in denaro, oppure una selezione di foto per il vostro album, con la qualità che solo un fotografo può garantire.

E' necessario firmare una liberatoria ad (eventuale) uso commerciale. Per i minorenni firmano i genitori. Sono un fotografo serio, vi prego di non mentire sull'età, non posso fotografare minorenni senza autorizzazione dei genitori.

Contatti qui su Ipernity o mandate un SMS al numero +393929257495 indicando nome, età, e luogo di residenza, sarete poi ricontattati da me, appena possibile.

Annuncio sempre valido.

Cerco graffiti writer su Roma e provincia che mi lascino fotografare le proprie creazioni, firmandomi liberatoria ad uso stock.

In cambio posso cedere foto ad uso personale e citare i loro nomi, o alias, nelle foto.

Alcune mie foto di graffiti sono state pubblicate su vari siti e riviste. E' anche un'opportunità per farsi conoscere in tutto il mondo.

Se interessati, contattarmi qui su Ipernity o inviare un SMS al +393929257495. Sarete ricontattati appena possibile.

Annuncio sempre valido.

In another of my searches for published photos, I have just found a hen over white, published on United Airlines "Hemispheres" in flight magazine, September 2009 issue.

Here is the link to the page with the photo on it, it is page 44: issuu.com/andyshaw85/docs/hemi_0909_lr/90

I guess I have to thank Andy Shaw for chosing one of my pictures.

I have also found a photo of a caterpillar, on a educational book about insects, called "Insects: Six-legged Animals", by Suzanne Slade. Unfortunately I could not find the page with my photo, although it was the only insect photo I have ever sold, therefore easy to find out.

Link to book preview: books.google.it/books

Link to photo on istock: www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-4286316-yellow-iphiclides-podalirius-over-white.php

I guess I did not make enough to even open a champagne bottle, though. Oh well, never mind, still better than nothing.

If your camera has a dirty sensor, which I believe it does, all you need to clean it is a pair of cotton ear swabs and isopropyl alcohol, or ammonia based glass cleaning liquid.

You make one side of the swab wet, gently clean sensor glass filter surface, then switch swab side and procede to gently dry, removing all residual dust by checking against a light source at an angle. Never use the same swab side twice. For persistent dust, use a clean blower-brush.

You do not need any expensive kits. You only need to know how to use your hands. Unfortunately most people are just useless at that.

On many forums you find people warning you about damaging cameras. Well, they might be those selling expensive cleaning kits. Lots of bad people out there. Do not get conned. I clean my cameras regularly this way. No probs. And I am a stock photographer, which means my photos get inspected at 100% view.

Cosmopolitan magazine

Apparently, one of my famous isolated oysters, probably my best, has been published on Cosmopolitan magazine just a few days ago.

Again, this is a microstock photo, downloaded from istockphoto, since I am now exclusive Istockphoto photographer.

Credit was given and certainly Cosmopolitan is rather famous, so I think you will agree with me it is worth mentioning in my blog.

Thanks everyone for bearing with me, so far.

Yesterday I went exclusive, as a photographer, with Istockphoto, plus I sold my first HD video on Pond5. Life is good, sometimes.

More news about my photography to those two or three readers whom might care to know.

AT98JX

Today I have sold a infrared photo of Thomas Aquinas castle ruins in Roccasecca, Italy, to Oxford University Press, for a book about the saint himself. I did not ask for much money, just what I felt was right.

Of course they are going to give credit and send me a copy of the book. I have already checked the author out, he's a theologist and looks as if he does know his Thomas Aquinas. I am sure, given the right circumstances, we could even be friends.

The book is going to be published in november 2009.

I had this photo on Alamy for nearly two years. I had views, I had zooms, but never sales. Then they decided to introduce subscriptions, few cents per download. That was it. I was ready to cope with a provincial agency not capable of reaching a worldwide audience. I was not ready to give images away for free, though. So I cancelled my contract with them, starting from May. A picture editor from OUP found me here on Ipernity and contacted me about the photo. The rest you have just read about.

Thomas Aquinas howstuffworks

A few days ago, while doing one of my routine searches for published photos, I found another one of exactly the same subject. The site using it is howstuffworks, which they tell me is a great one, with a estabilished presence on the internet. You might want to check it out. The photo used was sourced from istockphoto. I got paid the usual little packet of peanuts. Oh well, what to do.

Thomas Aquinas blog

On a different search, yesterday I found this photo of mine, on a blog. Doctor Angelicus seems to be a hot subject around the world. What to say? I don't get paid much, if I had to do this for a living, by now I would be dead, died of starvation. But hey, it does make me proud. Maybe one day, with a bigger portfolio and some serious customers to back me, I will be able to actually make a living out of this and not have to listen to my wife remarks saying I am a loser.

I hope one day to be able to show her how wrong she has been.

That's all from me for today. I hope you enjoyed my little presentation.

Recently got a high definition video camera to use for video stock. A Panasonic HDC-DX1, 3 CCD sensors with Leica lenses and 5.1 surround sound. Video is quite good, audio is actually quite surroundy.

Only minor detail is that it has a blue ray format, called AVCHD, almost no common software reads and, on top on that, Panasonic doesn't supply any software with it.

Oh well, it took me 3 days to determine a free-ish software workflow.

Here is what you need in order to get from AVCHD DVD discs, to Quicktime MOV files you can submit as stock.

I use Windows XP SP3, which doesn't read Blue Ray encoded DVD discs, since they use the new UDF 2.5 format. So, even just to read the bloody camera written DVD (it is a DVD camera...), you need to find and install UDF 2.5 drivers, namely a file called:

"XBOX360.HD-DVDRom.UDF.Reader.v2.5.WindowsXP-BluePrint.rar"

Download file, extract content, install the .inf file (mouse right click). Reboot. Now you can at least see disks.

Then you need to search and download a program Panasonic supplies with some of their cameras, called "HD WRITER 2.5 E". I hear it sometimes shows up in various torrents. It is roughly a 300MB CD image you have to burn yourself.

HD Writer allows you to read your DVD, copy its content to other media, play videos and trim them. Which is what I really need. Then you save your trimmed videos (M2TS files) in a new DVD (get some rewriteable ones), with or without menu. I prefere without.

Then you need a free software called "Handbrake". This will let you convert your obscure m2ts files in, say MP4 (mpeg4 H.264) files, either in the native resolution or in HD 720p (progressive).

After this step, you need to install "Quicktime 1.81 alternative", which is a dodgy Quicktime, but you DO need that one, believe me. Then you need a free software called "MPEG Streamclip 1.2". This one will finally eat your previous MP4 files and generate all the Quicktime MOV files you might want, with Motion Jpeg B encoding, if interlaced video, or Photo Jpeg encoding if progressive scan.

These Quicktime MOV files are finally accepted by all stock agencies.

It took me 3 full days to put it all toghether. A nightmare!

Just started recording audio. The aim is to get something to sell as stock. You know, things like a clock ticking, rain, and so on.

Thing is, you need good quality. Your average computer audio card is not good enough.

I am now looking into either a DAT, or a good professional level audio interface for a notebook, or a videocamera with external microphone input. The latter would also open new possibilities in the video field.

Things can only get more interesting. Like being in a forest and recording its sounds. There are infinite possibilities.

Any advice on equipment and recording techniques is welcome, by the way. :-)

After two years of stock photography I am now into commercial photography.

I have recently shot electro-medical devices and I am now shooting a Winter 2009-2010 shoe collection. I might end up doing commercial shots with shoe models too. That should be fun!

Things are getting pretty busy and I am amazed at how quickly everything is happening and how they come looking for me, instead of me having to look for jobs.

Years and years of trial and error, of frustration, investments and faith have finally delivered something. So, basically, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I have a full frame dilemma.

As part of my long time commitment to Minolta AF lenses (since 1989), a couple of years ago I bought a Sony A100 10MP digital camera. It does everything I need and makes even the cheapest lenses look not so bad, with its 1.5x crop factor which cuts out the low quality borders of said lenses.

Now I have the chance to get the newest full frame 24.6 MP Sony A900, paid by my wealthy wife, which I will eventually pay back to her with my huge stock photography income. :-)

So, money aside, my real concern is that I do lots of close-up work and rarely feel the need for wide angle. A 18mm on the A100 serves me rather well. If I need more, I can always get out one of my 3 Kiev 88 bodies with its 30mm fisheye. So my wide angles are already covered.

On the other hand, 24.6 MP, waterproof metal body and stock quality ISO 200-400, means more freedom and more margin for recovering so-so photos, which, to me, means time savings and possibly more income, since it would allow me to process more photos, quicker and in bigger size. In fact, frequently, photos get paid by size too.

This is all good, ALTHOUGH, a FF camera would immediately reveal those cheap lenses with bad corners, forcing me to use only the fewer ones I know will be good, which also happen to be the lenses I use less, due to their heavy weight and limited range. Basically only my 50/1.7, 35-70/4 and 70-210/4. Probably not even my Cosina 100/3.5 macro, or any of my manual lenses.

So, now the question is: shall I get the bloody super duper FF A900 and keep using two bodies for different tasks, or shall I save the money and just focus on actually taking photos?

Somehow I suspect the latter would be the wise decision. :-)

I would like to hear your point of view on this one. Just do not tell me to get a Canon/Nikon/Pentax etc, etc. ;-)

Oh boy, this is getting interesting.

Just found one of my photos on page 58 of this book:

books.google.com/books?id=Ee0siQ79p00C&pg=PA238&lpg=PA238&dq=%22g.lancia%22+shutterstock&source=bl&ots=2kRTJ48T5R&sig=6w9mgofbTlH7aVGO5eATJtioWcE&hl=it&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPP1,M1

BTW, I think I got a whopping 25 cents for it...

Last night I did some googling in the hope to find some of my stock photos in use. And I mean, properly licenced ones. I was amazed to discover how many nice people out there are using my photos and giving me credit for it, which, by contract, it is not mandatory at all.

I get paid peanuts for these, although it is better than nothing and at least lots of peanuts make a meal! :-)

I have posted screen shots of these sites and I am now adding a list of links at the bottom of this post.

I am in no way looking for congratulations or anything like that. It is just nice to know what people actually do with my work. That's all. No self celebrations here. This will not make me any more famous, or a better photographer. Just stating some facts.

Thank you everyone for chosing my photos on your sites. It is both a honour and a pleasure.

www.cortesisland.bc.ca.php5-8.websitetestlink.com/index.php/listings

www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/June-2008/Stress-Test/index.php?cp=2&si=1&cparticle=2&siarticle=1#artanc

www.fiskeriverket.se/arkiv/nyhetsarkivpressrum/pressinformation/gemensammyndighetsplanmotframmandearter.5.50e3622f11e25eba13b8000267.html

www.marcopolo.de/reise_und_freizeit/journal/tipps_tricks_urlaubszeit_ist_fotozeit/digitales_bild_2

temporaryomnivore.blogspot.com

Did you miss me? I was away for a few days, visiting my parents for Christmas. Had lots of food, walked quite a bit, played bingo with the family, you know, the usual...

Now I am back with a few rolls to finish and develop. I trust there will be some keepers in there.

Did not manage to take many stock worthy photos though. I guess the season doesn't really help. Everything looks more or less dead.

Did manage to blind some family members with my off camera flash units, although by now they have accepted their sad fate of being my captive subjects and stopped opposing any resistance (which they realized it was purely futile).

I hope you had a good time, whatever you did/celebrated.

Now I am back in business, or, at least, I am back. Not so sure about the business bit.

Here in Rome it has been raining for weeks now. I couldn't get out to take any photos and I am really getting sick of being forced indoors. Plus of course places are getting flooded, although luckily not where I live.

Hopefully soon the sun will be out again and I will be able to take photos of pretty Christmas lights... :-)

So, how's the weather in your area?

After the bad experience with that crappy Mustek Be@rpaw 4800 TA PRO II scanner, which is completely useless for photography, today I have received a Epson 3200 bought off a German guy through evil bay.

I have scanned the same photo of an inscription previously scanned with the (really crappy) Mustek scanner and I am simply amazed!

It's a very dark slide and the Epson 3200 scanned it flawlessly at 1200 DPI with virtually no noise, not even on the darkest areas.

Mustek people should really consider giving up their business and do something more suitable to them, like working the land, or smash rocks, or cut timber, but certainly not make scanners, which is obviously too difficult for them.

Oh well, I said it, now I feel much better.

How happy I am!

At 3200 DPI my LF camera delivers about 200 Mega pixels. Now, try to imagine that. :-)

A few months ago, I think it was last June, I bought a Pantone Huey PRO off evil bay, in order to calibrate my monitors and eventually get consistent colour reproduction. After all I am a stock photographer and selling photos is my only job.

It did not go exactly as expected. The silly thing was faulty and my monitors turned very much green.

Some internet searches later, I landed on a Pantone support page stating they had "some" faulty units and they adviced to contact them in order to get a replacement.

Silly me, instead of posting it back to the seller (always trying to make everyone's life easier, will never learn...) I contacted Pantone directly for a replacement. After some initial misunderstandings (read: they sent me ready made replies) they finally aknowledged the issue and told me they actually had to stop shipping them as they were getting too many malfunctioning units and were going to test a few batches to send out as replacements.

Oh well, I was prepared to wait two or three weeks...

Today, five months later, a courier rings my bell to deliver a package I was not waiting for. When I open it I realize it was my Huey PRO replacement unit!

So, I installed it and finally managed to calibrate my screen. What a difference! One good thing is that my recent BW photos were actually better than I thought, although my colour ones are mostly off, a bit too yellow. Oh well, better late than never. From now on, I will do a better job. :-)

Ho acquistato uno scanner economico da Pixmania. Un Mustek Be@rPaw 4800 TA PRO II. Grosso errore!

E' arrivato col vetro del piano di scansione montato male, il sensore s'è bloccato al primo utilizzo e rispedirlo indietro costa 45 Euro, visto che Pixmania vende in Italia, ma i prodotti vanno rispediti in Francia, rendendo di fatto non possibile usufruire del diritto di recesso.

Fortunatamente sono un tecnico e pertanto l'ho rimesso a posto in 20 minuti.

Ma ciò non toglie che si tratta di un prodotto inadeguato. La confezione parla di acquisizione a 48bit, ma vale solo per le stampe. Con la pellicola è solo 24 bit ed il software è inadeguato. Funziona meglio se si seleziona positivo e si inverte poi in post produzione. La scansione come negativo è totalmente inadeguata. Il DMAX deve essere piuttosto basso, in quanto se la pellicola non è pefetta, vengono generate righine nelle aree originariamente scure (i cieli, per esempio, se si tratta di un negativo).

Ho dovuto prenderlo perché il mio Epson 4490, che rispetto a questo Mustek è molto migliore, da problemi saltuari (una riga fissa su tutto il fotogramma, difetto del CCD) e comunque non acquisisce il grande formato. In ogni caso dovrò prendere uno scanner migliore, appena avrò soldi da spenderci.

Avrei dovuto prendere un Epson V700. Mai risparmiare su queste cose...

E mai più Pixmania. Per noi italiani conviene solo per piccoli oggetti, fino a 2kg di peso, che possono essere rispediti come raccomandata.

E già che ci siamo, citiamo anche il venditore Ebay Silvio_sbf, di Napoli, che alla mia richiesta di riparazione in garanzia dell'Epson 4490, con meno di due anni di vita, non ha neanche risposto... E si che potrei rivolgermi al tribunale, ma spendo i soldi dell'avvocato e dell'esecuzione a Napoli, che coprono già il costo dello scanner...

Sono molto contento. :-)

English translation written by myself.

I bought a cheap scanner from Pixmania. A Mustek Be@rPaw 4800 TA PRO II. Big mistake!

It came with badly installed glass scanning plate, sensor got stuck first time I tried it, sending it back to France costs 45 Euros, considering Pixmania sells to Italy, although products need to be sent back to France, vanishing any right to return it options.

Luckily I am a technician, so I fixed it in about 20 minutes.

It is still a inadeguate product, though. Package talks about 48bit sampling, although it only applies to reflective scans. It is only 24 bits with film and software is inadeguate. It works better if you select positive (slide) and invert in post processing. Negative scan is completely inadeguate. DMAX must be really low, considering you get scanning stripes in dark areas, if your film is not perfect.

I had to get it since my Epson 4490, which is much better than this Mustek anyway, gives me erratic issues (a CCD fault causes one single stripe across the whole frame) and it doesn't scan LF either. In any case I will have to get a better scanner, when I get enough money to spend on it.

I should have gotten a Epson V700. Never save on these things...

And never again Pixmania. To us Italians it is convenient only for small objects weighting less than 2 kg, which can be sent back as recorded delivery letter.

And while we are at it, let's mention Ebay seller Silvio_sbf, from Naples, whom did not even respond to my warranty repair request on the Epson 4490, bought from him less than two years ago (European warranty is two years)... I could get a court order, although, between lawyer and court fees it would cost me as much as the scanner...

I am very happy indeed. :-)