Independence Day images...

Here is a little more catching up from last week.

Some of our readers were kind enough to post their Independence Day images on our Flickr Group, and here are a few of them.

Click in any one of these images to view larger.

And it just so happens that our good friends to the north were celebrating a day that is important to them as well, here is one to mark that occasion.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their images.

Please... please forgive my absence...

Sorry to have been gone so long.

In the five years since Weekly Photo Tips has been in existence I have never had a week with just a single blog entry, that was of course until this past week.

But in the last 7 days there have been four weddings to shoot. And as if shooting four weddings wasn't enough, some of them have been a haul to get to (and home from), like the last one on Saturday which was in Bar Harbor (Maine), a 3 1/2 hour drive (each way).

So, I share this not as an excuse, just so you understand I wasn't simply ignoring you.

I promise to make it up this week, really.

Thanks for being such great fans of the blog, seriously, THANK YOU!

Back to my nap, but I'll see ya tomorrow.

Long exposures and Neutral Density filters...

Our most popular videos on YouTube is the Long Exposure tutorial that Scott Kelby was kind enough to do for us (and you).

Here is that video:


The two most important tools for using this technique is a tripod and an Neutral Density filter, and I frequently get emails asking "where can I get an ND filter?".

Well, I have a great answer for you today, you can get a Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density ND Filter, that will allow you to go as low as 2 stops and as high as 8 Stops, for just $169 (with free shipping).

I am sure some of you are thinking "well that's great, but my lens is a 68mm, so this deal isn't for me". Yes, this is for you as well.

When I buy a filter I buy it to fit my largest lens (which happens to be 77mm) and then purchase a "Step-Up Ring" that will bring any lens from it current size up to the desired size (in the case 77mm).

So check out the Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density ND Filter deal, and if you need a step-up ring you can find a bunch here.

Tips & Tricks for photographing fireworks...

As the 4th of July is just two days away I wanted to provide a few resources that will walk you through how best to photograph fireworks.

It really is much easier than you might think, with the most important tool (other than the camera itself) is a tripod.

So here are the links:

National Geographic - Photographing Fireworks

Digital Photography School - How to Photograph Fireworks Displays

Free Digital Photography Tutorial Site - Firework photography

Mason Resnick- Take Pictures of Fireworks You Can Be Proud Of

And to wrap it all up here is a short video from the Photo Tips podcast (a great resources for all things photography), in this video they will walk you through photographing fireworks (and the people watching them) from the initial setup (with detailed camera settings) to tweaking your setup and settings during the shoot.

Publishing your images on Wikipedia...

Yup, Wikipedia wants your images, I just learned this from another photographer the other day and thought I was too good not to share.

Before you start uploading images "willy nilly" it is important to understand one (big) thing "You have to license them under a copyright license that allows anyone (including 3rd parties not affiliated with Wikipedia) to copy and use them, for any purpose, including commercially. These licenses are irrevocable."

They suggest using Creative Commons.

You can read more details about submitting images at their "The professional photographers guide to contributing images to Wikipedia" page.

Why on earth would you want to irrevocably license one of your images for ever and ever? Because as part of the the image credit Wikipedia provides is your name AND a link to your website, that could be HUGE exposure. HUGE!

You can also upload lo res images making them pretty much useless for anything other than the purpose they were uploaded and intended for.

Here are a few more links that you may find useful if getting exposure to a bazillion people worldwide is of interest to you:

The Wikipedia Commons Upload Page

The Wikipedia Fulfilling a Request Page

Wikipedia Featured Pictures

One last thing, you have several ways to upload your images (like to a general "pool" of images for them to cull through), or go to a specific category/post (like your town, state, etc.) and submit images specifically for it.

I went to the state of Maine Wiki page (and this is similar for all pages) and towards the very bottom of the post is this "Edit" box:

By clicking on the "Images and Media" you will be taken to the page that allows you to upload images.

One last thing, you will not be able to upload picture anonymously, you do need to create a Wikipedia account.

Review of "Exposed", by photographer Michael Clark...

This is yet another in a series of reviews written by the of readers here at Weekly Photo Tips, if you you'd be interested in writing a review just drop us an email and we'll throw your name "in the hat" from which we pick our reviewers.

Now back to the business at hand, the review of "Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer", by Michael Clark. This review is written by Paula Apro who is both a photographer and a yoga instructor and I have to be honest, after reading it I (almost) regretted sending her the book, as it sounds too good to have missed!

Here is the Review:

I recently had the pleasure of reading "Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer", by Michael Clark. The book was very unique in that it wasn't just a "How-To" photography techniques book. In fact the photo tips were really a side line to the positively fascinating stories of Michael's adventures as an action sports photographer. Have you ever looked at ridiculous adrenaline sports action shots and wondered how on earth they were photographed? Well, this book explains just that. If you have an interest in both photography and adventure sports, you will love this book. In fact, my husband (who is not a photographer) insisted that I read most of the book out loud because he was so interested in the adventure sports stories. These stories weren't just what equipment was used and how the lights were set up (although all of this information is also included at the end of each story) but Michael takes the time to really set the scene. And some of the scenes were nothing short of amazing.

Take for instance his coverage of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. This just happens to be the toughest race in the world, with only the most elite athletes participating. You can't even imagine what the photographers go through! As if getting the perfect shots isn't enough work, the amount of physical hardship that Michael had to endure was just unreal.

Each story explains the extreme conditions and how he managed to work within those conditions. From catching the monster waves during surfing competitions and creatively shooting Red Bull's base jumping, to only being given 2 minutes and 10 total shots to shoot a pro golfer, Michael explains what it's like to work under the extreme pressure of high paying and high profile clients.

All of this extreme sport photography may seem glamorous, but when Michael explains the amount of stress that this job causes it made me realize how few people in the world could do it. As much as I love adventure sports, I realized that I could never do this job. What I did take away from this book was the necessity of stoking your creative spark and creating your own body of work on self-assignments. No matter if it's in sports photography or any other niche, he explains the importance of going out and shooting what you enjoy in order to build your portfolio. Most of the paid assignments that Michael got came as a direct result of his self-assignment work. Perhaps everyone should place as much importance on their self-assignments as they do on their paid assignments.

One of the most valuable parts of the book was the fact that Michael showed his work as it came straight out of the camera. Then he covered (in detail) any and all adjustments that he made to the photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop, until he finally showed the final picture. One of the photos that I found the most interesting was one of his surfing shots that didn't look like much straight out of the camera. But after the post production edits, that once-dull photo scored him an account with Apple. And of course, this was a self-assignment shoot. Just proves his case even further. In addition to the technical details that he shares, he also outlined the exact equipment and used for each shoot (including an explanation of why he choose the equipment he did) and in most cases there was even a diagram illustrating the lighting setup.

In a nutshell it was a great combination of photographic inspiration, technical details, and pure reading enjoyment. I know a picture alone is worth a thousand words, but the chance to hear the stories behind those pictures was a pure treat.

A DVD is also included with the book, it's over 2 hours and covers color management, "how to", and Michael's start to finish workflow using both Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 for images that were featured in the book.

The combination of the book and DVD make this a "must" have.

Thank you Paula for this review.

I would strongly suggest hat you take the time to check out Michael's website and his blog, as you will be truly amazed.

We have just one last book review to be posted this week that will be done by one of our great Weekly Photo Tip blog followers, so we are looking for more volunteers.

If you sent in your name the last time we asked for folks to do reviews your name is still "in the hat" and you will not need to re-email us.

But if you didn't and would like to be considered to review one of the many books and/or videos that are sent to us all you need do is drop us an email and you too will be "thrown in the hat".

We will draw six more names in about a week and will notify those who are picked so we can get your snail mail and send out your "goodie".

So drop us an email and "get in the game".