Lightbulb Water Lighthouse Hey Everyone!  Hope you're doing well. While on the way to work the other day (I always have a long commute and time to think), I was thinking about all the photographers and all of the photos that we've taken and what are we doing with them?  Well, I've got a few suggestions and things that I do that will take advantage of that big cash of photos that you have hanging out on your hard drive doing nothing but taking up space.  If you're like me, you're not doing photography for profit, but just doing it for fun. Sometimes I think that the act of taking the photos and the experiences that I had while taking the photos is what I love the best, and the end result doesn't matter that much for me.  I delete a lot of photos, but after 20 years of digital photography, I still have over 40,000.  Now a lot of them are of family and friends, and some are of places I've been.  So here's some suggestions on what to do with them.

One thing to do is reprocess some of your favorites from the past.  Post processing has changed and you have grown as a editor, and you might be The MetroCommuters waiting for the Metro in Washington DC. surprised on how good some of these photos will turn out after you put your years of experience of processing on to older photos.  Editing programs have come and gone, and maybe you were processing with a different program than you use now.  Maybe that program doesn't even exist now.  While finding these photos to edit, your memories will start to remember the where and how you took these photos.  Maybe a trip you took or a place you visited will start to be fresh in your mind again.  Isn't that what photos are supposed to do, stir up memories from the past?  After you have them reprocessed, now what?  

Print them!  I think printing is the one thing that will let your photographs, your art, live for decades.  When you're long and gone, your printed photos will still be here and can be passed down to other generations to keep your memory and your art alive.  Who knows what can happen to a hard drive or if even the format that we use now will be able to be seen on a screen in decades of the future?  But a print in someone's hand will always be able to be seen.  Now you can print them yourself, a whole new art, or you can send them off to get printed.  Either way you will have prints.  And what to do with the prints?  I've created a love-me wall at the house where I have maybe 10 5x7 prints that I change out every so often.  You can have larger prints made, frame them, and use them for wall art around your house and, of course, for gifts to family and friends for art in their houses.  It's kind of neat to go to someone else's house and see your art on their walls.  You can have canvases made for pretty cheap, and they look nice also.  So what else can you do with the photos that you've brought new life into?

Well, this is the controversial idea.  Share them.  There are many ways to share your photos, and when I say share I mean put them out for the world to see.  There are many outlets that you can use.  Flickr and 500PX are a couple of photo sharing sites, and you can have people from all over the world look at your work.  Facebook and Instagram are others.  I used to post my photos on Facebook, but I have quit and now try to post to Instagram once a day.  So I have a folder on my desktop that I fill with photos that I want to put on Instagram.  When I have new photos from a photo trip or outing, I use them.  But when I run out of recent stuff, I'll go to the folder on my desktop and use one.  I like Instagram because I can tell a little about the photograph and I get likes and comments from all over the world which is pretty neat.  I use low resolution photos, and I'm not too worried about someone taking my photo and using it for something else.  I'm just happy that someone is seeing the photos that have been hiding on my hard drive.  It's a part of my daily routine.  I get up, get some coffee, and post to Instagram.  For those who know me, I get up real early.  So when I post, most people in the US aren't up yet.  So if I get a like real quick, I know it's someone from another country which is cool.

One benefit from going back in time and playing with these old photos is that it stirs up your creative juices and gets you into that artsy groove.  And that's just a great place to be.  Follow me on Instagram at maxstansellphotography.  So keep shooting and get outside!

Hey Everyone!  Today I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart and that's taking a hike. Taking a hike has many benefits.  You get outside and breath in the fresh air.  You get to see great and different scenery.  You get to travel at a walking pace, not a jump in your car and see how fast you can get to work or to the store or to wherever everyone is in so much of a hurry to get to these days.  As photographers, we have the unique opportunity to take great photos of these places and bring them home to share with our friends and loved ones.  These walks or hikes do not need to be long-drawn-out 10 mile hikes.  They can be short and sweet by a lake or by a river.  Here I will try to give some hints on day hiking for photographers.

First is where to go?  Well, the list is endless.  Many towns and cities have greenways that were built for hikers, joggers, and bicycles to travel on and can go through parks and wooded areas.  There are many city and state parks that have all kinds of trail systems at all levels of physical ability.  And there are national parks with all kinds of trail systems.  My advice to begin with is to look at Google maps or any kind of map and make a circle, say and hour or hour and a half from where you live, and start looking for places.  Let Google be your friend and help you find places.  You will be surprised at how many there are and how close they are to you.  Some places like state parks will have guided hikes on different occasions.  One of my goals this year is to visit and hike in every state park in North Carolina.  There are 34 of them.

What should I bring?  I'm going to break this up and start with photography gear.  Don't bring everything you own.  Remember, if you are hiking you're going to carry your hiking gear, so less photography gear is better.  I would first ask myself, what will I be shooting and what kind of trail am I going to be on?  Is it a wooded trail with trees surrounding me?  If so a long telephoto lens will not be needed.  But a wide angel might come in handy or a medium range zoom.  Will I need a tripod? Think about this in the same way.  What am I shooting?  Waterfalls, then I would need one.  Low light, then I would need one.  But if it's a sunny day then maybe not.  You have to assess what you will need to take and less is better.  I commute to different towns for my job, and at lunch when I get a chance I go into the town for a photowalk or a park for a small hike.  My camera of choice for this is a point and shoot.  It's a nice one, but a point and shoot just the same, and I can get some really nice photos without lugging a whole bunch of camera gear with me.  So that is an option for a day hike also.

What else should I bring?  Common sense should be the rule here.  If you're making a day of it, I would suggest a little food and a lot of water.  If you're in the summer sun, remember you will be sweating and you need to replace that fluid, so hydrate!  But always have some water with you.  One thing I always bring is some sort of rain protection.  I always have one of those $5 emergency rain ponchos.  They are made out of real thin plastic and are good for one use but they are a life saver.  The reason I do this is because I went on a hike once and was about 5 miles in when I got caught in a downpour.  Luckily I had a large trash bag with me, and that became my raincoat and protector of my camera gear.  But from that day on, I always carry that little emergency rain poncho.  Don't forget your smart phone.  If you're taking a longer hike and one where you could get turned around, they come in handy for the GPS.  Even if you lose signal they can help get you in the right direction.  And they are a backup camera also.  Don't forget about sun protection, a hat, sunscreen, or a long-sleeved shirt to protect you from the sun.  There are lots of new materials that are lightweight and cool but will still protect you from the sun.  Sunglasses are also a must if you are going to be in exposed areas where there's a lot of sun and no shade to protect your eyes.  Also a must in the snow!  Bug protection can be a must, especially if you're in mosquito-infested areas.  There are sprays and creams you can use, but the bugs will drive you crazy if you are not using them.

What about clothing?  For summer I would say lightweight, non-cotton clothing.  Cotton is not what you want to wear hiking because it will absorb the water or sweat from you and stay wet, which could make you cold or just weigh you down.  So no blue jeans or 100% cotton T-shirts.  Wear blends and polyester-type clothing.  It will wick the moisture away from you and dry quickly.  In the winter dress in layers.  A good base layer (long johns), shirts, coats, etc.  With lots of layers, when you're hiking and getting hot, you can take some off.  And when you stop for a while and get cold, you can put more on.  What about shoes? Shoes must be comfortable and supportive.  Walking, hiking, trail, and running shoes will work.  I would stay away from boots unless you have really broken them in well.  They can give you blisters very quickly if you're not used to walking a lot in them.

What do I carry all of this in?  A small bag or backpack that is lightweight and comfortable.  You probably already have some sort of backpack or bag you can use.  It doesn't  have to be fancy, just something that can carry all of your stuff if need be. Remember to always take all of your trash with you when you leave.  As photographers we should only take photographs and leave footprints.  So take care of our parks and trails and keep them clean.

Now that you have somewhere to go and you know what to wear and are dressed for comfort and safety, go out and enjoy nature.  Take a hike and really enjoy the world.  There is always something new to see and investigate, and I usually don't have to go very far for a nature adventure.  Me I love to go out with my hiking buddy Forrest (my canine friend) and explore different places.  I get exercise, I get outside, and I get photos that are not like everyone else's because they stay at home.  So get out and shoot!  And take a hike!

_MSP9571 What does it mean to find the sweet spot of a lens?  All lenses are not the same.  And even at different apertures on the same lens, you can see a difference of sharpness.  Lenses tend to lose sharpness because of diffraction.  This is a very technical term that means the light tends to split-up at either end of the aperture range.  Lenses tend to be sharper in the middle of the aperture range.  Say f 8 or so.  But that's just a rule of thumb.  How do you know exactly what the sweet spot is on your lens?  I know some people will say that my lens is sharp all the time in all apertures, but after the sweet spot test you'll see that it isn't.  All lenses are not the same even if th ey are the same brand and make.  If you have a Kit lens, this is a great way to figure out how to get the sharpest image out of it.  Here is an easy way to test your lens and find out what the sweet spot is on your lens.  First, you'll need a few things.  A tripod, a wall that has a lot of texture in it so you can see if it's sharp or not (like a brick wall or a wall that has lots of details in it), and some sort of photo editing software like Lightroom.  Set your tripod up and get your lens focused on the wall.  Put your ISO on say 100 or your native ISO for your camera and put your camera on aperture priority shooting mode.  Open up to your widest aperture, say f2.8 or whatever your widest aperture is, and take a shot.  Then go through all of your apertures to the most closed down ones.  After you've taken all of your photos, put them into Lightroom or some other software and start to compare the sharpness of the different shots.  Then before long you'll come up with a clear winner, or at least a couple that are almost identical in sharpness.  I'm not a big supporter of pixel peeking, but in this case it's what you want to do.  Make sure you look in the corners and all across the frame.  When you have your winner, you'll know what your sweet spot is.  You can do this to all of your lenses, and the sweet spot will be different on those lenses.  You can record the results or just remember them for future reference.  Now why is all of this important?  Knowing what aperture your lens is the sharpest can come in handy.  For me, when I know what the sharpest is, I tend to leave that lens at that point for general photography like just walking around.  And when sharpness really matters I know where to put my lens.  Knowing your gear and how it works, from your camera to your lenses, will save you money in the long run.  22730511_10210704932196387_7018311079726609722_n You won't have to spend that extra money to buy the more expensive lens because it's supposed to be sharper.  You can stick with your old lens because you know how to make it sharp.  The same can be said with our camera bodies.  We probably only use 10% of our camera's potential just exploring the menus and reading the manual can help you become a better photographer and utilize the camera that you have, not the one that you lust over.  And I am as guilty of this as anyone else.  Always wanting the next best thing.  So save yourself some money and find the sweet spot of your lenses for sharp photos.  And as always keep shooting!