View 212: Dogs Days of Winter at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography
White timber wolf (Canis lupus) at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

White timber wolf (Canis lupus) at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

Now that it looks like winter in upstate New York, I headed out to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to take advantage of their annual Winter Photo Contest which lets people in the zoo for free if you bring a camera with a coupon.  It was a perfect winter’s day.

The “dogs” of the zoo were out enjoying the sunny and cold January day. The white timber wolf, red fox and red wolf did not seem to mind the weather.  Their thick coats of fur insulating them from the single digit temperatures.

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

While I was watching the red wolves, a siren was heard nearby.  They must have thought it was a howl from other wolves as they launched into five minutes of howling of their own in reply.

Red wolf (Canis lupus rufus) howling at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

Red wolf (Canis lupus rufus) howling at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

You may have noticed these photos look a little “hot” or overexposed and I did not add the photo’s Exif data as I usually do.  The combination of the Nikon D700 camera and Nikon 80-400VR lens kept giving me a flashing Err message on the upper LCD screen and in the viewfinder.

I tried everything to fix it out in the field.  Turned the camera off and on, re-seeded and changed the memory card, switched to my backup battery and took the lens off and reconnected it.  The error message persisted.  It was like the camera was not able to set the lens’ aperture when the shutter was pressed.  I do not believe the Exif data in the photos is correct. I did my best to save these photos in post-processing.

When I got back home I looked up to see if others had experienced this issue.  Turns out it is well know problem and a simple cleaning procedure fixed it. Whew!  I had visions of having to send my camera to Nikon to get repaired.

Posted in Animals, Weekly View | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Copy Space Room

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

As a stock photographer I have no idea how my photos may be used. There is one thing I do you might not, which is, to leave room for copy space.  Copy space is a relatively uncluttered area of a photo or graphic where text can be placed. Headlines, articles, graphics and miscellaneous text is often used by editors in the copy space of photos.

This is where the Rule of Thirds comes into play. By photographing with copy space in mind and using the Rule of Thirds, I create marketable photographs editors for magazines, books, ebooks, blogs, websites and other traditional and non-traditional media markets like to use.  For instance, maybe my friends at the HydroBowl would like to use this photo of racing inboard hydroplanes I took at last year’s event for a poster.

Hydrobowl 2012 Poster.

Hydrobowl 2012 Poster.

Even if you are not photographing for stock, keep copy space in mind to use in your own projects like slideshows, blog posts, photo books for friends and family, Christmas and other kinds of cards.  Click here to learn more about the Rule of Thirds and have a chance to earn a spot in an online photography class on Composition.

Posted in Photography, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Syracuse University Basketball Fan

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

Lots of buzz about the Number 1 ranked Syracuse University Orange Men’s Basketball team this year. The fans in the Carrier Dome are even crazier than normal.  Remember the young fan I showed you a couple of years ago?  Last weekend I attended the Big East game between the Syracuse Orange and the Marquette Golden Eagles and ran into a slightly older fan who allowed me to photograph him.

Syracuse University Basketball fan before a game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York.

Syracuse University Basketball fan before a game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Nikon D700/50mm, 1/125s, f/3.2, ISO 800, EV +1.0.

The Orange went on to win 73-66 (Sorry, Kathy!) thanks to the support of over 25,000 fans many wearing orange clothing though not many with orange wigs.

Posted in People, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

View 211: Family Portrait

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

I grew up in the 1960’s with television and television commercials.  For those of us in Central New York, the commercials for Utica Club beer were very memorable because of the talking beer steins, Schultz & Dooley.  The West End Brewing Company (WEBCO) in Utica, New York who made Utica Club were so pleased with the success of the spokesmugs, they commissioned the first steins of the now-famous duo from King-Werk a German stein manufacturer.  Later, from 1972 to 1982, the steins were made in Brazil by Ceramarte.

My parents, like many fans of the Utica Club commercials, purchased a set of Schultz and Dooley steins which they passed on to me a few years ago.

Schultz and Dooley collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte.

Schultz and Dooley collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte. Nikon D700/50mm f/1.8, 2s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, flash, tripod, reflector.

Two other characters from the commercials were added to the collection, Countess (1978) and Officer Sudds (1973) during Ceramarte’s run.

Countess and Officer Sudds collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte.

Countess and Officer Sudds collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte. Nikon D700/50mm f/1.8, 2s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, flash, tripod, reflector.

My parents surprised me this past Christmas by giving me these steins to complete the Ceramarte set. Reunited after years, I present you the Utica Club family of beer stein collectibles:

Schultz, Dooley, Countess and Officer Sudds collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte.

Schultz, Dooley, Countess and Officer Sudds collectible beer steins made for WEBCO by Brazilian stein maker, Ceramarte. Nikon D700/50mm f/1.8, 2s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, flash, tripod, reflector.

They have added more steins since 1982 but these are the originals from the Brazil stein maker and I am thrilled my parents passed them to me to enjoy and share a time when television commercials seemed less commercial. 🙂

Click here for a youTube video of a selection of Schultz & Dooley commercials.  You will spy the Countess and Officer Sudds in a couple.  The voices of all the steins were done by comedian Jonathan Winters. The steins were made of wood and created by renowned puppeteer Bill Baird. Do not adjust your computers, they are all in Black & White as was the television I watched them on.

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Goals for 2012

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

1. Photography. I will continue to improve my skills at photography. To that end, I will be concentrating on both learning new ways to look at the world and sharing what I learn with you here through blog posts. I know this sounds very nebulous but I will make this clearer throughout the year.

2. eBook. My good friend Mitch of the I’m Just Sharing blog has mentioned to me I should do an eBook. I will be looking over the last four years of posts and see what I can pull together.  I am great at taking photos and writing information but designing and laying out a book is not one of my strengths.  Any ideas or suggestions for an ebook or how to make one looking good?

3. Blog Update. I have been looking at a few premium themes which would better fit towards promoting both the blog and my stock photography business.

4. Promotion. Continue to promote the blog and my photography via all the Social Networking outlets I belong to. Will be adding a few extras like the accompanying photographic prize with the bi-monthly assignments I introduced this week. (Had to start it before this post due to the timing of this month’s prize.) As mentioned yesterday, I almost doubled the number of monthly visits last year. This year I hope to bring it up to an average of 7,500 visits per month.

5. Photo Editing. I have purchased an interactive program to learn more about my main photo editing and management software, Apple’s Aperture 3. After I finish the program, I have a new editing program to learn which extends Aperture called Pixelmator which is a Photoshop like program for the Mac. Very excited about doing these tasks as I feel the digital darkroom is my weakest skill. Might find other fun apps along the way.

My annual pledge to you.

Here is something from my post from January 1st, 2009 that won’t change (with one addendum in italics):

  • I will continue to add relevant links to my postings to encourage further research for those so inclined. It is something I like to do when visiting blogs and websites.
  • I will continue to visit other blogs and flickr photostreams and leave comments I hope are encouraging and helpful to the blog authors and photographers.
  • I do not mind people using my photos on their blogs or websites. All I ask is for you to give credit and a link back to this blog. If you want to use any of my photos for commercial purposes, please, contact me.
  • I will do bi-monthly photo assignments to challenge those who participate.

Onward into 2012! Do you have any goals this year?

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