You have a photographer friend and have yet to find THE perfect holiday gift? Take it from a photographer, any of the following would make my Christmas Day and the best part is, they all fit into standard-sized Christmas stockings and won’t stretch your budget like a lot of photography-related items do (Think 50k medium format camera).

Give the Gift of Knowledge

Photography is all about vision, timing and constant improvement to stay on top of your game. There are plenty of helpful books, ebooks and classes out there that can help you or your photographer friend narrowing the odds of getting the photographs desired. Ebooks are a great way to get started for often times as few as 10 bucks. Amongst the most influential for me and nature photography in general, are the ebooks from Guy Tal (http://guytalbooks.com/), whose writing is as compelling as his shooting. Another possibility of broadening your processing horizon is to experience hands-on Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom classes from Aperture Academy (http://www.apertureacademy.com/course-schedule.php). Great for advanced amateurs who are getting great shots in the field but missing the “Oooomph” the digital darkroom can deliver. There is nothing wrong with knowing your midtone luminosity mask from your red channel saturation mask. Speaking of which, the Photoshop actions of Tony Kuyper would make an equally great gift for the Photoshop-“challenged”. The complete set comes at as little as $20. (http://goodlight.us/specialoffers.html)

The Photographer’s Ephemeris

With the advancement of smartphones, there came a plethora of apps targeted at photographers and whether you are a fan of iPhonography and Droidography or not, there actually are a few gems out there that make landscape photography a lot easier. One of these apps is The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE). An app I find myself using all the time when planning a shot, long before I venture out, to make myself clear what I get myself into, light-wise; or in the field, when plans change due to unforeseeable weather patterns (thanks, weather guys!). Either way, TPE offers the full package of sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset times, directions of sun and moon for every place in the world and much more useful features. It comes in at $8.99 and is available for iOS and Android here: http://photoephemeris.com/buy-download

Gloves

Yes, you’ve read that right. Christmas time also means snow and cold weather in the northern hemisphere and warm hands on an outdoor shoot are as essential as a working camera. There is nothing worse than trying to operate your camera in the snow with freezing finger tips and you don’t want to miss the shot of your buddy’s first 360 because your hands were cold. I like my Marmot XT Gloves to keep my hands and fingers warm even in the lousiest shooting conditions. They are warm, yet thin enough to have me push the most essential buttons on my camera. Often times, the warmest gloves are useless as they are too bulky and restrict your movability quite a bit. The XTs are a perfect combination of warmth and usability for me. Get them following the link for around 60 bucks: http://www.bergfreunde.de/marmot-xt-glove-kletterhandschuh/

Lens Travel Mugs

Coffee – where art thou? Frankly, I couldn’t get anything done without a cup of freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning and when it comes to cups and mugs, I like to enjoy my Italian roast in style. Such as with a Canon lens cup (Nikon versions are equally available). The 70-200mm travel mug makes a great conversation opener in the field and deserves the “oohs” and “aahs” it is getting, while the 24-105mm version is perfect to sit on your desk for a late afternoon coffee break. Expect to shell out around 20 dollars for either version. You can get them on Amazon or various online resellers. (70-200mm on Amazon.com)

F-Stop Watch

Nothing screams photography nerd more boldly than the F-Stop Watch, other than maybe a lens cap tattooed to one’s forehead. It’s a cleverly designed accessory that will grab the attention right away. No deal breaker at $35, if you get it here: http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/f-stop-watch/

2013 Wall Calendar

Alright, I reckon those were more than 5 in total, so it won’t hurt to have another idea handpicked and delivered to your screen, would it? I didn’t think so, either; so here it goes. Remember the time when your friend told you how much shooting that one place or the other would mean? Inspiration and incentive alike, a calendar featuring your friend’s favorite places would make a great Christmas gift under the tree and 365 days on the wall. Disclaimer: Self-promotion ahead!

You can get my “Element of Life” calender here, featuring 12 stunning pieces from my portfolio, all “anchored” around the water theme. Now on sale for the next two weeks on Red Bubble, before the price will go up the final week before Christmas. http://www.redbubble.com/people/davidrichter/calendars/9481417-element-of-life
Or maybe this skiing one for your buddy? http://www.bergfreunde.de/tmms-verlag-powder-2013-kalender/

Happy Holiday (Shopping) Season!

David

I have been very busy these last few weeks, making photographs of the amazing display of fall colors this year here in Germany. Unlike last year, I have been able to toss together a wall calender for the upcoming year – yes, I know, it’s hard to believe Christmas is only a mere 2 months away. Rather than randomly selecting images of my work, I went ahead and gathered 12 frames around the general theme of “Water”, hence the title of the calender: “Element of Life”.

It has a bit of everything for the H2O aficionado. High alpine lakes, waterfalls, coastlines in the US and Italy, old sheds in front of the Karwendel massif in Bavaria, Germany and more. Above you’ll find two sample spreads of some of my best selling images included in this calender and below, a selection of all 12 photographs in the calender.

The wall calender is approximately 11.7 x 16.5 inches and printed on 200gsm paper with a satin finish. I decided to make it available through Red Bubble, which has experience in calender printing for many, many years and is known for its high-quality service and beautiful printed products. I prefer to go this route, rather than printing and shipping the calenders myself; as I want to make sure this calender’s turnaround time is low, making it ship timely, all while keeping shipping costs low.

That said, it is available through Red Bubble for $29.90 or 22.99 Euro, respectively.

Besides making a perfect wall decoration for your home or the bland walls of your office, this calender would also make a great Holiday gift for your friends who might enjoy hiking, fishing, camping or maybe just honor skillfully crafted photography. 😉 Your turn!

(A last side note, new images will be released soon.)

It’s nothing new in the world of photography to receive requests from hundreds of people over the course of a year if they are allowed use your image for free on various projects. While for the novice, this might be flattering, for any even halfway serious photographer it’s the worst kind of request. "Well, aren't you glad I asked and didn't just steal it? You just have to give it to me." — No, I don’t.

Honestly, I am actually more insulted when they ask to use an image for free than when just taking it. That way, I would at least have gotten a settlement claim out of it.

From time to time, a company or advertising agency licenses an image by going through the whole process with the required professionalism we photographers are thankful for. Clear terms, fair compensation for our work. Both sides happy. Very easy.

Apparently, this method proves to be rare, even to the largest companies out there… but read on.

I was recently asked by the [company’s product] OS Partnerships & Business Development team to license my image “Firestorm” to use in their upcoming OS update as a wallpaper choice and later on, in the same ways, in the [company’s product] browser and promotional material. I was beyond excited, not because of a huge check I saw in my near future but for such a large company recognizing my work. A company I trust with my daily online searches, personal data and much more; the company that probably knows more about me than I’d like to.

Fast forward to the licensing agreement I was asked to sign: NO COMPENSATION! Way to go, [company]. While I didn’t plan on retiring after licensing an image with [company], I was expecting at least a fair amount of compensation for a “Give us your image and we do whatever the f**k we want” kind of license.

After some serious consideration and various attempts, I could restrain myself and instead wrote a, what I think to be, moderate reply stating the following:

Dear Mrs. ___________,

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

To me, it doesn’t come as a surprise I haven’t heard back from them and quite honestly, I don’t expect any kind of answer. The licensing contract they sent was a slap in the face of any photographer.

I ask you, my dear readers (who didn’t have a lot to read from me lately — sorry for that), would you be willing to work for free? Disregarding the industry. I blackened out the company’s name as I do not want start a bashing campaign or anything. I just needed to vent, inform people that even the largest tech companies out there with multi-billion dollar profits do NOT value the work of photographers.

That said, don’t sell yourself short. If I have learned one thing over the years, this is it.
I’d rather have no money in my pockets than knowing someone is falsely promoting their product with my image without paying a fair amount. No exorbitant high amount, a fair compensation.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and feel free to share with your friends, amateur and professional photographers alike, your grandma who might get a kick out of this or the advertising agency of your choice.

David

Some great news to share today.

Ivan Makarov, a great photographer from the Bay area and avid Google+ user, recently spread the idea of creating a book for charity. The odds were discussed in various hang-outs and posts and 520 photographers from around the globe contributed images to this great project, showing the influence, value and overall great community aspects of the social media world. The Plus One Collection was born.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, countless hours of work by Ivan and 15 other volunteers working on this project and the Limited Edition of the Plus One Collection is available for order online at http://plusonecollection.com/purchase/purchase-print-book/.

193 images made their way into the final print version and I’m more than happy to announce that my image “Granite Reflections” is amongst the ones selected. Grab your limited edition till Feb-20-2012! Remember, all net profit will be donated to the charity Kiva! (Standard edition book, e-book and app will be out soon, too.)

That being said, I’d like to announce a special print sale of my Yosemite National Park images, “Granite Reflections” (the one in the book) and “High Sierra Santuary”. All orders 8×12 and larger will receive 25% off. The discount runs till Feb-21-2012. Contact me directly at david (at) davidrichterphotography (dot) com to discuss your options. The discount is good for all options, print only, framed prints, canvas and metal.

A great opportunity to save some cash for the Plus One Collection book! 😉

Prices for Yosemite images, print only.

8 x 12 (Regular: $60) NOW $45
12x 18 (Regular: $100) NOW $75
16x 24 (Regular: $160) NOW $120
20x 30 (Regular: $220) NOW ONLY $165!!!

All other images are currently 10% off from the regular pricing until the point the shopping cart system is up and running. Now it’s the time to grab ’em!

Happy V Day, by the way!

David

Why am I seeing this weird image on your index page?
Did I break the interwebz? What is wrong with this guy?

One might think, I have gone a little lunatic, but I am not. My mother had me tested. All kidding aside though, this topic is extremely important to me and that’s why I support #OccupySOPA.

You have never heard of SOPA?
You have come to the right place and before someone asks, no, I am, by no means, an expert in this field!

SOPA is short for “Stop Online Piracy Act”. A bill swirling around in the US Senate as PIPA (Protect IP Act) and the House for quite some time. It’s Hollywood’s last straw to grab in order to maintain profits without innovation. Nothing more. Nothing less. If you look at all the networks, TV channels and movie studios supporting SOPA/PIPA, it becomes clear what is behind all that.

But because I could never express it a such a short and informative way, I urge you to watch this short video; to educate yourself and to think about what this could mean if the US government passes the bill. Internet-based companies, start-ups, all innovation over the last decade and the future are possibly in danger. The freedom of the internet and what we all love about it – Facebook, Google, Wikipedia. Gone for good. Take action. This is serious.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

For further information and to take action, please refer to one of the following websites:

– http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa
– http://sopastrike.com/
– https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/