Newer shots

A couple of shots of Jen Nguyen who modeled for me and stood in my booth at a trade show.

The owners of Centini's Restaurant in downtown Calgary, shot for a magazine layout.

Love that bottle of wine!

Twitter, twellow and me

Well, joined the twitter gang - kind of neat to see what people are doing and thinking throughout the day. The constant updates of what people are doing - of course - is a great anti-productivity tool. But does give you some insight to what is happening in people's lives. From the mundane like what they are about to eat, to the humorous, to the scary (tales of lost cats on moving day, etc.)

Along with that is twellow.com where even more information and updates are available - if you're looking for people who identify with Mac Geek or musician, you can find those people who twitter on twellow. Found Henry Rollins - punk/rocker who influenced many up and comers. (However, his posts are not always suitable for family entertainment.)

My alter ego "Hardwire Speers" (I play music as a solo songwriter performer when not doing photography) has a twitter account you can check out.

Print winner from Speers Photography

Last week I had a booth at the SOHO trade show here in Calgary. As part of that I gave away a print of a photo I'd taken (see right) of lightening over a pile of rocks on a green field.

The shot was mostly luck, and no, it's not a "combined shot" built in Photoshop - I did some colour and tone adjustments but otherwise was what I caught in my camera.

The winner of the print was Bill Webster of Speedpro Signs on 14th St SW in the Beltline district.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and saw my work. And thanks to Jen for manning the booth while I was wandering around shooting pics of the tradeshow and the excellent speakers giving presentations.

Me and The PM

Some days you get little treats while doing a photo shoot. A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being the photographer for the Colin Brown Awards ceremony where Preston Manning was presented with the Freedom Award. Flying in was Prime Minister Steven Harper to present the award - something very few in the audience knew. While I was shooting, I had the opportunity to have my own photo taken with the PM.

Whatever our may be feelings about the Conservative Party in Canada (and the various offshoots it spawned) - Preston Manning is one of the most intelligent people I have had the honour to hear speak.

Contests can be bad deals for photographers

"Entries may be published by Sponsors and/or their designees, licensees or affiliates (the "Authorized Parties") in magazines, on websites, or in any other medium, at Authorized Parties' discretion. By participating, all entrants grant a license in the Entries to the Authorized Parties, and acknowledge that any Authorized Party may use the entries and a name credit in any media now or hereafter known, without restriction, including commercially using the entries to the fullest extent possible worldwide in perpetuity. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use."

I added the quote marks and bolding of the last sentence. This was copied straight off the rules for The Great Outdoors Contest being run by Photo District News (I've always thought it was a great magazine - until now), National Geographic Traveller (again, I always assumed they were a good organization), and also sponsored by Waikoloa Beach Marriott Hotel, Budget car rentals, Jacks Diving Locker, Bogen Imaging, and Hawaiian Airlines.

It comes down to, any one of these companies can take any entry - your entry - and use it for thousands of dollars worth of advertising, and YOU PAID FOR THE PRIVILEGE with your contest entry fee.

They do not have to do anything other than give you a photo credit. You've spent thousands of dollars (most likely) on camera(s), lens(es) and computer gear, thousands of hours learning to use it all, untold time getting the photos, and all you get is a credit on an ad you'll most likely never see and no-one is likely to notice your name.

Most contests are really good, but read the fine print - this kind of usage grab is just bad for you and for the photography industry. Even if you never want to shoot professionally - your images have worth, don't give it away unless its to friends or worthy causes. Companies that can afford to pay for photography (which is a very small percentage of the advertising budget) should. Don't let them get away with this kind of abuse of talented people.

On getting paid

Love this rant by writer Harlan Ellison on getting paid.

Now On Squidoo.com

Fun new service, part blog, part eStore, part fun spot, I just loaded up a page at squidoo.com/bestphotolessons to see how it works. Seems to be very popular, there are lots and lots of pages with how to's and DIY information. Check it out. You can even start your own page very quickly.

musician Patrick Molloy

Patrick Molloy is a talented singer/songwriter who has been living in Calgary although he's heading back to the east coast in the near future. I had the pleasure of helping him out with photographyand designing his web site - check out his great tunes at www.patrickmolloy.com

New site enhancements

Yes, the danger of being a designer - gotta change the site once more. Check out SpeersPhoto.com and see the new look and content.

Photography lessons

In case you're looking for some lessons on how to use your digital or film camera, I've set up a site called BestPhotoLessons.com There are lots of free tutorials, tips and techniques to learn the basics of photography.