[Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/25]

This young boy and his friends were hanging out on a bumper car ride in the Balkans. The boy is looking at me through a reflection of mirrors in the passage. There is a curiosity in his eyes about who is this American with a camera.

His look and the fact I didn’t have the time to get to know him reminded me that listening to others takes a lot of things.

We had just finished showing our projects to the Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Workshop on Friday night, and we all took a break and walked downtown.

Saturday, we put the finishing touches on the stories to show that evening to all the Global Workers and subjects of the stories during our Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Workshop.

Here is Pat Davison working with Hannah Dunlap, a student at Cedarville University. Beside them is Meghan Duncan, who just graduated High School working with James Dockery on putting those finishing touches on their stories to show Saturday night.

Pat and Hannah are celebrating because they just started exporting the finished project. Meghan and James are getting close, and I was working with Juliana Spicer, a Liberty University student, on fixing a corrupt sequence in her Adobe Premier Pro project. We got it fixed, and she showed her show as well.

This is Korinna Duke, a Cedarville University grad with her subject. Korinna told me later that she was watching him while showing the story she did for his reaction. When he gasped at part of the story, she was distraught. She wanted to tell his story as accurately as she could.

Did I offend him? Was her question? In the end, he not only loved the multimedia package, he asked to get a copy to show all his friends and family.

This week has taught me a lot about “Getting it Right.” We were in the Balkans telling stories of people whom we didn’t speak their native language and whose English lacked some of the polish necessary to get to the heart of the story.

Most of the students read what the global workers had said about the person they were doing a story on and did little on that first interview to peel beyond what was written on the page. They had taken the story at face value.

Some of the subjects had been persecuted based on ethnicity before the Balkan wars for many years, but after the war, that hasn’t disappeared. During the war, they had guns pointed at their heads instead of insults and lost their jobs just for being ethnically different. They watched as the soldiers executed their parents in front of them by cutting off their heads.

The main reason we were there was due to one global worker who, during the Balkans war, went to Europe from the United States to help refugees in a camp. The war was over much sooner than expected, and she was asked to work with all the children that were either orphans or had lost their fathers.

She created a school to love these kids and help them during their rebuilding of the country.

Many of the subjects were very guarded about telling their stories. It required the workshop’s students to build trust and listen with more than just their ears. They had to attend with their eyes. They had to be more observant than in their everyday life.

Teddy Roosevelt said, “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This is the core skill necessary for the storyteller. Their subjects don’t care how much you know about them; they want to know how much you care about them before they allow you into their lives.

This week each instructor would ask questions of the students about their subjects. The common question was, “did you ask the subject?”

The key to getting the story right and having the information necessary to produce a compelling story relies solely on the storyteller’s curiosity and character. Do they care more about the person than the story? If you do, then the subject will let you into their lives. Only when the subject opens the door to their heart can the storyteller take the rest of the world with them on that journey.

Korinna Duke interviews the founder of a Leadership Academy in the Balkans. [Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/9, 1/280]

Today is our time. We will show everyone in the class each of the student projects. The students have enjoyed hearing the stories of Global Workers taking the time to develop relationships with the people of the Balkans to improve their lives.

It has been about 17 years since the war ended, and they haven’t fully recovered.

So many of the youth lost families during this time. They are looking to the future and starting their families.

Today, each student is working on their computers, putting all the interviews, videos, and stills, and picking music to help tell the story of the subject they have been working with since this past Sunday.

Today, the other teachers, Pat Davison, James Dockery, Jeff Raymond, and I, will go to each of the twelve students to review their stories and offer advice on improving their edits.

The biggest thing we have been doing in the first edit is getting their stories short. Now we are polishing the videos.

Come back sometime in the next couple of weeks to see some of the finished multimedia packages.

This is one of the largest Mosques in the Balkans, where we lead our Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Workshop. [Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/4, 1/15]

Today is hump day and is also our midway point for our Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Workshop we are doing for 12 students in the Balkans.

Last night we introduced the software Adobe Premier Pro to the students. We had them install a workspace and shortcut keys into the software that James Dockery designed for our workshop.

James explains that while they can set up their workspace and create their shortcuts, for the teaching team to sit down with them and help with editing, we need to have a shared workspace to see what we are looking for as instructors.

We have a schedule we are working from, and each student has a workbook that fits into a pocket with the deadlines they are working to meet each day.

We have a chart of their deadlines up on a wall so we can see where each student is in the process.

Today each student is to have finished putting their interviews into the timeline of Adobe Premier Pro and let one of the instructors listen to their audio story. Then they and the instructor can see all the scenes they need to have B-roll to use as the visuals to complement the audio.

To be productive, we have to all be awake, so James and I have been drinking those Macchiatos to keep awake and alert.

Tonight we will export all the projects, look at them in the morning, and assess what is missing and needs to be shot to help us make all the projects compelling stories.

When I talk about a product and have been given any compensation, I must inform you about that relationship. This is called full disclosure. It is best that I start the conversation with you upfront, not at the message’s end.

Sadly, many photographers whom camera manufacturers or software companies compensate for are not fully disclosing their relationship with their audience. Therefore too many customers do not recognize them as the hawkers, peddlers, or costermongers for these brands. Because they are biased, you need to know.

When a photographer talks about switching from camera brand A to camera brand B, I think you need to know if they were compensated.

I would go so far as to say that some photographers, if not for their endorsement deals, would not be a working pros. They are pretty much full-time spokespersons for the brand. Many of them are great photographers, but I would still be great no matter their brand.

Zack Arias, who reveals his relationship with vendors, stopped speaking as much as he was because he realized he wanted his examples to be what he was doing on jobs other than the sponsor. He told me he learned when he first started speaking that he would pull up an example and say last week when I did this shoot was getting replaced by a couple of years ago when I did this for a client.

I have always loved Zack for his honesty and his passion for creativity.

MOVIES

One of the most prominent places you see advertising is movie product placement.

According to a Priceonomics analysis, products placed into storylines can be much more successful for brands than traditional advertisements, like TV ads. It’s easier to sell a viewer the value of a product if they’re emotionally invested in the storyline in which it’s presented, rather than a viewer who’s watching an ad totally out of context. Plus, it’s far too easy to skip ads and zone out during ads nowadays.

When a brand picks up a photographer with a great eye and is highly creative, it is the same as product placement in a movie. E. T. could have used M&M’s instead of Reese’s Pieces, and the storyline wouldn’t have been significantly impacted, but the product used benefitted from a 65% jump in sales due to the movie placement. Is one candy better than the other?

My disclosures

I am an Amazon Affiliate and a Cradoc foto software Affiliate. I get a small percentage of sales for Amazon links and a little more if you buy Cradoc foot quote, fotoBiz, or their keyword software.

Every time I start a blog post about a product, I am doing my best to disclose my connection up front and not at the end. I would love for every blog to start with disclosure because I am earning more than I do now from writing this blog.

Now I wish I were a Nikon Ambassador, but I am not. If I were and I was at a conference speaking, I would want to be sure when I am introduced that this is said that I am a Nikon Ambassador. This way, you know that it is in my best interest for people to go out and buy Nikon gear after I speak. The reason is simple then Nikon will continue this relationship. If sales do not materialize from my work for Nikon, they will terminate that relationship and find someone who does help sell their gear.

Dave Black, a Nikon Ambassador, puts his relationship on the main page of his website http://www.daveblackphotography.com/.

TIP for you!

If you are a fan boy or fan girl of specific photographers and listen to them for what gear and software they recommend, take the time and find out if they are compensated in any way at all by those products.

You need to know when a photographer is talking about stuff you can purchase, which can be gear, software, or services if that brand compensates them.

There are a few photographers who get compensation like free gear or discounts for them and then will write in a blog post quite misleading comments that say these are their own words and the company didn’t pay them to write that review.

The word BUT negates or cancels everything that goes before it. Therefore, they are misleading when a sponsored photographer says; I wasn’t paid directly for these comments. They are making the water murky.

If a photographer isn’t giving you full disclosure, can you trust their comments?

For the most part, the six inches behind the eye determine the greatness of the photo more than the six inches in front of the eye.

When do you have to make the disclosure?

The FTC guidelines for endorsements and testimonials in advertising say if there is a connection between the endorser and the seller of the product or service, full disclosure is required.

Penalties for noncompliance can range from a written warning and request to provide full disclosure to the maximum of an $11,000 civil fine (per incident).

Chelle enjoys the rainbow after all the rain the past couple days at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. [Nikon D5, Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 8000, ƒ/22, 1/100]

Sometimes, you must compose a photo in photography because God has taken care of the light for you. Here is an excellent example of my daughter at the beach last week. At the end of a full day of rain, we had a gorgeous rainbow pop up at sunset.

I quickly realized that my 24mm wasn’t getting the entire rainbow, so I reached into the camera bag and pulled out the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 lens. With a 114º view, it was able to get the rainbow.

Next, I ran to the beach and started to take photos of just the rainbow.

While shooting this, my daughter walked into the frame. I quickly realized I needed her to come closer to the camera and put the rainbow behind her.

It was sprinkling so that you could see raindrops on my lens. But I was thrilled with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I often have to use artificial light with the existing light to make the photo work.

Here is what I often do with photos where I must improve the conditions.

Our family tradition at a family reunion is getting a photo of the family. I have been doing this photo for 30+ years.

Since it had been raining most of the day, we still had some cloud cover. Using the flashes, I could help get a better color since the flashes are daylight balanced, and the overcast sky would have dulled the colors.

A second benefit of using the flash is avoiding those raccoon eyes where the sun from above can create shadows around the eyes.

While I had everything with me, I also took some photos of my nephew for his senior pictures. For these photos, I used my Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G so I could shoot wide open, get the really soft background, and make him pop out more.

Tips

1. Use fill flash for exterior photos.
   1. At the beach, you might think you don’t need it, but it can improve the color and eliminate the raccoon eyes.
   2. Put the flash off the camera at 45º
2. For group photos, shoot at ƒ/5.6 or ƒ/8 to be sure everyone is in focus.
3. For individuals using a telephoto lens like my 85mm ƒ/1.8. Shoot wide open to get that silky out-of-focus background.
4. Use a tripod for groups
   1. It helps keep the horizon straight
   2. If one person blinks, you can clone them from another frame. Sometimes you cannot get the best expressions of everyone in one frame, and having everything shot on a tripod makes it easier to cut and paste.
   3. If needed, you can use a slower shutter speed. However, be careful that people are still if you do.

Here is one of my favorites from the photoshoot of our family.

Chelle enjoys the rainbow after all the rain the past couple days at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. [Nikon D5, 14-24mm, ISO 8000, ƒ/22, 1/100]

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”

– Roman philosopher Seneca

There are times for photographers when you happen to be in the right place at the right time. Last night was one of those times for me. It had been raining all day, and we washed our day at the beach.

I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth.

Genesis 9:13

Now to get this photo, you cannot use your smartphone. It would help if you had a super wide-angle lens. For this photo, I used my Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 lens to be able to capture the complete rainbow. The lens captures 114º of view, enough to capture the whole rainbow for my photo.

After shooting some shots up at the house we are renting, I realized that if I go to the beach, I can eliminate all the foreground that wasn’t as pleasing.

By going to the beach, I could clean up the foreground. Now I started to want something else in the photo other than just the rainbow.

So I waited as birds flew into the frame and shot a few of them. But then my daughter wanting to get closer to see what I was seeing, walked into the frame. I asked her to walk to me, and the top photo was one of the best frames.

Because your back will be towards the sun when photographing a rainbow, the light at the end of the day was on my daughter’s face, so there was no need to improve the already wonderful light.

This is an excellent example of taking your camera gear and not just relying on your smartphone.

Travel photography often catches those elements that create a desire for the place. Often people put photos and paintings of these places in their homes and offices as a way for them to escape for a moment by just soaking in the image.

The key to capturing these moments of solitude is they have first to impact you. It would help if you first were moved and relaxed. Then from this experience, you frame the situation to help capture that feeling which brings peace into your life.

For me, a bird in flight captures total freedom and the ability to soar. I often think about how the dove was used to symbolize the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:21-22

You often see artists who will put scripture with their work. It is how they are often moved not just to a peaceful moment but one that has a deeper meaning for them. It was a spiritual moment.

Raindrops on windows remind me of the musical Sound of Music.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Travel photography is capturing “My Favorite Things” that I hope will also be yours. If I do my job well, you will also want to vacation at Ocean Isle, North Carolina.

May 2015, Adobe added to PhotoShop and Lightroom the Dehaze slider. The Dehaze tool helps you quickly reduce or remove haze, joint in many outdoor photos like landscapes.

Here is the above photo with the Dehaze at 0

Same photo settings but now Dehaze at +73

Now, if you were like me, you had an editing workflow, and when Adobe introduced a new tool, you may not even be aware of it. Well, I have been using it for about a year now. It works great.

Like all tools, you need to try it and see if it works for a photo or not.

This tool in Lightroom is at the bottom of the devices, just about Camera Calibration in the Effects module.

Here is a photo without the Dehaze applied

Here it is at +36

I recommend trying out this tool on your photos. You will be glad you did.

PhotoShop CC Instructions

Here is how you access it in PhotoShop CC. Go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter in the menu.

Then when in the RAW Filter, click on the ƒx tab. Then you will see the Dehaze slider on top.

STREETWALKER® ROLLING BACKPACK V2.0

Thousands of flights and hundreds of thousands of passengers will be affected daily if the United States extends its so-called laptop ban to all international flights. For now, electronic devices more significant than a cellphone are banned from the cabin on flights bound for the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa.

IF

Traveling internationally has a prominent “IF” hanging over you when you travel with a laptop and other electronics, as most photographers do.

I needed a bag that, if/when they decide the laptop and cameras must be checked into the cargo hold, the gear is as safe as I can make it. I just bought the new ThinkTank StreetWalker Rolling Backpack v2.0.

While this is smaller than my Airport Security V2 I can put the laptop on the inside of the zipper and lock it with a TSA lock. This will make it a little more secure and protected than with the TakeOff that I also own.

The front flap on the Takeoff is designed for laptop, but not much padding or way to lock it.

I have been playing with what camera gear I will take with the laptop. I can put my extra batteries and cords in my ThinkTank Urban Approach 15, designed for smaller DSLR or mirrorless cameras.

Now, if I can keep the laptop with me, it will stay in the Urban Approach 15.

If the rules change, I will be prepared on the international flight to hand over my gear, including my laptop. I cannot afford to sit at the gate and discover the rules had just changed that day.

Here is another configuration from the ThinkTank website with Nikon Gear.

Today I went again to the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA. The flags were at all the graves. Family and friends had left flowers for all those who had been buried at the cemetery.

Visiting the Georgia National Cemetery is a time for families to tell the stories of their family and close friends. They gave their lives for our freedoms to their children so that they, too, would understand what Memorial Day is all about.

Many headstones had multiple flower arrangements. This one also had a Challenge Coin. A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion (usually military) bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members. Traditionally, they are given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale. In addition, they are also collected by service members. In practice, unit commanders usually present challenge coins in recognition of a unit member’s exceptional achievement. They are also exchanged in recognition of visits to an organization.

Flowers, coins, military airborne patches, an American flag, and hand-drawn art adorn this grave. This is where you see the service’s impact on the whole community. Comrades leave the patches—coins for those to remember who also served with them. Flowers left by the family or friends and drawings from the children to say how much they miss their soldier.

Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the country led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead.

In 1971, the Monday Holiday Law shifted Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday of the month.

This is what Memorial Day is all about. Take the time to remember the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in service to our country so that we might enjoy the freedoms of our democracy.

On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery—which, until 1864, was Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s plantation.

Families from all over the country came to pay respects to their loved ones this Memorial Day at the Georgia National Cemetery.

Covering a political campaign

If you are going to take pictures and use them to help inform people about politics, then you need to know what is going on in politics. I am biased about politics when I am posting on my blog. So this is more editorial view than journalistic. Last night I met Jon Ossoff in person, and this is just me sharing my photos. However, how I approached the shoot was influenced a lot by my views.

I live in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, where the biggest race occurs. Most multiple meaning the most money ever spent on a congressional seat in the history of the United States.

The total cost of the race now exceeds $30 million, quickly making it the most expensive U.S. House contest on record. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the previous record was a 2012 Florida contest that cost nearly $29.6 million.

A special election will be held on June 20, 2017, to determine the United States House of Representatives member for Georgia’s 6th congressional district. Republican Incumbent Tom Price resigned from the seat following his appointment and confirmation as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration. A primary election occurred on April 18, 2017.

Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel are running for office.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution just reported:

More than 5,500 voters have been added to the rolls in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District after a federal judge ordered local counties to reopen registration this past Sunday.

The total includes two types of voters: the newly registered plus so-called “transfer” applications — already registered Georgia voters who initially moved into the district after March 20, when the registration period closed.

A new poll shows Democrat Jon Ossoff with a 7-point lead against Republican Karen Handel ahead of the runoff election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

Of the 700 voters interviewed in the SurveyUSA poll conducted for Atlanta TV station WXIA, Ossoff leads with 51 percent compared to Handel’s 44 percent. Six percent of respondents were undecided, and the margin of error was 4.3 percent.

Newt Gingrich was the turning point for this seat from Democrat to Republican back in 1978. He held that seat until 1998. Johnny Isakson and then Tom Price followed him.

The election to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price could be Democrats’ best opportunity until the 2018 elections to demonstrate that their base’s anti-Trump movement can be weaponized to kick Republicans out of office — maybe even to take back the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010.

The election’s frontrunner, Democrat Jon Ossoff, has capitalized on the anti-Trump sentiment. “Donald Trump is an embarrassment and a threat to prosperity and health, justice, and security in the Sixth District,” Ossoff has said. “I’m running to stop him and to fight for our community in Congress.”

I believe the key to understanding why political unknown Jon Ossoff has risen to the top is the problems with Republicans. The race has exposed stark divides between the Republicans over health care, tax overhauls, and foreign policy.

I believe the influence of fundamentalist Christians in the Republican party hurt the party. In response, some Christians started to oppose their views.

The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern began with a confession that evangelicals had failed to defend the rights of the poor and oppressed and had been complicit in racism. It attacked the unjust distribution of the nation’s wealth, the “pathology of war and violence,” sexism, and the “the temptation to make the nation and its institution’s objects of near-religious loyalty.”

FitzGerald, Frances (2017-04-04). The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America (Kindle Locations 4432-4435). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

I am seeing the most significant growth in America as what is called “Nones.” Here from Wikipedia:

Americans without a religious affiliation represent about 20% or more of the population, and since the early 1990s, independent polls have shown their rapid growth. They include agnostics, atheists, deists,[e] secular humanists, and general secularists.

Unaffiliated Americans are sometimes referred to as “Nones.” Though having no religion and not seeking faith, they have diverse views: 68% believe in God, 12% are atheists, and 17% are agnostics; in terms of self-identification of religiosity, 18% consider themselves religious, 37% consider themselves as spiritual but not religious, and 42% considers themselves as neither spiritual nor religious; and 21% pray every day and 20% pray once a month. According to the 2008 ARIS, the Nones have diverse beliefs: 7% were atheists, 35% were agnostics, 24% were deists, and 27% were theists.

This shift and the Republican Party that catered so much to the “Moral Majority” has found their base has left them.

Top voting issues in 2016 election

I believe the shift isn’t away from the faith but a shift to what I think Jesus taught his disciples.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I believe that the Christian right has been wrong for a long time. They are condemning people as the Pharisees did in the time of Jesus.

Mark 2:14-16

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

People today are concerned about how to live within the community. They need jobs and the burdens of medical care and taxes controlled. They are worried about not being persecuted. They want leaders who will help level the playing field so that we are all treated equally in the eyes of the law.