Winners announced !

For several decades this competition has been one of the most prestigious competitions amongst wildlife-, nature and landscape-photographers from all over the world, and for a good reason: The consistent very high quality of the winning images. I have personally submitted photos for this competition several times and have twice been shortlisted just before the final selection. This year Canadian Environmental photographer Paul Nicklen not only won the Grand Price but also had a large selection of his images shortlisted across the various categories.  The list of previous winners of this competition includes Frans Lanting, Jim Brandenburg and  Hungarian Bence Maté from Hungary who won in 2010.

The winning images will be exhibited at the National History Museum and will later this year tour the globe stopping in most larger capitals both in Europe, US and Australia.

Take a look at the official page and enjoy some of the stunning images from this years competition here:

Thanks for reading

Morts

So, you have found that one item on Ebay that you just cannot live without – how to you guarantee that it ends up in your camera bag and not in someone else’s? If you follow the easy steps below there are a very good chance that you will succeed!

1. DONT bid before the last 60sec of an auction. Its easy to get caught up in the ‘bidding-war’ on items with starting prices of $0.99 but it’s a very stupid idea to participate in this ‘feverish and emotional’ act.  Every time you place a bid on this item everyone else who placed a bid are notified and encouraged to place another bid.. I’ll explain the 60sec rule later.

2. Know what you are bidding on. Nothing can replace knowledge – whether you are looking for a brand new in box camera body or a second hand lens it is absolutely essential that you know how much it cost you if you had bought it in retail or even via other similar auction pages. Remember to factor in the delivery and postage charges when deciding on your ‘max limit’

3.  Research and investigate the seller. Ebay has got a brilliant user-rating system which is a good indicator of a seller/buyers reputation – use it!  I usually  ever buy from someone with less that a 99.8% positive seller feedback score and I always read the negative feedback left for a seller as this is a good indicator if anything should be ‘fishy’. Do not settle on other payment terms than PayPal as that is currently the most safe and it has got you covered should the buyer turn out to be a cheat.

Explanation of the 60sec rule:

Latest numbers show that Ebay have got more than 100.000.000 active users world-wide, which basically is the amount of potential ‘competitors’ you are bidding against – so even before you start reading the product description your odds of winning an item is very low. If you follow this simple rule I can guarantee that most of the items will be your – I have successfully used it for years and have won very close to 95% of all items I have been interested in.

The idea behind the rule is simple: Bid only once and bid the absolute highest you are willing to pay for an item. When you find an item you are interested in, save in you watch list and ensure that you have notifications set-up on your smartphone (works on iPhone as well as android) and computer. Ebay will then advise you when the auction is about to end and you can prepare you attack. Having decided on you absolute maximum amount you will simply have to wait until there are less than a minute left of the auction and start you preparations: enter the amount in the box and submit when there are 2-6sec left – By doing this and winning you might just end up paying a few $ more than the second highest bidder and thereby securing yourself a bargain – or probably more likely a reasonable priced piece of gear as most bargains tend to be snapped up as ‘buy it now’ or via a fixed price.

What is your best bargain on Ebay? tell me below.

Thanks for reading

Morts

If you are a reader of Fstoppers then I am sure you have heard about this little follow-focus tool developed by Daniel Bauen and Mark McJunkin? and funded via Kickstarter. Basically it is a small rubber gasket that fits around most standard lens sizes attached to a ballhead handle. A very clever take on a product that usually cost several hounded dollars! I have been watching the video presentation over and over again and have been wondering if there are any even cheaper way to solve this issue and have discovered that a very similar product already exists – in my own kitchen!

I then spent a further ten minutes on google and ebay and got my suspision confirmed! – I was not the first person to realise this! bugger!

…and the product?

A standard silicone jar opener like this one from Trudeau does the job extremely smooth and produces great results – and at a price of less than $6.00 – I bet you to find a cheaper solution!

I have also discovered a great video with the device in action:

Let me know what you think?

thanks for reading

Morts

I have earlier posted a blog about the award-winning photographer Terje Hellesö who won several major photo competitions with submissions which either was not shot by him or which had been manipulated from photos from online photo libraries. It now turns out that there are many other of his kind out there; During the last week I have hears of no less than three other cases which in at least one particular case exceeds the ‘Terje-gate’ in manipulation, cheating and sheer weird-ness.

The first case was brought to my attention via Twitter where American wedding photographer Megan Kunert was accused of using other photographers works as her own. Her ‘fame’ literally rose overnight as her abuse went viral not only via Twitter but also via Facebook, Pinterest, Blogs and LinkedIn. At some point during the process the good old Mr. Hobby from Strobist sent a tweet to his almost 70k followers -and then hell broke lose. It might have been an innocent act by an ignorant hopeful aspiring photographer but instead she has been forced to not only apologise to everyone whose photos she used but also see her ‘blooming’ photography-dream disappear. Today all her social media accounts have been shut down and there are no traces left of her activities..

The second case is not directly related to photographers but to blogging. Duane Lester spent several days working on a blogpost for his very popular webpage just to see in printed in the Oregon Times a few days later. word-for-word and even with Duane’s typos included. Duane decided to confront the editor (or red-neck hillbilly editor) and record it all on tape.  The clip has now been seen by more than 200,000 people on youtube and I am sure the good folks over at the Oregon Times regret their ‘little’ mistake. See the clip here.

The last case is a case I have had a very hard time getting my head around. It has suddenly turned very complicated and extremely weird. In a nut shell, Photographer Jay Lee found one of his images being used by a one-woman law firm in Canada. He contacts her and files a DMCA copyright declaration with her host and this is where things go pear shaped; Jay Lee receives not just an email from the lady named Candice Swager but also a a threat of a lawsuit due to loss income, invasion of privacy and a lot of other legal stuff. The discussion are now out in the open and so far nothing has been settled… However, on her Facebook page another poster just revealed that another one of her webpages contains copyrighted photos taken by another photographer.. Guess we have to start all over again! – A lawyer who does not know the Copyright laws?  A bit like  a bus with a driver who does not know the traffic rules?

If you want to read a bit more in details about the above cases I recommend you take a look at these online blogs: SLRLOUNGE and PetaPixel .

Thanks for reading

Morts

Willi Jung 'Vogelschwarm' Art project 2012

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A few weeks ago i received a  message on twitter from a German artist ‘Willi Jung’. He invited me to be one of the participating photographers who will be photographing Willi’s ‘bird’ paintings for an art project he is doing. I received my bird painting recently and am proud to say that I have now delivered the first ‘Aussie’ batch of photos for Willi’s ‘Birds Swarm’ Art Project.

If you want to participate or read more about this crazy project please visit Willi here or read his Twitter feed.

Thanks for reading

Morts

National Geographic (Hungary) caption by Ken Kaminesky

Ok. so I admit it; I have not been as active on the blog recently, which I apologise -I have been flat out with work and will hopefully be able to show you some very interesting projects very soon.

However, until then I would like to draw your attention to one of my favourite fellow travel photographers;Mr Ken Kaminesky. I firstly noticed his work a few years back while writing a piece on HDR photography for another online blog. Whether or not you like the almost artificial colours which HDR tends to produce you can not deny that when it is done professionally and correct it does tend to produce a very striking final images.

Ken’s work has won him many accolades, including a cover of National Geographic and a commissioned two week shoot for the Tourism Board of Jordan.

I encourage you all to visit his homepage and  his blog where you will find many more of his striking images as well as information about how they were created.

Thanks for reading

Morts

Another year has come to an end and another is waiting just around the corner: 2012…- and what a year that will be: hopefully we will see a lot of great new products on the market. We already know that Canon has announced the arrival of two really exciting products: the professional DSLR 1Dx and the new high end cinema solution named c300..

What will Nikon offer us? A new 800d? A new FX body or a new redesigned 35mm?

Only time will tell…

I will use this opportunity to wish you all a very happy NY and am looking forward to a new and exciting year.

Thanks for reading

Morts

As always around this time of the year photographers all around the world are sourcing the internet for ideas to what to put on the Christmas wish list before it is handed over to the loved ones. Below you will find a few ideas and suggestions which will hopefully appeal to most photographer out there. Today I will give you five ideas that won’t break the bank.

5 ideas under $50.00

Steve Simon; The Passionate Photographer $30.00 Books always makes great presents, and I am sure Steve Simon’s book will make many a photographer happy this year. I have only had this book for a few weeks but have already fallen in love with SS’s approach to the subject. This book is the perfect present if you are a serious amateur who wants to improve your basic skills, but is also suitable for advanced users who are lacking that ‘final touch’ . Available as paperback and e-book here

Camera Creatures Dapper Dog $25.00 Are you specialising in children’s portraits? If you do then this is the perfect present for you. A one-size-fits-all-lenses soft plush dog which is guaranteed to get the kids’ attention and ‘click’ the picture will be captures before the little ones even know. Various shapes and sizes available via CameraCreatures

Eye-Fi Connect X2 wireless SD card 4GB $45.00 The future is here! Stores video and photos as a normal standard SD card but does also have the option of transferring you filers wirelessly to any WLAN device in real-time. This allows you to keep shooting endlessly without running out of memory. A perfect gift for any happy-snapper. Find it here

Trigrip Reflector 70cm Gold/Silver $39.00 To me this is one of the most under-rated pieces of equipment; I use it on every single shoot. A reflector is probably the easiest way you can improve your portraits without breaking the bank. Every photographer should have at least one of these in their kit. Silver/Gold is my personal favourite but it comes in various mixes (black/silver/white/gold/coloured). Can be purchased via most high-end photo retailers or via Ebay. If you can get the version with a grip go for it!

A Photography Course! Even the most hardcore pro-photographer can benefit from learning something new! Believing that you already know everything is the biggest mistake you can ever make. To continuously develop your creativity a course, presentation or a tutorial is a great way to see the your work from a different angle. There are plenty of DVD’s around which are (mostly) really good but try to have a look in your local photo magazine, email newsletter or simply search online.

May all your wishes come through

Morts

As part of the user interaction of this page I would like to invite you to submit YOUR requests and wishes of what you want to read about here on this blog.

I do now have more than 3000 unique visits each week which is more than I could ever have dreamed of five months ago when I decided to close down Photorism and dedicate my work to this blog instead. This is why I ask YOU for help now!

Tell me what is important to YOU and what would make it even more interesting for you to interact and participate on here.

Submit your ideas and wishes to me either via TWITTER, by commenting on this post or via email (post@MortenLindholm.com)

The word is YOURS! (All ideas will be posted here on the blog – spam will be deleted)

Thanks for your input

Kind Regards

Morts
PS. Photo does not have anything to do with this post, I just like it!

A screen-dump of my Twitter profile @Morts_Lindholm

All my previous posts have been about photography and about topics related to photography. Today I have decided to pass on a few tips and tricks that applies to a more broad audience; the value of blogging and tweeting.

Ever since 2002, when Jonathan Abrams and Peter Chin founded the online platform ‘Friendster’ and thereby officially kicking off the online platform which we now know as social media, it has been the highest priority for companies, politicians, celebrities and athletes to create online ‘aliases’ to cope with the increasing popularity of online interaction.

Today we have several online platforms which includes; Facebook, YouTube, Flikr, Vimeo, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter and most recently the Google project Google+. All of these platforms are based on the same basic ‘ideology’, which is to share and to follow (or to put it in a more narcissistic way: to see and to be seen).

As a photographer I am using these platforms too, most prominently the universe that is Twitter, as I have found this to be the choice that works best for me. This might be different to you depending on your initial message, your strategy or your way of business.

If you want to succeed on Twitter there are a few tips, tricks and secrets that will make it easier for you to, not only attract new ‘followers’ but also to maintain the interest of the followers you already have. (this can easily be transferred to a range of other platforms such as Facebook, Google+ etc)

Make it interesting
This should not come as a surprise to anyone. If you manage to catch peoples attention when they see your profile the first time, you have already taken a huge step towards their future visits. The best way to do this, is to create an interesting and correct description of yourself or your business. Do not put any links or referrals into your description as this will show up automatically under your profile without taking up valuable space. Too many Twitter profiles do not have a correct or catching description, or even any description at all! A photo to support the profile will also increase the wow-factor of your profile. Do not use ‘eggheads’, Emoticons or cartoon caricatures unless you actually are one!. To create your own background and/or colour is also highly recommended. All of this should be mandatory before you even publish your first tweet!

Start Tweeting
With a limit of 140 characters it is important that you think through what you tweet about as you want get your message through without leaving important information out. Also if you are directing people to you blog, homepage or to any other external URL it is recommended to use one of the many URL-shorteners which are available online. From June 2011 it has also been possible to use Twitter for uploading photos, which is a great advantage as it makes your tweets even more interesting. Should you wish to use external photo-services which does still have a few advantages then TweetDeck, Twitpic and Twipho can all be recommended. (I personally prefer TwitPic due to the complete integration with my Iphone)

@ & #
No, I am not swearing at you! The @ (at) and the # (hash-tag) is two of your most important tools on Twitter. The @ is used to mentioning other Twitter-accounts, for instance my account is @Morts_Lindholm and Lady Gaga is known as @LadyGaga. This means that every time someone mentions me (i.e. my account name) I will be notified. This is especially important in relation to your interaction online. By ‘mentioning’ me you can either direct a public message to me, highlight me in your tweets or simply just because you want me to notice your tweet. The last is especially important, if you are trying to get your tweet re-tweeted by someone. The impact of re-tweeteting is invaluable.
The hash-tag (#) is used to highlight a certain topic, which is searchable on Twitter. If you are tweeting: “I am feeling absolutely lost”, no-one besides your followers will be able to see your tweet, where as if you tweet: “I am #feeling absolutely #lost”, then everyone who searches for Lost (TV Series) or Feeling (band) will be able to find your tweet. This takes a bit of thinking-through and planning, but done correctly it is very powerful. Remember that Twitter is not case-sensitive so whether you search for Morts (me) or morts (death in french) does not make a difference!

Follow-back

My last piece of advice is to ‘participate’. If you expect to get hundreds of followers without following anyone yourself, then you need to re-think your strategy (unless you are a celebrity and therefore have a lot of real-life fans already who are willing to spend their lives following you). The majority of profiles on Twitter are real people with normal, healthy interests. Usually if you follow people with similar interests, they will follow you back.
Whatever you do, please do not be tempted to ‘buy followers’ online. Many of these companies have a number of bots controlling an amount of profiles (as opposed to real-people-profiles) It might seem like a great idea, but it sure is not worth $40 that is for sure!

I hope you can use some of the ideas in this post, let me know if you have any other great tips or tricks, I will post the best here on the site.

Thank for reading

Morts