The Enlightened Tripod 7
The Enlightened Tripod 7
The “Enlightened Action Word” ….Gait 1. manner of walking or running 2. any of the various foot movements of a horse, as a trot, pace, canter, etc.
It has been said that you can always tell the mood a person is in, or how successful they are, by the way they walk. A slow, ponderous person usually has no place to get to in any hurry. If you see someone walking down the road slowly with their head down you would be correct in assuming that they are not in a good frame of mind.
The happy, successful person usually walks with purpose. Their head is up and they usually have a smile on their face.
This month our Enlightened Action Word is gait. Think about your walk and your purpose – do they correlate. If not, change your walk. Walk with purpose and step out with a happy, intention filled gait.
The “Enlightened Quote” …Great ideas originate in the muscles. Thomas A. Edison The “Enlightened Business Plan”… Goal Setting Alfredo Paredo, the famous Italian economist, found through research that a shockingly small percentage of the population possessed most of the money. He then developed the famous with the “80 – 20” Law. Twenty per cent of the population earns eighty per cent of the money. That law means that eighty per cent of all photographers get twenty per cent of the work. Think about that scenario for a minute. Accepting the truth of this situation means that approximately twenty percent of the photog¬raphers make eighty percent of the money. Which group are you in? Top 20 _____ Bottom 80 _____ Which group do you wish to be in?Top 20 _____ Bottom 80 _____ Which group do you believe you should be in?Top 20 _____ Bottom 80 _____ Which group do you deserve to be in? Top 20 _____ Bottom 80 _____
Look at your answers carefully, where you honest? Yes _____ No _____ Why did you answer the way that you did? ___________________________________________________________________ Are you ready to roll up the sleeves and get to work?
Do I hear a “Hell Ya!” ?
Start goal setting! By that simple act, you will be putting yourself in the top five percent of all successful people. By joining the top ranks, you will shortly be in the top twenty percent of the moneymakers.
Why?
Because people who have a plan for themselves and their business, will have a road map to follow, a direction to focus on, and a reason to get up every morning. You will save many wasted hours and in turn save yourself much needless frustration.
Another amazing thing that happens when you write down your goals: the universe takes over and things start to happen. People come into your life at the right time, money comes in from unexpected places, and your plans fall into place. I teach this to my high school students and they all look at me as if I am crazy. Yet, it has never failed to happen that the very next day, one will come in and tell the class of some totally unbelievable thing that has happened, and I have a new believer. It’s all part of the immutable law of attraction.
The universe is always looking for balance. You put in effort the universe provides reward!
Remember, successful people always do the things that failures do not want to do!
Start now by doing a simple little exercise; write down five goals for each of the following areas of your life.
Family
Business Personal Spiritual Physical Leisure You can email these to me at chuckgroot@shaw.ca and I will help you be accountable and send you a chapter in my book that deals with easy strategies to successfully achieve your goals.
The “Enlightened Technical Corner”…
Gamma Gamma is probably one of the least understood, but most important elements in photography today. This is probably because, outside of being the third letter of the Greek alphabet, it denotes a variable in mathematics and physics. And when we talk about Gamma rays, we are talking about forms or electromagnetic radiation or light emissions. They are often characterized as being light with the highest frequency and energy, and also the shortest wavelength, within the light spectrum.
Really dry, technical stuff!
Not only that, but something that has led to considerable confusion amoung photographers to its meaning and applications.
But how does it apply to us as photographers and digital imagers?
Gamma has been defined as the numerical indication or measure of the degree of contrast to which a photographic emulsion has been developed, a computer monitor is set, or a digital image is created.
But through interpretation and usage, perhaps incorrectly and yet not without some justification, gamma has acquired a slightly broader meaning in the minds of many photographers and digital imagers. It has grown to be a term by which the final contrast of a film negative, computer monitor, or print can be freely discussed, and it has become a synonym for the gradation of a developed emulsion or projected image.
It must be realized that the measurement of gamma is a laboratory procedure requiring the use of accurately standardized equipment and methods. Needless to say, we need to know what we are talking about in order to relay to our labs and print makers what we want. Particularly with our computers, the input and output needs to be calibrated to the monitor so that we are confident that what we see is what we will get.
This calibration is done with the use of sensitometric strips, and looking at characteristic curves. We are looking for standard inputs and outputs and reliable repetitive results. This brings us to the grey scale, brightness and understanding contrast levels.
Let’s look at the digital ramifications. Gamma correction matters if you have any interest in displaying an image accurately on a computer screen. Gamma correction controls the overall brightness of an image. Images which are not properly corrected can look either bleached out, or too dark. Trying to reproduce colors accurately also requires some knowledge of gamma. Varying the amount of gamma correction changes not only the brightness, but also the ratios of red to green to blue.
Basically, gamma is the relationship between the brightness of a pixel as it appears on the screen, and the numerical value of that pixel.
You probably already know that a pixel can have any 'value' of Red, Green, and Blue between 0 and 255, and you would therefore think that a pixel value of 127 would appear as half of the maximum possible brightness, and that a value of 64 would represent one-quarter brightness, and so on. Well, that's just not the case, I'm afraid.
Cathode-ray tubes, such as the screen you're probably reading this on at the moment, have a peculiar relationship between the voltages applied to them, and the amount of light emitted. It isn't linear, and in fact it follows what's called by mathematicians and other geeks, a 'power law' (a number raised to a power). The numerical value of that power is what we call the gamma of the monitor or system. To explain gamma correction we will begin with where you are looking - your computer monitor. Almost every computer monitor, from whatever manufacturer, has one thing in common. They all have intensity to voltage response curve which is roughly a 2.5 power function. Don't be afraid, this just means that if you send your computer monitor a message that a certain pixel should have intensity equal to x, it will actually display a pixel which has intensity equal to x ^ 2.5 Because the range of voltages sent to the monitor is between 0 and 1, this means that the intensity value displayed will be less than what you wanted it to be. (0.5 ^ 2.5 = 0.177 for example) Monitors, then, are said to have a gamma of 2.5 To correct this annoying little problem, the input signal to the monitor (the voltage) must be "gamma corrected". The solution, fortunately, is a simple one. Since we know the relationship between the voltage sent to the monitor and the intensity which it produces, we can correct the signal before it gets to the monitor. The signal is adjusted so that it is essentially the complement of the curve shown above. There are other considerations as well when one speaks of a "correct" image. These include the ambient light in a room where the computer is, the brightness and contrast settings on the monitor, and finally personal taste. If gamma correction is done properly for the computer system, then the output should accurately reflect the image input. Note that the task of gamma correction is accomplished by raising the input value to the 1/2.5 power. This is referred to as a gamma correction of 2.5. because we are correcting the input for a monitor whose gamma is 2.5. As we mentioned above, most monitors work in about the same way with respect to gamma correction. Most computers, or more specifically, most computer systems, do not work in exactly the same way, however. By computer systems we mean everything from the software that is running (like Netscape) to the graphics cards installed, to the standard hardware on the motherboard. Different computers do different things and many "systems" have different configurations of all of the above things. Macintoshes, for example, have partial gamma correction built-in to their hardware. Silicon Graphics computers also have built-in gamma correction, but it is different from the Macintosh. Suns and PCs have no standard built-in gamma correction but some graphics cards installed in these computers may provide this functionality. The idea of system gamma is the gamma correction that should be applied in the software to reproduce an accurate image on the monitor for an uncorrected image on a particular computer "system." Macintosh The Macintosh has built-in gamma correction of 1.4. This means that after the software sends the signal to the frame buffer, there are internal hardware corrections which will further process the signal, specifically by gamma correcting it another 1.4 - That is, the signal is raised to the 1/1.4. Therefore, to get full correction, the software itself should first adjust the signal by raising it to the 1/1.8 power. (2.5/1.4 = 1.8) Thus the system gamma on a Macintosh is 1.8. Note some graphics cards in Macintoshes may have their own software to change the standard gamma and Adobe Photoshop 3.0 is now released with a gamma control panel from Knoll software which allows the user to change the system gamma of their Macintosh. The 1.8 standard is still accepted as the universal Mac System Gamma, but users should be aware that a Mac can be set differently. The Knoll software control panel for the Mac rewrites the look up table, (LUT) with a value of g/2.5 where g is the gamma the user selects. Thus selecting 1.8 will rewrite the LUT with 1.8/2.5 = 1/1.4 - the default setting. (The values in the LUT are 1/1.4 and this is called a 1.4 correction) SGI The SGI is similar to the Macintosh but instead of a hardware correction of 1.4 the SGI applies gamma correction of 1.7. Thus the system gamma for an SGI is 2.5/1.7 or roughly 1.5. Sometimes you may see that an SGI has a system gamma of 1.4. This calculation is made on the assumption that monitors have a response curve closer to a 2.4 power function. SGI's also come with a utility to rewrite the internal hardware correction. These values are stored in a look up table, (LUT) and can be altered. The default is 1/1.7 as mentioned above. (The values in the table are 1/1.7, so we call this a 1.7 correction) Sometimes the value in the LUT may be referred to as the SGI system gamma. This is not the definition used on other platforms. Unlike the Mac gamma control panel, the SGI gamma utility will rewrite the LUT with the actual value set by the user. Suns and PCs Suns and PCs have no standard hardware correction (although certain graphics cards for these platforms may) and therefore their system gammas are roughly 2.5. Common graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop allows the user to set the gamma correction value they want. (In Photoshop it is found in Monitor Setup under Preferences under the File Menu.) Without any correction at all, most images would be displayed far too dark and no detail would be visible in the shadow areas. At the same time, the highlight tones would be too widely separated.
Because we only have 255 brightness levels to play with, it's important to get the distribution of these levels right.
That way the shadows don't get 'bunched up' and difficult to distinguish, while we waste half of our precious levels defining unnoticeable increments of tone in them.
Even under ideal and dimly lit viewing conditions, an uncorrected monitor will make shadow detail difficult to see, and in a reasonably well-lit room, other factors come into play which makes the task of seeing the darker parts of the image more difficult still. Our eyesight accommodates to the light, making it harder to see darker detail, and more light is reflected from the screen, further reducing image contrast.
Partial Gamma correction of the system opens out the shadows and midtones; making viewing them much easier. I say partial correction, because a totally linear response is undesirable for reasons of colour accuracy and plain eyestrain, apart from other good technical reasons. So; what gamma value should you aim for? My personal preference is to set a system gamma of 1.8, even though I use a PC. I'll explain why I made this decision, and you can choose to agree or ignore me, as you wish. Reason 1, and most fundamental, is that a gamma of 2.2 is just too damned dark! Reason 2. A gamma of 1.8 agrees fairly well with the output of most printers. Reason 3. The majority of graphics professionals and pre-press proofing rooms use a gamma of 1.8, and who am I to argue? Reason 4. Most monitors, graphics cards and associated gamma correction software can easily cope with a gamma of 1.8. Try forcing a gamma of 1.0 on an old or cheap monitor, and you'll see why it's wise to stay well within the limitations of your hardware!) Reason 5. If you go much lighter than 1.8, then you run the risk of highlight detail becoming difficult to distinguish, and of colour matching problems. Reason 6. It gives Mac users one less excuse to sneer, and they do enough unwarranted sneering as it is. It's pretty obvious that my recommendation is to aim for a gamma value of 1.8, but you may equally want to stick to the sRGB / PC standard of 2.2, or compromise between the Mac and PC with a value of 2.0, or something else entirely. A compromise value of 2.0, midway between the Mac and the PC, is probably a good choice if you're preparing images solely for web publishing. Anyway, it's your choice, and if you find it's not working out, you can always recalibrate, or revert to your previous gamma setting. “Enlightened Marketing”
Grad Portraits
To many people the idea of grad portraits is instant gold, to others it’s the kiss of death. Whatever your perception of grad portraiture it really an easy, inexpensive way to success.
How do I spell grad portraits? CASH FLOW.
There is a tremendous amount of cash flow with grad portraits. Now most people think of grad portraits as photographs of individuals but another and very lucrative aspect to it are the group photographs.
The lament I often hear from photographers is that all the high schools in their town have contracts with the big shooters.
Well that may be the case, but I have two suggestions towards this.
A. There are universities and colleges with individual faculties who like to buck the trend and go on their own. A very lucrative avenue in this venue is to take a portrait of the faculty graduating group and rather than selling one image you can sell often into the hundreds of the same image. You can also go after private, smaller technical and trade schools, dance academies, martial arts dojo’s, Sunday schools, figure skating groups, pre schools, daycares, night classes, community classes, corporate training groups, and the list goes on and on. There is no end to the opportunities that exist – all you need to do is spend some time going through the phone book, magazines, and newspapers to get listings of all the programs offered in your town.
B. Indeed there are two or three major players in the high school grad business. But not everyone wants the same 12 head shot variety grad choices. Offer lifestyle portraits, portraits with their favourite hobby or sport, on location sessions, with their friends, with their families, on and on, you get the idea. The best way we found to do this is to find five students in various groups at a local high school (sports figure, drama club, academic club, trade area, and computer area) and offer them a complimentary portrait session with an 8x10 and 2 5x7’s if they would be your special student ambassador. As an ambassador you will take a comprehensive portrait session with several locations, changes of clothing, and styles, provide them with the portraits mentioned, provided that they give their friends your business card and have them bring at least three friends with them when you show them their previews.
In fact, I will give any student a discount if they bring three friends. The discount is determined by the amount of students and the size of the order.
Let’s be creative in how we approach our business, photo sessions, and cash flow potential. “Enlightened Living”Getting Help for Smoking My dad always loves to say, “Quitting smoking is easy. I have done it hundreds of times. It’s staying quit, that is the hard part!” Smoking More than 430,000 Americans die each year from smoking. There are over 1 Trillion. That is 1,000,000,000,000,000 free radicals in every cigarette. And as you already know free radicals are what cause illness. Smoking causes illnesses such as cancer, heart and lung disease, stroke, and problems with pregnancy. When you quit, you lower your chances of getting sick from smoking. Quitting is hard. Most people try several times before they quit for good. When you are getting ready to quit: • Make a plan and set a quit date. • Tell your doctor that you want to quit smoking, and get medicine to help you quit. • Tell your family, friends, and people you work with that you are going to quit. Ask for their support. When you quit: • Get support and encouragement. You may want to join a quit-smoking program. • If you slip and smoke, don't give up. Set a new date to get back on track. • After you quit, don't smoke—not even a puff. Try to keep yourself away from all cigarettes. The following tools from the U. S. Public Health Service can help you quit smoking: 1. You Can Quit smoking Consumer Guide. http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/tobacco/quits.htm 2. Good Information for Smokers http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/tobacco/lowlit.htm 3. You Can Quit Smoking 5-day Countdown http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/tobacco/5daybook.htm 4. You Can Quit Smoking Pocket Card http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/tobacco/card.htm
Yours in Health, Happiness, and Success Your Friend Chuck Groot BFA, F/PPABC, MPA P.S. My Christmas bonus to you, you can receive my 6 CD program “Photography the Art of Success normally priced at $ 49.95 for only $ 25.00 and I will pay all shipping, handling, and taxes. Just email me and request your copy of “Photography the Art of Success” now chuckgroot@shaw.ca
Chuck Groot please send me my Christmas Bonus
|
