"For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path"

The field of photography, as a profession, is both expanding and contracting at the same time. More people than ever are creating publishable images. And while most of them will never see a dime some do make a small sum of money doing what they love.  On the other side, choosing photography as a career option and sole means of income is becoming less and less viable as the demand for images shrinks and the number of sources increases.  The pie is getting smaller and more people want a slice. 

This article from the New York Times explains the issue.


My belief is that photographers will need to combine their skills with something else in order to survive. (Now if I could only figure out what the something else is so I can quit my day job!)

How do you use a monopod? (or "Tripod? We don't need no steenkin' tripod!)

We all know that to get maximum sharpness its best to use a tripod. However, lugging around a tripod isn't always an option.  In such cases, a monopod might allow you to stabilize your camera without weighing you down. I've personally found that when using a monopod I am only marginally more stable than hand held. There is apparently a knack to shooting with a them. What's the trick? How do you shoot with a monopod? This links explains:
http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo5.php3

My monopod is this one for those interested by the way.

Hawaii - Day Three - Sunday, January 31th 2010

Day three in Hawaii was the beginning of better weather and more fun than I could ever imagine.  While we putzed about and just were kinda on the island for blah weather for the first two days, day three was really the turning point.

My wife and I, along with my brother, my sister-in-law, and my niece started the day by visiting Waimea Canyon. Located on the west side of the island, it has been described as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  Unfortunately, I've never been to the Grand Canyon but even so I can say that this description is probably accurate. The canyon is over 4000 feet deep at its deepest point despite the fact that it is only a few miles long.

 

My brother took his family to Barking Sands beach while my wife and I carried on the trail to catch a view of the cliffs of the Nepali coast from the top.  (Nepali simply means "the cliffs" so in a way that statement is somewhat redundant).

 

Day three was also the day I first tried snorkeling. My wife thought that I should at least try swimming in the ocean before I tried scuba diving. The experience was remarkable. Unfortunately, I had problems with my snorkel so I swam without it and just used my fins and mask. Nevertheless, my first view below the waves will remain in memory forever.  There were dozens of different types of fish and many were very colorful. It was almost like swimming in an aquarium. Sadly, my first shots didn't turn out that great as I wasn't used to framing a shot while being moved along up and down and side to side by the waves.

The Flickr set can be found here