Mish Mash Highlights for July 1st, 2015

As Toby and Christina are on a much needed vacation with family this week the show will return July 8th. Since I’d be about as bad as Ben Stein from Ferris Bueller for a video, and I’m not particularly set up for it, this Mish Mash will be in article form this week. If you want to chat today while going through the article we’ve got a temporary DPR chat room setup here http://us19.chatzy.com/81158584665855.

The Week in Review:

ContestsYou may remember we picked a winner for a contest just a few episodes back to get a Canon 50mm F/1.8 STM. The lucky winner Kyle sent a photo back of his new lens on a 70D.For our latest contest last week we picked the winner of the MIOPS smartphone camera trigger and the winner was Kojac Cap. For more information about the MIOPS watch Toby’s video MIOPS Overview & High Speed Photography How-to.For future giveaway’s http://photorec.tv/giveaway/ will be the place to check for more informationNikon D5500 vs Canon T6S/T6i (750D/760D)Now that he’s had a bit of time with both check out Toby’s article and video for a nice comparison Canon and Nikon's entry level offerings.http://photorec.tv/2015/06/nikon-d5500-vs-canon-t6st6i-750d760d/Sample Images from Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide-Angle 1:1 Macro LensAre you ready for the worlds first wide angle macro lens? Check out a few sample images from the lens and thoughts from Toby.http://photorec.tv/2015/07/sample-images-from-laowa-15mm-f4-wide-angle-11-macro-lens/

News:

You can now shoot photos on White House tours

Starting today if you're on a White House tour you are completely free to take as many photos as you like. There is a few catches though: video recording is banned, no live streaming though an app like periscope, a iPad does not count as a camera, and no selfie sticks. No tripods allowed on the tour which makes sense considering, imagine a herd of photographers just putting up those wherever. Camera bags are not permitted which is a bit of a bummer so packing light would be key. Lenses have to be under 3 inches in length, mostly to prevent telephoto lenses, although I'm sure that's going to mess up some people as the Canon kit 18-135mm exceeds the rule just barely. All in all you can go on a self guided tour so if you're in or visiting the DC area it would be a good place to get a few photos. Just remember for the tour you have to sign up at least 21 days in advance.https://instagram.com/p/4l6aKJvZHj/

Lake fire grew after private drone flights disrupted air drops

We’ve got another story of a drone operator being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a bit unfortunate for everyone involved but firefighting operations in California were called off temporarily as there was a drone in the flight path of planes putting out the fire. It’s restricted airspace around a fire and illegal period to be above the 400ft flight ceiling. The drone in this case was 1,200 feet above ground in the way of the planes, not to mention you don’t know where they’re going. As the planes could not land with that much of a load and could not put it on the fire having to jettison their cargo which costed between $10,000 to $15,000. As for the fire following missions were called off at the time which had a good chance of containing the fire.

LensRentals Starts Testing Lens Variance

LensRentals is going to start testing lens variance between lenses which is a boon for photographers. If you remember stories about older Sigma lenses there was a good chance of getting a bad copy and having to get a replacement at the store. While manufacturers won’t admit it there are small differences between each lens and that means for overall quality some lenses from the same model are going to be better than others. Using a MTF test station they can come up with an average specification for a particular lens using the hundreds of lenses at their disposal and find the variance at which the lenses differ from that average. LensRentals plan is to have at least 75 models from different manufacturers scored by August with new models added frequently as all new lenses coming in to them will undergo this test. As LensRentals returns 2% of all new lenses back to the manufacturer this helps them with inventory. Since all of this will be public information it's going to be a useful tool for your next lens purchase.

Disney to Ban Selfie Sticks at All of Its Theme Parks Worldwide

As someone that’s been accidentally whacked (hard) with a selfie stick I’m completely fine that Disney is banning them from all theme parks worldwide. They did try to work with the public and say no using them on roller coasters but as it was ignored this week it’s now a full ban. Someone thought it’d be a good idea to use one on a roller coaster on the way down from the initial climb, the staff saw this and shut down the coaster. Passengers had to be evacuated and the coaster itself ended up being shutdown for two hours for a safety check.Friends don’t let friends selfie stick.

The Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Be a Wedding Photographer

While I can attest to never wanting to shoot weddings myself again I do still shoot a few large events. For weddings you have to be able to shoot long hours, under pressure, stress, and a timetable with a happy face full of energy in 90F degree weather or rain. Not to mention you are responsible to the bride and groom for a decent set of photos of everyone involved.Before you go stomping off to shoot a wedding solo find a local photographer to second shoot for as an apprentice. You can gain experience and get a taste for the type of work involved before throwing yourself under a bus with the pressure on you. Don’t be in a rush and take the proper time to learn and try it out, it’s definitely something that’s not for everyone.

Sony Banking on Its Image Sensors; Will Raise $4 Billion to Invest in Development and Production

You might not realize it but overall Sony rules the camera sensor market. Nikon DSLR’s have Sony sensors but their reach even extends to iPhones and other cell phones as well. They’ve had so much demand that they’ve had to turn down offers for sales since they could not meet the supply. Samsung in particular had a bit of an issue with this as their galaxy S6 phone ended up with cameras from six other companies to make the difference. Now thanks to selling off a few shares of stock they’ve got $4 Billion in capital to invest in new research for sensors and ramp up production potentially taking over more of the market.

Instagram Update Adds All-New Search and Explore Features

In an attempt to get people out of their niches they’ve set for themselves Instagram has put out an update for a new explore page of trending topics and location based searching. As with trends on Twitter this gets people off their main feed page and makes for a new way to follow things that are active in the Instagram community. Likewise with the new search feature this allows finding new people in an area, such as a concert you were just at, to follow on Instagram. Going on a vacation? One bonus for us in particular is the location based service will double as a handy way to scout out a new area for photos. Both features are available in Instagram's new update version 7.0.

Court Dismisses Photog’s Copyright Lawsuit Against Nike Over Jumpman Photo

You may remember from a previous Mish Mash we covered that Nike was being sued for stealing an idea for a photo and using that as their Jumpman logo. Since they had copied the photo at the time they had paid $15,000 to use it for two years but not as a logo. According to the judge the two photos are different enough that it doesn’t count for a copyright claim and as you can expect the photographer will be appealing the decision.

This Preset Pack Brings Real Dehaze to Lightroom 6.1

Ticked off that you didn’t get Dehaze in Lightroom 6 (not cc) after that last update? So are a lot of folks. Turns out though that the coding involved for it is present in both systems like on-disc DLC for a video game. That means if you take a preset with it on in CC and add it to lightroom 6.1 that it will still run normally as if you had turned the slider yourself. Fortunately Prolost has already done the work and created a preset pack, for free, that has filters set for increments of the dehaze setting both positive and negative.Dehaze for Lightroom 6.1 can be found at http://prolost.com/store/dehaze

Jason Sheldon: My Response to Taylor Swift’s Agent

If you didn’t watch the Mish Mash from last week Taylor Swift had called out Apple for not paying artists during their three month trial period. Jason Sheldon, a previous photographer from her 1989 tour, called her out for doing the same practice of not paying event photographers that were shooting her concerts if they were not published and keeping the rights to photos. With a contract that implies the threat of destroying memory cards and cell phones for not complying it wasn’t quite a fair deal. A spokesman then replied trying to backtrack saying the photographers had the rights to their photos, with approval, but made no mention of pay.And so the saga continues, Jason Sheldon’s reply to the spokesman has a bit more information. Mainly that while photographers do retain the copyright it's under the control of management which is neigh impossible to reach without any direct contact information. Even at that point most requests for a release are denied giving the photographer zero pay for a event and photos which cannot even be used in a personal portfolio. As he said in the reply, Everyone’s a winner except the photographer. No word as of yet from Swift herself as she’s keeping mum about the whole ordeal but Live Nation just caved to a similar deal and the Irish times banned using her photos.

Photographing the Default Wallpaper for Windows 10

Windows XP still holds the claim for the most viewed photo and Windows 10 is keeping with the tradition of using a photo for its desktop background. I’m sure in the coming months we’ll be seeing this photo plastered in advertising everywhere for the release.

A Photographer Lost A Client For Supporting Marriage Equality. His Response Shows Why #LoveWins

In viral news for the week you may have noticed Facebook profiles gaining a rainbow overlay in support of marriage equality. Unfortunately this resulted in a Brentwood Photography losing one of their upcoming shoots but they came back with an epic response you can read below. Make sure when doing professional work to always have a contract in case problems like this arise. All in all for one client lost with their viral fame it’s a small price to pay for more advertising than they could ever pay to get realistically.

Stray Kitten Befriends Wildlife Photographer

Finally in your cat news for the day Mitsuaki Iwago, a wildlife photographer, was doing a World “Cats” Travelogue and got a kitten who wanted a friend.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYYwM6aNegs

Instagram Challenge - Fire

#PRTV_Fire - Due JULY 8th!As always you guys are bringing the heat, literally in this case, a ton of fire photos coming in already. For the holidays this event will be postponed to next week so I expect to see lots of fireworks photos! For Tips, Ideas, and How-To’s check out our article about fire photography.http://photorec.tv/2015/07/tips-ideas-photographing-fire/

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Did Toby and Christina finally make it to the ice cream truck?

Find out next week at the regular time 6:00 PM EST on July 8th.