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82% of Americans Believe Photographers Should Have Right to Refuse Service to LGBT Community

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states brought with it quite a stir in the photography community.  One group was cheering in victory, calling for further legislation making it illegal for photographers and wedding vendors to refuse clients based on religious beliefs.  Another group was crying out that their religious freedoms were now in jeopardy and their businesses could face extinction.  And still others were indifferent.  (We gotta have the indifferent ones…)

While a small minority seemed to have made their voices heard loud and clear, a recent poll conducted by Caddell Associates indicates that more than 80% of Americans still believe a photographer should have the right to decline a wedding based on religious beliefs.

Poll: Do You Print Photographs Any More?

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I was looking at The Burning House – it is a project that visually documents what people will take out of their homes, if they caught fire. The ‘What would you take if your house was on fire?’ question is one of the more interesting questions a person can be asked as it make them think about what physical items are really important to them. In fact, this is probably a good way to see what’s important to you as a person, not jsut physically but also emotionally.

Anyhow, looking through the project, I noticed how many people noted either single photos of significance. Some noted old photos with (or of) a good friend, or a photo of a family relative.

More people, however, noted photo albums: family albums, childhood albums and wedding albums begin high on the stats. (I did not run the numbers via an excel sheet, but this was a very strong impression that I got).

Surprise, Nobody Cares About MegaPixels Anymore, We Want Better Low Light Performance

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Actually, this is not very surprising. The megapixel race have gone to sleep until  Nikon’s D800 and the rumored 75MP new Canon woke it up again.

Last week we did a quick poll to see what should camera makers focus on. Here are the results. I know that DIYP is not statistically a valid group, but I do think that with 1.000 votes it represents the general direction in which the wind is blowing.

Poll: If I Was A Camera Maker I Would Focus On…

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Imagine if you were head of the camera division at Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji or any of the other big (or small) brands. You now have the power to invest in the features you would like to see coming on the next version of the camera where would you put the research money?

We’ve seen some interesting news from Magic Lantern, who pushes for better video. We know that that is huge. We’ve seen the low light/high ISO battle between Nikon’s D800 and Canon’s 5DmkIII so that must matter to some. Nikon’s D800 36MP behemoth is now rumored eat megapixel dust from Canon’s new 75MP monster.

Which aspect do you think matters most, or is it something else altogether? This is your chance to decide on the future of cameras. Vote and have your say or leave a comment with your thoughts.

Sunday Poll: If The Photo-Fairy Gave You $1500 What Camera Gear Would You Buy?

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Here is a poll which is a little bit different than the ones we usually run. If the photo-fairy went down from heavens and granted you with a $1500 check which you must spend on photography gear, how would you spend it? Share with us in the comments.

While you don’t have to spend the entire amount, any access money is magically returned to the fairy.

The photo-fairy chose $1500 because it is exactly enough for either 1 or 2 big items or a whole bunch of smaller items, your pick.

If you are lacking inspiration, you can check out the Amazon photo store for reference, but don’t feel obliged to pick from there. Feel free to pick any item(s) related to photography in the world.

[The image at the top (taken from the Australian War Memorial collection) shows what I think a Possum would probably get form the photo-fairy]

Poll: Where Are You Positioned On The Amateur-Pro Sequence?

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So, this question has been on my mind for a long time now. I would love to know where do you stand on the amateur vs. pro sequence.

There are many definitions both for being an amateur or for being a pro. Some have to do with gear, some with the amount of time allocated to photography and some with passion. What I think is that as time goes by this distinction is becoming less obvious. It is not one or another but rather a sequence that starts at one end and concludes on the other.

One of the ways to make this distinction is to see how much of one’s income is made of photography.

I will be doing more of these poll, because it helps me to learn about you and because it could be fun to learn who are the readers around you.

At least for now, you can also find this (and the next) polls on the bottom right hand side of the blog as this post will slowly go down and out the front page.

Poll: My Next Gear Purchase Will Be …

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On our last poll, we asked a general (yet hard) question – what would you need to do in order to improve your photography.

There are some great responses there and thanks for everyone who opened up and answered this not-so-easy-to-expose question.

Our of that question a few main groups were identified

1. I need more time

2. I need better skills

3. I need better equipment

I have and will tackle all those issues on the blog, however this time I would like to focus on the third item – Gear.

This poll has a simple question – What is the next piece of gear on your shopping list, and I am not talking fantasy list here, I am talking about items that you can actually afford to buy and plan on using in the short term period.

It may be an item at the core of photography – a camera or a lens; A lighting aid like a strobe, flash or modifier, or something completely peripheral like a new computer or a new piece of software. Props, Straps, place, really anything that you feel will give you that push.

While you can form the answers in any way you’d like see if you can answer those two questions: what is the exact item (bad: a new lens / good: a Nikkor 85mm 1.8 lens) and how it will help your photography. Please be as specific as you can.

I’ll go first: I am planning on getting a set of pocket wizards. I have had enough of misfires from my cheapo RF slaves and I feel that the price is worth removing the hustle annoyance and embarrassment of having the flash not pop when I need it too.

(If you are reading this via RSS, you may want to click through to read/share your thoughts) [(cc) Image credit fensterbme]

Poll: I Would Improve My Photography If…

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As photographers we strive on taking good photographs. Moreover we want to take consistently good photographs. While it is true that inspiration, ideas and magic powder all help in making a good photo, the truth with photography, like so many other crafts – is that the more you “practice”, the better your images are.

The premise of this poll is that if you need to do two things in order to constantly improve: 1 take lots of photographs. And 2. invest the time and effort to learn after each session. You must have both.

If you “spray around” and do not take the time to edit, review, self criticize and expose your images, you will have lots of pictures, but quality will not change.

If you shoot very little it will be hard to exercise the points learned in the previous round.

(Statistically speaking, if you do take the spray route your chances of taking one good image do increase, I mean even monkeys can write a Shakespearean play, but this is not what I am talking about here).

In this poll, I would like to hear what is stopping you from improving and refining your photography skills. What is stopping you from continuously improving and honing your skills?

I’ll go first: I would improve my portraiture skills if I shot more personal projects. And I would do more personal projects if I was not so shy about asking people for participation.

How about you? Share in the comments.

(If you are reading this via RSS, you may want to click through to read/share your thoughts) [(cc) image credit Cayusa]

Poll: What Is The Most Important Item In Your Photo Bag?

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Many of us are carrying gear bags (Or gear trucks). It would be interesting to find our what are we using those bags for.

So This poll is about understanding what is in your photo bag. To exclude the obvious answer, cameras and lenses are a given. And to make it a bit more interesting, please choose only a single item you consider to be most important.

I did not include pre-loaded options on this one, so you can get as creative as you want.

All the polls I ran gave really interesting results in the open text box, and I expect this one to be no different. Especially that “Other” is only option now.

Poll: Are You An Available Light Or a Strobist Kinda Shooter?

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This poll is another step in my journey to know you better. This time I am asking a simple question: do you use artificial lights?

On the red corner we have your typical Strobist, light commands the hand motions, just like the apprentice in Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

On the blue corner we have the naturalist, packs light (no pan intended) and uses the elements (or other available light) as shaping tools.

And of course everything in between – this is why we have other.

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