A Stocking Full of Bitsas
- At December 24, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Admin
4
Time for another “bitsa” post, with some links, a photo from the past and a kick in the teeth.
A Big Thank You

I’d like to say a big thank you to my blogging buddy Brian Auer of Epic Edits and PhotoNetCast. The most recent episode of the excellent photography podcast PhotoNetCast discusses the sexy new Canon 5D MkII (you know, the one that will be my new camera sooner or later ;) ). I listened to this episode for that reason alone, but lo and behold, Brian actually selected my recent post on going photographer full-time as his link of the week! He graciously offered it to his listeners as something they may want to watch as I learn the ins and outs of a career in pro photography. Well I plan to live up to that and you can look forward to some interesting posts – I hope – as I build up my new career.
Have a listen to PhotoNetCast episode 19!
A Plug for Brian
Brian has a fascinating project going on over at his blog, and as usual this one takes a very unique and interesting angle. Rather than taking photos, Brian wants you to make an action or preset to help with the processing of your photos. If you have any Photoshop, Lightroom, or other application shortcuts that you use (Actions in Photoshop, presets in Lightroom), Brian wants you to write about it and submit the link to his project. And the best thing is, there’s over $1000USD worth of prizes to be handed out to ten talented winners. But you’d better hurry, the due date is January 2nd! Read about the project here.
Don’t Forget to Shoot Your Paperclip!
On the topic of projects, don’t forget about our Iron Chef Photographer – Paperclip project! The due date is just TWO DAYS away! So get out the camera, scrounge up a paperclip and get creative. Read the full details here.
Photo from the Archives
This is a photography blog, so this post should still have a photo. So here’s one from the archives.
Flickr Tag Error: Call to display photo '3130648936' failed.
This was taken in 2006 on the first evening of our driving trip through Southwestern Western Australia. Our friend Antanas holds the setting sun in his hands, as it disappears behind the clouds in the Pinnacles Desert, near Cervantes.
Yes, I Said Kicked in the Teeth
Finally a short story about a road bump on my way to being a pro photographer. I was very excited to receive an email yesterday from a large Philippine advertising agency, who wanted to use my image of The Night Sky over the Church of the Good Shepherd. The image was to be used in three of the country’s newspapers, with a combined circulation of 300,000, as a double page spread! I was very excited by this prospect, and knew that such a huge scale, prominent use of my photo would command a good price.
I used the very handy Stock Photo Price Calculator to work out what I thought was a reasonable price – I even discounted the image use in the third newspaper, a kind of volume discount. In the end I quoted around $2000USD. I was very excited about this potential sale and I must admit I got a little giddy with the good news.
The reply brought me back to Earth however. A choice quote from the rejection email was: “Getty & Photolibrary … have quoted a much much much lower rate with a similar image.”
It seems that the ad agency were given an extremely restricted budget by their client. Alright, I’ll say it, they were tight. What makes me think this? 1) They found my photo on Flickr, where I suspect they hoped to find a photo from an amateur who would be more thrilled by the idea of being published than being paid. 2) They asked if I could do it cheap because it’s only going to be published “for one day“. All newspapers are only published for one day, and I priced my quote accordingly. 3) They asked if I could do the price cheap because “it’s only going to be used for a christmas greeting“. Excuse me, but what?!
I guess the lesson here is stick to your guns, and don’t get your hopes up until your quote is approved.
Milestones, New Sponsor, 10 Astrophotos and a Giveaway!
- At November 28, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Admin
0
This post is a bit of a “bitsa” as my grandma used to call a meal made up from various left-overs, and remains of almost emptied packets. I’ve found it extremely hard to motivate myself to post lately, possibly because of the crappy weather, maybe because I’ve been up too late watching anime. But I’ve got some good news, and a giveaway! So read on for more.
Stats Success
Recently I’ve achieved some significant milestones in my online endeavours:
The blog has passed a quarter of a million views:
As have my Flickr photos:
And the blog’s feed has been read nearly 140,000 times:
New Advertiser
This week, a new advertiser signed up to support the site in one of the new smaller 4×4 grid of ad blocks I’ve made available at the top right of the blog.
Please welcome the Flickr Lister Photography Blog. I don’t know much about the site yet, but it looks like it’s just an ordinary blog, like mine, that is looking to get more visitors, and not some advertiser selling a product. I like this! It feels cool to be in a partnership with a fellow blogger. Make sure you check out Dave Adams’ Flickr Lister. He has some very nice photos there, and some very interesting HDR photos for sale on ImageKind.
If you’re interested in advertising yourself or your product here on the blog, you can secure one of the 125×125 blocks at the top right for just $10usd/month. Read more here: http://buysellads.com/buy/detail/620/.
Astrophotos by Phil Hart on DPS
Last week, I wrote my first post for DPS for a while, featuring the spectacular astrophotography of my good friend Phil Hart. The post was very popular and deservedly made it to the front page of Digg. If you missed it, make sure you go check it out, you won’t regret it, Phil’s photos are breathtaking.
Forum Giveaway
The new Learning Photography with Neil Creek Forum has got off to a good start, with 63 members so far, but everyone seems to be a bit shy. So far there are fewer posts than there are members, and the active community I was hoping for hasn’t appeared yet. So I’ve decided to help it along.
To encourage more active posting, I’m going to be giving away a free 20x30cm (8x12in) print of any photo from my collection to one lucky forum member (I wouldn’t want to speculate what the print is worth ;) ). I’m not completely sure how I’ll choose the winner yet, but I’m leaning towards a “raffle” type arrangement, where every post that contributes to the forum community by a member counts as a ticket in the draw. So the more useful posts you make, the better the chance you have of winning. This competition is open to anyone around the world, and I reserve the right to change how the winner will be determined at any time.
I should stress that only posts that contribute to the community will be counted as entries. “Me too” posts or anything that blatantly inflates ones post count just for the purposes of winning the prize will not count, and may lead to the banning of the offender. However any other kind of post, whether it be a question, one of your photos, a link to an interesting site, or even just a fun conversation between friends are all helpful to building the community.
So if you’ve signed up to the forum , but haven’t had much to say yet, get chatting! If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late. I’ll start counting posts from Dec 1st, up until the end of the year. Who knows, if this turns out to be successful, I may even make this a monthly affair! So see you on the forum and good luck to all :)
Canon Photo5 Competition
- At September 11, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Admin
13
What do you get when you combine a camera, a box of mystery items, and the limitless creativity of Australian amateur and professional photographers?

I don’t know either, and I can’t wait to find out!
Canon Photo5 Competition
Last week, just before I departed for my long weekend away, I was contacted by Anna Walmsley on behalf of Canon via a personal email, to inform me about the Canon Photo5 Competition. I was impressed that Canon got in touch with me personally, so I was excited to see what this competition is all about.
In a nutshell, the first 10,000 Australians (This is an Aussie-only competition I’m sorry international readers) to register for the competition will be sent, free of charge, a small box containing five mystery objects. The competition is to take a compelling and creative photograph with any of the objects.
This is not unlike the Iron Chef Photographer projects that we’ve run here before. On the competition web site, there is a slideshow of the previous year’s finalists, which also reveals the mystery objects from that year. The photographs are remarkable both for their creativity, and also for the inventiveness of the use of the mystery objects.
Prizes
There are two categories, for amateurs and for professionals, and each person can submit up to five entries, one for each of the mystery objects. Prizes for the ten winners (five for each of the two categories) are $5000AUD worth of Canon EOS products and accessories of your choice. I’ve got my eye on the likely-soon-to-be-revealed Canon EOS 5D MarkII :D
I’ve already submitted my application, and you’d better hurry if you want to as well; there are only 10,000 boxes up for grabs, and you must register by the 30th of September! Oh and you don’t have to shoot with a Canon camera, and the terms are photographer friendly, you retain full copyrights to your work.
Read more about the competition, including the very informative FAQ, and see last year’s finalists at the competition site. You can follow the buzz about the project on the Photo5 blog.
I hope all of my Aussie readers participate, I can’t wait to see your submissions! I really like the idea of this competition and you can be sure I’ll be talking about my entries here on the blog. I may even see if I can come up with some kind of similar project that international (and Australian!) readers can participate in right here on this blog. No $5000 prizes on offer from me though, I’m sorry! :)
PS, if anyone from Canon is reading: If you happen to need an influential blogger to give the new 5D a test run and review at a major event photo shoot, where the camera will be put through a very difficult shoot with thousands of photos in three days… I happen to know just the person *grin*. The Melbourne Anime Festival is coming up in a couple of weeks, coincidentally around the same time news on the 5D is expected, and I think it would be a wonderful way to get word out about what a wonderful revolutionary camera it is. You can contact me at neil@creek.name :)
PROJECT: 3D For Everyone – Results
- At June 11, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Projects
6
Congratulations to the Winners
Public Choice : Niall O’Callaghan |
Judge’s Choice : David W. Kesner |
3D For Everyone has been the most successful project on this blog so far, with 42 entries, 114 votes on the submissions, and a very successful first ever sponsorship of the project. Having the sponsors, Loreo, provide free 3D viewers to all entrants was wonderful, and the post I wrote about 3D photography for DPS was dugg and sent a LOT of traffic to this blog and the project.
It’s obvious to anyone, that 3D photography is accessible to anyone with a camera, and the variety of appropriate subjects is enormous. 3D brings a new dimension to photography, figuratively and literally. There are many creative possibilities to be had by taking advantage of the unique properties of stereo photography. I hope that we’ll see more and more stereophotography from you all, and the rest of the world going forward.
A big congratulations to David W. Kesner, the winner of the first ever prize offered on this blog, the Loreo 3D Lens-in-a-Cap. Unfortunately, David’s site seems to be undergoing an upgrade, and when I tried to contact him to ask what kind of mount he would like his 3D lens to have, his email bounced. David, if you are reading this, please get in touch with me at neil@creek.name so that we can arrange to have your prize sent to you.
Judges’ Comments
The judges worked together to choose the winner by consensus, however, there were many other favourites. In addition to the winner, the judges each selected a favourite entry to be awarded an honorable mention. Below you can read the judges comments on the winner, as well as their selected honorable mentions.
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Winner: David W. Kesner |
Cody: It’s a wonderfully cluttered affair, isn’t it? But it’s so much fun to look through all of the antiques and knickknacks. I liked the image before getting my cross-eyes on, but it’s a real treat in 3D. I’ve always been partial to second-hand stores and old junk, so maybe that influenced my decisions, but it doesn’t take away from this great shot. | |
David: A nice blend of color and clutter. | |
Naomi: This picture instantly grabbed my attention. It looked interesting before viewing in 3D, but once in the 3D zone, it was fantastic! There is so much to see in this picture and you just want to hang around to look in all of the nooks and crannies to see all of the knick-knacks and treasures. There is just so much depth to it. I don’t know if it’s museum real shop or an illustration, but there is something magical and intriguing about it. It is a perfect specimen for 3D. |
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Honorable Mention: Michael Comerford |
Cody: Despite the focus issue, to me this is the most impressive example of 3D because of the great use of DOF. It really shows the effects of the technique all the way through the image and I don’t even mind that there’s a very narrow window of focus, hardly one at all. |
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Honorable Mention: Dominic Portain |
David: I thought I was looking through my childhood Viewmaster. The composition and visual balance of this scene is just beautiful. I love the leading line of the road in the background leading right up to the church with the church in just the right position of the composition – the top right 1/3. Notice too, as the eye moves from foreground to background we get a repeat of color in the rooftops repeated in the foreground, mid-ground and background. All the inner voices of this scene – composition, color, balance, and beautifully executed 3D make it a top choice. |
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Honorable Mention: Roger Harris |
Naomi: This early on submission has been a favourite of mine. It is picturesque and uses the 3D effect fantastically. Also, by masking around the flowers so they “pop” out, this has extended the 3D effect which I think is a clever technique. I also like the non-traditional shape of the image. |
Submissions
Below are the full list of submissions for the project, including the photographers name and link. Where provided, I have linked to the photographer’s site or blog, but in most cases the links point to the photo itself, wherever it was stored. I would like to encourage you to go and comment on the original photos you like best, if that option is available. There is some terriffic stereophotography here!
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Josh Thompson |
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Alexey |
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Public Vote Results
And here are the results of the voting.
[poll id=”3″]
A couple of final points
To those of you who have not yet received your Pixi 3D viewer, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that they have currently run out of stock of the viewers, so there will be a delay getting them to you. The good news is that the reason for the delay is that the versions sent out so far were late prototypes, and the factory is now producing the brand new, improved production version of the Pixi 3D viewer. So when you receive your 3D viewer, it’ll be an even better one.
To those who have already received their viewers, Loreo tell me that you will be sent another, final production version of the Pixi 3D viewer. How cool is that? You get two free viewers!
I want to take this opportunity to thank the generous sponsors of this project, Loreo. Coming soon to this blog you can look forward to an in-depth review of the 3D Lens in a Cap. Also coming soon will be a survey that I would like all participants to complete, all about your experiences with the Pixi 3D viewer. Loreo are still keen to get your feedback, so it would be great of you to help out.
One final observation: I don’t know if this means anything or not, but when submitting their entry with their postal address for shipping the Pixi 3D viewer, only ONE out of the two-dozen or more American participants included their country in their address! On the other hand, every single one of the dozen or so European participants included theirs… Curious no? :)
Next Project
It’s a bit late coming, but I know you don’t need a full month to get involved with a project, right? Well for the June project, I’m returning to a favourite. The Iron Chef Photogrpahy project in March was very popular, so I plan to do a new one every three months. Watch the blog for a post very soon all about the new Iron Chef Photography project. This month:
Iron Chef Photography: A Shoe
PROJECT: 3D For Everyone – Judges and Extension
- At May 22, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Projects
0

Have you been having fun taking and looking at 3D photos? I’m thrilled with the submissions that I have received for the 3D For Everyone project so far! And there’s been quite a bit of 3D attention directed at the blog in the last day.
DPS post
Last night (midnight my time), Darren of Digital Photography School posted my newest post there, which features some of the best 3D photography from around the net. He titled it 9 Crazy Cross Eye 3D Photography Images and How to Make Them, far more interesting than my original title “3D is Back!” :) Since then I’ve had a huge influx of traffic to the blog, mostly from people new to 3D reading the instructions for how to see 3D images. I’m sure some of the popularity of the post is due to a 3D photo of a rather fetching young woman in her undergarments – the source of some unfounded controversy in the comments in the post.
The post has been picked up on some of the social network sites, so I was hoping you all might be able to do me a favour, and help it along a little, by helping to spread the word. If you are registered at Digg, would you please digg the post. If you use StumbleUpon, could you stumble it. If you have any other favourite social networks, I would greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word through them as well!
Date Extension
I’m sure that there’s going to be a few more entries to the project from these new visitors, and I look forward to seeing them. The due date is very close however, so to give these new folks a bit more of a chance to get their photos to participate, I’m extending the due date for the project by two days to May 26th. Check here for the time in your local time zone.
Announcing the Judges
It is with great pleasure that I can announce the three judges who will be responsible for evaluating your work and choosing the winner, who will get the Loreo 3D Lens-in-a-Cap from our generous sponsors, Loreo. Cody has blogged about his participation in the project at his blog. David has blogged about my 3D photography before. Naomi is well known to the readers of this blog, and has some skills that will being a unique perspective to the judging. You can read more about them below:
Cody Redmon is a native and current resident of Montana who fell in love with landscapes at an early age. Growing up in a rural area gave him the access to explore his interest and grow his techniques, while visiting some of the most beautiful areas of the United States’ northwest and southwest regions. As a photographer, his goal is to capture the beauty of a scene and present it in a manner which conveys emotion. He has a deep respect for the wilds and is pleased to present to you scenes and vistas from the back reaches of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. He maintains a personal blog of current works at Cody Redmon – Photoblog, and has additional signed and numbered, limited edition prints on his personal website, CodyRedmon.com.
David Ziser is a professional photographer from the metro Cincinnati area. He concentrates mostly on weddings and family portraits. To relax, he enjoys landscape and fine art photography as well, and puts quite a bit on energy into both when he has a bit of spare time on his hands.
Naomi Creek has been a keen artist since childhood, always eager to try her hand at anything that could express her creativity. Working as a graphic designer for the last 20 years, she has had the pleasure of sourcing beautiful imagery for use in brochures and advertising material. She loves nature and animals and it is with this passion that brought her to meet her husband, Neil Creek whilst he was observing the starry skies through his telescope. Naomi is enjoying sharing in Neil’s photographic journey and spends many hours with him appreciating the wonder of nature, future technology and the possibilities that lie around the corner. Her hobbies include anything artistic, like jewellery making, cooking or painting.
Dont forget that every entry gets a free Pixi 3D viewer, and the winner gets a Loreo 3D lens for their DSLR!

If you would like to participate in 3D For Everyone, then please visit the project page. There you will find full details about the project, instructions on how to see and take 3D photos, and the submission form through which you can submit your entry.
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