Ivan Makarov Blog

I recently ordered a canvas image wrap from Canvas on Demand for a friend. The picture is the one of the Oakland Temple, which has not been cropped, so the native resolution of it is 4:6, but the option we ordered was 16:20, which means some cropping would have to occur to fit the image.

What did COD do? Here an email I got this morning.

Hi [..],

Regarding your recent order, the image that you submitted does not fit the exact proportions for the size of canvas you have chosen. In order to assure a good fit, we are going to make your canvas a custom size of 16×24 instead of 16×20. We will do this at no additional charge to you. Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with the finished product, so we just wanted to keep you informed of this modification. We will get started immediately. We will do a great job for you!

CanvasOnDemand.com reference #[..].

Thanks!

And that’s what I can an outstanding customer service.

Last week I decided to jump on the iPad bandwagon, and get the newly released Apple iPad 2. Here are some of my initial thoughts after spending most of the weekend playing with it.

Why I Finally Bought One

When the first iPad came out, I wasn’t all that excited about it. I felt it was overpriced, and lacked cool features I thought it would have (camera, Flash support, etc.). I couldn’t justify paying $600-1000 for what seemed to be a giant iPhone. Plus, most photographers were screaming – “perfect way to carry your portfolio with you”, and I just didn’t see it. Nothing substitutes a good web-site, and also fine prints.

But then three things happened.

First, I bought a Kindle 3. There’s no better way to read books. I can download a book I want to read within seconds (and a lot of them are available for free). I can also carry hundreds of them together  the same time. Since I bought Kindle, I couldn’t stop reading. Kindle converted me to portable readers. What I loved the most about it was that it was so light that I never noticed any extra weight in my work bag.

Second, I played with iPads that some of my friends have and absolutely loved the whole experience – browsing pictures, reading news, playing games and so forth.

Third, since iPad first came out, over 50,000 apps were created for it. Some of the popular iPhone apps (which is nice, as I’m not an iPhone user), and other cool ones. A lot of them are free. Apps is the future of personal computers, and especially tablets and phones. I know as a Blackberry user. Love the phone – hate its software and its apps.

Getting an iPad 2

I went to the Oakridge Mall not far from my house in San Jose. I got there around 3pm – which was 2 hours before the official launch at 5pm. The line already had about 150 people there. Quite a few people in the line were playing with their original iPads. How genius is Apple – people are upgrading to iPad 2 because they love their original one so much.

The line was an interesting experience too. Local retailers popped up often with free gifts – such as snacks with coupons to their stores. Local restaurants were also passing the menus and delivering food to people in the line. Apple was not the only one making money from its fanboys. The experienced people brought chairs. I didn’t, but will remember that next time.

The line started moving at 5pm, and did so quite fast. I got into the store around 6.30pm and was able to get the model I wanted – 3G 32 Gb Verizon version, although I did want AT&T, and they were out of all AT&T models by then. Comparing to what I heard about iPhone 4 launch, the line wasn’t as long, but still I’m certain Apple store sold all the iPads they got delivered to them (probably at least a 1,000 of them). The estimate says Apple sold at least 400,000 of these devices over the weekend.

I’m glad I went to the store instead of ordering online. Right now Apple’s web-site is showing 3-4 weeks delivery times.

What I loved about iPad

I’ll mostly use the iPad for two things – (1) catching up with news and (2) sharing it with my kids.

I spend at least an hour or two every evening reading news, browsing the blogs I follow, looking at pictures, and catching up with my social circle on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. There’s simply no easier and funner way to do it than on an iPad. There are great apps to do that. Flipboard just blew my mind away. It transforms all the important sources of information (social networks, or blogs, or bigger news sites) into a newspaper one can flip. News, tweets, blogs look so much better this way. Twitter for iPad is also the best way I found to use Twitter. It’s much faster and more interactive than any tools I used on a big computer. I loved TweetDeck. Now that I tried the Twitter app on iPad, I don’t ever want to use Twitter any other way. Photos also look so much better on the iPad screen they they do on my PC or even large iMac screen. iPad has one of the best screens I have ever seen in terms of how it handles contrast, color and rich blacks.

Then there are games. I’m not much of a gamer – last time I owned a game console was in mid-90s. But there are plenty of educational apps/games I can play with my kids and interact with them. It’ll be fun to spend more time with my kids this way.

Kids are also excited for our next road trip and airplane trips. Now they get 10 hours of movies on one battery charge. Plus, we can plugin in the iPad into the cigarette charger in our car without any problem. The screen on the iPad is much bigger than on any average DVD player, and we don’t have to shell out $2,000 for the system in the next car we’ll be buying just to get a DVD screen that is smaller in size and nothing even close in resolution to the HD quality of an iPad.

Finally, I do plan to use it for my photography portfolio when meeting with clients, and it’s nice that iPad 2 now comes with HDMI adapter. I frequently meet with clients in their homes, and it’d be nice to be able to blow up my portfolio on their HD TVs, right there in their living room.

Besides the apps and the whole experience, I also loved how light and slick iPad 2 is. The first version seemed a bit clunky when I compared it to Kindle 3. This one while weights the same, due to its redesign, feels very similar to my Kindle – small, light and very easy to hold.

What I didn’t like about iPad

The Smart Cover Apple created works just like they show in Apple videos. But I don’t know how effective it is. We’ll see if it sticks when I put an iPad in the bag. Also, it won’t protect the back of an iPad which I expect will get scratched with heavy use. I am thinking of abandoning it for a more standard leather cover that will cover both front and back.

Typing is not practical on an iPad. By that, I mean typing anything longer than 140 characters. My fingers still want me to feel the buttons. I’ll never want to compose a blog post on it. I will eventually buy a collapsable bluetooth keyboard for when I travel so I can leave my laptop at home.

My kids love it as much as I do. iOS is designed perfectly for a 3 year old, and my son can now operate it as well as I can. Even my 1 year old, who is typically not into computers loves how interactive iPad is, even for someone of her age. As a result, I have to fight for the iPad with my little ones when I’m home.

Overall

Otherwise, I love it. Those of you who own a Mac know that Apple products just work. It’s certainly the case with the new iPad. The internet is a whole new experience.

If you haven’t yet spend any time playing with an iPad – be careful. Once you do, you just may want to get one.

How do we name our photographs?

This was the question recently explored by the fellow photographer G Dan Mitchell, whose blog I regularly read. Well, Dan’s question was more about how he names his own work, but the discussion in the comments went that way and made me think about my own work.

There’s really three schools of thoughts on the subject.

First, there’s a group of photographers who give no titles to their photographs. If a photograph speaks on its own, it’s best not to interrupt. I’d say there are not too many photographers today who do that, but I see it here and there. William Eggleston didn’t name any of his. The way we post our photographs on blogs or on Flickr “Untitled” is what shows up, because online tools by default want a title. Sometimes these photographers don’t name the photographs, but name sets or projects. See for example this set by Cole Thompson.

Second, there’s a group of photographers who use plain titles for their photographs – mainly describing the subject. This was certainly an approach taken by many classic photographers in the past, such as Ansel Adams or today by Michael Kenna. Dan uses that approach for his photography, saying that his reason for that “is that it is my hope that the photograph can speak for itself through whatever it is and does as a photograph.”

Third, there’s a growing group of photographers who use titles as an extension of a photograph – directing the viewer to look for something. A good example of that “Looking Ahead” photograph. The title serves as a context. Sometimes the title is not so obvious, and makes viewer stop and wonder why.

Of course none of these approaches are right or wrong – they all have their purposes and meaning. Some stick to one specific approach. I tend to use all of the three at different times for different purposes, and I certainly appreciate all of them.

To me photography is about telling stories. I see it the same way I see a book or a movie. Sometimes the title is simple – such as “Anna Karenina”, or “Forrest Gump.” Other times, the title is all part of telling that story – such as “War and Peace” or “Crash.”

My recent Walt Disney Concert Hall set did not have a specific title – it was all about the place, the light and the shapes. It’s the same way with my LDS Temples project. But other photographs have titles that help them tell the story, such as “Sitting on the Edge of the World” or “Links into the Past.”

Whatever comes to mind, I see naming photographs as an important part of the creative process.

Would love to hear other thoughts on the topic.

UPDATE: Good discussion on the topic started in Hotbox group. Check it out here.

Few days ago a buddy of mine, Joshua Cripps asked on his Facebook page “What’s your favorite style of photo: canvas wraps or box-mounted prints?” As you know, I’m a big fan of canvas prints. I have them hanging all over my house – in our living room, in our bedroom, in the hallways. I love how photographs look printed on canvas, I love how easy these frames are to hang and I love how the interior of our house looks decorated with them. However, as I thought about it some more, I realized that there is actually almost in-between option out there in the market place. Lucky me – Canvas on Demand asked me if I would review another product of theirs, canvas print inside the floating frame. I never printed a photograph this way and never even seen one before. This was going to be an interesting experiment, as I ordered one of the recent favorite images of mine, “The Arrival of Winter, Garappata Beach” to be printed 20″ x 30″. Here are some of my thoughts on the service and the product.

Ordering Process

Not surprisingly, as I’ve dealt with the Canvas on Demand in the past, the ordering process was really easy. I uploaded the image, picked the options, put in my address, and was done within 10 minutes from starting. The instructions were clear, and I think any non-photographer would have no difficulty whatsoever putting the order in. What I liked about the process is that (1) I could pick the color of the frame, which is useful because different homes have different sets of furniture one could match with a frame, (2) I could pick the style of the frame. We try to keep our furniture as simple as possible in our home, and I prefer the modern style of the frame. I ordered one in black color. But if one wants, other, more traditional and old style frames are available as well. (3) I could upload as big of a file as I wanted to. It could even be in TIFF format. For 20″ x 30″, I figured I upsize it a bit (something I do inside Genuine Fractals). 30 Mpx file – not a problem! Not all printing labs offer the same flexibility today.

Shipping

First, the timing. I ordered the canvas on January 24. It was shipped February 2nd and arrived at my place on February 8th. Pretty quick shipping for such a customized product, as a lot of work goes into assembling it together. Second, the packaging.  The 20″ x 30″ frame is huge! Most of the printing labs would roll the print, but that’s obviously impossible to do with a framed print. The frame itself was packaged inside a big box that they tend to ship big flat screen TVs, with several layers of plastic for extra protection and was shipped via FedEx.

The Frame

The end product left me very happy. The image itself was printed with high quality. The color and the lightness was spot on. Also it was good to see the  details on the rock in the middle of the image. The frame was made out of solid wood, and painted black. The wood was of the excellent quality, even as I drilled screws in it. The finished product was professionally assembled both on the front and in the back. Also, the 3/8″ space between the canvas print and the frame itself gave the print some space, but also emphasized the edges of the canvas print. For details, see the images below. The hanging was pretty straight forward. The frame came with the tool they called “honeycomb packet.” There was an element that I had to screw into the frame and then hang it against the nails that were also included. I’m not your Handy Manny, and my tools (and the skills) are very primitive. With that in mind, it took me about 15 minutes to attach these things to the frame, the wall and to hang it. Another nice plus about this honeycomb tool – it’s flexible as for where I can attach the nail – meaning, it’s very easy to straighten the frame after it’s hung and adjust it as necessary. Also, the frame doesn’t move after because the nail is stuck in the honeycomb. I won’t have to adjust the angle of the frame every few days, as I have to with some of my other frames around the house with their more primitive nails.

How It Fits In Our Home

Adding a frame to a canvas prints makes that print stand out even more. It separates it from the wall, and gives the print a museum feel quality. How else do I put it.. It makes it looks more “posh,” so to speak.  I think a product like this actually enhances its surroundings.

Summary – Pros

• Great service by Canvas on Demand from start to finish.
• The look of the frame is contemporary and different from my other frames. It’s a good option for one print you especially want to stand out in your house.
• The finish is of the top quality.
• The option with the floating frame allows the print to fit in its surroundings (furniture, colored wall, etc).
• Despite its size, the frame was very easy to hang.

Summary – Cons

• The only con I could think is that this option is expensive – prices almost double from the more traditional stretched canvas print without a frame.

I wanted to try something different this time, and I was not disappointed. The canvas inside the frame turned out to be an excellent product I am now happy to hang in our living room. It is yet another great way to display your photos by Canvas on Demand.

Davenport, California

Another shot from one February sunset on the coast.

There’s something about standing there in the water while taking shots like this that make them more personal – at least for me.

With tax season well underway, I am getting emails from fellow photographers who are asking me if they should treat their photography income as a business or not. It is of course an important decision, especially when the IRS knows that one has a photography income. For example, many of my fellow photographers participate in Flickr/Getty partnership by licensing their Flickr photographs to Getty Images. Getty licenses those photographs to various clients and pays royalty income to photographers. If photographers had sales in 2010, they get Form 1099-Misc from Getty that shows the total income paid to the photographer. Getty also sends a copy of the form to the IRS and the IRS will look for that income on photographer’s tax return.

First, there is no point hiding that income because the IRS already knows about it. I also tell other photographers to declare all other income they earned from photography during the year, just to be safe. That includes print sales, photo shoot fees, and any other income earned with the camera.

Second, photographers have to decide how they want to treat  that income on the tax return – as a hobby income or a business income. I wrote more about this decision here. But essentially – it boils down to two things – (1) how serious are you about the photography? Are you serious enough that you’re trying to turn it into a profitable venture? (2) how afraid you are of the IRS audit? When Schedule C is filed together with form 1040, chances of an IRS audit down the road increase significantly. All tax returns can get audited, of course, and we have no idea exactly how IRS chooses the returns for audit. But those that have Schedule C get audited more often than those that don’t.

Finally, another point I wanted to bring up here is something that’s been in the news earlier this week. The new budget for 2012 that Pres. Obama just released this week has this as part of it -

President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget doesn’t cut much of anything (see above), and certainly not the Internal Revenue Service. The White House is requesting that the most beloved of all government agencies get an additional 5,100 agents next year, no doubt to wring further tax revenue from Americans. The White House wants to give the IRS a 9.4% raise in fiscal 2012, to $13.28 billion. Reuters reports this would allow for a roughly 5% increase in agency manpower to 100,537, including $460 million more for tax enforcement than in 2010.

More audits and more tax reassessments for all us, as we try to help the government balance its budget. Keep that all in mind as you are thinking about what to do with that money you might have earned through your photography.

How about a color photograph for a change?

Last Saturday was another unusually warm day for this time of the year in Northern California. The temperature was close to 80 degrees. What’s even better we had some beautiful high clouds hanging over the area.

With not much to do, we heeaded over to the nearby Davenport beach to Laguna Creek Beach. The reason I headed there was simple – I had my family with me. My kiddos can’t hike too steep trails, and I picked a simple one.

Joshua Cripps was shooting not far from here, but he said there was a crowd of photographers around him. No one but a couple of teenagers creating a fire was over here.

As the fire in the sky started and everything around me was transformed by that beautiful sky, I was struggling finding a composition I liked. I may have a shot I’ll share later. So I quickly turned to my little fam who were having a grand time running and dancing around and just taking it all in. In a way I was almost jealous – sometimes photography takes over and we forget why we even do it.

Also, sometimes when we add people into the landscape, especially those who matter the most to us, the photograph takes a whole new meaning.

Technical Info -
Nikon D300
1/10 sec, f/16, 12mm
Lee ND 0.9+0.6

Last one in the series.

If you know me, you know that I love photography on a stretched canvas. I like how photographs looks on the canvas material. I like how stretched canvas looks on the wall. And I like how easy it is to create it when compared to a more traditional photograph matted and hung behind the class in the frame. I like canvas products so much that I have four different photographs produced on a canvas hung in different parts of our home.

Not long ago I was contacted by another service that produces custom canvas print products. The service is called Canvas Pop, and as far as I can tell, they’re based out of New York. They asked if I would review their services in exchange for a free print canvas of my choice. Why not? I went ahead and picked one of my favorite recent photographs I made, the one of Oakland Temple. I ordered the canvas in 16×24 size, 0.75″ inch deep wrap option. All the other canvas prints I ordered before were 1.5″ deep, which is now pretty much an industry standard. I wanted to try something new this time. On top of it, since it was holidays time, I ordered another canvas print of my kids, 8×10″, also with 0.75″ deep frame option. I thought if it turns out well, I’ll give it to our kids’ grandparents.

With that, let’s jump right into the review.

The Good:

• The ordering process was easy and quick. The CanvasPop web-site is not cluttered. The Company focuses only on canvas products. When it comes to these things, I prefer to deal with specialists, rather than a lab that offers 200 other photo products. It took me less than 10 minutes from start to finish to order two canvas items.
• What I loved was that following the order, just one day later I got emails from CanvasPop asking me to proof the canvas before it is created. It had a digital reproduction of what canvas will look like when done – including where the images will be cut off. When we order the image wrap option of canvas, part of the image gets cropped because the picture wraps all around the frame. Offering a preview of where the cutoff happens in three dimensions is a very useful service. When I saw the preview, I realized that I ordered the wrong option for my 16×24 canvas. I wanted an image wrap, and by mistake, I ordered the option with the white border. I communicated that to the customer service rep I was dealing with, and he promised to change it in the final production.
• One of the reasons why I ordered another canvas was because CanvasPop offered free shipping on the order if more than one canvas was ordered. Another smart option.
• The order shipped 7 days after I placed it. Pretty quick turn around, especially considering if was around holidays when the volume of orders was higher than ever. I’m on the West Coast, and the order arrived 5 days later.
• The canvas frames were carefully wrapped in big plastic bags to ensure they won’t get damaged during the shipping. It took a few minutes to unwrap it, but better be safe than sorry.
• The quality of canvas print was excellent. The contrast was outstanding, as were the details of the houses, the temple and the San Francisco skyline.
• What I loved the most was the assembly in the back of the canvas. It was unique – hanging hard wire was already attached to the back of the frame. What that meant was that it took all of 10 seconds to hang it on the wall.
• Both canvas prints I ordered looked good enough for me to hang the Oakland Temple picture in our living room, and to gift the other one of our kids to their proud grandparents.

Points if Improvement

• Generally speaking, the color and the contrast of the image turned out great. The trees in the bottom side of the image, however, looked darker in then print than on my monitor screen. It’s a tricky shadows detail, and I know that when I print that image on my Epson printer, I always have to print more than once to get it right for these kinds of shadows. Not a big deal to me, because I want the temple to stand out, and not the trees, but it was something I noticed.
• When I got my order, I discovered that the Oakland Temple canvas was still printed with white border option. If you remember what I wrote above, I did ask them to fix it before it was printed and yet it did not happen. I called the customer service about this, and they apologized for an error. To fix it, they sent me the same 16×24 canvas with the picture wrap option – for free. I was travelling during holidays, and asked CanvasPop to send it over after the break. The replacement arrived two weeks later once I returned from the holidays. The turnaround for a replacement wasn’t as fast as I expected, but considering it was holidays, that’s something I can understand.

Summary

Overall, I was pleased with my experience as a photographer and as a customer. The artwork turned out well, and CanvasPop did fix their initial error about my order. If you’re considering a canvas print, it is another service  that I’m confident will do a good job. Take a look by going to their web-site. You can also find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.

I thought I’d keep the light switch there to give you a sense of scale.

0.75″ option – in my opinion, looks as good as 1.5″.

The back of of the canvas by CanvasPop – one of its strengths for how easy it is to hang it right out of the box.