technical stuff

How To Write Full IPTC

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(A very long post about a simple topic.)

Much to my surprise, one of the most popular posts on this blog is a 2018 article about how to write a photo caption. This is a follow-up to that article and will explain how to fill out the other IPTC data fields found in most photo software.

IPTC refers to the International Press Telecommunications Council, a consortium of major news agencies which formed in 1965. The organization established, and maintains, universal technical standards for the exchange of news data. This means that some of the IPTC fields will apply only to news photographers and perhaps stock agency photographers. But there are several fields that every photographer should be using.
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Getting Better All The Time

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New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (L) argues with home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman in the eighth inning of their American League East MLB baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, 06 June 2010.

This is another view-from-my-office photo.

When a photo job doesn’t work out the way you wanted, who do you blame?

If you blame your tools then the solution is to get better tools.

If you blame your customers then the solution is to get better customers.

But if the blame rests on you then the solution is to get better.
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On Photography – 50 Years Later

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If you don’t like what you see in front of your camera, you can often wait a few minutes and a better picture might come along. These two skyline pictures were shot less than 20 minutes apart. In those few minutes, the wind blew in the clouds and the automatic lights in many buildings turned on.

This is another view-from-my-office photo.

It’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of US author Susan Sontag‘s essay Photography (link to PDF) which was later re-edited and renamed “In Plato’s Cave.” This renamed essay became the first of six essays in her book, “On Photography.” In Plato’s Cave is probably the most well known of the six essays.
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Washrooms and Photographers

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A big, clean washroom in a sports stadium an hour before the public arrives. A baby changing table, like the one on the far left wall, can be useful to photographers.

This is something they definitely did not teach you in photography school. How do you go to the washroom when you’re doing event photography?
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Camera Bag Security

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A photographer friend recently had their camera gear stolen while shooting a corporate event at a hotel. They put their fully loaded camera bag down for just a couple minutes . . .

We all know to never leave our gear unattended when in public. But that’s often easier said than done.

I use a wheeled case as much as possible not only because it takes the weight off my shoulders but also because it’s easier to secure a wheeled case than an over-the-shoulder bag. A Pelican case or similar is best because there are no zippers and you can lock the lid. Zippers are relatively easy to poke open with a screwdriver, a fork or even a ballpoint pen. Some zippers are made more puncture-resistant than others.

I have several homemade, plastic-coated steel cables of various lengths and matching padlocks. These cables are used on location, in my car trunk and in hotel rooms.
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Sky High Photography

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Cameras have a changed a lot over the past hundred years. They got smaller and lighter, became more electronic, film gave way to digital sensors, and we now have flying cameras commonly called “drones.”

Aerial photography started at least as early as 1858 by Gaspard-Felix Tournachon (aka Nadar) who photographed from a hot air balloon in France. But most photographers didn’t have a hot air balloon handy so they had to find other ways to get a high camera angle:

Circa 1909. (US Library of Congress)

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