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A little over a year ago, I started going on a low information diet. Rather than just reduce the number of feeds in my RSS reader, I dumped them all in one shot. I knew myself well enough to realize that I would open up the reader the moment I felt the need to postpone taking action on something important. So I still found myself opening the reader, but there was nothing in it that would serve as a tool for procrastination. Rather than just limiting my email consumption to one or two scheduled sessions per day, I added Gmail.com to Leechblock, a Firefox extension that blocks your access to designated sites for designated time periods.

The principle is simple: it’s easier to increase our concentration by controlling our environment than controlling our attention. By setting the conditions in which we operate on the front end, we spare ourselves the order of having to make moment-to-moment decisions for staying on task. I kept trying to open GReader and Gmail, despite my conscious commitment to the low information diet. The problem isn’t changing a behavior, it’s changing a habit, and a habit is much more deep-seated and has more momentum than a single action.

Habit Handicapping

There are probably a million ways to change a habit, but I see three main ones. We can identify the psychological cause that drives the habit. I’m too much of a pragmatist to find much reassurance in that approach, at least when it comes to getting past procrastination. We can identify distractions and triggers that divert us from the critical path, like instant messages and phone calls. I think this is necessary but not sufficient. It’s one thing to know that a ringing cell phone is distracting, but trying to ignore it when it rings requires willpower, and exercising that willpower is itself a distraction — like consciously trying not to think of pink elephants.

The third way is habit handicapping: limiting your ability to engage in a unproductive habit. Returning to the GReader/Gmail example, I created a framework in which I didn’t have to tell myself not to check RSS feeds or email. I was free to check them, even if they yielded no results. For a few weeks, I still opened these sites reflexively, then my brain finally made the connection: opening these sites will just show an empty page. Break the causal connection between a habit and its effect by changing the effect. Disrupting that habit has since served its purpose, and now I’m using an RSS reader again, but in a unique way that I’ll explain in an upcoming post.

But surely you can cheat if you really want to indulge in the habit? Absolutely. The point isn’t necessarily to remove the possibility to succumbing to habit, but to put enough sand in the gears to make habitual behavior a conscious choice.. You can leave ice cream in the freezer and resolve to avoid eating it, or you can throw it out so that you have to drive to the store if your sweet tooth is really that strong. I prefer the latter. Imagine how much more fit employees would be in an office without vending machines or coffee makers.

Other examples:

• Increasing your writing output by composing on a legal pad instead of looking for a fancier writing tool with internet access
• Deleting your browser bookmarks so that you have to access your favorite time leeches by typing in their urls. Those who are apprehensive about losing their bookmarks permanently can always save them to a flash drive first
• Leaving cash at home to avoid the vending machine at work
• Installing a call filter app on your phone that blocks designated calls, or all calls, at designated times. I have mine automatically set to route calls to voice mail during work hours, so I never have to hear or attempt to ignore a ringing phone

Willpower is overrated. We know it, yet we pay lip service to it. Powerful CEOs get things done in large part because they have professional gatekeepers to control their environment, not because they have iron wills. In a world rife with interruption (including self-interruption), controlling our environment is an executive skill that we all need to master.

In my last post, I talked about how I gave up reading blogs for a while by dumping all of my feeds from Google Reader. Initially I still found myself opening GReader, but since it was devoid of content, the habit died much more quickly than if I would have just tried to restrain myself from opening GReader.

A couple of months later, when I felt that I had the habit under control, I started adding a feed or two — or six or eight — to the reader, until I realized that I was back where I started. Whenever I was bored or anxious, feed reading was my crutch activity. So I dumped the feeds again and recovered.

But then I started thinking about the root of the problem. What is it about RSS that makes it so addictive? Why do I find books so much more satisfying to read than blogs? Books obviously treat their subject matter in more depth, but perhaps there’s a better reason. Books provide closure. They have a beginning, middle and end. Using an RSS reader, that experience can be approximated with blogs.

The Case Against Serial Content

Blogs manage our expectations in ways that can be counterproductive. Content that’s automatically delivered to an inbox on a daily or hourly basis conditions readers to live in a state of constant anticipation, contributing to what’s usually referred to as Continuous Partial Attention (CPA). As long as something is waiting for us in one of our inboxes, we feel compelled to keep up with the flow of information.

The alternative is to catch up rather than keep up. Catching up is the default mode of consuming information in books. All the information is sitting out there in a bundle that you can read from start to finish in one or more sittings, providing a sense of closure. If you feel the need to read more of a book after finishing it, it’s usually to fill in gaps in understanding; it’s not just a ritual behavior of checking for more information.

Keeping up is the default mode of consuming information in blogs. There’s always something new to read, so there’s never a sense of closure. While blogs are almost never structured to have a beginning-middle-end lifecycle, it’s pretty easy to set them up so they can be read in one or a few sittings without the need to “follow” them indefinitely.

Setting up Your Blog in Google Reader

You can probably use any RSS reader for this, but Google Reader is familiar enough. Since we want to move from keeping up with blogs to catching up (with the exception of WorkAwesome, of course), the first step is to dump all of your RSS feeds. There’s no need to freak out about permanently losing the dozens of feeds you’ve curated for yourself over time. Just export them as an OMPL file that you can re-import if necessary. Go to Settings | Reader Settings | Import and Export, click on “Export your subscriptions as an OMPL file”, and save to your desired location.

You’ll notice above that I mentioned setting up your “blog” rather than “blogs”. There’s nothing to stop you from performing the following operation on multiple blogs at once, but I highly recommend reading one blog at a time from beginning to end, removing that blog from the reader, then moving on to the next one rather than scrambling your brains with a bunch of disparate content.

Add the first blog to your GReader as you would any other blog: either by clicking on the site’s RSS chicklet or by hitting the a key for “Add a subscription” and adding the feed’s URL. The reader will populate with all of the feed’s new items. If you’re not already in List View, switch to it now by hitting the 2 key. Now we want to delete the current feed’s contents by hitting Shift-a for “Mark all as read”.

Now click the “View all items” link in the view pane, which will show you a complete list of all the blog’s posts. You can move the focus up and down through the list using the n key for Next and the p key for Previous. You can open the current header in focus with the o key, and close it by hitting the o key again. If you happen to be stuck with partial feeds that require you to click through to the site, you can use the v key without the need to open the header with the o key first; this will open the post in a new tab or window, depending on your browser settings. For more efficient reading, check to see whether the site offers a full feed. To skip the a post, mark it as read with the m key.

What’s nice about processing the full feed in list view is that you can glance at the headers without getting lured into the post contents unless you deliberately open them. Now you can run through an entire blog from beginning to end (or end to beginning, as is the default) by highlighting the next header with the n key, opening and closing the article with the o key, or marking it read with the m key. When you’ve completed the entire feed, refresh the view with the r key. The feed with now either be empty or have any posts that have arrived since you began reader. Process these the way to do with the initial batch, refresh, and repeat until you’re at inbox zero.

Then remove the feed from your reader. You’ve caught up, you don’t need to keep up. Rinse and repeat with your other feeds. This doesn’t have to be done in one sitting. It takes as long as it takes. I’ve found that the easiest way to complete all of feeds is to abandon as many as possible. I noticed that many of the blogs I was reading were simply regurgitating information from a much smaller set of authority blogs, so there wasn’t much point to rereading the same content with a slightly different spin.

Don’t Keep the Feeds

But what if you want to keep up with new posts? I recommend two approaches. Either go to the blogs manually occasionally (not daily) and quickly scan for new updates, or add them back into GReader long enough to process any new posts, then dump the feed again. The principle is to prevent automating the delivery of new content, so that you can maintain more conscious control of what you consume. You’ll find that it’s psychologically healthier to expose yourself to new content on an as-needed basis than to keep yourself running on the information treadmill.

Editor’s Note: Oops! I published these posts out of sequence, and you can expect the precursor to this piece, titled Don’t Increase Your Willpower — Reduce Your Options, shortly.

This isn’t a get-rich quick scheme. There’s no trickery or deception involved. Believe it or not, promotions and raises are usually made based on perceived competence—the important word being perceived. These tips are not meant to hide incompetence (if that’s your problem you need a whole different article!). These are here to help you show your boss and coworkers how competent you are, and to keep you from accidentally convincing people you aren’t.

Speak Well

It doesn’t matter how brilliant the words coming out of your mouth are; if you mumble and use slang your listeners will value what you say far less than if you speak clearly and confidently. Pick any great speech from history and imagine it with mumbled slang and you’ll see what I mean: “Umm… y’know I, like, have a dream or somethin’, right. That, uh… maybe this country will, like…”

Quick tips for speaking better:

• Speak from your diaphragm. Breathe from the bottom of your belly and push your speech out from your there.
• Throw away “uh”, “er”, “like”, and any other words that don’t have any meaning.
• Avoid slang.
• Don’t swear.

Dress Professionally

You’ve probably heard the phrase “dress for the job you want, not the job you have”. It’s a bit cliché, but it absolutely works. This doesn’t mean that you need to wear a three-piece suit to do data entry, but it does mean dress professionally. You may be able to get away with a polo shirt in your office, but you’ll command more respect if you wear a button up shirt. Wearing what you can “get away with” gives the impression that your attitude towards work is to only do what you have to. Making the effort to dress nicer that you have to implies that you’re willing to go the extra mile in your work.

Be Extra Punctual

If you’re late people notice and think poorly of you for it, so being on time is a no-brainer, but if you want to be noticed then show up 15 minutes early for work every day. You don’t have to start working the moment you get there—in fact you can use that time to have a cup of coffee or discreetly surf the internet. Just being there makes you look good, and your boss will definitely notice.

Good Posture

Good posture goes hand-in-hand with speaking well. If you’re constantly slouching or hunched over you simply look bad. If you stand straight and confident, you’ll come across dynamic and confident. There’s a reason that you never see slouchy pictures of CEOs, great political leaders, or super heroes. It’s because you wouldn’t respect them as much.

To improve your posture try a technique my chiropractor calls “The Woodcutter”. Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Then raise your arms straight above your head like you’re about to chop wood. Now leaving your body in the same position, lower your arms to your side. Your shoulders should be relaxed, your chest forward, your head tall as if pulled by a string from above, and your pelvis rotated slightly forward. Give it a try. You’ll feel better and look better.

Propose Solutions, Not Problems

Here’s what most people find a problem at their work: they complain about the problem. The way to stand out is to present a solution, not a problem. Let’s look at an example: your office store room is crowded and nobody can ever find what they need. Everyone in your office gripes about this problem. Instead of just complaining, you, being destined for greatness, take two minutes to look at how it can be fixed.

When everyone else is telling your boss “the stock room’s a disaster”, you go to your boss and say “I noticed that the stock room is pretty disorganized. Perhaps we can get the maintenance guy to put shallower shelves in. This would give us more room to move in there, and prevent things from being lost behind other items. Once the new shelves are in we can label each shelf so that our supplies are consistently put in the same spot, making them easier to find”.

In the situation above, you look good for being a creative thinker and problem solver, and even better: you didn’t have to do any additional work. You just had to approach it from a different angle.

Conclusion

There you go: five super-easy, painless ways to look smarter, more competent and ready for a promotion, and all without actually working any harder. No overtime, no added stress. Here’s my challenge to you: try these for one month. If nobody comments on what a great job you’re doing, I’ll refund your admission price to this blog.

Do you have a bunch of similarly formatted Excel spreadsheets piling up in your Documents folder? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see one large worksheet than see the same collection of data spread out over dozens of worksheets. Let’s roll them all up into one.

Move Your Files into Your Main Directory

OK, I’ll be honest. We’re doing most of the work in the Windows command prompt, not Excel per se; but a post title like “How to Do X in DOS” doesn’t have the same sex appeal. Ultimately, though, your CSVs are going to be opened and edited in Excel.

For most people, their main directory is their C: drive, as opposed to My Documents or another folder further down your PC’s hierarchy. You can actually perform the following operation on any folder, but since we’re going to change directories in the command prompt, you’ll have less typing to do if you paste them directly into C: using Windows Explorer. If you want to use another drive, like E: or F: or whatever you’ve mounted for an external drive, that’s fine too.

Open the Command Prompt and Change Directories

From the Start menu, type cmd into the search box and hit Enter. From the command prompt (where the cursor is blinking), type cd c:\:, with a space between “cd” and “c:\”, and hit Enter. The prompt will change from whatever its previous directory was to — you guessed it — C:\. Naturally, if you put your files in another drive, substitute the appropriate drive letter.

Copy Your CSVs into a Single File

This is where the magic happens. Type copy c:\*.csv c:\filename.csv, with a space between “copy:\*.csv” and “c:\filename.csv” (substituting filename with your new file name) and hit Enter. This takes all of the CSV files in the drive and merges them, so you’ll want to make sure that if you do this more than once, don’t leave older CSV files in that directory if you don’t want them to be merged.

Dedupe Repeat Headers

Fire up Excel and open up the  file (you might have to select All Files instead of All Excel Files). Assuming you generated the original files from the same source, it’s likely that each of those worksheets had the same headers, which will repeat themselves in your new aggregate file. If the source files have slightly different headers, like “Sales for January” and “Sales for February”, you may or may not want to remove the additional headers. If you do decide to remove near-identical headers, you’ll have to do a Find-and-Replace for the unique substring (e.g. “January”) to make the them completely identical.

Note that we are going to remove all duplicate rows, not just the headers. For most people, duplicate rows are redundant information. If that’s not the case for you, you’ll have to remove the header rows by hand.

To remove duplicate rows, hit Ctrl-A to Select All, then in the Data tab (Excel 2007 and 2010), select Remove Duplicates in the Data Tools group, uncheck “My data has headers” (your top header will remain intact), click OK, and voila — a single header for all of your rows.

That’s basically it. Give you new file a good scan to make sure your data is formatted correctly, and if everything checks out, go ahead and remove the source CSV files from your C:\ drive.

So a great management position has just come your way and you’d love that new title — not to mention the salary bump. But, before you rush to submit your application think long and hard about whether you have not only the right skills, but also the right personality for the job — especially if the managerial position you’re interested in includes supervising others.

No matter how good that pay increase may sound or how impressive the title may be, understand that not everyone is cut out for management. Sure, you may have been with at the company for several years now and you may have mastered the skill set required for your current position. But that still doesn’t necessarily qualify you for management. Being an effective manager requires a set of interpersonal skills and personality traits that may not be required for your current position.

Let’s take Carl’s* situation as an example:

A senior graphic designer with several years of professional experience, Carl had longed for the day when he would be able to advance to the level of creative director, a position that requires strong people supervision and leadership skills. Carl was creative and very proficient on the last design software. The position would require him to manage a team of designers, present ideas and be responsible for directing the creative department’s projects. So when a position opened up at his company, Carl jumped at the opportunity to apply. However, soon after his promotion, it became quickly apparent that he had overestimated his preparedness for the position. Despite being newly-promoted, he was often late or absent as he tended to ongoing personal issues, leaving his staff to work around his frequent absences and take on additional responsibilities because he wasn’t available.

Additionally, as a result of his frequent absences, his time management suffered and his projects were often late. On top of that, Carl had low self esteem issues that caused him to feel insecure when leading meetings, making decisions, providing employee feedback, establishing a direction for his team and selling others on his ideas. Soon, his staff lost faith in his ability to lead them. As such, some followed his poor example and began to also slack on their own work commitments, while others began job-hunting, rather than continuing to work on his team. Carl’s boss was forced to give him an ultimatum: Improve your performance or lose your job. Unfortunately for him, Carl’s performance never substantially improved. In the end, he lacked the key personality traits and skills that his management position required – as well as the ability to adapt his behavior enough to correct the problems.

So, before you apply for that next management opening, be sure to ask yourself these 7 important questions (and be brutally honest with yourself when you answer them):

1. Do I have self-confidence?

As a manager, enforcing procedures, establishing a solid direction for your team, providing constructive feedback, and getting buy-in on your ideas requires confidence and conviction. If you have a tendency to crumble when presented with negative feedback or you back down easily when faced with opposition, management may not be a good personality fit for you. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, your team won’t have confidence in you either.

2. Do I have strong planning skills?

Successfully leading a team or implementing a project demands that you not only know what the end-result should be, but that you also have the ability to identify the key steps necessary to make it happen. To do that, you need to be able to create a clearly-defined project plan that will help you and your team stay on track by establishing goals, individual roles, and action items. If this level of detail is just not your thing, you’re likely to have a difficult time keeping your team moving in the right direction and effectively executing your vision.

3. Am I good at quickly making sound decisions?

When members of your staff bring to your attention operational issues (i.e., equipment purchases, departmental processes, etc.) which require you to make a decision, they will expect you make sound judgment call in a timely manner. If you tend to labor over the pros and cons of even the most basic decisions or you routinely delay decision-making in hopes that someone else will make the decision for you, you’re probably more of a follower, than a leader. If you can’t make a good decision, you won’t make a good manager.

4. Do I know how to motivate others?

Getting a team pumped up and keeping their morale high is critical to the success of any team. One of the easiest ways to motivate your team is to be appreciative of the work they do. Simply giving praise for a job well done can be a huge motivator. If team members know that their contributions are genuinely appreciated, they’re much more likely to go that extra mile when it’s needed. But, if giving someone a compliment makes you feel uncomfortable or you believe that the only a pat on the back employees deserve is their paychecks, you’ll likely have a very hard time keeping your team motivated and eager to go above and beyond on the job.

5. Am I good at following through on what I say I‘m going to do?

Nobody likes empty promises. Likewise, your staff will feel the same way. They will count on you to do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it. If you have a bad habit of repeatedly missing deadlines, dropping the ball on key tasks or not following up on issues, that will quickly erode a team’s ability to trust you to meet your managerial obligations. Once that trust is gone, so is your reputation as a manager.

6. Am I a good communicator?

One of the easiest ways to get the reputation as a ‘bad manager’ is by being a poor communicator. If you like the idea relying on occasional emails and meeting infrequently in person to touch base your team, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. Effective managers are expected to meet with their teams routinely to provide them with direction, project updates, constructive feedback, or solutions to operational roadblocks.

7. Would I be able to set a good example for my team?

Becoming a manager doesn’t mean that you no longer have to follow the laws of the land. If you have a tendency to show up late for work, you frequently call in sick or often allow your personal life to impact your work time, you will set a poor example for your team. Do as I say, not as I do may work for children. But, that decree isn’t very effective in the workplace.

If you answered ‘NO’ to three or more of these questions…

Chances are that you’re not ready for management. However, if you feel that you still want to pursue a management position, start taking the steps necessary to improve your weak areas. This may include:

• Enrolling in management training.
• Volunteering to lead a complex team project that requires project planning, task assignment, and interpersonal skills.
• Joining a public speaking group like, Toastmasters, to sharpen your presentation skills.
• Getting potential personal distractions in order (ie., reliable child care arrangements, relationship problems, health issues, etc.)
• Asking a manager whose style you admire to serve as your mentor.

While these highlighted tasks can lead to management skill improvement, it’s also important to understand that other key personality traits (ie, a passive demeanor, a poor self image, low stress tolerance, etc.) may not be as easy to overcome. If you’re currently dealing with some of these personality-related roadblocks , you should seriously reconsider if management is a good fit for you.

The Bottom Line: Before you apply for that next open management position, be very honest with yourself about not only your skill set, but also your personality type and your personal habits. It’s true that the world is full of managers who wouldn’t be able to pass the above test, but we have a name for those people: “BAD MANAGERS.” Don’t become yet another member of that infamous club. Instead, if you believe you have potential to be a manager, set your sights on becoming the most effective leader you can be. Do that by getting your personal issues in check and developing the proper leadership skills prior to throwing your hat into the management ring.

*The name Carl is a pseudonym.

I need you to give a presentation on our reorganization plan to the rest of the group. This is your baby, so there’s no one more qualified than you to explain it.

Why are you hiding under the desk? Stop sobbing. It’s only 30 people. Sure the big boss will be there. But this is your chance to show everyone what you got.

And you’re afraid to show everyone you have a severe case of stage fright.

You need to relax. You can do this. Even if you’re a certified introvert. Let me tell you how I get through these presentations.

It’s not about you

I know why you’re nervous. You’re afraid of making a mistake in front of an audience. Don’t want to look like a fool. But no one is coming to see you. They don’t care what you look like. There is a problem, and they want to find out what your solution is.

You owe them something. Don’t spend any time worrying about how you can mess up. Focus on what they want to know – not your ego.

Talk to someone

It’s still hard to shake off that nervousness. You’re going to stand in front of a group armed with a podium, projector and laser pointer. You’re brushing up on all the formal speechifying tips. Speaking like this in front of so many people is new.

So throw all that out of your mind. Imagine what you would say if you sat at a table with someone. What would you say?

Explain this to the audience like you would to just one person. Be direct, clear and friendly. Imagine talking to someone you know. What would it take to explain this to your spouse or bowling buddy?

This is going a long way to making your presentation more relaxed and natural.

Watch your jargon

You have specific language to describe what you do. And you use it everyday with coworkers. Will your audience understand this language? If you’re speaking to anyone who comes from outside your professional circle, it’s a good bet you’re using words they’re not familiar with.

Also, remember that you’re giving this presentation because you know something that your audience doesn’t. So by definition they’re probably going to have trouble with some of the vocabulary.

The trick is to use language that someone outside your office will understand without talking down to them.

Don’t be afraid to use notes

President Obama arguably is one of the best speakers of our time. And he uses a teleprompter. There’s no shame in using notes.

That doesn’t mean it’s OK to read from a script. You need to have familiarity with the content. Use the notes to remind you of what you’re going to say.

I love 3 x 5 index cards. I write a point on each card, turning a stack into an outline. Then it’s real easy to re-organize the speech by switching the order of the cards. Adding new points or throwing out unneeded parts is easy with index cards. While I work on the presentation, I add notes to each card to help me through it.

The trick is to have just enough information on each card so I can absorb it with a glance. The glances come during the pauses found in every speech and presentation. I use the pauses to check my cards. It keeps me on track and in the flow of conversation.

Practice, practice, practice

Stand up and practice out loud. This isn’t just a memorization step. It’s a chance to listen to yourself. That’s why you should record your practice. Listen for awkward phrases and gaps in logic. Put yourself in the audience and look for weaknesses in your presentation. It becomes much easier to spot the areas needing improvement.

And time yourself. You have a time limit for your presentation. See how close you are to that time. Despite what I first said, you’re going to be a bit nervous. And that’s going to speed up your delivery. But your speech will be slowed by questions and objections. So your practice time can be close to what you actually deliver.

Friends don’t let friends use PowerPoint

I have lost too much time in my life to weak PowerPoint slides. Too many people use them to spell out the same words they’re speaking. Lord help me.

But sometimes you need some help. Guy Kawasaki has great advice on using PowerPoint. Basically, keep it down to 10 slides in 20 minutes. Anything more is bordering on information overload.

Images have impact

OK, here’s a chance to use PowerPoint effectively. Find powerful images to illustrate your point. It will help the audience remember what you say. They will associate your words to the image on the screen. That strengthens the memory they will have. Plus when they see similar images later, they will be reminded of what you say.

Get help

I am a member of Toastmasters – an international public speaking club. Each meeting allows members a chance to give speeches and get feedback. There is a structured program that helps me develop public speaking skills one speech at a time. The feedback is invaluable (I’m working on increasing my speaking volume) and the more experienced speakers are incredibly informative to watch.

This is the best opportunity you will have to develop the skills and confidence you will need to rock your presentations.

Many people don’t take into account the importance of a balanced diet let alone when it’s related to work. Employees often put work before health, drinking multiple cups of coffee or skipping lunch or dinner in exchange for more time to do those reports, never wondering about the effects these habits have on their health. I turned to an expert for advice.

Louise Horner is an Australian dietitian. Among her nutrition-related activities is presentations in the workplace, from which she drew the following advice:

• Drink WATER. “The most important thing for working in an office is WATER.” Air conditioning or heating systems make people tired. Most workers react by filling up on coffee, which may boost their energy in the short term but doesn’t do much good in the long term. “Drink at least 500 ml of water and this will help fight fatigue.”
• Plan for the week. “Have a week of supplies ready on Mondays, including fruit, nuts, tins of tuna, soups, vita wheats or rice cakes as nibbles so you are less likely to over indulge in that birthday cake or the cookie jar.”
• Eat regular meals. “Take breakfast cereal (high fiber/low fat) to work and eat that if you’ve rushed out the door.” This will make you less likely to pick on options that aren’t very healthy as the day progresses. Eat regular meals and avoid being overly hungry or you will be again tempted by (and may over eat) quick, high fat/high sugar fixes.
• Get peer support. “It’s a good idea to get the entire office on board to eat healthier and support each other to do the same. Choose healthy lunches, agree to have healthy morning or afternoon tea as this will make it a lot easier to remove the temptations or to resist them.”

Just eating regular meals isn’t all there is to it, of course. What you eat is very important. Fast food every day and your arteries will let you know when they’re full, literally. Nothing but salads every day and you’ll collapse sooner or later. If you don’t put into your body the necessary and proper fuels how can you expect your body to function properly? And remember that your brain is part of your body.

If you’re a junk foodie it may be hard to acquire good eating habits, which are usually associated with celery sticks — oh SO tasteless. Well, yeah: our tongues love fatty, sugary and salty treats. The owners of fast food joints and restaurants know this and they’ve got pros working on it.

The Deal with the Fatty Stuff

In a recent article (editor’s note: the Guardian has since removed the content from the page) in The Guardian, David A. Kessler discussed the rising rate of obesity, especially in the UK and the US. A former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Kessler tells us how food engineers develop foods to make us feel good while eating and to make us eat more while still feeling unsatisfied, leading us to stuff ourselves:

• A combination of high levels of sugar, fat and salt will make us love a food and want to eat more of it.
• If you chew less you’ll eat faster and won’t feel how full you’re getting; by the time you feel full you’ll have overeaten. For you to chew less, food joints make foods just soft enough so you feel like you’re chewing enough but also so that the food sort of melts in your mouth.

I’d thought that restaurants would want to serve smaller portions so that their food costs would decrease but it turns out that foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt make the customers somewhat “addicted” to the foods since this combination offers the eater a bigger “reward” than milder foods; the more they feed you the more you want to eat. This reward is none other than increased levels of dopamine, the same chemical whose level is elevated when people use cocaine.

So of course it’s hard to go from a junk food diet to a healthy one: “junk foodies” are pretty much addicts. Louise Horner recognizes this challenge and offers these tips:

• If you’re a savory buff try low fat pretzels, popcorn with some salt but NO butter, a small handful of nuts and rice cakes.
• If you have a sweet tooth try dried fruit, raisin toast, low fat/low sugar chocolate milk, low fat/low sugar fruit yogurts and fruit generally.
• Munching on celery sticks is healthy but not very enjoyable so slowly introduce fruit and veggie snacks if you’re not used to them — start by putting them in sandwiches or making salads. (Author’s note: I like to dip celery sticks and strips of bell pepper in hummus or yogurt/spinach dip).

We maintain our computers, our cars and other mechanisms we need in our work lives but sometimes we forget that our bodies are also necessary for us to work (duh!). We need to put our health at the top of our priority lists.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered our recent photography competition. We’ve received some absolutely phenomenal photos, and I’m thrilled to open up voting for you to choose your favourite! Read on to view the images, and find out how to choose the winner.

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The Voting Process

We’ve gone through all the submissions received, and picked around 150 that we feel are worthy of putting to a reader vote. If yours wasn’t included, we hope you won’t be discouraged and will try again next time!

Voting will take place in three parts of around 50 images each, with the 10 highest rated photos of these three rounds going into a “final”.

This is the first round, and the next two will be published over the coming two weeks. If you don’t see your photo here today, don’t worry – it’s probably coming up in round two or three.

Spend some time looking over the following photos and, when you’ve decided which you’d like to win, scroll to the bottom of the page to cast your vote! You’ll be able to vote once for each round, and again in the final!

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The Competition Finalists – Round 1 of 3

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Entry Number: 1

This little guy wasn’t very happy about being woken up from his afternoon nap. It only took a few minutes of bonding with his dad to get him happy, smiling and ready for his very first birthday party. For many of us, we don’t remember our first birthday party or many of our first celebrations. The family, friends and of course the Dads never forget these little happy memories.

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Entry Number: 2

Although I still read Mickey Mouse, but those old black and white ones reminds me of my childhood, the ones you see in the picture are around 14 years old.

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Entry Number: 3

I took this photo on a walk with my daughter and fiance on a beautiful spring day 3 years ago. It is uploaded as shot, completely unedited. This photo represents two sets of memories for me – of my own childhood and the time I was able to spend with my daughter that spring and summer.

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Entry Number: 4

This photograph of a worn, wrinkled cricket ball rekindles many different memories for me, family and friends. Shot with the addition my father’s 1970’s Tamron lens fitted to my DSLR, I have and will continue to capture my teenage events through the same lens as he did when he was a teenager. From my father’s point of view, this picture represents the passing of a hobby – photography – to the next generation of his family. From my mothers point of view, it is not the mechanics behind the image but the subject – the cricket ball which was used by her, her siblings and their friends.

It rekindles the enjoyment they had playing cricket together during the summer. For me, the photograph represents memories which I have not seen, but have heard about. In the summer, I play cricket with my siblings and friends, sometimes using this ball, again bringing down a hobby to to the next generation of my family. I feel that the vividness of the red in the ball shows that it still has some life left in it and it will be used further in the future generations

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Entry Number: 5

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Entry Number: 6

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Entry Number: 7

Memories, it can be anything. Starting from a small significant thing, music and other. Some time it takes us to our childhood or even takes part in memories about our first love. The fragment space of full memory is reflected on my photo, but there are no things that could remind of something, there are only the trails of those things.

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Entry Number: 8

I took this photo at a Civil War Living History Event. How appropriate for an assignment on memories is an event that brings the past alive? This woman reminds me a bit of my grandmother who used to knit caps for me when I was very young.

More than that, it looks as if the knitter was thinking about something very pleasant that happened in her past. The blurred background is like some distance place that remains only in her memories.

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Entry Number: 9

Dad hosing the backyard. A tipical new year holiday afternoon. It is summer here in South America, and it reminds me of my childhood in the brazilian countryside.

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Entry Number: 10

In this picture a kid his enjoying a sweet right to the end…. reminds me of how I enjoyed those chocolates given to me by my mother as a reward for working hard at school (Even though i hardly worked ) A child has the innocence that would take you years back in the past and make you remember all those incredible small moments that you would usually forget….

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Entry Number: 11

I captured this image of my two sons during their first beach trip. What’s better than sun, sand, and water to play in. They were a little afraid of the ocean, so we setup a small pool on the beach and let them play with their sailboats and shovels. I will never forget their reaction to their first beach experience, and this photo sums all that up.

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Entry Number: 12

A moment taken to indulge in a forgotten childhood, a playground brings out any inner child. It is an intrinsic memory, kept within as your body instinctively reaches for that swing.

You stop as you realise it is a memory resurfacing, taking over for that brief moment. You realise and sit, laughing at the child you so briefly let out.

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Entry Number: 13

I have always been fascinated by the sneakers you might see hanging on the telephone lines around various cities. Although the meaning of the sneakers is debatable, no matter which meaning you believe is true they all somehow invoke a moment or memory.

A large moment or memory I have is of course, film. The look and feel is really something that is hard to replicate, especially in print. The natural nostalgia that the grain has is something I miss at times and my goal was to get a personal feeling back in a digital format.
I hope you enjoy the image as much as I enjoyed making it.

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Entry Number: 14

This is a training for the Ames Fire Department. When I was a boy I wanted to be a fire fighter. When I grew up I became an Emergency Medical Technician and now I am in college to be a police officer. You could say this picture created all my dreams.

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Entry Number: 15

One thing I hope a never forget is playing this game with the master at it (aka, my dad). The game is an old one called Acquire and is the best strategy game out there. Period.

When I first started playing this game, I was, understandably, terrible at it. Over the next few years, I got better, even to the point where I could win the occasional game, but I don’t think I’ve ever been able to match the level of skill my dad plays at.

I hope I never forget all the fun times I had playing this with my dad. Maybe some day when I have kids I’ll be able to pass it along to them.

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Entry Number: 16

This photo means to me that we have to remember about those we love and communicate with them as often as we can, especially now when it’s so easy to do. And we also have to keep them in memory when they leave us, cause memories are the only things we leave after.

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Entry Number: 17

They say that “The eyes are the window to the soul”. I can’t think of a truer description of my wife, Tanya, or this photo of her. She has the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. Beyond their stunning blue color and clarity, they reflect a much deeper inner beauty. She is as kind as the day is long, quick to offer a smile and an encouraging word, and always seems to offer something that will make you laugh and forget the troubles of the moment.

On this day, we were visiting Seneca Lake, located in New York state’s gorgeous wine country. We lazily made our way to each of the vineyards, sipping wine, talking, laughing, and simply enjoying life. I happened to catch Tanya glancing wistfully at the beauty of our surroundings and snap this picture. Despite the thousands of photos I have taken of Tanya over the years, this one seemed to capture her beauty better than any other.

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Entry Number: 18

This photo reminds me of how simple the times were back when i had not a care in the world, being at a very young age then.

Although I didn’t have much money to spend to take great quality photos with a SLR or anything, I still had the passion to capture the moment. Regardless of the digital quality, I still felt the moment had to be captured somehow to express how I seen it

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Entry Number: 19

Eternal memory was left to us by our grandfathers who were at war for the Native land, for the future generation, in the Second World War. We cannot feel all their pains and sufferings, but we can store memoirs on them and be proud of their courage. War, in which practically in each family somebody has lost, forever remains in memory of generations.

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Entry Number: 20

Two quotes come to mind whenever I see this picture I took during a church organized mission trip to Selangau indigenous longhouse.

“Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present – which seldom happens to us.” Jean de la Bruyere

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Pablo Picasso

The children were coloring the eggs for easter which was the message we wanted to send across to the people during this mission trip. I do like to think we did a good job seeing how happy they were from this picture.

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Entry Number: 21

In India, I saw this old man sitting on the corner of road alone. I stopped my Motor Cycle and went near to him asked him ” can i take a snap of you”. He replied “me?”. I said “yes,sir! i want to take a photograph of you… smiling sir.”

“My smile and happiness gone along with my Late wife… my son have sleeping disease which doctors told cannot able to cure. My daughter not accepting me and she think I’m a burden for her. Only My Daughter-in-law is only going for work and earning money but its not enough for spending my sick son and for her expenses so i don’t want to be a burden for them at home so, I will be sitting here and spending my life by thinking about my wife and the good memories we had together”.

He continued “I want to die but I fear of pain because i think enough of pain in my life at least i don’t want to die with Pain, Death – Where are you ? take me with you without pain.”

I never expected this answer from him.. but i got an opportunity to meet a man living only with his memories. So much pain in this world.

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Entry Number: 22

Today’s Joy, Tomorrow’s Memories! – My title says it all… I agree not only joy and rejoicing last forever but we never wait for a sorrows to sit in our head. In this picture I want bring out the memories of each and everyone’s childhood period. A time where full of happiness and joy which never comes back for us, but I’m happy that I have captured this movement for 6 children.

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Entry Number: 23

This frame was just a quick moment, but always reminds me of a insignificant yet important childhood memory. Sometimes the most powerful memories we have are more represented by feelings than actual events. The feeling of comfort, warmth or home may have come from just a moment on your mothers lap, but can last a lifetime. Although there is a good deal of DOF here, there’s a fake tilt-shift added which brings the focus even more onto the girls face, and makes the frame just a little dreamy.

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Entry Number: 24

This picture was taken on my uncle’s farm in the Free State, South Africa on my Gran’s 90th birthday. Her 88 year old sister is sitting next to her. She had a stroke 3 days later and passed away 3 months after that.

This will forever be the memory I have of my fantastic Granny who always had time for any of us, age 1 or 11 or 17 or 30. She was an amazing woman. And now, memories are all we have left.

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Entry Number: 25

These are all the kicks and shoes that don’t fit my daughter anymore. They grow fast.

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Entry Number: 26

I enjoy the fact that someone took the the time to collect all these items from so many places.

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Entry Number: 27

As a child, I went on quite a few family vacations to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I developed a major love of Disney World and still consider it one of my favorite places to visit, despite being “just a theme park” to some.

Whenever I go, I have an immediate sense of nostalgia just remembering the good times my family and I have had there. Recently I went back – without my family – and was struck by how much I missed being a kid. The autograph books, the mouse ear hats (oh, well I did rock the mouse ears), the balloons… I realized that just because I am an adult now, that doesn’t mean I can’t relive my childhood whenever I go back to Disney World.

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Entry Number: 28

When my boyfriend and I went to Florida last September, I had no idea that he was counting on me to wake up to photograph the sunrise one morning. I love sunrises and make it a point on most vacations to wake up for at least one. Long story short, he knew me well enough to secretly plan his proposal for whichever morning I’d decide to roll us out of bed to head for the beach.

After the sun had risen about 45 minutes later, I started to pack my camera equipment away, ready to hit the shower and eat breakfast back at the hotel. But instead, Jon proposed.

It was even more incredible than I’d have imagined that moment to be. I wanted to document it somehow, but in the true essence of early morning photography, I was still in my pajamas… and don’t even get me started on my hair. I snapped a few self portraits of us, but I wanted something that we could frame and look at forever, to preserve the memory of that special morning.

I set my tripod back up and adjusted the settings to create a silhouette of the two of us, backlit by the sunrise. I am so happy with the way this picture turned out. It brings us right back to that September morning in Florida: sand between our toes, waves washing around our ankles, and a ring upon my finger.

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Entry Number: 29

Washed and nostalgic memories looking at a little girl trying to make her kite fly.

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Entry Number: 30

Washed and nostalgic memories looking at a little girl trying to make her kite fly.

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Entry Number: 31

A picture of a little girl playing by the river can make one recall memories of themselves when they were once a little kid playing by the water. There is nothing better than throwing rocks at the water and just reminds me of the life when we were kids as life was so simple and enjoying without the stress and pressures of an adult life.

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Entry Number: 32

Being read to as a baby is something that all babies have the experience of. Although most of us would not remember the actual instances, when we see it happen, we know we have been in that role before and its nice to continue the cycle of life and read and educate to the next generation.

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Entry Number: 33

This photo is the literal act of memory. It was taken with the purpose of reminding me, if I ever forgot, about where I had been and where I was going. As the photo was being taken (with the self-timer, an act of creating memory pre-emptively) I was mulling everything I had been through over in my head. When I look at this photo, I literally remember remembering and remember remembering to remember and I remember what I am to remember. It is deliberate, like the art of memory, and accidental like the fact of memory.

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Entry Number: 34

This is Víctor David Finol Arraiz, my firstborn son, three weeks after he was born. A few days before taking this picture I dropped one of my vintage lenses, and its mechanism got stuck. I disarmed it and looking through it I got the idea for this photo. The effect is real, it is not edited. It was taken with an old 50mm Pentax manual lens, through an old 50mmChinon lens. It’s memorable to me, to my family, because the lens in the picture was the first lens I bought (fist one I ever broke, too) and used on my first DSLR ever, taken within the first month of living in my first apartment, and the subject is my parents first grandson. I have gotten many complements on this picture, and I think it is one my son will proudly hang on his wall when he is a man.

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Entry Number: 35

Traveling was one of the most incredible parts of living in China. Life in the Chinese countryside was far different from anything I had ever seen in America, and even anything in Beijing. This picture was taken in Yunnan, China after a long walk through the Chinese countryside. We arrived at an overlook and stopped to watch the sun set. The mountains around us were terraced for miles without the help of modern machinery. The water-filled rice paddies reflected the sun up the canyon, creating a dream-like effect. This picture reminds me of that incredible sunset, but also of all the other incredible things I saw traveling.

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Entry Number: 36

This picture was taken in an art district called M50 in Shanghai, China. My American parents had come to visit me over Christmas break and some of their old friends were showing us around Shanghai (they are the silhouettes in this picture). This picture reminds me of the confusion I felt when they came: my American life and my Chinese life were overlapping and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was a taste of what life would be like returning to the States.

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Entry Number: 37

Memories are heartbeats
Sounding through the years
Echoes never fading
Of our smiles and our tears.
Moments that are captured
Sometimes unaware
Pictured in an album
Or a lock of hair.

Images that linger
Deep within the mind
Bit of verse we cherished
Once upon a time.
Through the musty hallways
Of the days we knew
Ever comes the vision
Beautiful and true.

Memories are roses
Blooming evermore
Full of fragrant sweetness
Never known before.
Life must have a meaning
Goals for which to strive
Memories are lights that burn
To keep the heart alive

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Entry Number: 38

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Entry Number: 39

This photo was taken in January of this year during a visit in LA to surprise my friend on her birthday, and is probably my favorite photograph I’ve taken in the 6 years or so I’ve been pursuing photography as a hobby. The photo was taken during lunch at the same restaurant we all ate lunch at after we met for the first time. This place serves to remind me of what was essentially the starting point of my relationship with my two best friends, who unfortunately now live 4 hours away.

Every time I see this photo, it instantly transports me back to LA, back to this booth, in this restaurant, with my best friends, and the incredible memories I’ve had with them come rushing back into my mind. Whenever I am having a bad day, something isn’t going right, or I just need a reminder of some of the greatest moments I’ve had in my life, I pull out a creased, wrinkled copy of this photo from my wallet; when I unfold it, I can feel me fear, worries, and anxieties !
fading away, and I know that all will be right in the world.

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Entry Number: 40

My little brother on learning to ride a bycicle. My papa is seen in the background, helping him hold balance. This picture was taken during the summer, at our summerhouse.

Learning to ride a bycicle is an important thing in Denmark, and is a skill you will need the rest of your life. To me, this event was fun to document. I hope to pass print of it on to my brother, once he grows old enough to appreciate it.

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Entry Number: 41

I took the day off to photograph what I anticipated would be a very interesting day of protest marches through the streets of Pittsburgh, during the G-20 Summit. There were some very tense moments between police and protesters the day before the march and during it as well. The police were clearly out in force and clearly were going to safeguard the property of the city and its citizens.

Amidst the crowds, many of which were clearly angry and expressing a great deal of frustrations with the G-20 Summit leaders who in habited Pittsburgh’s Convention Center, I found this beautiful young lady. She was dancing through the streets with some of her fellow theater students from Carnegie Mellon University. I didn’t catch her name, but affectionately dubbed her, “Sister Moon Child”, due to her expressive eyes and playful nature.

She was a real delight, signing, chanting, and dancing for approximately three miles through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh. Her expressive eyes and facial expressions reminded me of Annie Lennox quite a bit. Of all the people that marched that day, she and her colleagues surely got the most exercise! She seemed to have no ax to grind, but was simply there to express her artistic talents and provide a bit of joy and levity in a somewhat tense environment.

Seven months after posting her photo on my flickr site, I was surprised to see a note from her on one of her photos. She had apparently found the photos I took of her and provided her name and website links. I was pleased to finally find the true identity of the beautiful and talented lady I first called “Sister Moon Child”.

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Entry Number: 42

Me and some friends went down to the water and took some photos, i kinda like this one. How he sits there, memories.

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Entry Number: 43

The photo was taken in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, on 9 of May, which is the official Victory day in Kazakhstan. The man was staying in front of the scene and stared at actors performed period of WW-II. Alone man with no motion, no emotion in crowd around even when performance ended.

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Entry Number: 44

This picture i shot when i went to countryside, at the evening children of this village usually come to the river and jump from the bridge, this scene made me remember about my childhood when i was the same age.

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Entry Number: 45

This is a really poor boy from Brazil, that lives in a really poor house, with not even a TV, with his parents and 9 siblings.

You can see the memory in his eyes, from a life of pain and effort to help his parents bring the food home and keep him and his siblings safe from hunger.

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Entry Number: 46

Memories. Those moments where you know it will be embedded into your mind forever. It could be the simplest of day or the most emotional night where you know that you captured a moment. Memories are those things that when you are taking a stroll in the park or a cruise in the car you begin to reflect back on. I want the memories that will bring back the simplicity and natural connection. You can always find a memory between the love of two.

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Entry Number: 47

This picture is my cousin. She lives in peru. She is always serious – maybe because she lives in a poor community. She’s strong, taking care of her brother and her sister. When she looks at you sometimes you can see her love and sadness. She goes on strong one step at the time. I call this photo “Into Your Eyes”

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Entry Number: 48

Shells thrown into the sea travel far to the horizons and after years, I still come back every evening, in hope of finding the shell I have thrown into the sea , so to revive the old memories of mine!

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Entry Number: 49

A picture of my father from New Year’s Eve, a couple of years ago. In that time I was staying with my parents, but now I’ve moved some hundred miles away and I can’t see them as often as I wanted too. This reminds me of celebrating New Year’s Eve with all the family, having a nice meal together.

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Entry Number: 50

This photo was taken on one of the last mornings of my family’s vacation in Hughada, Egypt. We had a two-week stay at a wonderful resort that was right on the Red Sea. Every morning we would get up at around 5:30am to go down to the beach and watch the beautiful sunrise. This photo shows just a piece of the joy that we experienced.

The Red Sea has such beautiful and calm mornings that we enjoyed every day. We had a great time with friends and each other. It was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. It’s also one of my last with my family, as I will be going away to college this next year. That fact makes it all the more special to me personally. I want to keep the memory brought out by this photo for many years to come.

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Cast Your Vote

Which image did you like best in this round?survey software

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Coming up Next…

Stay tuned to the site, because we’ll be posting up the second round of voting later this week. Best of luck to all our photographers!

Concert photography can be a tough challenge for new photographers. Without the right gear and realistic expectations, it can be one of the most frustrating arenas to enter. When I started shooting concerts, I read everything I could get my hands on to prepare myself as best as I could, but I still learned most of my lessons the hard way. From the other side of trial and error, here are a few things every concert photographer should know.

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Step 1: The Right Lens

First, you need fast glass. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it is used to describe lenses with a high maximum aperture (low number). You can use a zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or a prime lens with an aperture of f/1.8. I use a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens for the majority of my concert photography.

Using a flash is a possibility, but you can’t rely on it. Many venues, bands, and publicists follow the “first three songs, no flash rule,” or they simply don’t allow flash photography. That is why prime lenses are a great place to start. They offer great value for the sharpness and speed they will allow you to achieve.

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Step 2: Speed, and How To Capture It

Second, keep in mind that this is a passive form of photography. You won’t be directing people or have any sort of control over the action that unfolds. Your advantage lies in the ability to compose images on the fly. The action will unfold at an alarming pace and you need to keep up with your shots. Musicians that have experience performing have likely developed an act or routine or simply get into the show and move around more than your typical subject.

Like in many cases, the simplest answer is the right one; you need a fast shutter speed. This is why I put a big emphasis on fast glass. With it, you will be able to better capture musicians with a shutter speed that would not be possible to achieve on a kit lens or one lacking a high maximum aperture without sacrificing exposure. Many of my favourite concert captures were shot at 160th of a second at f/2.0.

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Step 3: Sensitivity – No, Not That Kind

Third, consider the context and purpose of your photos when purchasing new gear and choosing camera settings. ISO plays an important role in your camera’s ability to deal with noise. You’re likely already aware that the higher ISO setting you use, the more sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light and the brighter your image will be at the expense of adding more grain to your photo.

Many of the new models of cameras have much better performance at higher ISO settings with less noise and better quality images, so it’s something to take note of when deciding to upgrade your body or to buy that new prime lens.

Along the same line of reasoning, consider this: the extra shutter speed gained from increasing your ISO from 800 to 1600 (eg. going from 1/60th to 1/125th) can be the difference between having a blurry shot versus a sharp image capturing the performer’s movement. Many publications and websites would much prefer a sharp and slightly grainy image to a blurry image with no noise.

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Step 4: Do Your Homework

Fourth, it may not be as exciting as the show itself, but do some research before you attend. You will be able to score lots of advance information regarding how the musicians move, what the venue is like, and the lighting used, by browsing photos from past shows to help you achieve a great photo and get the upper hand over the other photographers in the pit.

Many photographers blog about the shows they shoot and offer tips and advice as well as write-ups on many of the shows they attend. These posts are a gold mine for information; they often contain specific camera settings and gear used. A great place to start is Todd Owyoung’s site I Shoot Shows.

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Step 5: Set Realistic Expectations

Many will be drawn to this type of photography with the promise of magazine and album covers, roaring crowds and meeting rockstars. I’m definitely not telling you to abandon your dreams or give up hope, but to simply be patient. Getting published in one form or other and meeting your favourite band are definitely attainable goals, but expecting them to happen within weeks or even months of starting isn’t realistic or fair to yourself. I say this because it takes time to adjust, hone your skills, and get noticed. Once you do, you’ll be happy you stuck with it.

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Step 6: Save Your Hearing

I am going to assume that if you’re pursuing any sort of concert photography, that you’re also a music fan in some form. Otherwise I’m humbled by your interest in this type of photography for what they do to your hearing. Concerts are loud, so you’ll want to invest in ear plugs. Even if you buy a cheap pack of the disposable foam kind, I highly recommend you make the investment because it will allow you to continue to enjoy music a few years down the road.

It’s a very simple step and might be uncomfortable for some, but hearing loss cannot be regained over time so it’s a very important part of concert photography. I personally use ER 25 Musician’s Ear Plugs by Etymotic Research, which are form fitted to my ear by taking a mold and reduce sound by 25 decibels. Find a pair that are affordable and comfortable, and keep them with your photo gear.

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Step 7: Getting Access

The eventual goal of a concert photographer is to have a small network of publicists and editors to work with. Publicists will allow you to gain access to the show, as they work for the bands and labels. However, you now face the chicken and egg problem of concert photography. You can’t get proper access to shows without the above mentioned connections, but you can’t make these connections without a portfolio of concerts you’ve shot.

This isn’t as great a problem as it sounds. If you’re lacking a portfolio of concert photography, you simply need to start at the bottom. You can contact bands and venues asking if they’d like photos of a performance, take advantage of free shows and battle of the bands, or pay for the ticket yourself until you are established in some degree.

A word of warning: concerts with more popular bands and expensive tickets will likely have a photo pit (a section surrounded by barriers) and will require a photo pass to shoot. If you ignore this warning you could be kindly asked to leave by security if caught shooting the show.

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Step 8: Shooting the Show

Okay, so you got this far. Seems like a lot of work just to take photos at a show right? Probably, but I’m trying to help you do it right the first time. You’ve packed your bag and checked your gear, and now you’re all set to capture your favourite musician.

Please, arrive early and shoot the opening acts. This is important for a number of reasons – you’ll get used to the lighting at the venue, you’ll get a vibe from the crowd, and most importantly you’ll have practice shooting in all the conditions specific to this show that will help you achieve better results for the headlining act.

It’s also worth noting that opening acts probably don’t receive as much attention from photographers so they’ll likely be more thankful for your hard work. Also consider shooting in RAW, as it will help you get the most out of your photos while editing due to the extreme lighting conditions you’re facing at a concert.

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You’ll want to move around as you shoot, because taking all of your photos from one angle is boring and doesn’t help you to improve. The trouble is that you’ll need to work your way through the crowd in many situations and most concert-goers like hanging on to their spot.

Be polite, smile, gesture towards your camera when needed and simply ask if you can stand in their spot for a song or two to grab some photos. Make sure to say thanks when you’re done and keep moving. This is the best approach I’ve found because no one likes the jerk photographer that shoulders and elbows his or her way through the crowd.

Get yourself in a comfortable position near the stage, choose some starting settings on your camera (e.g. ISO 800 125th f/2.0) and take a few photos. Check your exposure and adjust accordingly. You’ll likely find a setting that works for most of the lighting conditions used at the venue and will be able to make minor adjustments to only shutter speed or aperture allowing you to focus on following the action and composing your shots. Make sure to have fun, it is a concert after all, and if you think you missed a shot, take more.

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Step 9: The Aftermath

You’ve made it home after surviving the sweat, noise, and crowd – but the work isn’t done. If you’re shooting for a publication or blog of some kind, you likely have a deadline to meet. Even if you’re not you should still impose one on yourself. Handing in photos on time will serve to create a good reputation for yourself.

As this is only a primer I won’t go into too much detail regarding editing, but I will say that you will eventually develop your own style. Most of your editing will be done in your favourite RAW editor, such as Apple’s Aperture or Adobe’s Lightroom.

You’ll be following general journalistic guidelines in that you’ll want to improve the quality of your photos without misrepresenting what actually occurred at the show. The key is to experiment within reason.

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Conclusion

Concert photography is a lot of fun and very rewarding, but it is unlikely that you will bring enough revenue to pay the bills solely on these images. If you are an avid music fan or are just looking for another avenue to channel the creative side of your photography, it’s worth the effort and this primer should help you get your foot in the door.

There are no secrets or shortcuts and it can be hard to measure your progress, but you’ll be happy for sticking it out and meet a lot of amazing and interesting people along the way.

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image.

It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued. Your response will also be displayed with a link to your website or portfolio, so be sure to enter it correctly when submitting a comment!

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Quick Ground Rules

1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

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The Photograph

Photographer: Phillip Jacobs

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site, and you’ll also be given priority to feature your own work in a future Friday Photo Critique!.

Today we’re going to take a brief look at a particular moving type of photography that attempts to channel chaos into beauty: kinetic photography. As you can see in the image below, the results vary incredibly and are often quite stunning.

So what is kinetic photography and how can you do it? Read on to find out!

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A Rough Definition

Writing about kinetic photography is probably a great way to garner snide comments about what “real photography” is and isn’t. However, though some professionals will scoff at the idea, many photographers from every part of the talent spectrum can’t help but appreciate the attractive results coming out of this small movement.

Obviously, judging from the examples below and the inclusion of the word “kinetic,” this type of photography uses motion heavily. There are a couple of techniques that fit the category of kinetic photography but all of them essentially use light and motion to create abstract shapes in the resulting photograph. The peculiar part is that, rather than utilizing a moving subject, most kinetic photographers instead opt to use camera motion to produce the desired effect.

The most common form of kinetic photography is known as camera tossing. This growing group of intrepid and/or crazy photographers has discovered that by tossing their cameras into the air with an open shutter, they can achieve some outstandingly interesting photographs.

If you value your camera equipment, odds are bells and whistles are going off in your brain to inform you that this is a bad idea. In a sense, you’re exactly right. The camera acrobatics described below are not for the cautiously minded photographer, so if you fit into this category then you might want to stay in the camp that appreciates these photos without making any attempt to duplicate them.

Most importantly, if you attempt any of the methods below, be forewarned that it might result in damaged equipment and we here at Phototuts+ accept zero responsibility either for your temporary loss of sanity or permanent loss of a functioning camera. Not to mention the hospital/dentist bills that result from a heavy chunk of metal and plastic crashing into your face!

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Camera Tossing: The Safe Method

The headline here is a bit of a misnomer. Tossing your camera is pretty much never going to be a “safe” way to spend an afternoon, but this method is at least a little less likely to end in tears than the alternative.

The first thing you’ll want to do is make doubly sure that your camera’s strap is secure. Now that you’ve checked your strap twice, check it again just to make certain it isn’t going anywhere. Next, adjust your settings so that your exposure is long enough to keep your shutter open for the duration of the swing, and make sure everything else limits the incoming light enough to not result in a completely overblown photo with little to no detail. We’ll look at how to do this a little later in the article when we examine some examples.

Now hold firmly to your strap, click the button and let her rip. The possibilities here are nearly endless. You can toss, swing, shake, twirl or any any combination of these methods to create some wildly diverse results. Experiment around to see what you like best. Try creating fluid arcs of light or jagged zig zags. There’s pretty much no wrong way to do it as long as you’re having fun and enjoying the results.

Another even safer method to replicate this effect is to cheat completely by placing your camera on a tripod and proceed to shake or spin your subject. One photographer claimed that he used this method and simply shook some Christmas lights during a lengthy exposure. The result was excellent and in no way inferior to “the real thing.”

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Camera Tossing: Extreme

Some particularly passionate members of the camera tossing community claim that it’s not really camera tossing unless your camera is airborne and strapless. Obviously, this method requires excellent hand-eye coordination, someone experienced in the art of catching wildly moving flying objects and a fearless streak.

Remember that the key here is motion and not necessarily a contest to see how high you can go. Focus on flipping the camera in different directions to produce results that you simply couldn’t get by holding the camera and spinning around.

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Helpful Tips

No matter which of the methods above you plan on using, here are a few things to consider.

Lighting

Obviously, lighting is going to play a huge role in the quality of your results. Many experienced kinetic photographers recommend starting out in a fairly dark room. Try varying your light sources to see what works best. Start with a single light source and gradually introduce more complexity while monitoring and adjusting your setup to fit your desired result.

Once you’ve mastered the technique in a controlled environment indoors, you’ll gain some insight into the appropriate lighting conditions. Armed with this knowledge, venture outdoors and hunt for locations that will provide you with strong results.

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Use a Cheap Camera

Remember that by doing this, you’re jostling around a piece of equipment that was designed to remain fairly stable. Even if you are confident that you can catch the camera every time, the harsh treatment could do significant damage to the internal components of your camera.

For this reason, it’s probably best that you put down the Canon EOS 5D and try this out on something that you won’t mind breaking. You’ll be much better off if you simply assume that it will be a damaging experiment and choose your equipment accordingly. Honestly, the effects are so simple to create that even really cheap cameras can produce fantastic results.

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A Soft Landing

Another good idea to keep things safe is to create a soft, well-cushioned place for the camera to land (whether or not you plan on catching it). Try standing over a couch or bed on your first few attempts. Even a soft landing could jar your camera’s finer components but you’ll at least be a lot better off than you would be on a hard wood floor or concrete sidewalk should everything come crashing down.

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Be Patient

Though many that attempt camera tossing seem to get lucky on the first attempt, don’t expect to produce jaw dropping results in your first few minutes. It will take lots of time and experimentation to determine what works best with your particular camera and environment.

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Examples and Camera Settings

Now that we’ve discussed both the literal and figurative ups and downs of kinetic photography, let’s take a look at how a few examples were shot.

And Now For The Egg Toss.., 2008

The smooth arcs in the example above suggest that the camera spun around quite a few times on its journey. One of the most important things we see here is that the photographer used a Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd, which usually runs below $200. Other hints at the quality of the camera are evident in the fairly high amount of color noise despite the low ISO (200).

You might be tempted to really crank your exposure but remember that gravity will ensure that your camera only stays in the air for about a second, so using an exposure of just over a second or less like we see here is enough to do the trick. If your environment is bright enough, you might even want to cut this time in half as in the image below.

Camera Toss 4

This shot features a much broader spectrum of color and what appears to be a more controlled spin. Here we see another photographer using a camera in the $200 range, this time a Fujfilm FinePix A340. The fairly wide aperture and long exposure time are geared towards letting more light in while the low ISO keeps everything from becoming too blown out.

Camera Toss (First Attempt!)

For this shot, photographer Christian O’Brien left a brief message regarding his technique: “This is my first attempt at a camera toss photo. Taken with a Fujifilm A180 with lights provided by a Mitel 5212 office phone on my desk! Taken by tossing the camera about 20cm in the air directly above my desk phone with a 1 second exposure (I think, it’s just a basic point and shoot!) ”

The result is an impressively intricate swirl of red light that any kinetic photographer would be proud to claim.

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More Examples

To end out the post, here are a few more excellent examples of kinetic photography.

williamcho

williamcho

greeblie

Mini D

clickykbd

add1sun

cavrchota

Mini D

nataliej

Mini D

stravenue42

greeblie

nataliej

add1sun

amedina

cdresz

chickeninthewoods

Diluted

quinet

quinet

Mole_Farmer

otfrom

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More Kinetic Photography Resources

Can’t get enough kinetic photography? Check out these other great resources for more information and examples.

• Lightxposed (Photoblog)
• KineticPhotography.net
• Beautiful Examples of Kinetic Photography (Smashing Magazine)
• Camera Toss Flickr Group
• Camera Toss the Blog

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Closing Thoughts

To sum up, kinetic photography is risky, unpredictable and tons of fun. If you work up the courage to give it a shot, we definitely want to see the results. Post a link in the comments below and tell us how you went about it!

In this video we will show you a simple camera technique that will help you produce a deep depth of field, even when shooting with mid to wide lens apertures. Called “focus stacking”, it’s a technique that every photographer should be aware of.

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Video Summary

We start off explaining why keeping close up images sharp even at small apertures is a problem, and then show a set of images shot at F5.6 on a table top to use as a demonstration.

The video then moves on to discuss various software available for producing focus stacking images. Using Photoacute Studio we combine our table top demo images and compare the results to the same image shot at F16.

For those of you without this this software, we then use Photoshop to show another more “manual” method of doing focus stacking.

In conclusion, we briefly show some tips and settings when shooting images for focus stacking, and outline an experiment shooting focus stacking outside in the landscape.

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Watch the Video

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Sample Image

Looking to capture action in two places at once? Need to place a camera somewhere hard to shoot handheld? This article will give you step-by-step tips to setting up a remote camera using professional practices for safety and control.

A remote camera allows photographers to capture action in different ways than a traditional handheld camera.

Remote cameras are mainly used by sports photographers, nature photographers and event photographers. For example, remote camera setups are typically used at basketball games behind the backboard to capture impressive shots of players dunking. Nature photographers use remote cameras to capture animals such as hummingbirds appearing at a feeder.

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Step 1: Equipment

Remote cameras take some specialized equipment to trigger the camera and ensure its stability.

DSLR Camera

Any type of DSLR camera will work for a remote camera as long as it has a motor drive connection (usually mid-range cameras).

For the lens, I personally like to use a wide angle for my remote cameras, such as a 12-24.

Camera Support

First, you’ll need some kind of camera support. Depending on your situation, I’d recommend a tabletop tripod or a Manfrotto Magic Arm and Manfrotto Super Clamp.

The Magic Arm and Super Clamp allow you to place your camera in almost any location, as long as you can clamp it onto something. This is the typical setup for sports photographers, as it can hold a large amount of weight and provide security for your camera. You can also use a tabletop tripod to put the camera low to the ground.

Camera Trigger

Along with support for your camera, you’ll also need a triggering device. Pocket Wizards are the industry standard for wirelessly triggering your camera. You can also use a remote shutter cable or a “eBay trigger.”

Along with the camera trigger, you’ll need a motor drive cable to connect the triggering device to the camera.

Safety Cables

Finally, you’ll need safety cables. Safety cables are a must to protect your property, others’ property and to prevent personal injury. It will ensure your camera stops if it falls. Some locations require them, along with proof of liability insurance.

Gaffers Tape

It’s always nice to have a roll of gaffers tape handy to control loose cables and cords.

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How It All Fits Together

Below is a view of the final setup, here’s how the equipment breaks down:

• 1 – DSLR camera
• 2 – Magic Clamp and Super Arm
• 3 – Safety Tables
• 4 – Pocket Wizard (or other triggering device)
• 5 – Motor drive cable

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Step 2: Find the Perfect Setup

Remotes are often used where photographers normally wouldn’t be able to be.

With this in mind, look for something very low or in a unique position. For basketball games, for example, remotes are typically behind the backboard, on the stand or padding. For horse racing, remotes are typically placed low to the ground near the finish line to capture the winning shot.

You may also want to use a remote to camera a scene that you’re already capturing with another camera, such as at a wedding. For example, you could place a remote camera upstairs in the church pointing towards the altar.

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Step 3: Connect the Magic Arm to Super Clamp

For the rest of this article, I’m assuming you’re using a Magic Arm and Super Clamp. If you’re using a tabletop tripod, it’s very simple – just place the camera on the tripod and secure; and, of course, ensure the area around the tripod is clear and make sure it can’t easily be knocked over.

When you first use a Magic Arm it can be a bit of a pain. First, loosen all the screws and flex it around a bit. Then, attach the Magic Arm to the Super Clamp. Make sure you securely fasten it.

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Step 4: Attach Your DSLR to the Setup

Once your Magic Arm and Super Clamp are connected, attach your DSLR to the setup. Make sure to fully tighten all screws.

You can also attach the camera after Step 5 – it depends all on your personal preference. I prefer to attach it before the setup is fully in place.

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Step 5: Find the Surface You Want to Mount the Camera to and Mount

Before you mount the camera, apply some gaffer tape to the surface to prevent the Super Clamp from peeling any paint or causing any damage. Gaffer tape is made to control cords at events and leaves very little residue.

Now, attach the Magic Arm and Super Clamp setup to the surface. Once it’s securely on the surface, you can begin to move it to find the perfect placement for your camera. This may take some time to get perfect and level, so allow plenty of time for these adjustments.

For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ve mounted the remote camera to a lighting stand.

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Step 6: Configure Your Trigger

As mentioned in Step 1, for your setup to work as a remote you need a trigger.

Pocket Wizards are easy to configure: simply select a channel on each one and attach one to your primary camera and the second one to the remote camera. Each Pocket Wizard will need to be set in “Transmit” or “Receive” mode depending on its use. If you’re shooting in a large venue, make sure the channel you use isn’t being used by another photographer.

On the remote camera, you attach the trigger via a motor drive cable. This attaches differently on each camera, so make sure to check your manual. You can then place your trigger in your flash shoe for easy holding, or can mount it beside the camera.

On your primary camera, the trigger will typically go into your flash shoe and no separate cord will be needed.

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Step 7: Attach Your Safety Cables

One of the most important steps comes near the end, in which you will need to attach the safety cables. Safety cables come in many shapes and sizes, but all of them make sure your camera is secure and safe.

Most cameras come with a great place to attach these cables: where the shoulder strap connects.

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Step 8: Set Your Focus

Setting your focus can be a challenge depending on the sport or event.

You’ll have to manually focus everything and then put a piece of tape over the controls and focus ring to ensure the camera doesn’t accidentally change focus. This varies by sport and event, so make sure to allow time to test first.

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Step 9: Test Everything

Now that it’s all set up, take some test shots and make sure it works! Some things you may have to adjust include focus and the level of your camera.

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Step 10: Shoot and Enjoy

Once everything is set and tested, and tested again, shoot and enjoy!

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Conclusion

Here are a few links to help you setup your remote camera.

Pocket Wizard makes the industry standard remote trigger.

PShizzy talks in-depth about setting up a floor level remote camera at basketball games.

Strobist explains in detail how Pocket Wizards work with a camera.

A remote camera is a great way to be in two places at once and grab a unique view of an event. Have any questions or want to share an experience you’ve had? Leave a comment below!

Lichens are one of the most beautiful flora nature has to offer. They’re like alien landscapes in miniature. And the sheer variety of shapes, colors, and textures is enough to keep a photographer busy for quite a while!

Lichens are most often found on trees (living or dead) or rocks in damp areas. They can often be found near the shoreline of oceans or lakes, as well as in the forest, in cemeteries (on gravestones) and pretty much anywhere else it’s cool and damp. Whether you take photos of lichens from a distance or close-up, they’re a varied and interesting subject.

Below are sixty lichen photos to give you an idea of the varieties available. Feel free to share your favorites or other lichen photos in the comments.

Green Lichen by kaibara87

Map Lichen by Vik Nanda

Lichen by pfly

Lichen @ Pinnacles by Dawn Endico

Stonewall Rim-Lichen and Bare-Bottom Sunburst Lichen by pellaea

Pixie-Hair Lichen by pellaea

Wolf Lichen on Douglas Fir – Colockum Road by brewbooks

Lichen by Athena’s Pix

British Soldiers Lichen Caldonia Bellidiflora by brewbooks

Club-Mushroom Lichen by pellaea

Lichen by stephcarter

Lichen It by Vik Nanda

Lichen by jenny downing

Lichen at Mt Waterman by steveberardi

Snow, Rock, Lichen 1 by Ctd 2005

Lichen by Paul J. Morris

Lichen by ColinD40

Pixie Cup Lichen by pfly

Brown-Eyed Sunshine Lichen by pellaea

Lichen Landscape by photon ?

Variable Wrinkle-Lichen and Coastal Thornbush Lichen by pellaea

Lichen by nojhan

Lichens on a Tree by Steve Newcomb

Lichen Bloom by Arenamontanus

Rock Lichen by Ben Coulson

Yellow Map Lichen by pellaea

Lichens by mricon

Slender Orange Bush Lichen by pellaea

Varied Rag Lichen by pellaea

Lichen by tristrambrelstaff

Armored Fog Lichen by pellaea

Lichen II by mricon

Pixie-Hair Lichen by pellaea

Lichens by kevin.wailes

Elegant Centipede Lichen by pellaea

A Little Lichen by backpackphotography

Lichen by Minette Layne

Enchanted Lichen Trees by Jon Garvin

Lichens and Caterpillar by amy_b

Lichen Bug by lostash

Reddish Lichen by kaibara87

Flashy-Green Lichen by backpackphotography

Armored Seafog Lichen by pellaea

Lichens by jayhem

Lichen by treehouse1977

Lichen by Tim Green aka atoach

Lichen by Paul J. Morris

Lichen & Moss #2 by Jon Garvin

Thrift and Lichen by AdamKR

Autumn Lichen by pfly

Macro Lichens by Three if by Bike

Lichen by wit

Lumpy and Unlickable Lichen by FeatheredTar

Wood Lichen by Nogwater

Lichen 2 by vivevans

Lichen Tooth by Mike McCaffrey

Lichen by Tom Colls

Moss and Lichen by graymalkn

Bouquet Seafog Lichen by pellaea

Reindeer Lichen by bgeissl