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Better Cosplay Photos: Shoot RAW

By far the most common file format for images is JPEG (.jpg). It’s everywhere — it’s what you upload to photo posting sites, it’s what you use when you want your photo printed, it’s what every camera generates by default, and it’s what every image viewing/editing software can handle. So you may think I’m a little crazy when I tell you that if your camera supports RAW, you shouldn’t use your camera’s JPEG mode.

Jessica as Supergirl. Photo by OscarC Photography.

You may think I’m even more crazy when I tell you all the disadvantages of RAW when shooting cosplay:

  • RAW files are big – sometimes 3 or 4 times as big. That means signficiantly fewer photos will fit on your memory card, fewer photos will fit on your computer’s hard drive, and opening each photo will take longer. If you have a very old computer, you may need to upgrade it before it can handle RAW.
  •  You can’t do much with RAW files directly. You can’t post them to Facebook or other websites, you can’t send them to be printed, and very few programs know how to open them. You will need to convert them into JPEG first, using special RAW processing software that you may or may not already have.
  •  RAW files are specific to your brand and model of camera. Canon RAW and Nikon RAW are completely different, and every model of Canon or Nikon generates a slightly diferent type of file. However, most third-party software that processes RAW can handle most of the variations.

First, though, you may be wondering what RAW is. To explain that, you have to understand what happens when you shoot JPEG. When your camera takes a photo in JPEG mode, it reads the light sensor inside your camera, runs a small program to decide the best way to process the photo, and then writes the results as a JPEG file on your memory card. Because of the way JPEG works, some of the information that was initially read from the light sensor is discarded as unneeded in the process. This makes JPEG like a scrambled egg — you can’t unscramble (unprocess) it, and then rescramble (reprocess) it a different way. You’re stuck with the decisions the in-camera processing program decided to use the moment you took the photo.

Carladawn as Black Canary. Winken Goodfellow as Green Arrow. Photo by OscarC Photography.

When you shoot RAW, the camera reads the light sensor and runs the small internal processing program, same as JPEG, but instead of actually doing the processing, it saves the raw light sensor readings along with what processing it would have done into the RAW file. To extend the analogy above, it saves the unscrambled egg along with its recipe for how to scramble it. When you process the photo, you can use the same recipe (and end up with the same JPEG you would have gotten in JPEG mode), or you can modify/replace it with something else.

Because RAW preserves the most information from the moment you took the photo, it gives you the most room to fix mistakes (yours and the camera’s) when processing your photos. In addition to saving the processing recipe and sensor information seperately (and thereby letting you change the recipe when the camera makes a mistake), it also saves more information about the brightest and darkest areas in your photo. You can use this information when processing your RAW photos to fix under- or over-exposed photos that would have been unfixable had you shot JPEG. You can even use one RAW photo to generate an HDR image. (I’ll discuss HDR more in a future post.)

For example, here’s one shot of bekalou at Fanime 2011. On the left is the way the camera’s built-in processing program would have processed it had I shot JPEG. On the right is the corrected image as processed by using different, better settings.

This would not have been possible had I shot JPEG, because the additonal light sensor information would have been lost in the in-camera processing.

As I mentioned above, RAW photos do require processing and conversion to JPEG before you can post/share/print them. The most popular programs for doing that are Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture. Adobe Photoshop and many other higher-end photo processing apps will also handle RAW. If you’re on a limited budget, Canon cameras come with a free RAW app named Digital Photo Professional. (I believe Nikon charges money for their equivalent app, unfortunately.)

All DSLRs and many high-end point-and-shoot cameras will shoot RAW. If you’re using a low-end point-and-shoot or a camera phone, RAW is not an option for you. If you’re unsure, check your camera’s manual.

Shooting RAW does have the downsides I mentioned at the beginning, and processing RAW does take practice. However, in the end, shooting RAW makes producing amazing photos much easier, and therefore, I definitely think it’s worth the effort.

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Better Cosplay Photos: Know Your Camera

The #1 myth among many cosplay photographers is that their photos would look better if only they purchased more fancier/more expensive camera gear. The truth is that most photographers are limited by their ability to make the most of their existing camera gear.

So if you are a cosplay photographer interested in improving your photos, the best and easiest way to accomplish this is to learn how to use your camera to its full potential. Yes, that means reading the manual. If the manual is poorly translated or just too boring, see if there is a book published about it; many popular cameras have them. For example, the Canon 60D has titles ranging from “Canon 60D Digital Field Guide” to “Canon 60D for Dummies”.

Winken Goodfellow as Green Arrow from DC Comics. Photo by OscarC Photography.

As you read the manual or reference book, familiarize yourself with all your camera’s various modes, and learn to use them when appropriate.

Some people shoot in “Auto” or “P”  mode all the time; they might be surprised to learn that “Auto” is not “Automatically Awesome” mode, and “P” is not “Professional” mode. In reality, these two modes are the training wheels of digital cameras and are designed to take average looking photos. Generally they’ll rarely take terrible photos, but they’ll also rarely take above-average photos. If you want something other than mediocre results, you will need to learn (and use) your camera’s other modes.

Camera phone users, this also applies to you! Modern camera phones now have a variety of settings and options in the menus; learn what they are and what they do.

I will discuss your camera’s various modes in more detail in a future column.

Bekalou as Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Photo by OscarC Photography.

The other thing to learn about your camera is its strong points and weak points. Every camera, from the simplest camera phone to the most expensive DSLR, has both! Once you discover them, use your camera in a way that maximizes its strong points; avoid using your camera in a way that highlights its weak points.

For example, perhaps you have a camera with a very weak flash. If so, you should try to shoot as much as possible in places where you can turn off the flash; if needed, alter your camera settings so that the flash isn’t needed. (I will discuss how to do that in a future column.)

While it’s true that more expensive cameras have fewer weak points than a cheap point and shoot, even the most expensive pro camera has weak points.

Coffeelunatic as San from Princess Mononoke. Photo by OscarC Photography.

One major weak point of pro cameras is their bulk; I can’t carry a ten pound camera everywhere I go. Also, it is hard to get candids with it.This is one advantage my camera phone has over my expensive DSLR — I can use the camera phone to take spontaneous photos of my kids wherever we go; even if I were to bring my DSLR, my kids would see it, stop whatever they were doing, and pose unnaturally for the camera.

Another weak point of pro cameras is that the photos they take generally require post-processing to make them look their best. Less expensive cameras are more likely to take photos that don’t require any post-processing.

I encourage you to learn to take full advantage of your existing camera’s settings and capabilities. If you do, you will see a big difference in the photos you take.

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DragonCon 2010

DragonCon was extremely fun as always this year, despite a number of annoying glitches. It’s definitely well worth the (relatively high) cost of attending, and we have already purchased our badges for next year.

High points

  • Denise Crosby storming off the Star Trek: TNG panel after being repeatedly teased by Jonathan Frakes and the other cast members on the panel. From the sound of things, she does not appear to get along with the other cast members. Brent Spiner was hilarious as always, and all the actors (except Denise) were enjoyable to listen to.
  • Despite having to watch Mai half the time, I made it to a number of panels in person, and was able to watch others on DCTV. Among my favorites:
    • The aforementioned TNG panel.
    • The Eureka panels were a blast. The actors love working together and it showed.
    • The “I Dream of Jeannie” reunion panel was interesting. The actors are old! (Not surprising for a show that aired about 40 years ago.) Barbara Eden still sounds exactly like she did on the show.
    • “Tips on Running an Anime Convention” was great as always. That panel had an amazing amount of experience  from conventions around the country.
    • Voice Actor panels are always fun to watch, but after a while they get a bit repetitive because (for the most part) the same set of voice actors come to the California conventions. The panel at DragonCon was interesting to me because it had mainly Atlanta-based voice actors who don’t come out to California for conventions very often, so I got to hear new stories and new voices.
  • The many excellent costumes. No convention I’ve ever attended has come close to DragonCon for sheer variety, and many costumes were very clever (like Elfvish, the Elf Elvis). Although it seemed there were fewer people in costume this year, there were still a lot of great costumes to see and photograph.
  • DragonCon Security and crowd control. They kept traffic moving without being too heavy-handed.
    • There were fewer photography restrictions than in previous years, and the ones that existed were very reasonable.
    • There were various restrictions issued (like shutting down the Hyatt/Marriott tunnel Sunday night), but they were understandable given the crowds. When you have 60,000 people in attendance, it is inevitable that there will be some idiots and jerks, but security appears to have done a good job at keeping a lid on things almost all of the time.
  • The Georgia Aquarium private event itself was great. Mai loved looking at all the sea animals, and I got some good photos. Their cafeteria food was also very yummy, if a bit expensive.
  • I don’t normally schedule shoots at DragonCon, but this year I had shoots with two different people, one of which I shot in three different outfits. They were great to shoot with, and we were even able to find some spots to shoot despite the crowds. I’ll be posting those photos soon.

Low points

  • DragonCon always has crowds, and in the evenings, a lot of drunk people. This year, it seemed like the evening crowds were more drunk, and were carrying around more open cups of beer, than in previous years. Crowds and open containers of alcohol always make me nervous when I’m carrying my camera.
  • The lack of Con security on the walkways. The Marriott/Hyatt walkway, especially, is long, and could have used a few security people to prevent traffic blockages, enforce the photo restrictions, and generally keep an eye out for people trying to start trouble.
  • The convention was very spread out this year. Events were held in five hotels. The Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton are within a block of each other, and are connected via tunnels, but the Westin and Sheraton were harder to reach. Given the sheer volume of events and attendees, I suppose this was inevitable, but I still miss the days when you could walk past every track room during the 30 minute between-panel break to see if anything looked interesting. The long distances also made me more reluctant to gamble on a panel if it was in a far-away hotel; if the panel turned out to be boring, I would have walked that far for nothing.
  • Three years ago, the Marriot was under construction during Con; this year it was the Hyatt. With half the lobby gone or taken up by the relocated registration desk, moving around the lobby was a challenge. Fortunately, the core late-night photography / socialization area has shifted to the Marriott over the past two years, so it was less of an issue than it could have been. Still, the location of the entrance of the walkway to the Marriott relative to the escalators and bar made the Hyatt lobby very challenging to navigate.
  • Some years, the DragonCon masquerade is the highlight of the convention; this was not one of those years. We watched it from our room on DCTV as we usually do to avoid the crowds, and were very glad we did. Among the issues:
    • The MCs were awful, especially Peter David. They made fun of the costumes, the contestants, and generally acted like jerks. Peter even let his daughter (who was on stage with him and looking very bored) take some swings at one of the contestants with a prop sword. We ended up muting the TV whenever the MCs were speaking. Next year, please bring back Anthony Daniels!
    • There were a few excellent costumes and two or three great skits, but on average the costumes and skits were nothing to write home about.
    • Many of the judges were apparently picked because they were famous, not because they were qualified to judge. This led to a second issue, where a previous winner entered a slightly modified version of a winning costume. The judges, being new, didn’t know that, and awarded a top prize to this repeat costume.
    • The stage lighting was a bit off, so a lot of contestants ended up with only their lower bodies illuminated during their skit. On top of that, DCTV’s camera was apparently set to auto-expose, causing most of the masquerade to appear very dark. (Hint: unless your backdrop is 18% gray, your camera or video camera will not correctly auto-expose things on a stage.

    DragonCon has been doing masquerades for a very long time; you’d think by now they’d know enough to avoid these amateur mistakes.

  • Registration was a disaster again this year. In previous years, pre-reg badge pickup opened around 4pm on Day 0. This year, in an attempt to improve the wait, badge pickup opened around noon. This did help somewhat — when Caroline went to pick up our badges at 1pm, it only took her 3 hours to get her badge, and an additional hour to get mine. We heard that the wait got much worse later in the day. The good news is that DragonCon has announced they are moving to a bar code system for next year, which should help a lot. Simply eliminating the last-name-letter lines will make things go smoother. Still, this is only moving them from a mid-80s registration system to a late 90s registration system, though I suppose expecting them to move to a modern system similar to what’s used by other large conventions was too much to ask for.
  • While the Georgia Aquarium event itself was a lot of fun, the logistics around it were not. The pickup location for the shuttle bus was confusing, causing people to line up in the wrong spot. There was only one shuttle bus in operation; coupled with the long and confusing lines, it was faster to walk the four blocks than to wait for a bus. The event also ended half an hour early, for no apparent reason. Mai was getting really tired at that point anyway, but other people might have wanted to stay for the full time listed on the ticket.
  • AirTran was the worst airline Caroline and I have flown in a long time. Some of the many issues we had with them are:
    • At SFO, they had the wrong departure gate posted on the monitors the entire time, including while we were boarding.
    • At ATL, they had the wrong luggage carousel posted the entire time, even as the luggage arrived elsewhere.
    • The flight attendants would skip you during beverage service if you weren’t paying attention (e.g. talking to your neighbor), and would look annoyed when you asked for your drink.
    • The ATL check-in agents gave contradictory instructions, measured the luggage with a tape measure, and weighed it twice.

Overall, we had an excellent time, though, and are looking forward to next year, especially since Mai should be old enough for DragonCon Daycare.

I’m posting my videos from DragonCon to Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ocwajbaum. Given the size of 1080p video files (and therefore the time it takes to upload them), it will likely be another week or two before they are all up.

I’m a bit behind on photo processing, so I probably won’t have many hallway photos posted from DragonCon for a few weeks.

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Anime Los Angeles (ALA) 2010

I attended Anime Los Angeles (ALA) for the first time this year, and had an extremely fun time. It was by far the best small/medium convention I’ve attended in a long time, and I look forward to attending again next year.

Travel

Because the convention hotel is less than a mile from LAX, early on I made the decision to fly down instead of driving. I’ve always hated the long, boring drive down I-5, followed by fighting through LA traffic while navigating a maze of freeways, so flying seemed like a much better option. As the date got closer, though, I began to worry. The attempted Christmas-day attack and the sheer amount of camera/lighting gear I wanted to bring down started to worry me. Could I make it all fit? Would I spent hours trying to get through security?

When it came time to pack, I dragged out our biggest suitcase, and found that the lighting gear exactly fit in there, while leaving just enough extra space for clothes for me for four days. I also managed to (barely) fit all the camera gear I wanted into my rolling camera bag, including my brand-new Canon 70-200 f/4L IS USM lens that I had received a few days prior as a birthday present. After the issues flying to Dragon*Con, I remembered to pack items that security may flag (wrench, flash bracket, etc) into my checked suitcase.

Flying turned out to be pretty painless. All my bags went through x-ray once, I did not get pulled aside for a secondary screening, and nothing got stolen. My flight out to LAX was delayed, but so was the previous flight, so Southwest rebooked me without even being asked, and I ended up arriving earlier than my original flight. On the flight back, things went so smoothly I ended up waiting at the gate for two hours for my flight. This was my first time flying Southwest, and I was very happy with the experience.

Hotel

I took the free shuttle from LAX to the hotel. When I arrived at the hotel, check-in was painless, and then I took a look around. All the indoor areas had low, white-color ceilings, perfect for ceiling bounce flash. Ceiling bounce is my favorite way to soften my on-camera flash, and works great for hallway cosplay photography, but it’s frequently not an option. Fanime, for example, has 20+ foot high ceilings, making ceiling bounce impractical.

In addition to the lobby & convention areas, the hotel had a pool deck with lots of trees, a bridge, and a stream, and a separate patio area. This was great for shoots in the evenings after the photo room had closed.

Overall, the hotel was not too bad. It was a Marriott, which in my book ranks below Hyatt and Hilton, but I’ve seen so much worse. The staff were generally friendly and helpful (even though Hotel Security looked very nervous when surrounded by cosplayers). I did get pulled aside once the first night and asked by Security whether the convention had permission to be taking photos (I, of course, said yes), but that was very minor. The food in the hotel restaurants ranged from pretty good to excellent, but the service was awful. From getting orders wrong, to slow refills, to generally poor service, it was what I would expect at Denny’s, not at a business-class hotel. It was overpriced, too, but that’s expected for hotel restaurants.

Convention

I was extremely impressed with how well the convention was organized and run. I skipped the masquerade due to the long line & general exhaustion, so I can’t speak to that, but everything I did attend or participate in went well. There were some glitches, of course, but they were dealt with efficiently and with a minimum of fuss. Even registration, which is normally the bane of any convention, was very painless, and was immediately followed by ice cream for everyone who arrived Thursday evening, making for a great first impression.

It seems that other people were fairly happy too. At the end-of-convention “gripes”/how-can-we-do-better panel, a lot of valid suggestions were raised; however, they were, for the most part, relatively minor. I do not recall any complaints about major issues or disasters, and, somewhat unusually for this type of panel, there were a number of compliments.

Due to my photography schedule, I only attended one panel, on how not to run an Anime Convention. I was struck by how much running an Anime Convention is like running a small business/start-up. From the financial discipline, to the people management, to project management, the skills required are very similar. I think I ended up learning a bit on how to better run my business at that panel. The end of the panel also featured a hilarious story about cups, which I really regret not recording. Hopefully someone else who was recording will post the video soon.

Photography

Of course, what would a convention be without photography? I had several photography goals for ALA.

First, I wanted to exercise my new 70-200 lens as much as possible, to see if it works well for both hallway photography and shoots. I brought my 24-105, just in case it didn’t work out, but I never used it. In fact, since I didn’t go to the masquerade (and thus didn’t need my 100-300), the 70-200 was the only lens I used the entire convention. That did make some hallway large-group shot a bit awkward, but other than that I was incredibly happy with it. Wide-angle hallway shots generally do not look that great, and using this lens prevented me from making that mistake, forcibly improving my hallway photography.

Second, I wanted to test out my second PocketWizard receiver by doing two-flash shoots. With some help from Bekalou, Hellangel, and Blueskad00, I was able to accomplish this. I put the first flash in my softbox and put it on a light stand. I put the BigBounce on the second flash, and had one of my lighting assistants hold it in position. This worked out well because Bekalou was cosplaying different series from everyone else, so there was always someone not in the shot who could hold the second flash. The dual flash photos turned out beautifully; so much so it’s hard for me to look at the photos from my single-flash photoshoots. I look forward to more two-flash shoots in the future!

Finally, I wanted to get better at posing cosplayers. I think I did better than in the past — I provided more posing feedback and suggestions than at previous convention shoots — but I think I still have a lot of room to improve in this area.

ALA was also the first time I requested model releases from cosplayers in photoshoots. (I didn’t ask for model releases for hallway photos.) I chose a short, half-page model release, designed to be easy to read and not scary. I was pleasantly surprised that only one person expressed any serious concerns about it, and everyone signed it.

Wrap Up

I had a great time at the convention, in no small part due to the very fun people I sent time with. Many thanks to all the cosplayers who let me take their photos, and an especially big round of thanks to everyone who booked shoots with me ahead of time. Extra super giant thanks to Bekalou, Hellangel, Athena, and Blueskadoo, for holding flashes, helping me move my lighting gear, and generally helping out! I’m already looking forward to next year!

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“Bamboo Blade” Review

The anime series “Bamboo Blade” has no love triangles, no magical girls, no panty shots or other fan service, no absurdly powerful student council, no cross-dressing, no silly misunderstandings, no amazing power-ups, and nothing supernatural. No one ever carries the idiot ball, and while it is a sports anime, there are no amazing come-from-behind victories.

What it does have is a solid story about a high school kendo team and its members, with believable, three-dimensional characters. Even more surprising, these high school kids actually behave like real high school kids, not like spoiled brats or little adults. The team starts out the year with three relatively inexperienced second-year students and a bunch of first-year students. Over the course of the year, they get to know each other, become close friends, and greatly improve their kendo skills.

While Bambo Blade’s concept is not very original (sports animes being a dime a dozen), the execution is exceptionally well-done. The show does a great job of introducing the characters, and slowly showing you what makes them tick. Over the course of the show, each character has their own challenges to overcome, from the top-notch kendo player who learns how to handle defeat for the first time, to the team captain when she has to make a very difficult decision, to the coach, who wants to teach the kids and keep his job at the same time.

If you’re used to American-style sports movies (Mighty Ducks, et al), remember that this is a Japanese show. Hard work doesn’t always lead to victory, and the underdog usually loses. That’s real life, like it or not. Bamboo Blade’s theme is about team work, discipline, friendship, and handling defeat.

Even though the show has 26 episodes, to me, episode 24 was the last “real” one; 25 and 26 felt like tacked-on epilogues, with forced happy endings. Ignoring them, the rest of the show is an amazing trip with a great cast of characters. I highly recommend it!

I watched the dubbed version, which was very well done. A brief comparison to the subtitles showed that the dubbing stuck pretty close to the original script.

Rating: 4.5/5.0 Shinai

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Our Cat Sage

Dealing with the death of our cat Aisha last year was difficult for us. He had been with us since before we got married and was a very close member of the family. Agreeing to have Aisha put to sleep was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but there was nothing else that the vet could do to help him. We knew that he had an incurable heart condition that would inevitably shorten his lifespan by a considerable margin but the end still seemed very sudden. Afterwards, Caroline and I needed a lot of time to grieve and recover before adopting another cat.

About the time we were starting to talk about getting a new cat, one of our friends put us in touch with one of her friends who was looking to give up one of their cats to due inter-pet conflicts. After some discussion we agreed to adopt Sage. I picked her up on my way back from Sacramento one Sunday evening, and after almost three hours of non-stop meowing from the back seat, Sage arrived in her new home. She hid under furniture for the first few days, but then slowly got more accustomed to the house and to us. Unlike Aisha, who was a very big, assertive (towards us), and aggressive (towards other cats) male that tried to escape outside at every opportunity, Sage is a small, shy female that has no interest in leaving the house and loves nothing more than cuddling against someone all day. It seems like Aisha saw us as his (somewhat dominant) peers, while Sage sees us as her mommies.

Now, after over a month in our family, Sage has settled nicely into our household, and is comfortable with everyone, even Mai. Sage still takes off for higher ground when she sees Mai crawling towards her at top speed but considering that Mai hasn’t quite been able to understand the difference between petting the cat’s fur and grabbing at the cat’s fur, this is probably wise on Sage’s part.

Initially Sage was very frightened of camera flashes, so it was hard to get good photos, but recently she’s gotten used to them.

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Humorous Reminders of Common Writing Mistakes

A selection of advice from generations of Teaching Fellows at Harvard University, edited by Gordon Silverstein.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you write an essay:

  1. Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.
  2. Never use no double negatives.
  3. Use the semicolon properly, always where it is appropriate; and never where it is not.
  4. Reserve the apostrophe for it’s proper use and omit it where it is not needed.
  5. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
  6. No sentence fragments.
  7. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
  8. Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
  9. When you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
  10. A writer must not shift your point of view.
  11. Do not overuse exclamation marks!!! (In fact, avoid them whenever possible!!!)
  12. And do not start a sentence with a conjunction.
  13. Place pronouns as closely as possible, especially in long sentences, as of ten or more words, to their antecedents.
  14. Hyphenate only between syllables and avoid un-necessary hyphens.
  15. Write all adverbial forms correct.
  16. Don’t use contractions.
  17. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
  18. It is incumbent on us to avoid archaisms.
  19. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
  20. Steer clear of incorrect verb forms that have snuck into the language.
  21. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixed metaphors.
  22. Avoid modernisms that sound flaky.
  23. Avoid barbarisms: they impact too forcefully.
  24. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
  25. Everyone should be careful to use singular pronouns with singular nouns in their writing.
  26. If we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a thousand times: avoid hyperbole.
  27. Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration.
  28. Do not string a large number of prepositional phrases together unless you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
  29. Always pick on the the correct idiom.
  30. “Avoid overuse of ‘quotation’ ‘marks.'”
  31. Never use more words than are necessary to get your point across: be concise.
  32. Awayz check you’re spelling. (Your spellchecker would only pick up one of the two errors here.)
  33. Always be avoided by the passive voice.
  34. Every sentence a verb.
  35. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague: seek viable alternatives.
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“Shuffle!” Review

Shuffle! is an example of how to do a harem anime well. By avoiding a lot of the common mistakes for this genre, Shuffle! tells an entertaining story with strong emotional impact about growing up, taking control of your own destiny, and appreciating your friends and family.

The main character, Rin, is surprisingly likeable. He’s not a wimp or an idiot. He’s not accident-prone or unlucky. Rin’s character is fleshed out well. When he ends up surrounded by girls vying to be his girlfriend, it’s not hard to understand why he’s so reluctant to choose any of them. Once you see his history with girls, it’s not hard to understand why he’s so shy around them. When he does finally pick, and yes, he does finally pick one girl and sticks with it, it’s not a surprise at the time, but it’s also not who you would have expected near the start of the show. Even more surprising, his pick and its consequences are not the last plot arc in the series.

Unlike most anime series in this genre, where often times the gaggles of girls are virtually indistinguishable, here all the characters are fleshed out well. Because the series has 24 episodes, there is time to delve into the background of all four females leads and secondary characters like Ama and Miss Nah without shortchanging the overall plot arc. When the show is over, you feel as if you’re friends with Narine, Sia, Kaede, et al. Kaede, especially, reminded me of a girl I knew in high school.

The pacing of the series was also excellent. I’m often accused of having a short attention span, but Shuffle! kept me interested until the end. The middle of series didn’t drag; just as it seemed that this was going to be just another harem comedy, secrets from the past start coming to light, moving the show from comedy to drama. We continue to learn more secrets till the end; one key character’s background isn’t revealed until the next-to-last episode. There is a happy ending, but to get there all the characters had to suffer greatly.

What didn’t I like? Not much. The ocassional breast jiggling was a bit over the top; at points it started to distract from the drama. At the end, the girl who had the most trouble dealing with Rin’schoice ended up accepting it a little too quickly in my opinion, though there was some justification because of other events going on. The initial coincidences about how Rin met both Nerine and Sia as a kid were a bit contrived, though I think the big revelation near the end may explain this somewhat.

Overall, I highly recommend this series.

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Competing Against “Free”

When I mention to people I co-own a web & email hosting company, they usually ask how many customers we have. After I tell them, they are often surprised. “Why would someone pay for email?” they ask. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, MSN Mail, and many more offer it for free. Web hosting, too, is free. Want to post photos? Flickr is free. Want to blog? LiveJournal is one of many free options. Facebook and MySpace are free. With all these free options, how do paid hosting companies stay in business?

The answer is simple: Customers are willing to pay for perceived value. If a user accidentally deletes their email from Gmail, will Gmail restore it from backups? If a user is having problems setting up their iPhone to work with Yahoo Mail, can they get tech support from Yahoo?  These are all example of value provided by paid hosting companies; as long as paid hosting companies continue to provide value to the customer that the free sites don’t, they will continue to thrive. Of course, some customers do not assign much or any value to these items; they will stick with the free sites.

A good analogy is in restaurants. Outback charges $15 for a steak; how does Ruth’s Chris stay in business selling $50 steaks? The answer is obvious — Ruth’s Chris’s customers perceive at least $35 of extra value in the better quality of their steaks and better table service.

One of the hot topics in professional wedding photography is “shoot and burn” photographers. In a recent podcast, David Ziser from Digital Pro Talk discussed the challenges shoot and burn photographers pose to traditional wedding photographers. While shoot-and-burn photographers are not free, they typically charge about 80-90% less than a traditional wedding photographer. Of course, they do a lot less than a traditional photographer; unlike a traditional photographer, who would carefully retouch every image in Lightroom or Photoshop, go over proofs, put together a photo album, and order prints, a shoot and burn photographer typically dumps the photos directly from the camera onto a CD or DVD and lets the couple handle everything else. Also, shoot-and-burn photographers can afford to charge much less because they generally are not trying to make a living in photography; as long as they cover the cost of their (relatively minimal) equipment and make a few extra bucks on top of that they are happy. This undercuts professional photographers who often times can barely make a living at their current prices.

In my opinion, a large part of why shoot and burn photographers are doing well is because many traditional photographers do a lousy job of providing perceived value to their customers. Telling potential customers they should pay ten times as much because “I’ll provide you an album and prints” only works if customers value an album and prints. News flash — many don’t. In my experience, the younger generation views photos as something to share online (on sites like Flickr and Facebook); prints are mostly superfluous. Physical albums take up space, and can only be shared in person. Online albums can be viewed by anyone, anytime, from anywhere. You may say that they will regret not making prints in the future; whether that is or is not the case is irrelevant. Until time travel is invented, their future regrets will not affect their buying patterns today.

For a traditional wedding photographer to continue to be successful, I think they need to do several things:

  • They need to understand how the Internet has changed how people view photos. Prints and physical albums are nice, but most people want to share their photos on Facebook and view online albums. Despite the best efforts of Shutterfly and Snapfish, the Internet is not just an easy way to order prints.
  • They need to convey the value they provide in terms of image composition, image quality, retouching, and professionalism. A traditional photographer is not better because of the extra end products they produce, but because they produce better pictures. Remember that some people will never perceive any additional value in high-quality photos; they will always go with shoot and burn photographers (at best). They are not a traditional photographer’s target market.
  • Do what customers value; don’t bother doing what customers don’t value. If a customer only values digital files, sell a package that only provides digital files. If your customer perceives the value you provide in terms of image quality, they will be willing to pay more than they would to a shoot and burn photographer.
  • Accept that the proliferation of digital SLRs has permanently reduced the perceived value of photography. This is the natural progression of technology. Cell phone companies no longer can charge $2/minute for domestic calls, and domain registrars no longer can charge $100/yr per domain. Just because you could make a living as a pro photographer in the past does not mean this will remain a viable full-time occupation in the future. Complaining about technology, commoditization, or competition does not make it go away and just makes the transition harder.
  • When marketing themselves and their services, photographers should remember that positioning is important. Are you McDonald’s, Outback or Ruth’s Chris?

Of course, these tips are not limited to photographers. If you own any business, you should always ask yourself what your company’s value proposition is to your customers, and always make sure you charge customers for perceived value, and only for perceived value.