Archive for category photography

And now we’ve got 70 gigapixels

Posted by Michal in photography on 29/07/2010

Do you remember Dresden? Paris? The first gigapixel panoramic images were exciting. They showed some ingenuity, they were fun to use and play with. Now the gigapixels multiply like rats, but the experience is somewhat diluted. After Paris everything else seems to be focusing on ‘bigger’ and not necessarily ‘better’.

The latest gigapixel project seems to be the biggest produced to date, yet probably even more boring than the experimental Dubai one.

Budapest. A lovely city. Full of great architecture and history. So why photograph it from miles away when visibility is far from perfect? I’m sure the initial idea was great – get a 360-degree panoramic image with the ability to zoom in on the finer detail – but it disappoints. Most of the image shows forests, Budapest itself seems to be too hazy and there’s not that much to explore in terms of quirky sightings.

Still, they did it, I didn’t, so kudos to them.

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How to protect images online

Posted by Michal in photography, software on 29/06/2010

I remember doing an image search a few months ago and seeing a copy of a picture I own. The image was posted on a site I didn’t recognise, so my first reaction was anger – somebody stole my picture! On closer inspection it turned out it was my friend who posted it on his Posterous blog with an appropriate credit.

So I was lucky. But how many of you have had your images stolen? I take thousands of pictures, but I don’t publish thousands online. Neither am I a professional photographer living exclusively off the income from photography sales. But if you are, how do you protect your images online?

You can make them small and reduce the quality to prevent people from printing them. You can use watermarks and overlays to minimise the risk of republishing your images online. You can built Flash-based galleries to bypass the right-click “save as” issue. But if someone wants to steal your picture, they will. Then you need to track it down somehow. A needle in a haystack springs to mind.

There are services like TinEye which help track down your images, but yesterday another site, Image Rights, already present on the market with its paid-for tool, joined the game with a free version of its powerful image tracking service.

I caught up with one of the co-founders of Image Rights, Ted VanCleave, to find out more about the service. I’ve asked him to explain in simple terms what Image Rights is:

ImageRights International, Inc., is a company that helps professional photographers and illustrators discover the illegal use of their intellectual property on the Web.

Our advanced visual search and crawler technology continuously scans websites and blogs to protect images for professional photographers and illustrators. The crawler indexes millions of new images every month and uses powerful image recognition technology to compare customers’ photos and illustrations against images found on the Web.

It then detects where the customers’ images have been used, even if the stolen photos have been altered, cropped, rotated or color adjusted. The customer receives a full report, including a picture of the original image, its use online, and the URL and ownership information for the website where it was found.

Nobody has come up with a really convincing way of tracking stolen images. Are you different? What is your unique selling point?

ImageRights was built from the ground up to help photographers find instances of their images being used on the internet and then helping them recover fees for unauthorized use. It’s is an extremely easy to use service. We have multiple web crawlers browsing business, blogs and news and media sites in North America and Europe looking 24/7/365 at images on these types of web sites.

I’ve been using Tin Eye to track down some of my images, last time a ran a search through TinEye they went through over 1.5 billion images for free. Why would I switch to Image Rights or even pay subscription?

Tineye is a reverse search engine. That’s their term. You can only load one image at a time.  And they don’t help you recover lost revenue, which we will with the launch of our Recovery program in July. While TinEye has 1.5 billion images in their database according to their site, they don’t say where all of those images came from.  It’s a good service but of limited use since you can only upload one image at a time. With ImageRights, you can upload 10,000 images and we’ll send your reports all year long as we find matches.

Do you differentiate between published and unpublished photos and if so, are you able to track down the latter too?

We don’t differentiate between published and unpublished. We don’t actually track images, we are pulling images randomly off of business, blogs and news and media sites in North America and Western Europe.

What happens when you actually find an image that has been illegally used, do you provide any legal help too, or just point to the website which violated a photographer’s copyright and leave it up to him to chase the culprit?

We have developed a recovery program for the USA to start, launching it in July. We will help any photographer from any country collect lost revenue from an image of theirs that has been used without authorisation, without a licence in the USA. We will also be rolling out this recovery program in different countries throughout Western Europe over the next 6-12 months.

Who is behind Image Rights?

ImageRights was co-founded by myself and my business partner Joe Naylor. I’m a photographer and entrepreneur and I have found my images being stolen on a regular basis. Joe is the former President of Web Messenger and comes from a technology background. Over the last two years we researched all of the best technologies available to help stop image piracy. ImageRights is the result of our research and findings. Even if one of your images has been cropped up to 80%, rotated, colors stripped out of it or it’s used in a collage, we can still match it against your original image.

You’ve partnered with, among others, American Photographic Artists and American Society of Picture Professionals. What does it mean to you? What kind of support or endorsement are you getting from them and your other partners?

Each partner chooses what level of partnership is right for them. Many offer discounts to their members for paid subscription services at ImageRights. All of our partners are strong advocates of photographers rights and would like to help stop image theft and help enforce copyrights and educate the public about the need to license images to use them.

So that’s what Ted has to say about Image Rights. I have to admit that it’s great that someone offers a service allowing users to bulk upload their library for free, even if it means giving up 50% of  their compensation if they choose to participate in the Recovery Program Ted mentioned (it drops to 35% if you pay for the service).

I’d like to hear from you if you are a photographer and are worried about image theft. Would you use a service like Image Right? Is this a solution for you? Have you used them – or any other similar service before? Do you think anyone is able to create a database big enough to provide meaningful and robust support? Really curious to hear what you think.

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Flickr gets a new interface

Posted by Michal in photography on 24/06/2010

Oh, I do like nice surprises! Last night I discovered a preview link on my Flickr page, which takes users to what will ultimately become the new Flickr interface.

The facelift was long overdue. I can’t remember any substantial changes to the interface over the last few years, but the latest overhaul is really good – and, more importantly – useful.

The first thing you notice is that the images in your photostream are bigger (the default size is now 650px). And that’s a good thing. Services like boston.com’s The Big Picture or Pictory prove that large images work better.

Depending on your layout, if you choose to display collections next to your photostream, you can now see usage stats for them and edit the mosaic for each of them from your photostream page.

But the biggest changes are visible when you go to an individual photo page.

Those of you who often post images which require black background will be pleased to know that the third-party “view on black” workaround has been replaced by a permanent ‘zoom’ feature. It allows users to see a bigger version of the currently viewed image in a ‘lightbox’ on black bacground with hardly any distractions on the page. Neat.

What’s more, it comes with a keyboard shortcut too – just press ‘f’ to toggle between regular and lightbox views. You can now also use keyboard shortcuts to scroll through images while in the lightbox mode.

The same shortcuts can now be used to browse through the photostream, collections and sets. Alternatively, use the newly added ‘newer/older’ arrows above the image.  I’m also glad that the photostream thumbnails have been revamped – thanks to a wider page you can now see five instead of the uselessly minimalistic two thumbnails before.

The whole page looks and feels lighter now. All the various functions – like tagging, adding notes, adding to or removing from sets, editing, choosing sizes, etc. – have now been grouped under one drop-down menu called ‘Actions’, just above the image.  Right next to it a new ‘Sharing’ menu appeared, making it easier to share Flickr images elsewhere. The sharing functionality hasn’t changed though. Twitter and Facebook integration would have been a nice addition to the new page.

But what has changed is how you add images to groups. Before it was one group at a time. And if your list of groups was long, the whole process was really time-consuming and painful. Now it’s just a question of ticking all the right boxes at once and your picture is automatically added to all yourchosen groups. It’s a bit weird that Flickr hasn’t improved this bit of functionality earlier – a much better solution was already available to Lightroom users. But thankfully Flickr has caught up eventually.

The right-hand column has changed dramatically too. The old version looked like this:

The new, wider page, has space for a short description of when the photo was taken and (if available) what camera was used. There’s also a new, permanent map for geo-tagging, plus the revamped thumbnails I mentioned above. If your image has been added to a group, set or collection, you can now preview thumbnails for the group, set or collection on the image page.

When you compare the two screengrabs, you’ll also notice that the commenters’ thumbnails are much smaller, therefore fewer things in the main column compete with the main image for attention.

Overall, it’s not a drastic overhaul, but it’s also much more than just ‘cosmetic changes’. The whole experience is now much smoother and user-friendly. The pages are more logical and lighter, the most important functionality is grouped together and is easily accessible.

If only they removed the ability to add ginormous badges to comments.

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Bland, tired, clichéd. Welcome to the world of stock photography

Posted by Michal in photography, photojournalism on 21/06/2010

Everyone is complaining that it’s more and more difficult to make money on photography and that the stock photography market has become too competitive. Stock libraries spring up every five minutes and they all overflow with images.

Yes, that might be true. But when you really need a good picture, micro stock libraries disappoint.

In my job I often need to browse for images to illustrate various stories. The subjects vary wildly, but in many cases the requirements are not too taxing: a picture of a child using a laptop; or an image of nice garden; or a messy room. You know the score – no latest Reuters shots from Afghanistan or galleries of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Just some interesting, clean, fairly generic, but hopefully inventive images. The last bit – inventive – is however the source of my frustration.

Photographers submitting their images to stock galleries seem to have a problem with thinking outside the box. They either repeat the same bland – and often detached from reality – clichés which over the years have become a norm, or go for very artistic images, which, although technically perfect, are hardly usable.

This morning I was looking for an image of a car with a few rust spots. Had I known I would need one, I would’ve snapped my own rusty car as it combines the two things I was after: it’s relatively modern and working, and it has a few rusty spots. But try searching for a such a car on a certain well-known stock image website and all you get is numerous images of old rusty Dodge trucks, abandoned somewhere picturesque and artfully photographed in HDR. It ticks all stock library boxes, so it gets accepted, yet from an editorial perspective it’s mostly useless.

Next one: knitting. Here’s where all those predictable clichés come out in force. Because if you were to believe in what stock libraries have to offer, you’d have to conclude that knitting is for old frumpy pensioners in rocking armchairs. Therefore, a story on young trendy mums meeting in gastropubs to knit and chat simply cannot be illustrated by a stock image.

And don’t even get me started on corporate photography. Or rather, don’t get me started on images with keywords ‘meeting’ and ‘office’. Seriously, have you ever been to a meeting, mr stock photography? Do you really think that all meetings involve extremely good-looking people in blue shirts, pointing at a laptop screen or shaking hands or gazing at a whiteboard graph?

I recently needed an image to illustrate a story about tackling challenging meetings. The choice was between a group of happy suits gazing at a graph/laptop/whatever else or a room full of snoring office workers. All looked very corporate because yes, in real life meetings only involve airbrushed 30-somethings in Armani suits, sitting in sterile air-conditioned office towers.

Stock photography now appeals to a much wider audience, the rules have changed a bit. It is no longer just a repository of clinical images for brochures and PowerPoint presentations, or at least it shouldn’t be.  Media outlets use stock images to illustrate their content because it’s cheaper. This creates more demand for more original imagery. Stock photographers must start thinking like journalists to differentiate. There is no point reproducing the same old crap – find out who your audience is and do some research on what works for them.

I know there are people who probably make a fortune on those clinical corporate images – and I agree there is and probably will always be a market for those. But budget cuts and/or smarter thinking have forced many newsrooms to rely on cheaper alternatives. Therefore standing out in a sea of blandness is the only way forward.

Maybe the new Flickr-Getty deal will provide editors with more ‘real’ images? But I should deal with that can of worms in a separate post perhaps…

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The best photo apps for the iPhone

Posted by Michal in photography, software on 10/05/2010

The best according to me, I hasten to add, as this is a very subjective list of my favourite iPhone photo applications. I know there are hundreds of apps for photographers, but I’ve been using these for months and can pretty much say these are the best in terms of creativity, fun and functionality.

The order is random, although as you will see, I use some of these more often than others.

Hipstamatic (£1.19)

One of those applications which capture the imagination of both photographers and casual users. The Hipstamatic for iPhone is, according to its creators,

an application that brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past.

And indeed, it’s both fun and unpredictable. The basic version of the app comes with three interchangeable lenses, three different types of film and two flashes. Each of the components produces different results and when combined they offer some amazing ‘analogue’ images.

They come out slightly darkish, blotchy and discoloured. And this old-fashioned, sentimental quality of Hipstamatic prints is exactly what appeals to so many users.

I like:

  • the interface is lovely and easy to use
  • you can choose to develop high quality prints
  • the choice of extras – lenses, films, flashes – gives users a lot of flexibility
  • you can also enter your photos to various Hipstamatic competitions

I don’t like:

  • the classic viewfinder can be annoying due to its size; you can switch to ‘precision framing’, but it’s equally small
  • you need to pay for every extra lens, film or flash, but you can’t really blame the creators for wanting to make some extra money on what is a very successful application

ShakeItPhoto (£0.59)

Also known as fauxlaroid. Like with Hipstamatic, it’s all about sentimentality and recreating the analogue past on your iPhone. In this case, it’s about getting Polaroid prints on your screen.

Having tested several photo apps, I’ve recently realised that what I really value about the best ones is their simplicity. And ShakeIt couldn’t be simpler. You take a photo, decide whether to use it or not, then wait a few seconds (you can shake the phone to develop it faster – this is an unnecessary gimmick, IMHO) and you get a nice Polaroid-like print. Slightly saturated, with a bit of vignetting and the characteristic white frame.

Currently ShakeIt has replaces Hipstamatic as my top photo app. Mainly thanks to the fact that it doesn’t require any additional settings and is simple to use. Which is important bearing in mind we’re talking about mobile photos here.

I like:

  • virtually no options, which is actually an advantage, makes it very easy to use and enjoy
  • prints come out quite big

I don’t like:

  • the ‘shake it’ function only justifies the app’s name and makes use of iPhone functionality, but doesn’t contribute anything and is theferore a useless gimmick (it doesn’t really recreate the Polaroid experience, IMHO)

Best Camera (£1.79)

For a long long time, Chase Jarvis’s ‘simplified Photoshop’ app was my favourite photo app. Not only does it allow users to modify images in a simple way, but also adds a social element to the whole experience.

Each photo can automatically be published no only to individually configurable social networking sites, but also to the Best Camera ongoing contest page. Each user also gets a mini-portfolio, where all Best Cam uploads are collected.

I’ve seen some really good professional photographers having fun with The Best Cam pictures. Its very simple interface allows users to apply one of several available effects (Vignette, Warm, Candy, etc.), crop and frame an existing image. (Unlike the previous two apps, The Best Cam doesn’t allow users to take new photos, it only works with existing images.)

It’s actually pretty amazing to see what this little app can do to seemingly mundane pictures – I took the pic above during my lunch break – the original looked like this:

The Best Cam version of the pic got 21 thumbs up and over 240 views during the time it was displayed on the Best Camera home page. Not bad for a random lunchtime shot, eh?

I like:

  • its simplicity
  • its social aspect
  • it allows you to stumble upon and discover new photographers via their mini-portfolios

I don’t like:

  • it would be nice to have more options sometimes – I wouldn’t even mind paying for some more advanced extras
  • the tile mosaic which displays recently uploaded pictures sometimes crashes or displays the same pictures over and over again

SwankoLab (£1.19)

Another application which helps develop rather than take pictures. SwankoLab, from the makers of Hisptamatic, is another “let’s go back to analogue” app, which attempts to recreate the analogue darkroom experience on the tiny Apple screen.

And swanky it is indeed. This is the app for which the iPhone was invented. As its makes say, SwankoLab is

a darkroom kit [...]; a loving recreation of the pre-digital era classic. Choose chemicals, process photos, and experiment!

And that’s exactly what you do. You choose the picture you want to ‘develop’, then reach for the chemicals you want to use (they come with useful descriptions which use modern, Photoshop-compatible terminology), mix them together and see what happens.

If you’re not particularly adventurous, you can always use some ready-made formulas. The app comes with its own sound effects and also offers the ability to annotate prints, email them or save to your photo library.

You can extend the app by purchasing additional ‘chemicals’ from Uncle Stu’s darkroom catalog.

I like:

  • the virtually endless possibilities – mix’n'match till you find your perfect formula
  • slick interface, likely to appeal to sentimental photographers trying to re-live pre-digital darkroom experiences and to those who care less about photography but simply like their apps funky

I don’t like:

  • this is my personal preference, but the simplicity of apps like ShakeIt makes SwankoLab seem a bit gimmicky
  • missing the ability to share on Facebook or Twitter straight from the app
  • no Flickr integration
  • despite all these formulas, the prints don’t have a distinctive feel and look and look a bit bland

Photoshop.com Mobile (£ free)

Need I say more? Probably the most widely-used photography software in the world, yet the iPhone/mobile version doesn’t seem to have that many fans.

I rarely use it, if I have to be honest. If and when I do, I reach for it when I need functionality which is not available elsewhere, like a flexible crop tool.

It is a decent application which offers most of the very basic tools that are available to Photoshop users and more. Apart from cropping you can also straighten images (very useful and very easy to apply), you can flip and rotate them too.

Adjusting exposure is very simple – just move your finger across the screen to change the values and see the final outcome. Adjusting everything else – from saturation to contrast – is equally simple.

The iPhone/mobile version of Photoshop also comes with a few effects and a choice of borders, but its best asset is definitely its choice of the classic Photoshop tools. You can’t beat that.

I like:

  • Facebook integration, you can also use your Adobe ID if you’ve got one
  • no need to use sliders to make adjustments
  • instant preview

I don’t like:

  • it integrates with Twitpic, but why only TwitPic?
  • it doesn’t remember the last image, always starts from zero, which I find annoying
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Dubai in 45 gigapixels disappoints

Posted by Michal in photography on 08/05/2010

Every few months I write about a new gigapixel panoramic site and every time the number of gigapixels increases substantially.

First we had Dresden in 26 gigapixels, followed by this equally huge panoramic image of Paris.

Now the gigapixels have nearly doubled to 45 and the next destination to get its gigapixel treatment is Dubai.

Dubai sounds like a great idea, however from where the picture was taken it looks like the most depressing place on earth. Half-built skyscrapers dominate the picture (are thy still being built? or have they been abandoned when Dubai’s economic problems started?) – and the whole landscape looks barren and hazy.

The photographer, Gerald Donovan, admits that

“this was only ever intended to be a technical test – I’m making no claims with regards photographic quality or artistic merit!”

I’m always full of admiration for photographers who come up with those ideas and then painstakingly execute them.

But was this worth it? Not really. The images – taken with Canon 7D and the 100-400mm f 4.5-5.6 zoom lens –  are hastily stitched together.  The quality of the final image is therefore compromised. But hopefully the fact it was just a test means there’s something more – and better – to come. Luckily, Gerald has taken some more stunning pics of Dubai – see his portfolio here.

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Joys of the Window Seat

Posted by Michal in photography on 05/05/2010 

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Pictures taken through a plane window. Yawn. We’ve all seen and taken the classic plane shot – a bit of blue sky, some clouds, an unspecified mountain range (preferably snow-covered) and/or a sunset. Means a lot to us, bores the rest of the humankind to death. Stock agencies use them as examples of photography they don’t accept.

But The New York Times, inspired by this lovely piece by a former management consultant turned airline pilot, asked its readers to submit their best (if that’s the right word here) images taken from an air plane. The resulting Joys of the Window Seat gallery is as much about photography as it is about travel, history, nature and all those memories we bring with us from our travels.

And somehow, when collected together, the otherwise dull images work. Each comes with a caption explaining why it’s important to whoever submitted it or why it was taken and where.

Another nice example of simple yet effective storytelling in mainstream media.

But if you don’t like the pictures, at least read the article that inspired the gallery. Its author, Mark Vanhoenaker, the aforementioned pilot, gives some great tips regarding choosing ideal seats for the best take-off and landing views in London, New York, Los Angeles, Milan and other cities.

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Big is beautiful

Posted by Michal in inspiration, photography, photojournalism on 27/04/2010

Although you wouldn’t know that, if you looked at most online picture galleries.

It’s been bothering me for quite a while: why is it that so many online publications seem to be proud of their picture galleries and attach so much importance to the visual aspect of news, yet completely ruin the experience by presenting the images in a very unattractive way?

Yes, I know that page impressions count and if you reduce the gallery size, cram a few ads on the page and make people click forever you may even earn a few bucks. But will the same people come back?

I may look at the galleries on Times Online, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph every now and then, but usually only when I get sent a link to one. I hardly ever look at the BBC galleries, although I have to admit that I like the fact their home page has become flexible and can easily accommodate a large(ish)-format gallery to illustrate a big breaking news story.

I know that not everybody uses huge screens and enjoys a fast broadband connection, and I’m fully aware of the fact that most news outlets need or want to appeal to the widest audience. But how about making the images bigger, the gallery visually more appealing and likely to be shared easily? At least try?

That’s exactly what boston.com did and subsequently conquered the social media world with its Big Picture gallery – massive, bold, carefully selected images focused on a single theme.

Ask any Twitter user whether they’ve heard of Boston.com and they will probably say no. But ask them about The Big Picture and they’re more likely to remember it.

In a relatively short space of time The Big Picture has become an institution – a place to go to to see carefully selected examples of photojournalism, extreme photography, some quirky and unusual images – all in big format.

And, unlike most online galleries, this one needs to be scrolled rather than clicked through. That’s possibly its biggest unique selling point: no thumbnails, no individual pages, no pop-ups. Just a long list of visually stunning and often poigniant images. A big win for both photography and for journalism, but not just because of the big format. The images are always carefully selected to guarantee the most logical narrative or simply the biggest visual impact, or both.

Another exemplary use of big format photographs can be found on the brilliant Pictory site, where users are invited to submit just one image on a specific theme. Laura Brunow, who runs the website, then picks twelve best images and publishes them as brilliant image-led ‘stories’. See this Danger showcase for example. A clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate page, where images are able to speak for themselves and grab our attention. Each comes with a short intro or caption submitted by the contributing photographer and with the photographer’s bio.

The fact that many Twitter users – not necessarily photographers – shared a link to the recent London showcase, and had nothing but praise for the site, suggests Laura Brunow (and The Big Picture) got it right.

The big boys should really take notice.

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Hipstamatic will not improve your photography

Posted by Michal in photography, software on 26/04/2010

A recent look at the most populat iPhone photo apps revealed that Apple fans are in fact a very sentimental lot. Hipstamatic rules. iPhone users want their pictures to look more analogue, or retro and less clinical and bland.

And as much as I love Hisptamatic – with its choice of ‘lenses’, ‘films’ and ‘flashes’ (all electronically generated, for the uninitiated amongst you) – I still am very ambivalent about such apps. They make photography fun, no doubt about that, they do add an extra dimension to what otherwise would have been another mobile shot, but they also give a false sense of creativity.

A good friend of mine told me she’d fallen in love with Hipstamatic “because it allows me to do what you do in Photoshop but without Photoshop”. (I hardly use Photoshop. Lightroom, yes, but not Photoshop, and certainly not to make my pictures look like faded Polaroids. But that’s a different story.)

Someone else told me their pictures look so much better with Hipstamatic.

And that’s the problem. Many Hipstamatic users think they are ‘creative’, while in fact all they get is just a different quality print. And by quality I mean colours mostly. The composition or indeed the subject are not enhanced by the app – they’re still in the hands of the photographer. Therefore many Hipstamatic pictures, actually most of the ones I’ve seen, are bland or actually very bad. They do look different, particulary if compared with similar, untreated mobile snaps (after all Hipstamatic works with a 3mp mobile camera only), but they don’t necessarily make any of us more creative or turn us into better photographers.

The usual rules of composition still apply, the framing is still important and so is the subject. Hipstamatic will not improve anyone’s mediocre skills, I’m afraid.

Which is not to say we shouldn’t have fun with apps like Hipstamatic. Or its sister retro app, SwankoLab, which doesn’t allow you to take pics, but helps “develop” existing ones in a digitally recreated old-fashioned darkroom. Like Hipstamatic, it’s a lot of fun. But that’s what SwankoLab, Hipstamatic or The Best Cam are – fun apps and nothing more.

And like with many apps, the novelty will soon wear thin, the specially-created Flickr groups will overflow with thousands of mass-produced pics and we’ll jump on the next big thing.

For now however, retro is in.

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Horsetail firefall

Posted by Michal in inspiration, photography on 20/03/2010

Horsetail Firefall© Daleberts via Flickr, used under CC licenceI saw a similar image to this one on Twitter yesterday when someone posted it there – and found it fascinating. This is a phenomenon known as Horsetail Firefall and it can only be seen during the last two weeks of February in Yosemite National Park. And only if the conditions are right.

First of all you need the water, which at this time of the year can still be frozen. There are also years when there’s simply no water as it’s too dry.

Then you also need sunlight. The sky needs to be clear and the setting sun needs to be in the right position for its golden glow to hit the falling water.

And obviously the photographer needs to be there at the right time in the right place.

Absolutely fascinating. And I didn’t know about that until I read what others had to say about it on Flickr. When you search for ‘horsetail firefall’ there you can also see how others have approached the same phenomenon.

I think I know when I’m going next February.

Image: Horsetail Firefall© Daleberts via Flickr, used under CC licence

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