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February

SEARCHES MADE EASY

Page 2

PHOTO TIPPage 2

FEATURED COLUMN

SYNDICATION INFOPage 3

NOCTURNAL

PHOTO ESSAY

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NEED TO KNOW NEWS

Page 8

Made with 100% Texas grit...

RUSS

ELLG

RAVE

S.COM

UPD

ATES

2010

IN THIS ISSUE

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Searches Made EasierOver the past month or so, I’ve been

working behind the scenes to make

searches easier to accomplish at

www.russellgraves.com.

Here was the problem: With about

19,000 images on-line images, searches

often yield too many results. For example,

when you do a search for the word

“turkey”, you get 1,538 images returned in

the search results.

The reason for so many results is that

my system searches each image’s

metadata for the keyword. Therefore,

when you do the search, you get to see

every image with the word turkey in the

metadata. Images like turkeys, turkey

vultures, turkey tracks, turkey hunters -

everything with the word turkey...

That’s great if you want to see many

images. However, what if time is tight and

you only want to see a few images? All of

a sudden, 1,500 images to browse is a bit

daunting.

Therefore, keeping an eye on ways to

save time, I’ve implemented ways to do a

search within a search.

It works like this: once you do a

search for turkey, you’ll still get all those

images returned by the search engine.

Suppose you want to see just tom turkeys

gobbling. Above the thumbnails, there’s

language that says, “To refine search

results, click HERE.”

Once you click the link, another search

box appears so that you can refine your

search. When you type the term “gobble,”

in the refine box and click on the search

button, the number of images returned

shrinks to 87 - a lot more manageable

number.

Of course, you can keep on refining

and drilling down the search results

forever. Now, all is takes is a few

keystrokes and a couple of more seconds

to find that perfect image.

-Russell Graves

PHOTO TIP

A Cheap Hair Light When I photograph people outdoors, I often forego setting up a lot of flash equipment. I often only use a single light and perhaps a reflector. I do, however shoot with my subjects against the sky. The sky makes an excellent hair light that separates the subject from the background and eliminates the need for another flash.

The sky makes creates a

great point of separation between your subject and the

background.

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Being Texan

I've often lamented on what it means to be a Texan. Born and raised in Texas, I've been keenly interested in the Lone Star State for a while. When I was young, my dad was a truck driver and he would plant me in the cab of the truck and point out things like Guadalupe Peak, Enchanted Rock, or Fort Parker while our glorious state rolled past the cab of his Freightliner. He'd talk about Texas people and places and haul my family to see and experience the Texas culture. His underlying lesson: be proud of who you are and where you are from. Be proud that you are a Texan. I am proud to show my love of Texas by contributing to our culture. True story: In 1995, I led my ag science classes to lobby the Texas Legislature to name the Texas Longhorn the State Large Mammal of Texas. As Texans, we are a unique breed. The fact that our state was once a sovereign nation isn't lost on many who live here. Our nation was borne out of rebellion when a handful of brave Texans fought a much larger and exponentially better armed and

organized Mexican army. The Texas spirit is a mix of fierce independence, guts, gusto, a love of neighbor, and a love of our heritage. Six flags have flown over our state. The great state of Texas has been a melting pot and a conglomeration of cultures for centuries. When I visited the shrine of Texas liberty back in July, I was reminded of the sacrifices that brave men made on behalf of a burgeoning nation. In a letter from the Alamo, William Barrett Travis, commander of the Alamo wrote: "To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world-- Fellow citizens & compatriots-- I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna--I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man -- The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken -- I have

answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls -- I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch -- The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am deter mined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country -- Victory or Death”

William Barret Travis Lt. Col. comdt

FEATURED COLUMN

About Russell Graves Outdoors

Russell Graves Outdoors is a

syndicated newspaper column that

appears weekly in newspapers in

Texas and Oklahoma. If you’d like

more information about how to get the

column in your newspaper, feel free to

contact me.

Newsletter Sponsorship

If you are interested in sponsoring this

newsletter, contact me for more

details.

RUSSELLGRAVES.COM UPDATESRussell@russellgraves.com

“I am proud to show

my love of Texas by contributing to

our culture.”

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Photographing in the DarkOnce the sun goes down,

photography doesn’t stop.

Where I live in the Texas Rolling

Plains, big skies, clear air, a lack

of population, and interesting

subjects makes for an ideal

situation for capturing nocturnal

landscapes.

The technical part of making

images like these is easy. The

hard part if finding cool subjects

to photograph. Thanks to lonely

places on the plains, finding cool

stuff comes easy.

NOCTURNAL

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The SkinnyDate: VariousLocation: Near Childress, TexasCamera Gear: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 1D Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8 lens, Canon 580EX II Flash with various gels, Q-Beam portable spotlight with colored gels

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NEED TO KNOW NEWSDOCUMENTARY After a year in production, I am

currently wrapping up the post-

production work on my half-hour

documentary about a lake flooding a

hardwood bottomland where I was

raised. It is scheduled to screen in

April and on the website shortly

thereafter.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Nature Photography

Seminar

February 13th @ 1:30pm

Heard Nature Center

McKinney, Texas

Magazine

Photojournalism

Seminar

Austin, Texas

March 17 @ 7pm

Click HERE for more details

SPARKLE

If you haven’t seen the video

Sparkle, you have to check it out.

Bailee and I are both excited because

it was recently licensed for showing at

a children’s film festival!

Connect with me!

Facebook

Twitter

You Tube

Check out this month’s issue of Texas Parks &

Wildlife for the story behind my

documentary.

RUSSELLGRAVES.COM UPDATESwww.russellgraves.com

Russell@russellgraves.com

To subscribe for FREE, send me an e-mail at russell@russellgraves.com