TranquilPhotos.com

Which camera?

Right up there with “Why are we here?” and “Who am I?” are “What computer should I buy?” and “What camera should I get?”

There is no right answer, but the typical answer is: “The one that is right for what you want to use it for that fits in your budget.”  Here are some pointers to help you make that decision.

The initial question is Point and Shoot (P&S) or Single Reflective Lens (SLR).  Both camera types can give you fantastic images, and both are capable of producing absolutely trash worthy images.  The SLR camera just gives you more rope to hang yourself with.   So the range of the good and bad is even greater.  The first question you have to ask yourself is: “If I buy a SLR, will I use the Manual mode?”  If the answer is “Yes”, than an SLR is probably the right choice.   If the answer is “No, I rather use the automatic or pre-programmed modes” — than the P&S is the right camera for you.  An SLR on automatic mode is really just a fancy, expensive P&S – for the most part.  The second question is, “If I buy an SLR, will I spend more money on different lenses?  If the answer is: “Yes, I want better and different type lenses,” than SLR is probably a good choice.  Otherwise, P&S have gotten very good with the variety of lenses and modes that can go from 17mm to 300mm — both Landscape and Macro modes.

What SLR should I buy?

Ok so assuming you have made the choice to buy an SLR, which camera is the right one for what you want to do?  The first question is which manufacturer.   Canon, Nikon, Pantex and SONY are all good manufacturers.  Nobody can say that SONY does not make a good camera.  They’re all good and have a great line up.  The tricky part about the SLR world is lenses and accessories.  Canon and Nikon easily become the front runners because of their lens and accessory line of equipment.  They both have 20-50 lenses available for any specific type of photography you want to do.   For me the choice was an easy one.  The Canon lenses, in my opinion, are superior to the Nikon ones so far.  Nikon has taken the lead in the “body” category, but as anyone in photography will tell you, it’s all about the “glass”.  If you already have an investment with a company, go with that one, it’s far too costly to switch and the lead will switch back and forth.  DO NOT get caught up in the media wars.  If you have friends with good lenses go with whatever manufacturer they use, so you can “borrow” or “trade” lenses.

For me the choice was rather easy, my father was a Canon user, I had a Canon myself and the canon lenses have always impressed me.  Here are my recommendations of bodies + primary lenses for Canon.  These are not restrictive, almost any body and any lens can do anything, and these are my personal recommendations on what I would do if I were in that situation.  These are the minimums that I would start with.  A second body never hurts.

Recommendations

If you’re a fan of lightroom there are some absolutely great features, updates and add-ons to Lightroom 3.  It’ll continue to work until April 2010 which is a good time to check it out if you are not a fan.  Why would you be?!?

On the top of my list:

• Graphical watermarks (YAY!)
• Much improved import tool and display (YAY!)
• Highlight priority vignetting
• Much better sharpening (YAY! No more photoshop droplets)
• Show Mask Overlay in the developer module when you use the tools for local adjustments.

These are just the ones that I had been hoping for, there are various new speed enhancements as well to deal with the ever growing file and catalog sizes.

Head over to Adobe Labs for your own copy of Lightroom 3 Beta.

Well once again this little gem has come up, so I thought I would write do a short blog on it.

Should you have a UV(0) filter on your lens?

The two sites are:

1. Any extra piece of glass is going to reduce/manipulate/change the quality of the image.
2. The protection offers by the filter out ways any image quality images.

Here are my thoughts on the subject:

Both statements are true.  You just paid $500-$1200 for a nice lens on your SLR to get the absolutely best image you can.  Why introduce something that is going to take away from your image quality?  But also, you just paid $500-$1200 for a nice lens, do you really want to scratch the front element when a small piece of debris get blown into it?  Or while you’re cleaning it, you scratch it?

So what’s the answer?  The answer is to use a filter, but use the best filter possible to reduce the amount of disruption to an absolute minimum.  Multi-coated filters, good name brand filters are the best option.

I personally use Sunpack filters as they are actually made by the same manufacturers as other “name brand” filters but cost half.    When I get a new lens, after testing it and within the first 12 hours I have a sunpack UV(0) filter on there and it doesn’t come off until spring cleaning.   I do my very best not to have to remove the filter.   I have heard of “What about sunflares?”  USE your hood, that’s what it is for. Also, you can use a GND filter on top of the UV filter.  Most non-ultra-wide filtes (< 14mm) will not notice the extra lens.  You should check this on your lens before trying it though.   My Canon EF 24-105mm L f/4 is my main walk around lens and it has had UV(0), and 2 GND (-3 stop) filters on it without it doing any vignetting — so it depends on the lens.

Final word…. I rather break and chuck s $60 filter than have to send in my lens to Canon for a $400 repair anyday of the week.

Well as all know one of the most useful tools when editing is to see how much you’ve changed.  Sometimes you find it you’ve gone over the deep end on something and need to back off because whatever was, would work better.

In Lightroom, while under the “Developer” modeule (D) 2 has the (\) can be used to switch back and forth to the before and after image of your shot.  With or without any edits.

What is going on is that the image is shown as it stands, compared to the “Import” usually the initial view.   What if you had 12 changes, but only wanted to see the last 6 changes to a customer as before and after and not all of the other corrections?

The trick is to move the “before” stamp to a new spot on the history.   Select the step you want to be “before” and on the History item, right click and select “Copy History Step Settings to Before”.   Remember, that whatever history item you have selected is the “After”.  So select the next point of comparison and use the backslash key.

Well looks like we have the specs for the Canon 1D Mark IV to wet our appetites for a while.   Surprisingly the unit will be released around December in time for the superbowl most likely — starting street price body-only — $4,999.00!

Here are the specs:

• 10 FPS
• 16.1 MP APS-H CMOS censor
• ISO Range Native: 100 up to 12,800 in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments, with ISO Expansion: 50 and 25,600, 51,200, and 102,400. [Editor: Native is really the only one that should be looked at]
• Dual DIGIC 4 Processors [Editor: 16x more processing power than the DIGIC 3 system]
• M-RAW and S-RAW [Editer: Medium and small sized RAW files]
• Better Noise control
• Enhanced Custom Functions [Editor: Ok, now they're just reaching for more points, really? how enhanced are they? ]
• [Editor: Something about 1080p and 720p video as well .... ]

What I’m really impresssed with so far are:

1. The new AF tracking system, here is a quote from the Canon website: “As an example, with an EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, the EOS-1D Mark IV can track a subject approaching at 50 kph/31 mph up to about 8 meters/26.2 feet away. This is the same specification as the EOS-1D Mark III. However, with the 39 cross-type AF points, the Mark IV’s subject detection and tracking performance have improved substantially over the EOS-1D Mark III’s. This combination of hardware and software (AI Servo II AF algorithm) improvements enables a more stable AI Servo AF control.”   Which translates to locking and tracking a subject without having to keep the AF point on the subject.   The system will actually track the subject and select the proper AF point as it needs to.
2. Noise Control!  How molly it looks nice at ISO 2000.

Sample movie and images can be found on the Canon Japan site.

For more information please visit the Canon Digital Learning Center.

There are no magic bullets on getting a knife’s edge sharp picture.

Here are some steps that you need to get you 50% there, the rest you’ll have to do…

1. Use a tripod, monopod, or anything else.
   Before you even ask — YES, you need one.  The best one that you’ll actually carry with you.
   • Be it, a $450 carbon-fiber Manfrotto, or a $12 Walmart special.  Having it and using it better than having it and not using it.
   • This includes a ziplock full of rice that you can slap down and use as a bed to place your camera on, to using the side of a building to push your camera against.
   • A proper stance is the last part of this.  Left hand underneath against your chest, cradling the camera on your palm, your fingers spread out being parted by the lens.
2. Use a fast shutter speed.
   The general rule of thumb is that if you at 100mm focal length, you can hand hold up to 1/100th of a second or faster. I would not tell anyone to hand hold anything below 1/80th — as your blood pressure, heart beat, and simple act of breathing can introduce movement in the image.   This goes double for longer focal length.
3. Use good glass.
   You have to do your research before buying your glass.  Almost all main lens manufacturers have your “regular” or “consumer” lenses, and also a “professional” series.  The main difference is the construction and optics that are used in the lens.  Canon has the “L” series, Sigma has the “EX” series,  Tamron well they don’t but they claim all of their lenses are professional.
4. Use the proper depth of field — good focus
   A whole lot of images are in fact very sharp — you just don’t like where the sharpness is.  This is because of poor focus, because the subject moved, you moved or you just mis-focus.  This plus, a small depth of field puts all or some of your subject out of focus, and not very sharp.  Using manual focus is obviously idle, if possible.  Using a larger depth of field (smaller aperture) would also help.  If you camera has a “auto-keep-focus” such as the Canon AI Servo that will lock and keep focus will also help if the subject is moving.
5. Use a short focal length
   Now this one is my personal note, I think most people try to zoom too much.  Most your feet and get closer to your subject and fill the frame.   Use the shortest focal length you have (without going into the wide range [< 50mm]).
6. Proper post-processing
   Unlike film, almost all digital images need some post processing.  Specially USM (UnSharpen mark) — opposite to it’s name it’s actually a tool that sharpens your images.  It is not a tool to sharpen a blurry image, but if you have done everything else this last step will give you that extra pop of sharpness.

As always, there are dozen different answers to every question, but I am hoping that these small points help someone get a sharper image.

The prize winning, Nature and Wildlife Photographers of Long Island (NWPLI) has teamed yet again with Castello Di Borghese Winery for an Autumn Exhibition of Nature Photography.  The show runs from November 14th, 2009 until December 12th, 2009.   There is also a meet the artists reception at the Winery will be Saturday, November 21st from 12-3 PM.  Please come and see the amazing Nature and Wildlife photography at its very best.

Well I must have slipped or something because I totally over exposed this poor Dahlia.

As you can see I was holding the flash way too close on the bottom and totally overexposed the bottom of the flower.  Well there is a an easy way to save  this image.

If you don’t already know I’m a very big proponent of Lightroom.  It has made my life so much easier.  I can find sports images in seconds with the nice keyword searches, and I hardly ever go into Photoshop anymore.  If I do, I’m there for 30minutes to a day because what I need to do is usually a huge task.  The rest of the work is all done in LR.

This image can be saved in a matter of seconds.

First we need to identify the tool that we would like to use.  As the overexposure happened from a side, this means we need to reduce the exposure of the bottom without changing the exposure on top.  So the gradient (moving from one color to another) negative exposure is what we need.

First, lets switch to the Developer Module by either clicking “Develop” on the top row, or by hitting “D”.   The gradient tool is a right below the Histogram on the right side of the developer module, and it looks like a box with 3 dotted lines going through it.   The 4th option from the left, and 2nd option from the right.   You can see it below circled.

Now choose “Exposure” from the drop down list in front of Effect.  Next move the slider all the way left so that it reads -4.00.  That’s right we’re going to way underexpose the image so that we can see where the gradient will start and end.  Afterward we will pull the exposure back up and we’ll end up where we want.

Now click on where the image is “most” over exposed, and while holding the left mouse down drag the mouse towards where the exposure is correct.  You should be able to see the exposure change as you’re doing this, if your computer is a little slow, just hold the mouse steady without letting go of the button and LR will catch up. When you’re happy with the size of the gradient let go of the mouse, but don’t click anywhere on the picture, if you do you’ll start a new gradient.  If this should happen, click “Cancel” on the bottom right hand corner of the tool window.  You can grab the old gradient to change it’s value by clicking the little white dot (handler) that is on the image.

As you can see we have underexposed the flower on the bottom now, but we can also see exactly where the gradient starts.  If you know exactly how much exposure you need than you can set it from the start, but me, I can’t tell from the image how badly I’ve done something so I usually just go over and reduce as needed.

Now let’s increase the exposure until the bottom and the top matches.

As you can see we now have a properly exposure flower, ready to be matted and framed for the gallery or show.

Also, please notice that the history on the left shows us all of the steps that we completed.  At this point I usually take a “snapshot” of the history point so that I can break this off and/or continue to play with the image to see if anything else can be changed to make it better.  In this case I might run it through Noise Ninja once at a low setting.

Final export:

This is one of those topics that keeps coming up. Almost all digital files are “compressed” formats. Which means they have “zip-like” functionality built-into them. With Zip, or Windows Compress, if you zip a document, or a file — when you unzip it, you get the same exact file back (hopefully). Well this is not true for most digital media formats, such for Audio, Video, or Pictures. These lossy formats actually throw away information to make the file smaller. You can never get that original data back. Now let’s admit — most people cannot tell the difference in listening to a MP3 (lossy audio format) of “Smoke on the Water” or the originally recorded digital CD. That’s because most of the information that was thrown away by the conversion was outside of our listening area. Yes some of it was outside of hearing range as well, but most of it is actually inside of what we can hear but don’t usually listen to, specially where there is something more interesting going on.

So what does this all have to do with images and photographs? Well most of the formats that we use are also lossy formats. JPEG is a HUGE lossy format, GIF is even worse. Jpeg actually has 100 levels of lossy. from 1 to 100. 100 being the least lossy, and 1 you won’t recognize your image from the source. The trick with jpeg is to lower the quality enough so that you can’t tell that it was shrunk down — usually between 60-75 (6-7 as some programs refer to the scale).

Formats such as Raw files (CR2[Canon Raw], NRF[Nikon Raw], DNG[Adobe DigitalNegative]) are lossless formats, which means they’re much larger. TIFF and PNG are also two types of lossless formats. Right now everything I shoot is Canon Raw, which is then converted to a DNG for store and archival. I think it’s always better to have 100% of the data in our raw file and in Lightroom it’s breeze to create any size, spec JPEG I need as an output.

It’s a little late for this year, but keep an eye on the LIDS’s (Long Island Dahlia Society) website for their next event.  It’s a simply layout but the colors and types of Dahlia’s that they had were absolutely fantastic.  You can see a bunch of the images that I took with just one off camera flash hand-held on site in the full gallery pages.  I’m sure I’ll be including one or two of them in the main galleries as well.  Oh, it is ‘lord of the flies’ in there, so the visitors get to buy Dahlia’s at the show.  I have no idea if these are the rejects or just extra, but nonetheless they’re fantastic.  I bought two large vases, to do a more controlled set of photos as well.

Here is one from the show: