Recently all the photos taken with my digital SLR have obvious spots at two fixed places. Can I get rid of them by cleaning the sensor? Also, I see a lot of colored spots in my night photos but I guess that’s a different problem; how do I solve that? M.K.
Answer
Yes, it’s quite likely that the two dots are caused by specks on the sensor. You can send the camera to a service, or consider cleaning the sensor yourself with one of the products from VisibleDust such as the Zeeion Blower (from B&H Photo; from Amazon). For more stubborn spots (such as water droplets) you would need to use the special swabs (from B&H Photo; from Amazon) plus the SensorClean liquid (from B&H Photo; from Amazon).
But take maximum care not to scratch the sensor; follow the accessory manufacturer’s instructions to the letter! (more…)
In order to be successful in this business you need a lot of tools at your disposal. I mean not only physical tools like gear and software, but also intangible tools like a positive attitude and a penchant for keeping clients happy. Also, the ability to keep clients in awe of you is always a big help. I’ve stated here many times that I’m not a gear head. I’m perfectly willing to spend money on necessary gear. But my bar for what I deem necessary is very high. It’s a rare day when I’ll go buy something just because I think it’s cool or fun. Last week I made an exception to my “˜not unless it makes my work better” rule and purchased DSLRemote Pro for my iPhone. (more…)
Bleached bush skeleton, Mono Lake, California. This image would have been more effective if I'd used a bit of flash to highlight the dead bush to emphasize that it's the subject of the image, I'll almost certainly dodge up (brighten) the bush in printing.
If you like this article, you can now get the book! Joe has expanded the “Tuesday Composition” series into an inspiring new ebook on composition, especially for nature photography. Check it out: The Tuesday Composition.
One of the more common idioms in landscape of photography is the near-far composition, a powerful technique for creating depth and relationships within a photograph.
In a near-far composition, a small foreground element is emphasized and placed in a background that establishes context for that element. For example, the dead bush in Bleached Bush Skeleton, the bush remains are the subject of the photograph. The lake, the tufa in the lake and the Sierra Nevada all tell us something about the location the bush remains are in.
Put another way, if you were to try and write a sentence describing what a near-far photograph is about, it would usually be something like, “This foreground (thing) is in the background (environment).” The foreground object is the subject of the sentence, it is in general the more important of the two elements in a near-far image.
When I say that the foreground is emphasized, it’s important to be clear about how that’s done. For the foreground to be comparable in size to the background, it needs to be much closer to the lens than the background. While it might seem in theory that this could be accomplished with almost any sort of lens, the smaller depth-of-field of telephoto lenses often make it impossible to keep near and far objects both in focus. As a result, the most dramatic near-far compositions are usually made with wide-angle lenses. Hyperfocal focusing is often used to create the greatest depth-of-field. (more…)
Peter Burian tests this affordable 12.3 MP DSLR with variable-angle LCD, D-Movie mode and sophisticated Nikon technology
Nikon’s most affordable enthusiast-level DSLR-the 12.3 megapixel D5000-is positioned between the D3000 and the D90 and offers the best of both worlds. The D5000 is as easy to use as the entry-level camera and provides even more Scene modes but it employs powerful technology and advanced features developed for the larger prosumer-grade model.That includes D-Movie mode in Live View, although the LCD screen is slightly smaller and provides lower resolution when compared to the D90. (more…)
East of California’s Sierra Nevada, north of Mono Lake lies the abandoned mining town of Bodie, California. Bodie boomed after the discovery of gold ore in the 1870s, by 1920 the town was in a steep and never-reversed decline. In 1962 the area was designated a California state historic park and remains that today. Several aspects make Bodie a particularly interesting target for photographers intrigued by the Gold Rush era ghost towns.
First and foremost Bodie is maintained in a state of arrested decay, that is, the park attempts to maintain Bodie the way it was in 1962, repairing what’s necessary to maintain that state but no more so. Interiors of many of the town’s buildings buildings still contain original furniture and such. And because Bodie hasn’t been commercially developed, it’s easy to find many places to take unique, “timeless” photographs without anachronisms. (more…)
I was thinking today about what I would have liked to known when I was first starting out as a wedding photographer in Tampa and realized that, despite the wealth of information available to the newby, I don’t recall ever seeing a detailed breakdown of the equipment a typical wedding photographer carries to a shoot. So, with that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the equipment in my bag with comments about how I use it. This is, by no means, a definitive list. It’s just what I am carrying right now and could change at any time.
(2) Canon 40D – The Canon 40D may not be the best that Canon has to offer but it will certainly get the job done. Don’t get too caught up in the rush to buy the newest and most advanced camera available. The cheapest DSLR on the market is still light-years more advanced than every camera that came before it. Personally, I prefer two identical camera bodies. It’s a comfort to me that I can grab either camera and get the same results.
(4) Camera Batteries – One battery in each camera body and two backups. I don’t use a battery grip with my camera. I’ll admit I envy the convenience of the added controls so that you can hold the camera in portrait mode the same way you do in landscape but I’m put off by the extra bulk and weight. If I found myself frequently changing batteries during a shoot I would probably get a grip, but I rarely have to use my backup batteries.
(1) Black Rapid Strap (1) standard strap– I’ve written about this before. When I feel it necessary to carry both cameras, I have a second strap around my neck. Both my camera’s have Manfrotto tripod mounts on the bottom and I attach the straps there with speed clips. Typically, I will wear both straps during the ceremony and sometimes during the reception. I just attach the camera’s as needed.
Lenses:
Sigma 18-50, f2.8 – This is my main lens and is on my camera 90% 0f the time.
I have read a lot about the Fuji 3D, a digital camera that’s supposed to make real 3D images. Does it really work as advertised? How much will it cost and when will it be available? R.S.
Answer
The FinePix Real 3D W1 (Fuji) camera is available now direct from Fujifilm in the US and from a few retail stores. Expect greater availability over the next month or two; yet, even then, it may be a special order item. The suggested list price is $600 for the camera and $500 for a special accessory, the 3D Viewer V1. Initially, only Fuji will be able to make 3D prints since the process requires entirely new-and expensive-equipment. Expect to pay about $7.00 for a 5×7″ print with a true 3D effect without the need for special glasses.
And yes, it really does work as I recently confirmed with a demo at Fuji’s office. (more…)
I came to use the latter technology in the 1990s. At that point, the reasons for doing so were clear, inkjet technology was still in it’s infancy, and suffered from severe problems with longevity, making serious inkjet prints was out of the question. Early attempts to solve this ran into embarrassing ozone sensitivity and later metamerism. Those troubles left me gun-shy; the chemistry, and therefore the longevity, of photographs using traditional chemistry was not perfect but was well-understood. Nothing wrong with sticking with something that works.
But over the years, much progress has been made. Epson and other vendors are now producing inkjet paper and ink combinations which are much better understood in terms of longevity. Moreover, most of the better inkjet processes avoid a longevity problem traditional photographic papers face–fading in the face of ultraviolet light from the sun or from florescent light bulbs. (When I frame prints I use ultraviolet-blocking glass, but not all framers will do this by default.) The increasing pressure to move to compact florescent bulbs represents a threat to the longevity of the photographs I sell, and is part of what has led me to look at inkjets. Additionally, chromogenic prints are somewhat acidic, and are best matted using mat board that isn’t chemically buffered, but such mat boards are less common. (more…)
From your iPhone? Well maybe not perfect, but certainly better than what you’re able to do with the stock camera. Last week I reviewed the Best Camera app and one of my complaints about the preset filters was the fact that the user can not edit those filters. The Perfect Photo app does allow more fine tuned control over the image.
Like most camera based apps you can either shoot a new picture right from the app or load one from your saved images. From there you’ve got the ability to edit several aspects of the image.
Tree Ballet and Pogonip, Mono Basin, Eastern Sierra, California. At small image sizes, simple compositions are effective more often than complex ones.
If you like this article, you can now get the book! Joe has expanded the “Tuesday Composition” series into an inspiring new ebook on composition, especially for nature photography. Check it out: The Tuesday Composition.
One of the axes on which I measure compositions is their degree of complexity–not just the complexity of the image itself but the complexity of the composition.
On one end, we have very simple, spare compositions that embody perhaps a couple of the compositional principles we’ve discussed. On the other end of the spectrum, we have compositions that orchestrate a far greater number of these principles on a smaller scale. Today I’d like to touch on some of the ways these differences affect the effectiveness of your images.
I’ll start by saying that my images tend very much towards the leaner side of this spectrum. One of my first teachers was the late Galen Rowell, who shared this affinity for simplicity. Galen had come to nature photography from mountain-climbing, and as a result had decided to work entirely with lightweight 35mm-format cameras in his own work. Both the smaller format of the slides themselves (compared with medium and large-format cameras) and the presentation of these images in smaller forms (at first, often magazines, I suspect) likely pushed him in the direction of simplicity–if the individual parts of a composition don’t render large enough to move your eye, they’re not going to have much of an effect on your image. While Galen’s images are fantastic even at large scale, their ability to feel compositionally strong even at smaller scales reflects the simplicity and directness of his compositions. (more…)
