The Super Wide Portrait
Want to have some fun next time you’re shooting environmental portraits? Then think wide! Just when you are about to pack up that gear and call it a wrap, pull out that super wide angle lens and try something different.
Introduction to Death Valley: Part I, the Sand Dunes
Death Valley National Park is both a famous and challenging place to photograph. A desert, Death Valley is one of the hottest locations in the world with recorded temperatures as high as 134 °F. It also usually features dessicatingly low humidity and a nearly universal lack of shade. The Valley is enormous, over one hundred miles and thirty miles long, often leaving you shooting a long distance from wherever you’ll be sleeping.
And yet I keep going back. There’s just too many great photographic opportunities there, and even this brief (two or three part) introduction will only give a short taste of what’s available.
Let’s start with sand dunes.
Q and A: What are the fastest memory cards?
Question
I want to get the fastest memory card for my Nikon D200 for sports photography. However, after doing some research on the Internet, I’m confused. Which one is really the fastest? Several companies claim that they have the “fastest” cards, but the UDMA cards are supposed to be the fastest. Which one should I buy? D.M.
Answer
That’s a valid question, D.M., for anyone who uses CompactFlash (CF) cards but also for DSLR owners who use SDHC cards. Before answering however, I need to emphasize one essential point. No matter which camera you use, it’s impossible to increase the maximum framing rate by switching to a faster memory card. i.e. If the specifications indicate a top speed of 5 frames per second, you will never be able to shoot at a greater speed (because of a mechanical limitation). (more…)
Managing Client Images
My clients come from the full spectrum of business types – everything from one and two person start ups to multi-national corporations. Each of these clients, of course, have unique needs and expectations, but I’ve come across one area that more and more clients are in need of. Digital Asset Management (DAM.) Most of the larger corporations have a system in place already, after all they’ve been dealing with this issue for time immemorial, and if there is anything large groups like to do, it’s set procedures and systems. However, many smaller clients are just beginning to realize that they need to keep better track of their images. And, if you’re working with startups, chances are they have no idea that this will become an issue for them later on. This is an opportunity for you to educate them and set them on a good path now. (more…)
Canon PowerShot G10 Review
A 14.7 MP pocket-size point-and-shoot even the pros use.
I don’t know of any point-and-shoot camera that commercial advertising shooters have used more than Canon’s PowerShot G-series. Yes, there are other very capable point-and-shoots out there, but none has garnered the G-series’ rep. As with its predecessors, the G10 remains the flagship in Canon’s point-and-shoot lineup, and as such, this camera proudly carries the colors into the heat of battle.
The G10 ups the ante in resolution, compared with earlier models in the G-series, delivering 14.7 megapixels (MP). That gives you enough real estate for cropping. Granted, it’s a CCD chip. Chatter on the Net is that the next G will be the G-whiz wunderkind, with a CMOS sensor adding new vitality into this series. (With that said, should you buy the G10 or wait? Well, you’ll need to read further.) (more…)
The Tuesday Composition: Areas of High Contrast
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.
In a previous column we’ve talked about how the eye is attracted to and tends to follow along edges in a scene, and that similarly, the eye tends not to spend much time wandering in the center of silhouetted areas, tending to explore the edges of those areas instead. Both of these ideas are related to the fact that as one looks at an image over time, the eye will spend more time looking at areas of high contrast than areas of lower contrast. If your image is half-solid without texture, and half a simple textured pattern, the viewers’ eyes will tend (depending, of course, on the dozens of other factors that go into human perception) to spend more time wandering around the patterns.
This autumn image from Yosemite Valley demonstrates the principle. As we look at the image over time, our eye spends a lot of time wandering around the tree branches and leaves compared to the shadowed valley walls or the thin strip of foreground grasses. If we were just trying to understand why our eye spends more time on the tree than the valley wall we might think it was just a matter of the tree leaves being highlights that our eyes are attracted to. But here, while our eyes might very well be first attracted to the brightest part of the image (the grasses at the base of the image), the the eye will eventually spend more time wandering the more interesting and complex patterns of the branches. And the large contrast in the tree leaves (both color contrast and tonal contrast) is a primary reason why. (more…)
Spoiled!
I recently twittered (we’ve got a Photocrati twitter feed here, check it out and give us a follow!) comparing noise between modern digital SLRs and drum-scanned Velvia. I was fairly gobsmacked by going back and looking at some five-to-eight year old drum scans I’d had done of my early 35mm landscape work, most particularly by just how spoiled we’ve all gotten about low noise images.
What I said was “OMG, my old, clean, crisp drum scans of 50-speed film, remembered fondly, have more noise than ISO 1600 DSLR files. Progress!!!!” (more…)
July Thank You Post
Every once in a while, we like to say thanks to those who've supported or helped us in some way. In that spirit, we'd like to say thanks to the…
Q and A: What kind of scanner will fit my needs?
Question
I need to buy a high resolution scanner to digitize tons of slides and negatives when I retire in September. Can you compare film scanners and flatbeds with a transparency adapter for performance in creating digital files from 35mm film, suitable for making 13×19 inch prints with an Epson 2880? Which type would be the best bet? Philip Renaud
Answer
Thanks for your question, Philip. A full assessment would require a test of several brands/types of scanners, a major undertaking that’s not possible for the Q&A. But based on my research — and experience with scanners of both types — I’d say you should be satisfied with a top-of-the-line flatbed or a dedicated a film scanner. Frankly, such equipment is not inexpensive but either type should provide the level of quality you’ll want from the scans for making 13×19″ prints. (more…)
The art of the callsheet
Imagine a theoretical job where you’ve got to coordinate yourself, two client representatives, three business executives who will be photographed, your assistant, a makeup artist and a homeowner whose home you’ll be shooting in. Oh, and you’ll have five minutes of your subjects’ time, the shoot is outdoors and subject to weather whims, and the subjects and the clients all come from the staid, yet much beat up, financial industry. Sounds like fun. Enter the call sheet.