Grand Canyon - 1975

Grand Canyon - 1975.

This photo was taken almost 40 years ago. Way over half of my lifetime. Hardly noticed in the lifetime of the canyon. In those decades thousands of tourists have probably stood in the same place and taken the same photo. The weather and time of day may be different, but the photo will be fundamentally the same.


The Grand Canyon is one of the few things in the world that I think you actually need to experience in person. It is hard to grasp the size until you're standing on the edge.


A photographer, Gus Petro, has an interesting and very different approach to convey the size of the canyon. Look here to see how he has merged the vast empty space with the dense cityscape of New York City.


gs

Lunar eclipse? Maybe.

The moon (upper left) looks like it might be in the midst of an eclipse. Then again, it might just be a big blob of dust. I took this photo from the balcony of my apartment in 1974. That was a long time ago and I just don't remember. The year was the only thing written on the frame of the original slide. Too bad I didn't write down the date.


-gs-

How Sharp Is It?

The Target

This is for the more technically inclined.

If you use your camera equipment long enough you will eventually have a problem.

One of my lenses was producing slightly soft images. This was a lens that had been used for quite a long time with good results on a different camera body. I decided to do some testing before sending the lens in for repair.

Today's digital cameras have much higher resolution than film. Small mismatches between camera body and lenses that were undetectable in the old film days can now be quite evident. 

A portion of the sample report.

To correct these problems the auto-focus system on most recent camera bodies can be fine tuned to match the characteristics of each lens. This is a great feature, but I had never taken advantage of it. My eyes aren't that great and I have a hard time seeing the very small differences between test shots at various fine tuning settings. I must not be the only person with poor eyesight, recently a couple of companies have released software to help with the analysis.

I borrowed a test target and bought a copy of FocusTune from Michael Tapes Design. It's $40. (Free try-before-you-buy demo available.) That may sound like a lot, but sending a lens to the repair shop to be tested would be several times that cost and could take weeks. What's worse, the problem often doesn't surface on the first trip to the shop. If the Focustune software worked well it could be used any number of times. I figured it was low risk and worth the effort to give it a try.

I won't go into the details here, there are several reviews on the Internet (Go ahead, Google Focustune.) To make an already long story short, you take a number of photos of the target at different fine tuning settings, the software analyzes the photos and tells you which setting is best. The software is not difficult to use, but setting up the camera and target requires care. You'll want to use a tripod and make sure that nothing varies among the photos other than the camera's fine tuning setting.

My results were very good. The report is easy to decipher. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the software to anyone that is comfortable with the custom settings on their camera. If you're curious about the software, there is a lot of information available at FocusTune.com.

-GS-

How Big is My Yard?

The wide angle view from a couple of feet away.

That's my new tree.  It's been two years since it replaced a much older tree lost to a storm.  While I was taking a photo to record its growth I shot a few extras to demonstrate how focal length can effect perspective.

How big is the yard?  I can make it look spacious or cramped by choosing where I stand and how I set my zoom lens.

Most cameras come with zoom lenses.  For the most part, I think people zoom in or out to help with composition, or just to avoid moving.  The zoom lens doesn't just get you closer or farther from your subject, it also has an effect on perspective.

If you carefully look at the three photos in this post, you'll notice the tree is (almost) the same size in each.  But look at the difference in the photo backgrounds.

The photo featured at the top of the article was taken with the lens zoomed out to its widest setting. (15mm)  That's a very wide setting.  I was standing very close to the tree.  Close enough to reach out and touch it.  The wide angle lens exaggerates distances between objects making the yard look very large and including quite a bit of the neighborhood and sky.

The mid-zoom view from the middle of the street.

In the second photo the lens was adjusted to the middle of the zoom range. (about 50mm)  I had to back up to keep the tree the same size in the frame.  I was standing in the middle of the street.  Luckily, there isn't much traffic in the neighbor hood.  You can see how the background moves forward, making the yard look smaller.

The last photo was taken with the lens zoomed in to its telephoto setting. (About 100mm)  I had to stand on the sidewalk across the street for this photo.  Now we don't even see the whole house, and the yard looks even smaller.

The telephoto view from across the street.

But the tree is the same size in each photo.  The camera doesn't lie, but the photos tell three very different stories.  Controlling the perspective in your photos lets you tell the story your way.  

Here's a link to an entertaining demonstration that shows how choosing your lens setting can dramatically effect the look of people in your photos.

I encourage you to experiment with your zoom lens the next time you take photos.  You'll be surprised at how different your photos look when you pay attention to perspective.

GS

Fireworks

Fireworks at Werner Park - 2012

It's the time of year when there are a lot of fireworks displays but the really big ones will be coming up on the Fourth of July.  Here are three articles with helpful information.

Every year about this time Joe McNally posts an excerpt from the Life Guide to Photography. 

Scott Kelby's also reposts his fireworks article every year.

And this is from the archives of the New York Institute of Photography

Even though they all say basically the same thing, they all say it in different and entertaining ways.  If you're hunting for a place to practice, check out the schedule for the Stormchaser's games at Werner park.  They have fireworks at every Friday home game for the remainder of the season.

GS

The Dance Recital

The Dancers

I could use this space to brag about my granddaughter, but the theme of this blog is photography so here are a few tips to increase your chances of getting a relatively good snapshot of the kids on the stage.  This photo isn't a work of art, but it's a nice reminder of the day.  It was taken with a 3-year-old, compact, point-and-shoot camera that fits in my shirt pocket.

Equipment Matters

I know, if you read the photography blogs and discussion groups you constantly read that "equipment doesn't matter, it's the photographer that counts."  Well, in general that's true.  In this case, due to the lighting, we are pushing the boundaries.  A camera with a bigger image sensor will gather more of that dim light.  This is a tough job for the most expensive cameras.  Leave the cell phone in your pocket and, at least, use a compact "point-and-shoot" camera.   

Get Out of the Auto Mode

Today's cameras are amazing.  They do most of the thinking for you.  Even the simple point-and-shoot does a great job under average conditions.  Unfortunately, the conditions at a dance recital are much lower than average.  Get out of Auto.  Many cameras hide the settings you'll need to change if they are in Auto mode. If your camera has a P (Program) setting, use it.

Get Close and Zoom-in

The dancers are in a pool of light surrounded by a sea of darkness.  This is guaranteed to fool your camera's exposure computer.  You want to eliminate as much of the sea of darkness as possible by getting physically closer and zooming-in.  I was sitting in the middle row of seats when I took this photo.  The camera lens was zoomed in as far as it would go.

Turn off the Flash

A built-in flash has a range of about 12 feet under the best of circumstances.  These are far from the best of circumstances. The flash won't help.  It will actually make it harder to get a usable photo.  Most important, it will annoy the audience and distract the dancers.  Turn it off.  If you don't know how, read your instruction manual.

Turn Up the ISO

You're probably not sitting in the most ideal spot to take a photo. Use your editing software to crop the photo so it looks more pleasing. I've included the original version of the photo in the inset.  It looks like I didn't even hold the camera straight.

The original.  Crooked and too far away...

Is that a lot?

Well, that's why they say "It's not the camera, it's the photographer that counts."  If you want average photos, leave the camera in Auto and take your pictures in the sunshine.

Getting out of the Automatic mode and learning how to use just a few features of your camera, even a compact, point-n-shoot camera, can result in better photos.

-GS- 

​

The Dramatic Bear

A Sad Bear

This bear is sad. The kids have grown, moved away, and left the bear and his friends behind. I'm cleaning closets, looking for storage space. The bear and his friends are about to go.

This guy got a temporary reprieve while I was testing a new flash. Maybe he and all of his friends will turn into yet another photo project, each one posing for one last photo before they take a ride to the dumpster.

UPDATE:   The bear and his friends have found a new home.  Goodwill will accept old stuffed animals!

gs