Long Exposures

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When you get bored taking “normal” photographs, one technique that you might try is taking long exposures. It is an interesting part of the art of making photographs because you can change time, taking something that happens over a few seconds, minutes or hours & showing it all at once. This is a photograph of Main Street, on Nantucket Island, MA.  It is a 20 second exposure at f: 16 & ISO 100.  Although I shot this with my D200 & a 17mm - 35mm zoom lens, as long as you use a tripod there is no reason any point & shoot camera that allows aperture priority or manual exposure modes can’t do the same. If you would like more information about the modes your camera uses, check my earlier post - Camera Modes.

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Photographic Panoramas

One of the interesting projects you can do with any camera is to create a panorama. The first step is to choose the scene that makes sense to use the technique.  Although there is no reason you can’t make a vertical panorama, most are used to depict wide, horizontal scenes. About the only thing they don’t work for is a square image, however the technique can be used to improve any image.  I have shot panoramas of ocean beaches, harbors, rivers, and even a ballroom full of people.

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Do I Need a New Camera?

Sooner or later everyone is likely to decide it is time for a new camera.  If your old one got lost, broken, or is no longer usable, the decision is easy (although the choice of what to get can be daunting) but even if you just want a new one I’ve included some suggestions that may help with your decision.

1. First question: Why replace your current camera? If you are looking to replace a broken or missing camera & you have been happy with what you had, it is worth checking to see if the previous camera is still available.  Unfortunately, if it is more than a few years old, it probably isn’t.  New versions of digital cameras usually replace the previous versions in less than a year. Although the older version may be available for awhile after it has been replaced, you are probably going to be looking for something new if it is over 2 years old. If you can’t find your old camera, one way to shop for a replacement is to use feature search to look new cameras that have the same criteria as your old one.  A final comparison can be made by looking at the previous camera & the possible replacement using “side-by-side” comparisons. Although I like dpreview, other side-by-side comparison sites include BetterPhoto.com & Image Resource.
2. You have decided it is time to “upgrade”, that is purchase a better camera. In this case it is important to decide what specific features you wish improved. All cameras have their pluses & minuses - unless you spend some time thinking about what you don’t like about your current camera, you may replace it with one that has some better features, but the ones that annoy you the most about your current camera are worse on the new one. Again, the feature search listed above can be helpful. Some specific complaints that are often pointed out by individuals taking my basic digital camera class include:
   • It takes too long to turn on.
   • It takes too long between the time I push the shutter button & it actually takes the picture.
   • I can’t see the LCD in the bright sunlight.
   • All my flash pictures have “red eye”.
   • It does not have manual settings.

   All these problems are typical of point & shoot cameras, but some are better than others.  If one of these (or any other specific characteristic) is important to you, use reviews to look for cameras that are favorable in that area.Another popint to remember - unless your camera is under 5megapixels, you probably will not see much resolution improvement going to a higher count camera.

3. Speaking of reviews, unless your are planning on purchasing a new camera the day it is released, there are likely to be reviews available on the internet that can be helpful.  Some of my favorite sites that review cameras include:
   • dpreview.com - Camera & lens reviews, forums, news & more.
   • Steve’s Digital Camera - Similar to dpreview.
   • Imaging Resource - Similar to dpreview, check “Finding the Best Camera for You“.
   • Rob Galbraith DPI - Reviews of cameras & software.
   • Digital Camera Resource Page - Reviews
   • Ken Rockwell - Sometimes considered a bit of a maverick.

   What ever camera you are considering, spend some time reading reviews at all these sites.  They may not all cover the camera you are looking at, but it is always worth looking at more than one.  Another useful place to look is user reviews at buying sites such as Amazon, Adorama, etc. Reviews by consumers are double edged - they may reveal problems the professional reviewers overlook, however since they are often inexperienced users, they may not be knowledgeable enough to provide good information.

4. You want to change from a Point & Shoot to a Digital Single Lens Reflex. Rather than me repeating a previous post, you might take a look at my earlier article “Point & Shoot or DSLR?” for the advantages of each type of camera.
5. You want to replace your entry level DSLR with a semi-pro or even professional DSLR.  If you discover you would rather have more control over your images than your entry level DSLR provides, most major manufacturers would be glad to sell you a more expensive version of their digital camera.  Some examples would be going from a Nikon D50 to a D300, a Canon Rebel to a EOS 40D, etc. A couple of points:
   • Most of the Semi Pro & all the professional DSLRs are bigger & heavier than their entry level counterparts. Before your spend a couple of thousand dollars on a new camera, get one in your hands to be sure it is not too big or too heavy for you to use.
   • Although even an entry level DSLR offers many advantages over a point & shoot camera, they have quite a bit of “automatic” processing built in.  One of the often noted complaints from individuals that shift from entry level to semi pro cameras is that their pictures don’t look as good as they did with the previous camera.  Semi pro & professional cameras do little processing to the images, even jpegs. They tend to look “flat” until further processed by the photographer.  Unless you are willing to spend some time post processing your images, you might think twice about upgrading.
   • If you are upgrading because you don’t think you have enough “pixels” in your image, remember that for 99% of all photographers, much above 6mp cameras isn’t all that necessary.  To double the resolution of an image you must have 4X the pixels, so going from a 10mp to a 12mp camera makes little difference.  The advantages where high pixel cameras count are for photographers that do heavy cropping or print huge (30″ X 40″) images.
6. A last consideration for semi pro DSLR owners: Should I go to a full frame DSLR? Both Canon & Nikon now offer relatively inexpensive (and the term relative is important; they are $2500 - $3000 cameras without a lens compared to $5K - $6K for their pro versions) full frame cameras.  The larger sensor is about the same size as 35mm film as compared to the APS sized sensor used in most DSLRs.  This results in lower noise in low light images & a general overall improvement in image quality.  You lose the 1.5 - 1.6 multiplier provided by the typical APS sensor, so you may find you need longer telephoto lenses, but on the other hand your wide angle lenses are really wide.  Although the full frame cameras often work with the lenses specifically designed for APS sensors, the resolution drops considerably.  For example, the Nikon D700 has a 12.1mp full frame sensor.  If you attach a DX lens (designed for the smaller APS sensor) the maximum resolution is 5.1mp. Still useful, but if your lens collection consists of DX lenses, you might want to stick with the smaller sensor.

Toys For the Photographer, Part 2

This week I’ll suggest some additional “Toys” you might consider to add to your photography equipment.  By the way, you might want to check the first article on this subject published a couple of weeks ago.

Ball Head - When you purchase a high end tripod (see my article on tripods for why you should) (and see Thom Hogan’s Tripods & Ball Heads article on which you should buy) you are going to need a head for it. Most high end tripods provide a platform, but no head.  You have two choices -  Pan/Tilt heads are more likely to come with less expensive tripods - they usually have 2 handles, one for moving the camera left & right, the other for tilting up & down. A ball head is more flexible - the camera can be rotated in any direction then locked with one lever. What’s more, the better quality ball heads can be adjusted for the weight of the camera & lens so that they can be panned or tilted but stay in position when you let go. Generally, the more expensive heads move smoother than the less expensive ones, but any of them will let you position the camera faster than a pan/tilt head.  They come in a wide range of quality & price -

The Manfrotto 486 on the left @ $75.00 is an entry level ball head.  It will swivel to almost any position, and with a quick twist of the locking lever lock firmly in position.  It has a notch (actually, two notches) so the camera can be tilted for vertical shots, but when it is loose enough to move the camera you can’t let go of the camera without taking a chance that it will tip all the way down. It is an inexpensive way to learn the advantages of a ball head, and I have used one for many years for posed photographs.  The disadvantage is you must lock & unlock it every time you reposition the camera.

The Markin M20 is an example of a high end unit (at a high end price - $385.00). When adjusted for your camera & lens you can move your camera into position, let go and it will stay there.  If you want to completely lock it in position, just turn the knob. Another advantage of the more expensive heads is they usually include a pan adjustment.  You must loosen the entire ball to pan the inexpensive versions.  If you are using it to shoot panoramas, you will lose your horizon between shots. With the pan adjustment, the ball stays locked during a pan. By the way, many manufacturers of both expensive & inexpensive versions make light weight versions that will work well with point & shoot cameras.

Teleconverter - A teleconverter is a device that goes between your camera & lens.  They are usually available as a 1.4, 1.7, 2.0 & 3.0 multiplication factor, i.e. they increase the effective focal length of the lens they are attached to by the number. Of course you don’t get something for nothing.  They will reduce the amount of light reaching your film or sensor; the 1.4 by one-half a stop, the 1.7 by one & one-half stops, the 2.0 by two stops & the 3.0 by three stops. Most camera & lens manufacturers make them, and like any device come in a range of qualities. Even the best will reduce the quality of the lens used with them.  The higher the multiplication factor the further they reduce quality. Although many photographers are comfortable using the 1.4 & 1.7 versions, the 2.0 & 3.0 degrade the image quality enough that I would be hesitant to purchase one.  Still, this is a less expensive way to increase the reach of your camera than purchasing a telephoto lens. A couple of points - unless used with a very fast lens, it is likely they will reduce the light enough that your auto focus will stop working.  In the best case it will take longer to focus if it does at all. They don’t fit all lenses.  Most manufacturers have a list of the lenses that will work with each teleconverter.  In some cases they are not recommended because you will lose auto focus, but in other cases they won’t physically fit the lens, so it is worth checking before purchasing. Finally, they are available as an auxiliary lens that can be added in front of some point & shoot cameras.
Better Beamer - When you use an external flash with a telephoto lens, much of the flash output is wasted. The flash head spreads the light at a wider angle than the lens covers. Even an adjustable flash head covers a wider field than a 300mm - 400mm lens.  This is where the Better Beamer becomes a useful tool.  It consists of a fresnel lens placed in front of your flash head.  It narrows the beam, so more of the light from the flash head hits your subject. Basicly, it boosts the output of your flash head by 2 - 3 stops. If you use it with a flash that has a zoom head (the flash, not your lens) experiment to see what flash zoom setting matches your lens.  Some examples of this are shown in an article by T. David Griffith at the Nature Photographers online Magazine. It works wonders providing fill flash when photographing birds & animals, even at distances over 200′.

Light Meter - Since your camera already has a metering system built into it that can automatically set your exposure, you might ask why you need a separate meter.  The simple answer is you don’t, but there are a number of situations where one can be useful.  The Sekonic meter in the picture does a number of things.  It can measure incident light, reflective light, and the amount of light produced by your flash. It also has a built in very narrow (1°) spot measurement. Some uses:

1. Use the spot mode to determine the dynamic range of your image.  Aim the spot at the brightest part of the image, save the reading, then take a reading from the darkest area you wish details to show. The number of f stops between these readings is your dynamic range.  If it is over the capability of your camera’s sensor (typically 5 - 8 stops) you are either going to burn out the highlights or have the details in the shadows end up black.
2. Use the incident meter to measure exposure rather than the camera’s metering system. The advantages of an incident reading are described in an earlier post on Camera Metering.
3. If your meter is capable of measuring flash output, it provides a quick method of determining if your flash is powerful enough to illuminate your subject.  A slight downside - to make an effective measurement you need to position the meter at the subject; a difficult problem in most landscape photography.

That’s enough for this week. I’ll probably have some more “Toys” in a future post.

External Flash

An external flash is a useful device to add to any camera system.  Even if your camera has a built-in flash, it is probably limited in the amount of light it is capable of producing. If you find your flash photographs come out too dark, an external flash unit may help.  Of course there are always limits.  No built in or external flash is going to illuminate the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls or a football stadium, although you will often find many photographers trying.

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Macro Photography

Macro or “Close Up” photography is an interesting process.  It is also one that the point & shoot photographer usually has an advantage over the digital single lens reflex (DSLR) user.  Most point & shoot cameras either have a built in macro mode or are designed so that they will focus within a couple of inches. A DSLR owner generally needs to purchase a macro lens.  Even if your camera or lens does not do close focusing, there are a couple of alternatives that work with either system.

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Photographic EXIF Data

I’ve mentioned EXIF data a couple of times - it might be a good idea to spend some time explaining what it is… Back in the point & shoot film days it was not unusual for cameras to print the date in the viewing area of the film: (Photo Credit - Anne Guido) The advantage - you knew when the photograph was taken and, if you kept good notes, could figure out where you were that day and be able to identify the location. The disadvantage - You end up with numbers in all your photographs! Some of the pro cameras provided solutions - I used a MF-23 Data Back with my Nikon F4 that, among many functions, was capable of printing all kinds of data about the image either in the picture area or in the space between frames on the film. Of course when printing the data between frames & working with slides, you had to peal open slide frames to see the data, but at least it didn’t have to be part of the picture.

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Photographing Fireworks

I thought I’d post this a couple of days early so you can try some of the techniques over the 4th of July weekend. Great fireworks photographs can be taken with almost any film or digital camera. This (and the rest in this post) are images from the Oswego Harborfest celebration. The “Fireworks by Grucci” are presented by the the Entergy Corporation & consist of about 30 minutes of fireworks choreographed to music. I’ve also included links to more images of the shows for 2006 & 2007. There are a couple of tricks that can be used that will make it easier to capture the show:

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Producing HDR Images

One of the problems photographers often run into is the inability to capture the dynamic range (brightness) of a scene. Either the sky will be burned out or the shadows so dark you can’t see any details:

In the first image the sky is OK, but the detail in the foreground shadows is lost. In the second you can see the details in the foreground, but the sky is burned out. (You may need to click “Read More” to see the second image)

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Toys For The Photographer

There are a few essential accessories the photographer needs to add to his or her camera bag, but there are many things that not essential; they just add interest to the process of taking pictures. Although I call them toys, most of these devices will extend the photographer’s capabilities & improve the resulting photographs. Although most of these devices are designed for the DSLR user, Point & Shoot photographers will find some of them useful as well.
First, you might take the time to read my articles on two of the essential devices I feel all photographers should have, the tripod & filters.

Click “Read the Rest of this Entry” to see some of my suggestions.

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