Dell White Paper – 10.01.07

You might not be aware that I’m now Dell sponsored (have been for about a year actually) and I’m working with them on projects that should help you in the future! In that process, Dell has produced a white paper on our work and how we use their products in our work. You might want to check it out here.

Enjoy!

What is a Rut? – 11.01.06

The weather is bad, the camera is old, I don’t have the right lens, my computer is acting up, the light sucks, when I hear excuses like this for continually not shooting, it’s a sure sign the photographer is in a rut. What is a rut? In photographic terms, it’s when the creative juices aren’t flowing any more, the passion is on the verge of slipping away. Burn out in layman terms. It’s not a good thing.

Can this happen to anyone? You bet! I’ve seen it happen all to often to photographers who had lots of potential but for many reasons, were never able to live up to it. The books are full of images from great photographers who, in general terms, hit a rut and were never to dig themselves back out again. Do you exhibit the warning signs? Do you use any of the phrases, or a whole lot more, to justify why you’re not out shooting more than you should be? More importantly, how can you avoid getting in a rut?

I’ve personally never gotten into a rut, but pretty darn close a couple of occasions. The way I avoided the whole thing was to go out and buy a new lens. I than marry myself to that new lens, shoot everything with it until I knew it inside and out. I shot everything from my big toe to road kill, whatever got in front of the new lens was a target. No, great images didn’t come from the exercise, but opening my eyes & heart to new possibilities did come from the exercise. Avoiding getting in a rut was the most important aspect of the exercise.

Avoiding getting in a rut, or pulling yourself out of one I think is as simple as being totally silly with your camera and chase subjects you would never, ever regularly chase. Depending on how deep of a rut you might be in, you might have to play a little longer. Or, you might find the new fun is something to delve into with even greater zealous now you’re out of the rut. Does this work? There is only one person I’ve suggested this to over the years that it didn’t work for. Regrettably, that person is no longer a shooter, works as a chef.

Keeping the creative juices a live is very important, especially now that winter is fast approaching. The normal subjects aren’t as obvious or plentiful. It’s the time to explore new techniques, revisit old ones and master and combine them so when spring rolls around, you’re ready to go. Photography is a grand pursuit and one that takes all of your heart & soul. At all costs, you need to avoid getting in a rut and burning out.

What is a rut? A rut is a grave with its ends knocked out.

When All Else Fails – 09.02.06

Ever noticed how there are some days when you can’t do nothing right. You ever set up your tripod and getting everything just right, just about to press the button and one tripod leg slips messing everything up because you didn’t tighten it enough? Here’s one everyone can relate to. You’re out shooting a sunset and dial in minus compensation to capture the perfect color. The next day you review your morning images only to find you forgot to dial out that minus compensation from the sunset. How about you put your normal body cap on your teleconverter by mistake?

The list of technical errors can go on and on but they are nothing compared to mental errors. We all know about trying to shoot a series of shots when the film counter was at 35 (yeah, talking about film). There’s always that time when you took one extra step closer to a subject, one your gut said not to take, only to be taken and the subject takes off. The mental list is for me longer than the technical one, but that’s all part of being human and a photographer. Sadly, they all come down to thinking, or not thinking.The one thing that kinda gets under my skin though is when these things happen and photographers start looking at the camera gear as the culprit of the dirty deed. It is as if the camera wakes up and says to itself, “I’m going to mess up my photographer today!� It’s gotta be the cameras fault! But when you look back, it all comes down to us.

I was recently rebuked because I couldn’t give a photographer the golden answer to their problem. The problem, a sharpness one, the photographer couldn’t get an image sharp. The golden answer; a list of possible camera/settings that were wrong that when set differently would cure the focus problems. The answer I gave, go back to basics and practice, practice, practice, was discarded as brush off rather than the solid advice it was. The problem must be a setting on the camera, or environmental or perhaps the lens, anything but PILOT error! What did I know?

There was a time when AF was thought to be a joke, not a viable tool. In fact, I think I wrote something like that back in the days of the F3AF & F4 when we had just one, dead center AF sensor. Now, if we don’t get a sharp image, it must be the AF system, or a setting, or a lens not locking on (does this on purpose you know). There’s no way it could be pilot error!

Photography in all its grandness requires a firm basics foundation for success. That foundation covers everything from camera operation to light to simple technique to monitor calibration. This firm foundation gives us the ability to grow with confidence, build on the last success and learn from the last failures. The firm foundation also gives us a place to go back to when things for wrong, permitting us to back engineer and find the problem. While it is easier on the ego to blame everything else but us, heading back to our foundation often proves otherwise. When things go wrong, I know I RUN back to the basics when all else fails!

Photo captured by D2Hs, 200f2AFS on Lexar digital film.

Where Does Your Vision Take You? – 08.01.06

How many of you have been to Mesa Arch at Canyonlands Nat’l Park? I’ve been there just a couple of times personally. The first time I’ll never forget. I’d seen thousands of photographs of the arch, a couple just blew me away which is why it was high on my list of locales to photograph. What I saw in the photographs though is not what I saw standing at the arch.

The first time I went to the arch I had Laurie as my guide. We got up early and drove the 45min from Moab to be in position at the arch long before sun up. We arrived at the parking lot and it was one of those rare mornings, no one else was there. We walked up over the ridge and down the trail which is when I saw the edge of the canyon. I was confused and asked Laurie, “Where’s the Arch?� She said, “Right there!� I looked to where she pointed and saw a lump of rock. We kept walking towards it with just a slight hint of dawn way off to the east.

We get to the bottom of the path and then I saw the window. Dang, it’s small! The arch isn’t big enough to park my truck in it. In fact, depending on how you look at it, it’s not a arch at all but just a hole in the rock. Now I had seen the photos so I knew there was potential here for a great image, but at first, I sure couldn’t see it. Then the glow appeared in the east. WOW! Or better put OMG! The shutter started to smoke as I shot. Later that day looking at the images, I liked what I saw, but it’s not what I saw, not in my heart.

My first two visits I shot the arch with a 14mm and 12-24mm. What I came back with was the arch but it wasn’t an arch. Yeah, I had been faithful to the arch but it had no arch to it. The rock was all nice and plum, square and kinda lifeless. The last couple of visits, I wanted to put the arch in the arch, bring a new dimension and drama to a familiar photo.

In matching my vision with photographic vision, I was not true to the arch. In putting an arch to the arch, I had to use the 10.5 lens. Many have looked at the photo and they instantly recognize it as Mesa Arch, but they all have asked, everyone, how did I get that perspective?

Photography is such a unique and very special way to communicate the wonders we see. Lots of folks are talking about post processing and the possible ramifications of altering in post reality (as if that’s a new topic). Ever watch MythBusters on Discovery Channel? Adam has a great saying, “I reject your reality and substitute mine.� Food for thought there, really…where does your vision take you?

Photo captured by D2X, 10.5mm on Lexar digital film. Image worked in digital darkroom

What's Going on In There? – 07.01.06

This photography thing, it’s quite a mental game. Ever notice that? Whether it was the brain power to earn the money to buy the tools, selecting the right tool out of all the ones purchased or then thinking about the best way to apply that selected lens for the given subject, the whole thing is a mental process. You can go even deeper realizing that selecting the right f/stop and position for the right composition takes even more brain power. Going all the way, you have to take your brain in combination with your eyes and analyze the light to determine not only exposure but if the light itself is worthy of your photographic efforts. Dang, this is one brainy hobby/avocation or occupation!

Ever upload your photos and ask yourself, “What was I thinking about?� Your images are missing something obvious. Perhaps you used the wrong AF sensor so your focus point is off, you used too much DOF or not enough. You simply blew it because, you weren’t thinking fluently enough for the situation at hand. It would be nice to be able to blame Nikon or Canon for the problem, something they goofed up in manufacture. Would be handy if we could blame the subject but as we all know the subject gives us enough excuses for failure that this one just doesn’t fit. It all comes down to us and thinking.

How can we get past this problem? Thinking, practice thinking. Now how do you do that? The best way I know of is simply shooting, shooting and then shooting some more. The more situations you expose your mind to, the more situations become second nature and learned mistakes get corrected. You can take classes that again expose the mind to situations so you have answers to fall back on. I’ve been very fortunate to take Joe McNally’s lighting class a half dozen times now and it’s radically improved my use of flash taking my flash photography to a whole new level. And finally, you can learn a lot by just reading and looking. There’s a great Blog out there, The Strobist who invites you into the creative world of flash with great lessons, assignments and humor.

“Engage the brain before the mouth� is something my dad told me a lot, a lot! These words of wisdom I turned around long ago into “Engage the brain before shooting� and I found it helped me a lot. While this might seem difficult in itself, you have to take one more giant step further by thinking and then connecting that thought with your heart to bring out in your photography the passion that wildlife photography so cries for. I was having a photographic conversation with a good friend lately and I accused him of thinking too much. Perhaps he doesn’t think too much, perhaps I think too little. Perhaps the middle point is where we want to reach but on a subconscious level for the best photographs. I don’t know, I’ll have to think on it. I need to consider for myself just what’s going on in there.

What’s Going on In There? – 07.01.06

This photography thing, it’s quite a mental game. Ever notice that? Whether it was the brain power to earn the money to buy the tools, selecting the right tool out of all the ones purchased or then thinking about the best way to apply that selected lens for the given subject, the whole thing is a mental process. You can go even deeper realizing that selecting the right f/stop and position for the right composition takes even more brain power. Going all the way, you have to take your brain in combination with your eyes and analyze the light to determine not only exposure but if the light itself is worthy of your photographic efforts. Dang, this is one brainy hobby/avocation or occupation!

Ever upload your photos and ask yourself, “What was I thinking about?� Your images are missing something obvious. Perhaps you used the wrong AF sensor so your focus point is off, you used too much DOF or not enough. You simply blew it because, you weren’t thinking fluently enough for the situation at hand. It would be nice to be able to blame Nikon or Canon for the problem, something they goofed up in manufacture. Would be handy if we could blame the subject but as we all know the subject gives us enough excuses for failure that this one just doesn’t fit. It all comes down to us and thinking.

How can we get past this problem? Thinking, practice thinking. Now how do you do that? The best way I know of is simply shooting, shooting and then shooting some more. The more situations you expose your mind to, the more situations become second nature and learned mistakes get corrected. You can take classes that again expose the mind to situations so you have answers to fall back on. I’ve been very fortunate to take Joe McNally’s lighting class a half dozen times now and it’s radically improved my use of flash taking my flash photography to a whole new level. And finally, you can learn a lot by just reading and looking. There’s a great Blog out there, The Strobist who invites you into the creative world of flash with great lessons, assignments and humor.

“Engage the brain before the mouth� is something my dad told me a lot, a lot! These words of wisdom I turned around long ago into “Engage the brain before shooting� and I found it helped me a lot. While this might seem difficult in itself, you have to take one more giant step further by thinking and then connecting that thought with your heart to bring out in your photography the passion that wildlife photography so cries for. I was having a photographic conversation with a good friend lately and I accused him of thinking too much. Perhaps he doesn’t think too much, perhaps I think too little. Perhaps the middle point is where we want to reach but on a subconscious level for the best photographs. I don’t know, I’ll have to think on it. I need to consider for myself just what’s going on in there.

Analyzing – it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be!

Have you ever read Time Exposure by William Henry Jackson? It’s a great read about an era, humanity and philosophy that’s long passed. William Henry Jackson for those who don’t know the name was a pioneer landscape/nature photograph. I mean pioneer in every sense of the world. From being thought of as the inventor of the picture postcard, one of the first to use color film, and being the photographer for the Hayden Expedition to Yellowstone, he was a pioneer. He took the first photos of that grand place, can you even imagine what that was like? (He also went to congress with those photos to lobby them into creating  Yellowstone Nat’l Park.)

I bring him up because, well, I often wonder what this hero of mine would think of today’s photographers. He had to carry all of his glass plates, tent & chemicals to the locale he was going to photograph, set it all up including the camera, run to the tent, coat the glass plate, run to the camera, snap, run to the tent and process. Then, he had to carry all of these glass plates back to print them (the story of when his mule carrying all his exposed plates went over and smashed them all is a heart wrencher). When he analyzed his photos, he would say, “I like that one or, I don’t like that one.� This is photographic analyzation at its best!

The Photo of the Month was a shot taken last week in Custer State Park, SD while I was shooting with my mentee Jock Voelzke (who produced some fine images). I shot the whole time handholding a 200f2, at time adding the TC-17e, but always shooting wide open. That means I was shooting at f/2 or f/3.3, that’s a real narrow DOF. Looking at the photo, one would conclude that a bigger aperture was used because of all the apparent focus in the calf and in the ass of the cow. Looking at just the stats of 200f2 w/TC-17e shot wide open, one would conclude that there’s no DOF. Well which is it, a lot of DOF or no DOF? Which information is telling your eyes the truth?

You have two options really when viewing photographs, you enjoy the photograph for the photographs sake or you analyze it in the hopes you can duplicate it if you were to shoot it (which means, you actually did the first thing anyways). If you truly want to analyze the photo, is telling you the focal length and f/stop enough information to tell you about DOF or why what’s in or out of focus is in or out of focus? Nope, all that information will do is lead you down the wrong path if you try to duplicate the feel of the focus in this photo. (Especially not since you don’t know the physical distance between the subject and camera.)

More important is the information your EYES are telling you, if you let them. What perspective am I shooting at? I was shooting at ground level. The whole side of the calf is in focus even at f/3.3, what does that mean about my perspective? It means I was shooting so the camera back was perfectly parallel with the side of the calf. Why does the ass of the cow have any detail with such narrow DOF? Because it’s being sidelit. The side of the cow is GONE, no information, what does that mean? I was shooting in hard light and so I dialed in negative exposure comp. Seeing a photo caption with shutter speed, aperture and focal length doesn’t help you at all when it comes to duplicating the feel of the photograph.

William Henry Jackson had it made. He set up his 5×7 or 8×10, slide the front to focus and just go for it. He didn’t have to write captions, had few peers at all in the realm of photography. He just made images that made himself and the public happy to see. Now, that’s worth analyzing!

Think Outside the Box

 

The TOM is rather short, it’s rather obvious. Photographers all too often are happy with wherever they set down their tripod. They see some other photographer, they assume that photographer must know something so they set up near them. Photographers all too often get a shot they are happy with and they stop there, they don’t go to the next level and push themselves. Photographers see a photograph they like and try to copy it only to wonder why theirs falls short. They miss the subtle details that make the big difference. Photographers all too often, just settle and don’t grow! For you and your photography to grow, you’ve got to take the next step. Not a giant leap because normally you fall into a deep hole you can’t get out of. Rather, take constant small steps so you keep moving forward while avoiding the giant holes. Yeah, this is difficult because there are no road maps, photographers including myself don’t write about the how’s of accomplishing this but a large part of the learning is thinking for one’s self. It’s real simple, to improve your photography, think outside the box.

What's "The" Right F/Stop?

Man, is that a common question! My partner Vincent & I have this whole comedy routine built around this question it’s asked so often. What’s the answer? The answer is, whatever f/stop works best to communicate what YOU want to communicate.

What kind of answer is that you ask? Well, f/stop selection has to do with depth of field and depth of field selection has to do with how much of the subject itself you want sharp, and then how much of the world around the subject you want in focus. And then all of this is determined by the focal length of lens in use and the physical distance the camera is from the lens. So with all of that, how can anyone advise what is “the� best f/stop.

Now what does the Photo of the Month have to do with f/stop selection? There’s this thing going around, has been for quite a while, how closing a lens down to its smallest aperture can degrade the image quality. I have read, been emailed and queered so many times on this topic, I decided to put my two cents worth out for public destruction. It’s generally thought that closing a lens down to its smallest aperture causes defraction, bouncing of light off the aperture blade degrading the image quality. This is probably technically very accurate. Who Care

The photo of the month was captured by a 70-200VR closed all the way down to f/22. I wanted the longest possible shutter speed to blur the wazes and a starburst from the lighthouse. F/22 was the way to achieve this. Oh no…f/22, the image won’t be sharp, defraction is going to get you! Hells bells! Forty folks saw this image the next day after I shot it at our Redwoods DLWS event and they were blown away how sharp the image was, especially knowing it was taken during a rain storm, in the wind. Forget the fact I shot at f/22 for 20sec, you can see the detail in the bricks in the lighthouse!

So many things about photography are written as if they were presented from the heavens. Most of those things besides being boring facts, take the fun and rewards out of photography. Go take photos, throw the rules to the wind and just make images that please you. You will come out ahead without knowing what’s “the� right f/stop.

What’s “The” Right F/Stop?

Man, is that a common question! My partner Vincent & I have this whole comedy routine built around this question it’s asked so often. What’s the answer? The answer is, whatever f/stop works best to communicate what YOU want to communicate.

What kind of answer is that you ask? Well, f/stop selection has to do with depth of field and depth of field selection has to do with how much of the subject itself you want sharp, and then how much of the world around the subject you want in focus. And then all of this is determined by the focal length of lens in use and the physical distance the camera is from the lens. So with all of that, how can anyone advise what is “the� best f/stop.

Now what does the Photo of the Month have to do with f/stop selection? There’s this thing going around, has been for quite a while, how closing a lens down to its smallest aperture can degrade the image quality. I have read, been emailed and queered so many times on this topic, I decided to put my two cents worth out for public destruction. It’s generally thought that closing a lens down to its smallest aperture causes defraction, bouncing of light off the aperture blade degrading the image quality. This is probably technically very accurate. Who Care

The photo of the month was captured by a 70-200VR closed all the way down to f/22. I wanted the longest possible shutter speed to blur the wazes and a starburst from the lighthouse. F/22 was the way to achieve this. Oh no…f/22, the image won’t be sharp, defraction is going to get you! Hells bells! Forty folks saw this image the next day after I shot it at our Redwoods DLWS event and they were blown away how sharp the image was, especially knowing it was taken during a rain storm, in the wind. Forget the fact I shot at f/22 for 20sec, you can see the detail in the bricks in the lighthouse!

So many things about photography are written as if they were presented from the heavens. Most of those things besides being boring facts, take the fun and rewards out of photography. Go take photos, throw the rules to the wind and just make images that please you. You will come out ahead without knowing what’s “the� right f/stop.

What's Your Passion?

The masses of birds are gone from the feeders and only a couple woodpeckers come and go now. I walk outside and the only sound is that of the wind, not even the falling snow breaks the stillness. I trudge here and there through the forest looking for that darn rabbit, but it still eludes me. I do have my son’s xc ski races to shoot which gives me a momentary thrill of the shutter ripping at 8fps, but it’s only a hundred images at best of high speed shooting each week. It’s about this time each winter I start to go stir crazy, what some might call cabin fever. My passion is all raved up with nowhere to go.

I keep writing about passion in your photography because I feel it’s a very important and essential ingredient to success. It can also lead you to great frustration at times. For me right now, my passion to photograph birds is driving me to pace from wall to wall. I know it will all pass, in a couple of weeks the masses of birds will be back but until then, shooting another tree in snow just ain’t going to cut it.

Then there is the other side of the problem. A person wrote me lately and flatly stated, they didn’t know what was their passion is, they just like to take photos. They found frustration in that while they love to take photos, they weren’t just nutzo crazo passionate about photographing just one thing. They wondered if that was a bad thing. What do you think? I don’t think so, I think they have a passion they just don’t recognize it and I think that is common and that’s OK!

Back in the 90’s, there was this phrase in the business, a specialized generalist. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it, but in reality, it describes this person who loves photography but isn’t passionate about one particular aspect of photography. I love the smell of a new camera body or lens when you first open the box but I’m not so passionate about it that I buy something new every day so I can enjoy that smell. Can’t you enjoy being a photographer without being passionate about one particular aspect? And if you can, the more important question is, can you be successful in your photography with that broad passion?

Passion in photography comes in many, many, many forms. You could label the passion as birds, mammals, landscapes, sports photography or the like but you can also be passionate about the chase as well. Couldn’t you label the chase of a new subject, new technique, mastering a new lens or idea as a passion as well? If you get up early to go after a sunrise, isn’t that a passionate drive? If you take the time to set up an elaborate studio settings to photograph vase, isn’t that a passion? What if you freeze off your bum trying a new technique to capture star trails with digital, isn’t that a passionate endeavor as well?

Do you really have to have a passion in photography to be successful? That’s like asking, do you have to have a Nikon or Canon to be successful? It truly comes down to the person behind the camera. But in this day and age of advance camera technology, what is it the separates the weekend warriors from the photographic artist that say so much with one click of the shutter? I think that just having a passion to click that shutter no matter what the camera is pointed at is where all great images begin. Following your passion will bring frustration just as all great pursuits in life can bring. Following your passion however you label it will also bring the greatest rewards. Those rewards only begin with the satisfaction you feel for yourself and your efforts and end with the enjoyments you bring to others with your efforts.

Go out and shoot, shoot and shoot some more… there’s the passion!

What’s Your Passion?

The masses of birds are gone from the feeders and only a couple woodpeckers come and go now. I walk outside and the only sound is that of the wind, not even the falling snow breaks the stillness. I trudge here and there through the forest looking for that darn rabbit, but it still eludes me. I do have my son’s xc ski races to shoot which gives me a momentary thrill of the shutter ripping at 8fps, but it’s only a hundred images at best of high speed shooting each week. It’s about this time each winter I start to go stir crazy, what some might call cabin fever. My passion is all raved up with nowhere to go.

I keep writing about passion in your photography because I feel it’s a very important and essential ingredient to success. It can also lead you to great frustration at times. For me right now, my passion to photograph birds is driving me to pace from wall to wall. I know it will all pass, in a couple of weeks the masses of birds will be back but until then, shooting another tree in snow just ain’t going to cut it.

Then there is the other side of the problem. A person wrote me lately and flatly stated, they didn’t know what was their passion is, they just like to take photos. They found frustration in that while they love to take photos, they weren’t just nutzo crazo passionate about photographing just one thing. They wondered if that was a bad thing. What do you think? I don’t think so, I think they have a passion they just don’t recognize it and I think that is common and that’s OK!

Back in the 90’s, there was this phrase in the business, a specialized generalist. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it, but in reality, it describes this person who loves photography but isn’t passionate about one particular aspect of photography. I love the smell of a new camera body or lens when you first open the box but I’m not so passionate about it that I buy something new every day so I can enjoy that smell. Can’t you enjoy being a photographer without being passionate about one particular aspect? And if you can, the more important question is, can you be successful in your photography with that broad passion?

Passion in photography comes in many, many, many forms. You could label the passion as birds, mammals, landscapes, sports photography or the like but you can also be passionate about the chase as well. Couldn’t you label the chase of a new subject, new technique, mastering a new lens or idea as a passion as well? If you get up early to go after a sunrise, isn’t that a passionate drive? If you take the time to set up an elaborate studio settings to photograph vase, isn’t that a passion? What if you freeze off your bum trying a new technique to capture star trails with digital, isn’t that a passionate endeavor as well?

Do you really have to have a passion in photography to be successful? That’s like asking, do you have to have a Nikon or Canon to be successful? It truly comes down to the person behind the camera. But in this day and age of advance camera technology, what is it the separates the weekend warriors from the photographic artist that say so much with one click of the shutter? I think that just having a passion to click that shutter no matter what the camera is pointed at is where all great images begin. Following your passion will bring frustration just as all great pursuits in life can bring. Following your passion however you label it will also bring the greatest rewards. Those rewards only begin with the satisfaction you feel for yourself and your efforts and end with the enjoyments you bring to others with your efforts.

Go out and shoot, shoot and shoot some more… there’s the passion!

Finish Rather than Fix

Happy New Year!

Finish rather than fix, that’s the message I’m trying to get out to folks in 2006. Back in 2000, I was the only photographer out there making a living shooting wildlife photography with just a digital camera. Folks back then said I was nuts. Probably true, I’m still nuts, but I was right about digital. Look where we’ve evolved to in just six short years!

The one problem I see in many’s digital photography is the lost art of photography. The prevailing attitude is just fix it in Raw processing or in Photoshop. Why try to get it right, right from the start? Then folks wonder about the resulting quality and blame many of their problems on the camera when in reality, it’s all pilot error. It’s a FIX mentality. That’s not what photography is all about.

So my tip for the New Year is, GO TO Photoshop World. You’re not heading there to learn how to fix your images, you’re going there to understand the thought process and technical process of FINISHING your images!

The Photo of the Month is a prime example of what I’m referring to. The Before image is one taken as perfect as can be at the time of capture. There are some aspects of photography, be it conventional or digital, that simply cannot capture what we see. Knowing this is essential in Finishing a photograph which you see in the after photo. You NEED to learn this to be a successful visual communicator.

I can’t think of a better tip to give folks, at least for the moment. Go out, make great images and learn how to finish them in post so your message is seen, and heard by all