Maniraptors Live?
DoF Thought
“What’s the best f/stop, what f/stop are you using, how much depth of field do I need?” These questions are asked all the time and understandably. How much should be technically sharp is hard for most to see let alone, apply. I post these two images just to give you food for thought. The lens (D750 / 24-70AFS) is focused on Howard but one image was shot at f/2.8 and the other at f/16. Can you tell which is which? And if not, why? Am I screwing with your mind’s eye? You bet but it’s no more than what you can do to with your photography!My favorite and what I shot at was f/2.8, the difference in slight but it’s enough to be important to me. The key here is, YOU need to see and use the DoF that is important to you and your storytelling. Is this post supposed to clear up your DoF questions? Nope, if anything, to make you think even more about it and just how much you really do need.
Simple Blessing
For the last couple of days, this is where you could find me. Sitting on a stool in wait, heavy jacket, blanket on my lap and gloves on, I’ve sat at this window hunched over with the 18 degrees winter blast rushing in. And as I sat there looking out the window waiting for the next pulse of birds to come through, I was thinking. How incredibly fortunate we photographers be! Ya, there is the frustration that comes with the craft, but that all dissolves away when you’re watching the world through the lens. I mean really, to sit, watch, whatever it is that makes your heart beat and when it is beating the fastest, when it’s heating up everything inside of you, you can can simply go click and there you have it! For that split nanomoment in time, your cares are gone and your memory is captured. Forever! What else brings that alive to us in our lives, and does it over and over again? So I sit there, playing with a new tool, working on a new project, really freakin cold and very uncomfortable doing that thing that is so magical. Na, the Robin photo isn’t going on the wall. But the time spent just sitting, waiting to make it will always be, a simple blessing!
“Where are these rules …”
“Where are these rules written down?” The squinty eyed, glass wearing accountant asks the sage weathered, wise cowboy sitting astride his horse. He answers, “Damn it man, they aren’t written down, they’re lived!”
This quote from Monte Welsh strikes me every time I hear it. It makes me think back on the email questions that have arrived in my InBox of late, what I’ve seen on the web, and at times I scratch my head. I am amazed how often I put out something I use in my photography that I have found works for me and then I see it next put out as a rule and then the inevitable web debate begins.
While it is true there are some aspects of photography that appear to be craved in stone, no sooner you think this then you see someone, for good or bad, go and do the contrary and produce results. And while we need to have some of these “rules” they should be considered as a starting point, a fall back position when things go to hell in a hen basket. Rules can give comfort but they leave little room for passion.
While there are lots of photographers providing lots of insight into their photography, run these insights through your own photography, your own heart and apply only that which applies to your storytelling. Do your photography the favor and don’t make them rules. “Damn it man, they aren’t written down, they’re lived!”
As Big As Your Heart
How big of a camera do you need? How big of a lens should you have in your bag? How big should the pixel count be that you work with? These questions find there way to my inbox it seems hourly with fews of my answers pleasing those asking. This simple click from a Nikon 1 V3 is of as big a subject as they come but has big impact only because its as big as your heart!
Love Them Ass Shots
