Apr 26, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
It’s actually, photographically, pretty darn simple, in theory. Using long to show scale and short to show size. But showing both with the same subject, that takes a little looking.
The Co-OP at Johnson made it simple though. Shooting with the D850 I used the 300PF to “compact” the landscape and make the Co-OP give scale to the landscape by shooting at an extreme distance. Then shooting with the 8-15Fish, got right up tight with the Co-OP. Two different views, two different lenses, two different stories for one subject. Great morning of fun!
Apr 4, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
P-51C “Ina the Macon Belle”
captured by D3x / 24-70
It was only seven years ago when I took this photo, one that has always been one of my favorites. It’s of Kermit Week’s P-51C Red Tail, “Ina the Macon Belle,” a photo I took great care to set up for the light for the ground fog. Now I wish I had written down all I was seeing when I took the photo because that so influences all I do. I know I wanted indirect light on the fuselage so there was no specular highlights. I wanted the background hangar to just have a kiss of light and wanted less tarmac. And for some reason, I felt I needed to shoot a five frame HDR and finish it with those five images in post to get my final photo (what you see below). I have the feeling it was because of the black reflection and shadow under the wings. Well, for seven years the bottom photo represented my efforts and was a favorite of mine.
Then yesterday we had a print donation request for this image. I opened the file up and I was immediately struck by the one aspect of it I’ve never liked, and that’s the blue color cast in the fuselage and the blacktop. Since the file opened up without it’s Smart Object, I knew it was an HDR so I went back to the files, opened the middle image in the HDR set to the “normal” exposure in ACR and finished it as I finish all my images these days and low and behold, not only was the file much cleaner, the blue color cast is gone! The warmth of the Florida sun is now part of the light and the fuselage shines like never before. With the success of this one reprocessing of a file, I’ve gone to a dozen of other images taken that year as HDR (aviation and landscape) and done the same thing finding in my photos, “diamonds in the rough” liking all the new images over the original HDR. So for me personally, it just affirms my own personal belief that getting it right, right in the camera opens the door to all sorts great quality, even seven years after the original click.
Apr 2, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
After last weeks Live Broadcast had a number of folks emails asking how we get our gear around the country. The answer is real simple, Think Tank! This is what Brent & I had with us this last week working on our documentary Normandy Bound (left to right):
Video Transport 18
Airport Security v3 (packing video)
Retrospective 10 Shoulder Bag
Video Tripod Mngr 44 x2 (packing video)
Logistics Mngr 30 (packing video)
Shape Shifter 15
Now the check-in weight for our bags totaled 270lbs and that’s just lights (lots of lights), stands, tripod and a whole bunch of important odds and ends we need for production. That doesn’t include the camera bags that went as carry-on. And all the gear arrived at the project site and back home again, as it always does, safe and sound. I’m hoping those asking weren’t looking for a lengthy answer cause using Think Tank not only keeps the gear safe but the answer short and sweet.
Mar 15, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
It’s apparent it’s spring with summer just around the corner with all the emails coming in. You’re getting ready to go out in the longer daylight hours and slay some pixels. Most outstanding! I know this because emails are asking about how I approach my various projects. I’m not sure how valid my methodology really is because I go about projects we think pretty uniquely, that’s saying nicely, my own way. I should probably start by defining what I mean by a project. A project to me is anytime I head out with a camera to tell a particular visual story. So going on a photowalk to me is not a project, it’s photographing whatever happens to show up. Heading out for a morning shoot with an aircraft, a date that’s on the calendar, that’s a project. So projects can last as short as 15min and as long as, well our longest is going into its 30th year. With that definition, we (Sharon & I) then think about two factors, the most important is how important is the project to me (I have an incredibly supportive wife and partner!) and second, how will it affect the business. It’s real simple to us, the projects follow our hearts and if we’re lucky, the business will benefit sometime down the road. I’ve been very fortunate to pick and do those projects that are important to me and somehow, despite who’s in the wheelhouse, it works out for the business.
With that in mind, the next and probably the most important thing we determine is what’s the story we want to tell? That can vary widely with the only things in common is that I’m telling the story and my need to grab heartstrings. There are times we start out and we don’t have a handle on the exact ins and outs but we have a general direction with the final goal not defined until the last photograph is taken. It’s with all of this input, Sharon & I and on some projects, our sons Brent & Jake as they are part of the creative team, make the decision to pull the trigger and I start doing the real homework. The homework covers everything from subject knowledge, story coverage, locations, dates, finances, possible markets and potential income. I’m real, real, real big on doing my homework for all these reasons as well as the biggest one, the gear I think I’ll need to tell the story. Gear for what technical issues I think I might encounter, the new creative avenues I want to chase I’ve never before ventured. From this combination, I do whatever testing I think I need to do prior to the first day. And I try really hard to have all gear acquisitions done prior to that first day. And in this process, I’m in touch with either pilot or biologists, some expert who can help fill in the blanks and facilitate things happening.
And with all of this prep comes that first day. Some projects go down in flames, some are great success stories. Some simply unfold in a direction that we never expected in marvelous and challenging ways. I guess in summing up the whole process for myself, I work hard to solve every possible problem I can prior to putting the camera up to my eye so when I do put the camera up to my eye, the only thing that is going through my mind is what I’m seeing unfold in the viewfinder. After all the time I have at this, I’ve grown pretty darn confident in what I can do at the camera. That confidence comes from all that goes on prior to that moment of the click, learning from past failures and successes and applying that to my homework so I’m good to go. And in a nutshell, that’s just what goes into a project.
Mar 12, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
I often ask those on workshops with me, which came first, the chicken or the pixel? What do I mean by that question? We need to understand what the computer can do when we’re at the camera. We need to know what the camera did when we’re at the computer. They are both computers and the one thing all computers love is data. The more data a computer has, the more the information it can provide us when we ask the right questions. This is so true of digital photography. Since the camera is the computer with the greatest amount of input (the world we see in the viewfinder), the more data we gather of the real world and faithfully gather it, the more the digital darkroom computer has to work with. It’s really simple math, that we complicate with things like f/stop and shutter speed. But it all translates how successfully we see the world with our emotions when shooting to the emotions evoked in the final image.
I put this image up as an example of what I mean that I just took at the Grand Canyon with the D850 / 70-200f4. The bottom photo represents how the camera’s computer captured the view without input from me, the photographer. There is a reason why I call the camera a “cold-hearted bastard” and that’s because it has no Romance Menu Setting. The warmth comes from (all done at the camera) my dialing in a WB of 10k, -3 Exp Comp with the Standard Tone Curve. This is all based on the light I SAW falling on the sceen and the story I wanted to tell. Yes, I know that many will argue you can do this all in post which is true. Being a craftsman and understanding the Sum of All the Parts, I will always do this all in the camera because that’s what a photographer does. In that way when I go to the computer and I want to apply DeHaze, I maximize my results, my quality so if all done correctly, the image simply reaches out and grabs heartstrings. The process in my mind though remains the same, the chicken of the pixel, which came first?
Mar 1, 2018 | WRP Ed Zone
The D850 is a marvelous camera, I simply love it! Nikon did it right is so many ways. The one way not so popular with some is the MB-D18, not the unit but its delivery. I’m hearing everyday questions about where to find one to buy. The other question that accompanies this is, “Why don’t you have one?” To the first question and the caveat, “what about the off-brand grips?”, I don’t know why the supply is so tight. Out of all the D850 shooters I’ve shot with, I can only remember two with the MB-D18. I wish I had an answer on supply, I don’t, sorry. And what about the off-brand ones, I’ve not seen them and a quick look, they appear to be scarce as well.
Now, why don’t I have one, that’s a question I can answer. At first, I didn’t see a problem the MB-D18 solved for me. I love the small size of the D850. Then I started doing the 4k Time Lapse and I then saw a need to get the MB-D18. The problem is, once I realized that and I put my order in, it was too late to get the first, second or fiftieth round of shipments. I don’t need the vertical shutter firing button (and it makes me laugh to see those with it and not using this great feature) or faster firing rate. I do need that extended battery life. So like many of you, I wait cause I want and need one.
