Tag Archives: Photography

Shooting the Breeze

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Today, I continue my quest to graduate from a 101 use of depth of field to, well, I’d like to jump up to a 400-level given it seems I’m not going to get a great shot before I die if I continue at this pace.

I was hoping for a nice sunset to play with–there are always so many interesting clouds.  I would really like to figure out how to get the clouds sharp from front to back in the image.

So, that is my assignment for today:  sharp clouds front to back.

As I gather up my gear to head up to the roof, I feel like I am doing a scene written for Chevy Chase or Tim Conway.  I pick up my tripod, swing it around and knock a glass off a table.  I set it down and trip over the leg.  I pull myself together, clean up, and then become frantic trying to find the radio trigger for my wireless remote (which mysteriously and thankfully started working again).

I wish I had a video of me darting back and forth looking fearfully over my shoulder out the windows at the fading light.  I run into two door frames, a door knob, and trip a second time over my tripod leg in the process.

I am considering changing the name of my blog to “Bumbling Photography.”

When I get all my stuff together, Pat puts a bowl of food down for Tisen, which means I have to stay until he’s done eating or he won’t eat his dinner.  I watch him eat.  He’s pretty into it, so I decide to sneak down the hall.  Tisen pokes his head around the corner only seconds later and I pretend to be setting up my tripod in the hallway.  Tisen stares at me.  I leave the tripod where it is and then return to the kitchen until Tisen finishes eating.

Finally, up on the roof I realize I haven’t missed much.  The light is not very dramatic, although the clouds will still work for my assignment.

I’ve identified two possible causes for inadequate depth of field in my landscape photos:  1) not consciously choosing an aperture based on the depth of field I want, and 2) focusing too far back in the field of view.  Tonight, I learn that maybe my lack of skill is not the only reason.

Those clouds are moving.  And I don’t mean crawling along.  I mean hauling across the sky like they’ve got somewhere to be.  Given the amount of light, stopping down for good depth of field means slowing the shutter speed to speeds like 2 seconds to get what the camera thinks is a good exposure at 400 ISO.  I play with balancing ISO, aperture, and shutter speed to see if I can get something that gives me enough exposure, enough depth of field, and enough speed to stop the motion.  I really thought it was going to be easier!

Just for fun:

Down on the Farm

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I was ecstatic to learn that one of the lovely women I met through S.O.A.R. has a farm they are converting from cattle pastures to sustainably grown heirloom produce.  And, best of all, they are managing the farm as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venture.  It’s like outsourcing a garden to someone who knows what they’re doing.

I love this concept.  It makes me feel more connected to the source of my food and more involved, even if it’s only through my checkbook.

The most exciting part is that Wildwood Harvest (the farm) was open to all for a visit and a tour this weekend!

The farm is set in northern Georgia, about 20 minutes South of us.  The long driveway curves its way up a hill, lined by evergreens.  In the afternoon sun, the rolling hills look romantic enough that I forget the back breaking work, the endless mud, and the perpetual coating of dirt that comes with farming.

We get to see the newly planted fruit orchard, the bee boxes waiting for their hives, the mushroom logs inoculated and plugged, the freshly tilled field ready for planting, the newly restored 100-year-old barn that was crushed by a tree, and the amazing collection of chickens and one male turkey who I will forever think of as “Thanksgiving.”

It’s always a little difficult for those of us who don’t live with our food sources to meet what we’re going to eat.  It’s particularly difficult when it’s an amazingly beautiful bird that keeps flirting with everything that moves.  I’ve never seen such a gorgeous turkey.

Had I known, I would have brought my camera.  As it is, I pull out my iPhone and shoot as best I can.  I get a few shots of Thanksgiving and a lovely rooster I start calling Coq au Vin.  (I figure it’s best to associate these birds with food before I get attached.)

In the house, we get to peek at the unending array of seeds selected for this year’s crop.  There appears to be 1000 seed packs lined up on the table.  If variety was a concern, it’s certainly been alleviated!

We meet fascinating neighbors who are artists from New York and swap stories about trying to find good produce.  What are the odds of meeting artists from New York on a small family farm in Northern Georgia?

We are called to leave by the barking of Tisen.  He’s been banished to the car to avoid an ugly dog-chicken encounter.  He’s either bored or trying to establish dominance over the farm dogs who know better than to chase chickens.  It’s about time to head back to the mountain to see if the wind will die anyway, so we say our goodbyes and head on our way.

My photography lessons:  1) Take your camera.  2) Shooting birds on the move with an iPhone is tough; see 1.  3)  No matter how beautiful Coq au Vin is, the soft focus ruins the photo; see 1. 4)  Chase all farm animals into shade when in full sun.

Flash of Insight

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When children learn a new grammar rule, they often start over applying it.  They get that adding “s” makes things plural, so they add “s” to everything.  They learn the exceptions later.  I’ve had the realization that I have learned what the depth of field will be like at a few aperture settings and started applying those settings all the time.

Now, the trick is to step things up a notch and start paying closer attention to the exact results I get in each circumstance.

In the meantime, I had a moment of weakness.  Upon spotting a very good price on some used studio lighting, I decided it was time to figure out how to start taking control of the lighting in my living room.

Today I take on two lessons simultaneously.  First, control depth of field.  Second, control lighting.  I start by using Pat as a reluctant model, but he bails and I turn to Tisen.

As it turns out, the enormous soft box and umbrella of light flashing at him are enough to motivate Tisen to go nap elsewhere.  I am stuck with only Tisen’s toys to shoot.

In reviewing the shots I’ve selected, here are the lessons I took from each (so far):

  1. Over exposure is easy when using giant studio flashes.  I actually really like this picture however.  This is a barely retouched photo–the drawing effect is purely from the overexposure.

2.  The second shot is what happens when you are using two monolights and you forget to turn one on.  I actually like this shot, too, though.  I am beginning to think I do my best work by accident.

3.  A grouping of Tisen’s toys are a great tool for depth of field practice.  In this shot, at f/4.5 (another thing I learned–I apparently have 1/3 stops enabled on my camera), I got a relatively shallow depth of field.  Shallow enough that I was able to tell that Red Dog and Mr. Beaver were not sharp from my camera’s LCD.

4.  Same group shot at f/10, the depth of field is significantly better than the last shot, although Red Dog still does not look sharp.  I am beginning to suspect that it’s difficult to get fake red fur to look sharp.  I also added a fill light to reduce shadows.

5.  I switched Lamb and Mr. Beaver, who always looks like he’s in a shadow.  The depth of field was the same as the previous shot.

6.  Here, Tisen demonstrates both a shallow depth of field (paw in foreground out of focus) and what happens when your subject decides to pop up and take a nap with his head propped against your soft box.

7.  Repeating the previous shot with greater depth of field, now the paw is in focus and so is his face (I think?).

8. Finally, I thought it would be nice to see the setup (plus Tisen).  There is also a light behind the umbrella.  Given that this is all new to me, I was pretty happy with the lighting results.

Could’ve Been Great

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There are times when everything just falls into place beautifully and you exceed your own expectations.  Then there are times like tonight.

At 8:15, I start gathering my gear.  Wireless remote shutter release attached to camera, check; 100-400mm lens with 1.4x extender on camera, check; lens foot secured in tripod, check; CF card in camera, check; reading glasses on head, check; warm layer of clothes added, check; beer in hand, check.  Time to head up to the roof.

By the time I get set up and in position, it’s 8:30.  Five minutes to moonrise.  I start looking for signs.  There is nothing.  The moon is always late here in the valley.

I start trying to focus on something in the vicinity of where the moon should rise since I have to focus manually and there is very little time to catch the moon as it rises.  Unfortunately, the maximum aperture at 560mm is f/8.0.  There’s not enough light to focus using the LCD and it’s impossible to tell if I’m in focus looking through the viewfinder.  I shoot, check my shot, try adjusting the lens in one direction or another and then shoot again.  I do not recommend this method of focusing.

When some light starts appearing above the ridge in what must be the only clouds in the sky, I get excited.  I go through the shoot and focus exercise several more times, hoping to get something sharp by accident.

The moon starts to appear and I go into a slight panic.  Now there is enough light to use the 10x magnification view in the LCD to focus, but I can’t seem to get the sharpness I want.  The moon looks sharp in 10x magnification before shooting, but when I review my shot, the focus is soft.  It’s not good.

Part of the problem is that I’m overexposing the moon.  I want to allow enough light to capture the great clouds around the moon with all the color–it looks like an amazing sunrise.

About the time I think I’ve got an exposure and focus that will look good, the camera suddenly stops working.  Now I am really panicked.  The moon moves so fast that when you are focusing on it at 10x magnification, you can watch it move in the LCD.  I am about to miss the rest of the moon rise.  Once the moon is above the horizon, the show is over–it just looks like a big hunk of moldy cheese.

Just when I decide I’m going to go order that new camera after all, I try removing the remote shutter release.  Sure enough, the camera start shooting again.  I get just a couple of quick shots of the last trees in front of the moon before it turns into floating cheese.  Then, I head back downstairs.

So close to that great shot I’ve been chasing!  Maybe next month.

Today’s Tisen shot is also not a sharp shot, but his stuck lip cracks me up too much not to share it anyway.

Mooning

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Well, I was hoping I would be posting a really cool shot of the full moon rising behind a row of buildings on a ridge.  I had this really great image in my mind that I’ve been planning for the last few days, watching the moon’s path through the sky, looking at the moonrise and sunset times, and figuring out the best place I have access to shoot from.

The moon had an alternate plan.  It decided to hide behind so many layers of clouds that not even a bright spot appears in the sky.

The good news is that it’s supposed to be clearing up tomorrow, so I may be able to shoot a nearly full moon rising tomorrow night.  The bad news is that the moon won’t rise until after dark tomorrow, so I probably won’t get any of the twilight sky I was hoping for tonight.  Oh well.

Instead, I’ve pulled together some moon shots taken since the last new moon.  I find it fascinating to see how the craters flatten out and disappear as the moon waxes until it pretty much looks like an unevenly colored, smooth rock.  I am still looking for a great shot of the full moon.  I have one shot I like of the full moon rising through the red leaves on fall trees, but now I can’t find it.  I’m sure it’s in one of my photo archives somewhere.  It’s fun, but not sure it’s great.

I’ve been working my way through 10 weeks of an online photography class and, this evening, I had one of those moments when something I’d been taught turned into something I’d learned.  I was looking at some of my recent vertical landscape shots, specifically this one:

I was trying to figure out why it doesn’t quite work.  While I’m sure I will eventually figure out several additional reasons (like the cutoff aquarium building), what I suddenly realized is that I am focusing on the stuff in the background instead of focusing about 1/3 of the way in, throwing the clouds in the foreground out of focus.  This realization was like a giant light bulb going on.  I can’t wait to shoot another diagonal subject that crosses the frame front to back and see if I can get all of it in focus!

As I scroll through photos, I see this has been a consistent problem in virtually every image I’ve shot where there is something that should be in focus in the foreground.  There have been so many times when I’ve stared at a photo trying to figure out why it isn’t the amazingly dramatic image I envisioned in my head but not being able to say why not.

I can’t wait for the next ah ha moment!

Tisen is less excited about my obsession.  He’s getting tired of competing with the laptop for space in my lap.  I feel guilty every time he bangs his head against it.  Guess it’s time to call it a night . . .

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Speak No Evil

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I am having a lot of issues with my TMJ.  It feels physically impossible to relax the muscles of my jaw.  Some have told me that this implies I’m holding back.  I wonder about that.  Generally, I am an outspoken person.  But, when I think about the things I would like to say vs the things I actually say, I realize I do hold back.  A lot.

For example, when I’m at work on a call with someone who is preventing me from moving forward with a project and I can’t figure out why they are even involved in the decision making process,  I don’t say, “why do you think you have the right to an opinion about this?” or “I’m sorry, why are you here?”

There was a time in my life when I probably would have.

Acclimating myself to a career in the corporate world has largely meant learning how to keep my mouth closed.  Apparently, clenched tight.

Oddly, people seem to feel like they’re a “value add” (one of my favorite corporatisms) by pointing out any possible reason why we shouldn’t do something.  It’s rare to meet a person who wants to suggest how we could do something.

Even more oddly, this has been consistent across the companies I’ve worked for throughout my career; it is not unique to the company I work for now.  I wonder what it is about corporations that create the need in people to be gatekeepers?  Or is it that they feel that way their whole lives and a corporation just provides a place to express their inner selves?  Is there such a thing as a born gatekeeper?

When these people say “I’m here to help,” what they mean is, “I am here to maintain the status quo by causing delays so that we’ve completely missed the market before you can force any changes.”

In the meantime, I clench my jaw and try not to scream.

I guess I am holding back.

Thankfully, I now have Tisen to nudge me with his nose during the highest stress moments in my day.  Tisen reminds me that there are far worse alternatives to being gainfully employed and able to work from home.

Working from home also saves me an hour and a half a day that I get to spend on trying to become a better photographer.  So, who am I to complain?

On the subject of photography, this is the final edition of “Going Vertical.”  Today’s shots are, however, macro shots rather than landscape.  Well, at least some of them.  I’ve been told the official definition of “macro” means a 1:1 relationship between the size of the image and the size of the subject in real life.  Clearly, not all of these photos meet that criteria.

I had a lot of fun shooting reflections in the wetland area.  Unfortunately, I’ve found that how much fun I have while shooting is not a predictor of how much I like the resulting images.

UPDATED:

The completely original 3 images processed into the horizontal shot:

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Going Vertical (Part 3)

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Having spent a couple of hours shooting in Renaissance Park over the weekend along with a few evenings of moon shooting, I have a collection of photos I am hoping will get me through the duration of my camera being serviced.  [As a side note, Canon announced the new 5D Mark III.  I might just wait until I win the lottery before I buy another camera body.]

So, today is really part 3 of the “Going Vertical” experiment.  I didn’t explain the experiment in part 1 or part 2, so I thought this would be a good time to do so.

I find I get stuck in a rut.  Especially because I shoot the same scenes over and over again–if I don’t, I won’t shoot often and shooting often is my goal right now.  Instead of investing in a new toy for inspiration (since I need to save everything I can for that new camera), I am trying to give myself new assignments to see if I can shoot the same old things in a new way.

That’s what created the Going Vertical experiment.  It was a gorgeous day with interesting clouds doing interesting things and it seemed like the perfect day to try shooting landscape photos vertically.

It’s pretty fascinating what happens when you draw a box around your view and eliminate everything outside the box.  I think that’s what people mean when they talk about “the photographer’s eye”–the ability to imagine a scene through a box.  However, just like those optical illusion experiments where you stare at an image and then look away, but the image still appears because it’s fused in your brain, after looking through a horizontal frame so many times, I start to forget I can turn the frame any direction I want.

And the scene looks completely different tall and narrow than it would wide and short.

I frequently shoot on the vertical when I’m shooting long architectural structures like the bridges over the river.  But with my assignment limiting me to shooting only on the vertical, I find myself looking for interesting intersections of shapes and getting down on the ground a lot, trying to maximize the use of the sky.  In other words, I’m having a ball.

Twice, people stop and ask me what I see.  They clearly cannot fathom what I find fascinating enough to get down on the ground to capture.  To the second person, I smile and say, “the clouds–they’re always doing interesting things.”

Since the tradition for the last month has become to include at least one shot of Tisen in every post, I do another HDR experiment with Tisen lying out on the balcony in the full-day sun.  As nice as HDR should be for capturing both his black spots and his white spots in correct exposure, Tisen’s breathing introduces just enough movement that when the three images are combined, the focus looks soft.  He’s still cute, though.  🙂

Decisions, Decisions

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There are things I just buy.  I say “I want that” and I spend the money and feel giddy with indulgence.  Then, there are things that exceed my “just buy it” threshold and I torment myself for months trying to decide what to do.

I’ve been putting off making a decision for months now.  I do a lot of landscape photography whether that’s what I intend or not and I’m running up against the limits of my wide angle lens on my small-sensor (APS) camera.

At the same time, my current camera needs its sensor cleaned badly.  I have found one place to take my camera to have the sensor cleaned, but it will take two days.  So, I will try to do enough shooting this weekend to get me through until I get my camera back.

This is another argument for why my next purchase should be a full-frame camera instead of a super wide-angle lens for my current one–if I had a second camera, it wouldn’t be so bad to have my camera in the shop for a couple of days–a serious consideration now that my camera is several years old.

And this brings us to the crux of my debate:  an extra-wide angle lens for my current camera or a full-frame camera.  It’s a tough call.  The extra-wide angle lens will only work with small-sensor cameras, which means if I buy it and then decide to go full-frame later, it won’t work on my new camera.

It comes down to either potentially throwing away a smaller amount of money to get the wide angle I want or making a larger, long-term investment that will give me a second camera body.  The smaller sensor has the advantage that it gives an equivalent angle of view to the focal length times 1.6.  However, I’m a little confused about why this is better.  It seems like the subject is the same size in the image, but there’s less stuff around it.   In essence, the same image could be achieved in the full frame simply by cropping the photo.

In any case, after getting through an online class session on APS vs Full Frame sensors, I’m leaning towards getting a full frame camera to compliment my APS camera.  That said, I’m still not ready to spend that kind of money.  I will have to work around being camera-less for a couple of days while my sensor is being cleaned.  I wonder if Tisen will notice?

My photos today consist of part II of my “Going Vertical” experiment.  This group is from right along the river.  I really like the traditionally processed color photo of the bridge, sky, and grass.  I like the black and whites, too.  Still not sold on some of the more obvious HDR processing.

The video is a “time lapse” shoot of Tisen on the couch.  However, something went wrong in the conversion and it bounces around quite a bit.  I hope you aren’t prone to motion sickness!

Old Dog, New Tricks

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Tisen is lying on the balcony in the sun, basking like he wants a tan.  Pat carries his bed out, trying to make him more comfortable.  Tisen gets up and comes in instead.

They seem to have taken a step backwards in their bonding today.  When Pat leaned in close while we were at the computer together, Tisen’s head suddenly appeared between us as he issued a growl.  He refused to eat the breakfast Pat prepared for him.  I mixed some pulled pork in it to get him to eat half of it.

He also bolted at bed time last night, not only refusing to get into his crate, but refusing to come into the bedroom.  He ran behind the couch and lay down, refusing to get up even for me.  We decided to let him sleep in the living room, but we left the door open in case he changed his mind.

He didn’t.  In the morning, he was curled up on the couch.  Perhaps I am going through more withdrawal than he is because I got up at 6:30AM and cuddled with him for a half an hour before going back to bed.

Then, Pat took him for his morning walk and made him breakfast.  And still he acts like Pat is not allowed to touch me!  Maybe I shouldn’t have cuddled with him on the couch.  I am having a hard time with kicking him out of the bed.  He acts strange and distant sometimes now.  He’s a stubborn boy who knows his own mind, that’s for sure.

He just woke from a dream again, jumping off the couch and running towards the open balcony door.  He stands at the door looking at his bed lying outside and seems confused.  He stands there for a good 30 seconds or so like he’s trying to get his bearings.  He looks around and then heads for the water bowl.  I’m certain he had no idea where he was.  I wonder if he is relieved when he realizes he’s with us?

After a long drink, he returns to his spot next to me, licks his paws and settles in for another nap.  I wonder if he will ever stop dreaming about whatever it is that makes him suddenly run away?

I can’t help but make a video when he starts snoring.  He cracks me up.

For today’s photography experiment, I decide to do landscape photography on the vertical.  I head down to Renaissance Park and see what new ways I can find to look at the things I see 4x a day.

I look for an interesting angle to shoot the wetlands overlook from.  I head off the beaten path and soon find myself crawling in the grass, trying to get a low angle.  Once again, I am attracting the stares of strangers.  I wish I would have gotten a little more water in the frame, but I have to get used to composing while lying on my belly.

Staying Grounded

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Normally, I would be writing about our day on the hang gliding training hills on a Saturday.  However, it wasn’t worth getting up early only to find out we couldn’t fly given the wind predictions.  Tomorrow doesn’t look any more promising.  I think I hear my knees sighing with relief.

Instead, we are doing exciting things like pulling together our tax documents.  Sometimes being an adult is unavoidable.

I wish I could have enjoyed the laid back morning, but we were out of coffee.  When we’re out of coffee, I feel like I’m in a race–can I find a source of caffeine before I get a withdrawal headache?

Eventually, I gather up some bags and head towards the grocery store.  But I make a pitstop first.  It’s time for a new pair of fivefinger shoes.  I opt for a running style with a nice squishy sole that feels luxurious.  I decide I like them so well, I will wear them home and put the trekking pair I was wearing into the box.

I head on into Greenlife and pick up groceries.  Every time I go there, I think of our empty refrigerator back home and am reminded of my sister-in-law’s visit.  I pointed her to the fridge for filtered water and when she opened the door, she found a pitcher of filtered water and a 12-pack of beer.  That was it.  She laughed out loud.  I suppose it’s one of the ways we avoid adulthood.

Returning home, I am loaded with a bag on each shoulder and the bag with my old shoes in one hand.  I’m glad I only have to walk a block.  I return home to an excited dog that doesn’t know what to do with himself now that I’m home.  It’s as if he wants to punish me for going somewhere without him.  I help him find Lamb so he can have something in his mouth other than my hands.  Then, I pretend to play keep away by periodically acting like I’m going to chase him and saying all the right things.  In reality, I am putting away the groceries.

I think back to my intention of eating right all the time when we moved to Chattanooga.  Is it human nature to think that making one major change in your life will change all of it?  I must have forgotten the crux of the issue–I brought myself with me when we moved.

For today’s photography lesson, I decided to go outdoors.  I have a request for shots of our balcony, so I carry my tripod and camera across the street and start shooting.  I’m not sure what is so remarkable about a person with a tripod and camera, but I certainly attract a lot of stares.  Or maybe it’s my fivefingers shoes they’re staring at?

I am still torn on whether I like the HDR processed images as well as “traditional” processing.  It’s a lot of fun to play with, though.