After way too much time away, I’m back. New job, new city, new family, and a new puppy! All that is to say that life moves forward but i’m taking a step back, reevaluating some goals, changing the scope of this blog, and giving it another wack. Not out of popular demand, but out of a growing need to step back from the complexities of daily life. Anyway, here we go….
upgrading
I just sold my d700 and I’m getting a d90.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the full frame, weather sealed pro level d700. I will also miss the dedicated controls and the ISO performance, but I have some plans in development that require some more cash and a lighter camera. That is for a future post though.
I have owned 2 d90 bodies at separate times. They served their intended purpose and were sold. I didn’t think the same would happen to the nicer, full frame camera, but it did. I will own another full frame camera. I just don’t know when and I don’t really need it now.
Furthermore, there is a financial incentive here. The d90 has reached the bottom of its depreciation curve, I think. It can be had used for under $500. That is a steal for that type of capability. It also deleverages me, frees up some cash for other projects, and allows me to take risks that I would avoid with the full frame monster.
I have used this strategy with great success: buy good quality, used equipment. Often times in bulk, always at rock bottom prices. Keep what I want – or what I think I want – and sell everything else at top dollar. This also allowed me to move through pro bodies quit quickly and at little cost to me. I never thought I would use the same formula to walk my way back down the gear ladder though.
The spread between the d90 price and the d700 price will pay for an upcoming trip with Katie. And that’s the whole point: why own top-of-the line gear if you can’t afford to travel with it?
I would rather have a thick portfolio and a well worn passport instead of a heavy camera bag. To me, that’s an upgrade worth making.
Why blindfoto
I have a hereditary eye condition called achromatopsia. You can google it, but I will spare you the boring details.
The short version is that I can’t see very well. Actually I can’t see well at all. My eyesight is pegged at about 20/200 which makes me legally blind. I also have a hard time distinguishing colors and am very sensitive to light. This is all a result of having too many rod cells and not enough cone cells in the back of the eye.
To make matters more complicated, none of the above are correctable by lenses.
The irony is not lost on me. I am an automotive enthusiast when I can’t drive legally and I get payed to take pictures when I have a serious ‘limitation’ that should affect my performance.
I’ll attempt to answer the Defender thing first. I have wanted one since grade school. Back then, a kid was allowed to dream, to have faith in the future of modern medicine, and to put reality out of site and mind. Now, in my late 20’s, reality has set in: I won’t drive a Defender across Siberia. But the dream is still alive and it has flourished. My future wife will have to drive a Defender. It will be in the wedding vows. Its none negotiable.
The photography question is a little different. My dad was a photog back in the USSR. I have fooled around with cameras for as long as I can remember. And as long as I can remember, I have been told that photography was out of my reach and beyond my physical limitations. The problem with such talk is that it lights a fire under my ass.
Then came along the affordable DSLR. That was fuel to the fire. All of a sudden, it was cheap to experiment, to play, and to learn. Digital cameras brought us instant gratification. They also brought instant feedback.
Also, when the camera comes up to my eye, it becomes my eye. It really does work like a visual aid.
So there you have it. I fooled around with a d40, taught myself, tricked some people into paying for my pictures, and never looked back. I have come a long way from a d40 and from those days, but now you know the truth. Don’t tell anyone.
Naturally, when David and Jessie started their journey, I was immediately hooked. He was literally living out my childhood dream. A dream that, from any practical point of view, was unrealistic if not foolish.
This is why, when Jessie got stranded in Atlanta, I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines. Amazingly, David didn’t think I was flat out crazy.
Speaking of David, I’m so thankful for this opportunity. I have seen a glimpse of the love and the support that he has been blogging and tweeting about for months. It is refreshing and quite humbling.
the Defender
Jessie is a Land Rover Defender 90. A purebred, purpose built machine that has extraordinary capabilities and pages of history infused into its DNA.
She is the direct descendant of the original Series 1 Land Rover, an aluminum clad 4×4 built to conquer English farmland in war- ravaged Britain. Land Rover has come a long way since the late ’40s and its top sellers today, the Range Rover and the Discovery, are more comfortable at a country club than an English farm.
The Defender does not share these same traits. If the Range Rover is your rich uncle, the Defender is your rude, odd, war-torn great uncle that no one talks about but everyone secretly admires.
Indeed, once you get past the lunch box styling, the ever-present mechanical gremlins, and the total disregard for occupant comfort, there is much to be admired in the Defender.
Since 1948, these 4x4s have plowed fields, served in covert military missions, carried humanitarian aid to remote destinations, and explored the farthest corners of our world. Commandos dropped them out of airplanes, the British crown and the Pope himself used them for protection, and frontiersmen the world over cooked meals on the trucks’ front grill. It has been estimated that this lineage of Land Rovers were the first automobiles seen by a third of the world’s population.
This history lesson is vital to understanding and appreciating Jessie. This is what she is: an uncompromising, unapologetic thoroughbred. She is designed and outfitted for overland travel. She is engineered to perform in the harshest conditions.
Now I don’t know David’s reasoning behind settling on a Defender, but I am not surprised that a Defender is the vehicle he has come to depend on. Many explorers, nomads, and travelers put their trust into that aluminum box on wheels and, if history is to repeat itself, many more will.
Jessie’s ride
We are saddled up and headed to the other side of town. Jessie is getting her batteries charged as she awaits our arrival. Matt is having dinner with his wife, also waiting our arrival.
Speaking of Matt, I know he is bringing a ThinkTank full of goodies so I decided to leave my camera at home. I’m tweeting, blogging, and taking pictures with only the phone.
Jessie’s ride
Jessie is going home
Sometimes, we are presented with opportunities that we would be stupid to walk away from.
When the dust had settled after David duChemin’s accident in Italy and it became clear that so many prayers were answered regarding his recovery, I started flirting with the idea of taking Jessie, his right hand drive Defender 90, back home to him. The idea was out of reach, I thought. Sure, I had met David, but I doubted he would remember or care about who I was. And then there was the whole delivery of Jessie thing. David had outfitted the Defender for overland travel, sold or stored most of his worldly possessions, and moved what was left into a vehicle with only a 92 inch wheelbase. To think that he would trust me with what was left of his “stuff” was kind of unthinkable.
I took the shot though. I reached out to David with a vague plan and a promise to deliver. To my astonishment, he agreed! I spent several weeks arranging the ever-moving puzzle pieces. The goal was for a expeditious trip that was also cost-effective. I secured a truck, a trailer, some local volunteer photographers and friends – with immaculate driving records, mind you – and now it is go time.
My buddy Matthew Druin and I will be documenting the trip via our blogs and, of course, twitter. We’ll use the hashtag #jessietrip to track our progress. Join us. Keep us company. Keep us awake!
As a long time Land Rover fanatic and an almost successful photographer, this is an opportunity, a little mini adventure that I just couldn’t walk away from.
A day at the Ranch
Earlier this summer, Katie and I drove up to Wears Valley Ranch in Sevierville, Tennessee to take some pictures for the Ranch and for their summer camp director and our good friend, Seth Houser. Wears Valley Ranch is a year round boarding school environment for children from families in crisis. These 100+ acres at the base of the Smoky Mountains are a refuge for at-risk kids. It’s also the place where Katie and I first met in the summer of ’04 when we volunteered as camp counselors. This little slice of paradise has a special place in our hearts. Check out their web page: www.wvr.org. And if you have kids and are interested in summer camps, the summer camp program, www.camparrowwood.org, is honestly world-class.
Needless to say, we don’t need much persuasion to take a day out of our increasingly hectic lives to spend a day at the Ranch. So with cameras in hand, we made the trip.
This assignment was actually more challenging than I expected. Lots of outdoor photography under a cloudless sky is always hard. The goal was to create photos for the Ranch that illustrate the facilities and can be used for promotional material.
The second objective was to capture the entire Houser clan together before everyone scattered all over North America. This was also challenging because large group shots are difficult by definition. Add some tired and uncooperative infants and toddlers, and the level of difficulty skyrockets.
We also took this opportunity to use “Frankenstein,” a two flash, one 60 inch reflective umbrella setup that includes some jerry rigged brackets to hold both flashes on one umbrella adapter. I’ll have to write a post on that later…
Difficulty level aside, it is always a pleasure to give back to an organization that lives for such a powerful calling.
How to shoot sharper pictures, Part 3: Technique
(This is the last, and longest, post in a 3 part series. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2)
Shooting technique is perhaps the most important and easiest to improve factor. It doesn’t require you to spend more money and it can be achieved through practice. We have already touched on some techniques, like using appropriate shutter speeds, but there is a little more to it than that. And if you want to shoot your fast primes wide open, it is your technique that will determine whether your pictures are sharp or sh*t. This requires some patience and perseverance. And since so many of our ranks are tempted to just buy nicer gear, I talked about the technical stuff first and saved the best for last.
Let’s talk about some practical exercises to help you understand a little more about how your camera and lens behave.
We already discussed using your camera’s single servo mode in conjunction with just one focus point. If you put that point on your subject’s eye, press your shutter half way down until your camera beeps, then take your picture without recomposing, you will get a sharp subject. Well, at least the eye will be sharp, but that’s the goal, right? If you shoot this picture at f1.8, you will trade some sharpness for a shallower depth of field and that’s OK. If you shoot the same picture at f8, your picture will probably be tack sharp but there may be some distracting elements in focus in the background.
But you want your pictures to be skillfully composed and that usually means that your subject isn’t smack in the middle of the frame. So, to obtain proper focus, you have two options. You can practice the technique described above using the center focus point, but then recompose before you shoot. The other option is to change your focus point and use one that is closer to the subject. This is a matter of preference and there is no wrong way to do it, but if you botch either one, you’ll lose focus.
That’s because when you recompose, you are ever so slightly moving the focal plane relative to where it was when you first locked focus. This might not be a big deal, but if you’re shooting with very shallow depth of field, this is enough to make your subject’s eyes soft while making the bridge of the nose sharp.
Changing the focus points also has its disadvantage: pressing more buttons and changing more inputs between your pictures. Personally, it slows me down, but I have friends that can rock this technique. Also, as you leave the center focus points, you start dealing with less sensitive focus points, like we discussed before. This can cause your camera to hunt for focus or miss it all together, especially in low light, low contrast situations.
We can put all of this together into some practical exercises. For example, and I still do this, when watching TV, take your camera out and shoot the display on the DVD player. This usually works best from the couch and with a longer lens as it will magnify camera shake. Take a picture of the display at a low shutter speed. Maybe 1/30th of a second. Zoom in and check your focus. If the image is soft, try it again and really concentrate on holding your camera steady. Plant your elbow’s into your torso, exhale, and shoot again. Check focus and repeat. Once you start getting sharp pictures without the camera movements introducing motion blur, slow the shutter speed down by 2/3rds of a stop or use a longer zoom and do it again.
The above exercise may seem silly but it helped me out tremendously when I first started and I still do it every now and again. It teaches you how to keep your camera stable in a very low stress, low pressure environment. This way, when you find yourself with in a desperate situation, and you will find yourself in this situation, where you’re shooting wide open, your ISO is already in the stratosphere, flash is not an option, you have to deliver for your client, you will be able to reach deep down inside, steady yourself, slow down your shutter speed, and then create sharp images. You’ll be able to do this because you practiced and you know your limitations, the limitations of your equipment, and most importantly, you’ll know how to work around those limitations. All of this comes through practice.
Now that I’m done preaching, another helpful exercise is one that you can actually do on the job. Say you are shooting a wedding. You got the pictures that you were hired to create, you’re now in a dimly lit reception, and the last 50 frames of the dance floor are starting to look the same. This is when you start working for yourself instead of the client. You already have the safe shots, so experiment. Use lower shutter speeds instead of higher ISO values and try to create images that tell the story. You’ll be forced to hold your camera rock steady. You will also learn about how deliberate motion blur (from the dance floor, for example) might give your images a sense of action and movement. You’ll definitely learn something about your craft and your limitations, but you’ll also learn how to shoot at low shutter speeds and you might even create an image that will make the final cut and diversify your portfolio.
And while you are learning about techniques, here is one more that you should master early: Keep your lenses clean. Do this religiously. It is easy to do, it takes very little time, and it will help you get sharper results.
The last note that I want to leave you with is this: All of the factors we discussed in this 3 part series can compound and conspire against you. For example, if you’re shooting wide open (f1.8, shallow depth of field, outside of the lens’ sweet spot), and you focus than recompose (focus the camera then move it slightly before you take the picture), while using a slow shutter speed (say below 1/125th of a second), and a high ISO, with a dirty lens, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get a razor-sharp image.
Being aware of these factors will help you create razor-sharp pictures consistently.
So practice and learn the limitations of your equipment. Lastly, remember that there is a huge difference between razor-sharp and usable. You can still have usable pictures that are not the sharpest. But you have to define that for yourself because my definition of usable is not the same as your definition of usable.
I apologize for the long-winded post. I’ll keep future entries shorter… If you have questions, leave them in the comments or ask me on Twitter.
shooting a wedding: survival tips
As a general rule, I’ve shied away from shooting weddings because I always thought that they were just too stressful. I hesitantly say that I’ve enjoyed event photography, but I definitely don’t enjoy the stress that goes along with it.
I worry myself sick that I’m going to miss something so I’ll “machine-gun” it like a mad-woman trying to capture e v e r y t h i n g. This usually leaves me with a stomach-ache and roughly one million and eight photos to go through later.
So when my first friend from college asked me to shoot his wedding, I immediately said yes, but then panicked. I told Vasily he had to shoot with me and of course he agreed. We also recruited the lovely Ashley Danaila to assist us. You can check her out on Facebook.
To make sure I didn’t develop stress ulcers, I tried to think of every detail beforehand. And it worked: No ulcers!
These were some of my tactics:
1. Meet with the bride and groom in person way before the big day. (Ideally a good month or two.)
Here you might talk about a “first look” v. waiting til the aisle to see each other. I would also recommend recommending they have a wedding coordinator to channel the bridal party to the right locations. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it usually doesn’t hurt.
2. Plan, plan, plan.
Vasily and I drew out diagrams of where each of us would be during the ceremony and who would shoot what. We also had to coordinate the groomsmen & groom and the bridesmaids & bride so the bride and groom wouldn’t accidentally catch a glimpse. Lots of pre-planning, but as I learned in my tv production days– this is what makes your shoot a success.
3. Play to your strengths.
Vasily knows gear. So I deferred to him for all lighting, lens and crop-sensor questions. And it was great! I didn’t have to worry about any of the stuff I would normally worry about.
And I think that about sums it up– basically plan ahead, ask for help and let everyone play to their strengths. Your stress level will drop and I’m convinced that the less stressed everyone else is, the less stressed the bride is and therefore everyone has an awesome day. Win-Win-Win.
How to shoot sharper pictures, Part 2: Understanding your lens
(This is the 2nd part of a 3 part series. If you missed the first post, you can find it here)
Now that your camera is dialed in, let’s talk about that lens you have stuck to the front end. Not all lenses are equally sharp. The same is true for aperture values and focal lengths. As you should know by now, a smaller aperture gives you more depth of field. And the greater your depth of field, the easier it is to get pictures that appear sharp. But that’s not why you bought your 50mm 1.8. You also don’t lust over Canon’s 85mm 1.2 because you care about how it looks at f8. But you have to realize that every lens you have is not its sharpest when shot wide open. Your 50 1.8 is sharper at f2.8 and sharper still at f4. This is also true for zoom lenses. The mighty 70-200mm 2.8 is sharper at f4 then it is at 2.8. And speaking of zooms, this brings us to yet another point: Zoom lenses, especially telephotos, tend to get softer as you approach their maximum focal length.
All lenses have a performance sweet spot. With zoom lenses, it is usually toward the middle of the zoom range, and with both zooms and primes, it is usually 1 or 2 stops slower than the maximum aperture.
Now if you have made it this far and you think I’m suggesting that you not shoot wide open or at your maximum focal length, you might miss the whole point of this conversation. More on this in part 3.
Naturally, higher end lenses are usually sharper, especially at the maximum aperture, and have a sweet spot that covers a greater percentage of the zoom or aperture range and higher end cameras have better ISO performance. Spending more money, however, isn’t the solution because there is so much room for human error.
That’s what we will cover next time: shooting technique.
blindfoto1 