Category Archives: Commentary

RSS Problems – Better But Not Fully Resolved?

July 25, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 9 Comments

I wrote yesterday about a couple of technical issues that arose when I switched to this new theme a few weeks ago. I’m certain that I have now solved the problem that left photographs out of search results when using the search box on this site. I’m still getting some reports from people who don’t see the photographs in the daily posts of new images. (They may see the affiliate link image.)

I’m still working to get to the bottom of this. It seems like those who encounter this problem may be seeing the so-called “summary” of the posts rather than the full post. This perplexes me since I just double-checked and I have selected the option to send the full post content in the feed. In addition, I see the full content in my Google Reader versions of the feed.

However… there are two other places where I’m also seeing a version that does not include the images.

The first is when I check via the RSS feature in my Apple OS X Mail program. (I don’t normally use this, but I used it as a test case earlier today.)
The second is in the “Networked Blogs” posts that let the blog automatically post into my Facebook account. To be honest, I’ve seen others having problems with the Networked Blogs service, and I’ve been considering eliminating it.

If you follow the RSS feed, it would be useful if you could take a moment to let me know whether or not you see the images in posts. You can simply reply to this message here at the blog or at Facebook if you see it there.

(For those who wonder if I perhaps decided to keep my photographs out of the feeds for any number of reasons… that isn’t the case. This is entirely a technical issue and not one that I intended.)

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Commentary, Community, Site News

Format Problem with Blog Search and RSS Solved?

July 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Earlier today I posted:

A week ago, after having recently updated the theme for this blog, I became aware that search results returned by the blog do not include images. That is a problem on a photography web site! Earlier today, several people emailed to point out that the images have also disappeared from the RSS feed for the site.

The loss of images in search and RSS was certainly not intentional! I’m going to try to figure out why this has happened and correct it as soon as I can. (“Thank you” to readers who alerted me to this!)

I have a bit of an update, and I also have a quick request if you have a moment…

One problem was that images were not showing up when visitors searched to site using the search box that appears near the top of the sidebar on each page. Only text was being returned in the search results. I believe that I have fixed this problem – my own searches now include images incorporated in the original post. That is pretty darned important on a photography blog!

The other problem was that several readers who subscribe to posts via the RSS feed reported no longer seeing images in the feed. This has proven a bit more complex. I checked my Google Reader feeds, where I had been monitoring two versions of this blog’s feed. I discovered that the photographers were, indeed, missing from one version of the feed. I cancelled both feeds and resubscribed and… now they both work correctly. I also checked the php files for the RSS page and it looks like it should include the entire posts, images and all.

So, if you have encountered a problem with images disappearing from the RSS feed recently, I would like to suggest the following:

Try to unsubscribe from the feed in your feed reader. The subscribe again, as if you were doing it for the first time.
If you do this and the images are still not visible in posts that follow your completion of this step, I would be grateful if you would let me know a bit more about how your subscribe.
You might also consider using Google Reader as your RSS feed reader. That is what I now use, and I’m pleased with the interface… and the images seem to show up correctly there.

Thanks!

Commentary, Ideas, Thinking Aloud

Brief Thoughts on The Life of a Photograph

July 22, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 7 Comments

The image I posted earlier today both here at the blog and on Google+ got me thinking about the various ways that a photograph can “come to life.” This particular image followed a path that several other images that I consider to be among my best followed – namely, it languished in my raw file archive for nearly a year before I rediscovered it recently while going back through the old files. I recognized this pattern some time ago, and I now make it a habit to revisit all of my (thousands and thousands of) raw files about a year after I shoot them.

Why didn’t I “see” this image when I first reviewed raw files right after the shoot? I’m not entirely certain, but several ideas come to mind. Sometimes at the time of the shoot I have a strongly fixed notion of how I want to portray the subject , and as I shoot I’m already categorizing exposures by how well they correspond to this preconception. So when I initially go through the raws I may be mostly looking for what fits my expectations as opposed to looking objectively at what works on its own merits. Coming back a year later allows me to better see the image for what it is, without having my judgment so affected by prior expectations.

Related to this is the sheer number of images and how one deals with them in the post-processing workflow. I may begin with what I think are the most promising couple of images from a shoot and then take them all the way to a print-ready (or actually printed) stage. Once I’ve done that with the first selects from a given subject, I’m more likely to move on to other subjects – and potentially leave other good images in the dust.

There is a lot more to say about this, I think, but I’ll save the longer explication for another blog post in the future. Does anyone else make a practice of doing a full review of raw files at some future date?

Commentary, Equipment, Technique

Very Basic Filter Advice for New DSLR Shooters

July 20, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

(This article has been slightly updated since it was originally posted.)

Earlier this morning I replied to a question about filters from a new DSLR owner who wondered which filters he “had to get” to use his new camera. I realized that this sort of question comes up from time to time, and I thought that the answer might be useful to others. So here it is!

With DSLRs there are typically four types of filters that most people might consider. You do not necessarily need filters – it is a question of shooting preference and some stylistic issues.

“Protective” filters

Some believe or have been told that they need so-called “protective UV filters” on their lenses. The thought is that these filters will protect the front element of your lens from possible damage, and there is an old school notion that reducing UV (ultraviolet) light will improve certain types of photographs. DSLRs are not sensitive to UV light in the way that film was, and there are some compelling arguments against using filters for protection in normal shooting. My thoughts on this are posted elsewhere on this blog.

I must acknowledge that opinions vary on this issue, and that this discussion (oddly, but like those about certain other photography equipment issues) can become rather heated. I don’t use protective filters. Others do. You’ll have to weigh the arguments yourself on this one.

Circular Polarizing (“CP” or “CPL”) Filters

Contrary to what you may think, CPL filters are generally not simply placed on the lens and left there, but they may be added occasionally for certain shots and in certain conditions. You do not necessarily need them, but in some situations they are useful. There are several things that they can do:

In some photographs they can increase the contrast between things like clouds and sky, possibly producing a more dramatic photograph. This does not always work – it depends on things like the angle of the sun and the nature of the sky. It also does not work well on very ultra-wide-angle lenses. You almost certainly would want to use this effect sparingly, since it easily become a cliche.
The CPL can control or reduce reflections from things like the surface of water or windows. It can also be useful in some situations for reducing the reflections from shiny foliage. Some find the CPL useful for photographing waterfalls and cascades.
The CPL can also function as a stand-in neutral density filter when you want to use a slightly longer exposure time or a larger aperture.

In the first two cases, you rotate the filter to control the effect. There is usually a small dot on the edge of the filter and you can maximize the filtering effect by rotating in 90 degrees away from direction of the sun.

Neutral Density (“ND”) filters

These filters simply darken the image by some number of stops, ranging from one stop to as much as 10 stops. ND filters allow you to use a longer exposure and/or a larger aperture in conditions that might otherwise not allow this. You might do the former to allow motion blur, for example with photographs of water or clouds. You might to the latter to limit depth of field in very bright conditions. (As noted above, a CPL can stand in for a mild ND filter in some cases.) Contrary to some claims you will read, they do not really alter the overall brightness or color balance of photographs at all. (The very dark 9- and 10-stop filters can produce an unwanted color shift.) Most photographers starting out will not need neutral density filters.

Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters

These filters are darker on one half than the other, with the clear and darker sections separated by an area of relatively smooth gradation whose width may vary. The dark section may reduce the light by two or three exposures. An example of their use might be a scene with very bright sky and darker foreground – the filter is lined up so that the graduated section is on the horizon and the darkened section covering the sky. Although screw-in versions of these filters are available, their usefulness is very limited. More common are large rectangular versions that are attached by means of a holder in front of the lens and then positioned manually. This is a fussy bit of business, and if you are new to this it is quite unlikely that you want to “go there” at this point. (I have heard some argue that they should be called “gradated” rather than “graduated” neutral density filters. I may be dense, but I’m, uh, neutral on this question. ;-)

Filter Alternatives

Today we can emulate the effects of most filters in software. In most cases this gives us more options and greater control than attaching filters to the lens at the time of exposure, and it also means less gear to carry. The circular polarizing filters is an exception, in that you cannot really emulate its ability to control reflections using photography post-production software.

Bottom Line

In my opinion, if you just got your first DSLR and suddenly find yourself in the mood to start buying lots of accessories… hold off on getting filters for a while. Not everyone needs them, and at first you can probably do everything you need to do without adding this additional complication. Eventually, once you become more comfortable with your camera, the filter that is most likely to occasionally be useful to you is perhaps the circular polarizer since it is useful in several different ways and because its effect is generally not one you can duplicate in post-processing.