Category Archives: Ideas

Commentary, Equipment, Ideas

More Thoughts About the Pentax 645D ‘mini MF’ Camera

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I responded to a post today in an interesting forum discussion about the new Pentax 645D “medium format” (or, as I prefer to call it, “mini MF” format) digital camera. This is a potentially game-changing camera. I has a 33mm x 44mm 40MP sensor and a body-only price of under $10,000. Its cost is far below that of competing mini MF bodies and a fraction of the cost of recent larger MF systems – and the price isn’t much above that of the high end full frame DSLR systems. While larger is not always better, for some types of photographers this puts a level and type of digital camera performance within reach.

In the discussion forum thread I referred to above, a writer had suggested that the 1.7x size differential between the Pentax 645D and full frame DSLRs would not be significant. In a sense he is right – it will not be significant to most photographers, and I surely cannot imagine why anyone would get one in order to make family photos to post on the web. However, I thought I’d share what I wrote concerning why I think that this might be significant for at least some photographers. My response (slightly edited) follows:

Photosite density is rarely the limiting factor when it comes to maximum print size from DSLR originals. As [the other poster] points out, “technique” stuff tends to be much more critical. Enlargement limits are more likely the result of stuff like camera movement, slight mis-focus, lens issues, etc.

I disagree that the size difference between the 24mm x 36mm full frame DSLR sensor and the 33mm x 44mm “mini MF” sensor isn’t significant. There are several reasons I feel this is the case: Continue reading More Thoughts About the Pentax 645D ‘mini MF’ Camera →

Commentary, Ideas, Tongue in Cheek

10 Critical Tips for Landscape Photographers

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1. Use a camera. The most important and basic tool of the landscape photographer is the camera. Using a camera greatly simplifies the process of capturing photographic images, and without one you’ll likely feel a bit lost. You may have noticed that pretty much all great landscape photographers use a camera – some use more than one! – so take a cue from the pros and make sure you have a camera, too!

2. Get a lens. Having a lens makes your camera much more useful. While a camera is critical to your work as a landscape photographer, without a lens the usefulness of the camera is greatly diminished. For this reason, virtually all successful landscape photographers end up, sooner or later, getting a lens to use with their camera. You’ll definitely want one, too – just like the pros! (Some cameras come with a lens built in – what a useful idea!)

3. Remove your lens cap. How many photographers can tell stories of forgetting to remove the lens cap before making a photograph, only to discover that the results were not what they had hoped for? But you don’t have to learn the hard way! Practice removing your lens cap at home – that way, when you are in the field you will have developed “photographer’s instincts” that will ensure that you remove the lens cap. (The good news is that with digital cameras you don’t have to worry about whether you loaded the film – but don’t forget your memory card!)

4. Photograph interesting things. Although it isn’t universally true, you will probably get more interesting photographs if you photograph interesting things. There are many things in the world, and not all of them are interesting. Look for the interesting things and photograph them. Look around – it is an interesting thing to do! Interesting, yes?

5. Pick the right brand. There are many brands of photographic equipment out there – cameras, lenses, filters, bags, you name it. Picking the wrong brand may hamper your photography; pick the right brand and you may not hamper your photography so much. So be sure to pick the right brand. If you aren’t sure which brand is best, talk to photographers – any one of them can tell you which is best… and why!

6. Light is important. Without light it would be pretty much impossible to make photographs, at least the typical landscape photographs. So if you plan to make typical photographs, look for scenes that are illuminated by… light! Light is your friend. Seek out light and when you see it make photographs. Think about it… how many of the photographers you admire work without light? So, do what the pros do – use light!

7. Pick the right subject. Pick the wrong subject and your photograph won’t be what you wanted it to be, so be sure to photograph the right subject. Seek it out and when you see the right subject make a photograph. Perhaps make several. There are so many subjects in the world that finding the right one can be a challenge, so be sure to apply yourself carefully to this task.

8. Colors are important. Unless you are making black and white photographs – in which case the only important colors are black and white. You’ll want to pay careful attention to color. The most important advice is to focus on color in your color photographs – just like the pros!

9. Focus on what is most important. Some people think that mastering technical issues is the most important thing. Others think that having the right equipment is critical. Some claim that the artistic quality of the photograph is important. (Don’t forget – color is important, too!) Before you make great photographs you’ll have to decide which is the most important in your work. Don’t waste your time being a generalist and trying to do everything – pick one and focus on it!  Successful photographers develop a speciality and stick to it.  And don’t forget the rule of thirds!

10. Find good locations. There are many popular spots to make photographs, and you can make photographs just like the pros if you seek out these locations and shoot there, too. You’ll have to be attentive, since these spots are easy to miss if you are talking on your cell phone as you drive past them. Some telltale hints include parking lots full of cars and lines of people with tripods. Stop and make a photograph – there is always room for one more tripod! You can probably make one that looks just like those that the other photographers are making! (Hint: You can also visit online photography sites ahead of time – both to find the locations and to save yourself from spending too much time searching for compositions when you actually get there. Your time is precious!)

Good luck!

(I probably should have saved this for April 1, but I couldn’t wait… :-)

For those whose first experience with my blog is this tongue-in-cheek post, I write serious stuff, too, and a related recent post might interest you: Photographic Myths and Platitudes – ‘Landscape Photography Lenses’ (Part I)

Equipment, Ideas, Photographic Myths and Platitudes, Technique

Photographic Myths and Platitudes – ‘Landscape Photography Lenses’ (Part I)

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(NOTES: This article has been updated periodically since its original publication, including a more significant update in 2019. And, yes, there is a Part II.)

A recent discussion got me thinking once again about another “myth” of landscape photography, namely that [i]some lenses are appropriate for landscape photography and other lenses are not[/i]. There are several such myths, including but not limited to the following aspects: focal lengths, zooms versus primes, maximum apertures, expense, etc. While I could have a lot of fun (or not!) starting with the zoom/prime question, I have saved that for Part II. (Short preview: I think that “zooms or primes?” may be the wrong question, the image quality implications are not as simple as you might think, and I use both… but tend more and more to rely on zooms.)

Instead, I’ll start with…

Focal Length

The trigger for this was a discussion of the suitability of a certain type of lens for landscape photography. I had made a point concerning a 85mm prime that I sometimes used, and the other party disagreed with my perspective. Several rebuttals to my thinking were offered, but the one offered as a sort of trump card was that using a 85mm lens for landscape is an inappropriate choice, and one should use a wide-angle zoom like a 16-35mm lens.

While many landscape photographers know better, especially those who have done this for a while, it is surprising how many folks assume it to be accepted wisdom that proper landscape photography is done with ultra-wide to perhaps normal focal length lenses, and that the first and perhaps only lens that a landscape photographer would want would be such a lens. (Again, I’m not getting into the prime v. zoom question here – I’ll save that fun topic for a later post. :-)

In my view, the best answer to the “what focal length is best for landscape?” question is the focal length that works best for the photograph I am making right now. My current kit, based on full frame DSLR bodies, covers focal lengths from 16mm to 400mm — technically 560mm if I add a 1.4x TC. While I frequently work with less than the full kit (when backpacking, for example), when I’m not constrained by weight or other limitations I carry lenses to cover this full range and typically use most or all of them. What follows is an overview of some of the lenses I use, accompanied by some photographic examples and a bit of explanation. Continue reading Photographic Myths and Platitudes – ‘Landscape Photography Lenses’ (Part I) →

Commentary, Ideas

What Do YOU See?

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Earlier this week a reader posted a message on Facebook about one of my photographs (probably one of the more perplexing ones to some viewers/readers – a black and white photograph of a wall) and said: “not to be meant as criticism: but why did you take this picture – what intrigued you about the scene?”

I thought this was a great question, and I answered as best as I could. (Admittedly, I’m not always fully aware of precisely why I make a particular photograph – I may simply know at some intuitive level that it is interesting to me.) My quick answer was:

First, I’m intrigued by minimalist geometric (and sometimes natural) subjects. There were several things that caught my attention here, including: the gross difference between the large (almost but not quite) black area on the right and the thin and brighter area of the window frame on the left. I also liked the way the faint (and fading) shadow continues the line of the one bit of structure than interrupts the vertical pattern on the left side. And, although it isn’t visible until you see a large print, the larger area on the right side of the frame is far from plain – it is a fabric-like texture that is, itself, divided into rectangular squares.

It was, of course, first shot in color. I’ve gone back and forth on the color v. black and white question. The colors are so muted that you might actually think that the color print was black and white, so I’ve more or less decided to go with black and white.

Finally, you might think of this as a sort of “study” in which I’m experimenting with some very simple form ideas. As you might have noticed if you follow my stuff much, I post a photograph every day – and I have no illusions that I can produce 365 great photographs every year! :-)

And then I also included: “I’d be interested to hear more about your thoughts and reactions to the photograph. Ultimately, that interests me as much or more as my own thoughts.”

Part of her response included:

… I find it fascinating, in all its “mutedness” – but it is such an unlikely picture – and image of something that doesn’t easily catch someones eye. People pass this scene by – or better – they do not even go there (why would someone go to a wall besides a window – we’d not face it, we’d turn our backs on it). So ordinary, yet fascinating…

Her response was wonderful, and made me think of some things implicit in the photographs that I had not recognized until she suggested them. I had thought of the “mutedness,” which I thought of as a sense of “quiet” in the image. But her idea about how “people pass by the scene” and the comment about “why would someone go to a wall beside a window…” made me realize some things about the photograph that I had not thought of – partly precisely what she noted, but beyond that some idea that the photograph suggests things that are not really in the frame, and one thing that is at least odd about it is that the subject is the thing that a visitor to this place would be least likely to look at.  I often learn a lot about my photographs from others. That may seem like an odd thing to say, but I can almost never see my photographs quite the same way that others do – if for no other reason than because I created them.