Category Archives: Technique

Commentary, Equipment, Technique

Thoughts About Long Zooms and Primes and ‘Image Quality’

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A lot of photographers sweat the decisions about what long lenses to purchase. Among Canon users a common decision is whether to get a high quality telephoto prime (plus one or more teleconverters) or to get a telephoto zoom. Perhaps the most common question is whether to get a 300mm L prime (f2.8 IS or f4 IS) or the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM.

Many seem to focus on the image quality (“IQ”) issue a lot when trying to figure this out. It is true that the primes have an edge on the basis of pure resolution compared to the zooms. At 300mm the prime will “beat” the zoom at the same focal length. But, as many have figured out, it isn’t quite as simple as determining which lens is “sharpest” – other factors can affect the answer to that question, and sharpness is not the only issue.

Beach and Bluffs, Evening
Beach and Bluffs, Evening

Continue reading Thoughts About Long Zooms and Primes and ‘Image Quality’ →

Commentary, Technique

Accidental Photograph

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Imagine that you had been planning a particular shot for a few months. The time was right – or so you thought – so you went to photograph it. Just as you were just finishing you turned around and saw another shot that you hadn’t noticed before. “Wow. I’d like to shoot that one!”

Let’s say that you figured that a focal length of about 100mm would be right for it so you reached into your bag and pulled out a lens to replace the lens that was on the camera. After attaching this lens something seemed odd when you looked through the viewfinder; the subject seemed a lot smaller than you expected. Undismayed you zoom in but can’t get “close” enough. But then you think, “Hey, wait. I kinda’ like the way it looked zoomed out.” So you shoot at the wide end anyway. You finish and put your camera away – and realize that instead of shooting at 100mm you were shooting at 17mm. Wrong lens. And you didn’t even notice. Sheesh.

You get home and go through the photos from the day’s shoot – and this oddball 17mm shot seems to get your attention. In fact, by the time you are done it not only seems like the best shot of the day but perhaps one of the better photographs that you’ve made recently.

By accident. As the result of a dumb mistake.

Would you admit this? Neither would I.

Technique

Creating Frames for Online Photos: My Method

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Someone recently emailed to ask what method I use to create the frames for the photographs that I post here and elsewhere on the web. There are quite a few ways to do this – there are even products available for creating frames. I’ve adopted a method that works well for me, and my basic explanation is found below. Continue reading Creating Frames for Online Photos: My Method →

Equipment, Technique

A New and Different DSLR ‘Sensor Dust’ Problem

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Since I sometimes go off for a week or more to shoot in the backcountry, I’ve worried from time to time about getting a dirty sensor early in the trip and not realizing it until I return… a few hundred or thousand frames later. Yesterday I ran into such a problem on a night photography shoot and didn’t realize it until I moved the photos to my computer and checked them in Adobe Bridge.

The first few shots were fine, but perhaps a half dozen into the sequence I noticed a very black smudge near the bottom of a vertical frame image. (This means it was near the “top” of the sensor when the camera was held this way.) On the next couple of shots the “smudge” moved in bug-like fashion up into the frame, finally lodging close to the middle. This was one strange dust spot – like none I’ve ever seen before. The typical spot leaves a semi-transparent smudge on the image and generally stays in one place on the sensor. (Technically, the AA filter, but you know what I mean…) This one was black and moving – at first as I cycled from frame to frame I wondered if I had a bug crawling around inside the chamber.

Fortunately, I’ve adopted a sensor cleanliness strategy that relies more on post-processing removal than on the futile attempt to keep the sensor in a pristine state of cleanliness. So far I’ve been able to remove the offending blob from all of the images from the shoot that I’ve worked on.

If there is a moral to this story, it might be this – even if you hope to keep your sensor clean, you still need to develop the post-processing skills necessary for dealing with dust specks when they unavoidably do show up.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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