Category Archives: Technique

Commentary, Site News, Technique

A Question: Data or Not?

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Until recently I included some basic exposure data with each of my daily photographs, listing the camera and lens used, the focal length, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. When I switched to a new blog format a week or so ago, I made a few other changes at the same time. One of these was to eliminate the technical shot data from the posts.

To explain my thinking a bit, there were two reasons behind the decision. First, the shot information included links to a vendor with whom I had an affiliate relationship. The equipment listing allowed me to help readers who were looking for the very equipment that I used to make the shots to locate it online and make a purchase through this vendor. When the vendor abruptly cancelled its affiliate relationships with all California-based blogs at the end of June, it obviously no longer made sense to include those links. Second, I like to think that there are more important things about the photographs than the aperture, shutter speed, and camera/lens used to make them. In some ways, I have always thought it was just a bit odd that photographers have historically often included this technical information – while musicians rarely list the instrument they play and I’ve never seen a painting include data about the brand of brush used to make it! :-)

However, I get email. And several readers have very politely asked what happened to the exposure information, and some have asked that I again include it.

What do you think? Would you like to see it included again? Let me know by leaving a comment on this post. Thanks!

Commentary, Ideas, Photograph Exposed, Technique

A Photograph Exposed: A Tale of Light

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(“A Photograph Exposed” is a series exploring some of my photographs in greater detail.)

On the weekend of June 18-19 of this year I made a point of getting to Yosemite so that I could photograph the high country on the first day that Tioga Pass Road was open for the season. On a shoot like this, my subjects range from some that I planned to shoot ahead of time to some that were completely unanticipated. Among the many things that might affect my decisions is the light itself, and this is a story about that light… and perhaps a few other things, too.

I had driven to the park very early on Saturday morning and after photographing straight through the morning I finally made it over the pass and headed down to Lee Vining Canyon to find a campsite for that night. After getting up at 3:30 a.m. and driving to the Sierra from the SF Bay Area and then shooting all morning, I was exhausted! I pulled into the first available site, paid my fee, and promptly fell asleep in the car for perhaps an hour. When I woke up I set up my camp and at about 3:00 or so headed down to Lee Vining to get some “dinner” – on “photographer time,” dinner tends to either be very early or very late, and on this day I made it early so that I could be back up in the park well before the “good light” started.

Heading back up to Tioga Pass after my mid-afternoon dinner, I had a few subject ideas in mind. Tuolumne Meadows itself was one possibility, and I knew that I wanted to watch for any cascades or creeks that would be flowing in the spring snow-melt conditions. Tenaya Lake was another possibility, and a client’s interest in photographs of Mount Conness had me thinking about the possibility of a photograph from Olmsted Point that included ice-covered Tenaya Lake and this peak. Continue reading A Photograph Exposed: A Tale of Light →

Equipment, Ideas, Technique

Backpacking and Photography

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This is the time of year when many of us find our thoughts turning the the upcoming backpacking season. (My home range is the Sierra Nevada, where I have backpacked for decades.) During the past week or two I’ve seen an upsurge in discussions of and questions about photography and backpacking. Several years ago I began posting annual updates on my approach to photography in the backcountry: “Backpacking Photography Equipment.”

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Commentary, Equipment, Technique, Tests

“My Photos Are Soft!”

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So, you have a camera or lens that you think is not as sharp as it should be. If you are already expert at these things, what follows is not for you – you already know how to analyze the problem, you can anticipate possible causes, and you know some of the pitfalls of looking at the issue in unrealistic ways. But if you aren’t certain about how to deal with the issue, perhaps the following might help… so feel free to read on.

Perhaps you just got a new lens or a new camera and you don’t think it is performing as you expected. Or perhaps you have long suspected a problem with your equipment. On the other hand, maybe some gear that you have used with confidence for a while seems to not work as well as you recall it working in the past. It can be tempting to blame the equipment – and in some cases you may be correct – but it is a very good idea to first try to analyze and understand the problem and look for other possible causes… and solutions.

It is critical that you try to control the variables that might give rise to the issue, and then to try to a) determine if the problem is real, and b) figure out specifically what might be the cause. The range of possible causes is larger than you might imagine: problems with the camera’s autofocus (AF) system, an out of adjustment or “weak” lens, less than optimal choice of lens settings, issues with camera stability, insufficient care with the use of AF, using the wrong AF settings, aperture choices, shutter speed choices, subject motion, and more. While a real equipment problem is a possibility, it is probably at least as likely that the problem lies elsewhere. Fortunately there are ways to wade through this minefield and develop some rational understanding of what is going on.

What follows is a sort of ad hoc description of how I might approach this. It is not meant to be the only way to deal with such issues, it leaves out some possibilities, and the sequence could be changed around in some ways. Continue reading “My Photos Are Soft!” →