Tag Archives: Popular

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)

Commentary

Canon Rebates – What’s Hot?

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An interesting and unexpected outcome of posting the list of Canon Spring 2009 Rebates here is that my server log provides a sort of informal poll of what is popular among the items eligible for the rebate. (No, I cannot tell who clicks what – only what gets clicked and how many times…)

So far the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS seems to be the most popular. I can see why, not only is it a very good and very useful lens, but it seems to be an object of desire for quite a few Canon shooters.

I was surprised to see that the second-most-clicked lens is the EF 200mm f/2 IS L lens. Given the price of this lens a lot of photographers must be doing quite well right now… or else everyone just wants to take a look and gawk at the price! (I know that I sure cannot afford that lens!)

Commentary, Equipment

In Praise of the Canon 5D II, and Why I’ll Wait a Bit Longer

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I’ve used the Canon 5D for the past few years, and it is a very fine camera for most types of photography and an excellent camera for my photographic purposes. I find the advantages of the full frame sensor to be compelling: potentially higher image resolution, a greater range of useful apertures, the ability to shoot at smaller apertures than on cropped sensor cameras, and so forth. Any criticisms of the camera that I might have are truly minor. (A mirror lockup button would be nice… ;-) Other photographers have agreed, and the 5D has probably been the most popular full frame DSLR until now. It is a favorite of those who shoot landscape, and I’ve seen people using it successfully to shoot almost any type of subject.

Given the relatively brief product life of DSLRs – they are often replaced by updated/new models in as little as 18 months – many had been expecting an update to the 5D for some time. When Canon announced and released the new 5D Mark II (5D II or 5D2 for short) this fall, the excitement among Canon photographers peaked. At some discussion forums I read you might find that half of the posts concerned this camera at times!

The specifications explain why the 5D II is such a compelling camera. The photosite density of the full frame sensor has been increased, and the new model has a 21+MP sensor, nearly double that used in the original 5D- but with higher ISO capability, greater dynamic range, and no increase in noise. It incorporates newer Canon DSLR features including “live view,” an exciting HD movie mode, Canon’s sensor dust reduction system, the ability to fine tune the auto-focus system to your lenses, increased “weather resistance,” and more. All of this and the price has actually dropped a few hundred dollars from the list price of the original 5D. 

Many photographers have gone to great lengths to be the very first to get the new camera. They have signed up on “waiting lists.” Some have paid pre-order fees so that they would “have dibs” on the first boxes to arrive. Others frantically post on forum boards asking which dealers have one in stock, and are apparently ready to drive great distances to pick one up. I’ve even seen a few posts in which the writer offered many hundreds of dollars as a “finders fee” to anyone who would locate a 5D II. And you can be quite sure that all of these folks are paying full list price (and more) for their new cameras.

Not me.

There is a pretty decent chance that I’ll get this camera eventually, but I’m in no big hurry to be the “first on my block” to get one. Here are some of the reasons:

  • My existing 5D produces quite good image quality already. While the 5D II is capable of “better” resolution, the difference is certainly one of degree and not a “night and day” difference. When I make good sized prints, sensor resolution is rarely the limiting factor – whatever enlargement limit I encounter is more likely due to focus issues, lens issues, camera motion issues, and so on. Already having a camera that is capable of capturing images with excellent resolution, I’m know that I do not need to rush to get the incremental improvement that the 5D II might provide.
  • I prefer not to be a beta tester.  There is a very good chance that problems will be discovered when the first production run of any product finds its way into the hands of end users. Nothing against the manufacturers (in the majority of cases), but when many thousands of photographers use a new camera it should not surprise anyone that certain subtle issues emerge. In fact, it appears that this may have already happened with the 5D II. I read today that Canon has released a statement acknowledging that they are looking into two issues: “black dots” that appear to the right of bright highlights in some images and banding issues that appear when certain settings are used. Based on my previous experience with Canon, I’m confident that they will resolve these issues, but I would just as soon wait until after that happens.
  • Why pay list price? You don’t have to be an economist to know that the price of an item will be higher when the demand is highest. When a new product is released, typically after a marketing buildup and plenty of “buzz,” there are many buyers who are so excited that they will pay almost anything to get it. Now. No matter what. The manufacturers and retailers are willing to oblige them. ;-) You can get one of the first copies of a camera like this, but you are almost certain to pay a premium for the privilege. If you need the camera right now you don’t have much choice. But if you already have a camera that can produce fine images (like my current 5D) there is little rational reason to buy immediately at the higher price. In a few months we’ll undoubtedly see the price begin to drop.

Here’s my bottom line on the 5D II: I think that it looks like a really fine camera. It provides a very compelling feature set at a very reasonable price. If I didn’t already have a good camera that serves me pretty well, I’d probably plan to pick one up fairly soon. However, I’ll wait until the initial bugs have been identified and fixed in the manufacturing process and until the price softens a bit.

If you are ready to buy, you can purchase this product from B&H Photo via this link and help support this web site – thanks!