Tag Archives: Technique

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!” →

Ideas, Reviews, Technique

Review: “Light & Land” by Michael Frye

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Over the past few weeks I have had the chance to go through Michael Frye’s new ebook, “Light and Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom.” Many are no doubt already aware of Michael’s reputation from his photography, his workshops, and his other publications including his “Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite” and “Digital Landscape Photography: In The Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Masters.” I have the .pdf version of “Light and Land”, and I understand that an iPad app version may also be available.

Light and Land - Michael Frye
Light and Land - Michael Frye

It is typical for photographic “how to” books to focus on specific techniques, and to be organized around a presentation of these techniques – perhaps with a section on curves, a section on black and white conversion, and so forth. This approach has its place, especially for certain types of learners and at certain points in the learning process. It is important to understand the basic techniques and operations that are available in the “digital darkroom” of such programs as Photoshop, Lightroom and so forth. That said, the bigger and more important issue is how to call upon these techniques creatively and effectively and appropriately in order to make photographs. Not all “how to” books do an effective job of illustrating this.

Michael’s “Light & Land” takes a different approach, and one that more accurately and realistically reflects the thought process of a photographer who is calling upon this arsenal of techniques in the service of creating beautiful photographs.  He writes:

“The digital darkroom gives us tremendous control over our images. We can make them lighter, darker, add contrast, change the color balance, increase saturation, turn a color photograph into black and white, remove telephone poles, blend exposures with HDR, combine ten images to capture infinite depth of field, or put a winged elephant in the sky.

But what do we do with these choices?” Continue reading Review: “Light & Land” by Michael Frye →

Equipment, Technique

Tripods and Shooting in High Winds

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I recently saw – and replied to – a question posted in a photography forum regarding tripods and shooting in high winds. The poster wrote something very similar to the following:

I realized that many shots from a recent trip are blurry because of wind shaking the tripod. Even hanging 10lb weight did not help. So now, I am looking for a new tripod that won’t be affected by wind.

What the writer has discovered is that no tripod is immune to strong winds, especially if you make long exposures and/or use long focal length lenses. Even if you had an absolutely rock-solid tripod, in a 40 mph wind your camera and lens will vibrate enough to create a slightly less sharp image.

So, what to do? You could get the heaviest tripod you can find and weight it down with bags of rocks and what not. But then you are stuck hauling around the dead weight of this tripod the other 95% of the time when you don’t need it.  Yes, get a good solid tripod and a good head with good camera brackets, but other things can help in high winds and, in fact, may be necessary even with the best tripod:

  • Use a shorter focal length if possible.
  • Use a higher shutter speed, even at the expense of a higher ISO, larger aperture, and accept the slightly increased noise or slight loss of DOF.
  • Consider using image-stabilization (IS) even with the camera on the tripod in extreme conditions.
  • Don’t extend the tripod legs all the way – if possible shoot from down low to the ground with the legs retracted.
  • try to brace the tripod against something – rocks, your legs, anything that will dampen vibrations a bit.
  • Try to use natural wind screens when you set up – sometimes being in the lee of a wall or tree or rock can diminish the wind enough to make a difference.
  • Time your shots for moments of less wind.
  • If your exposure times are not extremely long, gently resting a hand on the lens or camera body can dampen the wind-caused vibrations.
  • Rather than relying on a single exposure, make many redundant exposures – some will likely be less affected by the wind than others.
  • If you have a strap attached to your camera, take steps to make sure it doesn’t flap. Wrapping it around the tripod may be sufficient.
  • If conditions permit, consider removing your lens hood.

I recall once shooting on top of a bluff at the far reaches of Point Reyes, normally a very windy place and on this day windy enough to almost be scary. But the light was beautiful and I wanted to make photographs from the edge of the bluff. I ended up retracting the tripod legs so that the camera would be lower to the ground, sitting with the tripod braced between my legs, using IS, leaving a hand on the camera to dampen vibrations, raising the shutter speed, and making many exposures. In the end, a good percentage of the images were adversely affected by the wind… but among them were some good ones that were sharp.

Point Reyes Shoreline

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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)