Nature Light Photo

Post Digital?

Rosary Hand

I listen to a lot of podcasts including Tips From The Top Floor with Chris Marquardt. Usually, it is a great podcast in which he answers a lot of questions on photography ranging from beginner to advanced and does a pretty good job with it. But I have to disagree with his latest topic on his show. In show #488, he reads one of his blog posts called The Post Digital Era.

Now I don’t have any issues with people who like or use film. Just like I don’t believe that there are any real good arguments for or against Canon, Nikon, PC, Apple, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, etc. I think you need to find the thing that works for you for whatever reason and use it. I have written on that subject in the past.

I think that people are interested in film for a variety of reasons. One, we all like to go back in history. Look at styles of dress, cars, and movies. Film lets us go back and “re-live” the old days that we all love to do. Two, as people become more proficient with their cameras, they embrace the challenge of being more precise with film. Finally, I think that film, like Mr. Marquardt says, gives a different look to peoples images.

If that is what you are looking for, by all means, go out and shoot film. More power to you.

My issue is with the blog post is that in some ways, it makes individuals who use digital seem inferior. Chris talks about a clean darkroom vs. the digital darkroom. Cropping, framing, and getting it right in the camera. I agree. I think you should always try to get the image right in the camera, but with today’s technology we have the ability to crop, fix, alter, and enhance an image.

He mentions HDR and how it was over the top when it first came out. True, but if those are the type of images you like, produce them. It doesn’t make you a bad photographer. He goes on to say that digital photography has produced a “spray and pray” mentality. It has. For some. For others the spray and pray mentality has made their photography better. As they learn how use their camera to view the histogram, check the composition and framing, and control their tools to capture the vision they have, they start producing better and better images. And they do so with less shots.

All of those are fine and I can see his point. What I don’t understand is the idea that we should embrace imperfections. He claims that “you are bound to realize that for more and more photographers the digital way is becoming less and less satisfying.” Seriously, I just don’t see that happening. I think you see more and more photographers seeking a different look. Take a look at Flickr, there are tons of photographers who are posting images that look different. They have found a process or method that shows their vision the way they want it seen.

As he states, some photographers are adding grain to enhance the feel of an image. He lists programs and apps such as Hipstamatic, instagr.am, and Best Camera add a look to your photographs that you can’t get straight out of the camera. Does that mean we all need to return to film or that we are unhappy with digital? No.

In fact, I think it implies just the opposite. With the programs we have available today, we can take the picture and then add a variety of filter and affects to achieve the image feeling we visualize in our mind. Take the picture, apply the filter, get a certain look. If you don’t like it, you can go back and start over with the same shot at no cost of time or money. You can’t do that with film. Ok, you can take the film, scan it, import it into a program like Photoshop and then manipulate it, but isn’t that extra steps in the workflow just to work digitally?

He goes on and discusses the music world and how we seem to like our flawed products. He states that we like the impure sound of music that is produced by an amplifier or a “humanizer circuit”. I disagree. I think that we like a sound that is real. We like images that show our vision. We want images that produce a certain feel in the viewer. Just as the music industry wants a certain sound to create a feel for the song.

He writes “Instead of fully controlling every aspect of their work, more and more photographers deliberately introduce elements into their workflow that are hard to reproduce exactly the same way. Look for instance at some of the instant film materials you can get through the Impossible Project at the moment. Predictable results? Hardly. Or look at double exposures. Taken by different photographers. Did you know you can buy exposed film on eBay to add your own second layer of exposures, then develop it to find out what you’ve got? What an element of surprise! Some deliberately shoot film that is far beyond its best-before date and take advantage of the interesting characteristics some aging film materials get. Some expose the whole 35mm film, including the sprocket holes, and some even partially remove the lenses from their cameras and tilt them to achieve effects similar to lensbabies and tilt lenses – that’s called “freelensing”. Or the deliberate manipulation of the medium, as seen in the emulsion lift, where integral instant film is taken apart and the photo emulsion gets transferred onto a different material.”

He is right, more and more photographers are trying new and different things. They’re thinking outside of the box, but I think the question is why. I think the answer is because they want to be different. They want to make their images stand out while still showing their vision. And in some cases, they just want to see what happens. They experiment and experimenting is good.

Mr. Marquardt is right. I think film is becoming more popular again,  but it isn’t because we are dissatisfied or unhappy with digital or that we like imperfections. It is because it is different and “new”. It is a challenge to get the shot right in the camera the first time. And because it is unique, not a lot of people are using it. And I definitely don’t think you are inferior if you shoot digital. Or film. Or Canon. Or Nikon. Or medium format. Or you use a Chevy to get to your shooting location. Who cares! Use the tools that make you happy and help you capture the image that matches your vision. That is the bottom line.

I will continue to listen to Chris Marquardt on Tips From the Top Floor. I recommend that you do also. He is informative and entertaining. If anything, he will make you think once in a while. And that is a good thing.

Photo of the Week – Morro Rock

This was taken on the Morro Strand in Morro Bay during the Morro Bay Photo Expo.

The rest of the workshop was shooting horses in the dunes, but I turned around and saw this.

It was taken with a D300 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens at 10mm. The exposure was 1/1000 of  a second at f4 and an ISO of 800.

Sunset at Morro Rock

If you would like to see more of my images, please visit my gallery.

Please feel free to leave comment and tell me what you think.

5/5 Posts and Sites You Should Read for 11/26/10

Here are the posts and sites that I found this week that I think you as a photographer should read. Not all of them are always related to photography, but they are worth looking at and will probably make you think.

POSTS

Watermarks - Chris Dodds discusses different methods of watermarking your images.

Adam Savage on the TSA – Ok, the language is a colorful, but its funny.

Copyright Invalidation – If you have anything to do with stock photography, you need to read this.

Lr vs. Br vs. Ps vs. Camera RAW – A good summary at Earthbound Light.

British Museum – An awesome HDR by Trey Redcliff.

SITES

RW Photography – Richard Wong has some great images and a huge Twitter presence.

Nature Photography Guides – Great idea.

Outdoor Photo Gear - A good site for information and a great place to buy gear.

DIY Photography – For the person who want something and can make it cheaper.

California Backroads – If you like offroad and are in CA, check this out.

If you have any posts or sites you think people should see, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m on the California Central Coast with my family, enjoying the holiday. Take some time today to be with family, relax, and remember why we celebrate today.

Central Coast Seagull

If you shoot today, remember to try to capture the day in a way that tells the story.

Shooting Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, there will be turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberrys, and lots of other tasty food. Family will gather, people will laugh, and you will bring your camera out to capture the day.

You can take ordinary snap shots or you can make the images something that tells a story to the viewers. Remember E.D.F.F.A.T. (You can read more about it here.)

E-Everything. Shoot wide. Get a picture of the whole celebration. Maybe the table with everyone sitting around it.

D-Details. Close up of the food. The table setting. The football game snacks.

F-Framing. Try to take images that use a different pint of view. Maybe a wide angle close-up of the turkey or of your uncle’s foot looking up at him as he sits on the sofa.

F-Focus. Use a shallow depth of field (change your aperture to a small number) and focus on something in the foreground; throwing the background out of focus, but letting the viewer know what it is.

A-Angle. Shoot from different angles. High over the table or right down on it.

T-Time. Think about how the day changes over time. Maybe a time lapse of the table or a blurred shoot of the family football game. You could also freeze gravy being poured onto the potatoes.

Whatever you do, have fun, shoot lots, and remember why we call it Thanksgiving.

Road Trip – Central California Coast

I leave tomorrow to visit my dad for Thanksgiving. I’m excited about the trip because I will be spending three-plus days in the Central California Coast area. This is an area I love to visit and shoot. And seeing my family isn’t a bad thing either.

I was inspired by a recent series of posts on a friend’s blog. Peyton Cooke is friend and co-photographer who took a trip up the coast recently and posted some of her images. (You can view them here.)

After looking at her images, I decided that I had to travel up to the Monterey area and shoot some of the sights that I remember from the last time I was up there. I plan on visiting Monterey Bay, Point Lobos, traveling through Big Sur, and spending lots of time in Morro Bay.

I know one of the days will be spent shooting Hearst Castle and the elephant seals on Piedras Blancas beach. I love those seals. They are easy to shoot and offer thousands of different expressions and poses. I plan on spending quite a few hours shooting them.

Here are some of the images I took last time I was up there.

What Are You Looking At?

Hearst Castle

Of course when I get back, I will be posting images and information about my trip here.

You can see more of my images here.

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Photo of the Week – Morro Loon

This was taken during this years Morro Bay Photo Expo in the Shooting From the Water workshop.

The bird was just floating in the bay when it suddenly started to stretch it’s wings.

It was shot with a Nikon D300 and a 70-200 f2.8 lens at 160mm. The exposure was 1/640 second at f4 and an ISO of 200.

Morro Loon

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

5/5 Posts and Sites You Should Read for 11/19/10

Here are the posts and sites that I found this week that I think you as a photographer should read. Not all of them are always related to photography, but they are worth looking at and will probably make you think.

POSTS

The Post Digital Era – Chris Marquardt gives his point of view on film verses digital. I’ll be posting my opinion on this in the near future.

Nature Photographers Behaving Badly – Jim Goldstein posted an interesting article on how photographers behave.

7 Reasons to Join a Photography Organization – From PhotographyCourse.net

Sensor Size Explained – For the techy geek, here is everything you probably wanted to know about digital camera sensor size.

A Year in Yosemite – This is a Sierra Club post(s) about a woman who took her family to live in the valley. It’s kinda interesting.

SITES

LensFlare 35 – As I said in yesterday’s post, the best photography podcast in the podosphere.

Ken Lee Photography – This is a great site with lots of images to inspire your nature/landscape photography.

Denis Reggie – Wedding photographer to the ultra-elite.

Platon – Ok, it is a guy with one name. Get over it. He takes GREAT portraits. You’ve seen them, you just don’t know it.

Nik Software – I am beginning to appreciate what this software can do for your post production.

LensFlare 35

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts recently. Ok, I have been listening to them for several years, but just recently have been giving them a lot more thought. There are some good ones, some are not so good ones and I have noticed a few trends.

One, more and more podcasters are selling something. They sell workshops, dvds, books, or websites, but they are pushing something to buy and distributing less and less information. Two, a lot of them are podfading. Podfading is what happens when a podcast stops being produced. It usually starts with a missed podcast, then the time between them gets longer and longer, and finally, they just stop being posted. Finally, good podcasts don’t do any of the above, they just keep getting better.

LensFlare 35 is one of those podcasts that keep getting better. Dave Warner is the host and guiding force behind the production. Dave started the podcast as a Canon based show, but in 2010, he branched out and it is now a photography show that crosses to all sides of the DSLR world.

He interviews some great photographers in all areas of photography from teenage amateurs to some of the best known pros in the business. He has interviewed some of my favorites in George Lepp, Art Wolfe, Jeremy Cowart, Jasmine Star, Gary Martin, and William Neill. Honestly, the list is too long to put here, but they are all good interview. Dave also doesn’t just interview photographers. He has interviewed guests that are experts in photography and the law, digital image storage, printing, post production, and gallery owners.

In addition to some great people, he asks strong questions. He doesn’t throw up softballs for the guest to sidestep or give vague answers, he asks direct and sometimes very demanding questions. And he does it in a way that puts the guest at ease in their answer. He asks about the guests’ history in photography, how they got discovered, and how they got into their particular area of photography. He also asks questions that help the listener, like what the photographer should look for in that area of photography, how to capture the shot once the photographer sees it, and then what they do with their images after the capture. If you listen to the podcast and pay attention, you will learn something about photography, no matter what experience you have.

In addition to the above, he keeps the podcast at a reasonable length, but doesn’t stick to a predetermined time frame. If Dave and the guest are getting along and lots of good conversation is taking place, then the show can run long. If not, it can be cut short, but it is always conducted with class and professionalism.

The bonus is that not once have I heard a plug for a workshop, book, or product of his. Plus, the one (maybe two) ads that do run on the podcast are relevant and short in length.

If you don’t already listen to LensFlare 35, you need to add it to your podcast feed and start listening. You will not be disappointed, podcasts that are free of self promotion are few and far between.

Giving Back – Annie

I had the opportunity to shoot our school’s fall musical, Annie.

Shooting in a dark theater is a challenge, but I have learned to trust my D300 and pushing the ISO up to 1600. If I go much over that, I begin to get some noisy images. Open up my 70-200 to f2.8 and wait for the spot to hit the subject and I can get some pretty good images.

Annie

Orphan Girls

The other thing I did was produce a picture of the entire cast. Not an easy job, given the situation. Low light, limited room, and a wide subject on stage. The solution? A panorama. Yes, a panorama. I took a series of shots of the cast and stitched them into a panorama. Photoshop has a great panorama stitching capability.

Cast and Crew

If you want to see more of the images from Annie you can see them in my gallery.

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.