Photography and Arthritis

Jan 262012
 
 January 26, 2012  Posted by Habenero at 10:30 pm Photography , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

I used to think nothing much of hiking out with a 60 lb. pack and an additional 25 lbs of camera gear just to enjoy the great outdoors.  I made it to some fantastic places that few others have gone and only a small number of those had a camera with them.  I would take a couple of prime lenses, several zooms and 2 bodies when I shot film, as that enabled me to shoot nature in all her glory at the scales I found most pleased my eye.  Since my interest was piqued by the macro world,  landscape, seascape, cityscape, any size animal or plant and people, I felt most comfortable being prepared for anything.  I would take backgrounds and studio lights to shoots.  I never thought anything would get in my way or slow me down.  I carried most of the same lenses when I switched over to digital photography.  My interests were still the same, so keeping the ability to choose on the go seemed logical.  About 5 years ago, my knees announced to my body, “ENOUGH ALREADY!!!”

I was about half a mile from “The Wave” hiking out of Paria Canyon when my right knee buckled for no apparent reason.  I sat down for a few minutes, then pressed onwards.  My pace was about half that of the hike in and I had enough water to make it out with no problem, but I knew from the way my knee was feeling that something was not right and getting worse.  By the time I got to the halfway point, both knees were letting me know that they were not going to be kind to me.  Although I had left “The Wave” in what ordinarily would have been plenty of time to be back to the car by sun down, this time it was about an hour after sunset before I managed to reach my truck.  Such was my introduction to the wonderful world of Arthritis!  Each day has been a battle ever since then.

It has forced me to make sacrifices in my approach to photography.  The first to go were my kayak and canoe which I had used for capturing whitewater action.  It was no longer practical to carry either one and I felt as if that was a change I could deal with, besides with a right shoulder that was getting accustomed to being dislocated at least 2 times a year and a left one that had already been rebuilt, they were becoming a bit of a drag.  My knees demanded more.  I sold my heaviest lens.  That was not enough!  I stopped doing most of the glamor shoots, as the lighting equipment was getting too heavy for me to set up, shoot and take down.  Still my knees were not satisfied!  I stopped carrying prime lenses and reduced the number of zooms.  My knees were still angry with me!  I now use a bag that holds either the camera and a lens or the camera and a flash.  It hasn’t helped reduce the pain.

My battle with Arthritis has been fought using everything I could find that had a greater than 50% chance of providing relief and could back up the claim with actual peer-reviewed science.  I do not like pseudoscience.  I tried some of the “remedies that others swear by, but found them useless at improving my symptoms and a drain on my wallet!  The RICE principle (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) provided the best outcome early on, but due to the nature of the disease it is not as effective these days.  I have used Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen Sodium and COX2 Inhibitors over time and found them to be wanting in both actual relief and more irritating to my stomach.  I do exercises to keep my range of motion and try to maintain as much strength as possible.  The only medication that has actually provided relief, although only for a 2 month period at a time, has been Synvisc (Hylan G F 20).  Unfortunately it is only given at 6 month intervals, which means that I get to suffer for 8 months out of the year!  At least with Synvisc, I do not need to take pain medication!  The downside of Synvisc is that each time it has worn off, my knees seem to hurt more than they did the week prior to the injection.

Since photography is the art form I used to use to alleviate stress, I find it very stressful these days when I pick up my camera during the 4 month period of pain I am forced to endure.

Has Your Camera Gear Gotten Too Heavy?

Apr 032011
 
 April 3, 2011  Posted by Habenero at 4:31 pm General Notice, Photography , , , , ,  No Responses »

When shooting images in the field, the control freak in me insists upon taking as much equipment as I can just in case.  I am one of those guys that has come to the conclusion that if I have all my lenses and flashes at my disposal I will be sure to have the right lens for anything I want to shoot.  At least I used to be.  The biggest danger in thinking that way is that invariably, thanks to Murphy, the wrong lens will be on the camera for one of those once in a lifetime shots.  Is there a solution, no.  Does it mean one has to carry each lens on its own camera, no.  Why is that not a solution, because if you have each lens on its own body, at the precise moment you need a particular lens, it will not be the one in our hand.

Aside from the selection of the wrong lens at the right time, weight becomes an issue.  My camera gear without the tripods and extra flashes weighs in at over 25 pounds!  Even using the best possible distribution of the weight to enable the most flexibility and ease of access, that weight has contributed to the deterioration of my knees.  Back pain is another insidiously rampant problem for some photographers.  I guess I am lucky that only my knees are hurting, because at least I do get considerable relief when my Synvisc injections take hold.  Unfortunately for me, that leaves me with the ability to carry equipment safely for only 2 to 2.5 months out of every 6.  Or to essentially risk overdosing on pain killers just to be able to get the equipment to the shooting location (not a viable option, nor one I would recommend, long time use is also not good).

By careful planning, pain can be avoided or eased.  Careful research into where I am going when planning a vacation can eliminate the need to take the majority of my equipment.  If shooting models, Rarely will I need to carry my longest or shortest lenses (but increases the likelihood I will need extra flashes batteries and reflectors for a net increase in weight, but spread among other bags that someone else may have to carry).  Bags are out there that can handle your equipment and provide a platform to sit on if needed (http://www.walkinbag.com/ and http://www.seatkase.com/ come to mind).  Putting wheels under your equipment makes traveling much easier and always having a place to sit enables you to become less fatigued.  It is important to find a solution to the weight burden your equipment places on you so that you can enjoy taking photographs as long as possible!

Camera Controls (Part 4, White Balance)

May 272010
 
 May 27, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 8:17 pm How To, Photography , , , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

White Balance is one of the least understood settings on a digital camera and one that can make the most difference in keeping colors accurate. Where our eyes are able to discern white objects as white throughout a wide range of lighting conditions, digital sensors have a problem. Film wasn’t good at it either. We used filters to compensate for shooting daylight balanced film under tungsten lights, or vice versa. With most digital cameras, you can dial in the color temperature that best matches the light at the time you shoot. If you are shooting in JPEG mode, it becomes a critical step, your camera is going to throw away the information that makes it possible to safely make the adjustment in post processing software. Some cameras use a simple pictograph of sun, clouds, lights, flash, and possibly other symbols to enable you to choose a setting that matches the condition you are shooting in. Better ones let you pick the actual temperature setting in degrees kelvin you are in, or let you shoot a target with a black, white and 18% gray area in the actual scene and set a custom white balance.

It is better to make a choice than to leave the white balance become determined by the camera. The primary reason for this is that when there is no true white, the camera’s pick may not be accurate. This is due to the camera checking for flesh tones as a second best target and you may not have anyone in the shot. Setting the temperature is fairly easy, normal sunlit scenes are between 5,000oK and 6,000oK. Lower light levels have a color temperature less than 5,000oK, and at those settings, blue is added to compensate for the overly reddish tones. Higher color temperatures add red to the mix to compensate for the deeper blues at higher temperatures. Then, again, there are further adjustments one can make to be a bit more creative. That permit one to increase or decrease the amount of enhancement done at a particular level. This is of great use when you wish to emulate some of your favorite film stocks. One word of caution, if you know that the fluorescent lights you are shooting are daylight balanced, do not set your camera for fluorescent lights. The old tubes used to appear too green to film and the setting on the camera attempts to take that into consideration.

For those who shoot in camera RAW mode, you may find it easier to set your white balance in the mid range and make your critical adjustment on your calibrated monitor within your software. It is just one of the big advantages you gain from not tying your hands prior to shooting.

Event Photography

Apr 192010
 
 April 19, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 8:22 pm General Notice, Photography , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

I’ve been shooting events. No real surprise there as the only events I prefer not to shoot are weddings (I prefer to select people I am going to shoot, without the added pressure of a “mostly” once in a lifetime affair, but I will work as a second shooter for my wife). When preparing to shoot an event, there are many things to consider:

Venue – These range from huge outdoor areas to cramped rooms packed tightly with people. Many don’t allow flash. Some require all people that have “pro gear” (more often than not pro gear is a camera with a big lens on it) to either be registered or have a media pass.

Lighting – Light changes constantly out doors, but not nearly as much as some venues for dancing. In harsh sunlight, you need to use fill flash or try to shoot your subjects in areas of diffuse light. At low light level dances, even if the use of flash is permitted, you may want to use a high ISO to minimize the impact the flash will have on your subjects. Stoffen or Gary Fong filters used on your flash will give more diffuse light for most situations. Bounced flash is often used, but in order to use it well, you have to be aware of ceiling height (or bounce your light off of a white shirt (unless you can manage to get someone to hold a reflector). The lighting also determines your ISO and white balance choices.

Type of Event – This dictates your lens, shutter speed, and where you will place yourself. Shooting sports from bleachers requires a longer lens than the dance floor at a nightclub. A fast shutter speed is not often necessary to capture a politician at a campaign rally, but is required if you want to catch the water spray as a diver enters a pool. If taking candid shots, you don’t stand in the middle of the action.

ISO choice – This can be forced upon you by the lighting or speed of the action. I sometimes choose my ISO because i want the overall feeling I am attempting to achieve to be something different. I tend to shoot Swing bands and dancers using a very high ISO so I can get noise that simulates film grain, the result of which is more reminiscent of the images from the 1940′s.

Swing Dancers

Event photography for me is not simply recording an instant of time, it is making that moment’s emotional impact a bit more easily felt. The above photo would not have the same impact had I shot and processed it to be a a color, non vignetted shot.

Portrait and Still Life Lighting

Jan 042010
 
 January 4, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 8:31 pm How To, Photography , , ,  No Responses »

Photographic images are created by light.  The average and below people who use cameras use whatever light is there and shoot away.  Those snapshots are then left in the drawers or placed in albums that are shown to guests they are trying to get rid of.  The photographs that hang on walls, are rarely taken by chance.  Light has either been manipulated to create a pleasing portrait, or it  happened to be just right for the subject to stand out.  In order to make pleasing photographs one must look at the light.

When you look at the portrait and still life paintings made by the old master painters one of the things that is apparent is that they saw and used light to enhance the dimensional aspects of the subject.  In most cases, one can see that early morning or late afternoon light was displayed.  Many artists liked the warm tones and softer shadows found during that time of day. Some artists prefer the shadowless light found from large north facing windows and skylights.  Very few, if any seem to like the glaring noon day sun.  If we apply these ideas to our photography, we end up with better photographs.  Most tourists and amateur photographers shoot during the “bad light” time of day.  To stand out we have to think about when to shoot or control our lighting.

Light for most still life or portraits rarely looks good if it is coming straight down from the top.  Think of taking a photo of your loved ones in front of the Grand Canyon at noon, nothing is going to look good in the shot but it is done all the time.   The same shot taken near sunrise or sunset with a little fill flash comes out looking fantastic.  Angled lighting looks good to us.  Thus we should angle the lights we use in the studio.

Light without shadow is boring.  To put a bit of life into the still life, be sure that at least one of your light sources is stronger than the rest.  To further add mystery, one can even use unconventional lighting (from below the subject).  If you are doing photography, light is the key element you are working with and as such, play with it.

In general, I like using diffuse lighting at about 30 degrees above and to the left of camera (angle as measured off a line from subject to camera lens) for shooting most still life projects.  This provides good modeling and requires less fill than other arrangements.  It is also the starting point for most of my portrait work.  For more of my portrait tips you should visit my portrait tips page.

Lighting Terms

Broad lighting – The difference between the key and fill light is less than 1 1/2 stops for this style of lighting.

Diffuse lighting is light that casts few spurious reflections. You can diffuse light by using shoot through umbrellas, or soft boxes or just about any translucent substance.

Feathered light is light off the rim of the soft box. It is softer than the light that is straight out of the soft box.

Fill light – Light used to decrease the appearance of shadows.

Gobo – Any object placed between a light source and the subject to create a shadowed area or limit the amount of light falling on the subject

Hair light – A light used to emphasize the hair and create the illusion of depth in the photograph.

Key light – The principle or main light used for creating the shadows used for modeling the subject.

Short lighting – Having only about half of a subject lit fully There is usually 2 1/2 to 3 stops difference between the key light and the fill light for this lighting.

Soft Box – A light source with a large diffusion panel designed to make the light source appear larger and cast feathered shadows

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