Long Exposure vs. High ISO

Jun 242010
 
 June 24, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 8:31 pm How To, Photography , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

Shooting in low light can be a challenge.  One has to strike a balance between using a high ISO, or a slow shutter speed to capture an image.  The choice you make can make all the difference in getting a memorable image.  Using film, a high ISO meant 400 most of the time, and in the late 1980′s, the limit crept up to 3200 (if you liked large amounts of grain in your image).  I tended to keep my film selection to the finer grained ISO’s.  I rarely shot at 400 ISO, preferring to shoot with 25 to 100 for most of my early images.  A heavy tripod was an essential part of my equipment.  Now that I am shooting digitally, I tend to keep my ISO around 400 and I like to hand hold most of my shots.  My gear is lighter, and my knees appreciate the lack of excess weight.

The biggest advantage of long exposures is better color saturation.  Slot canyon photographs are prime examples of what long exposures do best.  Notice the colors and richness that a long exposure provides.  This image was shot using 100 ISO film, f-16, and about 37 seconds for the exposure.  I would probably use similar techniques had I shot this using digital equipment.  The most important thing to keep in mind when making long exposures with a digital camera is that longer exposures introduce more noise in the image.  This is because the longer the sensor is energized for capturing an image, the more it heats up.  The extra heat is seen as Gaussian distributed noise in your final image.

Images made using higher ISO’s in digital cameras also have a larger amount of noise.  It is caused by a sensor that is being driven at a higher potential (voltage) than the lower ISO images.  Thus you will see more noise in the lighter areas with a high ISO than in the darker areas.  This non random noise is similar to that of film grain and can be exploited in the creation of old style images and Sepia tones.  This image of some swing dancers is indicative of a low light level, short exposure, high ISO digital shot.  

Your selection of ISO and exposure should always be made so as to achieve your desired image.  Get creative and play around with them.  Nikon, Canon, and every other camera maker out there do not have your vision in mind when they set their camera’s Auto settings.

Camera Selection 101

Apr 282010
 
 April 28, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 6:24 pm How To, Photography , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

I use Nikon camera equipment, so what I am about to say may not make Nikon extremely happy.  Only you know what camera will be best for you to use.  I always tell people to go to a camera store or the camera department of a store you like to shop at.  Pick up the various cameras and look through them.  Test the ease at which you can change the settings.  Look carefully at the menu and see if it makes sense to you.  The camera that best meets all the criteria of comfort, features, and quality that you demand of it is the camera you should buy.  The camera manufacturers would like you to think that their cameras and lenses are superior to their competition, and sometimes they are, but if you do not find the camera comfortable to use, you are not going to recommend it to anyone else.  That said, I bought my Nikon’s because they have always met my needs.

The big 3 camera makers, Nikon, Canon and Pentax, each make high quality camera’s.  Nikon is rugged and has top notch glass.  Canon is a bit more varied than Nikon and also has great glass.  Pentax is a bit more innovative and rugged, and their glass is quite good, with cost becoming more important in my selection, if I were starting out today, I would seriously consider Pentax.

My choice of Nikon was made long ago when I started shooting film.  The controls of my camera are intuitive to me.  I know where to find the commands I use most often on my cameras.  The transition from film to digital was not difficult because Nikon kept most of them in the same location I had gotten used to using.  Their menu for the features that I wanted to learn made them easy to find. I suspect Canon and Pentax did things in a similar manner.

So when selecting a camera, choose the one you find most comfortable when it is set up with a lens that you prefer.  That is the only way you will be happy shooting.

Consider hiring a photographer!

Apr 202010
 
 April 20, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 4:43 pm General Notice , , , , , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

Cheap access to powerful camera equipment makes it so anybody that wants to call themselves a photographer does so. The big camera manufacturers, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc., have put a lot of effort into figuring out what and how most people shoot and their latest cameras are designed to enhance those aspects of photos. When a photo straight out of the camera looks good, the logical question follows, Why should I pay someone to take a picture I can do myself? Is there a reason to hire a photographer? Can’t everyone with a good camera take great pictures?

You should never hire a photographer to take a picture you yourself could do! You do not hire a photographer because his camera is better than yours, it may not be. You do not hire a photographer just because you need someone to push the button on a camera. You hire a photographer that has a particular style of work you like. The artistic vision of a photographer is his knowledge of what his camera can do, what types of poses fit the occasion, and the kind of post processing he or his lab performs. Photographers look not only at the subject, but also at the details in the background, foreground, and middle ground and use their choices of white balance, ISO, shutter speed, f-stop, and sense of timing to create their shot. You hire a photographer because you like what they create out of a scene.

Equipment is not capable of compensating for mistakes like; the lamp post growing out of Uncle Bob’s head, the garbage can just behind the banquet table, or the toilet seen in the mirror the bride is using to apply her makeup. Your photographer should see those things and adjust the shot to compensate (they will not be in his direct from camera shots). The most expensive camera when placed in the hands of a novice will produce pictures that look like they were shot by a novice. A good photographer, can take just about any camera and compose a shot that looks great.

The best photographers get great shots consistently right out of the camera, but will still have a bit of post processing done. Photoshop, Gimp or some other software will be used to ensure that skin tones will be correct in all shots, that minor blemishes not already concealed by makeup are hidden, and that the look of the images remains consistent. Be wary of any photographer that does not do any post production work.

Some photographers create works of art! Even if you know where a particular shot was done, and the time of day, you may not be able to capture a shot similar to the one done by a photographic master. Cameras set in “program” mode with auto white balance are by nature, going to give a good exposure for skin tones. Most great landscapes come out rather poorly when shot that way. Overly red or orange scenes throw off the camera’s sensor, similarly, so will overly dark or overly light scenes. There is far more to taking a picture than pushing a button. If you see a photographic work that you like, buy it! If it is one of mine, I will gladly tell you how I created it! I assure you, since all photos tell lies (if only of omission), telling how I created the image you see is the only way you will find out the truth the image conveys!

Equipment Recommendations

Jan 062010
 
 January 6, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 7:09 pm General Notice, How To, Photography , , ,  No Responses »

I have used Nikon equipment for over 30 years (started with an FM).  My current camera is a Nikon D300 which I bought primarily because of the excellent noise reduction at high ISO settings.  My lens of choice is usually a Nikkor AFS 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6 ED VR used in aperture priority mode or manual mode most of the time.  I often use an SB800 flash off camera for most of the pictures that need flash.  I sometimes enshroud the SB800 in a DIY beauty dish to gain better control of the light fall off.

My reasons for going with Nikon in the beginning were the ruggedness of the camera and lens, and the consistency of my results.  I stayed with Nikon film cameras until June of 2008, as I knew what I would get and the Nikon Coolscan 4000 was delivering excellent results.  It took seeing a photo of a model wearing violet contact lenses shot at 3200ISO in a dimly lit bar to convince me to go digital.  That I could actually tell the model had contact lenses and there was very little noise made me realize that hand held night photography was now possible.  I have been very happy with the results.

Would I recommend Nikon, sure.  But if you are just starting out, do not buy a camera just because someone writes good things about it.  Canon, Pentax and Nikon all make very good cameras.  Go to your local camera store and try out the cameras.  Get a feel for how the fit your hand, the weight, and shoot them at your desired rep rate.  Buy the one that best fits your needs.  The reason I word it this way is simple, you will enjoy using the camera that feels best, but you will regret getting one that feels awkward.

Keep shooting!