Configuration Process

I've been taking it much more slowly than I usually do when configuring a new computer or a rebuild. The list of applications I use has gotten longer but that's not slowing me down. I'm simply not trying to get everything done at once. I only installed a printer this morning. Today's goal is to get Lightroom installed. After all, that software is why I got a new computer in the first place.

Why I Read Those Books

I'm playing with my Christmas reflector stand and reflector. I'm feeling just a bit like a newbie, because I'm learning the order in which you need to set one of these things up. It took me far too long to cover the frame put the frame in the clamps and then set the whole thing up. Once I did, I also realized that it's tippy. Wobbly. Prone to fall over. It's a good thing I'm indoors and there is no breeze. The pros use sandbags as counterweights. I know this because I read it in one of Joe McNally's books. Great. I don't own sandbags.

It is now time for the Mother of Invention to step in and give me an idea.

Evaluating a light meter

This sounds like one of those horribly techno-gadget-geek-oddball-persnickety things to do to a camera. But it isn't really all that difficult. It's just a matter of taking a photo of an 18% gray card that should be well lit. Then you look at the photo in Photoshop and check that your RGB values are all relatively close to each other. You want all three numbers to be as close to 128 as possible. If your light meter is working correctly, when you are taking the photo, the camera will say it is 'just right' and then the photo will actually BE 'just right'. If your meter is reading incorrectly, the photo will be over or under exposed.

What can you do? You can set your exposure compensation to correct for this. Instead of it being 'neutral' at 0.0, it will be neutral at -0.3 or +0.3. To get a full stop of + compensation if your new neutral is +0.3, you will need +1.3 now.

If that drives you nuts, and I know it would send me right around the bend in short order, just set your ISO to be a tweak higher if your meter reads too high, (it thinks there is MORE light than there is), and to be a tweak lower if your meter reads too low (the meter thinks it is darker than it actually is).

Does this matter for shooting snapshots in natural light? Not really. When it matters is when you are in a studio with highly controlled light and fine tuning is desired. A little bit of shine goes a long way when you are talking about highlights for a portrait. And overexposed skin always looks lousy. In a studio, I would set my flashes differently to compensate for the metering issue.

Chromatic Aberrations

These are also sometimes called 'fringe' or 'fringing' and it is because they look like a fringe of an unwanted color between a very dark and a very light transition. Say I took a photo of a person wearing a black shirt against a bright sky background. Right at the edge of the shirt, I might see a faint line of red, green or purple fringing out into the sky. It isn't very large, but it gives the shirt this funky outline. Sometimes it appears at the edge of a mountain peak, or the line of a roof. It's a problem only in bright/dark edges. It is a flaw that can't really be avoided, but it can be decreased if you have more expensive lenses.

I don't have horridly expensive lenses, but they are from Nikon. I have some chromatic aberration, but not a lot.

I've seen some extractions that are subtle fails because the person doing the extraction decided to include just a few pixels of the background inside the area they extracted. I'm considering the use of the de-fringe option in Lightroom to see if that background can be treated like a chromatic aberration and dealt with.

See it, Fix it!

Yep. All that studying is paying off. I've got some slight chromatic aberrations in a strongly sunlit photo. Just the teensiest hint in one area, but I can see them and I just fixed them! I am loving this. Absolutely loving this. I knew what chromatic aberrations were, but I'd never been able to see them in one of my photos. Partly because I hadn't pushed the envelope to the point where they'd show up (they don't happen in the average snapshot) and partly because if I didn't know how to correct for them looking for them wasn't going to be of much use.

Lightroom is allowing me to make the correction for this lens issue and even fine tune it. Yay!

I'm also finding that all my years of working with film are paying off. When I set my camera the way I like it, I get pictures that don't need a lot of adjustments to look really good.

Bud took this one. It's extremely different from what he would have taken before he started using my camera.

First Image!

I knew what I wanted to do with this photo. My struggle was getting my new software to do what I wanted. I didn't do things the easy way, but I got them done. I learn best when there is a task to complete, rather than learning isolated steps and put them together into a process later. Part of my trouble was that I couldn't remember keyboard shortcuts. I'd gotten frustrated with CS3 and had stopped using it at the beginning of the year. If I don't use keyboard shortcuts regularly, they drift out of my head.

My husband used to look at me funny when I'd stop to take a photo of something like this. After he saw the results a few times, he is now much more patient. He's also getting an eye of his own and the pictures that he takes look different than they used to.

Lightroom 3

This application makes Bridge look horribly poorly designed. And Bridge isn't really that bad. But Lightroom is that good. I've been importing my photos into Lightroom, one year at a time. One year is a manageable chunk. I can get everything imported, get it sorted into collections and then I can run a backup of what I've gotten imported so far.

Lightroom does not substitute for Photoshop. In fact, to do some things, you move into and out of Lightroom and Photoshop.

The learning curve isn't quite as steep as it would be if I didn't already have some skill with Photoshop. But it isn't a cakewalk, either.

Preparing for new Toys!

I have finally ordered Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. They were on sale. I had enough left to get (also on sale) a year of Kelby Training. Also something I'd wanted for a while. Kelby Training is a mix of pro and consumer level education. That's exactly where I am. I'm a 'prosumer' in photography terms.

While I am waiting for my new software to arrive, (I ordered the CD versions) I'm watching videos from Kelby Training on how to set it up and use it. The level of instruction is perfect for me. There's a lot of 'where' and 'when' included and a little bit of 'why' but not much 'how' because I don't really need 'how'. I watch for a bit, go do something else and let the information perk through my brain, then go back and watch more. Sometimes I re-watch parts that I think will be important.

The learning curves for Photoshop and Lightroom are steep, but I've already done a lot of the work to learn CS3 and I've been watching videos on CS5 since it was announced. I'm excited about CS5. I am really looking forward to playing with the improved selection tools and with content aware fill. Wheee!!!

Uninspired

If I'm not inspired to create, I can't create. I can encourage myself to create by looking at things that make me happy. I've been looking through some of my old scrapbooks. Wow.

I have photographs of things that really are pretty neat. I've got a set of shots from Hong Kong that I almost don't remember taking. It was back in 1989, about the time I got married for the first time. We had originally planned to marry in Hong Kong, but there was a paperwork snafu and we ended up getting married in Tokyo. And there are a few fun shots of Tokyo, too.

Do I want to go back there? Possibly. But before I start going back to places, there are a lot of new places I haven't yet seen. Once I've checked off the entire list, I'll start going through the list again.

Lists aside, I've been reminded that I can take a decent photograph now and then. I have a few winners that I'm proud of. I had been thinking of trying to create something that would be portfolio like. I have not got enough to fill a portfolio, but I do at least have a start.

Same Song, Again

People are always asking, "Which digital camera should I get?" on the forums that I read. I never offer suggestions about camera model, I simply offer advice on making choices and where to go looking. My advice is the same for anyone making the switch from point & shoot to DSLR.

If you don't ever plan on taking your camera off Program mode, you might not want a fancy DSLR. You'll be hauling around an elephant gun and you aren't going to need it. Many P&S cameras have lots of settings that you can change. If you never changed the settings on your P&S, what makes you think you will change the settings on your DSLR?

Don't get a camera that you haven't held in your hands. If it doesn't fit in your hands, you are going to hate using it. You can buy on-line if you have tested it in a store somewhere.

You can buy used cameras from reliable sources like B&H and Adorama.

And that's my advice.

Questions

Why do I take pictures?
It is my interface to the world, how I interact with it. My husband pointed out that if I'm not taking pictures of it, I am usually distant from it. If my life is going well, I take pictures of it. When I'm unhappy/uncomfortable, the camera stays in the case.

What are my goals in photography?
I'd like to get better at managing my camera and light. I'd like to have the ability to respond better to the light that's available and use it successfully, both by setting up the camera correctly and by adjusting the light.

What do I take pictures of?
Things and people around me. Things I interact with.

Can I achieve my goals taking pictures of things like that?
Yes.

Deleting Duplicates and Naming Conventions

I had one of those 'Misc' folders in my photo files. I had carefully saved photos from several different computers, from zip files, from camera cards, and CDs into this one folder. I finally took the time to go through it one photo at a time and sort them out properly. I had more duplicate files than I'd realized. Better that than to know I have a photo and not be able to find it. Many of my early digital photos are very small. While I deleted a lot of duplicates, I only deleted about 1 GB of data.

Since I changed the organization of my photos, I'm going to hook up my second EHD and make sure that my local data backup is up to date. My Backblaze backup will automatically update itself. With my non FIOS connection (can you hear me whining?) it won't be quick, but it is automatic.

I use a date and description system for sorting my pictures. Before 2005, they are sorted by subject and sometimes also by date. Pictures after 2005 are sorted by year, with a separate folder for each event during that year. For example, inside the '2008 Photos' folder, there is a '2-14-08 Valentines' sub-folder. I store the pictures with the alphanumeric name the camera assigns. I'll append to the alphanumeric if I edit the photo, so I won't confuse the original DSC6442.jpg with DSC6442adjusted.jpg. I'll re-name the photo to 'Roses for Valentines 2008.jpg' only if I share it.

Not Keeping Everything

I've finally realized that it doesn't make sense to keep everything. Not every shot, not every dud. I've decided that it's time to go through my collection of recent photos, many of which I took for practice, and only to keep the ones that are truly worthy of keeping. Not all the failures.

Why am I doing this? I spent a lot of time taking pictures of that mini-book. I took well over 200 photos. I only think that about 25 are worth keeping. That's a high percentage of keepers, but I spent a lot of early trials getting the settings correct. For most shoots, I don't have nearly as many keepers.

When I was a photography student using film, I remember being told that out of a roll of 36-40 shots, there would only be 1 keeper, if we were lucky. I took a lot of pictures, developed a lot of film, and what with developing issues on top of the camera setting issues, if I got 1 keeper from a roll of 36, I was content. Now, I don't have to deal with errors in developing, so I think 1 out of 25 makes more sense.

I've improved my chances. Instead of a 2.5-3% chance of getting a keeper, I've moved up to a 4% chance. Do I really want to move up higher than that? Yes. But that's going to take a lot of work thinking about light and a much more user-friendly tripod.

Winning and Losing

I have won the race with the sun for today. I made a note of the times I had my better exposures yesterday, and I had my camera set up to finish taking pictures of my mini book today. That would be a win. I got the rest of the pictures well exposed.

However, I've discovered what camera shake looks like. Ugh. See, when you know the frame is in focus, and there is still blurr, it's not focus, it's shake. Even at faster shutter speeds, if you enlarge your digital image to 100%, you can see it. Sigh. Super sigh. I can't set up on a tripod to take these shots, I'm already standing on a table to get the good light. For my next trick, I'm making myself a light box. I'm tired of fighting with the sun and the table and my horrible set up.

Every time I conquer one thing, I discover another thing I've got to master. FWIW, even using one of those 'fake sunlight' lamps does not produce the same color light at the actual sun does.

Racing the Sun

I've heard so much about this, but I've never really had to work with it. The sun moves faster than you think it will and direct, bright sunlight is awful to deal with. It doesn't matter if it is sunrise, it is still a pain.

Frustration

Sigh. Every time I think I've done at least part of something right to capture a good photo, I find there are still other things that are not right and the picture did not turn out as planned. It can be quite frustrating. Part of the time, I'm having failures because I don't have the correct equipment. Part of the time, It is because I'm not using my equipment correctly.

At least I'm no blaming it on equipment failures. That's just a way bad photographers refuse to admit that they are bad. Back to square one. Again.

Tethered

That's slang for connecting a computer to a cell phone and using the phone's connection. But it also means that you have connected your digital camera to your computer and you are saving and examining your photos immediately after tripping the shutter.

I used to think that shooting tethered was reserved for pro photographers. No longer. I just took a whole lot of shots adjusting the light, adjusting my exposure and adjusting my filters. I don't know what settings I'm going to like best. Once I figure it out, I'll be able to replicate it, but I just took about 90-95 shots of a 10 page book, with covers, that I recently finished. It is entirely possible that I wasted a good deal of my time taking pictures with the wrong set-up entirely.

Gaahhh! I don't like the light for any of the shots. I'll just have to wait for a different time of day and start entirely over. Oh well.

Should Do

Thom has a list of things that photographers should do, but don't. It's a short list.

Use a lens hood.
Keep the camera body clean, not just the lens.
Keep shortcuts handy.
Carry (and USE) your tripod.
Walk there, don't zoom in.
Keep serial numbers with you.
Manipulate the light.
Read the manual.

Manipulating the light is a thing that I have not been doing as well as I'd like. I had some potentially good shots that I missed, because I did not use a flash. I'll be able to go back and try again, because they are landscape shots. I'll also try using gels on my flash, to further manipulate the light.

Good Water, Bad Water

The goal when taking pictures of waterfalls, is often to have the water look 'smooth' and 'silky.' In order to get this, you must use long exposures.

According to that, I've just taken both good and bad pictures of waterfalls. Here's a 'bad' one.

Yes, I used a tripod, and cable release. I set the camera for 1/30 of a second and used f 5.6. The water is blurred, but not smooth.

I stopped down to f 16, used a shutter speed of 1/6 of a second and got this one.


The water is smooth. Please don't think that I framed up these not so interesting shots of water falling, I've cropped down to a lower resolution section of each image, so I don't overload a web browser.

But think about what I had to do. I had to go to a shutter speed that was one fifth of the speed of the first one, to get the smooth water effect. I shot in the still of the morning. The trees (that you can't see) are also in focus, as there was no wind to stir them and make them blur with that long exposure. I had moved my camera down to the lowest ISO setting that I could, which for the settings and lens that I was using would be ISO 100, or pretty darned slow. There are a few things I can do to get slower than that, but I wasn't willing to go through the process for test shots.

What if I couldn't find water in shadow, and there was so much daylight that a slow shutter speed at the lowest possible ISO setting would have gotten me nothing but a blown out, over exposed failure? I could use a special filter that cuts down the amount of light getting through to the camera sensor. These are called neutral density filters and they come in 2, 4 and 8 density, cutting out two, four or eight f stops worth of light. I'm thinking that a 4 would be a good place to start, and the next one I'd get would be an 8.

Another thing to realize is that there is no one perfect exposure setting. To some folks, the 'bad' water shot looks just fine. And in truth, there isn't a whole lot that is wrong with it. It simply doesn't look the way I wanted it to look, with smooth, silky water.

With experience, I will learn what shutter speeds will give me smooth water. I couldn't say for sure that 1/8 of a second, or 1/15, or 1/20 would work to give smooth water. I know that 1/6 does work and that 1/30 does not. I need to take more pictures and test. And a shutter speed might work for a waterfall, and not for a fountain, with individual droplets of water falling that are widely separated. Right now, I'm just playing around with my camera, gaining experience. Do I ever expect to need this skill? I doubt it, but it certainly is fun to learn new things!