Force yourself to improve and expand your skillset. Try taking (or giving yourself) an assignment outside of your specialty.

Posted on November 18, 2008 by jon

My favorite subject has always been nature. The more tranquil and farther removed from anything touched by man the better. If you ever saw me with a camera in hand odds were that it wasn’t pointed at a person. I’ve just never been that excited about having people in my pictures (and that hasn’t really changed.) What’s wrong with that? Nothing, I thought… until recently.

Making the jump to the D700 changed some things for me. One of those things is that it’s harder to walk by a camera you haven’t used in a few days and not think twice about it, especially when it costs more than your last few vehicles combined. One of the promises I made to myself (or maybe better said, the way I talked myself into that kind of expense) is that I would shoot more pictures more often and head into a direction where the camera could pay for itself. The problem is, of course, that the money to be made in photography is mostly made by taking pictures of… people.

I starting working out exactly how I would go about getting a gig shooting people. The realization that I kept coming back to was that I didn’t really know how to shoot people well. I had done some Santa shoots in the past, but those are pretty much no-brainers. Most parents are going to buy whatever the cheapest set you offer is as long as the picture is good enough for the grandparents to recognize the kid. I had also done some shots for friends for various social networking sites, but again, taking a shot of your friend that they’ll put on a website isn’t really a measure of greatness.

It was around this time that some friends were kicking off a group called Kids In The Valley, Adventuring (KIVA for short), a group that encourages parents to take their kids outside and do things like hiking, trail cleanups, etc. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to go get the practice that I needed but still be in the setting that I enjoyed, so I went along with them one weekend… and I’m very glad I did.

[Side note: Kids are great for learning to take people photos. For one, they’re always goofy looking no matter what, so when you end up with a goofy expression it seems normal. Second, they’re used to people taking pictures of them all the time… at their birthday parties, holidays, sports, etc… so they hardly even notice one more camera in their face (try following random adults around in the woods with a camera and see if you can spot the difference.)]

I attended as many of their events as I could, doing my best to learn a new trick or technique before the next one. Over the course of a few months I found that I was getting the hang of taking photos of people. Not just in the technical and creative aspects, but I was getting better at talking to the people I was shooting as well.

The other benefit I saw is probably best described as cross-training. Many of the things I picked up while shooting people has helped to advance other areas of my photography. So while a sunset over a stretch of beach that few humans have ever been to is definitely still my favorite subject, I’m pretty sure that hanging around with a bunch of kids has made me better able to capture it.

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Sigma 8mm Circular Fisheye Lens (Review & Opinions)

Posted on November 17, 2008 by jon

Summary:

Pros:

  • 180×180 degree field of view.
  • Smart design, smooth operation.
  • Reasonably sharp.
  • Opportunity to create immersive panoramas.

Cons:

  • Wasted sensor space means a low resolution image.
  • Not good for high-res landscapes.
  • Pricey.

Detail:
The fisheye has a reputation of being a novelty/niche lens (and I won’t argue that it isn’t), but I found myself getting a lot of use out of it, especially for landscapes. I will say that I’ve never been a big fan of the distortion that is typical of a fisheye and usually correct it in post.

Recently, I sold my Nikon D80 and upgraded to the full-frame Nikon D700 and I sold all of my DX lenses along with it. This included my Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye and it didn’t take long for me to miss it. The Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8 along with the d700 is pure magic, but to me, 24mm is just not a wide enough for a satisfying landscape so the hunt was on for a replacement.

It was about that same time that I heard a comment from one of the folks on TWIP talking about how much he loved his Sigma 8mm Fisheye. I’m pretty hardheaded when it comes to the brand of lens I use. Everything else in my bag is pure Nikon so the idea of tossing a Sigma in there wasn’t a decision I took lightly. However, I couldn’t ignore the praise being dished out from TWIP so I looked around and read up on it. The comments I saw were mostly positive, but at around $800 with shipping, plus the fact that it wasn’t a Nikon, I decided not to buy. It was apparently in the cards for me to have that lens, however. A short time later I was browsing ebay and saw a Sigma 8mm Fisheye being sold from Canada and advertised as mint condition/new. With the combination of the global economic implosion causing people to sell their possessions, the exchange rate in my favor, and no one else bidding, I ended up getting the lens for less than $400.

When the lens arrived I was immediately impressed with the 180 x 180 degree view, though it took some conscious effort to keep from having fingers/feet/elbows in the shot. I also thought that the slip-off ring/cap was a great feature as it offers both protection for the glass and the ability to add a front filter if desired, though having the ring on will reduce your field of view. It also accepts gel filters in the back if you prefer not to lose the FOV.

One of the oddities that I had read about, but not yet seen, comes from this lens producing a circular image on the sensor. I’ve found this to be positive and negative. The physics of it makes sense. If you’re going to have a 180×180 view and you don’t want crazier distortion than you’re already getting, you’re going to have a circle. The problem with laying a circle down on top of a rectangular sensor is that you’re wasting a whole lot of horizontal sensor which means a smaller image (once you crop out the black) and effectively less resolution in your image. This is not a good thing when you’re shooting a landscape. There is also an additional ring around the image which is a bit odd (and can be cropped out of course.)

The best use for this lens that I’ve found has to be its ability to make immersive panoramas with very few shots. (If you’re not familiar with those, it’s the thing you’ve probably seen on a realty website where you can take a virtual tour of a room like you’re standing in the center and looking around inside a sphere.) With the actual 180+ FOV, you can technically do a complete sphere with just two shots (however, I have found that three or four work a little better.)

In Conclusion:
Knowing what I know now, the Sigma 8mm Circular Fisheye lens is not something that I would recommend if you’re looking for a new landscape lens or if you’re stuck paying retail price. However, if you spot a deal on one and want to get into the world of 360 Panoramas and equirectangular images, or you just enjoy the goofy distortion effects of a fisheye, definitely give it a look.

To see many more photos from many more photographers using this lens, check out the Sigma 8mm Fisheye group on Flickr at:
http://flickr.com/groups/75097097@N00/pool/

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Reducing Mirror Shake on the Cheap!

Posted on November 15, 2008 by jon

If you’ve shot through a long lens or tried macro photography you probably know about mirror shake (which I’ve also heard called mirror slap.) If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s the deal. Some cameras (usually SLRs) have a mirror that sends light coming in through the lens up through the diopter, or viewfinder, so you can see what you’re aiming at. When you press the button to take the picture, that mirror moves up and allows the incoming light to hit the sensor which records the picture. When the image has been recorded, the mirror snaps back down. That quick movement of the mirror slapping up and down is a large part of what makes the “Click-Click” sound when you snap a picture. In addition to making noise, this movement also causes your camera to vibrate (you can blame Newton for that I suppose) which keeps your images from being as sharp as they could be.

Now that you understand what’s happening, the solution is simple. Keep the camera from vibrating while the sensor is recording. There are a couple of ways to do this. Some camera have built in features like Mirror Delay mode which raises the mirror and then waits some amount of time before the sensor records in hopes that the camera will stop vibrating by then. A similar method is a Mirror Lock Up feature that allows you to raise the mirror and wait however long you choose before recording the image. These methods work, but not as well as you would hope. The best method I’ve found is to set your camera on something that will absorb the energy out of the camera when that mirror moves, like a bean bag. Prove it to yourself. Get out your longest lens and shoot from the tripod and then from the bag and compare the images to see which ones come out sharper.

I’ve seen specialty bags for sale and they all look like they’d work great, but I think they’re a bit pricy for what you’re buying. If you want the same result without spending much money, go to the grocery store and buy a bag of the black sunflower bird feed big enough for your camera and lens to rest on (an old pillow case makes a nice protective case too.)  Plus, as an added bonus you’ll have something handy to bribe the birds, squirrels, and other little animals with so they’ll stand still for you!

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Don’t miss TWIP!

Posted on November 15, 2008 by jon

If you’re a photographer, you’ll definitely want to check out This Week In Photography. Their website is full of great info and the weekly podcasts are always worth a listen. They have contests too!

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The Basics of Night Photography

Posted on November 14, 2008 by jon

Shooting in the dark is one of my favorite things. A long exposure can turn an otherwise boring scene into something unexpected. In this post we go over the basics of what it takes to make a picture in the dark!

What you need:

  • Camera with a manual settings mode.
  • Tripod
  • Low power light source (like a small flashlight.)

The Good News
Taking a picture after dark is no different than taking one in daylight. Your camera still works the same way and the laws of physics haven’t changed so if you can take a picture during the day you can take a picture at night.

So what’s different?
Essentially, the only thing different is that the amount of time it takes to get a good exposure will increase bringing with it a number of things you normally wouldn’t worry about when shooting in bright light. Here are some of those things (and how to deal with them):

  • Blur – In daylight your camera’s sensor can gather enough light for a good exposure in a tiny fraction of a second. At night it’ll take much, much longer. If the camera isn’t kept completely still you’ll get blurry streaks of light and ghosting around the edges of objects. You can try to pass it off as being artistic, but you’re not fooling anyone. Use a tripod! Not only will your images come out better, but you’ll really appreciate it after hearing about the next point.
  • More Time Required – Depending on the amount of light and the settings on your camera your shot could easily require many minutes to get a proper exposure (taking a picture where you see the stars as arcs in the sky could easily be an hour or more depending on how much arc you want.) In addition to longer shutter speeds, your camera may take longer to process the image if it has a noise reduction mode. (NR is beyond the scope of this post, but as an example my camera needs about the same amount of time the exposure took to run through the NR process. So if the exposure was 2 minutes the camera is going to think about it for another 2 minutes before you can take another shot.) There’s also the problem of having enough time to take the shot you want. The image above of the moon over the tracks took three attempts because trains kept coming through and I had to run pull the camera off of the track and jump into the weeds until there was another gap to shoot in.
  • Some Camera Features Won’t Work – Features you may rely on such as autofocus and automatic exposure calculation will not work due to the low amount of light entering the lens. In the dark your camera is probably not going to work in Auto mode. Switch it to Manual mode so you can adjust your ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, and Focus manually. The better you understand what each of those does to your exposure the better your pictures will get, but here’s a (very) rough guide to getting an image you can see: Set the Aperture (F-Stop) to the smallest number (widest opening) you can, set your ISO to about halfway between the highest and lowest setting, and then adjust your shutter speed higher until you can see the picture you take. Too dark? Double the shutter speed (if you tried 1 second, try 2 seconds, then 4 seconds, and so on.)
  • Difficulty Seeing – This is obvious, but worth mentioning. You won’t be able to see the buttons on your camera to change settings, you won’t be able to tell if you’re focused, and you’ll have to watch your step! I prefer a weak light source, preferably a red light, so that you don’t lose your night vision when you cut it on.
  • A Little Chilly – Again, obvious, but shouldn’t be overlooked. Make sure you dress warm enough. You may feel fine walking to your chosen spot, but you’ll feel it when you’re sitting still for 20 minutes waiting for your exposure to finish. Take a jacket!

Taking the Shot
Now that you understand the basics, I’m going to describe the steps I go through to take a basic night landscape shot.

To make things easy on myself I try to get as much as possible done before venturing outside. I get into manual mode, make the appropriate settings changes, make sure the tripod mount is on the camera and the tripod is set up, and fill my pockets with the various accessories and snacks I require for a night walk.

Once I’ve done everything I can inside, I head out into the dark. (I usually have a spot picked out already, though walking around looking for a shot can be well worth it.) On the way I try to avoid bright light to let my eyes adjust to the darkness so I’ll be able to see all the faint lights there are to work with.

Once I get to the spot I set up the tripod and camera. (Take your time here and be sure your camera is locked down and the tripod is stable or you might see your camera take a tumble.) I do my best to frame the shot in the viewfinder, though if it’s very dark there’s not much that can be done aside from estimate or use the flashlight to illuminate anything in range. Focusing can be a challenge as well. If there’s an object in flashlight range illuminate it and focus on that. If things are too far away for the flashlight setting the focus to infinity (the sideways 8 symbol) is a pretty safe bet.

Next, I set my exposure. Figuring out the manual settings for shutter speed, ISO, and aperture is part art and part science. I start by deciding on the aperture which for a landscape is usually in the 8 to 11 range. Then I set the ISO to a level that gives me the least amount of noise (which is almost always the lowest setting.) Finally, I take a guess at the shutter speed which I base entirely on the amount of light it feels like I have (For this example we’ll pick10 seconds.)

Once I’m framed and focused and have my exposure settings picked it’s time to take the shot. To reduce camera shake I use a wireless remote to take the picture. (If you don’t have a remote you can use the delay timer feature on your camera.) When the shutter opens the only thing left to do is wait. When the shutter closes and the camera is ready to show the results I take a look and see what kind of exposure I got. I then adjust the shutter speed up or down and try again. (Knowing how much to adjust this setting is a post in itself, but try to double or half the time. If 20 seconds was too dark, try 40. If 2 minutes is too bright, try 1 minute. To understand why, you’ll want to read up on “stops”.) After a couple of shots I’ll have one I’m happy with and I can move on to another spot.

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