Patrick Lynch Photography

Wallowa – Whitman

07. June 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Travel · Tags: mountains, Travel, Wallowa-Whitman

This is a travelogue for Wallowa – Whitman. The first time I was here was in the late 1970s. My favorite uncle talked my wife and I into backpacking in this place that no one had ever heard of in North East Oregon, Wallowa – Whitman. I fell in love with the place, it reminds of the pictures of the Alps and the movies Heidi, and Sound of Music. The second time, I took my sons backpacking there, during the late 1990s. This last time was car camping as I only had Memorial day weekend, and once again, I see why I love the place.

The mountains rise dramatically above the surrounding wheat fields.

Wallowa-Whitman Mountains above wheat

This year, we were early, and the back country is not yet open as can be seen in the photos with all the snow. I traveled with my cousin Julie and her husband Pete (seen below). He is a willing model as he practices on his mandolin, and so photogenic !

Cousin Pete while camping at Wallowa-Whitman

Wallowa-Whitman has more to offer than spectacular mountains and camping in good company! Even this early in the year, there are wild flowers.

Wild Camus

But the quaint old towns along the way have a special nostalgic feel to them.

Old General Store

Union Market

Old Canisters

There are also some fun and funky places for coffee and other things.

Dragon in the town of Joseph

Oregon is a place for active people, and they are proud of it as seen in the photo in front of a micro brewery.

Bicycle Oregon

The set of photos though, that I am most proud of are this eagle who was kind enough to pose for quite a while as I shot these out the van window. The eagle was across the river.

Cooperative Eagle

See more photos on my website

Re learning Old Truths

27. May 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: How to, Taking care, Travel

“Repetition is a mother of learning”

Russian Proverb

“Live for a century, study for a century”

Russian Proverb

re learning about shutter speed & depth of field

A while back, I bought a Sony NEX 6 (Amazon). I have been learning the in and outs of it with sample photos. Or maybe I should say that I am relearning old truths that have been forgotten.
The first truth is that it is better to have a high ISO with some grain or noise than it is to have a soft or blurry picture. The top picture here of scarves is the crispest one of a set, and it is still too soft and blurry. I would have done better to increase the ISO decrease the shutter speed. In this case ISO 800 shutter 1/6 sec. Since I was in walk about mode, there was no tripod.

The on camera flash for the NEX 6 reminds me of ET. It does not work very well with the lens that I have on the camera.

Sony Nex -Lens blocking flash

That big black blob in the bottom left is the lens blocking the flash. I need to add an external flash . And from the awful (at left) pic of my lovely wife, that on camera flash is AWFUL.

The next truth that I am re learning is that smaller sensors have greater depth of field, which sometimes you don’t want ! An aperture of 7 needed to be much more open.

I very much do appreciate the higher dynamic range of the NEX 6 compared to the Point and Shoot.

Finally, re learning, that all cameras and all photography are a set of compromises. Each camera, each lens involve their own sets of compromises and that part of the learning / re learning is to become aware of these.

What have you forgotten that you need to re learn?

The day after….

20. May 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Argentina, Preparation, Travel · Tags: learning, New Camera

Canon 5Dii w/ 70-200mm f/2.8, Sony Nex 6 w/ 18-104 with lens shade, Vivitar 285, lens shade for Canon

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” Henry Miller

“No photographer is as good as the simplest camera” Edward Steichen

Previously I had written about the pros and mostly cons of a point & shoot (P&S). Out of that I did some research and bought a Sony Nex 6 for about the price of a nice lens on my Canon system. I am looking forward to experiments and trying it out…. Here are some of the lessons learned the day after.

What I had forgotten about is all of the other stuff that is needed to go with a new camera…

Camera bag of some form to carry it
New strap to replace miserable out of box strap that all new cameras seem to have
Spare batteries
Battery charger (it only came with in camera charging)
Arca-swiss plate for tripod mounting
SD cards
SD card holder (I have one for my CF cards for the Canon)
A circular polarizing filter, and UV haze filter for each lens
A filter holder / wallet
Nex 6 flash adapter so that I can use flash
A new large speedlight (possibly)
Adapter for Canon lens onto the Nex 6

All of this needs to learned anew. How to use the camera in manual mode with and without a flash. How to change lens quickly and easily. What is it like on a tripod?

Then there are all of the reasons for moving away from the P&S.

Better image quality, no more barrel distortion
higher dynamic range
Enough pixels that the photos don’t look grainy to my eye.
Decreased chromatic aberration

All of these things will take time to validate or learn. And it all takes time and practice. I guess I should not plan on shooting a wedding with the new camera. What will you learn the day after?

Using a Point & Shoot -Traveling Lessons

13. May 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: How to, Locations, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized · Tags: lessons, Point and shoot, Travel

Lake Traful, Argentina

“No photographer is as good as the simplest camera.”

Edward Steichen

I am in Patagonia (Argentina) for 10 days. I debated taking the Canon 5Dii, but decided not to bring it because it would be a tempting target for thieves. Instead I opted for taking a Point & Shoot (P&S). Below are my pro and cons around using a Point & Shoot.

Reasons I don’t like a point and shoot

No tripod – a tripod would have helped, even in the wind I could hold it down
It was windy
No polarizing filter; the sky has big beautiful puffy clouds that just are not coming out
More resolution; to allow for cropping
Sharper lens. There is a distinct curvature in the P&S images that is annoying. Lightroom lens correction helps, but it is not enough. (see the image of lake Traful, Argentina)
Can’t hand hold something that light in the wind steady. Yes, I could/should bring a tripod and put a plate on the Point and shoot, but the tripod ball head is practically as big as the P&S. A tripod by itself would have done nothing given the high winds that were blowing us people around. However, putting my weight on the tripod would have done better than me swaying in the 40 mph winds.
Lower dynamic range (see waterfall photo). This is particularly an issue when traveling when it is harder to get the morning and evening hours of low light that decrease the contrast. HDR helps, but it is not enough to compensate for the very high contrast environments.
Have to have higher ISO with more noise to account for the hand held aspect.

Reasons for using a P&S

Less likely to be mugged when travelling abroad because of big expensive camera. This was the primary reason for bringing the P&S versus the Canon big glass. If it is stolen, then less loss.
It is lighter and easier to use (not true) when traveling. Yes it is lighter, and smaller which is a big plus. But in the wind, and for the shots I want, it did not produce them.
Why take a tripod for a P&S (oh how foolish am I).
- With a tripod it is easier to take exposure bracketed frames to increase dynamic range.
- Not have as blurry a photo.
- Use a lower ISO that has better noise characteristics.

So the conclusion is….

I need a new small, doesn’t look like big glass, lighter solution. So, for the price of a single big glass lens I can get a body and lens. I got a Sony Nex 6,

Spring break

06. May 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Philosophy, Photography, Travel · Tags: Prepare, Spring Break, Travel

“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ “

Robin Williams

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

Terry_Pratchett

For college kids Spring break is PARTY TIME! (sorry no pictures of cute gals in bikinis and buff guys), but for me it is an opportunity to travel and photograph new things, or try and get a better shot of something that is compelling that I am not satisfied with.

Campfire on the beach- Spring break

A destination during Spring break

What do you do with your Spring break? Do you give yourself a break? We travel during Spring break.

This year, we will travel to the San Juan Islands for our week. Usually we go to the southwest, but this year, Spring break comes late for us, and we are heading North instead.

What goes into travel? So much has been written. For me, I have to recognize my expectations; do I want to sunbathe all day? or ride a single track all day or something in between ? I am looking forward to getting great photos of harbors, coasts country side, quaint shops, bald eagles, and maybe some fishermen. Hopes include Orcas up close, and a good kayak paddle.

OK, so what am I going to do, to help fulfill my expectations? I have acquired (thanks Amazon) several guide books and maps. Now I just need to read them. Taking the time to read them helps me prepare so that I know places to go to get the shots that I want to get, otherwise, they just make the suitcase heavier. And then there is the camera gear. I will take the rain covers for camera and lens, as well as a poncho and rain jackets. Not sure what else yet (hum, not prepared?).

And I am looking forward to returning, refreshed with LOTS of photos.

Color Balance

29. April 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Fall Colors · Tags: color balance

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts” by Marcus Aurelius

I was talking with my cousin at the family Easter get together, and he wanted to know about color balance. There are a number of related topics that really needed to covered so as not give a mechanistic answer for color balance including:

Color space
How the eye sees color
Color correction
Color profiles

What is color balance? I’m sure that you have seen an interior shot where everything is yellow orange and not what it appears to the eye? Or even worse, it is this awful green tint. incandescent lighting produces light that is very orange yellow in color, while florescent lighting produces that green tint light. The eye sees the light as white in both cases, but it is not. Similarly clouds and shade tend to produce blueish tinted light. The photo below was taken in shadow, color correcting leads to the image above. Balancing color is the process of converting the tinted light to an an un-tinted light.

Where does color space come into this? sRGB is typically the color space of the web, but it is much smaller than other color spaces, and this becomes important if you want to print photos. Here is a link to comparative color spaces. It is easy to reduce color by moving to a smaller color space, but it is difficult to make up what should be the color in going to a larger color space. The reasons for shooting in sRGB would be it is quicker for post processing, or it will only go to the web. If those are not your reasons, ask yourself, why am I shooting in such a restrictive color space.

What are color profiles? There are two types of answers:

First, if you have ever tried to print a photo on your own printer, you know how hard it is to get the image to print correctly.
Second, color profiles are set of color characteristics that map a device’s color to a standard color model (typically LAB). So, you can have a profile for your camera, screen, printer, or anything else that works with color images. All the color profiles map the device to a norm, so that it is always the same red, blue, yellow that is used across devices. This is what allows printers to match the screen.

For more information on color, Luminous-Landscape has a number of good articles in its Understanding Series, including the eye and color.

As shot color balance

Mystery Meat? — JPEG vs RAW

24. April 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Philosophy, Photography, processing photos · Tags: JPEG, Mystery Meat, RAW

SPAM – Mystery Meat

“Mystery Meat = Any type of processed meat whose source indistinguishable.”

No this post is not really about mystery meat… LOL

It is however, about something like mystery meat. Imagine going into a diner and ordering stew. It arrives you eat it, it is not bad, it filled your stomach even if not gourmet cooking, and you would go back and have it again. A friend asks you what was in it, and all you can answer is ‘mystery meat’. If on the other hand, you went to the market, selected the ingredients, and then took it home, you could make a gourmet dish. This however would take more time, and maybe it is enough to just fill the stomach with unknown stew.

So what does stew have to do with Photography? Well if you are shooting in JPEG rather than raw, your pictures are mystery meat stew. It seems to do the job, but not superbly. JPEG drastically reduces the amount of detailed information in a photo (diner stew). The Red, Green, and Blue Channels of a RAW photo are each 8 to 14 bits of information (i.e. each channel holds between 255 and ~16 000 color values). Each of the however many mega (millions) of pixels has this information. JPEG typically does 3 types of reductions. One is that it examines the photo and takes the top 250 or so most common colors in the photo and maps the whole photo into this reduced color space. This leads to groups of pixels all having the same color value. This then allows for an optimization of storing one pixel and then a count of near by cells that have the same value. You can sometimes see this in low res photos as little square spots of the same color. Then JPEG typically will reduce the pixel count as well (why have 9 pixels of the same value when 1 would do?). The result of all of this is mystery meat, it is usually good enough to satisfy the stomach of Facebook, but it is not good enough to print or make a 3 day soup. If you want fast food with mystery meat that is fine for posting on the web, then choose mystery meat (aka JPEG), but if you want a gourmet meal then shoot with Raw and take the time in the kitchen.

Below is a medium resolution version (all that makes sense on the web) of the whole image.

Medium Res JPG

Here are two blow ups of the above image, one as high res Jpeg, and the other as low res. You choose.

Low Res JPEG

Blowup of higher res image

Sad Demise, The King is Dead, Long Live the King

22. April 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Philosophy, Photography, Practice · Tags: 500px, critiques, learning, photosig

Elephant Seals,Piedras Blancas
“One of my greatest fears is not being able to change, to be caught in a never-ending cycle sameness. Growth is so important” Matt Dilon

I sad to report the demise of Photosig, a site that I have recommended for a decade. I have watched numerous students’ photos improve dramatically as they developed a photographer’s eye. The idea was simple;

Someone post a photo of theirs.
Others would write critiques of the photo. And this is where the learning takes place.
And if still others found the critiques to be useful they were rate with thumbs up. The critique writes then earned points that allowed them to post photos.

Learning to give a useful critique is important in several ways. First, you have to learn to articulate what works and doesn’t work with a photo. This requires engaging the photo and finding words to your reactions and figuring out what caused it. This is critical to becoming a good photographer. Second, because it was someone else’s photo, there is much more detachment than if it were your own photo. We tend to be our own worst critic; either too harsh or too lenient. Third, because the critique has to be useful.

Photosig provided the structure that led us to learning. I am sad with the demise of Photosig.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King. A toast to the cycle of kings. Can we do no less? Who is the new king? 500px seems to be the new king. If you haven’t already looked at 500px you should check it out.

In my opinion, the quality of the images is better at 500px than it was at photosig, both from a clarity perspective, and from composition. Critiques though are less structured and don’t lead people to grow as much as photosig did. If you can learn to figure out why you like an image, then 500px has more good images to look at and learn from.

A stronger Picture

15. April 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Composition · Tags: learning

The Bridge

Go to the truth beyond the bridge- Patrick Lynch

Once again, I have fallen prey to the belief that a ‘new’ camera/toy will make better pictures ! While it is true that the quality of these images is beyond comparison to the point and shoot. I have not been struck wonderful as the worlds best photographer.

Being a good photographer is beyond the camera, and is also in the eye of seeing the photo. What does that mean, the ‘eye of the photographer’ ? There are several things that go into developing the ‘eye of the photographer’.

Recognizing the emotional appeal of a photo or a scene. Or you can think of this as seeing the beauty of a scene
Technical craft: turning the camera on, holding the camera still (usually), getting the right exposure
Thinking about what makes the picture the strongest picture possible. This includes composition, deciding if you want the distance to be blurred or sharp and choosing the picture you want.

Here Is another image, not as strong;

Different angle on the bridge – developing the eye of the photographer

The top image could be made stronger by taking out the telephone pole and line which are distracting.

Part of the learning the craft, is to go beyond recognizing what would make a nice photo (the bridge) but also how to make it the strongest statement as possible. In this case, I was having to contend with cars, changing fog bank, no visibility to traffic.

In this case, being in the center of the road leads to a rather static feeling photo, whereas on the edge, there are diagonal lines which liven the photo. Having practice enough there wasn’t conscious thinking, but rather just knew, felt, intuited that the diagonals inherent in taking the photo from the side would make it more appealing.

What can you do to go beyond the recognition of a scene, to making it a stronger picture?

What I have found that works very well for anyone, novice through expert is looking at someone else’s photos (get rid of the ego – all my photos are good) and having to give useful reviews. I particularly like PhotoSig for this. It is free or pay (pay you can post more of your own photos). People post photos, and other people who want can write reviews (very good practice), and the remainder of us can rate both the photos and the reviews. Writing reviews that others find helpful forces you to examine the photo and give gentle feedback, which is the skill we need to learn for ourselves.

Down Memory Lane

08. April 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: memory · Tags: art, beauty, family values, memory

vista: Is there a memory lane lurking in your photos?

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” Ansel Adams

Why am I a photographer? One of the family values growing up was appreciating outdoor beauty. The family traveled to National and state parks, we would stop along the way and appreciate the views. From my very first box Kodak Brownie camera I tried to capture the beauty that I saw in nature. I am still trying. Photography, for me is the opportunity to capture and hold the beauty that I see in the world. There is always more beauty, more opportunity to improve making what I capture match the beauty seen in the minds eye.

My father, introduced me to the outdoors. I spent my early summers with my Aunt & Uncle in the mountains playing and learning my way around.

I am proud that I have passed on to my sons the love of the outdoors, photography, and beauty. On their first backpacking trip, we were above timber line looking at the Western Divide when my son said, ‘Dad, I had no idea that there was a place like this on earth’ . I don’t have memories of what I might have said to my Dad, I hope that the words were as moving as my son’s were to me.

Do you, or do your photos reflect a memory of a time before?

If you love photography, then you might find it interesting to take some moments of introspection and go down memory lane and find out what is it about photography calls on you to keep taking pictures? This may not make your photos any better, but it will likely bring greater enjoyment of the photos you do take.