Using a Point & Shoot -Traveling Lessons

13. May 2015 · Comments Off on Using a Point & Shoot -Traveling Lessons · Categories: How to, Locations, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,
San Carlos de Beriloche, Argentina
Lake Traful, Argentina

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

    It was windy

  • No polarizing filter; the sky has big beautiful puffy clouds that just are not coming out  IMG_2624
  • 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)IMG_2677  IMG_2530
  • 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,

Dreary weather – The Cat in the Hat

16. March 2015 · Comments Off on Dreary weather – The Cat in the Hat · Categories: memory, Mental Process, Philosophy, Uncategorized

“The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.”   The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss

North Zion -What would the Cat in the Hat do on a dreary cold day?

North Zion What would the Cat in the Hat do on a dreary cold day?

The Cat in the Hat… and photography?  What could the   The Cat in the Hat possibly have to do with photography.  As with so much of Dr. Suess (aka Ted Geisel), his stories had morals built into them.
It is Sunday of a men’s ski weekend, and it is drizzly rain outside. What can be done? I have been convinced that the rain hasn’t ruined all the snow, so later we will try skiing. Laurie in large lupine What does all of this have to do with photography? or Fall Colors? Well with my passion around photography, this time gives me an opportunity to visualize and rehearse. The technique has long been used by athletes, and studies are showing that the mental rehearsing changes the brain to make it easier or more familiar. So, I use it here as well as with athletic things.

What do I rehearse? The number one thing that I visualize is checking composition; checking the corners, checking to see where the lines are. I imagine myself checking the focus point; is it on the eye?

CSL,Santa

CSL,Santa

or if it is a landscape, how is the depth of field?.

All of this checking may not be as rewarding as a day in the field but, constructive day dreaming is way better than worrying or being upset with the weather.
This is kind of like the fisherman who organizes the tackle box waiting to go fishing. And when rehearsing gets old, I remember beautiful places and the expectation to visit more of them.

What do you rehearse? Why not rehearse something that is enjoyable and beneficial when you have time rather than the something negative? Try reading Dr. Suess.

“The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.”   The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss

 

Details – Learnings from a workshop

11. March 2015 · Comments Off on Details – Learnings from a workshop · Categories: Mental Process, patience, Philosophy, processing photos, Uncategorized

The Courthouse from main streat

The details are not the details. They make the design. Charles Eames

 

Success is the sum of details.   Harvey S. Firestone

Now this is a laugh!  Me with ADHD, the big picture guy writing about details!  But maybe that is why this is an important note for me.  Four months ago, I took Charlie Cramer workshop on printing.  Now I love printing photos, and I already knew most of the techniques that Charlie taught. What I didn’t recognize until recently, was what it was that I did learn.  Paying attention to details.  In lots of different ways, the message was pay attention to details, not just the big picture; the big picture takes care of itself if the details are observed.

I was reviewing some photos of the southwest that I had previously posted on my site.  Wander through the galleries and see if you can detect the details that have not been attended to ! In reviewing the photos, I was appalled at the poor quality that I had posted before.  I haven’t updated all of the photos yet, it takes time…. Details I noticed that had escaped me the first time around.

  • Spots, particularly in the sky
  • Halos
  • Shadows too blocked up
  • Horizons not quite flat
  • Unsharpened photos
  • Not cropped well
  • Photos too dark

It is amazing the improvement in quality in the photos from paying attention to the series of details that are available.  It wasn’t as if any of these things was new at all, but was new was instilling the eye to be able recognize the series of details that needed attending too!

One of my photographer sons says over and over, when I talk with him (sons are like that, probably learned some place LoL) is that we have to become ‘engaged with the picture’ but I think I might answer back, pay attention to the details, the picture will take of itself..