is hootnik on

It's Getting Better All The Time

2011-06-30T22:11:00.015-05:00

Nikon D200, 70mm, 1/750 @ f/4.5, ISO 400

Music. Music In Plymouth. There is nothing better than gathering a few thousand people on a beautiful summer night in front of a large band shell nestled at the foot of a natural amphitheatre. Plymouth is another suburb, just over there a little ways, and every summer before the Fourth of July, they throw an extraordinary party celebrating our heritage, our culture, our freedom and humanity! Quite possibly the only event of its kind that I will attend until next year’s event. This was the 39th anniversary of Music In Plymouth christened “It’s Getting Better All The Time.”

Last night we were running a bit late and didn’t arrive until the end of what sounded like a local swing band’s set. The grounds were buzzing with summer and covered with the customary “stake-your-claim” family tarps fortified by the circling wagons of nylon camp chairs. We found our place among the others in our tribe (who had earlier staked our claim for us) and to many exchanges of courtesy we unpacked the cooler and settled in for a light supper.

Nikon D200, 70mm, 1/500 @ f/4.5, ISO 640

It escapes me the number of times we’ve attended but I know we have enjoyed it every time possible for at least the last eleven years or so.

The next performance was a nice little surprise, I think for most, as I don’t remember Music In Plymouth ever having a good blues band open for the Minnesota Orchestra. But, this year they did. Lamont Cranston. I saw Lamont Cranston open for Hall & Oates at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA circa 1981. Thirty frickin’ years ago! They had Charlie Bingham and Bruce McCabe with them and were a wicked good opening act back then. Out promoting their “Shake Down” album “Upper Mississippi Shakedown” was getting a lot of airplay.

These guys brought back memories of The Cabooze, Five Corners Bar, The 400 Bar, The Blues Saloon, The Uptown and Archie’s Bunker: cornerstones of a vibrant 1980’s music scene! Now, thirty years later, it was like we all got back together for another bottle of Pabst and a round of head bobbin’ feet shufflin’ blues that went right to the soul.

Nikon D200, 300mm, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Nikon D200, 300mm, 1/320 @ f/5.6, ISO 640

Nikon D200, 140mm, 1/160 @ f/4.8, ISO 640

I love working the crowd with my camera and have all sorts of fun. Children, their faces painted like animals or America, or just sparkly with purple hair, ribbons and all sorts of attire, are especially giving subjects. I went down toward the stage as I always do to get some photos and people were dancing with every bit the enthusiasm of thirty years past. But … these people were children almost twenty years younger, yet! Dancing, singing and air-guitaring to the blues!!!

Nikon D200, 300mm, 1/1000 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

The Minnesota Orchestra has always held a special place in my heart. They are so good and absolutely magnificent to listen to. But even the rousing finale of the “1812 Overture” and the world’s most recognized piccolo passage from “Stars and Stripes Forever” were overshadowed by the sight of boys and girls not even in junior high dancing, singing and moved by an art form that is as uniquely American as the blues.

Nikon D200, 240mm, 1/90 @ f/5.3, ISO 640

Thanks Lamont.
View full Music in Plymouth image set on Flickr

The Marathon ... sort of

2009-10-08T21:51:00.004-05:00

The Twin Cities Marathon was last Sunday. It's a great event and over the last few years my brother-in-law has run which gives us a lot of good reason to get out and attend. Not only that but, we're the pit crew. We drive the course through all the neighborhoods to meet up with Steve about every five miles ... seven of us. In a Dodge Caravan. It's fun stuff.

This year was no different. I usually get some nice event pictures, the obligatory group shot of the "crew" and of the tortured soul of my brother-in-law. But, that's not what I'm here to talk to you about ... what I really want to talk about are the interesting things we saw along the way ...

The race begins in downtown Minneapolis and so the first stop, five miles from the start, is Lake Calhoun. We get there usually around 7:45 am. The first competitors get there just around 8:30. So, there's some time to get a few shots of the ambiance.

Once we got to the runners my favorite feature of the day turned out to be the footwear. Until Converse got their hands on some colored canvas, shoes were pretty much white when I was a kid.

We made our way through south Minneapolis to the Lake Nikomis neighborhood (our third stop) where we ran across a few interesting things. We had parked the car and were making our way to mile fourteen when we ran across this chair. It was just sitting out by the curb in front of, I assume, the owner's house. Perhaps it was used for gardening, hard to tell ... but here it was on display, right in the front yard. In fact, on the easement between the curb and the sidewalk. It was quaint, simple, curious. Definitely something that needed to be recorded.

But, that wasn't all. We were walking back to the car when we turned up this alley shortcut and ran into this great looking MGB ... bright yellow, mint condition. My guess ... a 1972. I had a black '67 when I was in high school but this one was in spectacular shape!

Over by the river we cut across at mile twenty-one. In Saint Paul, the Lake Street bridge had this view to offer.

This Marathon thing is actually pretty cool, lasts about as long as a football game, that is if you're following someone that can run the damn thing in just over three hours and finishes up at a big gathering in front of the State Capitol Building.

We got there about ten minutes before Steve crossed the finish line. The sky had been working up a threat most of the morning but held off until I got this shot of the Quadriga. Then it started to rain ... that was cool, we were done.

Quintessential Majesty

2009-10-02T20:13:00.008-05:00

Generally speaking, I'm an animal lover but, rarely photograph them unless my dog happens to be the only subject available. I did however, get a couple of shots that I really liked. This is Dakota. He's my sister's dog and a beautiful one at that! A Siberian Husky would be my guess ... docile, affable, just a great dog.

While strolling past Lake LaVerne the swans are always a marvelous attraction. This one was preening its feathers showing off his wing. For as long as I can remember this little lake in front of the Iowa State Memorial Union has been populated with two swans ... 1959 would be my first recollection of them: Lancelot & Elaine.

Alma Mater ... All My Matter

2009-09-30T21:13:00.006-05:00

Was back home in Ames this last weekend on the ISU Campus ... one of my favorite places to photograph. Howe Hall, College of Design were all targets.

Engineering: Howe Hall

College of Design: Atrium of the King Pavilion

I was really taken with the new King Pavilion at the College of Design. The spaces there are loosely defined by screens separating the class spaces and in the center was an atrium for lecture, presentation and discussion that was literally nothing more that a smooth concrete floor with a shit-load of chairs on wheels. A class can take any form that it wants. Move and flow with presenters, mix, formalize, and morph into a completely different character with the next set of students ... it's great!

College of Design: Atrium chair changing color

Song in Autumn

2009-09-30T06:49:00.004-05:00

This is most definitely autumn. And despite the cliche, there is music to be found in the trees. My mom has a small maple tree in her backyard that gets hit with some awesome light early in the morning. Here's a product of that complete with two eighth notes right off the page of Nature's newest symphony.

If you don't see the notes, click on the image which will take you to Flickr, wave your magic cursor (that's mouse talk for pointer) and see the embedded note.

Hello! Anybody!?!

2009-09-16T20:13:00.007-05:00

Something I ran across a couple of weeks ago has been stewing my grey-matter quite a bit. It's a project, a gift, an inspiration, a great idea. Jeremy Cowart, a professional photographer working out of Nashville conceived of a project called "Help-Portrait." It's for all photographers and I've been thinking a great deal about participating ... check it out:

Have any of you heard about this, thought about this? Are you sitting on the fence, like me? Pass the word and let's start making some connections. Let me know!

Follow on Twitter.
Follow on Facebook.

Stop This Immediately

2009-07-29T20:48:00.009-05:00

Dear Fellow Photographers,

Please don't do this anymore. "What do you mean," you ask? You know exactly what I mean. Don't take pictures of models in this pose. Don't! Just don't. It's not attractive. It's not comely. It's not sophisticated. It's not classy, chic or elegant and it's absent of any intended attitude or refinement. It doesn't do anything for the model and shouldn't be in your portfolio or the model's for that matter. It scares me that Flickr is loaded with this pose. Where did it come from? Who started it all? Do I know them? Is there legal action we could take?

Models, if you find yourself doing this pose, stop! Photographers, if you see models posing like this, don't click the shutter. If you get one by mistake, I forgive you but, get rid of it. Photographers, if you're making your models pose in this pose, stop and models refuse!

Thank you
Committee to Get Rid of This Pose

Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this post is not about the technical qualities of image production including lighting, exposure, or post processing. It is not meant to challenge the integrity of any photographer's art or craft or model's talent and abilities. It has only to do with the unfortunate use of the following described pose: hand on knee, hand on hip, shoulder forward, contorted (nobody stands like that!). Should you have a counter-opinion you may express it in a comment or feel free to keep it to yourself. This post is offered as is and implies no binding obligation to follow its advice. It's intention represents nothing more than promoting the concept of ending the making of images of said pose and models posing in said pose.

A special and sincere thank you to the photographers whose images illustrated the pose perfectly.

Portrait Night

2009-07-28T20:32:00.007-05:00

Well ... it was Portrait Night the other night. I'm not sure what the inspiration was; probably the combination of wanting to try a little different technique and being tired of sitting around and waiting.

Our house has been in flux a little lately. Lots of stuff going on and the traditional spaces just aren't available for doing a portrait shoot. So, I grabbed all my stuff, draped my old backdrop over the fence in the backyard and set up.

I had gotten a small, square soft-box (20" x 20") for a hot shoe flash a while ago and haven't had much of a chance to use it. I've also seen Joe McNally use a strobe below the subject and bounce it up off a gold reflector ... adding some warmth and softening the light.

Paul

That's what I did - my setup consisted of an SB800 shot into the soft-box positioned camera left, 45 off subject but feathered forward slightly. I have a 42" lite disc with a gold side that I laid down in front of my imaginary subject and bounced an SB600 into the gold reflector and presumably into the face of my ... ahem ... model. Now ... who's gonna be the model?

You know you live in a good neighborhood when you can go across the street and solicit a body for portraits 'cuz they're not doing anything but waiting for their pizza to arrive. Duke and Paul came over. They're actually neighbors, too, sharing a driveway and both are great subjects. Paul's a web guy and Duke's into repos.

Duke

This was about 9:00pm so we were just seeing the last rays of sunlight. I didn't expect any ambient light for the shots so eliminated it with the exposure settings. I set up the camera thusly: ISO 100, Manual Mode, 1/250 @ f/9, WB = Flash. BTW, I'm using my trusty 18-70mm DX EIEIO.

Then I chimped in the flash power settings (SB800 @ 1/8 power & SB600 @ 1/16 power). Actually, before the boys came over my wife helped me get the initial setup and Karlyn actually sat for a shot.

Although, not quite as enthusiastically as I might have hoped. Still got a nice shot, though.

I really liked working with the soft-box; completely different light control versus the shoot-through umbrella. Not necessarily better; umbrellas definitely have a great place in my photographic arsenal but, different. Controlling the direction and spill is what's great about the soft-box.

The reflector on the ground below the subject is a really nice effect that adds some needed warmth without looking "filter-ish" and "post-processy." It added some welcome light up underneath Duke's cap and opened up his face and eyes. Nice touch. Thanks for the idea, Joe!

Just a couple of notes ...

2009-07-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

There are a couple of resources that I use quite a bit that I want to share with you. Strobist is a really great resource for a lot of information. If you’ve never been there, it’s a “Must Bookmark” for every photographer that has ventured passed ambient light – ie. Using a flash of any sort. It’s a blog hosted by David Hobby.

Anyway, I was reading Strobist the other day and ran across the following video on Street Portraiture which I found very interesting. It demonstrates the relationship between man and photography with amazing clarity and a profound spirit. It was actually published at Wired.com, Strobist embedded it on their site and now I, here, to share most conveniently with you.

Actually, I’ve been interested in finding an excuse for embedding video as a resource on my blog and this seemed like a fitting start. So, enjoy!

Another resource that I’ve been using lately is called DTown TV, the Weekly Show for Nikon DSLR Users. It is hosted by Scott Kelby (of National Association of Photoshop Professionals fame) and Matt Kloskowski (of Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips fame). Both are famous for their photography and share much of their experience in their blogs, DVD’s, books and in videos on DTown. They have currently published 22 episodes all of which are worth a click. Find them here. You can subscribe to DTown in iTunes and download the episodes as video podcasts as well. I’d embed one of their videos but they seem to be less accommodating … no embed link.

A Wedding Now & Then

2009-07-22T21:44:00.009-05:00

Now, I've never actually witnessed a wedding in the Sculpture Garden and they may not book or even allow weddings to be performed there ... being a well-trafficked attraction. But, plenty of people get married elsewhere and make the trip to the garden on their special day to capture their memories in this unique landscape.

Little did Claes Oldenburg expect his cherry to be so copiously embedded in the American matrimonial memory or spraying out the top of some poor schmuck's head while grasping the only person who could share the experience with the same abandon.

Weddings over the last forty years have become more about getting the groom's tuxedo for free by increasing the size of the wedding party than celebrating a ritual steeped in tradition. Weddings were really ugly in the seventies. I don't know if it was the hair, the powdered blue ruffle themes or the bell-bottom tuxedo pants but, they were really ugly. I'm not so sure they've tamed down since then although they seem to have become more like a mixed drink that has sat at the bar too long.

Anyway, I saw this couple getting their wedding portraits done that had a much more modest sense of what they'd just done. It may be because they were young, it may be because they've struggled as a minority, it may be because they were catholic, but I hope it was because they have a little more respect than the rest of us. They certainly possessed the dignity.

I chose to process these in black and white. That was the way my parent's wedding was filmed back in 1955. There was something special about that time in photography. For many were again a first, maybe second generation of immigrants looking to prolong the dream ... classic, traditional, respectful. And those are the qualities I saw in these young people and their wedding party.

The boys gathered around the cutest girl, her dress a fuchsia cotton. She played the part of Nature's inspiration with an ease only innocence and youth could perform. She was perfectly sweet and they were perfectly engaged.

The groomsmen uncomfortably pocketed their hands and shuffled about wishing there was something to do, hoping to win their own girl and awkwardly maturing in front of the camera.

Normally, I'm not much for nostalgia ... romance maybe, but I'd rather the pendulum swung back and cherry-picked the things done well and avoided most of the fashions.

Summer's Half Full

2009-07-18T23:15:00.008-05:00

Actually, Summer's half over. But, optimistically still seems half under ... er ... half, well ... there's still half of it left. I haven't taken the time to blog lately which is not my intention. I just seem to be changing the focus of the blog from a technical discovery blog to more of a self indulgent exchange. I'm sure it will evolve into something else entirely as time marches.

I had a nice afternoon, yesterday. Went on my own photo-walk and ran across some interesting things I thought I'd share: an interesting guy with an interesting beard and hat, a model wearing a bridal gown, a young boy feeding the ducks, a nice lunch and some red shoes. All in a day's walk.

My first stop was at Parade Park where there was a festival celebrating bike-riding. I gathered that the main theme was dress up in costume, ride your bike over, listen to some live music, get drunk, eat some over-priced food and generally show-off. All to support bike-riding. I suppose versus other modes of transportation.

This guy was the first interesting character I encountered and I got a nice shot. Although my favorite shot was the red shoes. I couldn't image riding a bicycle with these shoes and I'm not sure how she might even walk to the event in them but, they offered a great photo op.

Parade Park is right next to the Sculpture Garden which was a-buzz with activity. Perhaps from the festival but, usually it is busy on a nice Saturday afternoon. There I saw this young boy feeding the ducks and a woman in a bridal gown.

This young boy was with his family who seemed to be taking a picnic break from the bike-riding festival. He was obviously dressed for the celebration and delightfully distracted from his surroundings by the wildlife.

As it turned out ... this bride met with a couple of photographers and a groom at the north arbor of the garden for a photo shoot. I happened to catch her on her way. She was intent on her mission, had the gown under control but struggled a little with her heals in the soft grass ... very focused.

The most interesting encounter occurred when I stopped in at a favorite restaurant (really more of a deli or bistro) and had lunch. I took some time making my choice at the counter, purchased my food and sat at a table next to the window ... I'm thinking, what beautiful light! I've got to get a picture of lunch. So, I snap a few shots (50mm f/1.4 set at f/4).

At this point I was approached by an employee, I can only assume she was the manager that day, who asked what I was taking pictures of. I thought I was pretty straight-forward with her explaining that I was taking a picture of my lunch. She asked, "Why?"

My response was that I'm an amateur photog that simply sees a nice image in front of them. To which she replied, "I'm not that gullible."

"I'm not that gullible." Now, what do you say to that!?!

The conversation ended with me offering to delete the images if she was uncomfortable but she said, "I want you to stay just stop taking pictures of our food." At this point it wasn't worth making any further issue but I had to think that the $20 I just paid for the food would rightfully make it mine and not theirs. I could have gotten it to go and photographed it to my delight without interruption anywhere else.

I can only imagine what she was really afraid of and I suppose she's in a position where she might feel the need to protect the proprietary rights of her employer however, I could be someone who was interested in promoting her business, too.

I could blog about D'Amico's restaurant in Golden Valley, tell my readers how wonderful the food is, that they should try to get there and experience the patio, drink free refills of the house wines and especially have one of the molasses cookies which are to die for!

But, I don't blog about restaurants. I'm an amateur photographer who photographs interesting things.

After Photography

2009-01-03T19:54:00.006-06:00

The other day, I was reading a blog post titled After Photography on Chase Jarvis' blog which inspired me to comment.

The posting conveyed the release of a new book by NYU photography professor, Fred Ritchin, titled, After Photography, which explores the democratization and manipulation of photography via digital cameras and computers.

I don't know anything about this book. I've never held it, seen it in the stores, or even read it. But, I see the democratization of photography happening and I have seen ridiculous scenarios involving image manipulation on CSI.

After I blurted out my comment I took pause to consider what I had said and why. I was surprised that most of the previous comments centered around the feeling of infringement photographers felt with talented image manipulators ... PhotoShop'ers.

And the photographers felt put out that Nikon and Canon (as well as others like Apple, Nokia, etc.) dared put easy-to-use cameras in the hands of mere amateurs! They're giving our secrets away! Nobody's gonna want us photographers (present and would-be) to take pictures!

I would have hoped to find someone commenting on an article Chase posted early last month The Secret to Success in Photography reminding others that success is being "Undeniably Good" which would fend off even some of the most fervent amateurs. Or comment on the responsibility that comes with journalistic image making. How much can someone trust you to truthfully depict a newsworthy event? Are you showing an otherwise unknowledgeable public an accurate story with your images or violating the trust they have no choice but to give you, the image-maker?

That's a question of reputation that only you can build for yourself! A thousand amateurs will always be questioned about their integrity because they have no reputation. Build yourself the best you can. Be undeniably good and you won't have to bitch about those damn camera manufacturers and their customers muscling in on your territory.

Then, all we'll have to work on is the photo-editors and photo-buyers hoping they have the integrity we aspire to build for yourselves.

Winter Is Back

2009-01-03T19:32:00.007-06:00

It's been a long time since we've had a "Minnesota Winter" here in Minnesota. That may sound strange because every time you talk with someone from somewhere else they always ask if it's cold here or comment that, "It must be cold up there." We get comments like that year round. But, we really haven't had a "Minnesota Winter" here since about 1983. That's a quarter of a century of diminishing reputation, waning integrity, forgotten folklore, melting celebrity!

Now that the economy is in the crapper, we have the snow and still can't sell the snowmobiles! Oh well, those who have snowmobiles can use them without excessive transport.

I was at Lyons Park today and there were a lot of people riding the hill.

Note: Don't forget to overexpose your images 1 to 2 stops when shooting in the snow. See my post Snow White and the 2 Stop Overexposure.

i shoot nikon

Ode to Fluffy

2008-12-30T11:00:00.015-06:00

Fluffy was a nasty cat. But, that's not why we put her down on Sunday, December 28, 2008. Fluffy was suffering. Her kidneys had shut down and she was severely dehydrated ... it was the humane thing to do. From what we can gather, Fluffy was around 18 years old. She came to my wife at six and that was almost three years before Sue and I got married. We've been married for almost ten years ... so, Fluffy was old. She was 88 in cat years. That's a long time for a family pet.

It's hard to tell if Fluffy ever really liked anybody. Visitors were cautioned about her disposition and frequent visitors shied away and kept their distance. She could be brutal and indifferent yet, still sought affection and gave companionship albeit on her terms.

As much as she could be a threat, she could be a complete goof. There was nothing she liked more than boxes. Any open box immediately became Fluffy Headquarters. If the box lid was folded shut, it immediately became Fluffy Lookout Tower. Cardboard was her preference but, an open briefcase would suffice.

It was the oddest thing that truly endeared her to us. As she aged we were her friends, her comfort, her assisted living center, her box provider.

Over the last couple of years Fluffy was having increasing difficulty getting to her perches; the couch, her chair, anything that required her rear legs to propel her to a level above the floor. She took to howling and we don't think she could hear very well. As she became pitiful and weak her majesty never waned. Her coat was flat and matted ... but, she loved to be brushed. During a typical brushing one could easily remove enough hair to make another cat. In fact, several cats over time.

Unfortunately, relieving herself became much more convenient wherever she was versus in her designated box always in the laundry room. She may have been perfectly okay with that but to us it became more and more undignified ... definitely signs of things to come. She was waning.

It's very sad. She had a comfortable and long life and as much as she tormented some (including the dog, although the dog was onto her more than we were) she was still our cat, very much a part of our family and above all, our pet. And so ... here's to Fluffy! The crotchety old curmudgeon who will haunt our lives forever and remain perched on our hearts for a long time. We love you Fluffy and we will miss you.

i shoot nikon

Transitions - and other bittersweet changes

2008-11-22T11:13:00.015-06:00

I understand that I haven't posted anything new for a long time. Although, I'm really surprised at how many hits this blog still harvests. Thank you everyone for your patronage. It's nice to know that I can contribute something to our community.

Times are changing ... the economy is in the shithouse, my 401(k) looks like a deflated Under Dog balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Big Three want $25 billion to cover the mistakes they've been making since Jimmy Carter was in office.

On the up side, I bought gasoline for $1.62/gal this morning, we have a new president, and I found a brand new, in the box, untouched warranty card, Nikon D200 on sale at Amazon for $799. With the blessing of my beautiful bride I was even allowed to purchase it. As of this writing it is in Indianapolis having shipped from Lexington, Kentucky yesterday on it's way to Minneapolis scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. I'm very excited.

Unfortunately, I will have to sell my D70s. The camera that got me started on digital photography. A great little camera with only a few drawbacks (for me) I've discovered. I toiled with this decision for a long time. Especially with the questions about which other camera. Is the newest technology really essential? Is the expense something I can live with and/or prosper from? The D300, D700, even the D90 seemed to be much more than I was willing to deal with. I just wanted a kick-ass Nikon workhorse that won't let me down ... reputation comparable to the F2 so many years ago.

Here's what I think I've gotten over the D70s: a broader ISO range, a larger (and much needed) LCD screen, much more accessible functionality, 67% more pixels, heftier build, 2 more frames per second, 10 more focus areas, better subject tracking, noise reduction, and a little bit of an ego boost. Is that fair?

I purchased the D70s under similar conditions. It's production was discontinued in 2006. I bought mine in November of 2006. The D200 production may not be discontinued but it's close ... at least it seems to be at closeout prices.

Anyway, the D70s has served me well. I've made a little money with it, I've re-learned the fundamental principles of photography, I've ventured into flash photography including off-camera (something I had never done before), I'm having a blast sharing with other photogs on the likes of Flickr and I'm looking to demand more from my camera.

Just as a sidenote: When I was still shooting film I was using a Nikon N90s. What a great camera! The D200 is very similar so it's almost a homecoming. I'm looking forward to the change but I'll always remain thankful for my D70s, my training wheels.

Before:

After:

i shoot nikon

South By Southwest

2008-04-22T15:52:00.004-05:00

We escaped Frostbite Falls and spent the later part of March in Arizona. The itinerary included Phoenix, Fountain Hills, Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, and Sedona. It quickly becomes very obvious why it's one of the most photographed areas of the United State once you step outside your door ... no matter where that door is.

This is one of my favorite shots. We were at the Bright Angel Trail trail head about 800 yards down the trail when it turned back running parallel to the Bright Angel Lodge which you see at the summit on the right. Afternoon had been about two hours on when the canyon started to cloud over. The Sun still found its way into the gorge through broken clouds and offered some great color and depth.

Once you get to review your images on your laptop you realize that the Grand Canyon offers a great shot in every direction. I wandered around all afternoon with my D70s equipped with the 18-70 kit lens and just got great shot after great shot. I was very pleased.

Single Light Portrait

2008-03-10T11:01:00.012-05:00

I've been working on single light portrait techniques trying to use what I've learned on Strobist and in "Light Science & Magic" by Hunter, Biver and Fuqua.

First off ... let's cover the equipment:

Camera: D70s (ISO 200, WB Flash, Manual Mode)

Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 (like using a 75mm on a film camera)

Strobes: SB-800 & SU-800

Modifier: 43" White, Shoot-through umbrella

Stand: Westcott & Justin clamp

Background: mottled, gray muslin

The D70s will sync at high shutter speeds (1/500) than most cameras so, I wanted to make sure that I took advantage of that. The way I came to the exposure was I started by setting the shutter speed to 1/250th and snapped some images without the flash firing until the image was completely black. (Note: that the normal room lights were at about 50%.

This gave me an exposure setting of 1/250th @ f/8. I didn't want the background to reflect much of the warmer ambient light if I could help it. Now, I knew that I didn't want to have the background in focus so I opened the f-stop up to f/1.4 and increased the shutter speed to 1/500th.

For those of you doing the math that would actually give me about a 2 stop underexposure of the background instead of completely black which was tolerated for this shot. Then I would chimp in the amount of flash power needed.

When I set up the umbrella, there were two things that had always concerned me. 1) is the flash set to the right zoom amount to fill the umbrella and 2) how can I get the flash head to point to the center of the umbrella. Previous attempts just didn't seem to get a nice soft, well balanced light even when I shot through the umbrella.

I set up the umbrella so that it would reflect the light instead of shooting the flash through the umbrella. Then, instead of using the flash shoe on the umbrella holder I put a Justin clamp on the post underneath the holder and positioned the flash head so that it pointed straight up the umbrella shaft into the center. I think that this was the first big improvement that I made to the setup.

Once the flash was positioned, I triggered the flash and moved the umbrella closer or further away from the flash until (at 50mm zoom) the light filled the umbrella without spill. That was the second big improvement I made to the setup.

After that, the setup was pretty traditional. I positioned the umbrella at a 45 degree angle to the subject camera left and raised it so it pointed about 30 degrees down to the subject. I made some further adjustments as I shot to get some light on the background in order to give some definition to the outline of the subject.

The SB-800 was set to remote and assigned to Group A/Channel 3. I was able to control it from the SU-800 that was on the camera. The group and channel combination are not that important here. The SU-800 and SB-800 allow me to use any combination of Group/Channel. Group A/Channel 3 just happens to be what I chose and had nothing to do with the only group/channel combination on the D70s to fire a remote flash using the built-in flash in Commander Mode. (See Strobist Style with a Nikon D70s). The SU-800 takes the D70s' limitation out of the picture.

The flash ended up being set to 1/128th power for the entire shoot and was positioned about a meter from the subject. The subject was almost 2 meters from the background, this gave a nice fall-off of the light but still added definition to the subject with just enough light hitting it.

Then, with my trusty ML-L3 remote, I fired away. I was really looking to get that triangle of light described in Light Science & Magic under the left eye in this case.

In the next session I'll compare this setup to a setup with the addition of a reflector camera right to lift some of the shadow from the unlit side of the subject.

Snow White and the 2 Stop Overexposure

2007-12-05T11:14:00.001-06:00

This past weekend we had our first big snow fall, got some more last night and they're predicting more for this week. So, it only seems appropriate that I post something here about shooting snow. Snow is very bright and many of us have a hard time capturing that quality in our snow images. They usually come out gray and muddy. So, for my benefit, I'll talk through the problem and consequently give you something to chew on the next time you're shooting snow.

Here's the deal ... the problem is your camera's exposure meter. Especially, if you're using 3D Matrix metering, or even center-weighted metering. The meter looks at the scene and calculates an "average" value to use to expose the image. In other words, the meter looks at the really dark areas, the really bright areas and all the values in between and comes up with an average that we trust will expose the image properly. Unfortunately, the image doesn't workout that way.

Just for the record the "average" that I'm talking about is technically known as 18% gray. Essentially, black is black (0%) and white is white (36%) meaning that photographic black reflects 0% of the light shining on it and photographic white reflects 36% of the light shining on it. The camera's meter takes all that into account and returns an exposure value base on the 18% benchmark ... or average.

This works great for a scene with 50% dark values and 50% light values. The problem arises when you shoot a snowy scene because usually much more than 50% of the scene is reflecting 36% light or photographic white. So, consequently the exposure meter suggests a value that is one or two stops too low or underexposed turning that beautiful white snow to a muddy gray. Bummer.

There are a few different approaches you can take to counteract the camera's proclivities to underexpose snow and luckily they're all pretty simple.

First off ... using 18% gray as our benchmark if I underexpose an image by four stops I can achieve photographic black. On the other hand if I overexpose by two stops I can achieve photographic white. Give it a try. After all, you're shooting digital now and you won't be wasting any resources. See what you come up with.

So, for the first trick ... you can assume that you need to overexpose by 2 stops to achieve photographic white. Working in manual exposure mode it's easy enough to crank your exposure open 2 stops on every shot. If you're using one of the auto modes (Aperture, Shutter, Program) you can set an exposure compensation value of +2. Using the program modes you may have a setting for shooting in snow (sometimes indicated with a snowman\sun icon) or you can select one of the other program modes and leave your exposure compensation value at +2. This is the best solution when shooting with a modern, compact point and shoot camera ... set your exposure compensation to at least +1 but no more than +2.

The trick that I like is set the D70/70s to manual mode. Set the aperture you want for your subject ... perhaps f/8 and then point your D70/70s to the sky. While looking at the sky, set the shutter speed so the exposure is correct ... not underexposed and not overexposed. Then, shoot away at the subject. Once you point your camera back at the subject you'll notice in the viewfinder that the exposure meter is overexposing the scene somewhere between 2/3 stops and 2 stops. The nice thing is the exposure seems to be more accommodating to the overall scene. Metering off the sky tends to give you a more precise exposure based on the light that's reaching the subject versus the light that is reflecting off the subject.

If you have the time to take you can use a gray card and set your meter to the light that is reflecting off the gray card subject. Test the difference between using a gray card and using the sky. They're real close! And since a gray card isn't always at hand using the sky is a great convenience!

This one of Bailey I purposefully overexposed by more than 2 stops so that she just faded into the white surroundings. At least that demonstrates the control you have and it's fun playing around with principles of physics ... isn't it?

Hope this helps! Thanks for reading.

i shoot nikon

Yeah Mom, it's a Nikkor ... uh huh ... 50mm f/1.4

2007-11-28T08:36:00.000-06:00

I got a new lens. Well ... new to me anyway. I found a very slightly used Nikon 50mm f/1.4 prime at a local camera store at a very, more than slightly reasonable price! I haven't shot with a prime lens for a long time and had forgotten about the magnificent things that can be done with a fast lens.

I'm used to shooting with lenses that range in maximum aperture from f/3.5 to f/4.5. I guess once you're used to that the maximum aperture becomes pretty innocuous. So, it can be quite shocking to first discover that what would have been shot using say f/3.5 @ 1/30 can now be shot at f/1.4 @ 1/125 is a startling difference! Now you start thinking you may have been bitten by a radio-active spider. I told you it's been a long time since I shot with a fast, prime lens. At first, you really need to watch your focus and DOF to make sure you're getting what you want. Probably, one of the nicer things about this lens is that on a digital camera the angle of view is slightly more acute giving you a 75mm f/1.4 portrait lens. This is very cool and well worth the expense. Not only that but, it focuses as close as 1.5 feet away which is pretty close and may someday qualify as a pseudo-macro. It's close anyway and nice bokeh!

Anyway ... I'm excited to add this lens to my modest arsenal and look forward to using it a lot.

i shoot nikon

Lightroom ... an exposé

2007-11-15T08:37:00.000-06:00

Starting with a disclaimer is usually a sign of ill will. But, I assure you that's not my intent. Anyway ...

"This is not a review, this is not a promotion, this is not a sales pitch. This is a posting that simply tells you ... the reader ... about the experience I've had using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom".

There. I've said it. Now, let's move on.

First off, it's important to know that I made the decision to shoot digital so I need to manage my own image files versus a bunch of envelops with 4 x 6 prints. I also made the decision to shoot RAW (NEF in Nikon parlance) so, I need to do my own post processing. Alternatively, I could have the camera produce JPG's essentially doing the image processing in the camera and use a management tool like Nikon Picture Project or the like.

I've been using Lightroom for about a year. Last October I downloaded the beta version and contributed a little bit to it's development (actually, I might have posted a couple of responses on the development forum). It was exciting to see it change and evolve into a final product that was officially released February 2007.
Prior to downloading Lightroom, I had spent a lot of time with Photoshop. In fact, I had been using Photoshop since 5.0 and loved the stuff I could do with it, especially as a web developer.

When I made the leap to digital photography however, Photoshop became a huge drag to use. Not because of what it could do for an image but, because of what it couldn't do for many images as far as I was concerned. All of a sudden I needed Adobe Raw Converter (ARC) and Bridge (whatever that is) and an NEF plugin and all sorts of crap! Nikon View and Picture Project were closer to what I needed and yet seemed completely unconnected to the processes available in Photoshop. So, Lightroom encompassed all those needs and packaged them in one very powerful application. Adobe marketed Lightroom as "for photographers by photographers" so I bit hook, line and sinker.

I guess the nicest thing about an application like Lightroom (and it's competitors: Bibble, Aperture, and the like) was here is the "whole process" all lined up and ordered, ready to go. All I had to do was follow the formula and I was rockin'.

Importing & Library Management

The process that I use to get images into Lightroom's management system is first to create a folder for my images on the hard drive I use to store images. The folder name is today's date followed by a short, one or two word description. Like this: "20071112.Location.subject". That way the folders on the hard drive can be sorted into chronological order and are easy to keep track of when I copy them to a backup DVD.

Then, I move the original images from my compact flash card using a card reader to the new folder. Once I open Lightroom I can import the images from that folder to the Lightroom Library leaving the origs in the folder and just referencing them from the Library to the folder. This is a great feature.

Alternatively, I could set up a hard drive destination in Lightroom and import the images from my card to a sub-folder in that destination. Either way, Lightroom allows me to manage the original files, moving them, deleting them, etc.

Once Lightroom knows about your images there's a lot of work you can do to manage them. Images can be flagged "pick" or "reject." Then you can delete your rejects (from just Lightroom or from your hard drive). You can rate each image 1 through 5 stars. You can categorize them using color (red, yellow, green, blue, purple).

Here are the steps I use after importing each shoot:

Go through and flag rejects (obviously can't or won't use)

Delete rejects from hard drive

Go through and flag "picks" for further processing

Categorize the "picks" with color for needed processing (ex. red = red-eye, yellow = cropping, green = general processing, etc.)

Add keywords

After processing ... rate each image

Now, adding keywords to an image or many images can actually be done about anytime while you're in the Library view. Keywords are a lot of work. But, they are worth every minute you spend on them. Later you can very easily recall images based on keywords ... "give me all the images of flowers that are yellow with my dog Bailey." One or two clicks and you got 'em!

There are many other features of the Library but for now, they're beyond the scope of this post.

Darkroom -- Post Processing

In Lightroom this is the Develop module. You essentially work on one image at a time but then you can do one of two things: select another image and click "Previous" will apply all the last edits you did to the currently selected image or you can select multiple images including the original that was edited and click "Sync" which will apply all the last edits to all the selected images.

Here's what I do ... Lightroom has a navigation panel that runs along the bottom of the screen. Since I have already flagged my "picks", I set the filter to just display the picks. Then, I move to the Develop module and work on each pick individually. The only exception to that is if the images are so similar that a previous edit can be applied to multiple images as described above.

Generally, I follow the Develop module Basic tools making adjustments where necessary from top down. White balance ok? Skip that adjustment and move on to the next or adjust temperature or tint as needed. Move on to Exposure ... etc.

In most cases I do the following:

Adjust Exposure
Work on the tone curve
Adjust clarity, vibrance and saturation

In a number of cases I will crop the image prior to adjustments but, can actually crop anytime. If necessary, I can straighten the image, do spot touch-ups maybe later add vignetting. If I ever reach the limit of Lightroom's capabilities I can edit a copy of the image in Photoshop. The copy will be automatically included in the Lightroom Library right next to the original.

If I ever need two versions of an image, perhaps with different edits or effects applied, I can right-click any image and select Virtual Copy. That will make a second version of the original image with the applied edits that can be further altered and later be stacked with the original.

The best thing about the Develop Module or process is that Lightroom never alters the original file. It only applies the edits I make in the various views of the image.

Exporting Images for Publication

This is the part I like ... after you have finished developing your images, you can return to the Library Module, filter and select the images you want to work with and click on Export. Exporting the images is a routine that allows you to identify where you want to export to, devise a file naming pattern with sequence numbers, select a JPG quality level and a maximum dimension and resolution for the exported images. Once the images are exported you can take/send them to your favorite photo processing to get prints made, print them yourself, or upload to your favorite Flickr account or other internet gallery. It's very simple and fast!

At this point ... Lightroom has fulfilled my current needs and I look forward to taking more advantage of its capabilities to manage and publish client work. There are three more modules in the Lightroom arsenal Slideshow, Print and Web. These also make publishing a breeze. The Slideshow module lets you compose a slide show of selected images and save it as a PDF file to be distributed any way you like. Print helps you transform your images to prints on your own photo printer and the Web module produces the HTML files you need to publish a gallery or slide show to your website. Very cool stuff!

Resources for the curious

Lightroom Killer Tips

NAPP - Photoshop Lightroom Learning Center

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Hopefully this helps somebody get started with an imaging workflow. Because, that's what's needed. There are a number of tools out there that can help you as well as some logical techniques you can certainly employ yourself without all the folderol of learning another computer application. None-the-less, workflow can be daunting when you first realize that you have a mess! Just look at that big box under the bed with all those envelopes of 4x6 prints you've been meaning to put in albums since you graduated from college ... or since you got married ... or since you had kids ... or since you retired ... since you're here at your funeral service.

By the way ... the images in this post are screen shots I captured while working through Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. A resource worth looking into. Thanks Mr. Kelby!

i shoot nikon

Celebrating Our One Year Anniversary

2007-11-14T11:10:00.000-06:00

I have now been shooting with my D70s for one year. It is only fitting that I take a moment and celebrate this occasion. I promise I won't sing but, I can't dismiss the possibility of other inane pursuits. As a recap of the last 365 days regarding my venture into digital photography I've compiled the following list of things I've learned.

Since I can create images on a whim, I do. This means that I have many more images and need some way to manage them, organize, tag, and access. Thank god I have Lightroom [or insert your own preference].

I am the one in control of image destiny. There are no more fast photo processing places to correct exposure, red-eye, colors, etc. Thank god I have Lightroom [or insert your own preference].

I was reflecting this morning that I still have a hard time conforming to a pre-shoot routine. I have the "what-equipment-will-I-need" part down very well. What I keep forgetting to do is set ISO and white-balance (all questions that were answered pre-digital by the type of film I bought).

I love the fact that I can experiment; capture an image, learn from it, and try it again until I have it right without waiting for processing.

What comes easy to me does not come easy to my parents who also have a digital camera and want desperately for it to be as easy as shooting film. Note: Kodak's motto has always been, "You Press The Button and We Do The Rest."

I had shot with digital point-and-shoots prior to my D70s and missed plenty of moments because of the camera ... shutter lag. Now if I miss a moment it's a problem with my own abilities to anticipate.

I've shot Nikon since I bought my first Nikkormat when I graduated from high school ... Nikon still rocks!

As far as the D70s itself goes ... it has been the exact camera that I needed to get started in digital photography. Since I purchased the D70s I have added an SB-600 Speedlight, an SB-800 Speedlight, an SU-800 Speedlight controller, the Nikkor 18-70mm DX AF-S, and a Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124.

The only drawback I've had with the camera is the size of the LCD screen. A friend of mine just got a D40 and I definitely have LCD envy. Actually, I could probably get a new pair of glasses and the situation would be much improved. Although, that still wouldn't assuage my desires to upgrade my D70s to another fine Nikon. I contemplated a D80 when I was first in the market for a DSLR. But it was too expensive at the time. I've thought about a D200 and Nikon has started its rebate on that camera to clear out inventory since the release of the D300. I think I'll hold out until the D90 comes out. I don't know if they're actually devising one but, it makes sense that that could be a next step.

Until then, I love the D70s. It's a great camera and with the other gear I have it makes sense to hold on to it and keep doing what I'm doing. So, here's to next year! As this past year has been great!

i shoot nikon

Using Balanced Flash Fill

2007-11-13T10:59:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was back home for a few days and had the opportunity to shoot at a well populated skate park. Both days were really nice days so there was a lot of activity and the boarders were in the mood to show off.

The first day I showed up without a flash ... that is without anything beyond the on-board flash. The sun was low, being in the late afternoon so, shadows were kind of a problem with the sun coming through a lot of trees. Nice gobo effects however, unwanted. You can see by the results that faces are hidden or obscured with shadow and the contrast is a little over the top.

Shooting Information: Shutter Priority/ISO 320/Center Weighted/22mm f/6.3 @ 1/1000

On the second day under very similar conditions, I mounted the camera with my SB-800, set it for TTL BL and here are the following results. You can see how the shadows were lifted and the subjects were much more evenly lit. I think the results were much better.

Shooting Information: Aperture Priority/ISO 200/Center Weighted/40mm f/9 @ 1/320

I got some nice shots of the boarders that day but regret not having my flash on the first day. I also wish that I would have spent more time playing with the flash instead of setting it in TTL BL mode and just leaving it. It would have been nice to sync a lower speeds to capture some more of the motion. Well ... next time.

I did happen to get this shot that I like quit a bit. I'm not sure why ... maybe its the anticipation. Not sure.

i shoot nikon

Panning the Marathon

2007-10-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

I was at the Twin Cities Marathon today with a bunch of family ... in fact, we tailed my brother-in-law along the whole course. We met him at the first five-mile marker and every subsequent five miles after that. It's a fun little hopping game with a bunch of family in the van squeezing through the narrow double-parked streets of south Minneapolis. It was a beautiful day ... hot, and we had a great time.

I spent the day with my D70s and the 18-70mm kit lens. I really like this lens. I think it's almost an insult to call it a kit lens. This lens is very sharp, focuses fast, is light weight and looks cool, too.

Besides the obligatory pictures of the pit crew goofing around, I had the opportunity to try some panning with my camera and show some motion with the subject. I was shooting in aperture priority so I kept the f/stop high around f/22. This meant that the shutter was hovering around 1/15th to 1/30th of a second using ISO 200. I kept the focal length of the zoom at about 50mm. That gave me nice distance between me and the subject as I panned perpendicular to the street.

Here are some of the results ...

In the next couple of months I'd like to touch base on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I've been using it for almost a year now and have some things to say about how it has helped me. I'd like to find out what is hootnik on readers are using. Let me know. I'm not interested in starting big arguments just gather information and see what people think. Thanks all.

i shoot nikon

Custom Settings and other things D70

2007-09-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

Speaking of custom settings on the D70 & D70s, a friend of mine and I sat down with our cameras this weekend and I introduced him to the many custom settings and some of the logic behind them. Some of the settings are pretty obvious ... turn that damn beeping off! Other settings need some insight and explanation.

Now, I'll spare you the dissertation here and just give you a "heads-up" on PlanetNeil. Photographer Neil van Niekerk publishes this great blog on his work. And he happens to have a spec sheet that describes all the D70/s custom settings, how he uses them and why.

It's a great little resource and saves me from having to type all that stuff out. Here's the link to Neil's custom settings page: D70 Custom Settings. And another link to Neil's great content: Nikon D70 wireless TTL flash.

Thanks Neil ... hope you don't mind.

i shoot nikon

Hotdish and the Heisman Trophy

2007-09-18T21:59:00.000-05:00

Let's see ... thirty days has September, April, June and November ... what the hell happened to August!?! It was just here a minute ago! Man, I can't believe that September is here already and I still haven't deflated my pool toys yet. I'm two assignments down for Strobist Lighting102 and my schedule just keeps getting busier.

I'm sorry about that because I'm noticing a little more traffic here at is hootnik on and I need to accommodate even a modicum of interest with new content. I've actually had a lot to say but it's incomplete. For now, let me take you on a little adventure we like to call the "Great Minnesota Get Together."

That's right ... you missed it! The Minnesota State Fair. It's a beautiful event. Spiritual in every way that is only Minnesotan. In brief, a state fair is a gathering of folks that want to show off their wares, which in turn gathers more folks that need to eat and spend money ... or at least sign up for stuff. That is the fundamental spirit of this event. It lasts 12 days (through Labor Day) and you can see everything from a new calf being born to the Heisman Trophy. Back in 1941, Bruce Smith won the Heisman playing football for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Eating is a fundamental joy that, at the State Fair, only slightly transcends the primitive ritual from which it stems. Example ... the ridiculous manner by which it's accomplished ... that is, on a stick. It's very popular, almost requisite, to find something, preferably edible, put it on a stick, and sell it to people that have little if any manners. And the more creative the better. We're talking deep-fried candy bars and Hostess Twinkies, alligator, pork chops, all varieties of kabobs, stuff you can't pronounce, nor would you show to the kids.

Now it's important to understand that Minnesota is Scandahoovian country. A conglomeration of Northern European ancestry that, mixed with a conservative Lutheran backbone, comes out green Jello and hot dish. Hot dish is the common vernacular for "casserole." However, in its tradition, it has been elevated to the high art combination of ground beef, tater tots and cream-o-mushroom soup. For the record, Ole and Lena make a kabob alternating tater tots with meatballs, batter that bad boy, deep fry it and serve it with a generous side of aforementioned soup. Mmm mmm good!

But that's not all! Visiting dignitaries often border on the impossible. Remember Jesse Ventura, who wouldn't leave Minnesota, and Senator Norm Coleman who couldn't win anywhere else? Well, Santa comes here in August. I'm not sure why ... walleye and musky fishing won't pick up again until late September, camping is crippled with minnesquitoes and picnics can't escape the wasps. He must own a jet ski. Either that or Jimmy Jam's manse on Minnetonka has gone time share. Never-the-less, it makes the state fair an interesting place to hang out for the day.

Photographically, I had a hard time at the fair this year. I continued with my experiment working with center-weighted metering instead of 3D Matrix. I found overall that my images came out a little muddy, under-exposed even though highlights were blowing out. Lot's of sun is very difficult to shoot in. Most of the images I captured had to be on the run because I was there with family and that was really the purpose of the excursion. So, I feel lucky to have gotten anything. I shot in auto-aperture mode with my ISO set to 400. Even with all the bright sunshine I literally had to point and shoot relying a lot on the camera.

I was able to get this shot of the cowboys up on Heritage Hill and particularly enjoy the composition. The three white hats, the leisurely postures. Then I'd get a cup of coffee and give my foot a push. Just me and the pygmy pony over by the dental floss bush (Thanks FZ).

I always wanted to be a cowboy when I was a little kid but now I can't imagine living that ... even in the comfort of a heated, well-lit barn; a mud room with plenty of space to hang my hats and a basketball hoop along side the driveway. I think I'd be far too conscientious wearing a hat like that in the hood.

Still, it's one of my favorite shots from the day in that its authenticity is very human albeit contrasted with its contemporary surroundings and a bright red styro-foam cup.

Finally, I just want to point out the old adage ... "there's a comedian in every crowd". Here's the proof. Al Franken for Senator.

Vice-president New Guy: "The senate recognizes the distinguished Senator from Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken! ... who will be selling DVD's of his campaign out in the lobby after today's session."

Shine the light, Al. Shine the light.

i shoot nikon

Strobist: Cooking Light Assignment

2007-08-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

Okay ... so take what you've learned and apply it. Why is it so easy to forget?

The Assignment: ... photograph one or more kitchen utensils - knives, forks, spoons, whisks - whatever you like. The look you are going [f]or is that of ordinary object elevated to high art. Or at least commercial art, as this is the kind of thing that might appear as a catalog cover or in a calendar or on the wall of one of those ubiquitous "fast casual" restaurants.

The first piece of advice was something I unconsciously ignored: keep it simple.

I'm not sure why I started by over-thinking but I did. There always seems to be at least two ways to accomplish just about everything. Sometimes I start with sketching, formulate some image. Have a plan. Work loose and noodle until it's clear. Or because of computers, we tend to work tight, manipulate tight imagery into an even tighter image often times forcing the issue and achieving no real expression.

My first attempt is the perfect example of working too tight and forcing the issue. Here ... take a look and I'll explain. See Setup Here

This is a pretty nice image but really says very little of the assignment. I didn't plan or even noodle around awhile. I found this interesting shape with this vegetable brush and some pretty rocks. Completely unrelated unless I'm using the brush at the end of a fly-rod. That's not to say that the combination isn't workable, just not in this context. And the result says I took some stuff and lit it with some stuff that I've been trying to find more uses for. It was a lazy, inexpressive attempt.

Well ... at least it was late enough that it garnered little attention.

Version 2 is a nicer image. It is simple, direct, and actually uses the principles that I learned in the first two exercises from Lighting 102. Here ... take a look. This is a much nicer image. In fact, so much better that I did two versions of it. The two are virtually the same except for the material that was used to diffuse the light. In the first one I was using a PhotoFlex Light Disc and in the second I found and used this huge roll of white paper (almost as heavy a butcher paper without the coating on one side). The only change I had to make between the two materials was to increase the output of the flash from 1/32 power to 1/8th.

The second image seems to hold a little more detail. The light is still hot on the "MicroPlane" text yet seems smoother in the second image. See Setup here.

i shoot nikon

Copyright

2007-08-03T20:45:00.001-05:00

Copyright 2009© by is hootnik on. All rights reserved.

Individual articles in this journal are copyrighted, as indicated in the page footer.

Individual articles may be downloaded for personal use; users are forbidden to reproduce, republish, redistribute, or resell any materials from this journal in either machine-readable form or any other form without permission of is hootnik on or payment of the appropriate royalty for reuse.

For permissions and other copyright-related questions, please email your question to: mcdekovic@gmail.com

Whatever happened to Bobby Sherman?

2007-07-13T20:28:00.001-05:00

I was in Seattle earlier this week attending a web design conference with about 400 other geeks from all over the place. Web Design World was held at the Marriot on the waterfront.

I had never been to Seattle. I had never been to a web design conference. Both were extraordinary. The only thing awry was the weather. It didn't rain! Not one drop. In fact, I had checked the weather forecast prior to my arrival. It was to be sunny and in the 70's while back home it was going to be sunny, hot and in the 90's. What actually happened ... sunny and 70's back home, sunny and hot in Seattle!

My day's were pretty much filled with conference but, I woke up early and took some shots, shot a sunset from the pier of the Seattle Aquarium on Monday night and took a couple of hours from the conference on Tuesday afternoon.

I just took my camera with my trusty 18-70mm f/3-4.5. This was a great lens to walk with. It's fast, sharp (I tried to keep the aperture around f/8.0) and light weight. I walked up toward the Space Needle ... did you know that thing was built in 1962. It's amazing that it's been around that long.

I got some great shots along the way and around the Space Needle. The one on the left was taken when the sun was really high in the ski. You can see it casting an eclipse effect, halo around the capsule.

Just under the Space Needle nested in the landscape I met Earl. Well, I call him Earl because I forgot to ask him his name.

Anyway, I had snapped a quick shot of Earl and thanked him by throwing a buck into the colander he was using to hold his street money. We got to chatting and he asked where I was from and what I was doing in Seattle. I told him I was here for a web design conference expecting the conversation to be over quickly. Not so, oh Stop Bath breath!

Earl proceeded to inform me that he was a Photoshop expert, had been working with Photoshop since its inception and launched into a lesson about the Photoshop interface instructing me on the exciting use of layers and the different blending modes. He was great.

I wandered down 5th Avenue to the retail district catching this shot of a kid passing out flyers in support of the LaRouche Political Action Committee whatever that is. It was just a good photo opp.

It was about here where I turned back toward the waterfront and ended up at the Public Market Center ... that famous farmers market ... where they throw the fish back and forth. A couple of times I thought I saw Bobby Sherman. I needed a Starbucks.

One of the things I worked on today was purposely stay away from 3D Matrix metering and use center-weighted. I found that, in the light of midday sun, I was able to get the exposure I wanted more accurately. I kept the camera in Aperture Priority (A) mode and ISO 200 for the whole walk although I raised the ISO to 400 and popped the on-board flash when I got inside the market.

More images Seattle set on Flickr.

i shoot nikon

1.2 Distance - Again ...

2007-07-09T15:07:00.001-05:00

I promised ... or at least alluded that I would redo my attempt at the second lesson concerning distance in my last post. This has been a good exercise and revealed a lot answers that have been plaguing my previous, aimless attempts at lighting.

Working with a single light is particularly eye-opening in that there is so much to realize about the possibilities. Distance, angle, intensity, texture, shape, definition ... all of which are critical to the decisions you make about your subject and photographing it or them. It points the possibilities as you add more light, reflect light, intensify light, etc.

In this, my second attempt I stuck strictly to the formula described in the assignment and worked with only two changing variables: distance and aperture. Here's the result:

So ... all I did was move the light closer to the subject and as the intensity of the light increased I stopped down the aperture to compensate for the extra light reflecting back from the subject. In that way the apparent light being reflected from the background decreased finally turning the background to a rich black.

Now I can determine how much of the background is needed for the image and know how to control that effect. That's very cool. I'm assuming that as more lights are added that making these decisions, although more complex will be easier to layer into place.

i shoot nikon

Lighting102 - Lesson 1.2 Distance

2007-07-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

Hmmm ... light has DOF (depth of field) ... sort of. I had to think about this one and mess around with the assignment set up before I started to get it.

So the objective of this exercise was to demonstrate that light has DOF and with enough light, you can turn any ~~white wall~~ background black. After playing with this exercise I think another way of looking at it is to consider that we are controlling the pace at which light "falls off" beyond our subject. And using that as a design choice or tool set to control our compositions.

Setting Summary

Camera: Mode @ Manual, Shutter @ 1/125th, Aperture @ f/5.6.
SB-800: Mode @ Remote, Channel 3, Group A, Zoom @ 50mm
SU-800: Mode @ Remote (not Macro), Group A set to 1/8 power on Channel 3

What I kept constant throughout the exercise was the shutter speed and the angle for the light to the subject. Otherwise distance from subject, flash output power changed. Aperture changed on the last image because I ran out of lower output settings on the flash. I tried to match the previous exposure by reducing the flash output only as I moved the flash closer to the subject.

Result

D = distance, FP = flash power, A = aperture, S = shutter

Theoretically, it makes sense to me that what we're simulating is moving the background farther away from the subject. The distance between the subject and the light source remains the same throughout. The light power level and exposure settings remain the same. Only the distance between the background and the subject change.

However, since it can be infinitely more difficult to move the background (unless of course, you're Flo Zigfield or the like) we simulate the same principle: decrease the amount of light therefore darkening the background; decrease the distance from the light to the subject which increases the intensity of light on the subject but, produces more rapid falloff past the subject.

I think I'll do this exercise again only leave the power level of the light source the same and adjust only the aperture to accommodate the increased intensity on the subject as the light becomes closer. I'll let you know how it turns out.

i shoot nikon

Lighting102 - Lesson 1.1 Position

2007-07-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well ... I finally got some time to get started on Strobist Lighting Bootcamp - Lighting 102. The first assignment was to take a series of photographs with a single off-camera strobe, keep it the same distance from the subject but, change its angle to the subject.

I kept my study pretty simple. The flash was positioned over the top of the camera at a direct angle to the subject, moved 45 degrees to the right and again to 90 degrees or full side.

As for the equipment - I used my D70s with an 18-70mm zoom. I mounted a Nikon SU-800 on the camera. This is a great piece of equipment that acts as a remote commander for up to three groups of flashes on three different channels.

I put my SB-800 Speedlight on a lightstand and raised the stand so that the flash head was at about the same level as the camera lens. The light was kept about 4 - 5 feet from the subject and the subject was about 5 feet from the background.

Setting Summary

Camera: Mode @ Manual, Shutter @ 1/60th, Aperture @ f/5.6 (that was about 2 stops shy of a correct ambient light exposure of which there wasn't much).
SB-800: Mode @ Remote, Channel 3, Group A, Zoom @ 70mm
SU-800: Mode @ Remote (not Macro), Group A set to 1/64 power on Channel 3

The Results

I put together this composite shot to closely compare the changing light positions. I'm glad that I kept the flash head at the same height as the camera lens because the result is quite dramatic.

What struck me about the differences in the light position is look closely at the left side of my face. All of a sudden there is detail given to even the smallest variation in texture. The definition given to the shape of the face is quite dramatic as well. There's character that didn't exist in the shot with front light!

Looking at the 90 degree shot shows even more defined qualities. And drama! Movie poster stuff! Now, I'm not too sure I'd use this exact technique for a senior portrait but, being able of adding just a little drama to an otherwise dull teenage condition might prove useful and profitable.

i shoot nikon

Strobist Style with a Nikon D70s

2007-06-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

Before I start in earnest to work on Lighting 102 at Strobist I thought it would be a wise idea to review the various flash settings of the Nikon D70s for off-camera flash. Essentially, there are two ways off-camera flash can be controlled by the D70. Either wirelessly or tethered with PC cables and the like. Since one of the two flashes I have does not sport a PC connection nor do I want to spend extra time or cash to accommodate a PC connection, we'll talk only about wireless.

What is Custom Setting 19?

This is the heart of the matter. You won't even see it unless you go to the Setup Menu (little icon that looks like a wrench) and select option 4 (CSM menu). There are two choices: Simple and Detailed. Select Detailed. This will give the Custom Settings menu (little icon that looks like a pencil) 16 additional settings to control. Oh boy! More stuff! It's like Christmas!

In the Custom Settings menu, option 19 Flash Mode, you have three choices ... TTL (Through The Lens) surrendering control to the camera and its exposure meter; Manual which sets the output level for the built-in speed light; and Commander Mode ... here's the sap in the tree! Commander Mode allows you to use the D70s' built-in speedlight to trigger remote flash units like the SB800 and/or the SB600. It is here we want to look further.

Commander Mode also has its own three options ... TTL: again surrendering control to the camera and its exposure meter; AA: (Auto Aperture, available only when CPU lens is used with SB-800), forget about it for right now ... that setting is still surrendering part of the exposure control to the camera; and M: (Manual Mode ... ooohh, aahhh) that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Manual mode allows you to set the output level of your wireless, off-camera flashes from full power to 1/128th power. This is where we'll be working.

Now ... it's important to note that in wireless communication, perhaps we're talking about your laptop to a wireless router or your cordless phone, there are "channels" of communication. Literally, you set your device to a particular channel to communicate with another device or perhaps this one or both devices do this automatically. The Nikon D70s has no choices. It is permanently committed to communicate on Channel 3 ... whatever that means. You can't change it. There's no Custom Setting 26 or Commander Mode/Manual/Channel setting.

Let's move on ...

We should now have custom setting 19 Flash Mode set to Commander with Commander menu set to M (Manual) ... at this point you can choose any power output level say ... 1/16th power.

Now ... let's look at adding a flash unit to the mix. Keeping this simple for the time being, we'll look at an SB600. On the flash unit hold down the Zoom and the minus(-) sign together for 3 seconds or so to enter the Custom Settings menu for the flash unit. Press Mode until the the wireless symbol appears and press either the plus (+) or the minus (-) sign until the unit says "On." Hold down the Zoom and minus buttons together for 3 seconds or so to exit the Custom Settings menu.

Next press Mode to highlight the Channel setting on the flash and then +/- until it reads Channel 3 ... press Mode to highlight the Group setting and then +/- until it reads Group A. Raise the camera's built-in speedlight and test fire the camera. It should now trigger the flash even though the flash is not connected to the camera. In fact, it triggers the flash with an output level equivalent to the output setting you set on the camera ... Commander Mode/Manual/1/16th power.

Now, when you are setting up your shots for Strobist Lighting102 you can start with ...

Set your shutter speed to 1/125th (or your choice of the other appropriate sync settings)
Take a reading of ambient light (with the camera meter, of course)
Set the aperture to underexpose 2 stops less than the ambient light reading
Take a test shot (camera telling the flash to fire at 1/16th power)
Adjust flash output using Commander Mode/Manual/power level until the exposure is correct

So that's it ... that's where we begin. That is officially our baseline for off-camera flash using a Nikon D70s and an SB600 Speedlight.

We'll keep it simple for now. For future posts we'll cover the setup for using two flash units with the D70s and then another post for using two flash units and controlling their output independently of the camera.

i shoot nikon

Strobist Translated ... I hope.

2007-06-14T03:29:00.000-05:00

We're on the verge of getting our first assignment in Strobist's summer boot camp Lighting 102. On that note, my goal is take part in each assignment and blog my experience. However, the equipment I'll be using will be different. So I want to translate what Strobist does to the language of Nikon's CLS (Creative Lighting System) equipment.

In other words, I'll be demonstrating how to capture the same concepts only using a D70s, an SB800, an SB600 and probably an SU800, wirelessly and in manual mode. Throw in a couple of stands, maybe an umbrella ... a DIY diffusion device ... who knows what else?

I've messed around with some of the things Strobist imparts but, have never spent the time really focusing on the execution and digging for the results. So I'm looking forward to a summer of learning ... and possibly helping others who may be struggling with techniques applied to Nikon equipment.

Happy lighting!

i shoot nikon

Rain on the plain ...

2007-06-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

Well ... there hasn't been too much to do since I committed myself to twiddling my thumbs until Strobist Lighting 102 really kicks in. It actually started five days ago with the first posting: Strobist: L102: Light Controls Overview. This is gonna be great.

Until then, here's a little shoot I did on Thursday. It was graduation night at AHS a school that, by ~~stupidity~~, ~~flagrant disregard for human life~~ ... er ... tradition, holds its graduation ceremony outside behind the school. Now this wouldn't normally be a concern if Minnesota was known for its incessantly consistent and pristine weather patterns. But, alas, it is not. This time of year offers a complete minestrone of climes never accurately predicted and always leaving one anxious and languished over the outcome.

None-the-less, we're having graduation with the potential of tornadoes and golf-ball sized hail. See?
We're in for a latter day Woodstock. Except the headliners are droning school admins and student honorees. On the bright side, we have a lot more places to take a piss in private.
The festivities were interrupted for about 20 minutes with some good soaking rain and 35 mph winds ... no hail or tornadoes.

So, we started with the processional a little late ... which played into our advantage as the School Principal cut a choral number and an orchestra number to keep us on track (can make it home in time to catch a rerun of Shark).

I got some nice pictures of the graduate and the family but, won't bore you with them here. Here are a couple of shots reaped from the event that I was pleased with.

I was shooting with my D70s fitted with my 28-105mm. My SB-800 fitted to the shoe set to TTL BL. There was still a good amount of ambient light to shoot with and the flash helped bolster ill-cast shadows even at 30 feet away. When I had time, I used Manual exposure mode otherwise shot in Aperture mode set at f/8.0. Seemed to work well with the distance from the subject.

i shoot nikon

Exposure: Don't be a DFU.

2007-05-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

I've read a lot of posts ... users exclaiming the exposure is off by a couple of stops on a lot of new or newer DSLR cameras. Well ... I'm not buyin' it!!!

The civilized world successfully conquered the principles of automated production well over a hundred years ago! And have spent the time since perfecting manufacturing quality and consistency. You can't tell me that the great many users experiencing variations in the manufacture of their DSLR's accurately represents the reliability of today's manufacturing process. There has to be something wrong with the user. Stand up, shake it off crybabies! Take responsibility for your craft! Stop blaming the equipment!!!

Instead ... start to understand the source of your own misconceptions ... do the math.

Just in manual mode alone ...

Shutter from 1' to 1/8000 - 1/3 stop increments = 42 possible settings
Aperture from f/3.5 - f/32 - 1/3 stop increments = 24 possible settings
Metering - 3D Matrix, Center Weighted, Spot = 3 possible settings
Format - JPEG (B,N,F) or NEF(RAW) or both = 5 possible settings
ISO - 200 to 1600 = 10 possible settings on a D70s

That, my friends means for every single exposure you make you have to decide which of the 151,200 possible settings works best for your shot! And that doesn't count all the other variations possible when you start using the camera settings to process jpegs! Sharpening, contrast, color reproduction, saturation, and hue (just to name a few) pushing the possibilities staggeringly over half-a-million choices!

You have to develop a working knowledge about exposure that allows you to quickly narrow your choices and zoom into the one ... I repeat ... the "one" that is the best for your shot. Here's my advice ...

Keep it as simple as possible. Set everything to default. Pick one format (I use NEF(RAW) and Adobe Lightroom for processing), use manual mode and learn about exposure. If you have already learned about exposure ... re-learn it! And most of all ... use your camera a lot and use it consciously - before and after image capture!

If all you want to do is plug your DSLR into a printer and get a bunch of 4x6 prints ... you bought way too much camera.

One of the better books I've read about exposure is Bryan Peterson's treatise entitled: Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera. This book was originally released in 1990 and updated to its present 3rd edition supporting the growing nation of digital photographers.

Most of what he writes covers exactly the same thing you may have read about in innumerable printings before his. Smaller opening equals more DOF (depth of field), stop action with faster shutter speed ... blah blah blah. But he frames his teaching in very simple, practical terms that are easy to relate to and apply when shooting.

For example, he divides apertures into three groups: Story telling, who cares, and singular isolation.

Story Telling: Great depth of field where the foreground and background work together to capture the story ... both subject and environment are important to the image (f/16 and up).

Who Cares: Essentially, images where depth of field is of little concern ... subject up against a building or backdrop. Somewhere in the f/8 - f/11 range where the lens is sharpest.

Singular Isolation: You need just the subject ... no distractions from the surroundings. The closer to the subject the larger the aperture opening (f/2.8 to f/5.6) keeping the background out of focus.

These are principles that are quickly learned and applied out in the field. It can take a while to get them into practice but well worth the time and attention.

He also describes some very helpful techniques that are almost always available to you even when you don't have your camera! My personal favorites being Mr. Green Jeans and the Sky Brothers. I don't wanna spoil the ending but instead tell you that his approach is easy to understand, easy to remember, worth practicing and quick to success.

Others of you may have similar recommendations and are welcome to comment enlightening the rest of us.

Note: for the uninitiated ... DFU is programmer and help-desk speak for dumb fucking user.

i shoot nikon

Nikon D70s an SB800 & SB600

2007-05-27T15:26:00.000-05:00

I've seen a lot of posts in the forums, D70 owners asking about the capabilities of this equipment trio.

Here's what I know ... since I have all three and have played around with them for a couple of months now.

Both Flashes Off-camera using TTL

Set the D70/s to Commander mode (Custom Setting 19) which allows the camera to communicate with the flash units on Channel 3 Group A. This is the only Channel/Group option on the D70/s.

Set each flash to remote mode. On the SB800 press select for 3 seconds to access the custom options menu. Navigate to the wireless submenu and press select. Press + or - until Remote is highlighted and press Select. Press select for 3 seconds to exit the custom options menu. Press Select to navigate from channels to groups setting Channel 3 and Group A. On the SB600, press and hold the Zoom and - buttons for 3 seconds to access the custom settings menu. Press + or - to navigate to the wireless option. Press Mode to switch it on. Press and hold Zoom and - for 3 seconds to exit the custom options menu.

The camera has two more settings for controlling the flash units off-camera. Manual and AA (Auto Aperture). Auto Aperture can only be use with a CPU lens and an SB800. Manual mode in this setup can control the output level of the flash units simultaneously. In other words, setting the D70/s flash mode to Commander and selecting Manual submenu allows you to set the flash output to full and down to 1/128th power. Both flashes will output the fraction that the camera is set to.
This is a nice easy setup for wireless flash with Nikon equipment. Fairly flexible and will give you a lot of options albeit limited to equally distributed flash output.

With the SB800 on-camera

The SB800 mounted on the camera opens up a lot of other control features to the camera allowing you to configure the flash contribution of each flash separately. I assume that the same features and controls are available on the SU-800 flash controller except there's no flash gun.
So, the SB800 can control the SB600 setting its output level and setting its own level independently. You can choose whether the SB800 contributes to the exposure or not by setting its contribution level.

This is another great setup stepping up from the previous one in that it gives you the freedom to set flash output individually. However, there's still one flash on your camera. To achieve fuller freedom you'll have to look at working with 2 or more SB800's.

Here's an image I shot with the SB800 camera-left in an umbrella and the SB600 camera-right with a diffuser for the background.

Hopefully, this will help others decide what type of equipment to purchase for the setups they intend to employ. Overall, I'd have to say the SB600 is a great little flash and makes a great companion for the D70/s but, has its limitations when used off-camera. The SB800 is definitely a step up but, then demonstrates the camera's limitation in a wireless system. The only way to gain full flexibility with the camera is using either an SB800 on-camera or an SU-800 controller on-camera with another SB800. At least that would be in the Nikon world of wireless flash technology.

i shoot nikon

Strobist Lighting 102

2007-05-25T12:48:00.000-05:00

Well ... i may not have many readers (if any) at this point but, I believe in supporting my neighbors if not the photography community ... so, get out to take a look at Strobist. It's a great blog about lighting using off camera flash setups ... cheap off camera flash setups. The Strobist motto: LESS GEAR • MORE BRAIN • BETTER LIGHT. I've learned a lot and definitely appreciate what David has been doing. Strobist is a daily read.

Anyway ... more importantly, Strobist is conducting its second summer boot camp, Lighting 102, starting June 4th. Photographers from all over the ~~civilized~~ world will be participating and contributing. It's very exciting.

Strobist summer boot camp, Lighting 102, Check it out! Call collect! Call direct! But, call today!

i shoot nikon

Macro Afternoon

2007-05-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Today was perfect. Nobody home. High, even cloud cover. Flowers in bloom all over the garden. Time for a little macro photography. Macro photography always amazes me whenever I look at someone else's work but, rarely sparks any true inspiration in me. It's more of a curiosity ... a passing fancy ... a great way to while away the afternoon.

The nicest thing about this opportunity is that I can take some time with the subject. Think about the shot. Play with the exposure. I don't have to worry about fleeting moments or shifting light. It's strictly for me and the subject ... as long as necessary.

Equipment:

Nikon D70s

Nikkor AF 28-105mm f/3.5 - 4.5 D

Bogen Manfrotto 3001N Tripod

Bogen Manfrotto 3030 Head

The Nikkor AF 28-105mm f/3.5 - 4.5 D lens has a macro setting that I've found I'm fond of in this kind of setting. Usually, I'm far too impatient and forego the macro setting when it's hand-held. This has been a very good lens over the years, a little slow focusing and aperture but, then again, I'm not shooting for Sports Illustrated.

Camera Settings:

Focus: manual

Exposure Mode: manual

Meter: 3D Color Matrix

ISO: 200

Exposure Compensation: none

I need to digress for a minute and address a workflow issue that has been on my mind for a little while. I often exclude the practice of a pre-shoot routine when considering my workflow. That's a bad thing. I realize just how important it is but, it's really changed since I stopped shooting film.

Old way ... figure out what I'm going to shoot, go to my stash or purchase the film needed, make sure everything is in working order, put together my set up, load the camera and start shooting.

Here's the big change. When I would go to my stash of film I was making conscious decisions concerning the ASA/ISO as well as the White Balance (what filters might I need). Pop the film in the camera which sets the ISO automatically and then, the difference between natural and incandescent light was generally understood if not strictly paid attention.

Now ... I need to be aware that ISO and white balance are within my control and I'm responsible to make more than a decision about them. I have to set them myself! This is the part I need to rework into my pre-shoot workflow. Luckily, for this shoot, I had left my white balance set to "Cloudy" from a previous shoot but, don't always check it. I did remember to set the ISO so, I am making some progress. In case you're curious we'll talk more specifically about what I'm discovering of white balance in a later post.

Sample of the Afternoon Fruits

Exposure: 1/30 sec @ f/16

Focal Length: 105mm

ISO: 200

Exposure: 1/6 sec @ f/13

Focal Length: 105mm

ISO: 200

Exposure: 1/15 sec @ f/11

Focal Length: 90mm

ISO: 200

Exposure: 1/25 sec @ f/6.3

Focal Length: 90mm

ISO: 200

All the images I shot were in RAW format and none received any post-capture processing beyond cropping, Lightroom's interpretation of NEF and Lightroom's JPG rendering engine. Note: Nikon's version of RAW is NEF (Nikon Electronic Image Format).

i shoot nikon

Image Doctors Top Ten Eleven

2007-05-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

For those of you who do not have connections with other Nikon shooters, there is a great community available on the web at Nikonians.org. One of the features I particularly enjoy is their bi-weekly podcast cast of the Image Doctors. Photographers Jason Odell and Rick Walker, ala CarTalk (without all the obnoxiousness that is charmingly CarTalk), chat about a lot of different topics involving photography ... specifically Nikon photography.

I was listening to episode #37 a few weeks back in which they presented their top ten photo tips which, in usual Image Doctor style, turned out to be eleven tips ... one louder. I thought that these tips offer good sense and wanted to share them. They explain that this list is prioritized from most important however, I'm not sure that you should prioritize this list. I think it could be delivered in any order without impugning the integrity of any one tip. Anyway ... here it is, enjoy!

1. Get a tripod ... use it!: You don't have to go out and buy a $500 Gitzo Carbon blah blah blah. Get something that can hold your camera equipment without flexing and that you will use. If you don't think your lenses are sharp enough, use a tripod. Your images will be much sharper!
2. Get to know your flash? ... use it!: You will get better quality images where ambient light just won't cut it. Get a flash, learn to use it and consider using it more often. For instruction on how to use it off-camera see Strobist
3. Learn the basics of exposure.: Learn the effects of shutter speed and aperture. Take your camera out of Program mode and use it in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or better yet, Manual mode. You want to be making the decisions about how your images look not letting the camera make those decisions. Otherwise, your images will all look alike ... almost if made by a computer! doh! they are!
4. Bump up the ISO setting: You may think, "but my images will be full of noise!!!" ... well, that's true to a certain extent but a lot of that can be cured if you stop looking at your images zoomed into 100% on a 72 dpi computer screen. Which leads us to ...
5. Make some prints: A monitor is not necessarily the most useful tool on which to view a digital photograph. Viewing a photo at 100% on a computer screen is like looking at slide film using 50x magnification. Nobody ever does that. Your average loupe is only like 8x. Make some prints (or get some prints made) and let that be the judge of your photo's quality.
6. Learn to recognize good and bad light: Think about it consciously. Wait for good light or know how to handle poor light situations. If you recognize that the light is less than ideal, bring supplemental light and know how to use it.
7. Learn the Rule of Thirds: Don't "bulls-eye" your subject. The frame should be divided in three horizontally and vertically. Where the grid lines cross are the references where eyes, horizons, faces should appear in the image. Here's is a nice little reference on Wikipedia
8. Learn how to use the Levels function: The levels feature in whatever post-processing software you're using can have a profound impact on your images. Determine what is white, determine what is black and adjust the overall brightness. This can turn seemingly flat photos into crisp, deep images.
9. Get closer to your subject: Get in tighter and make your subject fill the frame. Pay attention to extraneous distractions in outside areas of the composition. Get in close ... you want to see faces. A good rule of thumb is: frame the picture the way you think it should be then, take one step closer.
10. Persevere ... don't be lazy: Getting good pictures takes perseverance. Do your homework before you shoot. Wait for the right light, compose with the camera away from your eye. Work at your craft it will payoff many time over.
11. Don't blame your equipment: If you're not getting the results that you like, don't assume that it's your camera. First, assume that you're not using it correctly. The reason why National Geographic gets the shots they do is because those guys know what they're doing with their equipment. They work hard to know their equipment before they take them on a shoot. Spend a lot of time with your camera ... experiment ... play ... take notes ... blog.

I thought those were very insightful if not just plain common sense, and hope that you find them useful. One of the things that I've been working on is using the camera in manual mode. Pick a subject that will let you think before you have to trip the shutter and experiment with the effects of aperture versus shutter speed.

One of my favorite resources for exposure is Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera. It's really a nice, up-to-date reference that really explores the principles of aperture, shutter speed, light, motion ... as well as give you some reference points that you always have with you. Check it out at Amazon here and check out his website here.

i shoot nikon

Friday Night Lights

2007-05-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend was senior prom weekend and having family of graduating age I was afforded the opportunity to shoot four couples as they prepared for their evening of emancipation, debauchery and erotica (oh, don't they wish!). Anyway ... there were parents and point-and-shoots everywhere all wondering who the "serious" guy was with all the camera gear!?! Although, there was some kid there, I assumed he was a family member of whosever house we were at, that was using a high-end consumer, digital video camera ... perhaps a Canon GL1 or something.

Anyway, I was just using my D70s fit with the Nikkor 18-70mm AF-S DX Zoom f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED. I chose that lens because I knew I'd have a chance to work in pretty close and 70mm works pretty nicely for portraits and the 18mm could give me plenty of vista doing candids of eight highschool kids. On the camera was an SB-800 Speedlight (What a nice piece of flash equipment! If you don't have one, get one).

Settings:

Matrix Metering

Aperature Priority

ISO 200

White Balance: Flash

TTL BL (Balanced Flash Fill)

I set the aperture at the widest possible (depending on the zoom length) to keep the background as out of focus as possible ... I really need to get that f/2.8 glass sometime. I think I rode f/4.0 throughout the shoot. The time of day was nice. We were shooting between 5 and 6 PM in a nicely shaded backyard that offered ample diffuse light with some nice sun coming through. The only problem was some pretty busy backgrounds.

I played around a little with the difference between TTL and TTL with balanced flash fill (BL). I was getting a lot of burned out highlights with straight TTL ... probably because the flash was pretty harsh. I think that next time I may also try a Stoffen diffuser to knock the harshness down. I find as I look at the shoot that the BL works nicely with the ambient light at a distance of about 2 meters. But, when I backed off I really needed an extra boost of diffuse light in TTL mode and could have added more light with exposure compensation.

Shooting the candids I wanted to be able to act quickly so having the camera in a semi-automatic mode (Aperature Priority) helped support speed but I lost the flexibility of getting more accurate exposures in manual mode. It's all give and take, I guess.

All the images in this post were shot in NEF (Nikon's version of RAW) and had no additional processing beyond exporting them to JPEG's.

Gotta go burn some CD's for the parents ...

i shoot nikon

Okay Sport! Let's shoot some photos

2007-05-12T17:45:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of sports photography lately. My step-daughter plays on the high school's girls lacrosse team. I don't have any particular obligation to shoot the games except it presents a great opportunity to hone my skills and become closer friends with my camera.

The biggest payoff is it has forced me to do two things: 1) press the shutter a lot and 2) process a lot of images.

Pressing the shutter a lot is a new concept. This is where new found freedom comes in. I have a couple of 2 gig cards and the luxury of not having to worry about how many shots I have left is quite liberating. I shoot RAW ... which is a topic for another post but, I get 358 images on one card. I have never filled a card and usually get around 100 shots per game. This would be the equivalent of 4 rolls and $100 worth of film and processing! To date I've shot and processed enough to pay for my camera and it's only 6 months old!

But I digress ...

What I want to talk about is the processing part. I've really been forced to look at and develop some kind of workflow to handle all the images. I've mentioned before that I've been using Adobe® Lightroom™. But, before I could I needed to make some sense about the generic principals of workflow. So let's talk about the post-capture process for a minute or two.

I bolstered my computer with a new 250 gig hard drive that I use strictly for data storage (image files). Before I insert my card into the USB card reader I create a folder on the hard drive using the following naming convention: YYYYMMDD.maintopic.subtopic ... EXAMPLE: 20070510.Lacrosse.Opponent. Then, I open that folder. When I insert my card into the card reader a dialog pops up and I select Open Folder to View Files. CTRL-A selects all the files, right-click drag to 20070510.Lacrosse.Opponent, select Move and all the files are moved from my card to the folder on my hard drive.

Then the processing begins in the following manner:

View images and delete the obvious clunkers

Review what's left checking for focus and content: flag the rejects

Delete rejects

Review what's left flagging images worth further processing

Ignore unflagged images

Rename image files

Put folder on the docket for backup

Now ... if you're looking at a file folder full of images and wondering, "flag? what's a flag? how do I flag?" then, you're in the right frame of mind. For me, this is where Lightroom™ comes in. For others, it may be where Nikon Capture®, Adobe Bridge®, Apple Aperature™ or any of a number of other software applications too numerous to mention comes in. They should all have some kind of flagging function that can be put to use in this fashion.

If you don't have any software for these basic tasks at least check out Discover digital imaging with Windows XP at Microsoft.com, there is also Nikon Picture Project available for download at NikonUSA.com (if you have a Nikon DSLR it's probably still with all the other stuff that came in the box) or look at other Microsoft resources at Microsoft Digital Image Suite. These shouldn't stretch your budget too much if any otherwise, at the time of this writing Lightroom is selling for $299, Nikon Capture $130, Apple Aperature $299. I'm sure that other readers can make suitable recommendations of other software deserving attention.

So ... get yourself started with some basic organization and I'll talk more later about Lightroom and what it has helped me with. I'm also in the middle of a review of Scott Kelby's book Lightroom for Digital Photographers. I think you'll find it enlightening.

i shoot nikon

How i got d igit all ...

2007-05-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

I started taking photographs when I was pretty young. My uncle is a professional photo-essayist. And whenever he would come to visit he would pull from his belongings a shiny metal attaché case which, when opened, showed off the coolest looking cameras and lenses. Nikon, they said on the front. I'd watch as he thoughtfully and purposefully selected a lens mounting it on a camera with "F" emblazoned on it. Just above the Nikon logotype ... nothing else, just "F." Keschunk! It was beautiful! He showed me how to hold it, how to focus and how to release the shutter ... 1/30^th of a second! What a great sound! Then the film advance …

By the time I was ten, he had shown me how to develop my own B&W film and make contact prints. I was using a camera that my mom had lying around. It was an old Kodak something with a bellows that folded out from a front closure and it used 620 B&W roll film so, the negatives were pretty big. I had a little darkroom tucked under the basement stairs where they might have stored coal or something back pre-gas furnaces days. I could develop film and make contact prints about 3x4.

By the time I had reached high school, dad let me use his SLR a Canon FT QL … in fact, he just gave it back to me a few months ago. It’s been about 30 years but it still felt potent in my hands. I was a photographer for the school paper and year book and his letting me use the Canon was the perfect way to keep me out of major trouble. It also meant I had unlimited access to enlargers, chemicals, film, and the school darkroom! It had to be the most expensive three years in all the school district history. My buddy and I took thousands of photographs! I still have some of the B&W prints.

Right after high school I bought my first Nikon … well … Nikon made, anyway. It was a brand new Nikkormat Ftn (discontinued a year later). It was a great camera … not a Nikon but, so much closer than anything else I’d had. I say it “was” a great camera because it was stolen from me while on a trip to Denver with a couple of buddies. It was sad because it happened the first full day in our nine-day trip which included stops in LA, Santa Barbera and San Francisco. I was crushed. We stayed with a friend of ours in San Francisco that lent me his SLR for the last three days of the trip … so, photos exist, they just don’t cover the entire whirlwind.

When I got back, insurance money helped purchase my first Nikon … a used F Photomic Tn. I had it. The keschunk! Twist the f/stop ring to register the widest opening! The shutter release … 1/30^th of a second! What a great sound! I used that camera for almost twenty years. It even got stolen from my apartment and recovered when a pawn shop reported it had received it.

But times change and I thought I needed something more … automatic … something more … updated. Around 1997 I started shooting an N90s that I bought used from a local dealer. This camera was sooooo cool because I didn’t have to shell out the extra bucks for a motor-drive! It was built right in! I could blast off 6 fps. Thirty-six shots in just over 6 seconds! This was the coolest. And I could hook it up to my computer and get all sorts of info about every shot! And it still sounded like a Nikon and it was all black and had a command wheel and programmed presets and would read the ASA right off the side of the film canister! And it ran on four AA batteries … forever!

Then, it hit me ... like a hot kiss at the end of a wet fist. Computer ... camera ... computer ... camera. Why am I spending so much money on film and processing!?! Why do I have to wait to find out that I have a bunch of crap on a roll that I just spent $20 on!?! Why don't I sell my darkroom stuff and beef up my computer, sell the N90s and go digital!?! It seemed as right as rain. Natural. Almost biological, slap-myself-in-the-forehead-duh-obvious!

So ... I've been shooting Nikon for a long time and now image making is all digital. I can put a 2gig card in the camera and take 358 RAW images before having to change the card! Then, I can transfer them to my computer and ... well ... uh ... I'm not sure. So many questions arise: white balance, RAW, JPG, exposure, color space, workflow, processing, organization, storage, batteries, printing, publishing, sharing, Photoshop®, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

The answer was ... start blogging ... someone must care.

i shoot nikon

Here's what I want to do

2007-05-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

I've been taking photographs for a long time ... and have recently been re-energized by the purchase of a digital SLR. In other words, I'm no longer shackled by film cost and processing. However, I am now responsible for what I've been paying others to do for me ... process and make my photographs look good. And there's a lot to learn in order to capitalize on my new found ~~freedoms~~ responsibilities.

It's here that I hope to document and share my experiences with the new medium in hopes that others may relate, respond and/or be enlightened ... as well as teach me and is hootnik on readers. I plan to post articles about my workflow as it develops, software and equipment I use, new techniques I've learned, compositions, subjects, issues, problems and solutions. Somethings may be common, some rare, or even slap-yourself-in-the-forehead-duh-obvious. Why ... I may just take the time to spout off a little.

I shoot with a Nikon D70s and have two lenses: 18-70mm AF ED and a 28-105mm AF ED. These are augmented by an SB-800, an SB-600, Manfrotto tripod, a light stand, a couple of umbrellas and miscellaneous supporting gadgets, widgets, clamps, reflectors diffusers, and stuff. I've recently started using Adobe® Lightroom™. I use Photoshop® and know how to program for the web (at least that's what they pay me to do at work).

So ... essentially, the D70s is the Nikon connection. I hope that the information found here can at least be philosophically generic yet technical explorations will be centered on Nikon DSLR's, specifically the D70s until I upgrade or migrate to the Dark Side. At which time I'll change the title of the blog to "is hootcan on."

Also ... workflow will center around the use of Adobe® Lightroom™ although, most image management/processing software principally offers similar features with familiar goals. After all, we're just a bunch of photogs essentially doing the same thing ... capture, organize, process, publish.

I'm not too sure just how often I'll be inspired to put up new postings but, I'm impressed with a number of blogs I read and perhaps could live up to their inspiration. Anyway ... I'll at least have some fun and maybe someone will pay attention or show interest.

So ... here's to is hootnik on.
i shoot nikon