Captured Opinions

iPhone Apps for Photographers (Updated)

2011-03-18T01:07:00Z

Camera+ (not the far inferior Camera Plus or Real Camera+) is the best. It allows the user to separately select where to focus and where to meter. Great UI and lots of other nice features.

There are a number of apps that can help out photographers in a other ways. Here are my favorites:

Photo Buddy is a Swiss Army Knife of applications. Sun and moon calculations, exposure presets, depth of field calculator, flash tool, and more make this a must have app.
Exposure attempts to duplicate many of the apps in Photo Buddy, but equals or surpasses only one - presets for various events/lighting conditions. The list of presets is mind boggling. Last time I checked this was a free app and worth the download IMHO.
Photo Radar is for those times when I can't take a proper shot at that moment, but have no hope remembering where were the subject was. It's sole purpose it to help you get back to same spot later.
Range Cam allows one to roughly measure the distance to the subject.
iPose U is a nice set of posing ideas for one to many subjects.
Photogene supports more serious photo-editing than the typical iPhone photo app and has a very well designed levels command.

Enough for photography centered aids for the photographer. We also go to strange lands where no one speaks our language. And so we have a second set of recommended apps.

Flight Update is my primary flight tracker and a major aid. It lists arrival/departure gate info, baggage claim, airline announced delays, seat guru seating charts, etc. US only unfortunately.
FlightCaster estimates the probability a flight will be on time based on statistical factors - not what the airlines say. It considers things such as weather at the departing and arriving airport, delays at the either airport, historical performance of that specific flight, etc. Its biggest limitations are it only handles flights arriving/departing the US, and the user interface is a bit clunky.
Gate Guru lists what's available where at US airports.
Traveler's Toolkit has lots of the info one might need when traveling to foreign countries. Bank, currency, dialing codes, electrical outlets, emergency numbers, US Embassies, etc. are all included.
AllSubway has the actual subway maps. Can be tough to read in some cases.
Exchange is the ultimate currency exchanger. Highly recommended.
ICOON is a large, organized set of graphics you can show to someone as a cumbersome, but totally language free, way to communicate.

My Photographic Workflow (Updated)

2011-03-18T01:03:00Z

With the advent of digital cameras and inexpensive memory cards it's possible to take take hundreds or thousands of pictures over a few days. A Workflow provides a standardized way to process all these shots and add relevant metadata (keywords, copyright info, etc.), "quickly" identify the best shots, and post process them to look their best (or at least close).

Everything starts with Photoshop Lightroom 3. Photos are imported from the camera card with Lightroom automatically adding metadata indicating copyright ownership. (The copyright ownership data is set up beforehand and includes name, contact information and copyright ownership declarations.)

Once the images are imported, Lightroom is used to assign keywords.Next up is identifying the best shots. Lightroom really shines for this. I use the Compare View in the Library Module to identify rejects first. These are the the out of focus, obviously terrible shots. After going through all the photos, the Photo/Delete Rejected Photos... command automatically removes them.

A second pass is made, looking for the standout shots. The Compare View and Survey modes are the primary tools for this. Often I'm looking at a series of shots of the same subject, trying to find the most expressive, best focus, etc. This is a go/no go decision. I do not grade them as very good, good, not so good, etc. It either makes the cut as a serious contender for use now or it's held in storage. A key point is the no go's are not deleted. They are good photos, but don't fit current needs. The photos that receive the go sign are moved into a "collection" for further processing.

My default settings for Lightroom "Develop" module set all processing steps off except one: Lens Corrections. This ensures lens distortion, aberration, and vignetting are removed. Finally, simple corrections with the tools under Lightroom's Basic tab are made: white balance, tone, spot removal, and red eye removal. This results in a collection of post processed Best Photos with full keyword and copyright metadata.

If the photo works as is, only two steps remain prior to publication: cropping as needed and output sharpening. Sharpener Pro 3.0 is run as an external editor from Lightroom to provide output sharpening for printing or display on the web.

If the photo doesn't work as is, it's off to Photoshop CS5 often for one or more of the effects in Color Efex Pro 3 does the trick. If noise is a problem, DFine 2 is applied. A luminosity blend may be tried if there's a contrast problem. A color blend may be tried to enhance colors using the "Man from Mars" technique. Other creative enhancements may be applied at this point using Mystical Tone, Tint, and Color. (Note the two blends mentioned were developed by Dan Margulis and are detailed in his book Professional Photoshop.) The crop and sharpen is done in Photoshop and the image returned to Lightroom for publishing.

How to Shoot with a GPS unit

2011-01-23T08:58:00Z

The secret - keep it on all the time you intend to shoot. It can take up to a minute for a GPS unit to get lock on the GPS satellites when first turned on. Never turn off the GPS unit after that.

NOTE - in downtown areas with tall buildings and inside buildings, the GPS unit will almost certainly lose lock. You will have no GPS until you get back out in the clear. Take this in account when planning your shoot. I add in the GPS locations manually for these shots using Geosetter .

Does battery use go up? Yes, depending on the GPS unit you may need quite a few backup batteries (think rechargeable). The Nikon GP-1 seems to do a good job conserving batteries (it uses the camera's battery), but it still reduces time to change.

Best advice - go out for one of your typical shooting sessions, leave the GPS on the whole time and see how many batteries you need. Be sure to do this before your critical shoot!

Details About the Trip to London and Africa

2010-11-12T04:15:00Z

On April 25^th, 2008 we left to see London and Africa. In all it involved 4 countries, 12 stamps in passports, 12 plane flights, 2 helicopter flights, 1 forced “medical emergency landing” for someone with air sickness, a light lunch at Harrod’s that cost US$100, a lunch in Zimbabwe that cost ZIM$30,000,000.00, dozens and dozens of wildlife sightings, a walk with baboons, a half dozen rides on elephants in the Okavango Delta, and about 110 Gig of pictures (roughly 10,000). A greatly reduced subset of the photos can be found at Photockie.com.

The stop in London was mostly to reduce jet lag, so we were only there for a couple nights. The double-decker red bus tours provided a great way to see a lot of sights in the limited time available. A few comments about our experiences in London. Grammar school history came alive, even though all the people it’s about are dead. This place is so old it’s cool. That fits, though. The English have a fetish with the dead. Westminster Abby is an enormous church, but can only handle a small congregation. The rest of the space has to be the world’s largest indoor collection of tombs, huge statues of dead people and grave markers. Just look down as you walk around the church. You’re almost always standing on someone’s grave. The Tower of London was much better than expected. An odd location – quarters for the Royalty along with the “go to” dungeon for traitors.

The staff at our hotel in London were exceptional, and, best of all, quite quirky. No one knew when anything started. The manager had no clue which direction was North. Once we realized they knew little about the world outside the hotel, we got along famously with them.

The flight to South Africa was most interesting. There was a gentleman who was blowing his nose every 15 minutes or so. The bellow that erupted, though, sounded more like a mating call for elephants.Thankfully, he didn’t show up at any of our safari camps. Being eaten by a lion is one thing, but trampled by a horny elephant…

Cape Town may well be the most beautiful city in the world. There's tons of stuff to do, but it's spread out all over. Our travel agent advised us to use a local guide, Chris McWilliams, to help overcome this problem.It was fantastic advice. He adjusted the tour in real-time so it was perfect for us. Due to two sets of mechanical problems and a passenger developing airsickness, our trip to Vumbura Plains was delayed by a day. Botawana Airways is a government owned monopoly. If you're going into Botawana,decide to be OK if they screw up the flight. According to the locals,it's pretty common.

Vumbura was the first camp. The bungalows were very modern with essentially no tent canvas. Amenities included an outdoor shower and plunge pool.In-room power made battery recharging very easy. As with all three camps, views from the room/lodge, food, and service was great. We stayed one night.

Mombo was next up. It was the best by far. The abundance of wildlife was incredible. An African Buffalo slept under our tent and we were visited by an elephant one afternoon. Our tent was huge, probably larger than my first apartment.Its amenities included an outdoor daybed and shower. We were there for three nights and took well over 4,000 photos.

Abu was the most unique camp we visited. We rode elephants for game viewing, mokoro canoes to see the delta waterways, and bass boats on a fishing trip. The tents, while small, were comfortable. The patio deck was smaller than the other camps, but more inviting. Power was not in-tent for recharging, which proved a hassle. There was substantially less wildlife, but the real point of the trip was elephant back riding and it was fantastic. The mokoro canoe and "bass" fishing provided some welcome variety.

We wrapped up with a quick trip to Zimbabwe to stay at the Victoria Falls hotel and see the falls.The hotel has the feeling of an old English Explorers club. At any moment you expect someone in full safari gear to walk in boasting of his latest trip to the Congo or such. Game trophies litter the walls alongside life size portraits of long deceased English royalty. A short walk away, Victoria Falls is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world.We had a great time and owe much of it to our travel agent, Tom Froehlich of Rudi Steel Travel in Dallas, Texas (tomf@rudisteele.com).

FTC Blogger Disclosure Statement

2009-12-08T02:29:00Z

I receive no financial benefit from any of the vendors or individuals mentioned in the blog. Not that I would have a problem with that mind you. In fact I'd love it.

If that were to happen, though, I would let y'all know.

Photo Bags for Small Aircraft

2009-12-07T04:28:00Z

Take a trip to most anywhere off the beaten path, and the airlines may hit you with a severe carry on weight limit. In my travels, 11 or 17 lbs have been the most frequent limits. These restrictions are typical for the small aircraft run by local carriers.

My sense is they're actually more interested in the size - they want to be sure it fits in the limited overhead space. So, the trick is to pack the gear so it looks light.

Most photo bags are heavily padded and bulky. The ones that looks small are small. ThinkTank to the rescue. Their Urban Disguise series of should bags is perfect for this. I bought the Urban Disguise 35.

First, it doesn't look like a photo bag for thieves to target. Fully loaded it looks like it weights maybe 9-10 lbs. Here's what I pack in mine: Nikon D700 with 70-300 mounted, 70-200 f2.8, 12-24, 50, 1.7 tele, SB900 flash, 2 Nexto image backup units, extra batteries, rechargers. And a 13 inch laptop and recharger! There's even room for a Bluetooth mouse. It weighs in at well over 20 lbs, but looks less than 10 lbs. Since it is so small, it fits anywhere once onboard.

No one has ever given it a second glance for weight limits. Remember, though, you have to carry it like it's light! Once you arrive, pull out and attach the optional backpack harness and you're all set.

How to Photograph Butterflies

2009-04-25T05:05:00Z

Several years ago I contacted a number of great butterfly photographers on www.dpreview.com. I told them I had a D70 camera body, Nikon's 105 macro lens, and SB-800 flash. Following are their comments and suggestions:

When I shoot without flash I allow the ISO to go as high as 400 or 800 to obtain shutter speeds of 1/100, shooting with aperture priority set to at least f4.5. With Nikon's 105 macro lens, shoot hand held.
Use a monopod and try to align your D70 focal plane to their wings. Sometimes I use my sigma 70-200+2X teleconverter to get distant shots. With the 105mm, set the camera to f8 Aperture priority and set the SB800 to TTL-Bal.
Shoot shutter-speed priority at 1/500 or use manual mode. I tend to stick to manual mode these days when I'm using the flash. For flash I cover up the back two terminals of the flash with tape to go fully manual. The D70 doesn't know the SB800 is there, but still fires the flash, so you can use almost any shutter speed and aperture combination. You need to experiment to see what works.
Shoot as often as you can, expect no more than 10% will be worth keeping.

Butterfly Habits (AKA reduce your frustration trying to get these critters):

Make no sudden moves and approach them very slowly. Don't be frustrated if it doesn't work at first, and stay put once in position. Butterflies often comes back to the same place.
The best time to shoot them is in the morning, as the wings are still damp from the morning dew and they are less active.
If there's a tray of fruit or cut flowers, some species get really hooked on the goodies and don't budge when you get close.
Some species flit around and never remain on a flower for more than a few seconds. Often they don't even stop flapping their wings. This is when high shutter speeds are a must.
Butterflies have short life spans. Later in the day you may find some that aren't moving around much. They may be dying, but not dead! Some will be a bit tattered and won't make good subjects, but others will be in good shape.

Hope you find the info as useful as I did!

Taking Pictures from a Plane

2009-04-07T23:17:00Z

Getting crisp cloud, sunset, and ground shots out an airplane window is fairly easy.

Set the camera to aperture priority mode
Set the aperture to the smallest number the camera will allow
Get as close to the window as you can without touching it
Do not rest your arms or the side of you body on the plane's "wall" or armrests
Shoot away

Use the smallest aperture to ensure a fast shutter speed. That helps freeze movement and plane vibrations. Avoid touching the window or using the plane walls/armrests to minimize vibrations from the engines getting to the camera.

If the camera's having trouble focusing, set it to manual focus and adjust the focus to infinity. If the pictures are still blurry increase the camera speed or ISO. On a Nikon D70 use 400; on a D200 try 800; and a D700 1600.

What Lens for What?

2008-12-26T04:59:00Z

Providing specific lens recommendations is tricky business. The recommendations below are typical. By no means do these recommendations imply what a lens shouldn't be used for. In the right circumstances a 50mm can be the perfect lens for a bird shot.

Bugs – a 200mm macro lens. The 200mm lets you take the shot farther away, so you are less likely to spook the bug. Strapped for cash? A 100 or 105mm is much cheaper, but you'll have to get closer and risk scaring the critters.
Landscapes, cityscapes – a wide angle zoom is very convenient, 24mm-35mm are popular focal lengths. In general a small aperture isn’t a huge issue with wide angles, so you can save some money getting a slower (and lighter!) lens. If the budget permits, get a wide angle zoom that will work on a full frame sensor camera. Right now, consumer level cameras aren't yet full frame, but manufacturing costs are coming down. In a few years most pro-consumer DSLRs will have full frame sensors.
Party photos and around the house shooting – get the good old 50mm, f1.8, 1.4 or 1.2, whichever has best image quality for your camera system. In a pinch this will be your “go to” low light lens.
Portraits – something between 85mm and 135mm.
Sporting events and indoor recitals – something in the 70-200 range, f2.8, and with some form of image stabilization. This is a bread and butter lens for the pros, so both Canon and Nikon make magnificent zooms in this range. Along with this, a 1.7x teleconverter will convert it to a 120-340 for longer range shots. It’s a bit heavy, but it’s fast, sharp, and versatile. And if you don’t want to spring for a macro lens and sport lens, then get the Canon 500D close-up lens attachment and this lens (since it's a screw on attachment it will work with both Nikon and Canon lens).
Birding – Birders say the perfect lens is always 100mm longer than what you have. 400mm is the minimum for serious birding. We’re talking serious cash to be a serious birder.
“Vacation” – When you don’t want to screw around carrying 50 pounds of lenses on vacation get the 18-200from Canon or Nikon. A number of compromises had to be made to get this huge range, so it doesn't have stellar image quality. For shots up to8x10 or the web, it’s more than adequate. If you shoot at f8 or f11 and spend some time in Photoshop correcting the image, this lens can produce much larger prints. This lens stays mounted on one of my camera bodies all the time. Note it is not designed for full frame sensors,but is such a great lens is deserves to be listed.

If your primary interest is general photography and you're just starting out, I’d get the 18-200mm and a 50mm. If one of the above areas is a dead-on hit, then go with that.

How Many Megapixels Does My Camera Need?

2008-12-26T04:29:00Z

First we need to make a an important assumption. We're going to assume our photos fill frame, so there's no need to crop. With this assumption let's look at how many megapixels are required.

If the image will only be seen on a typical computer or TV, no more than 2 megapixels are needed. For a 30 inch monitor run it at 2560x1600) resolution at most 4 megapixels are needed for wallpaper.

If the image will be printed as a 4x6 or 5x7 snapshot, about 2 megapixels are needed. For an 8x10 about 5megapixels is plenty.

With a really sharp image, i.e. no subject or camera movement, 11x17 enlargements are easily achieved on a 6 megapixel camera.

For the average person anything more than 6 megapixels is overkill. Don't pay extra for more pixels!

For folks who want really large prints, 6 megapixels isn't enough. If a shot is sharp and properly processed for printing, a 12 megapixel camera picture can readily produce a 30x40 print. Here's a shot of the Cape of Good Hope taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D200. It's stunning at 30x40.