Flowers

Well spring is over at least here in the desert.   It is close to 100 today .  I know there is no humidity.  All that humidity thing means is you don't know your dehydrating.  It also means those beautiful weeds have wilted.  You know the ones.  The ones that are treated with roundup.   Of course, there are those others that need more attention than a 2 year old at the county fair.   They need watering, fertilizing and pulling those other flowers called weeds.

Well I'm going to be talking about ISO, shutter speed, and F-stop again.   Just in case you had forgotten I will be talking about light since it is thing we photograph no matter the subject.

Flower 1.   (Weed to some)

THis is an old photograph taken with something called film.  It is one of my favorites.   I do not know the ISO, shutter speed, or F-stop.  I just love the simplicity.  It is straight on and the flower is not perfect, but the light I just love. It is hard to catch white and still find detail like this.  I suspect that it was taken in the evening not too long before the sunset.   The hour just after the sun rises and just before it sets are usually the best for taking photographs like this one.  The light has a soft glow to it.

Flower 2 or are they weeds.

ISO 100, F-stop 7.1, 1/1600   Same type of flower, but taken several years later.   I took this because I just wondered what they would look like from the ground.  We always look down on them and frequently pull them.  Since, the flower is not going to run off why not take more than one picture  explore all the angles and all the ways light hits them. 

Flower three.

ISO 200, F 8, 1/40.   Remember that discussion about the best light, this was taken at about noon bright sunshiny day, so much for rules.  Yes I have to admit I have worked this pretty hard in photoshop.  I don't do that very often, but so much for rules.  If I would have just shot the photograph the flower would have been underexposed.  Remember there was bright light.  So I got close enough to the flower that only it was showing.  I recorded the shutter speed and the F-stop.  I framed the photograph and snapped the shutter.  The building in the background was now overexposed and did show in the photograph.  

Flower 4

ISO 100, F-stop 5, shutter Speed 1/50  Here is I used the same principal except in reverse.  This time I was at a dinner party, that is potato chips in the background when I took this.  The flowers however were in the light and the background was dark.  The lesson is cameras only see about two stops of light.   I know some of you are saying what?   Two stops?  Let's just say we have a camera set up to shoot at these settings ISO 400, Shutter speed  1/250, and F-stop 8.   Now let's say we want to adjust the settings by a stop.  We could change the ISO to 800 and leave the other settings alone.  About twice as much light would get to the sensor and the adjustment would be 1 stop.  So in the example we increased the light by one stop.  We could decrease it by changing the ISO to 200.  The ISO would be decreased by one stop.  We could do the same thing with the shutter speed or the F-stop.  To increase by a stop double the shutter speed to 1/500 or decrease it by cutting in half to 1/125,  and with the F-stop to increase by a stop set it to F-4 or decrease it by setting it to f 16.  In the two flower examples I used this principal to my advantage.  It can be a problem such as photographing a group of people some in the shade and some not. 

Flower 5 

ISO 100, Shutter Speed 1/2500, F stop 1.4  THis photograph has been cropped for two reasons.  The first reason is because I like it that way.  The other reason is to draw attention to the center of the flower.  I did this by choosing an F-stop of  1.4 and creating a shallow depth of field.  You can see that hardly any of this photograph is in focus.   Usually I will not use an F-stop less than F4.  This is a rule of thumb.  The only thing to keep in mind is the closer you get to the subject the narrower the depth of field at the same F-stop.   As an example (I am now going to make up numbers, but the theory is good)  at F-stop 1.4 and at about 12 inches from the subject there may only be 1/2 inch in focus, but at 20 feet there may be 12 inches in focus.   In other words the closer to the subject the narrower the depth of field, and the further away the wider the depth of field.

Next time sports, and from then on it will be my travels and photographs like this:

  Well maybe not like this, but the things I photograph. 

Great Sand Dunes

I have neglected this blog.  I have been awfully busy.   If you follow me on facebook you know I was trying to get a model to pose in water.  It turned out to be a time consuming little project.  It also failed not because the model called at the last minute and cancelled.  I know this has nothing to do with the Great Sand Dunes, but the world didn't end either.

In 2007 Lou and I made the trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It has the highest dunes in the United States with the highest dune measuring 750 feet.  It attracts vacationers from all over the world totaling about 300,000 people a year.  The fascination with the park is the sand, but there is so much more than that there.  Our visit included snow, 10 inches of it.

I decided to write about The Great Sand Dunes because two of my photographs were selected for display this summer.  This post is mostly photographs with snippets about the stay.

On the first full day there we decided to search the area around the Dunes.   We planned to explore the Dunes later on our visit.  THe snow killed that plan.    A collection of photographs from that day:

(By the way click on the photographs to see them larger, and back to get to the page.)  Hey don't down load these it is a violation of Copyright.  Another way of saying it:  it is stealing.

IS0 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/640  There are three hikers in this photograph.  They help give scale to the dunes.

                                     
ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/400  Notice the depth of the dunes.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250   This is one of my favorites.  This river only runs part of the year.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 400, F4, Shutter Speed 1/1250

                                           

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

So that night it snowed.  And snowed. And snowed.  

                                     

And it was still snowing the next morning.  We were staying in a cabin just outside the Park.  We had a space heater, but the electricty kept flickering.  So, we packed up.  No we didn't leave.  There was a motel right next door.  We checked in.  If we were going to be without heat I wanted company.  I kept thinking snow covered dunes, and that it would be unusal.  Later I was to find out that the park only had a few photographs of the Dunes with snow on them.  The sand retains heat and the snow melts quickly.  So day three was spent waiting for snow plows, swimming (indoor pool) and a quick trip to town.   Well I did work in a couple of pictures.

If you think you see a bunch of dots in the picture, you would be right.  It's snow.  Oh there are birds too.

Roads plowed about 4 pm.  Even though its still snowing, its time to get out in it.  

                                           

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/250  

Did I mention it was still snowing?  

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640 The storm retreated and then the snow stopped and the dunes were covered. 

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/640

The next day at sunrise.

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed1/640

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed1/640

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/640

ISO 100, F32, Shutter Speed 1/40  The reason for the F-stop was to make the whole photograph sharp. 

It was cold.

                                      

 ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

                                          













ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/250

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F9, Shutter Speed 1/500

 ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250

ISO 100, F8, Shutter Speed 1/1250  

ISO 100, F5.6, Shutter Speed 1/2000  This last photograph gives the best scale, and is taken as we left.   The hikers are dwarfed by the dunes.  There had been 10 inches of snow, and it is mostly gone 24 hours after it stopped.   My submission for consideration included 23 photographs found here in a slide show:  http://www.grangersimagesandaction.com/Great%20Sand%20Dunes%20National%20Park/index.html

From the slideshow they approved 9.  These are the two I chose and are the ones on display:

Next time let's do flowers, and then sports.   

Camera Settings and a Rehash

First the rehash and then the settings.  I know I just spent considerable time discussing ISO, F-stop and shutter speed, but what the hey.  Here comes a quick recap.

Lied a photograph of the Bellagio Fountain for no particular reason.  F22, 1/160, ISO 200

Shutter speed:  Shutter speed is the length of time the shutter allows light to get to the sensor.  The faster the shutter speed the greater the likelihood of freezing motion and eliminating camera shake.   To obtain the wanted shutter speed you can adjust ISO or the F-stop.   Slow the shutter speed to raise the F-stop, or to lower the ISO setting.

F-stop: Is used to control how much light gets to the sensor.  The lower the setting the more light gets to the the sensor.  So at a setting of F2 more light gets to the sensor than a setting of F8.  To obtain a faster shutter speed use a wider opening F-stop such as F4 or F2.8.  On the other hand to get greater depth of field use an F-stop such as F16 or higher.

ISO:  Is the scale used to identify how sensitive the sensor is to light.   A lower number decreases the sensitivity to light, and a higher number increases it.  With ISO 100 a slower shutter speed or a smaller F-stop is needed than at ISO 400.  The higher the ISO the greater the risk of digital noise.

It is the interaction of ISO, F-stop, and shutter speed that controls light in camera.  Understanding the interaction of the three and learning to manipulate the interaction is key to better photographs.  It is the difference between bad pictures and good pictures, good pictures and great pictures.  The reason is that photography is nothing more than understanding light and manipulating it.   Hey that sounded pretty good, but it is a little overstated.

My sister has just recently become a photo fanatic.  She is out at a lake near her house frequently, and spends time photographing flowers in other people yards (She takes so many photographs she can't grow her own), and then there are the grandchildren.  She is  just at the beginning of understanding ISO, shutter speed and F-stop.  She has taken some beautiful photographs.  The reason is she has an innate understanding of "pretty".   An understanding of pretty can overcome not knowing the technical stuff.

Enough of this already let's cover some settings.  The first one is the easiest one.  On some cameras it is "P" for program, "A" for automatic and it used by those of you who just want to click the shutter.   On most cameras today they will set the ISO, shutter speed, F-stop, get milk or beer at the store, train your dog, and sing Mary Had a Little all at the same time.  Usually the camera will tell you if the picture is about to be ugly.  There will be a light that will flash or something.  The only thing you really have to watch is getting too close.  If you get too close you get a pic like this:

Cameras just don't like too close and so they get even by screwing up the photo.  Well unless you shoot macro, but that is another story.  Somewhere in that manual you never read is the minimum focusing distance.  I think they should have a built in tape measure.

For the rest of these you may have to actually get the dreaded manual out to see how to set you camera.  I know I get a little wordy but those manuals, they don't even try to tell a joke.  The next setting is aperture priority.  Aperture is another term for F-stop.  When using this setting the photographer will determine the F-stop (aperture) the camera will do all the rest of it for you.  That's it set the F-stop take the photograph.  On a Canon this is called Av.  Why? I don't have the slightest idea.  I guess since they make the cameras they could have called it swiss cheese.  It just doesn't make sense to me.   The name for this setting varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Shutter priority is the third setting.  This works just like aperture priority except you set the shutter speed.  The camera will then determine the correct F-stop, and with some cameras even the ISO.

So there you have it, those pesky settings.  There are a bunch of other settings usually accompanied with little pictures, but I don't understand the purpose of them.  If someone out there wants to write about them I would be more than happy to post it.

One final note these posts are to help you understand how a camera works.  It is my hope that some of you will take better photo as a result.  In other words when faced with a difficult shooting situation you will think and then shoot.   The important thing however is to get the shot.  If your Daught Jane is about to dunk the basketball and your ISO is set on the ugly side take the pic, your new born son decides to pee just after you took her diaper off and hits your husband grab the camera even though it will be underexposed and shoot.  Sometimes they aren't great photographically,  but they are just great.  The most important thing is what I call "get the shot"    There are no etched in stone rules, don't stop because just because you read something here or there that says this or that.  Just get the shot and have a good time.  Like these two:

Wildlife Photo Shoot part 2

This is my second post about the nature area I discovered on the Virgin River.  For this trip I planned an early morning trip.  I knew the sun would rise behind me and the sun would highlight my subjects.  I had initial success, but I will save that photograph until near the end.  So let's begin.

This is not much of a photograph.  I saw these birds and started sneaking up on them.  My technique is walk toward them at a slow pace until they stop feeding.  Then I stop and wait until they go back to feeding.   I wait a little while and then start walking toward them.  I keep repeating this until I think they have had enough and are about to fly.  I then stop and photograph what I can.  Sounds good on paper doesn't it.  They were actually being quite calm but then I made a mistake.  I raised my hand to scratch my head hit my sunglasses and knocked them to the ground.  I said "Bye ya'll" to them as they left, and bent to get those &^@(*^&$ glasses.  ISO 5.6, 1/500, ISO 100.

Sometimes though you expect to shoot birds, and it is sand that catches your eye.  There is something about the texture and the design that just fascinates me.  I am certain there is a restaurant in Vegas inspired by sand (see post below).  Anyway it was the sand that caught my attention.

F18, 1/50, ISO 100

F4, 1/1250, ISO 100

F22, 1/40, ISO 100  I kinda like the claw prints.

This is the restaurant I think is sand inspired.

F2, 1/25, ISO 800

This next photograph caught my eye, but I had a difficult time with it.  There was something missing.  I actually left it and took the above sand photographs and returned.   

F18, 1/50,ISO 100

I looked again and then took this photograph.  These are the blades of grass in the background of the first photograph.

F18, 1/50, ISO 100

I prefer this photograph to all the others.  

THis is one of the first photographs I took.  It is of Cinnamon Teal as they take flight.  I had been using my sneak technique, but I got too far into their comfort zone.  The zone, different for each animal, is the closest distance an animal will allow you to get before leaving town faster than a cat leaving a hot tin roof.  

F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200

THis photograph was taken hand held with a 400mm lens.  THe significance is that the longer the lens the more it is subject to camera shake.  To overcome the bad effects of shake a fast shutter speed is needed then add birds in flight and the shutter speed had better be cranked up.  I am proud of the shot.  

This is one of the final photographs I took.  As you can see I am fairly close, and definitely inside the comfort zone.  In my previous trips I knew this to be a hangout for ducks.  I approached cautiously taking off my backpack, and checking my cameras settings.  I got down on my stomach.  Yes I did!  You weren't there, and shouldn't argue with me.  I inched forward on my stomach as my shirt, and pants filled with sand.  I got into position, and started shooting.  After about 10 minutes one of them spotted me, and it was off to the races.

F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200

Lesson:

-Don't drop your sunglasses

-The longer the lens the faster the shutter speed needed.  In fact some say that you should multiply the mm of the lens to compensate.  Example: 100 mm lens will need a shutter speed of 1/200.  I'm not so sure, but the longer the lens, the more caution is needed.

-Be prepared to fill you shirt and pants with sand.

-Look for what it is that makes the photograph. The blades of grass in the shot above.