The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 10,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Christmas day couldn’t have been better. The sausages and champagne additions to our ordinary breakfast of coffee, yogurt, and bagels was yummy, and my wife, Linda, and I were happy with our presents. Yes, it was a great Christmas morning and to make it even better, when I went outside to feed my chickens, I noticed everything, well, everything but my hungry chickens, was coated with hoarfrost.
The day was overcast and sometime during the evening another inch or so of snow made its way to our yard and the surrounding forest, and I guess that chilled the air around the already freezing surfaces created what this photographer can best describe as a wonderland of frozen, white, crystalline frost.
I attached a ring-flash to my 200mm macro lens and mounted it on my camera. My wife chose an 18-200mm lens for her camera, and then we donned our boots, and warm coats, and headed out.
Linda began trudging through the deep snow in our yard picking out interesting snow and frost covered features. She wasn’t using a flash, but had her camera set at ISO 1600. The high ISO allowed her to choose faster shutterspeeds so she could leave her tripod behind.
Even though there was a light cloud cover, the day was perfect, with just enough light to give the frost a slight illumination on the snowy morning.
I was shooting close-ups and could have easily selected one of the automated modes in the shadowless, flat light; but using the ring-light on my lens allowed me to underexpose and slightly darken the background to build some dimension and depth in the images I was making of the hoarfrost-covered foliage.
Selecting manual modes for both flash and camera, plus a low ISO of 100, gave me more control over my subjects. I made exposures at 1/250th of a second and adjusted the aperture to control how much depth of field I wanted. I like using flash when I do close-up or macro photography. Whether it’s wandering around in the rain like I wrote about last August or on a frosty Christmas day, adding light from a flash allows a photographer to build the image, not just document it.
I thought about putting a flash on a stand and shooting wirelessly by positioning a flash at different angles, but the mobility of the ring-light mounted around the end of my lens worked pretty well for the type of photographs I was making, and besides I could easily walk everywhere and after our Christmas breakfast I think I needed the exercise.
The frosty morning pictures were a good addition to those Linda and I made of each other earlier. I have closed my shop till after the New Year, so there will be lots of time for more picture taking in the snow-covered landscape.
I hope everyone has a great Year End with best wishes from Linda and I.
My website is at www.enmanscamera.com
The Christmas season is a great time for photographers looking for an excuse to give friends and relatives photographs. I wrote last year saying that I always give photographs this time of year. That could mean framed photographic print gifts, but what I really mean are Christmas cards.
Several years ago my wife and I spent the beginning of December in San Francisco.
On our second day there we decided to spend the afternoon on a beach at John Muir Park, and while we were there we watched three young people involved in what we assumed was the production of a photograph for their Christmas greeting card for friends and family. A young woman proceeded out to the water’s edge wearing a long dark skirt, a white shirt, a red vest, and a Santa Claus cap, all the while supporting a gangly four-foot Charlie Brown Christmas tree at her side. She posed and smiled for her friends who were busy photographing her. She was barefoot and the bottom of her long dress was getting wet as the surf rolled in. They then each took turns holding the tree as they posed for the camera, but she was the most remarkable because of her costume.
For those satisfied with mass produced generic Christmas cards, there are stacks and stacks being offered at stores, but for photographers it’s a perfect excuse to give people photographs. And personally, I want people to see and enjoy my photography. Even if it’s only as a 5X7 card, that’s better than having my pictures left languishing in a hard drive.
My wife and I went through many of our image files from this year’s photographs selecting those we want for Christmas cards. I prefer a vertical format, but sometimes a horizontal picture also works and I will choose that also.
I print up several different images, and place different sorts of greetings on them. It is rare that we give the same picture to more than one person. And not all the cards say Merry Christmas. To me, it doesn’t matter; , have fun, a good New Year, and anything else I think fits a particular picture. Sometimes I use bits of songs or quotes I have found instead of the words, Merry Christmas
What matters is the picture and even that might be a manipulation of the original and doesn’t need to have a Christmas look at all. What is important to me is that those I give a card to get something unique. And I will say that, unlike a framed print, I really don’t care what they do with the card I sent. I really hope people like what I give them, of course, however, if it gets thrown out with the gift-wrap after the holidays it doesn’t matter either, they got to see a photograph taken by my wife, Linda, or myself, and that’s what’s important.
I like to give different pictures to different people. Don’t be a Grinch and hide your pictures away, just showing some picture on your iphone isn’t enough. Print it, make a card, put it in an envelope, and give it to someone. And it’s easy to make a card gluing a photo to card stock or construction paper, or get a print made and write something festive on the back. In my opinion Christmas cards don’t really need to be just for Christmas. Call them greeting cards, holiday cards, or whatever you want. That way if it’s a bit late for Christmas they can be sent or delivered anyway.
Linda and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.
My new website is at www.enmanscamera.com
We finished decorating our 15-foot Christmas tree, and I started putting the tracks together for the Christmas train that goes round and round the tree. Afterwards, my wife, Linda, resting and enjoying a cup of tea, and perusing the glory of our handiwork commented, “You haven’t told me yet what you want for Christmas. Do you want something for your photography?”
I hadn’t thought about what I wanted. I had been enjoying the tree, the decorations, and the Christmas music, but as far as a gift for me, especially, “something for photography” left me at a loss of what to say, so I replied, “I suppose I want everything and anything that will fit my camera.”
I watched the train go round the tree, and I listened to the music coming from the satellite receiver (I like the channel that plays smooth Christmas jazz) and tried to think about what I could tell my wife.
In keeping with that subject, I decided to pose that question on a couple of photographer forums I frequent. There are so many different photographers with different ideas on what would be the perfect photography gift for them, that I edited them a bit and selected twelve in keeping with the tradition of twelve days of Christmas.
I am absolutely sure readers have their own Christmas list, however, here are some of the requests I picked out for this year.
(1) “I asked for the Canon 6D, worth a try.” (The first on the list is one of many that wanted a particular camera, and I just went with the first response of many.) One would have had to been really good to deserve this.
(2) “I thought about asking for an additional tripod; a smaller, lighter one for hiking… but I would not want to push my luck.” Good choice.
(3) “I asked Santa for a 70-200mm lens.” Very nice.
(4) “Lensbaby Composer Pro – This tilting lens is the first item on my list.” Wow.
(5) “I already bought a Fujifilm X100s…I couldn’t wait.” Good move.
(6) “I’ve asked for gift cards, better chance of getting some of those than the Nikon D800 I really want.” That works for me.
(7) “A Bush Hawk Shoulder Mount would be great to find under the Christmas tree.” That would be so neat.
(8) “A 50mm f/1.4 lens would be perfect.” I agree.
(9) “I really would be happy if I could get a macro ring flash for Christmas.” I agree.
(10) “I would like a wireless off-camera flash, light stand, and a softbox.” Excellent.
(11) “I’d be happy with a 5-in-1 collapsible reflector, or if I am really very good I would like a really big umbrella, 80 inches would be super.” Absolutely.
(12) “A new camera backpack to hold the 70-200mm lens I hope I am getting.” That would be so neat.
Personally, I could suggest to my wife that she empty out our savings and get me a really long focal length lens. But I doubt that item would actually find it’s way under our tree. After all there needs to be some money left for her. So, being the practical guy I am, I think I’ll request that Santa Claus puts a couple of good quality, 32GB memory cards in my stocking.
There is still time to get your list ready. Good luck and Merry Christmas.
Got any additions or comments? Let me know – Thanks, John
My new website is at www.enmanscamera.com
I received a call from a photographer asking help with a new camera purchase. He had selected two and was comparing their difference in frames-per-second. I had read about both cameras and have to admit with so many other spectacular and enticing features both offered I hadn’t paid much attention to how many frames each could shoot in one burst.
When I asked him why FPS was important he said, “So I can photograph things that go fast”. A good point, although a minor one in my opinion, shooting with continuous advance might increase the number of keepers he has, as he learns techniques for photographing fast moving subjects.
I will admit I like photographing things that go fast. Capturing less than of second of a subject’s life that will be gone forever is exciting. That photographer could hope to stop the action by putting his camera into it’s P, or A mode, and employing his camera like a machine gun, make a burst of the shutter to stop a moving subject.
Some experienced photographers know how to get great results at the 8-frames-per-second or more, but if he is just starting out, he might want to dial it back a little and experiment to find what works best. The belief that faster would be better is not always the case. A DSLR cannot always find focus on a passing subject while the mirror is up and one can’t track the action through a viewfinder blocked while several frames are being made.
When I approach action photography at say, a basketball game, rodeo, or cars at a dragstrip, I don’t bother with the continuous frame feature on my camera. I know that the best way to stop action is with a fast shutterspeed. First I increase the ISO so the sensor is more light sensitive. Modern cameras have no problem with ISO settings of 800 or more and depending on how bright the location is I might move ISO higher or lower. I just make some tests before things get going.
Next I set my camera to a mode where I choose the shutter and the camera chooses the aperture. (S on Nikon and TV on Canon) I select the fastest shutterspeed that will let me keep some depth of field, then do more test shots, and I am ready to start taking pictures.
I anticipate and choose the best location to catch the action. Gosh, it’s all that easy. I suppose one could do additional testing with a high burst of frames-per-second. I don’t think that is needed, it just eats up memory and might require hours of editing in Photoshop, but what the heck, with today’s exciting technology we need to experiment to find what works best for our shooting style.
My first camera didn’t have auto focus, programmed exposure modes, or eight-frames-a-second capability. I couldn’t even shoot at shutterspeeds over 1/500th of a second. But, I read a lot, took classes and learned about the aperture and shutter, learned how to follow a moving subject, and about how my camera exposed a subject. And practiced a lot in spite of the price attached to each roll of film.
Oh, and my advice to that photographer didn’t discuss the need for fast shutterspeeds. As I wrote, there were so many other spectacular, and enticing things about the cameras we talked about, that I forgot about adding an opinion about frames-per-second.
I really appreciate any and all comments. Thanks, John
My new website is at www.enmanscamera.com
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