One For The LadiesI understand that there are a number of club members who feel that there is too much emphasis on Photoshop in the club. They range from the ‘I think you should take a good photograph in the first place’ individual to the ‘It looks like the flight deck of Concord, I’ll never get the hang of it’ individual. It had also been suggested to me that some of our women members think Photoshop is a bloke thing and not for them.
I am not going to apologise for Photoshop, thousands of professional photographers and its authors, Adobe, can do that. I agree that every effort should be made to take the best possible photo in the first place. Right first time, every time, is a standard to be embraced. I wouldn’t be bothering with this blog otherwise. However there is the valid argument that no photograph stands on its own, or ever has, and some form of ‘enhancement’ or ‘manipulation’ is necessary to bring out of the image, whatever you saw when you took it. I am assuming we are talking about amateur photographers here who wish to enlarge and display their photos, improve their skills and not ‘happy snappers’.
In the days of film, you had to develop the negative (lots of scope there for enhancement and manipulation), you then made a selection of paper to print it on; that could make a significant difference to the end result. You then exposed the print, sometimes holding back areas (dodging) or giving others more exposure (burning) and finally you developed the print, again you had a choice of giving it a little bit more or less development to enhance the result. Even if you went to a photographic shop to do this, as I did when I first started, you still had a choice of paper, and the ability to ask for some global changes (lighter or darker). It was one’s quest for improvement, which drove you to learn the basics of developing and printing to give you that extra bit of control.
Modern digital cameras (particularly compacts) are designed to give very usable results straight out of the camera. The problem is, these results are what a technician in Osaka or Tokyo thinks will look good and they tend to be quite punchy and bright with sometimes, rather garish colours, which may need toning down. D-SLRs tend to have more realistic colours and these can sometimes need a lift. Then of course the conditions may not be conducive to good images, dull days, artificial lighting, etc. We may, just may, make errors in our photography leading to a less than perfect photo, or it may be a snatched image of a brief event, for which we might not have been prepared. Lastly there is the fact, which I alluded to in my last blog; cameras just can’t always capture what we see.
When you buy a digital camera there is usually an image-processing package included. This is not because the manufacturer’s wishes to encumber you, but because they realise you may just want to tweak the output of the camera occasionally. Then there are free packages, such as Picassa, which offer the ‘click a button, make a change’ approach, or even one click and the package does it all for you.
I know many members use Picassa and are very happy with the results. My attitude is ‘if it gives you what you want then more power to you’. My problem with these packages is they make ‘global’ adjustments, which apply to the whole photo and are not under my control. Different effects, such as dodging and burning, cannot be made to apply to specific areas of the photo. It is the difference, in digital terms, between going to the photography shop to get your enlargement and learning the basics of developing and printing and doing it for yourself. I would not dream of suggesting that it is absolutely necessary to learn to use Photoshop, or any other software package in order to be a member of a photographic club, but I would suggest that it is a good thing to learn to use one of the available packages if you want to progress beyond the novice stage. Photoshop just gives one more scope. To reject photo enhancement software out of hand is rather like joining a golf club with only one club and one ball, then cocking a snoot at the professional when s/he asks if you want a free lesson.
Now to that idea that photo enhancement is a bloke thing and not for the ladies. If you surf the net for Photoshop help then you will find that some of the best Photoshop help sites, are run by women. One I found was ‘Digital Photography For Mums’ (later called ‘Digital Photography for Everyone’ and now on the ‘Texas Chicks’ website). Erin, who started the original site, has only been taking photos for 2 years, but has tackled Photoshop head on. She has an interesting approach to it, using pre-designed groups of enhancements known as Actions. This gives a one-click approach to enhancement, with access to some of the most powerful effects available in Photoshop, with the added advantage that you can modify things globally and locally to your heart’s content, using just the brush tool. It is a little bit like magic painting combined with painting by numbers but more fun because the pictures are your own. Also Erin kindly tutored me on how to write my own actions and use them. Have a look at her site and see for yourself at
http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.com.
I am so enamoured of this approach that I will introduce it in later blogs as ‘Easy Photoshop’ and put some specially designed Actions on the Photoshop Training CD.
Well that’s it. Rant over, on with the blog.
Let Your Digital Camera Teach You Photography –2 So far I have encouraged you to delete the bad photos and retake them wherever possible. You may ask, how does one know which ones to delete? The short answer is, if you get home and find one you don’t wish to keep because of an obvious fault, delete all similar photos in the future. Below is a short list of the main culprits.
Camera shake. Use your stabiliser and or a tripod.
Out of focus. Use spot focus and focus lock (half press the shutter button. You should hear a beep, indicating that focus has been achieved. Hold this and recompose if necessary, then press the button all the way down. You should hear a shutter sound.)
Over exposed. burnt out skies and highlights cannot be recovered. Use exposure compensation.
Under exposed. A little (1-2 stops) is not necessarily a bad thing; these can often be rescued and it may be necessary in order to preserve skies and highlights. Very under exposed shots will loose detail in the shadows. Use exposure compensation.
Trees, lampposts etc growing out of people’s heads. Move and recompose to eliminate.
Poor composition. Move camera and or self, to recompose.
Lack of emphasis on the main subject. Fill the frame with the subject.
Noisy image. Use lower ISO, image stabilisation and/or a tripod or avoid noise in low light.
Don’t like it much. Take one you do like.
Remember my particle on histograms in the last blog? Well now is the time to get out your manual and find out how to activate your in-camera histogram. As indicated in the previous particle, the safest exposure is one in which the piles of pixels end just before the right hand side of the graph, with just a few pure whites to take account of spectral highlights. If you keep an eye on this graph, you will virtually eliminate poor exposures. It will also have the benefit of slowing things down, giving you time to think. While you are looking up histogram, look up exposure compensation. With these two in your back pocket, very little should phase you, in any shooting situation.
This week’s maxim is.
‘Take fewer photos more often.’. In other words think more about each photo and take fewer photos each time you go out, but go out more often. That way you will learn quickly.
GlossaryAnalogue To Digital Conversion. (A to D Conversion)All data recorded by the sensor has to go through an analogue to digital conversion before it can be stored in the camera’s memory chip. The information (signal) recorded by the sensor cells (pixels) varies in a continuous fashion, so that for example one might have values of 5.673, 5.4 and 4.791, recorded by various pixels in the array but these values would be converted, by the analogue to digital converter, into the nearest whole number as follows, 5.67=6, 5.4=5, 4.79=5 and so on. This applies to colour and tone information and a small amount of the original information, captured by the sensor, is lost by this process. Another reason why digital can be said to be in need of enhancement to bring it back to what was originally photographed.
Raw In Raw mode, no processing is done in the camera except, conversion of the data from analogue to digital and demosaicing. In order to print the photo it must be processed by computer using the software provided by the manufacturer or third party software, such as Adobe Camera Raw. It has the advantage that you can adjust the exposure, the white balance and other parameters to suite yourself. For those not wishing to delve into such things, there is usually a software-suggested default setting, which should do a better job than the in-camera output. The latter is usually in the form of a compressed ‘JPEG’ but with Raw you can save your photo in an uncompressed form and keep maximum image quality. In addition your original is preserved and if you don’t like the outcome then you can do it again differently.
Review Budget D-LSR’sIf you are going to invest in a new camera, you may be asking yourself if it is worth considering a D-SLR. A lot of the content of this and previous blogs has been alluding to the fact that compact and bridge cameras (digicams for short) do not have as good image quality as D-SLRS. So what, you may ask, are the pros and cons of buying a D-SLR as opposed to say a bridge camera and are the budget models any better than, say, the equivalent bridge camera? Below is my summary of the main pros and cons.
Pros of owning a D-SLR Larger sensor: means less noise and the ability to use higher ISOs; hence less camera shake and usually, more even tones.
Interchangeable lenses: means you can take photos over a wide spectrum of focal lengths with excellent image quality (with the right lens).
Quick operation: Means little or no delay between pressing the shutter button and taking the photo[/b] Means that precious moments will not be lost.
High frame rate: Capture as many as five frames (images) per second. Good for action shots and for capturing the nuances of human reactions.
Wider range of apertures: the ability to use apertures smaller than f8 (usually the smallest aperture on a digicam) allows a wider ‘depth of field’ for landscape shots. Similarly f numbers as low as F1.7 are available (at a price).
Wider range of shutter speeds: Exposure times in excess of five seconds (30 seconds to ‘bulb’, where the shutter stays open as long as the shutter button is pressed) make all kinds of photography possible such as those which exclude human movement in low light. Extra fast shutter speeds (1/3000 sec – 1/4000th sec) allow the capture of very fast action.
Wide range of lenses: Even with a budget D-SLR, the common mount means that you are able to mount any of the lenses in the manufacturer’s range.
Higher dynamic range: less ‘clipping’ of highlights and shadows. Easier to get still more out of the shot using ‘Raw’.
More easy access to functions: frequently used functions, such as white balance and exposure compensation are usually on a button somewhere and this makes control of each shot easier.
Tough: Some have a metal substructure, or a full metal body.
Damp and dust proof: more expensive ones have rubber seals on joints. This does not make them waterproof however.
Synergy: put all the above together and you have a major leap forward in the potential quality and scope of your images. The more you pay the more you get. That is why professional photographers a prepared to pay small fortunes for their kit. However a lot of these benefits are available with the cheapest D-SLRs plus one kit lens. See cons. An added bonus is that they nearly all now have ‘live view’ and video.
ConsExpensive: A mid range DSLR will set you back £1000 with a couple of kit lenses, £1300 plus, for a body and one ‘good’ lens. Budget D-SLRs start at £350-£500 with one or two kit lenses. Better lenses can cost from £250 upwards.
Heavy: Even the lighter models weigh in at around 600 grams together with a light, kit lens. Carry a camera and two kit lenses around and you can be hefting 800 grams plus.
Large: A small D-SLR is going to be 20-30% larger than most bridge cameras.
Sensor dust: Constantly changing lenses means that dust can get onto the sensor where it looks like a rock in the middle of your image. If a blower brush does not solve it, sensor cleaning by a professional outfit is recommended. Some have an in camera cleaning system the best of which is by Olympus.
In SummaryThere are many benefits from owning a D-SLR but you have to be prepared to spend a bit more, carry a bit more weight and work with a larger camera. Things may be changing however. The introduction of the new ‘micro four thirds’ systems by Olympus and Panasonic looks like giving many of the benefits of the D-SLR to nearer the size and weight of a digicam. Expense still remains a problem. Perhaps in a couple of generations of these new concept cameras we will laugh at lugging D-SLRs around but at the moment they reign supreme.
The Choice. (Prices are from Amazon and include one kit lens) Make/Camera Price Comment Value Stars (1-5) Canon EOS 1000 £400 E, A, ISS, no ISC 4.3
Canon EOS 450 £468 E, A, ISS, no ISC 4.3
Nikon D3000 £410 E, A, ISS, no ISC 4.4
Panasonic G1** £470 E, A, ISS 4.5
Pentax K2000*** £400 G,(B-A) (improving), ISC 3.9
Olympus E520 £400 G, B, IIS, ISC 3.9
Sony Alpha 230* £343 G-E, A, IIS, ISC 4.5
Key
E Excellent image quality
G Good image quality (G-E good bordering Excellent)
P Poor image quality
A ‘Low noise/noise free pictures (up to ISO 800)
B ‘Low noise/noise free pictures (up to ISO 400)
C ‘Low noise/noise free pictures (up to ISO 200)
ISS Image Stabilisation needs a special lens.
IIS In camera image stabilisation means all lenses are stabilised, including older ones.
ISC In camera sensor cleaning.
* Alpha 200 may still be available at very good price.
** A new innovation. Panasonic has removed the mirror box from the D-SLR and replaced it with a EVF. This seems to be no detriment to the view provided and hardened photo reviewers are raving about this camera and its new micro four-thirds siblings. It is smaller and lighter than any other D-SLR and gives better results than some. It is loaded with ‘Intelligent Auto’ functions and it is almost certainly a glimpse of the future.
*** Not Available from Amazon.
Next time I will look at the micro four thirds systems in more detail.
A Happy Christmas and a Good New Year to my reader.
John Rope 18th December 2009
