Polarizing Filter

Spent last week getting ready for a class in Houston. We’d set the date 8 weeks ago. Then spent a nervous Fri and Sat waiting to see the results of Ike. I didn’t get confirmation that the classes were postponed until Sunday morning.

With that off the front burner I could go looking for a filter in earnest. I didn’t think finding one would be that tough. Had to go to downtown Austin to find one that fit my lens (49mm).

I’d done a little reading on the web. I needed a Circular Polarizer because of the digital camera. They have two plates. The first cuts reflected light, that’s the polarizer. The second plate sort of makes it scattered (circular) again so the polarizing sensors inside the camera don’t reject the light. That’s sort of the layman’s version.

Meanwhile, I had to relearn to watch the viewfinder when rotating the filter. My first attempt didn’t show much change. I shot from one position and took another shot with the filter rotated 90 degress. It wasn’t until 20 shots later that I came to realize the best position was 45 degrees.

The second day’s photo shoot I adjusted for best reduction first. Then tested 90 degrees off of that. The results weren’t spectacular, but the behavior was much better and in line with what I expected.

Windmill

I guess the "third time's the charm." I visited Old Settlers Park on three separate days to get a photo of the windmill. I had been out at the park earlier to test depth of field and focus. Some experimental shots of the windmill showed blurring on the blades, because it was moderately windy.

Last Friday it was low winds, so I went out to try for some serious shots. I got lucky and actually had it stop a few times. Problem was they were all darker than I wanted. I should have upped the EV since the back ground was blue sky and clouds.

I got my Weekly Assignment shot for next week, so the trip wasn’t a total waste. A number of the shots didn’t have a blur giving me hope.

Went back Saturday because I had the day free. Joanne was at a quilt show. I boosted the EV two notches. The wind was puffy and didn’t cooperate. I liked the shots, until I got home and looked at actual pixels. Vanes were sharp but the spokes were blurred. The speed of rotation was definitely the culprit, everything else was sharp.

Sunday morning I usually go out for the Sunday paper. Took my camera and drove the extra 3 miles to the park. Light wind but some of the flags were drooping. If they’d been ripping off the poles I would have turned around.

Plus 0.7 EV, large format for extra cropping latitude, and a little patience for the wind to hold up occasionally (at least slow down). For an extra benefit, the wind was aiming the tail into the sun, so the sun lit up the Texas flag on the tail. Out of 14 taken, seven are pretty good. The others had very small distortions around the spokes.

Studio Work

Used the light tent for this week’s assignment. It really required setting up the camera to get the photo I wanted. Took me three sessions. Take a couple dozen shots and pull them up on the computer to see how they really turned out.

I’d already figured out you need to adjust the white balance for the lighting. But the exposure was still darker than I wanted. I turned off the D-R-O and boosted the exposure to +1.3EV. I even bracketed the shots +/- 0.7EV.

Surprised to find that +2.0EV seemed to give the most reliable picture quality.

I doubt if I’ll have to mess around quite so much for penguin pictures. I won’t be shooting indoors, or using artificial light. I’ll probably use a flash for on board the ship.

Wildflower Center II

Killed a couple birds with one trip today. I’d promise to take my wife to the Wildflower Center today. The sky was cloudy but it was a nice day. I figure the Antarctic is likely to have overcast days, so it would be a good test for exposure. I also took the monopod along to see if I could capture a panorama.

On the exposure front, I adjusted the WB and set the camera for ISO 200. The photos came out a reasonable color. I bracketed a few and set the camera for +0.3 EV on some. Those adjustments are getting more automatic, at least in terms of knowing what to push.

I may have to practice setting the controls for manual shutter and apeture. The panorama photos didn’t all take at the same speed. One is noticeably darker. When they get stiched together they’ll look funny.

I also, by accident, found a curved tile downspout. With the supporting limestone works, it is a good possible entry for the Angles assignment. I’d already taken some quilt block photos. So, I’ve got multiple possibilities.

Panning

The week’s assignment, over at Digital Photography School, is "panning." A technique that blurs the background while keeping the topic of interest focused. It takes practice.

Took my camera on the afternoon’s walk and shot cars over on McNeil. I seem to have the blurred background down. Unfortunately, so is much of the subject. This is going to take some effort.

I also have a new lesson learned. Since you want to slow the shutter down, you set the mode control for "S." That worked OK but the photo’s came out noticeably blue.

It seems the manual controls also bring up the White Balance options, if set. So it was using my 3000K from the night before. I’ll have to keep in mind what I’ve changed. Just powering down doesn’t make some things go away. (Which is good overall.)

Poking around further; the Wikipedia entry on panning suggests that I may have slowed the shutter down too much. A fast vehicle, F1 racer, can be caught at 1/125th. A runner might be closer to 1/60th. I was taking the cars at 1/20 to 1/30. So, I might have more success with a faster shutter.

Light Tent

Weather has been off and on. Rainy yesterday, beautiful today, but more on the way Thursday. So, I’m confining my picture taking to indoors.

Set about on a related project. Making a light tent. Found a good description on the internet (of course). It uses a cardboard box for the structural elements.

I spent time after lunch gathering up the components. The Hobby Lobby was a good source for Bristol Board. And the Home Depot had the light fixture I wanted, a clip on work lamp.

I was spared having to go to the fabric store. My wife is a quilter, and there is a LOT of fabric around the house. She has a good supply of white muslin. So, that won’t be hard to get.

I had taken a few photos of small objects last night. The light I was using gave the backgrounds a decided yellow tint. I want to see if I can solve it with a light tent, and a full spectrum light source. It still may not be enough to get good photos of coins, but it is an experiment. And reasonably inexpensive.

Round Rock

Sunny weather today. So I went over to the park and shot some photos of the Round Rock. It was a landmark during the stagecoach and cattle drive days. And it is, literaly, a round flat (horizontal) rock sticking out of the stream. People knew they were getting close to Austin.

Shot off 50 pictures. Doesn’t take long when it’s three photos at a time with the bracket settings.

This time I was more interested in manual exposure correction. It requires pressing a button on the back, and the clicking of a dial in front. You can do it single handed, same hand you use for pressing the shutter.

Most of the better photos used a correction of +0.7 EV.

The parking lot has some bronze statues. One is a longhorn under a tree. A lot of shadows. Moving the exposure control up help to bring out more detail. You can see the dirt and leaves in front are a bit washed out, which I would expect from over exposure.

Trees Are Blooming

Enjoying some nice weather between cold fronts. The upcoming weekend is supposed to be crummy. Starting to see signs of Spring. Many of the trees are starting to bloom. We’ve had dandilions for the last week or two, but no wild flowers yet.

I took the camera with me when I took my walk. There is a reddish/purple tree along the was. It is probably a Redbud tree. They bloom in the Spring, and really stand out against the other mostly bare trees.

I took some pictures but they weren’t as bright as my eyes could see. The +0.3 EV was better. I should have tried +0.7 just to see what I get. Maybe tomorrow, when I take a walk in the late afternoon, the lighting will be a little more favorable.