Less Than A Month To Go

Haven’t been blogging much. Still taking digital photos and have continued to post to the Weekly Photo. But my focus has been on other things.

I’m leaving for a week in Wisconsin on Thursday. Wisconsin Homeconing Game in Madison this coming week-end. The Badgers are having a terrible year so I expect the results won’t be happy.

I’m teaching two classes the week after I get back. That will be a drive to Houston, Nov 2nd and 4th. And then the big trip starts the 15th. A lot of preparation to do. I’ve been gathering bits and pieces since January, it’s down to to 3 or 4 things left. Probably go shopping in Wisconsin.

The DPS assignments have also continued. I’m still learning a lot about the Alpha. This latest week is supposed to be a portrait shot. I used a statue. What was more important, however, was the day was overcast (much as I expect Antarctic will be). I adjust the exposure and got some reasonable photos that didn’t require much adjustment in the computer.

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.

Fill Flash

Went out to shoot some Round Rock Historical Markers. Inspired I suppose by the video from the 150 year celebration for Williamson County (1998). Thought we would go looking for Sam Bass markers.

It was about 1 in the afternoon, and there was plent of sunshine. That also means plenty of shadows. I though the flash always turns on if you flip it up. But I was wrong!

The flash will fire if it is up and the metering thinks it is needed. That’s the usual situation taking photos in the house. When I popped it up outside for a "fill flash" on the marker the flash didn’t go off.

I felt a small tinge of panic. I’d swapped out my usual battery for the one I’d bought over the internet a few weeks ago. It looks like a SONY battery, but maybe the charge is not enough or its providing lower than normal voltage.

When I got home I took a few pictures of my desk. Yep, the flash fired. Now I’ve got a mystery.

But not for long. Grabbed the User’s Guide and looked up flash. It’s a setting under the function knob. Setting the flash to "Fill Flash" will always fire with the flash up.

So, camera isn’t broken and the spare battery still seems OK. Chalk it up to operator error (or misconception). I’ll continue to shoot with this battery and see if I get my usual 250+ photos. Then I’ll know it will hold a normal charge.

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.

More Flowers

Had a good week. The weather is hot but very little rain. I’ve been walking late evenings rather than mid-afternoon, just to avoid the mid-day sun.

The Weekly Assignment was shooting from the hip, no viewfinder. I tried to take some photos of some oleanders peaking over a fence, but couldn’t get the shot I wanted (usually too much fence).

I used the view finder to take this week’s photo.

The DPS photo for the week was taken within the rules and can be found here.

I did learn a little from this assignment. I was pretty sure the auto-focus would work. It did, very few blurry photos. But, it didn’t always focus where I thought it should.

After Dark

Sometimes the second time is better. I went to UT on Sunday, slightly after sunset, and got a few pictures I liked. So, Monday night I went to downtown Round Rock after it had gotten dark (around 9:15 pm). Surprised how deserted the streets get.

They have white lights around the trees and some of the buildings. The assignment is night photography, so I suppose the lights made it easier.

Took my tripod. Used the night portrait mode (no flash) on the camera. Used the timer function and turn DR-O off.

It appears the night portrait mode uses ISO 800 as the setting. When I look at the 100% pixels I can see a little graininess, but I suspect it would show in a normal print.

Took about 30 shots. I got four or five shots that I like. Makes it hard to choose. I'll update this post with my choice Wednesday.

Update: My DPS choice is now up. I have also updated the weekly photo page.

Night Photography

Went down to UT tonight to take some photos at the LBJ library and the UT Tower.

We went at 8pm but it didn't really get dark until 9pm. Haven't analyzed all the pictures yet. Some look ok, others are out of focus or blurred. Most likely because I didn't always use the autotimer.

One lesson learned is that pebble surfaced sidewalk are sharp on your knee. I need to bring a pad or something so I can kneel behind the tripod.

I've got a photo I can use for the assignment, but want to do better. I've got another 9 days to go out and shoot at night to get something I really like. Thinking of going to downtown Round Rock tomorrow night.

Late This Week

I'm a little late posting the weekly photo this week. But I have an excuse.

I had a minor growth in one eye-lid and had it removed on Friday. The problem is that they patched the eye for a day. My right eye is the one that actually works well. So, with that patched, couldn't even type or read.

Got to wondering if I could take any pictures using the Auto Focus (since I couldn't see through the view finder). It works, I took a self portrait of sorts. That's this week's photo.

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.

White Balance

Finished the cardboard box light tent. Joanne suggested we just wrap the muslin on all three sides with a single strip of cloth. That worked better than three separate squares.

Set it up and adjusted the clip on lamp. Then shot off some pictures of my small test subjects. They looked ok in the LCD.

They didn’t look ok when I moved them to the computer. They were red/brown like my earlier ones, using a high intensity desk lamp. Seems like the Reveal bulbs may not be as full spectrum as I thought. Back to the internet.

I knew I would, sooner or later, have to address color temperature. There wasn’t total agreement on the web concerning the reveal bulbs. Other than it is close to an incandescent and it filters out the yellow.

Took out the manual and figured out how to create a custom setting. This would be the technique for using a white or gray card. The light tent has White Bristol Board for a floor and walls. I pointed into the empty box as the white reference. Camera thinks it is 3000K. That’s pretty close to the internet findings. I went with that.

The second test shots cured the red/brown problem. But the figures seem darker.

It looks like I need more of the same light. And I may have to mess with the exposures.

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.

Another Field Trip

Nice day but windy today. Decided to take another field trip, since I was on my own for lunch anyway. Drove down to Lady Bird Lake, in Austin, to check out the ducks at Lou Neff Point.

Had a couple of features I wanted to try. (1) Some of the scene settings. And (2) Exposure bracketing.

I like the knarly trees that haven’t begun to bud yet. Just a tangle of bare branches. The park has a number of them. Took the monopod along and snapped a few trees. Tried the “Landscape” scene selection. The results did seem a bit richer in color.

The information stored with the image (back at home on the computer) indicates what settings were used. I only took minor notes, and then verified the actual settings back home.

The water and the ducks presented a different problem. Had a lot of reflection off the water, from the overhead sun. I tried different shots with the Exposure Bracket setting. The +0.3 EV (slightly over exposed) produced a better photo. This is probably the result of the reflection making the scene look brighter to the photometery system.

I can also bracket +/-0.7 EV. But the higher bracket gave a more washed out image.

Looking over the lake to downtown Austin let me try out “Landscape” mode. The pictures are darker than I want. I tried out White Balance (WB) bracketing. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I tried WB on a tree full of berries. This produced some noticeable differences.

One final experiment. Most of the trees are still bare branches. There is one, however, that is covered with orange/red berries. Very colorful. I took some photos with the “Macro” scene setting. Gave me a very nice blurred back ground, i.e. short depth of field, so a single cluster of berries could be isolated.

Back to the drawing board

Record high temperatures in Texas yesterday. Clear sky and sunny, so a good day to play in the back yard with the camera. I set up the experiment to test depth of field.

The results weren’t as straight forward as I’d hoped. I can detect the blurring but spacing the coffee cups along the tape measure didn’t give me the contrast I wanted. Plus, at greater distances I couldn’t be sure if it was blur or lack of resolution. I’d set the camera to Small quality, and had to look at 100% pixels on the computer.

I did, however, find a site DOFMaster that has a calculator. The numbers roughly correspond to my observations.

Particularly for the 80mm setting. It was clear that the near field was short, less than a foot in front of the coffee cup. The 35mm setting was harder, because you get about 1.5 to 2 feet in front and back. That was about the height of the total frame, so I couldn’t detect a lot of bluring.

The Wikipedia entry for Depth of Field has a lot of formulas. But it has a few example photos. It looks like F-stop is the critical parameter, along with subject distance.

I need to construct a better subject setting.

View Finder

I know that conventional lenses on a digital camera take a hit, about a 1.5 crop factor. In practical terms that means my viewing area is less wide. Reviewing the pictures I took at EPCOT, last week, it was obvious.

I decided to run a practical experiment this afternoon (Sunday). I wanted to see two things. (1) How wide is my vision? and (2) How much more than the viewfinder focus box is included in the picture?

My home faces West, so the setting sun hits my front door in the late afternoon. The sun would be at my back and provide great lighting. The house has a low wall, a bit over 5 foot high, in front of the house.

I took some oversized yardsticks (4 foot) and laid them on the wall. Then I took index cards, drew a line down the center of the card, and then folded the card (line inside). I positioned a card every 1 foot, using the yard stick to hold down the card, i.e. slipping the bent half under the yardstick.

I got my 50 foot tape out and fixed one end at the wall. Then I stretched the tape out toward the sidewalk, essentially at a right angle to the wall.

I got some quad ruled paper and recreated the viewfinder focus box.

With the camera mounted on the monopod, I’d take the camera out to a 5 foot mark and look through the lens zooming between 35mm and 80mm. At the two extremes I would note the index cards visible relative to some of the focus marks, and then snap a picture. (Here's a cropped example )

I’d record on my grid paper how wide I could see in the focus box, not the total viewfinder.

Then I would repeat the process at the next 5 foot interval, i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 foot from the wall. The monopod was always at the same height. So, even though my lawn slopes down a bit toward the curb, all the pictures were roughly of the same scene and the same relative center. The index cards (i.e. the horizontal) were always visible.

Took the pictures with medium resolution. Then I took a few with small resolution, and a couple in large format. “Size” is really a designation for pixels not image dimensions.

After cleaning up my props, I downloaded the test pictures to my computer. Definitely cheaper than 1-hour photo processing. Then it is mostly a question of trigonometry.

The calculator function in Windows is a bit limited. It will do square roots but not sine or cosine. Not to worry, I have my CRC Math tables and a slide-rule for backup. (The slide-rule doesn’t have a sine scale but does have a T (tangent) scale.)

It looks like the 35mm opens up about 36.52 degrees. That works out to 6.6 ft from 10 feet out, between the focus box brackets. The resulting image adds about 1.5 feet outside the focus box, on both sides. (Distance from target x .33 = one half of the focus box view.)

The 80mm setting is a little less than half that. At 20 feet, 6.32 feet are in the focus brackets, about 18 degrees of view. The image adds about a foot to the edges, on both sides.. (Distance from target x .158 = one half the focus box view.)

The images are identical for S, M, L images. So the number of pixels (resolution) changes but not the image width.

I think my next excursion into physics will be to lay out the tape and place my markers every foot straight out, stretching in front of me like a path. Then if I focus on one marker, I should see the depth of field impact to other markers.

Field Trip

The field trip was a success. I learned a lot about the camera and the monopod. In no particular order of priority:

• The quick release worked about the way I’d hoped. I need to occasionally tighten the mounting plate on the camera, but it was easy to snap in and snap off.
• Tilt head can be a mystery for the TSA. The guy in Austin couldn’t recognize it, but he may have been new. Tampa didn’t have a problem with it.
• Had some improvement in the “shake” indicator. Found it was best when I was sitting on a bench. But I did take a few low light shots, standing up, that came out well.
• Overall weights weren’t a problem. I carried the monopod, head, camera, and extra lens in a backpack. They weren’t a burden. Didn’t always fit in the provided self/storage on a ride, but that’s a function of monopod length.
• Monopod just fits into the backpack on the diagonal. Most of the time I let it poke out between the two zippers. But, I could, in a pinch, wrap a plastic bag over the whole works and close it in the knapsack.
• I might want to get a longer hand-strap on the monopod. It was just as easy, however, to carry it in the middle, like an umbrella. I usually took the camera off the mount when I was moving to another location. This afternoon (Sunday) I was running another experiment and left the camera mounted as I moved back and forth to the clipboard, carrying the monopod.
• A pratical observation. Start extending the legs from the bottom, if you’re planning the full length. You might not be able to reach the lower leg if you have you hand in the wrist strap.