Images from the Id – Watching Television and the Rule of Thirds

 All night long, all night long

We’re only standing here ’cause somebody might do somebody wrong

All night long, all night long

And we’ll be sleeping with the television on

– Billy Joel

I have no idea what Billy Joel was talking about and how it pertains to the Rule of Thirds but just maybe…

Commentary – This country has many big problems. One of which is drugs. Hey wait a minute I am not talking about Marijuana but Big Pharma- AKA pharmaceutical  companies.   What you ask, is our television on? These are the big drug companies whose purpose is to make money NOT make the human race healthier. Proof? Start with the way they overprice drugs which makes it impossible for many individuals to afford them. Why does medication cost less in other countries? Why do most counties ban advertising drugs? Why does Big Pharma control the way drug patents are done? Why does health insurance cost so much? Are we asleep? Is the television on?

The Rule of Thirds is probably the simplest and easiest route on the road to good photographic composition. When I judge club competitions, it is amazing how many images could be improved by simply applying the Rule of Thirds. Are they asleep with the television on? I must say it is not a perfect rule and there are times to break it but for a start, just begin your composition  with this rule. It is quite simple, Just divide the image into thirds. This is the Tic-Tack-Toe board. Many cameras can actually over lay this in the viewfinder. Learn to place your “center” of interest on one of the intersections of two of these lines (some people call these “power points”). You will a get great improvement in your images. Try not to actually center subjects. An example that may be quite obvious- don’t put someone’s eyes in the center of the frame put them on one of the the power points. Try it and you’ll like it and you may have learned something in your sleep.

This week’s Photo

“The Web”; f/5.6, 1/350 sec., 400/600 mm.. 0 EV ISO 100. Vera Wetlands FL, The early hour makes this.  Final Image adjusted in Lightroom 5.4. Imagine the difference if this were centered.

Images from the Id – What you see is not what you get. Part 2 –  the Pinhole Camera

This was the week to try to make a pinhole camera using my DSLR. I hadn’t even thought of this until last week and really got myself into it without much thinking it out. So it came down to what I learned and what I should have known.

The “Project”: Being a trained scientist, actually a Science Teacher, I can’t call this an experiment.

Equipment :

1. Nikon D7100- this is a high pixel, what Nikon calls a “DX” camera, meaning the image sensor is about 50% smaller that a 35 mm negative would be. As we will see, this is significant for a pinhole camera.

2. A stack of three extension tubes. If you like to take closeups buy a set of these as they allow you to focus any lens closer. These gave me a means to mount the “pinhole” on the camera. More hear later too.

3. Aluminum foil, something to make a pinhole in.

4. Tape to mount the Al foil (Remember Al is aluminum?) on the extension tube, Make sure it leaves no residue behind.

5. Tripod and cable release, I was still thinking 10 sec exposure from my college days.

6. Something to shoot, not easy around my house.

7. Slide rule, OK I’m not that old but I’ll bet I am the only one you know who can use one and has taught it. Well a leftover TI-86 will do. Ah OK, I used my iPhone.

Construction:

1. Take a piece of Al foil and tape it over the link, non-connection end (It doesn’t have all the little button sticking out) of the stack of extension tubes. Do worry just make sure you do not interfere with the connections and no light gets in around the foil.

2. This is the hard part, puncture as small of a pinhole you can in the center of the foil. Put one off center could be interesting if this works.

3. Mount the “pinhole” on the camera and set all the camera adjustments to Manual and ISO to the lowest- in my case 100.

Procedure- mount the “apparatus” on the tripod stick in the cable releases and point it at something out of doors.

Attempt 1 – 10 sec Oh my, That’s way over exposed and I am getting only the top of my bird feeder. Notice nothing about f-stop or focusing.

Further attempts about 2 seconds worked best outside and 35 sec. inside the house. Interesting very “Grainy”, low resolution and telephoto!

Next week the explanation what you should have learned.

This week’s Photo

“Cobblestone”, Saint Augustin, Florida. a wet street,  ISO 100; 1/10 shutter speed; f 7.1; 0 EV; 400/600 mm, Aperture priority; matrix metered. 20/30 mm, Cropped for composition; processed and sharpened in Lightroom 5.3. and Topaz plugins. This is one of my favorite Desktop Images

Images from the Id – What you see is not what you get. Part 1 the Pinhole Camera

Who ever was the first person to utter the phrase “What you see is what you get” started one of the biggest lies to ever perpetuate itself through civilization. May be in the long run it does serve a purpose in taking the responsibility for careful mental decisions from the producer to the consumer but in the real world do you get what you see? We could debate issues as truth in lending and advertising but that will always be something everyone will talk about but no one will do anything about.

On the other hand in a photograph there is no debate about whether you get what you see or not. What you see is much more complicated than simply what is there in front of you. Seeing is complicated by the addition of perception or what your brain sees. The phrase “It’s in the eye of the beholder” could not be more true. Ten photographers take photographs of the same thing and will usually get 10 differently perceived images. We have different brains so we perceive differently. I have always wondered. Is the color I see as red is the same as that which you see or is it your purple?

The human eye is a wonder. It can see very large variations in contrast (the differences in brightness of areas of an image). It can, subconsciously, continually focus for a perception of infinite depth of field (until we get older and lose true close focusing). If you will remember the Depth of Field is the portion of a scene which is in focus nearer and farther from the lens. Two eye working together give us three-dimensional vision and depth perception. Although there are some newly invented cameras which attempt to match the eye in these respects, generally the camera fails to get close to the eye’s ability.

When I took my first formal photography course in college, the first project was to construct a pinhole camera (Yes this was a long time ago). This had several lessons: First – A pinhole is a lens with resolution limited only by the sizes of the pinhole, smaller is better and the diffraction of the light through the pinhole, bigger is better. As most things in life it’s a balance and you try to get the smallest hole possible. Second – The pinhole has infinite depth of field. Third – the focal length could be easily changed for telephoto or wide angle, introducing the Physics concept of the Inverse Square Law for light intensity. The usual exposure was about 10 sec. or more but the results were interesting and surprising.

Next step let’s see if we can do it with digital

This week’s Photo

“Cannon” Castillo de Marcos St. Augustine  Florida, ISO 100; 1/45 shutter speed; f 19; 0 EV; 70/105 mm, Aperture priority; spot metered. Cropped for composition; processed and sharpened in Lightroom 5.3. A small aperture was used to get the increase in depth of field

Images from the Id – Timing or In Search of the Eagle Part 1

This is a tale of frustration and success. It repeats itself over and over. Scenario – Every winter the Bald Eagle can be found in locations where it normally isn’t found during the breeding season. Locally, there is a reservoir where photographers have the chance of photographing the eagles at comparatively closer distances. This year I have seen 5-6 adults and 1 or 2 immature individuals.  Sunday morning, we arrived at the park at about 9 am usually eagles don’t have specific feeding or activity time like some birds. We wanted the good morning light but enough to use lower ISO settings.

Lesson – Something you need to understand is that the light for that special photographs is by far the best early in the morning or late in the day, stretching up to about 1-2 hour after sunrise or about 1-2 hour before sunset. This time varies with season. It lasts longer in the winter because of the low sun in northern locations. If you want “The Light” shoot early or late. Midday stinks.

Lesson – Don’t expect a great number of useable images. Too many branches in the way, birds just not doing anything. In the days of film portraits these were fine but now you get to a point where you already have 500 sitting eagles. You need activity and/or interaction. They have to be doing something even if it is just flying. We shot about 150 frames and probably only four I like. This where timing kicks in. If you are not in the right place at the right time and prepared you will miss it. The lucky shot is usually the results of hours of waiting, looking, experience and being in the right spot. There is no such thing as lucky shot just hard work.

Lesson – Camera setting. Use a camera which you can set on continuous servo. This allows the camera to continually focus and not “lock on”. For area use a fairly small spot focus or if you can 3D tracking. You need to experiment. Focusing is tough. Set the shutter rate to the fastest you have. You will through away a lot but you will see the second or third in a sequence will be the sharpest. It has to do with the mechanics of pressing the button. Keep shutter speed up yet be aware of problems of higher ISO. Learn your camera. Accurate focus and fast shutter speed make sharp photos.

Lesson – get close. A longer lens, 400 mm on DX DSLR is good. Walk closer, you probably scare them away but in some areas they have little fear of man and it is possible. Know your location. Don’t crop the image too much know your camera and software.

Next week: The Frustration

This week’s Photo

“Immature Bald Eagle” 9 am early, low light show the underside of the bird,  ISO 400; 1/2000 shutter speed; f 5.6; 1/2 EV over exposed for shadows; 400/600 mm, Aperture priority; spot metered. Cropped for composition; processed in Lightroom 5.3