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  • 6 Tips for Getting Sharper Wildlife Photos With a Super Telephoto Lens

    In recent years, super telephoto lenses by third-party manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron have been made available on the market for really reasonable prices. Earlier on, photographers had no choice but to spend a huge amount in order to buy a super telephoto lens, but now these third-party lenses make it more affordable. One such super telephoto lens is the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM, which allows you to get much closer to a distant subject.

    Using a super telephoto lens for wildlife photography is in itself a skill to master as you may not get sharp and clear results when you first pick up the lens. The tips below will help you get work better with a super telephoto lens so you can capture sharper wildlife photos going forward.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 01

    #1 – Choose the correct shutter speed

    Selection of the best shutter speed is one of the most important tasks when doing wildlife photography. There is a standard rule which says that the shutter speed should be equal to or faster than the focal length of the lens you’re using. So, if you are shooting with a 500mm focal length, then you need a shutter speed of at least 1/500th or faster (1/1000th, 1/2000th, and so on).

    Shooting at a shutter speed slower than 1/500th can introduce camera shake and thus will affect the sharpness of the image. However, if your lens features image stabilization technology, you can then shoot at a slower shutter than the focal length. How much slower will depend on the performance of the technology for that particular lens.

    NOTE: This rule is applicable for full-frame digital cameras. If you are using an APS-C sensor camera, then you also have to multiply the focal length by the crop factor of your camera brand (1.5x for Nikon, 1.6x for Canon, etc). In this case, the focal length would become 750mm with a Nikon APS-C sensor camera and thus a shutter speed of 1/750th of a second or faster needs to be used to get sharp photos.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 07

    Usually super telephoto lenses such as the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM perform the best from 150mm to 500mm, and as you go beyond 500mm the sharpness starts to lessen. So try and avoid using a focal length which is towards the maximum limit of a telephoto lens.

    #2 Use the right aperture value

    In wildlife photography, depth of field plays a great role in helping to make the subject stand out from the background. In case you are not aware, shooting with wider aperture (smaller aperture values like f/2.8) helps you to achieve shallow depth of field. This results in a photo where the subject is sharp and well segregated from the background, which itself will be out of focus.

    But this does not mean that you blindly shoot using the smallest available aperture value. Instead, I recommend that you shoot at the aperture value which is the sweet spot of your lens. Usually the sweet spot of a lens is 2-3 stops higher than the smallest aperture value. So it would be around f/11 if you are using the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3. Shooting at the sweet spot aperture value allows you to get maximum possible sharpness in the photo, along with decent depth of field. By the way, you would likely be shooting at a focal length such as 500mm or so, and in that case, you would get shallow depth of field even at f/8 or f/11.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 03

    #3 – Selecting ISO sensitivity

    ISO sensitivity is one of the sides of the exposure triangle which needs to be adjusted as per the shutter speed and aperture value required for the shoot. In the case of wildlife photography, you will have to compromise on the ISO sensitivity over the other two elements of the exposure triangle. Why?

    You will have to use a fast shutter speed in order to freeze the motion of the subject and an aperture value which is not that wide in order to capture sharper photo. This is the reason why you might have to increase the ISO sensitivity value in order to capture a well-exposed photo. So the ISO should be the last exposure setting that you adjust in order to correctly expose the frame.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 04

    #4 – Use a tripod or monopod for stability

    Considering the fact that the super telephoto lenses are really heavy, it is important and advisable to mount them on a tripod or a monopod. Almost all telephoto lenses have a tripod collar for mounting the lens on a tripod or a monopod. This will enable you to concentrate more on the surroundings and the movement of the animals/birds instead of worrying about carrying the weight of the lens.

    If you shoot handheld at telephoto focal lengths such as 300mm, 400mm and so on, you are bound to get shake in your photos. As a precautionary measure, it is better to carry a tripod or a monopod along every time you plan to shoot wildlife.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 05

    #5 – Image Stabilization mode in your lens

    In a situation when you need to pan your camera along with the moving animal or bird, make sure that you have switched on the image stabilization on your lens. This is helpful in case you are shooting handheld, as it reduces the shake that is caused while panning or tilting the camera. Image stabilization mode can be found on lenses as IS on Canon lenses, VR on Nikon lenses, OS on Sigma lenses, VC on Tamron lenses and OSS on Sony lenses.

    But in case you are using a tripod or a monopod as advised above, switch off the image stabilization mode on the lens. If you keep it switched on, the image stabilization feature introduces minor shake which in turn reaches the camera mounted on a tripod or a monopod. So in order to eliminate this minor shake you must switch off the image stabilization mode on your telephoto lens.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 02

    #6 – Explore Back Button Focus

    If you are not already using the back button focus method to lock the focus on the subject, then you must be half-pressing the shutter release button to do the needful. When you use the shutter release button to lock focus, you are further contributing introduction of minor camera shake.

    By using the back button focus technique, you can dedicate one of the buttons located on the back of your camera to focus. By doing so, you are then balancing the weight of the camera as you press the button on the back side. Not only does it reduce camera shake, it also helps you shoot at much faster rate as compared to the traditional approach.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 08

    Conclusion

    Shooting with a super telephoto lens is a delight, but it is also really important that you understand the technical aspects of using it to get sharp results. Do not be disappointed if your initial shots are not as sharp as you expected them to be.

    Make sure that you are using the right shutter speed and aperture values, these two elements of the exposure triangle contribute the most to the sharpness of your photos. If possible, use a tripod or monopod and mount your telephoto lens on it to avoid any possible camera shake. In case you are shooting handheld, switch-on the image stabilization feature on the lens to further reduce the shake caused during panning or tilting of the camera.

    Wildlife photography telephoto lens 06

    Do you have any additional tips for getting sharper wildlife photos using a super telephoto lens? If so please share them in the comments section below.

    The post 6 Tips for Getting Sharper Wildlife Photos With a Super Telephoto Lens by Kunal Malhotra appeared first on Digital Photography School.


    Digital Photography School

  • Top 5 Essential Photography Tips I Can’t Live Without

    These are my big five photography tips which I would take with me to a desert island, the ones I can’t live without. For those who have not had the pleasure, that is a reference to the BBC Radio Four program, Desert Island Discs, which has been running for more than 70 years. The simple premise of the program is that guests choose just eight pieces of music they’d want if they were going to be marooned on a desert island.

    Desert island

    I think that these lists are much easier to complete if given criteria. This is my Desert Island Big Five. They are chosen on the basis that if you could only apply five ideas to your photography for the rest of your shutter button pushing days, perhaps on a desert island, these would be the ones which I would recommend.

    #1 – Follow guidelines not rules

    Did you ever see the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Captain Barbossa (played with menace by Geoffrey Rush) chastised the main character Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), that he could not do something, because “It is not in the Pirate Rule Book”. With great, exaggerated, cheeky charm, and great comic timing, Jack Sparrow replied “I do not think of it as a RULE book … more as GUIDELINES …”

    It is my strong belief that all articles and photography tips, such as this one, should be considered in the same way. The first rule is that there are NO rules, there are only guidelines. You should do just as you like. If you enjoy taking the photographs, processing them, and then you enjoy looking at the results, that is enough. Pleasing yourself and no one else is absolutely enough.

    If you want to take photographs of people’s feet, go ahead! If you want to take a photograph of … well, what exactly do you think this might be (below)?

    What is it? It is actually the bottom of a curtain, with the morning light streaming in. Not a common photographic topic, but it is an image of reasonable interest.

    There are no rules, only guidelines, Do what you like! Do whatever turns you on! I could live with that suggestion alone on my desert island.

    This next photograph follows the suggestion of having no rules. I think it is unlikely that any rule is going to tell you to photograph the bottom half of someone’s face, right? This photograph also leads on to the next guideline.

    #2 – Fill the frame

    A good photography tip and guideline to live by is that the subject of the photograph should not be in doubt, it should fill the frame.

    This is an unusual school building in Al Ain, in the UAE.

    The photograph above shows the scene well enough. However what is interesting in the scene? The subject of the photograph is really the arches. If they are allowed to fill the frame, don’t you think that it becomes a much better photograph (as below)?

    Then, I think the framing of the following photograph is quite interesting. There is no need to include the entire opening of the front of the shop, nor much beyond the stretched out arm of the potential customer. The subject of the photograph is the colored lamps and they fill the frame here nicely.

    I think I will take this one. The brightly colored lamps are the subject here and there is no need to include any more of the scene to tell the story.

    Put another way, look at whatever you are photographing, get close, then get closer yet again.

    New Delhi train station.

    This very handsome man sitting on the platform of the train station in Delhi caught my eye. It is an okay scene and tells a bit of the story of India. But he is really the subject, so get closer.

    Closer

    Then get closer again.

    Is a star born? Fill the frame with the subject. This potential Bollywood star is the subject, so he should fill the frame.

    As I have already mentioned, advice such as this is best taken as a guideline, not a rule. To prove that point, I agree with most people who seem to prefer the middle shot, the second one, in the above series.

    You might say there are two photography tips in one here. First, fill the frame; secondly, get closer. However, both usually result in the same thing. There are other considerations, however, such as the engagement with a portrait subject, or the choice of focal length.

    You can fill the frame or get closer according to whatever works for you. For Mr. Bollywood, my memory is of zooming in and moving closer to the subject.

    #3 – Ignore the subject

    So now you have decided on your subject and gotten closer. It may then seem a little contradictory to tell you to ignore the subject for this next tip. But your photograph will be better if you do so.

    You have already decided that the subject is interesting. The decision has already been made that the face, that flower, or the landscape is worth photographing. The face, the flower, or the lake are not going to change much, right? So really, you do not have to keep staring at it, you can now let your eye wander away.

    I suggest that it is a really good idea to let your eye take at least a quick look around the edge of the frame. As a general guideline, it is best to have tidy edges in your frame.  That means there is nothing sticking in and distracting from the subject.

    Distracting things on the edge of the frame take away from the subject, the blue smiley face.

    Examples

    Here is an example. A small girl in Cebu, in The Philippines.

    I am not saying that it becomes a much better photograph once edited. However, with a slightly tighter crop, and a bit of Photoshop to dull of the distraction in the top left corner, the photograph is more concentrated on the subject, and it is a better image.

     

    Please note that recognizable shapes, the triangle over the girl’s left shoulder, and bright colors, as in the top left, tend to be especially distracting.

    The image below was taken for a client in Qatar when Doha’s new airport was being built.

    Is it just me, or is that portion of a circle at the bottom, in the front of the frame really distracting? It is very much just a small detail, but it is surely attention to such details that is going to move your photography forward. Next time, when you take a similar shot, you might frame a little bit more precisely. I would like to think that I would. I certainly do not like fixing things in Photoshop, but this is better, isn’t it?

    Again, you might say that this is two rules, sorry guidelines, in one. However, I think that it is a natural consequence of looking around the edges of the frame that you will also check the background. This is one I did not get quite right. These people are not flattered by the pole growing out of his head.

    The well-known bird photographer Scott Bourne once said that he looked around for a good background then waited for a bird to fly past. You would have to ask him, but I do not think he was joking.

    For showing off a cheeky little face, plain white works well. I wanted to photograph a number of the children who lived in a house and just plonked them in front of a plain wall. I found a good background, and waited for the children to fly past!

    Cheeky!

    But that does not mean that you must have a plain background. It is a question of checking out the edges and being aware of the background. Sometimes the background can even become an important part of the photograph.

    Stairway from heaven?

    Here is a contrasting background using complementary colors.

    #4 – Atomic powered

    You may well have heard that you should work the scene. I was only ever half sure what that meant. It might help you, as it helped me when I heard the simple advice, “move your feet”.

    Then I later heard that idea expanded upon, and an image from my high school science class was revived. The image is of an atom, with the nucleus and electrons (have I got that right?).

    By SVG by Indolences.Recoloring and ironing out some glitches done by Rainer Klute. – based off of Image:Stylised Lithium Atom.png by Halfdan., CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

     

    The nucleus, the red and black middle, is the subject. You, the photographer, are the electrons, the blue dots. You are moving over, under, and around the subject. Standing tall, crouching low, walking left, walking right, and working that subject. Looking for the best way to show what you want to show, to tell the story you want to tell.

    Created by working the scene and trying different camera angles.

    It is not normal to take a photograph of the top of someone’s head. But I hope you agree that this makes an interesting image (above).

    Nor is it normal to angle your camera at 45 degrees, tilted over from the horizontal, then point the camera up at an even steeper angle. But this image below seems to tell some of the stories of Singapore’s Clark Quay and the Central Business District. The situation has been worked by moving the camera out of its traditional position in the horizontal and vertical axes.

    You must take the shot above, it is mandatory, but it has been taken quite enough times, hasn’t it?

    Then, by walking round this very famous building, you can see it in a different way, one that tells a bit more of its glorious tale. The side of the Taj Mahal, as shown below, has its own beauty.

    So, the fourth guideline is that you should move around your subject like electrons move around the nucleus of an atom.

    There is a bonus to this guideline as well. There is a clear implication that if you have decided that a subject is worth taking one photograph of, you should take ten! If you ever shot with film, you’ll understand that the incremental cost was quite high. When David Bailey shot six rolls of Kodachrome, it probably cost $ 200. Now, in the digital age, the incremental cost is negligible. So do not be shy about taking more photographs.

    #5 – Guideline of Thirds

    This is the famous, Guideline of Thirds.

    Have you heard of it before? Perhaps not, but you may well have heard of the Rule of Thirds. Like many other clichés, it has attained that status because it works! It is so well known but, even then, I have heard people get it wrong. Still, though, I think it is better thought of as the Guideline of Thirds in my opinion.

    In your mind, divide the frame by drawing two equally spaced vertical lines, and similar horizontal lines. The image below tells the story easily. This guideline works well with a square frame too, and we would then be able to describe it and use it as a tic-tac-toe board.

    You now have a frame divided into nine equal pieces. Three equal horizontal sections, three equal vertical sections, hence the name thirds.

    Place your subject on those lines, and the most significant items on the intersections of those lines. Got a tree? Position it on one of the horizontal and vertical lines (where they intersect as seen below).

    A river might be placed along one of the horizontal lines.

    Place the most significant items, the sun, the human eye, or a cat walking across a street, on the intersections, where the vertical and horizontal lines cross. These are called the power points.

    Combining all three, you will have this as your composition.

    Very simply, the accepted wisdom is that this arrangement below.

    Looks more interesting, more dynamic, than this.

    Of course, you cannot move trees and rivers and other stationary objects. However, you can move around and practice the fourth guideline. Often you can find a position where the major elements of the shot are aligned with the thirds, or somewhere close.

    If you consciously practice using the rule of thirds it will be a good step in the right direction to creating more interesting photos. Stick with it, practice, and you will soon find that you do not have to really think about it. It soon becomes instinctive. Later you might move on to other guidelines for composition. There are many others, but if I could choose only one to take and use on my desert island this would be it.

    I can tell you that this was taken with no conscious application of the Rule of Thirds. I would suggest it has at least some interest. And, lo and behold.

    Here is another example.

    I know with absolute certainty that The Rule of Thirds was not in consideration when I took this street shot in Jakarta, Indonesia. I wanted one of the drawings to be fully in the frame and as he is the artist, I wanted his hands in the frame too. Again, I am not claiming that this is a great work of art, but I think I can claim that it has some harmony and cohesion. Throw the grid at it and we see . . .

    His hands and face, sit pretty much on the intersections of the lines.

    A modest realization along the way, with this aspect of my photographic journey, was in respect to the horizontal lines and the placement of the horizon. Still not a rule, only guideline, but it seemed to me that if the sky was interesting, and it was the major subject of the photograph, then you might want to put the horizon on the lower third line. That simply gives more of the frame over to that stormy, wispy cloud-filled, or deep sunset filled sky. Simply, it is consistent with the guideline of fill the frame with the subject.

    Boracay sunset, Philippines.

    If it is the land which offers the subject for a photo, it usually works if you place the horizon along the upper third.

    Beautiful Philippines golf course.

    As I have already suggested, there are other compositional guidelines, which you might move on to using at a later date. But the Rule of Thirds, or as you might be better thinking of it, Guidelines of Thirds, is a very good place to start.

    In summary

    Looking at and understanding light, using a frame, empty space, leading lines, symmetry, contrast, and so on – there are many good guidelines. But these are the five essential photography tips which I would choose to use if I could select no others.

    1. Follow guidelines not rules
    2. Fill the frame with the subject
    3. Check your frame edges and the background
    4. Move yourself
    5. Guideline of Thirds

    I would recommend that you could survive very well with the above big five on a metaphorical or, indeed, literal desert island.

    The post Top 5 Essential Photography Tips I Can’t Live Without by Richard Messsenger appeared first on Digital Photography School.


    Digital Photography School

  • Memorable Memorials: 10 Extraordinary War Monuments

    [ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

    These extraordinary war monuments stand out from the crowd in commemorating those who have fallen while performing their duty in the service of their country.

    Memorial Day was formerly known as “Decoration Day” and was traditionally celebrated on May 30th – a date upon which no major battles had been fought. Memorial Day differs from Veterans Day in that the latter honors veterans of war. We lead off with a unique war memorial designed to fulfill its mission, as it were, on only one day every year: November 11th, at 11:11am, no less. The Anthem Veterans Memorial in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, was dedicated in 2012. The monument’s white stones, red bricks and blue sky reflect the colors of the American flag.

    The Anthem Veterans Memorial consists of five staggered stone pillars signifying the five branches of the United States military. Designer Renee Palmer-Jones precisely aligned the pillars so that at 11:11am on November 11th, the sun’s rays pass through elliptical cutouts in the five pillars. The sunlight spotlights a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States set into the red-bricked Circle of Honor.

    Soldierstone Memorial

    Most people have neither seen nor even heard of Soldierstone… and that’s just as the memorial’s creator, the late Stuart Allen Beckley, intended. The retired Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam veteran sought to pay tribute to the uncredited people who assisted foreign soldiers over many decades of war in Southeast Asia.

    Secreted in a clearing deep in Colorado’s 1.8-million-acre Rio Grande National Forest at 10,000 feet above sea level, Soldierstone‘s central 10-ft-tall monument bears quotes engraved in Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and French – the languages of America’s allies through thirty years of fighting. Flickr user MJM1977 visited the memorial on July 24th of 2014.

    Polar Bear Monument

    The Polar Bear Monument in Troy, Michigan, commemorates fallen soldiers of the North Russian Expeditionary Forces. About 75 percent of the 5,500 Americans sent to Archangel, Russia as part of the post-WWI Allied Intervention were from the Detroit area and called themselves the “Polar Bears”.

    96 soldiers were KIA in Russia and in 1929; the remains of 56 were recovered and subsequently interred on this site on May 30th of 1930. Flickr user Jazz Guy (flickr4jazz) visited the Polar Bear Memorial on May 2nd, 2011.

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    [ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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    WebUrbanist

  • Roadtrip Review Redux: The Fujifilm X100F

    Beautiful flowers in golden sunlight along the southern California coast

    I had to leave all my musical instruments in Cincinnati when I first moved to Seattle three years ago. Recently, I found the time to road trip back and collect them. Seattle is about as far removed from the rest of the United States as a major US city can be, while still being part of the ‘lower 48’. This means that if you’re headed a great distance East, there are a number of ways you can go. And when you work at DPReview, there are also a number of cameras you can take. 

    Welcome to my journey down the West Coast, where I have decided to discuss one of my favorite cameras from the past couple of years to use as a point and shoot. That ‘point and shoot’ bit is very important. This is my vacation. All of these photos have been taken in a state of total relaxation, focused much more on enjoyment and capturing places I have traveled. With enjoyment in mind, I take you to where my journey began:

    This photo was shot alongside the 101 in Washington state, where it all began.

    Highway 101 is a road that circles the Olympic peninsula and runs all the way down Washington, Oregon, and California, with large sections of it skirting the Pacific coast. My plan was to avoid the interstate freeway entirely until I made it to Los Angeles two days later. It turned out to be a good decision. 

    Now, to the camera: the Fujifilm X100F. 

    The first time I impulsively decided to drive cross-country it was right around the end of 2012. I had a week of time off to burn and decided it would be a great opportunity to rent a camera I was considering purchasing: the original X100. 

    The X100-series is perfect for road trips. The 23mm, 35mm equivalent field of view lens handles a variety of duties well: it can be wide enough for landscapes, tight enough for environmental portraits, and the minimum focus distance allows the capture of close-up details. Its size encouraged me to bring it absolutely everywhere. It even fit perfectly in the pocket of my car door, ready for action whenever the road got interesting. 

    The result was a camera that I looked forward to using at every stop. It led to the eventual purchase of an X100S, which I loved up to the moment it stopped working (full disclosure: it was my fault).

    The Astoria-Megler bridge crossing the mouth of the Columbia River. The total length of the bridge is a staggering 4.1 miles.

    While making my first stop in Astoria, OR, the X100F was igniting the romance all over again, even in the dismal grey that had fueled my wanderlust since last October.  One of the biggest differences between all the X100 cameras are their sensors. We start at 12MP with CDAF only with the X100, then to the 16MP X-Trans with Hybrid AF on the X100S, then the 16MP X-Trans II in the ‘T’, and finally the new 24MP X-trans sensor from the X-T2 and X-Pro2 in the ‘F’. 

    Meandering about the docks of Garibaldi, OR was great for stretching out the legs and showing off the X100F’s Acros mode

    Not everyone agrees that the move to the X-Trans style of color filter array was the best for the X100 series. I, for one, wasn’t always a huge fan of the JPEG output of the X100S like I was with the X100. Sure, there was an improvement in sensor performance, but without changing the default noise reduction settings, things would start to look a bit waxy at higher ISOs. 

    The X100F still uses X-trans, but the 24MP sensor and updated processor combination is a significant step forward for the series. While in the northern parts of Oregon I switched the camera to Acros, one of my favorite JPEG modes, to try and make the most of the grey overcast conditions by adding a bit more contrast.

    Combining this mode with the optical viewfinder is a real treat, blending nostalgic elements of film photography with modern convenience. Plus, it made it way easier to sit and wait for seagulls to fly through the emptiest part of the frame before releasing the satisfyingly quiet leaf shutter. 

    ‘Combining this mode with the optical viewfinder is a real treat, blending nostalgic elements of film photography with modern convenience.’

    Somewhere south of Tillamook, the grey suede blanket of clouds that covers the Northern parts of the coast ended. So far for in 2017, Seattle has been posting record rainfall and a record lack of sunshine along with it. After crossing this meteorologic divide between blue and grey, I didn’t see a cloud for three days. It was time to take the camera out of black and white and choose a color film simulation to bring the best out of the new found daylight. 

    The Oregon coast of the Pacific Ocean under some welcome blue skies.

    Velvia brings out the blue in shadows too much for my taste, and can look cheesy when used outside of landscape duty. While Classic Chrome has its moments, I think I’ve moved past the shifted blues and crushed shadows. For this trip and the already vibrant environment around me, Provia worked perfectly. 

    When I shot with the original X100, I mostly used focus and recompose in AF-S and rarely used the optical viewfinder due to focus not being a sure bet. AF improved with each iteration of the camera, though. And with the X100F, armed with improved PDAF coverage on the 24MP sensor, I feel comfortable shooting with the optical finder because of how reliable AF is.

    When AF-C is turned on, the camera depth tracks using a single point (in good light) with ease. It also repositions the AF box in the viewfinder to help keep framing corrected for parallax. This means that if I am waiting for the perfect moment, I don’t need to worry about subject distance changing as long as I have kept my subject under the focus point.

    As the sun raced for the horizon I found the X100F’s focus slowing down, although its pace is still miles ahead of the early generations of the X100

    Good AF-C also meant that when shooting close-up subjects, like a leaf in the sunset, I didn’t have to worry about my body rocking back and forth or a gentle breeze moving my subject, as I would if I were shooting in AF-S. This wasn’t a scenario I ran in to too often on my trip, but it is something that makes the X100F much more versatile than previous iterations.

    The final sliver of sun from my amazing first day on the Pacific coast.

    The camera’s autofocus abilities aren’t perfect though, due to two main issues. First, when using AF-C, focus acquisition (the time it takes for the box to turn bright green, confirming focus) is delayed compared to AF-S. Second, as light decreases, or if the lens is stopped down past a certain point, focus can hunt, slow down or fail entirely. In spite of these issues, I still feel that this is the X100 camera I like best since the original.

    One day for the Oregon coast isn’t enough. Plan two, or maybe three, if you ever intend to visit.

    As my first day of sunshine came close to an end, I came close to the end of Oregon and the start of California. The former’s coast, with its rocky shores and blue waters, adds to what has become my favorite state in the ‘Lower 48’. I have only began to glimpse the surface of Washington’s downstairs neighbor and hope to spend more time exploring its corners. My last moments basking in a sunset on the beach simply cemented my conclusions.

    The second day started brilliantly with a walk around a sunny farmers market and several of the best grilled oysters I’ve ever had.

    Growing up landlocked means I was never around delicious seafood like these spicy grilled oysters from Humboldt County. The close focus capabilities of the X100F allowed me to capture all the spices and pieces of dill floating in those beautiful shells.

    Having the ability to shoot both wide and close-up shots is one of the great things about the X100F and its 35mm equivalent focal length, even if the lens is a bit soft wide open at the close end. Having a close minimum focus distance helps fill the frame with smaller subjects, and as mentioned before, the improved depth tracking in AF-C helps keep these shots sharp when snapping handheld.

    Reviewing my images the night before revealed some of the lens’ sharpness shortcomings in regards to fine detail in landscapes, which isn’t a huge deal to me personally. For me, the camera’s biggest downfall became apparent when I was in tight quarters, surrounded by massive trees towering above me. I couldn’t help but long for something a bit wider (I did not have the wide angle adapter with me). 

    The Avenue of the Giants

    Even so, I think if I were stranded with one camera, the X100F would be one of the contenders for my choice. Leave it in full auto mode, and it works almost flawlessly. Of course classic ergonomics and physical controls have always been part of the X100-series DNA. But robust continuous autofocus has not. Fortunately, with the X100F, suddenly the camera’s autofocus can keep up with the movement of a quickly approaching subject. Combine that with the ultimate timing precision of an optical viewfinder, and you are left with a simple and fun camera that can easily capture that ‘decisive moment’ – even if that decisive moment is just a seagull entering your frame.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Urban Blinds: Skyline Curtains Turn Bright Days into Dark City Nights

    [ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

    Casting pixelated patterns into day-lit rooms, these shades swap boring views (or overly bright days) for iconic scenes of metropolises at night.

    This particular set by HoleRole features famous structures from cities like Manhattan (the Chrysler) and London (the “Gherken”).

    In each piece, minimal geometric windows and pinpoint stars on black prompt observing eyes to complete each picture, but theirs is not the only (or first) approach to urban curtain design.

    Aaalto+Aalto designed a similar series (Better View) some time ago but with a few key differences. For one thing: by varying the sizes of the perforations, their built landscapes take on more dimension. Implied curves as the windows recede, for instance, allow the flat surface to appear warped (as illustrated above).

    Also, the larger holes let some details shine through from the background. While visible window elements and natural scenery can be identified with inspection, they also serve to animate the scenes — instead of a black-and-white image, additional details make it seem like there are objects or activities filling in the windows. The net effect adds a bit of character and fun unpredictability.

    Of course, none of these are true “blackout” curtains in the traditional sense, but for mood lighting during the day they are certainly a bit more interesting when total darkness is not required.

    Glow-in-the-Dark Home Furniture Lights Up Nights

    During the day, these 14 furniture and home decor items like lounge chairs, sideboards, bathroom countertops, tiles and wallpaper look fairly ordinary (though beautifully designed). But when the …

    Secret Skies: See Starry Nights Normally Hidden by City Lights

    With the rise of urbanization, an estimated 80% of the world population has never seen the Milky Way – and while rural dwellers see thousands of stars on a typical night, those in cities …

    Bright Ideas for Dark Art: Murals by Skurk Play Tricks with Light & Night

    The deep sea anglerfish is a disturbing monstrosity that uses lights to lure in its prey and is the featured backdrop of a recent work of graffiti best experienced at night.

    Existing wall …

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    [ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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  • Nikon D3: The camera that changed everything

    In 2007, after several years of lagging behind Canon in the enthusiast and professional DSLR market, Nikon was doing alright. Not spectacularly, but they were hanging in there. The D200 was a popular and capable enthusiast model, and the professional D2x was a significant advance on the muddled ‘h’ and ‘s’ releases of the past. But it was their biggest competitor that seemed to have all the momentum. While Canon had been using APS-H and full-frame sensors for years, none of Nikon’s DSLRs offered sensors bigger than APS-C, and Canon still ruled the roost in terms of autofocus1 and high ISO imaging capability.

    But around that time, we had an inkling that Nikon had something big on the way. Not a company prone to grand gestures, Nikon invited the world’s press (and I do mean the world’s press) to Tokyo, in the sapping humidity of a Japanese heatwave for a top secret announcement…

    The magnesium alloy-bodied D3 was as tough as anything that Canon ever brought to market, but offered a combination of speed, sensitivity and autofocus performance that the industry had never seen before. 

    Ten years ago, camera technology was advancing continuously, and quickly. For quite a long time, it seemed like every new generation of digital cameras was better than the last in ways that camera buyers (and reviewers) actually cared about. Obviously, each new cycle brought more megapixels, but equally as important were the ergonomic and performance improvements that made each new generation of cameras easier to use, and more effective than the last.

    Buzz Aldrin, in London to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

    Nowhere were these advances more obvious than in the professional DSLR segment. Compare the original EOS-1D of 2001 to the EOS-1D Mark IV of 2010. They look similar, but in terms of usability and image quality they’re worlds apart.

    Let’s take usability, to start with. If we look at just the screen interfaces alone, in less than a decade, LCDs got bigger, and much sharper. Live view became standard, and, camera menu systems evolved from messy lists that looked like Windows ME error messages to friendly tabs and mobile-inspired icons.

    My personal D3S, nestled alongside a D810 and several lenses in a Pelican case. It’s still great, and I still use it.

    The 4MP Canon EOS-1D is still capable of turning out decent-looking images for web and limited print use, and it can do so impressive quickly (8 fps ain’t bad for a sixteen year-old DSLR). But the EOS-1D Mark IV offered four times the pixel count, better image quality across the board, including a far superior high ISO imaging capability, a faster continuous shooting rate, and a much more sophisticated autofocus system – plus live view and movie mode.

    High Barn, not far from where I grew up, in North Yorkshire. 12MP might not be much by 2017 standards, but it’s enough for a high quality 13-inch print.

    All of this is by way of preamble. The point (finally! He gets to the point!) is that even by the fast-paced standards of the professional DSLR market in the mid 2000s, the Nikon D3 was a major technological achievement. Arguably, (and I admit it’s a big ‘arguably’) the EOS-1D Mark IV and its successors might not have been quite such advanced cameras without the technological game-upping that Canon had to do in the years following the launch of the D3.

    Nikon D3 Sample Images (2008)

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    As a working photographer and photography writer at the time, the D3 was (and remains, actually) the single most impactful product to be released during my career. Before Nikon’s presentation in Tokyo had even drawn to a close,2 our industry’s expectations of what a DSLR could do had been shifted.

    Until the D3, you could either have a fast cropped sensor DSLR, or a slow full-frame one – not both. Until the D3, the maximum ISO sensitivity setting that you might be able to shoot at was either 1600 or 3200 (depending on the model), and even then, not particularly confidently. Until the D3 (and its sister model the D300) came along, if you wanted the best autofocus performance, there was no question – you bought Canon.

    Melody Gardot, performing in London. The D3’s shutter sounds like someone just dropped a cribbage board onto a marble floor, but the D3S introduced a fairly discreet ‘Q’ mode.

    I was happily shooting with a Canon EOS-1D Mark II when the D3 was released. For the kind of photography I was doing at the time, the Mark II was one of the best cameras on the market, and did the job perfectly well – or so I thought. I felt the same way about the 1D Mark II in 2007 as I did about my Nokia 3210. Solid, reliable, and elegant in its own way. A useful and streamlined tool.

    At risk of overstating the point, the D3 was to my EOS-1D Mark II what the iPhone was to the Nokia 3210: a paradigm shift.3 

    Florence Welch, shot with the D3’s successor, the D3S. The D3S added some welcome tweaks over the D3, including in-camera sensor cleaning, and slightly improved high ISO image quality.

    Using the D3, I could shoot quickly and without a crop factor for the first time. I could capture full-color images in light so low that my own eyes couldn’t fully discern what I was looking at (and the AF could usually keep up). I could shoot at ISO 6400, and marvel at the moderate film-like grain – a grain pattern that wasn’t distracting at all, and showed no banding. The D3’s autofocus system was at least a generation ahead of what I was used to in terms of tracking too, allowing me to reliably use AF-C, even with off-center AF points in poor light. 

    Nikon D3S Sample Images (2010)

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    In practical terms, this meant that I could capture images of performers in light so marginal that none of the other photographers working alongside me were able to get a sharp exposure.

    A couple of times during my first few months of shooting with the D3 (when I had the camera for review, but before it was shipping in significant numbers) I found myself alone in the photo pit at a small venue, still shooting in punishingly low light after the other photographers had given up and left.4

    But it wasn’t just performance photographers that were amazed by the D3. Wildlife photographers, too, were raving about this amazing new camera that let them shoot in full color, in situations where previously they would have been limited to infrared. Like I said, it was a paradigm shift.

    The D3S has accompanied me on a few shooting trips in 2017, including a protest against the Trump administration’s attempted travel ban, back in January. 

    So of course I bought one. I sold all my Canon gear, took a hit on the exchange, ate tinned food for a few months and picked up a D3 with a 24-70mm F2.8. I added more lenses over the following couple of years when I could afford to, and ultimately traded the D3 for a D3S. The D3S added in-camera sensor-cleaning (one of the D3’s few deficiencies), even better high ISO image quality and a basic HD video function. That was around the same time I started to write for DPReview, and about a year after that we moved to America and I mostly stopped shooting live music.

    My life has changed a lot since then, but I still have my D3S and I still use it – mostly now as a second camera for event photography. And no, Dan Bracaglia – I’m not selling, so stop asking.

    A still from a commercial shoot for a young singer-songwriter, Anna Sinfield, in 2008. She’s a producer, these days, for UK radio.

    One last anecdote…

    Not long after the D3’s launch, back in London, I spoke to a young Nikon engineer who had been heavily involved in the design of the new camera. He was visiting from Tokyo. He brought with him two sets of prints – one set from the then-current Canon EOS-1D Mark III, and an equivalent set from the D3. Pointing to the shots from the Canon, he said “in my opinion, these look like digital images”. Turning to the images from the D3 he said “but these look like photographs”.

    That might sound like hyperbole, but the thing is – he was right.

    1. Setting aside the much-reported and in my opinion overblown autofocus woes of the EOS-1D Mark III.

    2. In addition to the cameras, the presentation was also memorable for a closing appeal from a very senior Nikon executive to the assembled US press. Please – he requested – please pronounce ‘Nikon’ correctly as ‘Nick-on’ not ‘Nye-con’ – a plea that was of course completely ignored by all concerned. That trip was also the first time I encountered a Geisha (it would not be the last).

    3. If the D3 had come loaded with ‘Snake II’ it would have been perfect. Actually, given the amount of time professional photographers spend just waiting around, I’ve always wondered why simple arcade games weren’t pre-loaded on professional DSLRs. 

    4. The Pogues – I’m looking at you. Or rather, I was trying to…

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • New startup ‘Binded’ aims to simplify copyright for photographers

    How do you stop your images from being stolen? And if it happens, what can you do about it? Copyright disputes are among the most difficult issues that face working photographers, and in the US, registering copyright is time-consuming and expensive in itself.

    Binded CEO Nathan Lands is pitching the service as an easier alternative to traditional means of registering copyright.

    He has pledged that Binded will remain a free service, but one that creates a permanent record of copyright, which can be used in the event of a dispute.

    ‘Binded’ is a free service that aims to simplify the process of registering – and enforcing – copyright for photographers. When you upload an image to Binded, it creates a digital ‘fingerprint’ which serves as a permanent record that you own the copyright. This record is then written to the bitcoin blockchain. Binded will then monitor use of the image on the Internet, and automatically notify the copyright holder if it detects unauthorized use. 

    For now, uploading an image to Binded does not count as an official government registration of copyright in the US. According to CEO Nathan Lands, that’s something that he hopes will be added to the service over time.

    Previously known as Blockai, the startup has just raised an additional $ 950,000 in funding from investors, bringing total funding to $ 1.5 million.

    What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

    Learn more at binded.com

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Film artist explains what’s wrong with new ‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ poster

    There’s a new Spiderman movie coming out (yes, really – another one) and the most recent poster been generating a lot of comments. Mostly they’re comments about how it looks like the creation of a fevered teenager that just discovered Photoshop.

    While the film itself looks like it might not be terrible, the poster is a technicolor mishmash of disparate elements from the movie, thrown together with gleeful disregard for scaling or uniform lighting:

    In an interview with The Verge, veteran illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards explains what probably went through the designer’s mind: “Here’s a bunch of references I got from the movie. Let’s put it all together and see how it looks.’ From there, you might be inspired to do a real poster. Instead, they just stopped at that point”.

    Well, to be fair, nobody ever said graphic design was easy.

    Read more at The Verge

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • How do you know you need a new camera?

    Introduction

    For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it’s the photographer, not the camera, right?
    Nikon 35mm F2 D
    ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8

    ‘Do I need a new camera?’

    Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been ‘no.’

    Until now, that is.

    You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?

    I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it’s covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it’s been around the world with me and back again, and hasn’t missed a beat.

    It still shoots 5fps, and that’s usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It’s stood up to everything I’ve thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I’ve become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I’ve been confident that if I didn’t get the shot, it wasn’t the camera’s fault – it was mine.

    With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn’t pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using – but that wasn’t always the case.
    ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8

    But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying ‘the D5 could make this so much easier.’ And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.

    So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn’t included teleportation into their $ 6500 flagship. But now I’m finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it’ll make things easier for me.

    Megapixels do matter

    Sometimes, anyway.

    For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend’s barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one’s printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4×6’s.

    It’s for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter’s higher megapixel cameras.
    Canon 35mm F2 IS
    ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
    Photograph by David Rzegocki

    Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner’s 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.

    Now, I said they could be disappointed. There’s every chance that they wouldn’t care. But I’m reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

    ‘What? The autofocus missed?’

    Now don’t get me wrong – the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I’m increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time – there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.

    Surely it’s more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon’s newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I’d expect from the D700 in bright daylight.

    All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride’s necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it’s soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
    Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
    ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8

    Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works ‘just fine’ on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I’d been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.

    Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it’s just a mushy mess.

    So what’s next?

    Nikon 35mm F2 D
    ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8

    I have officially sold one of my two D700’s (the one that’s in mint condition, not the one that’s dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I’m not really sure what’s next – Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I’m totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.

    One thing’s for certain, though. I’m going to take my time with this one. That’s because I want the next ‘main camera’ to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don’t want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won’t make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it’s best to just skip it.

    But then again – if I hadn’t had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn’t have known what I’m missing.

    Nikon 50mm F1.4D
    ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2

    Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I’ve been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that’s how, finally, I know that it’s a good time for a change.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Dell’s new 8K display is pretty amazing, but do you need it?

    The video industry keeps telling us that we’ll all be using 8K displays in a few years. It’s true that once you see 8K video, you can’t unsee it. It’s really pretty amazing. Until recently, however, seeing one for yourself meant going to a tradeshow like NAB or CES, where you could use a magnifying glass to try to see the pixels. 

    But that’s no longer true thanks to Dell, which is now selling a 32-inch 8K monitor for the not-too-surprising price of $ 4999. Just how good is it? In this video, Linus Tech Tips shows just what you’re getting when you buy one. It’s pretty impressive, but even Linus acknowledges that the difference between 8K and a ‘standard’ 5K display is “not as noticeable as you might think.”

    Are you ready to go 8K? What would it take to convince you to take the plunge?

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)