Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Photography and the Great Outdoors
Combining photography with the passion of hiking, biking and mountain climbing can result in the most incredible photographs imaginable. Whether it's ice climbing in the Rockies, with your camera bag packed safely away, until you reach the summit where you have a breathtaking panoramic view of the frozen earth spread out as far as the eye can see. Or a leisurely springtime hike up a flower carpeted Pocono hillside with your camera close at hand to catch that pheasant or covey of quail. The outdoors and photography are a perfect match.
If you're a week-end photographer who can't wait to get out of the city and become one with nature, there are countless opportunities that will allow you to fulfill your desire to "get away" and get that "shot of a lifetime".
Consider those who are lucky enough to live in Seattle, Washington where you can leave work on a Friday afternoon and be standing on the majestic and rugged coastline, removing your camera and tripod from their bag in time to be setting up to focus on one of the most beautiful sunsets on earth. The next morning, while enjoying your first cup of coffee, you could be snapping pictures of the Grey whales which migrate north along the Washington coast between February and April every year.
Or maybe mountain scenery is your first love and you are fortunate enough to live in the Yellowstone area of Montana were the wildlife is phenomenal. Grizzly, coyote, elk.... big horned sheep playing on the mountainside. Buffalo grazing peacefully, as they must have a 100 years ago. This is truly Big Sky Country where you can catch a glimpse of a graceful eagle gliding silently through the trees. These are pictures most people can only see in a magazine, not through their camera lens on a brisk autumn morning.
Remember it's important to research not only where you're going to be photographing and what camera equipment you'll be using, but also the bags, backpacks and pouches to which you entrust your valuable cameras, lenses, tripods and accessories The touring bicyclist needs to invest in a dry sack in the event he encounters inclement weather, but the young photographer hiking through the Sierra Nevada, in search of the various species of blooming cactus, probably would be in need of the backpack with room for her water bottles. Look for quality, durability and functionality.
Whatever your passion, wherever you call home. There are beautiful pictures waiting to be taken. That horse pasture you are fortunate enough to pass on your way to work every day. Stop; take a good look. I bet you'll see a terrific photograph. One you'd probably be in awe of if you saw it in a magazine. So pack up those camera bags and keep your equipment handy. You never know when that one perfect picture will appear.
If you're a week-end photographer who can't wait to get out of the city and become one with nature, there are countless opportunities that will allow you to fulfill your desire to "get away" and get that "shot of a lifetime".
Consider those who are lucky enough to live in Seattle, Washington where you can leave work on a Friday afternoon and be standing on the majestic and rugged coastline, removing your camera and tripod from their bag in time to be setting up to focus on one of the most beautiful sunsets on earth. The next morning, while enjoying your first cup of coffee, you could be snapping pictures of the Grey whales which migrate north along the Washington coast between February and April every year.
Or maybe mountain scenery is your first love and you are fortunate enough to live in the Yellowstone area of Montana were the wildlife is phenomenal. Grizzly, coyote, elk.... big horned sheep playing on the mountainside. Buffalo grazing peacefully, as they must have a 100 years ago. This is truly Big Sky Country where you can catch a glimpse of a graceful eagle gliding silently through the trees. These are pictures most people can only see in a magazine, not through their camera lens on a brisk autumn morning.
Remember it's important to research not only where you're going to be photographing and what camera equipment you'll be using, but also the bags, backpacks and pouches to which you entrust your valuable cameras, lenses, tripods and accessories The touring bicyclist needs to invest in a dry sack in the event he encounters inclement weather, but the young photographer hiking through the Sierra Nevada, in search of the various species of blooming cactus, probably would be in need of the backpack with room for her water bottles. Look for quality, durability and functionality.
Whatever your passion, wherever you call home. There are beautiful pictures waiting to be taken. That horse pasture you are fortunate enough to pass on your way to work every day. Stop; take a good look. I bet you'll see a terrific photograph. One you'd probably be in awe of if you saw it in a magazine. So pack up those camera bags and keep your equipment handy. You never know when that one perfect picture will appear.
Photography Pioneers
Modern day photography dates back to the early 1800's. The word photography is derived from the Greeks; photos meaning light and graphein meaning to draw. The word was first used in 1839 by scientist Sir John FW Herschel to describe a method of recording images. That was 12 years after the first photograph was captured by Frenchman Louis Jacque Mande Daguerre, a professional opera scene painter. This first process took eight hours and he then worked 12 more years to reduce the expose time to under 30 minutes and keep the image from disappearing. These first photographs were exposed on metal that had been sensitized to accept the image and were called Daguerreotypes after their French inventor. Then came the tintype, invented in 1856 by Hamilton Smith. This was a thin sheet of iron used as a base for light sensitive material to produce a photograph.
Along came an American from upstate New York, George Eastman, who was very fascinated by photography, but frustrated with what he considered cumbersome exposure methods. He developed a dry photographic plate, patented it in the United States and England and began his first photographic business in 1880. In 1884, he replaced the glass plates with paper rolls allowing multiple images to be taken much more quickly. Four years later, on September 4, 1888 he patented he "roll film camera". You could take your pictures, mail the camera to Kodak who would develop your 100 photos and send them back to you along with another roll of 100 exposures. Sound familiar? The big difference? You used to get your camera back, now you don't!
These pioneers would be amazed with the equipment available to us today. We have the digital camera, the SLR,35mm, the camcorder, automatic exposure and automatic focusing, zoom lens and video. We even take pictures with our cellphones, which we can then download onto our computers. We have the luxury of going just about anywhere to get that perfect shot. Indoors, outdoors, underwater, or on top of a mountain. We attach our camera to a tripod and set the self timer so we can be in that majestic mountain scene.
When the equipment was of a size to be transported from place to place, they certainly didn't have a camera case with a padded shoulder strap. We have a camera bag suited to fit every camera and the accessories. Backpacks for hiking up that trail and lens pouches.
We can take pictures as a hobby, while on vacation; supplement our income as a weekend photographer/writer for a local newspaper; or travel the world as a full-time photojournalist. Today, our photographic possibilities are limitless thanks, at least in part, to these photography trailblazers.
Along came an American from upstate New York, George Eastman, who was very fascinated by photography, but frustrated with what he considered cumbersome exposure methods. He developed a dry photographic plate, patented it in the United States and England and began his first photographic business in 1880. In 1884, he replaced the glass plates with paper rolls allowing multiple images to be taken much more quickly. Four years later, on September 4, 1888 he patented he "roll film camera". You could take your pictures, mail the camera to Kodak who would develop your 100 photos and send them back to you along with another roll of 100 exposures. Sound familiar? The big difference? You used to get your camera back, now you don't!
These pioneers would be amazed with the equipment available to us today. We have the digital camera, the SLR,35mm, the camcorder, automatic exposure and automatic focusing, zoom lens and video. We even take pictures with our cellphones, which we can then download onto our computers. We have the luxury of going just about anywhere to get that perfect shot. Indoors, outdoors, underwater, or on top of a mountain. We attach our camera to a tripod and set the self timer so we can be in that majestic mountain scene.
When the equipment was of a size to be transported from place to place, they certainly didn't have a camera case with a padded shoulder strap. We have a camera bag suited to fit every camera and the accessories. Backpacks for hiking up that trail and lens pouches.
We can take pictures as a hobby, while on vacation; supplement our income as a weekend photographer/writer for a local newspaper; or travel the world as a full-time photojournalist. Today, our photographic possibilities are limitless thanks, at least in part, to these photography trailblazers.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Black-and-white infrared film
Black-and-white infrared negative films are sensitive to wavelengths in the 700 to 900 nm near infrared spectrum, and most also have a sensitivity to blue light wavelengths. The notable halation effect or glow often seen in the highlights of infrared photographs is an artifact of Kodak High Speed Infrared (HIE) black-and-white negative film and not an artifact of infrared light. The glow or blooming is caused by the absence of an anti-halation layer on the back side of Kodak HIE film, this results in a scattering or blooming around the highlights that would usually be absorbed by the anti-halation layer in conventional films.
The majority of black-and-white infrared art, landscape, and wedding photography is done using orange (15 or 21), red (23, 25, or 29) or visually opaque (72) filters over the lens to block the blue visible light from the exposure. The intent of filters in black-and-white infrared photography is to block blue wavelengths and allow infrared to pass through. Without filters, infrared negative films look much like conventional negative films because the blue sensitivity lowers the contrast and effectively counteracts the infrared look of the film. Some photographers use orange or red filters to allow slight amounts of blue wavelengths to reach the film, and thus lower the contrast. Very dark-red (29) filters block out almost all blue, and visually opaque (70, 89b, 87c, 72) filters block out all blue and also visible-red wavelengths, resulting in a more pure-infrared photo that usually looks more contrasty.
Certain infrared-sensitive films like Kodak HIE must only be loaded and unloaded in total darkness. Infrared black-and-white films require special development times but development is usually achieved with standard black-and-white film developers and chemicals (like D-76). Kodak HIE film has a polyester film base that is very stable but extremely easy to scratch, therefore special care must be used in the handling of Kodak HIE throughout the development and printing/scanning process to avoid damage to the film.
As of November 2, 2007, "KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance" of HIE Infrared 35mm film stating the reasons that, "Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved." see notice: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/discontinuedNotice.jhtml?id=0.2.26.14.25&lc=en At the time of this notice, HIE Infrared 135-36 was available at a street price of around $12.00 a roll at US mail order outlets.
Arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography has been the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film. However despite the discontinuance of HIE, other newer infrared sensitive emulsions from EFKE, ROLLEI, and ILFORD are still available, but these formulations have differing sensitivity and specifications from the venerable KODAK HIE that has been around for at least two decades. Some of these infrared films are available in 120 and larger formats as well as 35mm, which adds flexibility to their application. With the discontinuance of Kodak HIE, Efke's IR820 film has become the only IR film on the market with good sensitivity beyond 750nm, the Rollei film does extend beyind 750nm but IR sensitivity falls of very rapidly.Film cameras
Many conventional cameras can be used for infrared photography, where infrared is taken to mean light of a wavelength only slightly longer than that of visible light. Photography of rather longer wavelengths is normally termed thermography and requires special equipment.
With some patience and ingenuity, most film cameras can be used. However, some cameras of the 1990s that used 35mm film have infrared sprocket-hole sensors that can fog infrared film (their manuals may warn against the use of infrared film for this reason). Other film cameras are not completely opaque to infrared light.Focusing infrared
Most manual focus 35mm SLR and medium format SLR lenses have a red dot, line or diamond, often with a red "R" called the infrared index mark, that can be used to achieve proper infrared focus; many autofocus lenses no longer have this mark. When a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera is fitted with a filter that is opaque to visible light, the reflex system becomes useless for both framing and focusing, and a tripod is necessary for composition without the filter before the exposure is done with the filter attached. A sharp infrared photograph can be done with a tripod, a narrow aperture (like f/22) and a slow shutter speed without focus compensation, however wider apertures like f/2.0 can produce sharp photos only if the lens is meticulously refocused to the infrared index mark, and only if this index mark is the correct one for the filter and film in use.
Most apochromatic ('APO') lenses do not have an Infrared index mark and do not need to be refocused for the infrared spectrum because they are already optically corrected into the near-infrared spectrum. Catadioptric lenses do not require this adjustment because mirrors do not suffer from chromatic aberration.
Zoom lenses may scatter more light through their more complicated optical systems than prime lenses, that is, lenses of fixed focal length; for example, an infrared photo taken with a 50mm prime lens may look more contrasty than the same image taken at 50mm with a 28–80 zoom.
Some lens manufacturers such as Leica never put IR index marks on their lenses. The reason for this is because any index mark is only valid for one particular IR filter and film combination, and may lead to user error. Even when using lenses with index marks, focus testing is advisable as there may be a large difference between the index mark and the subject plane.
Creative Ways to display Your Photos
You have a terrific digital camera that you use to take awesome pictures. A great quality camera case that holds that camera, plus all the accessories you need on your photo shoots. You have the memory cards and the equipment to transfer the images to your computer once you get home with your treasured photographs. And you have boxes and boxes of those wonderful photographs that, occasionally, you sit down and look through and then put back in the closet.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to enjoy some of those beautiful shots of that skiing trip you took to Colorado every day? Or those great shots of the kids at the beach last summer? And, how about those wonderful tintypes of your ancestors who came into this country through Ellis Island years ago. Wouldn't it be special to see them proudly displayed, rather than stuck away, forgotten, except for those rare occasions when you drag them out to show the kids? There are so many ways to display photographs today, the possibilities are almost endless.
The traditional way to display photographs is to frame them, or put them in a frame, and either hang them on a wall or place them on some surface. The best way to see how a group of pictures is going to look on a wall is to lay them out on the floor. Move them around, work with them. After you get the placement that is right, then start putting them up on the wall. Remember the general rule for hanging any art, hang it at eye level. And, as with most things, odd numbers are more eye appealing than even.
If you have a staircase, it's the perfect area to display your photographs. It removes the need to hang the pictures in a perfectly straight line, and the effect of the photos traveling up, following the stairs, can make a dramatic statement. It can be made into a theme wall, such as a wedding wall, hanging wedding pictures dating back as far in your family as you can find them. Pictures can be set on anything, a fireplace mantel, piano, dressers, coffee tables and end tables, the television, basically, anything that has a flat top surface can have a picture placed on it. But, you want to place them with purpose. Group a few like pictures together and combine them with a couple quality accessories to make a beautiful table arrangement.
When hanging your photos, there are many options, the most traditional is the picture hanger and wire on the back of the picture. But, there are some other, more creative ways to hang pictures. Using ribbon, for example. There are many techniques for hanging photos with ribbon. You can take two lengths of ribbon and attach them to the back of the picture frame at the top corners. Then bring them together, tie them in a bow, and hang the picture on the wall. A couple pictures hung like this along with a few complimentary pieces, makes a lovely grouping.
Armed with these creative ideas for displaying those photographs you're going to be taking, you'll want to be sure to keep your camera and camera bag close by. Because once you have your photographs arranged, you can cycle the photos with new photographs in some of the frames.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to enjoy some of those beautiful shots of that skiing trip you took to Colorado every day? Or those great shots of the kids at the beach last summer? And, how about those wonderful tintypes of your ancestors who came into this country through Ellis Island years ago. Wouldn't it be special to see them proudly displayed, rather than stuck away, forgotten, except for those rare occasions when you drag them out to show the kids? There are so many ways to display photographs today, the possibilities are almost endless.
The traditional way to display photographs is to frame them, or put them in a frame, and either hang them on a wall or place them on some surface. The best way to see how a group of pictures is going to look on a wall is to lay them out on the floor. Move them around, work with them. After you get the placement that is right, then start putting them up on the wall. Remember the general rule for hanging any art, hang it at eye level. And, as with most things, odd numbers are more eye appealing than even.
If you have a staircase, it's the perfect area to display your photographs. It removes the need to hang the pictures in a perfectly straight line, and the effect of the photos traveling up, following the stairs, can make a dramatic statement. It can be made into a theme wall, such as a wedding wall, hanging wedding pictures dating back as far in your family as you can find them. Pictures can be set on anything, a fireplace mantel, piano, dressers, coffee tables and end tables, the television, basically, anything that has a flat top surface can have a picture placed on it. But, you want to place them with purpose. Group a few like pictures together and combine them with a couple quality accessories to make a beautiful table arrangement.
When hanging your photos, there are many options, the most traditional is the picture hanger and wire on the back of the picture. But, there are some other, more creative ways to hang pictures. Using ribbon, for example. There are many techniques for hanging photos with ribbon. You can take two lengths of ribbon and attach them to the back of the picture frame at the top corners. Then bring them together, tie them in a bow, and hang the picture on the wall. A couple pictures hung like this along with a few complimentary pieces, makes a lovely grouping.
Armed with these creative ideas for displaying those photographs you're going to be taking, you'll want to be sure to keep your camera and camera bag close by. Because once you have your photographs arranged, you can cycle the photos with new photographs in some of the frames.
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