Beth
One year ago today I had a fun photo shoot with Beth. These are some of our favorite images from that shoot.
Beth
Using PeakFinder To Find the Names of the Mountains in Your Photos
Colorado Rockies (Front Range) from Keenesburg Colorado.
I have always loved the view of the Colorado Front Range as I approach the mountains from the eastern plains. I was going to stop in Keenesburg Colorado to get gas, so on that stop I found this county highway northwest of town to take a picture of the mountains. Back home at my computer I decided to figure out the names of some of these mountains.
Artist’s Statement
Artist’s Statement. Photo: Northern Lights, Camp Denali, Alaska. Click for a larger version.
One Photographer and Nine Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Spring
Moon Over Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah.
Are you planning a spring photography trip to one or more U.S. national parks? Where should you go? Which parks will provide the best photographic opportunities? Which parks are at their best in the spring?
The Best National Parks to Photograph in Spring
Ocotillo. Big Bend National Park, Texas.
Which national parks are at their very best in the spring? If I could go on a fabulous spring photography trip to the national parks of my choice, all expenses paid, which ones would I pick? Here are my choices, grouped by state from west to east. This list includes the favorites I have been to and want to go back to again, plus the ones I haven’t seen and most want to photograph.
Things That Don’t Work: The Advice on Removing GPS Information from the Photos on Your iPhone
Big G Lake
As the prior article points out, you should not post photos online that were taken at your home, the homes of your relatives, or your place of work until you remove the GPS location information from those photos. There are some other places where you probably won’t want to share the GPS location of your photos. The prior article also tells you how to remove the GPS locations using your computer. For this article I was going to show you how to remove GPS data from photos while they are still in your iPhone. I followed the advice online and discovered that advice did not work, at least on my iPhone 11.
How to Remove GPS Information From Your Photos Using Your Computer
Greater Prairie Chickens fighting. The GPS information is still in this digital file.
When you click the shutter to create a photo, almost all smart phones and many other cameras add your GPS location to the photo you just created. The good thing about that is you can go back to your photos later and look up the GPS locations of your photos.
How to “Rate” Photos in Your Camera
Camera LCD zoomed in on a Grackle photo. iPhone photo.
It is simple to rate photos in your camera, provided you have a rate button. (Later on I will tell you what to do if you don’t have a rate button.) If you take a photo you want to find quickly when you download the memory card, just push the rate button. When you download the photos on your memory card you can use Adobe Bridge (more about Bridge later) to quickly find your rated photos.
KIA Project – The Human Web
The Human Web.
I created this image for a photography class I was teaching at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) in Michigan. It was so popular that Jim Riegel, the head of the photography department, asked if he could exhibit it at the KIA faculty exhibit at the annual Kalamazoo Art Fair in Bronson Park in June. Jim was in charge of the faculty exhibit. When June 2, 2001 rolled around, he used it as the centerpiece work of art for the KIA exhibit. At the end of the day he told me it was the most talked about work of art in the faculty exhibit. All kinds of people stopped by to ask questions about it and how it was created. This article explains how I did it.
Testing Photo Labs, Part 3
Test Prints. iPhone photo. Click for a larger version.
One of my two favorite photo labs was bought out and no longer exists, so I am searching for another favorite photo lab. I sent the same 10 digital files to three of the highest high rated photo labs in the country and had them make 8×12 and 8×10 prints. My third batch of prints arrived and I am like a kid in a candy store!
Testing Photo Labs, Part 2
Test prints from two labs.
My #1 favorite photo lab was bought out and no longer exists so I am testing photo labs. I sent the same set of digital photo files to several photo labs and ordered 8×10 or 8×12 prints. At each lab I chose the “No Color Correction” option. I create my digital files on a color calibrated monitor and I don’t want some person or machine to change the final color rendition of the prints.
Testing Photo Labs, Part 1
10 prints from MPIX
UPS dropped off a package of 10 prints this morning! They arrived in a stiff, cardboard envelope. Inside were two plastic bags, one for the 8×10 inch prints and one for the 8×12 inch prints. Each plastic bag also had a thin piece of cardboard to protect the prints. The packaging was good.
This Morning’s Best Photos
Greater Prairie Chicken
Some mornings I take our dog on a tour of the four local lakes. I always have a camera and at least three lenses with me. Our first stop was to see if the local Greater Prairie Chicken was out and about. He was.
Optimizing A Photo
Jack Ergo and Friends Recital, Carol Hall, Shaw Center, Graceland University, Lamoni Iowa
I went looking for a photo of my friend Jack from several years ago and the one I found needed some basic work. I will take you through my process of optimizing this photo.
The Sunny f16 Rule: Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE)
A Quick “Sunny f16” Summary
As long as the sun is high in the sky and not obscured by clouds, haze, smoke, dust, or other particulates in the air, it is a constant light source. That is why the Sunny f16 rule usually works in spring, summer, fall, and also winter as long as there isn’t any snow on the ground. (If there is snow on the ground, read this article.) The Sunny f16 rule, also known as Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE), (or the “fig” rule because f16 hand written looks like the word fig), is pretty simple.
Mastering Exposure: Links to Exposure Articles at JimDoty.com
100421_5D_2296. Metering Tools.
Includes:
Thinking in Stops
Exposure Compensation
Exposure Compensation for Subject Metering
Exposure Compensation with a Gray Card
Reciprocity
Estimating Exposure
Basic Daylight Exposure (the Sunny f/16 Rule)
Where was this Photo taken? How to Use an EXIF Viewer to Find the Location of an Online Photo.
Greater Prairie Chickens fighting. February 25, 8:34 am.
Most smart phones and some digital cameras record the GPS coordinates of a photo every time the shutter button is pressed, provided you have that feature turned on. If you find a photo on the internet, you can use an EXIF Viewer to see if the GPS coordinates are embedded in the online photo. Not all cameras have this capability, and some photographers strip that information out of their photos before they post them online. I really appreciate landscape photographers that leave the GPS data in their online photos.
More Greater Prairie Chicken Excitement!
Greater Prairie Chickens, Elk Chapel Road, northwest of Lamoni Iowa. Sunday, February 25, 2024. 8:27 am.
I’ve been back to the prairie chicken location a few times over the last week, but I have not spotted him since February 18. That all changed Sunday morning. And there were two males instead of one!
Do NOT Look at the Eclipse Through a High Density Solar Eclipse Filter! You Could Go Blind!
Left: Safe eclipse glasses. Right: Solar filter
Don’t worry. My model’s eyes were closed for the illustration photo on the right.
Do not look at the sun on eclipse day (or any other day) through a solar eclipse filter. Even though you are looking through a solar eclipse filter (i.e. solar filter) you can still go blind. And this is especially true looking through a camera and lens, even with a solar filter on the lens. Why? I am glad you asked.
How to Photograph the “Great American Eclipse” – April 8, 2024
Partial phase of the eclipse.
This is your guide to photograph the Second “Great American Eclipse”, April 8, 20124. The path of totality will cross the entire country from Oregon to South Carolina. This handy guide will help you photograph the eclipse. Planning ahead is key.
Originally posted Jun 26, 2017. Revised and updated February 22, 2024.
Where is the Path of the Total Eclipse?
Solar Retinopathy: Why an Eclipse is So Dangerous, Especially for Children, and What To Do About It
A solar eclipse is dangerous for everyone and children are especially at risk. Even when the sun is 99% eclipsed it can do serious eye damage. This is what you need to know and do, especially with all the unsafe counterfeit eclipse glasses that have flooded the market.
Happy Birthday, Ansel Adams!
Ansel Adams in front of “Monolith: The Face of Half Dome, 1927”. Photographed in his home Dec. 2, 1980.
Ansel Adams was born 122 years ago today, February 20, 1902. He is “the” icon of American landscape photography. Trained as a concert pianist, his love of photography and time spent in Yosemite National Park led him to a career change. Continue reading
Greater Prairie Chicken Excitement!
Greater Prairie Chicken near Elk Chapel Road, Decatur County Iowa. February 15, 2024. 5:24 pm.
A male Greater Prairie Chicken has taken up residence on the edge of a cornfield about 30-40 feet from a county highway, much to the delight of bird watchers. I got a call from a friend, so I grabbed my camera gear and drove out to the location. This image (above) was taken with the sun low in the west so this prairie chicken has wonderful, warm backlighting. Compare this light to the next photo.
The Best Online Backup For Your Photos and Other Important Files
39% of Americans never backup their data. That’s not good. Another 19% do this only once per year. No wonder so many people lose important files and photos if they have a hard drive crash.
Winter Photography Safety Essentials
Some of the winter travel items I carry in the trunk of my car. This is the “kitchen” and “furnace”.
I grew up in Colorado where strange weather can strand you in any month of the year. Even though it is rare, I’ve seen blizzards in the Colorado high country in July. So I learned to carry some safety essentials when doing winter photography in remote locations. You never know when you might be stranded for several hours, a whole day, or longer, until the blizzard abates and someone can come find you. This is what I carry in my car when I hit the road in the winter and pretty much any time I am going to be in the High Rockies. I include a few winter travel tips, too.
How to Protect Your Camera Gear in the Cold and Snow
Bryce Canyon After An Overnight Snowstorm
It is still really cold out there so be careful to protect your camera gear. Cold and snow can cause a lot of damage to your camera gear. Something as simple as shooting outside and taking your camera inside your house or car can cause hidden damage that won’t show up until days or weeks later. The simple steps in this article could save you hundreds of dollars in repair bills.
“Black and White”
“Black and White”, Giulietta Luna, Columbus Ohio. Click image to see a larger version.
These images were created 14 hours apart, the first at night against a black backdrop and the second in the afternoon against a bright, window shade. In the second she is entirely backlit. It did not occur to me until this week that these two images could be combined. It is a happy accident that they are facing each other.
FOV (Field of View) Lens Charts
Field of View Table with the horizontal, vertical and diagonal FOV.
There are times that it is handy to have a FOV Lens Chart, also called Angle of View charts. These charts tell you in degrees the angle of view for lenses used on cameras with different size digital sensors. Why might you need to know that information? I am glad you asked.
Beth in the Snow
Beth playing her violin in the snow.
February 12 is a red letter day! It started when Beth and I did a photo shoot in a snow storm in January 2020. We had so much fun we wanted to do it again. I was working in my office four years ago today and I looked out the window. Big, beautiful snowflakes were falling. I said to myself, “This would be a great day for another photo shoot in the snow.”