If you are looking for an excellent gift for a photographer, or for yourself, Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies is one of the highest rated photography books on Amazon.com, and one of the most comprehensive at 384 pages. It is highly recommended by both beginners and professional photographers.
Incident Light Meter. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.
There’s no question that in some complex metering situations, an incident light meter can be quicker, faster, simpler, and more accurate than the meter in your camera. Many incident light meters can also measure light from an electronic flash, a huge bonus when you are using a flash in the manual mode.
CAmera, nodal slide, and panning clamp
If you are using an Arca-Swiss compatible quick release system, which I highly recommend, two simple pieces of easy-to-carry equipment can put you in panorama heaven. Get the full story here.
Arca-Swiss compatible “L-bracket” and tripod head
Mounting a camera onto the screw on top of a tripod head is time consuming. Doing it in the dark when your hands are cold is annoying. Once the camera is mounted, if you flop the camera over to the side to take a vertical photo, the camera tries to rotate on the screw. To provide a solution, all kinds of “quick release systems” have been created. Some of them work quite well, some not so well. Most systems have a weakness of one kind or another.
The Day that Changes the Rest of Your Life. A self portrait.
Sarah is an exceptional model, a photographer, and most important, a friend. That is why this self portrait and the story behind it are important to me. In her own words:
Remembering all of those who have served and are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.
The original DeLorme inReach Two Way Satellite Communicator
Every now and then you hear tragic stories about people who lose their lives simply because they didn’t have a cell phone signal and couldn’t call for help in an unexpected emergency. A $260 – $340 satellite communicator would have saved their lives.
Many photographers would say Light: Science and Magic is THE best book on photographic lighting – and I agree with them. If you intend to be seriously involved in photography, this book should be on your required reading list.
AlienBees Studio Lights
For the best combination of quality and price, it is hard to beat AlienBees studio lights. I’ve been using AlienBees in my studio (and on location) for 8 years, and like so many other photographers, I’ve been singing their praises. It would be hard to find the same quality for less money.
Umbrella, flash, and flash bracket on a tripod.
Photographers are always looking for ways to soften the light when doing portraits. The light from an accessory flash can be quite harsh so there are a wide range of modifiers to soften the light for more pleasing portraits. Here are my three favorites.
I’ve been recommending DPReview for years in my photography classes, workshops and online. It is one of the best camera review sites. One of the nice features is the ability to download full size JPEG test images of their “standard studio scene” for comparison purposes.
Is it a special deal, or is it a rip-off?
Is it a great deal? Or is it a rip-off? You are searching online for a good price and you come across a terrific deal. Are you about to get burned? There are ways you can tell.
The lab you choose and the kind of file you send to your lab can make a big difference in the quality of print you get back. How do you pick a good online photo lab? How do you get the best results from your lab? What color space should you use for your digital files and how do you convert your files to the right color space? How big a print can you make from your digital files?
The best of the best cameras, accessories, photo books and more.
It’s the time of year that the number of photo questions I receive increases dramatically. Most of them have to do with the upcoming holiday season and gift giving questions: “What should I get for . . . .”
So once again I am revising my list of articles recommending the best photo gear, books, DVDs, software, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. As I rewrite each article I will update the links below. You can check the date at the top of each article. This is the most recent update to the list (Nov. 10, 2014).
The Milky Way, Moraine Park, RMNP
Although there is some sky glow from the cities along Colorado’s front range, you can still get some nice photos of the Milky Way from Rocky Mountain National Park.
Night Sky, Rocky Mountain National Park
This photo was taken just before the workshop photo in my last post with the same camera settings. The only difference is I left out the photographers in the foreground. I wanted to include more sky so I went with a low horizon of mountains and trees.
Photo Field Trip, RMNP. (Click to see a larger image.)
You don’t have to put your camera away just because the sun sets and the stars come out. Stay outside and have fun. Put your camera on a tripod (if it isn’t already), set your shutter on B (for bulb) and take long exposures of the night sky. Be sure to include some of the landscape.
Photo Field Trip, Rocky Mountain National Park
The last light of sunset has faded and we are waiting for the stars to come out. During the long 30 second exposure (based on a meter reading of the sky) I wandered around a fired a hand held flash at the photographers.
Photo Field Trip, Rocky Mountain National Park
Catching the last light of sunset. Workshop field trip in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Sarah
This photo is all about the back muscles. This is another photo from my shoot with Sarah who is a professional fitness trainer.
Mt Sneffels and the Sneffels Range from County Road 7 (Dallas Creek).
Mt. Sneffels is one of the most photographed peaks in Colorado. One of the best locations to create some images is along County Road 7 (Dallas Creek).
Team Red, White, and Blue relays Old Glory.
Team Red, White, and Blue is relaying Old Glory across the U.S.A. to call attention to the needs of veterans. I ran into them (almost literally) while taking pictures in Colorado.
Mt. Sneffels and the Sneffels Range by Moonlight.
This image was taken a little after midnight by the light of the moon. With a long enough exposure, you can use moonlight to make night look like day (except for the stars streaking across the sky). I didn’t want to go quite that light, but I did want the moonlight to light up the landscape.
Some of these are terrific apps. Get them now while they are still free. Be sure to check out Superburst Camera.
Sarah
Sarah is a professional fitness trainer and we have worked together before. We had another photo shoot Saturday morning and this is the first photo I optimized from the shoot.
Double Arch at Night, Arches National Park. Click for a larger version.
Bob, my brother-in-law, and I were in the Double Arch/”Windows” area at Arches National Park. As we made our way down the trail we saw two red lights in the distance. It was our guess it was the red lights on the back of two cameras, glowing in the darkness during long time exposures.
Like so many other graphics on Facebook, this one does not get high marks for factual accuracy. But what really intrigues me as a photographer are the happy “Danish” faces, especially the nurse that works in at least 7 countries. Tracking the photos down was my fun project for the day. Thanks to Google’s reverse image search it didn’t take long.
Moon Over Balanced Rock, Arches National Park
In low light conditions there are colors your eyes can’t see, but your camera can capture them if you know what you are doing. That is one of the reasons I take my photography workshops and classes out on field trips at night.
Photo Field Trip, Rocky Mountain National Park. RAW file corrected with ACR.
These are some of the photographers at my photography workshop this past weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park. I processed the original RAW camera file with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) to pull details out of the dark shadows.
