Saving the World One Pixel at a Time

To maximize image quality, correct exposure is critical and maybe more so for digital capture than for film. The exposure latitude (the ability to over or underexpose an image) is greater with color negative film than for any other type of media. Slide film, on the other hand, has the least latitude, especially on the overexposure side. In practice, digital sensors currently respond more like a hybrid of those two different kinds of color film. There is little latitude for overexposure because any image data is literally wiped out but underexposure has more latitude, almost as much as film. The downside of underexposure is the creation of noise or what you might see in a digital photograph that appears to be “grain.” The secret to obtaining the most image quality, as in all forms of photograph, is to properly expose the image.

Pianists practice their scales and photographers need to practice exposure. Sometime the best solution is to shoot a series of exposures of your subject varying exposures from what would normally be considered underexposure to overexposure. It’s called “bracketing” and most cameras offer an automatic bracket option as seen at right on a Pentax digital SLR. In the best of all possible worlds, I start by making an exposure using whatever manual or automatic mode I think is correct for the situation and then after evaluating its histogram adjust the camera’s exposure compensation control accordingly. When in doubt, I do what photographers have done since the invention of 35mm film—bracket like crazy.

Because the LCD preview screen on most digital cameras appears to exaggerate the image’s contrast it’s easy to get what you think is a well-exposed image but what is really slightly underexposed. Only the image’s histogram reveals the truth. Practice your bracketing and gradually you will learn how to evaluate the image on your LCD screen and make exposure adjustments without looking at the histogram.

Step 1: When you get stuck for ideas, a retro style or pose is always something that’s fun to try. This original color portrait of my wife Mary is an homage to the kind of shots that Peter. Gowland made during the 1950’s and was made during my review of the Broncolor Senso/Litos lighting kit for Shutterbug magazine. Exposure with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens was 1/125 second at f/14 and ISO 100.

Step 2: Using Nik Silver Efex Pro Photoshop-compatible plug-in takes the image even more into yesterday. I applied a copper toning to warm up the image and give the kind of warm-toned look that was popular in the 1950’s and well into the sixties. Then a touch of the Classic Soft Focus that’s part of the Select and Complete editions of Nik Color Efex Pro was added.

Step 3: As a final touch, I used Photoshop’s Render>Lens Flare effect to add some snap to the image as well as disguise the fact that there is no flashbulb (I think it requires an AG-1) in the flash gun produced just the final effect I wanted.

I get to test the latest and greatest digital SLRs for Shutterbug magazine but regular readers of this blog know that when it comes to my personal cameras I tend to be thrifty. Contrary to what you might think, although I get to play with these high-end expensive cameras, after the review they are packed and returned to the manufacturer. All of my personal gear is funded out of my wallet. Over time, I evolved a simply philosophy and even wrote a blog post (“Why I am not an Equipment Snob“) that explains it. I tend to buy new gear when I have a need, not an urge and over the years have learned to tell the difference. This keeps more money in my pocket and really doesn’t affect the kind of images I make. At least I don’t think so.  I also tend to recycle cameras, turning older model SLRs into Infrared-only models, then selling on my previous IR cameras.

Case in point: I just replaced my Canon EOS D50 with a D60 because I needed a camera that would work with lenses designed for smaller chip camera, had Live View and shot video. My D50 is now at LifePixel being converted for IR-only capture and when it comes back I will sell Rebel Xt and Xti infrared SLRs. One of the things I learned with my Rebel Xt was the value of third-party battery grips. I have long been a fan of having battery grips for those SLRs that offered this option for several important reasons:

Extra battery storage. Having two batteries available, instead of one, lets me shoot all day without having to recharge a battery or having a battery on charge as a stand-by. At a model shoot in a Phoenix at a movie studio, I was like the Energizer bunny shooting all day while my colleagues where running back and forth to their chargers to get other batteries.

One way to shoot verticals but not the way that I prefer; although the model is beautiful.

Vertical Shutter Release: On a podcast I did last year I was asked how I held a camera for vertical shots and since I shoot lots of glamour and portraits I also shoot lots of verticals. Having a grip that when shooting verticals lets me hold the camera steady—instead of the elbow waving in the air position—and gives me more control over cropping. The other advantage is that in addition to the vertical shutter release there is usually a control wheel to let you change camera functions fast and easy using data displayed in the SLRs viewfinder as a guide.

Battery Options: Some battery grips also include a AA tray that lets you insert 4-6 AA batteries to shoot when you forget the rechargeable batteries or worse the charger (hey, it happened to me.)

The Third Party grip, such as Flashpoint Professional Camera Grip for the 60D, that I purchased with the camera have additional advantages. I originally bought the official Canon battery grip for my IR-powered Rebel XTi but when I had a used Xt converted that used a different kind of filter, I added a third-party grip. When comparing the two grips side-by-side, I could see no visible differences—except cost. As I write this, the Flashpoint grip is selling for $46.25, which is almost one-third the price of the original Canon grip. Ill be actively using the D60 and grip all year and will post an update if any problems occur but based on my experience with the Xt grip, I don’t expect any.

One of the things I like to do to get out of a rut is to shoot some photographs in direct monochrome mode. It doesn’t have to be all of the images in a session; just a few to see what happens. If you think that’s a bad idea because you worry about what happens if you change your mind and want that original at some later date to be in color? Many digital SLRs cameras have a RAW+JPEG option that lets you capture a monochrome (JPEG) and color (RAW) file at the same time. Some dual-slot camera, even let you simultaneously save each file type to a different card. My old but dependable Canon EOS 1D Mark II N lets me, for example, shoot RAW on the CompactFlash card and JPEG files onto the SD card.

If you prefer to capture in color and convert to monochrome later in the digital darkroom that’s not a bad idea either and throughout this book, I show before and after images (and did early in this very chapter) to show how black and white image created a completely different mood. The biggest differences is that all of my favorite retouching tools such as Imagenomic’s’ Portraiture and Anthropics’ Portrait Professional. Another great idea to prevent your photography from becoming stagnant is to make a new photograph each day. To see one example, I created an on-line gallery on my SmugMug page to give me the structure to do just that.

Caption: Here a very pregnant Tia Stoneman used the bay window in my old kitchen to anchor her right hand but (for jut this one shot) tossed me the great model cliché of the “hand behind the neck” pose and it added to what was a fun photograph for both of us. The image was shot direct in monochrome mode with a Samsung Pro 815 camera and an exposure of 1/40 second at f/8 and ISO 400 with the built-in flash fired as fill.