Great Hike with my dog Jackson this morning (photos)

[rudyumans]

I like your pictures overall.

The only thing is, if I may, try not to center your dog or main subject that much. The blue sky is overcooked. It doesn't look realistic anymore. If you tone that down a little bit, you have a nice picture. Also, the one I would frame is either the photo in your post 55 underneath the group shot, the second one from the bottom, underneath the ducks, in you last post (This one, you might have to crop a little bit on top and on the right) or the close-up vertical one above the lake shots. I really like this one. You have to crank up the exposure a little bit in all of them though.

I enjoy looking at your picture and I don't mean to impose, but sometimes I can't help myself. Especially not if I see an opportunity to help a fellow photographer. I wrote a blog here about composition if you are interested.

[jc1234]

I like your pictures overall.

The only thing is, if I may, try not to center your dog or main subject that much. The blue sky is overcooked. It doesn't look realistic anymore. If you tone that down a little bit, you have a nice picture. Also, the one I would frame is either the photo in your post 55 underneath the group shot, the second one from the bottom, underneath the ducks, in you last post (This one, you might have to crop a little bit on top and on the right) or the close-up vertical one above the lake shots. I really like this one. You have to crank up the exposure a little bit in all of them though.

I enjoy looking at your picture and I don't mean to impose, but sometimes I can't help myself. Especially not if I see an opportunity to help a fellow photographer. I wrote a blog here about composition if you are interested.

This is my first camera that isnt a point and shoot and I am shooting in raw, so Im just starting to learn whats what, Ive had it about 2 months I think. I actually just learned that I had an exposure setting 2 weeks ago lol and this is the first set of photos Ive posted while using it. The photo with the green moss I love. I was using longer exposure settings so I could stay at ISO 100 and anytime he moved the photo blurred. That photo was actually right after he turned his head from looking staight at me, it just happened that it looks good, the problem is that at full size the right side of his head (your right if you are looking at the photo) is blury and so is his tag. At full size it wouldnt look as good. He must have moved slightly, his body is crisp, just part of his head isnt. You can see a full sized version on his website under photo gallery > Hiking Fall 2010 to see what I mean. I cant post a link per the forum rules.

I just love the colors in the photo that I said I wanted to frame and his expression, as much as I love the mossy photo, the colors and look of the photo just dont compare for me. As far as him being in the center of the photos, I dont know how I feel about that, Im conflicted. I like to do a lot of scenic shots and he is so big. he is huge, photos really dont begin to show his true size, and the scenery gets blocked by his body unless I do a shot at distance and then I dont get the sharpness I want from his expression. So often the only way to get him and the waterfall or other backdrop that I want is to put him off center, so I can get both. Shooting the waterfall off center looks weird to me because its such a huge portion of the photo. Plus he is a dog and while he does pose, there are times where i want him in a spot that he simply does not want to be...so I have to work with what he gives me. He is really good about posing, but some days are better than others.

[rudyumans]

allrighty then. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

[jc1234]

allrighty then. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

Im having a hell of a time using the F-stop in conjuction with the shutter speed and not either getting the scene too dark or too light and washed out, especially with slower shutter speeds. Is there a general or standard F-stop setting for landscape photography that you know of?

As an example, we went camping this weekend and these are some of the photos we got...not really a fan of any of them other than the one black and white photo I took on a self timer by using an overhanging branch. We are going camping again this weekend and I'll try again.

In these Jackson isnt centered because there isnt anywhere to stand other than a few slick boulders now that the water level is higher.
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I really like this one in black and white for some reason:

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Just screwing around with night photos for the bladesmith that made my knife:

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[Rick]

Frankly, I like them all. They are all great pics.

[RangerXanatos]

I especially like the one above the B&W.

[crashdive123]

I think they all came out great. What is it you don't like about them? Have you experimented with shutter speed instead of aperture setting?

[jc1234]

I think they all came out great. What is it you don't like about them? Have you experimented with shutter speed instead of aperture setting?

Ive expermented with shutter speed, but just starting to combine it he aperture. I cant get a lot the shots I Want at a higher aperture because they are too dark and/or take too long so JAckson will move enough to be blurry.

They either seem too bright or too dark, its hard finding the sweet spot where the warmth of the colors come out without washing things out or going too dark.

[jc1234]

For instance this is a photo that a pro photographer we meet on the trail took in about 1/10th of a second. Its just on a whole other level.

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[jc1234]

Maybe its the processing thats done on the file on the computer that makes some of the pro photos look better. I played around with the contrast on this one and it looks much better than the original...I'll figure this photo thing out someday.

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[Rick]

Don't compare your pics to one a pro has done. Consider his years of schooling and experience. You really do post some great pics.

[rudyumans]

I will be answering your question in a little while. I have to something first that can't wait. I'll be back.

BTW, that "pro"picture doesn't look that hot. He/she broke the first rule: never look down on animals when taking pictures (or otherwise) Instant snapshot! It's also underexposed and "flat".

[rudyumans]

Im having a hell of a time using the F-stop in conjuction with the shutter speed and not either getting the scene too dark or too light and washed out, especially with slower shutter speeds. Is there a general or standard F-stop setting for landscape photography that you know of?

As an example, we went camping this weekend and these are some of the photos we got...not really a fan of any of them other than the one black and white photo I took on a self timer by using an overhanging branch. We are going camping again this weekend and I'll try again.

First you should know that I think you did a good job with your pictures. The “washed-out” sky and water does not bother me that that much.

Anyway, to answer your question, you are talking obviously about exposure and what you can do to influence the exposure. I understand that from what you are saying you had your camera on shutter speed priority and you want to adjust the Aperture (f-stop) to get the correct exposure. To make decisions like this, you have to understand what each does. (I am pretty sure you know, but there are also other people who read these forums and they might not) Without going into too much detail, the aperture is like an adjustable hole in your lens that determines the quantity of light that reaches the sensor. The shutter speed is the time in which that is done. You could compare the lens to a garden hose. The shutter speed is how wide you open the faucet. The more it is open the more and faster water flows through the hose at the same time. (I’ll bet nobody knew that. J) The aperture is the diameter of the hose. The bigger the diameter the more water you get, but it flows slower with the same opening of the faucet unless you increase the pressure by opening the faucet more. Apertures are written down in f-stops in this order: f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f32, f48, f64 and so on. Speed is written down as minutes, seconds, or a fraction of a second in this order 1/2000, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, and so on. The difference between these values is called “stops” both in aperture and speed. I mention this because most digital cameras show many in between values. These are quarter or half stops. 1/640 is not a stop different from 1/500. Exposure value is a combination of the two. There are some options here, but I get back to those in a minute.

In photography, the aperture is generally used to determine the “Depth of Field”(DoF). This is what will be sharp from foreground to background. Shutter speed is important if the subject is moving and you want to “freeze” the movement. Usually f11 will get anything sharp from 20 feet to infinity with a 50mm lens. (75 mm on a cropped sensor like you probably have) Just focus at about 40 feet (or 1/3) into the scene and you should be good most of the time. The smaller the aperture number, the larger the “hole” and the more narrow the depth of field. F11 is good for landscapes, f3.5 or f5.6 is good for portraits and makes the background blurry.

Your problem with washed-out highlights (Blown-out) has more to do with dynamic range than with exposure. Digital sensors can only handle a certain range of stops. Generally only about 5 stops. Again without going into too much detail, if the correct exposure is a combination of f8 and 1/250, then f3.5 and 1/1000 is outside the range. This basically means that you lose detail in the highlights and/or the blacks. That’s why your sky, the water of the waterfall, and the fire are all blown-out. There is nothing you can do about that I am afraid, unless you make multiple exposures for the different areas in the scene and combine these shots in your editing software, but that is not that easy and could cause more problems than what it is worth.

In case you cannot get the effect you want because you want a short shutter speed and an f-stop of f11 to get everything sharp for instance, the options you have are either “exposure compensation” or a higher ISO. To start with the latter, not unlike in the old film days, you can adjust the sensitivity of the sensor. This is measured in ISO. The standard ISO for most cameras is ISO 100. Sometimes the standard is ISO 80 (Canon pos cameras) or ISO 200 for some Nikons. The differences between the ISO values are whole numbers and doubles like 100 – 200 – 400 – 800 – 1600 – 3200 and so on. Each “doubling” counts as one stop. So, in a relatively dark environment such as the woods, a higher ISO would be more suitable. It gives you a little bit more leeway in the shutter sped and/or aperture. Too high of an ISO though of (generally speaking and depends on the camera) over ISO 800 will introduce noise or grain if you like. So, you kind of have to figure out what is important to you.

The other thing you can do is to adjust the “exposure compensation” Somewhere in the menu of your camera you will find this function. Sometimes it is a dial. It should say this: -3 -2 -1 -0- +1 +2 +3. Each of these six values is a stop. With some cameras, you can change the default value into 1/3 stops each. You can use this feature to adjust exposure also. However, unlike the ISO, this will not influence the shutter speed or aperture. The overall scene will just get darker or lighter. You didn’t safe exif date, so I couldn’t tell, but if you have a Canon, these tend to underexpose a little. + 1/3 would be good for Canons.

If you still cannot get what you want, you can work with filters, but I save that for another time. This explanation was a little brief. Although it can get pretty complicated, I hope this was some help to you and other people who were wondering.

[Rick]

I thought it was a great explanation. Thanks!

[rudyumans]

Thank you Rick.

Actually I should also mention that using a very small f-stop such as f22 or f32 does NOT make your pictures sharper. (Contrary to popular believe) As a matter of fact, it makes them LESS sharp. It is called diffraction, which is bending of the light waves around the blades of the aperture diaphragm and causes to lose sharpness. Most of the time, one shouldn't need more than f11. Except in Macro photography, but macro has a whole set of problems of its own.

[jc1234]

Thanks for the info Rudy, it definitely helped. I took some more shots camping this weekend, I still need practice, but Im not getting as many washed out shots:

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I know you cant see it in this small version of the photo, but my dog was looking at me as if to say "wow, you got up there for the shot...now how are you going to get down??" Once I was up there, I realized how stupid it was, I didnt clime the log, but the things I had to traverse were ridiculous. Luckily is leash is made of static rescue rope which helped me get down.

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[crashdive123]

More great pictures as always.

[Rick]

That is one patient dog. Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

[jc1234]

That is one patient dog. Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

He knows he gets treats and lots of praise and petting when Im done shooting a series of photos Otherwise he would have little interest...although he does like attention as well..he is sort of a camera whore at times.

[jc1234]

We havent been out the last few weeks, due to a medical condition of mine, but we will be out again soon. In the meantime Ive been torturing Jackson a little bit. Here are two photos I particularly like. Not really a survival discussion...but just in case you were going through Jackson withdraw.

Here is our Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA cover recreation:

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This is what happens when I go stir crazy from being inside...
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