I never saw this, but that’s OK
When I’m in Charleston, I frequent the Ashely River, pictured here, for 2 reasons:
1) I love to take pictures near water.
2) It’s close to my apartment, so I can stop there on the way to work!
I’ve seen and photographed this flowing water many times. I’m not sure what the building is, located about 200 yards to the right, but there is always water coming out of this pipe. It makes for some nice time exposure images. On this particular morning, last Wednesday, November 26th, there was a bit of mist rising off of the river. It was about 30 degrees outside, my fingers were nearly frozen to my nice, cold, aluminum tripod, and my finger could barely feel the shutter button, but I was having fun!
I took a few pictures of the leaves that were remaining on the trees and of this flow. As I sat here at my computer looking at those pictures, I wished that I had had a particular composition. I wished that the branches were jutting out over the water above this pipe. I thought that it would be a nice, pleasing composition, but no luck. They weren’t!
Lo and behold, as they say, I see two pictures that, if combined carefully, would give me what I want. So, that’s what I did. I usually don’t do composites and it is very rare that I do multiple exposures, but when the mood hits, you just gotta go with it!
I know that a lot of you are curious, as I am, so here are the two original photos.
Nikon D3x: No surprise(s)
Well, it was just announced … kind of. They leaked it in their own pro magazine. Nikon will be releasing the D3x. Not much of an upgrade from the D3, except twice the pixels and a smaller ISO range (50 – 6400, instead of 100-25,600). Let the pixel wars continue.
What I’d like to see is a new camera with about 3+ more stops of dynamic range! Now that would be cool! No idea on what the price of this beast will be, nor any idea when it will be shipped. I’m sure that there is some constraint of physics that they haven’t figured out just yet, but I’m sure that they are working on it.
Well, I guess that means that there is a D900 (a slightly stripped down version of the D3x), or whatever, on the horizon. The price of the D3 and D700 will start to slide, and the buying public will clamber for it. At least I was glad to see that they didn’t put any silliness in it, like HD video! 
Looks like the estimated street price might be about $7,500 USD! Ouch!
By the wayside: Old equipment
I’ve been thinking about this off and on, particularly when I look at the demise of my D2x as it sits, seemingly discarded, in one corner of the room. It rarely sees any use; however, it is still quite a capable camera.
I know that quite a few of you will be able to chime in on this. It’s a curiosity of mine. When you buy new photographic equipment, specifically a new camera body, what do you do with the old stuff?
I now have three Nikon camera bodies. From newest to oldest: D300, D40, D2x. The D2x was my first Nikon digital camera. What can I say? I wanted the best!
I use the D300 constantly, much the same way as I used the D2x. The D40 is my carry around camera that I use when I don’t want to use a tripod or am going for a photo walk, so to speak. Of the 3 cameras, two are nearly identical. The D2x and the D300. The D40 does not compare in any way to the other two, other than it produces photographs too. However, it is not meant to be a competitor.
Former glory
The D2x, used to be my go-to guy. It is still capable in every way. As a matter of fact, all of the pictures that I am using for my 2009 calendar were taken with the D2x! This was a surprise. I looked at the meta data after the fact. I kept the D2x mounted on the tripod and kept the D300 for close up, near-ground macro and walking around. There was a practical reason. I didn’t have a Really Right Stuff bracket for the D300 and didn’t want to spend an additional $200 to get one at the time.
So, what’s the difference?
As far as I’m concerned, the only differences that matter to me (sometimes) are:
- The sensor cleaner. A big plus!
- The D300′s better performance at higher ISO levels.
- The D300′s auto focus is a bit better and more up-to-date, but for the way that I use the camera, I get the same out of each one, so the other differences don’t matter.
- For shooting sports, they are equal. Both shoot at about 6 frames per second. Both of capable of shooting 8 frames per second, except the D2x has to do it cropped mode. The D300 needs a grip and either 8 AA batteries, or an En-El4a battery. But you can get a burst of 8 frames without the grip.
As you can see, the differences, from my point of view and usage, are small. I do feel that the D2x is more of a rugged, professional type camera than the D300. It just seems a bit more durable. I don’t hesitate to take it out in dust, light rain, fog, any type of weather. I’m a bit more hesitant with the D300. So, I was thinking that it would be my backup/tough(er) weather guy. I don’t want to sell, really, because I think that it does make an excellent starter or 6th man, to use basketball terms. I think that I’ll have to pick it up and use it some this weekend.
Naturally, both of these photos were taken with the D2x. According to the meta data, the last shot that I took with the D2x was May 29th of this year. I think that it’s time for it to come out of retirement!
OK, so let’s hear it. I know that a number of you bought new cameras this year: Earl? Mark? Laurie? Kate? Gordon? Anita? JH? Amy? So, I know that I’m not alone! Speak on it!
Choosing photos for a calendar
Very interested to hear more about putting together a calendar, I’m starting to think I should look into it too…
Curious to hear the difference between Zazzle, Shutterfly, etc.
and why you’re making certain choices. Maybe the subject of a blog article
–Kate
Well, Kate! You asked for it! You got it! When I first read your comment I thought: “It’s a fairly simple process that I could answer in a comment, but it’s not so simple.” So, here goes:
Firstly, I must say that there are no right or wrong ways to do this. This is just a way that I came up with that makes sense to me. Here is how I got from 1,817 photos, taken in Utah/Arizona between May 24th and June 1st, 2008, down to 14.
- Step 1:The first step is in deciding on a theme for the calendar. A theme, to me, can be as simple as a time of day, a location, or a season. For last year’s calendar, I decided that the theme would be one picture from each month. The picture would represent that month. As I took it in that month, how could it not represent that month?
My calendar! My rules!!! This year has two themes, one for each of my travels: New Mexico (White Sands), Utah - Step 2: I use Lightroom 2 to filter my photos. For my Utah pictures, I started with the following filters: Dates: May 24 – June 1, Aspect Ratio: Landscape (because of the calendar format). That left me with 1,067 photos to winnow down to 12. Sounds daunting, doesn’t it?!
- Step 3: I bring up the filtered photos into the grid view. Here is where the fun begins. I size them so that I get about 8 per screen. Then, starting at the first one, I keep my left index finger poised about the ‘B’ key, which is the hot key to add a photo to the Quick Collection. I quickly press the right arrow key -> and fly through the photos, pausing only for about 1/2 second for each one, if that much. If I see something that I like, I press the ‘B’ key. Never worrying about how many photos I am ‘keeping’. I’m flowing intuitively. This is not the time for thinking. It is the time for feeling.
- Step 4: OK, now out of the 1,067, I have chosen 73 photos. A much more manageable size. Now, I make a pass through these and remove any that have obvious technical flaws such as improper focus, burned out highlights, solid black shadows (where that wasn’t the intent). This step usually doesn’t yield much, but it is necessary. This drops me down to about 67 photos.
- Step 5: Eliminate duplicates or slight variations: This is another good step. After removing slight variations, such as two shots that are very similar, using only slightly different exposures or zoom factors, I am now down to about 35 photos. Here is where it gets hard.
- Step 6: I take an overall view of remaining photos. Do I have mostly landscape and perhaps only 1 person shot or in-town shot. If I have only one abstract, should I keep it or get rid of it? If so, these may get eliminated. Is there a nice distribution of subjects, if that is what I’m going for? After doing this, I’m down to 20 photos. Only 7 to go. (I need a cover, too. So, I need 13.
- Step 7: Eliminate technical difficulties: This requires closer inspection. If I see something that needs extensive cloning, for example, to make it look better. Away it goes … but this all depends on the mood and usually results in removing 0 or perhaps 1 photo.
- Step 8: If I cannot decide how to get rid of the last 3 or so photos, I get outside help. I ask my wife to come in, have a look, and for whatever reason is valid to her, remove 3 of the photos. That’s it. Now I have 13 remaining.
- Step 9: Now, all I have to do is pick a cover shot and the order in which they will appear on the calendar. This is the fun part. I usually make it easy on myself and place them in the order that I took them (date/time). People are generally looking at these one month at a time, not as a body of work. Why stress?
- Step 10…: Finally, do some adjustments to exposure, color, sharpening, etc. Upload them into the Zazzle/Shutterfly calendar tool. Add any text, spell check, make the order.
- Finally, create a regular collection called 2009 Arizona Calendar. Drag the ones from the quick collection into it, clear the quick collection, and start looking at New Mexico photos!
So, there you have it. 10 not-so-easy steps to making your calendar. As for picking a particular service, I rely on word of mouth. If someone has done extensive research, liked it, etc. I’ll give it a try. I’ve heard good things about Shutterfly, who I used last year, and Zazzle, who I’ll give a try this year. Zazzle is offering 40% of $17.99 until the 27th, which makes your calendar cost about $10.80 each. Shutterfly, without any discount, is $19.99. These are hard economic times, ya know!
Here are the 14 that I have remaining. One of them has to go. Which one will it be? I’ve not even done my adjustments yet.
Mind you, these are not necessarily the ‘best’, but the ones that I liked at this particular moment.
As winter approaches…
An afternoon portrait
This morning I was sitting on my favorite corner of the couch, folding clothes, and looking outside. In weekends past, I have enjoyed watching the birds come to the feeder. In the morning, usually, they come in droves; however, as I’ve not been home for nearly 4 months, no one has kept the feeder full. It sits empty most of the time, so the birds have gone on to find other sources of food.
Just this past weekend, I bought some more food, filled the feeder, and took a gander out of the window every now and again. Still no takers. Not even the squirrels come anymore (thankfully), but I know that they all will be back. All it takes is for one of them to find it!
Blogs, too, seem to come to a crawl. I don’t know if it is a form of Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, or if it is just too cold for people’s tastes to go out and shoot, it gets dark too early, or perhaps winter’s bareness doesn’t inspire. This, of course, applies only to those areas in the Northern Hemisphere that actually have winter weather … so, you Floridians/Southern Californians are excluded!
I think that I take about the same number of photos in winter. I simply love winter light. You can photograph almost all day and still have interesting shadows that are not completely black. Also, the ‘sweet light’ lasts, it seems, until 10:00 AM and then starts again about 2:00 PM. For example, this portrait of my boss, Hobbs, was taken at 2:00 in the afternoon. I didn’t use any flashes, reflectors, or other light manipulating tools. Just a camera, a lens, and my boss!
The winter also presents opportunities not available at any other time of the year. Most of the leaves are gone, so you get glimpses into the forest that, for 3/4 of the year, are not visible. You get to see light patterns on trees that are not available at any other time of the year. Perhaps you’ll get a light dusting of snow, or spy a bird that you’ve only heard before. There are more cloudy days and, for me at least, clouds make the sky very interesting. There’s a chance to catch a bit of frost on the grass, remaining leaves, etc.
There are lots of cool opportunities to shoot in the winter, sometimes all it takes is a bit more clothing and a little imagination.
Do you photograph in the winter? If so, do you change your subjects?
2009 Calendar
I just remembered, thanks to an e-mail from a friend of mine who asked if I was going to do a calendar this year, that it’s time to do a calendar. Yikes! Last year, at the last minute, I thought of putting one together and giving it as a gift to friends. The calendar was well received, so I thought that I’d do it again this year.
I make it quite simple on myself. Since I’m out taking pictures a lot, not a single month goes by that I don’t take some pictures. I simply go through my pictures, and pick one that represents the month. For example, something icy for January, a beach picture for June, naturally some leaves for October/November. Finding the pictures is easy; however, as I tend to shoot vertically a lot, sometimes I have to crop to a horizontal format to make things fit on the calendar.
As I took a couple of trips this year and am living in Charleston right now, it might be difficult to only pick one for the month! I have so many cool pictures of Utah and New Mexico, not to mention the myriad of beach photos that I have from Charleston, it’s just not fair to have to select 12 out of a whole year! Hmmm, perhaps I’ll do a Utah calendar, a New Mexico calendar, etc. Food for thought! Can’t think too long though, gotta get it ordered!
It was quite fun doing it last year, so I’ll do it again this weekend. Right now, Zazzle is having a sale, 40% off, with calendars starting at $17.95 USD before the 40% discount!
D300 8fps without grip!
As is the case with technology, you can always ask for more. I remember when I got my first film burner, er motor winder, for my Minolta XD-11. That thing could burn through film at about 4 frames per second! I could torch a 36 exposure canister of film in 9 seconds flat! I thought that was fast! Then, I met up with the Nikon F3, which could do the same in only 6 seconds with it’s optional motor drive. That camera, at that time, cost about $750 for the body, no motor drive included! That was in 1982, or so. You can get one on eBay with the motor drive for under $200 now! How things change!
As it is basketball season (does it ever end?), I am back to shooting games again. I love it. My D300, without the En-El4a battery or 8 AA batteries can shoot a respectable 6 frames per second. It’s rare to miss a shot; however, you’d be surprised at how much stuff happens in 1/6 second. It could mean the difference between seeing the player still hanging on the rim after a dunk and seeing the ball in the net, or not.
If I could just squeeze a bit more out of the camera, it would be nice. That said, though, the price of stepping up is steep. Assuming that I don’t want to use AA batteries, I’d need to purchase an En-El4a battery for $109, the charger $120, and the battery cover for the MB-D10 grip $40. All told, about $260.
Luckily, there are some people out there who like to experiment. In this You Tube video, someone explains how to get 8 fps (bursts) out of your camera without buying the grip. I tried it! It works!!! As I just discovered this last night, I’ll be trying it on Saturday at the game!
Now, I wonder of Nikon will fix this ‘hole’ in the next release of the firmware. Certainly, the camera is capable of the speed, you just have to know how to get to it! Thank goodness for people who like to experiment, custom shooting banks, and capabilities above and beyond that which is written in the manual!
I’m always on the looking for non-warranty-voiding tricks and tips to enhance the usability of my equipment! If you know any, please let me know!