Jim Doty - Photo Blog

2007-08-27T02:12:00.002-04:00

NEW PHOTO BLOG

I am no longer updating this photo blog. Go to blog.jimdoty.com to see my new photo blog.

2007-08-21T12:50:00.000-04:00

NEW! CANON EOS 40D DIGITAL SLR

This week, Canon announced the latest in their series of mid-range digital SLR cameras. The 40D is a modest upgrade and a worthy successor to the 30D

Some of the upgrades include:

A larger sensor, 10 megapixels, up from 8 megapixels in the 30D.

Digic III image processor for improved image quality.

A larger 3.0 inch LCD viewing screen on the back.

Live preview on the LCD. Now you can preview the image on the LCD before clicking the shutter, just like on you favorite digital point-and-shoot.

Improved burst rate and higher capacity buffer. You can capture jpegs at 6.5 frames per second instead of 5 fps on the 30D. Canon claims you can capture 75 images at this rate versus 30 on the 30D.

Dust prevention and cleaning system, just like on the Canon Rebet XT and Canon 1Ds Mark III.

The specifications sound good. Will this new camera live up to expectations? Given Canon's past history, probably, but that isn't a guarantee (see the next paragraph). I will let you know when full reviews with complete tests are available.

As always, I advise you not to buy a camera until a few months after its release. That allows time for bugs to show up, and hopefully, be corrected. That way you won't be burned like the photographers that bought the Canon 1D Mark III which has serious auto-focus problems that have NOT been resolved by the recent firmware update.

You can read more details on the Canon 40D in DP Review's preview article and at Canon's web site.

2007-08-21T12:14:00.000-04:00

NEW! CANON EOS 1Ds MARK III

You were planning on selling your car to buy a camera right? That's about what it will take to buy the newly announced Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III when it becomes available.

It's been a long wait. It's predecessor, the EOS 1Ds Mark II was announced nearly 3 years ago.

What's new? This camera has a 21.1 megapixel sensor, up from 16.7 megapixels in the Mark II. It also has the Digic III image processor and the built in dust prevention and cleaning system.

What does this mean? Even bigger images than the huge images the Mark II could produce. For those with the money to spend and the desire to create huge prints from a digital camera with a 35mm sized sensor, this should be pretty close to photographic heaven.

This should be a great camera but that isn't a guarantee (see the next paragraph). I will let you know when full reviews with complete tests are available.

More details on the 1Ds Mark III are in the preview article here.

2007-08-12T16:10:00.000-04:00

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER PEAKS TONIGHT - Aug 12-13

The annual mid-August Perseid Meteor shower is usually one of the year's best as the Earth passes through debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle.

Peak viewing time should be around 3-4 am, EDT, Monday August 13th, but you can begin viewing anytime after dark on August 12. The number of "falling stars" will peak in the early morning hours at one or more per minute or about 60-100 per hour.

The meteor shower will continue for a week or more after August 12-13 but the frequency per hour will drop dramatically. Best viewing will always be after midnight each night.

VIEWING

In the early evening, look east. In mid-evening look northeast. At midnight and later look north and high in the sky. Look around a bit, not just in one direction.

If you live in or near a large city, head north and get away from the big city lights. The darker the sky the better.

A lawn chair that you can lean back in makes for nice viewing. A blanket is nice if it will get chilly.

Use your unaided eyes so you can scan large areas of sky for those momentary streaks of light. Binoculars and telescopes are fine for some night sky viewing but not for a meteor shower.

PHOTOGRAPHY

To photograph the meteors, you need a camera with a bulb setting or long exposure setting, spare batteries, a fast (f/2, f/2.8, or f/4) normal to wide angle lens and fast 200 or 400 speed slide film (like Kodak Elite Chrome 200), or 800 speed negative film, or set your digital camera to ISO 400.

If you use 200 speed slide film set the film speed on the camera for ISO 320 (not 200). When you get your film processed, ask for "PUSH 1" processing. If you use 400 speed slide film, set the camera for 400 and get normal processing.

If you use negative film, use Kodak or Fuji 800 speed film and set your camera film speed at 400 (not 800). Get your film processed normally.

With a digital camera, set the ISO to 400. If your digital camera is known for low noise at high ISOs, set it at ISO 800.

Little dots and streaks of light on film are hard to interpret so give you film processor a break. If you are using a film camera and you are at the beginning of a roll, take a normal picture inside before going out to do meteor pictures. This will be a big help to the person that cuts and mounts your slide film after it is processed, or makes prints from your negative film.

Put a 50mm, 28mm, 24mm or wider lens on your camera and set the aperture to f/2.8 (f4 for zoom lenses) and focus the lens on infinity (turn off autofocus). Put the camera on a tripod (or bean bag), and point it from northeast to north (depending on the time of the evening - see above) and aim high in the sky. Put the camera on bulb, and lock the shutter open for anywhere from 15 seconds to 15 minutes and wait. If you are lucky, one or more meteors will streak through your field of view. Take lots of photos. Have spare batteries. Switch when your "in camera" batteries get tired. Don't discard the tired batteries - warm them in your pocket and they may bounce back.

A wider angle lens means you have more chance of catching meteors, but the light trails will be shorter. Even if you don't catch a meteor, you should get some interesting star trails with the longer exposures. With short exposures the stars should be points rather than trails.

It is best if there are dark skys (no city lights) to the north and east of your location.

Have fun!

2007-07-26T16:18:00.001-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SOCCER AT SPEC 2007

Soccer at SPEC 2007. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Two of the keys to a good sport photography are action and intensity. This photo has both. I take a lot of sports photos to come up with a few images like this one. I used a Canon 20D and a Canon EF 100-300 DO USM lens.

2007-07-04T00:02:00.000-04:00

THE 4TH OF JULY

Fireworks over Yukon Oklahoma on old U.S. 66. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

From the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826). 3rd US President (1801-09).

To see an engraving of the original and George Washington's personal printed copy, go here.

2007-06-26T13:02:00.000-04:00

VENUS AND SATURN AT TWILIGHT

Venus and Saturn at Twilight. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

As I drove back to Seattle from Mt. Rainier National Park, I was watching Venus, the brightest object (except for the the moon) in the western sky this month. Saturn is the dim planet at the upper left. I wanted something to put in the foreground and decided I needed a row of evergreens. I couldn't take too long since the sky was getting darker and I would begin to hit towns and city lights. This was the best bunch I could find that wasn't completely obscured by clouds.

Venus and Saturn are moving towards each other and will be less than 1 degree apart on the evening of June 30.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 105mm. ISO: 100. Aperture: f/5.6. Shutter: 4 seconds.

2007-06-25T00:05:00.000-04:00

STORM CLOUDS OVER MT. RAINIER

Storm clouds over Mt. Rainier. Photo © Jim Doty Jr

This photo was taken at 9:05 pm local time, 19 minutes after the sunlit photo two posts down.

After the last sunlight faded from Mt. Rainier, the mountain no longer looked interesting in the flat light. So I took photos of the light on the clouds in the sky (one post down). Later on I looked back at Mt. Rainier and I liked the dark, layered look of the storm clouds that were moving down over the mountain.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 84mm. ISO: 100. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/8 second.

2007-04-01T23:09:00.000-04:00

IMAGE QUALITY TEST: CANON 20D/30D vs CANON 5D

Does the Canon 5D provide an increase in image quality over the Canon 20D/30D? The debate goes on in forum after forum. When I am asked that question, my usual answer is: "The Canon 5D provides a bigger image, not necessarily a better image." The text and images that follow will illustrate what I mean.

The Canon 5D does have a theoretical advantage: 12.8 megapixels versus 8.2 megapixels and each pixel is 8.2 microns versus 6.4 microns. Having bigger pixels (technically called "photosites") usually means less noise.

Does this translate into a real world advantage? Yes and no. A lot has to do with what you are shooting, how big your prints are, how much you crop, and how long a focal length you are using.

I've been using the 20D since shortly after its introduction, and I've been using the 5D for a year and a half. I do a lot of indoor work without flash at ISO 800 and ISO 1600. To my eye, the noise level (the digital equivalent of film grain) is just about the same for both cameras at high ISO settings. This is confirmed by Phil Askey at DP Review: "The overall noise performance from the EOS 5D is very good and by our measurements almost identical to the EOS 20D." (The source page is here.) Askey has published two Luminance Noise Graphs to illustrate the point. It should be added that the 20D and 30D are essentially the same when it comes to digital noise, as the above linked graphs will illustrate.

Thanks to some comments at a recent forum post, decided to do a simple test this evening to compare resolution. The problem is how to compare. Ideally I would use the same lens at the same focal length and move toward or away from my subject to get the same field of view. But that isn't how I do real world shooting. I pick the camera location for the perspective I want, and then pick a focal length to frame the scene the way I want. If I choose 50mm for a 20D, that means I would pick 80mm for the 5D. Besides, it is dark outside and space inside is limited.

I put a kitchen calendar towel on the wall, and photographed it with a Canon 5D and Canon 20D and used a Canon EF 70-200mm f4L IS lens. I used the lens at 200mm on both cameras. Due to the field of view crop (FOV) on the 20D, the 20D images showed a smaller part of the subject (at a higher magnification) than the 5D. I took another set of photos at 121mm (I had to estimate the focal length, 125mm would have been better) with the Canon 20D to approximate the field of view at 200mm with the Canon 5D. The risk in changing focal lengths is that the test could have more to do with the sharpness of the lens at different focal lengths. But in real world photography, we set the lens to the focal length we want for the field of view that we want once we have determined the tripod location for the perspective we want.

The camera was on a tripod, I used mirror-lockup, the aperture for all photos was f/8 (one of the best for this lens), and I did sets of photos at ISO 100, 400, and 1600. I chose ISO 1600 for the illustrations below since I though that would be more of a test for the cameras since high ISO noise can interfere with detail.

Each description is for the the photo that follows.

This is the original image (reduced to web size) as photographed with the Canon 5D at ISO 1600, at 200mm in focal length. The central focusing point is in March between 18 and 19.

The photo that follows is the original image as photographed with the Canon 20D at 200mm. The reduced field of view due to the FOV crop is obvious.

The photo with the Canon 20D at 121mm looks just about the same as the 5D photo at 200mm.

The photo that follows is the center of the 5D image (lens at 200mm) at 100% magnification (actual pixels). (All of the 100%, "actual pixels", crops below are straight from the camera with no sharpening or other adjustments applied. The different color rendition is due to the picture style settings in the 5D.)

The photo that follows is the center of the 20D image (lens at 200mm) at 100% magnification (actual pixels). Due to the field of view crop, the same area of the calendar is larger and has more detail.

This is the center of the 20D image (lens at 121mm) at 100% magnification (actual pixels). This image is much closer is size to the 5D image due to the shorter focal length of the lens.

Lastly, I down-sized the center of the 20D image at 200mm and up-sized (slightly) the center of the 20D image at 121mm so they would match the center of the 5D image at 200mm to make a side-by-side comparison possible.

Looking at these close-ups isn't the same as looking at real world prints, but they do give us some clues.

With the same lens at the same focal length and the same aperture, the Canon 20D image has a smaller field of view (FOV) than the 5D, but captures that FOV with more detail. Even when the image is down sized to match, there is a slight resolution advantage.

When then lens on the Canon 20D is set to a focal length to give the same field of view as the 5D, the image quality is very close.

After comparing close-ups on my monitor, I went back to the original files and created high quality 12x18 inch prints. At this size (even from very close viewing distances), it is very hard to distinguish between the print from the 5D at 200mm and the print from the 20D at 121mm. From a normal viewing distance there is no visible resolution difference. The print from the 5D has more color due to the way I set up the "picture styles" (as you can see above), but that is the only visible difference.

So why have a Canon 5D if the image quality (at least in prints up to 12x18 inches) is so close? Two reasons. First, having more pixels is definitely better when you really need them. Usually this is when you want to make really big prints (bigger than 12x18 inches), and if you end up doing major cropping to an image. Second, the Canon 5D has a full frame sensor which is an advantage for super wide angle lens work. More about this here. Because of this edge, I use a Canon 5D for most of my shooting.

When you are using your longest lens, and you need all the reach you can get and more, shooting with a Canon 20D is better than with a 5D. This is because of the field of view crop. If your longest lens is 400mm, on a 20D you will have the same field of view as a 640mm lens on the 5D (or a 35mm film camera). This is a very good thing.

What if you shoot with a 5D and crop the image to match the same field of view as you would have with the same focal length on the 20D? You still loose a little. With your longest lens on the 20D, you end up with an 8.2 megapixel image. If you put the same lens on the 5D and crop the image to the same size as the 20D image, you end up with only 5 megapixels. When maximum reach at long focal lengths is paramount, I use a 20D.

Using the original images above, I took the Canon 5D image at 200mm in focal length and cropped it to the same field of view as the Canon 20D image at 200mm. After up-sizing both images, I made 12x18 inch prints. On close examination, the print from the 20D was distinctly sharper than the 5D image, even though I did more sharpening to the 5D image to try and make it equal to the 20D image. The good news for folks with a 5D is that from a normal viewing distance, the resolution differences just about disappear.

What does this all mean in real world photography?

If you have a 20D and you don't need huge prints and don't crop severely into your images, be happy. With 12x18 inch prints and a normal viewing distance (and even closer) the image quality will be very close to the 5D. On the other hand, if you need huge prints or do major cropping, the 5D does have an advantage.

If you are doing long lens work when shooting birds and wildlife, the edge goes to the 20D.

My simple test got a lot more involved than I originally intended and evolved into this article. If I do this kind of test again, it will be outside with more lenses, and I will try zooming with my feet to equalize the field of view.

2007-03-21T17:49:00.000-04:00

PET FOOD RECALL

If you have a dog or cat, you should be aware of the recall of 42 brands of cat food and 53 brands of cat food. Go to the MENU FOODS site and click on PRODUCT INFORMATION for cats or dogs.

2007-03-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

Q&A: LENS CONVERTERS FOR DIGITAL POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERAS

The two questions that follow are about wide angle and telephoto converters for the Canon G6, but the answers apply to many of the digital point-and-shoot camera that uses adapters to add focal length converters.

The Lensmate web site (referred to below) is especially helpful to owners of the Leica D2, Panansonic LC1, and the Canon S series, G series and A series point-and-shoot cameras. You can download full size files of photos using different brands of converters to compare image quality.

Q1: I was searching for photography tips and I came across to your site. I am impressed with your waterfall picture taken with G3! It’s amazing! Did you put any accessories (filters) on it? The picture is so alive! =)

I want to learn photography but I don’t know where to start and I need to learn it soon for my surf trip in 2 weeks. I want to get great pictures with my G6. Currently, I don’t have any accessories. I am planning to buy lens adapter, tele converter, and filters. Can you give me recommendations on the accessories and tips on how to get good pictures?

Can I buy lens adapter that is not Canon brand? If yes, what is a nice brand to get? I saw Lensmate.

Can I use a filter together with tele-converter?

Can I use a filter together with wide angle lens?

Sorry, I'm not exposed to photography, but I need all info so soon. Hope to hear from you! Thanks!

Answer 1: The waterfall picture was taken with no filters or accessories. The photo looks like it does because the lighting conditions were so good. The long exposure (and the camera on a tripod) created the nice look on the water.

I don't often use filters (other than a lens protection filter) with the exception of a polarizing filter and/or a graduated neutral density filter for landscapes. I do recommend that you get a multi-coated polarizing filter. You will need one to fit the end of your adapter (52mm and/or 58mm size) for use with the G6 lens (with no converters). If you get a wide angle lens converter to go on the end of your adapter, you will need another polarizing filter to fit it (if it has filter threads - some don't).

As examples, the Raynox wide angle converter from Lensmate goes on a 52mm adapter and takes a 72mm polarizing filter. The Canon wide angle converter goes on a 58mm adapter and does not have filter threads. The Kenko 2x telephoto converter from Lensmate goes on a 52m adapter and takes a 67mm polarizing filter.

Be aware that some polarizing filters will vignette the image on some wide angle converters.

Personally, I wouldn't use a polarizing filter on a telephoto converter if I was shooting action shots like surfing. The polarizing filter would cost too much light. If you are using a telephoto converter for landscapes, then I would use a polarizing filter. Once again, you will need one with the size to match your filter threads on your teleconverter, so you could end up with three polarizing filters.

One way to get around this is to buy a polarizing filter in the largest size you need and get step up rings to fit smaller filter thread sizes.

I do not have a G6, and I haven't tested any of the Lensmate equipment myself but they have a good reputation. You could get Canon G6 adapters, filters, and converters (both wide and tele) all from them. Just be sure to get the Hoya multi-coated (HMC) polarizing filters, not the double coated.

I do have the Canon Wide Converter WC-DC58N 0.7X which I use on my G3. It will also work on your G6 with a Lensmate 58mm adapter. The quality is very good. The downside is that it does not have filter threads so you can't attach a polarizing filter. In a pinch, you can hand hold the filter in front of the lens but this is a fiddly operation unless the camera is mounted on a tripod.

If you want a closeup lens, instead of the Hoya, I sugest you get the Canon 250D closeup filter in a 58mm size and put it on the end of a 58mm adapter from Lensmate.

Go to my photo web site, click on the Amazon link at the bottom of the page (that will help support my site) and put Canon 250D in the Amazon search bar. Buy the 58mm size. It will cost about $80 and the shipping is free.

So far as photo tips are concerned, just read the Tips section of my web site.

There are some excellent basic photography books here. Some of them are out of print, but you can get them at your local library or via interlibrary loan if your local library doesn't have them in their collection.

Jim

Q2: Is there such thing as putting telephoto converter and wide angle lens? Thanks Jim for all the tips!!! This is a lot of help. =)

Answer 2: First of all, an explanantion about focal lengths. I will use 35mm focal length equivalents.

Long focal lengths (100, 200, 300mm and longer) have a narrower angle of view so you see less, but what you do see looks closer, like looking through binoculars. Short focal lengths (35, 28, 24mm and shorter) have a wider angle of view so you see a lot more but

everything looks farther away.

This is illustrated 1/3 of the way down this page.

The angles of view and focal lengths vary with the size of the camera sensor. The 28.8mm focal length on your G6 is a long focal length and it is equal to 140mm on a 35mm film camera.

On to your question.

The telephoto and wide angle converters won't physically fit on a G6 at the same time. Even if they did fit, you wouldn't want to do that because they would cancel each other out. Plus there would be a loss of image quality by using two converters at the same time that are designed to do opposite things.

This is possible to do with SLR cameras since telephoto converters goes behind the lens and some wide angle converters screw on the front of the lens. There isn't much reason to do this in most normal photography, since they cancel each other out. (There are some rare exceptions in unusual situations.)

A telephoto converter (teleconverter) makes a lens longer (longer focal length) so there is a narrower angle of view. A wide angle converter makes a lens shorter (shorter focal length) so there is a wider angle of view.

Focal lengths of cameras like the G6 are often converted to their 35mm equivalents. The lens on your G6 has a range from 35mm to 140mm (in 35mm terms).

A telephoto converter adds to the long end of your G6 lens (140mm) to make it longer (up to 280mm depending on the brand). A wide angle lens converter adds to the short end of your G6 lens (35mm) and makes it shorter (to as short as 23.1mm depending on the brand).

There are some good telephoto and wide angle examples at the Lensmate site.

Jim

2007-02-28T16:16:00.000-05:00

AT LAST! GREAT PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING BOOK IS NEWLY REVISED

LIGHT: SCIENCE AND MAGIC is one of the very best books (some would say it is THE best book) on photographic lighting. If you intend to be seriously involved in studio photography, this book should be on your required reading list.

A lot of photographer's have been waiting for the time when a revised edition would be available. That time has come. The third edition will be out in early April and you can pre-order your copy at Amazon.com from the link below. The best news is that you can pre-order the third edition for about $7.25 less than the second edition currently sells for.

How good is this book? Just read all of these posts at Photo.net.

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2007-02-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

MONITOR CALIBRATION SOFTWARE

"Why don't my prints look like the photos on my monitor?"

Unlike film, digital photos have no color. They exist only as a series of numbers on hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and other storage media. A variety of devices such as monitors and printers convert those numbers into colors for display on a screen or dyes and pigments on a print. The problem is that five different devices can convert the same numbers into five different colors.

I've looked at my web site photos on enough monitors to be aware of how varied the displays are. A specific red hue can show up as several different kinds of reds, not to mention orange, burgundy, purple and other colors. Monitors are getting better but they are far from being consistent.

Part of the solution is monitor calibration. With a properly calibrated monitor, a high quality printer, and the right "profiles" for your printer, photos on your monitor and prints from your printer should be a much closer match. (Printer profiles is a whole other topic.) With a calibrated monitor, the prints you get when you send you files to a professional printer should also be a closer match.

There are monitor calibration packages out there that cost upwards of $1,000. They are overkill for the average user, not too mention hugely expensive when a package at a fraction of the cost will give you very good results.

One of the best, reasonably priced monitor calibration packages is the "Eye-One Display 2" package from GretagMacbeth who merged with X-Rite. It is highly recommended by Tim Grey, one of the photography tech wizards at Microsoft who used to be George Lepp's technical guru. I've written about Tim before. George Lepp is a columnist for Outdoor Photograper.

The Eye-One Display 2 package, which includes a colorimeter and software, lists for $250 but you can purchase it for as little as $199 from a variety of reliable discount sources like Amazon.com.

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2007-02-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

REVIEW: CANON EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM LENS

The new Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS lens

The new Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM lens is now available. This is a great lens!

The current issue of Popular Photography (March 2007, page 70) has a review. Popular Photography describes this lens as "Optically excellent" and "superbly constructed". The "Subjective Quality Factor" numbers look very good (see the chart below). At 200mm, and an 11x14 inch print, every aperture is rated A+ or A. At 200mm and a 16x20 inch print, 3 apertures (f5.6, f8, and f11) are rated A and 3 more apertures (f4, f16, and f22) are rate B+. This is remarkably good. You can read all the details in the magazine article.

UPDATE: You can now read Popular Photography's review online.

Popular Photography (March 2007, pp. 68-70) tested the Image Stabilization (IS) feature and found that IS consistently gives a 3.5 stop gain over the ability to hand hold the lens without IS. A photographer who could normally hand hold a 200mm lens and only get a sharp photo at 1/250 second and faster, can hand hold this lens at around 1/30 or even 1/20 second and still get a sharp shot with IS turned on. Given the sharpness and IS quality of this lens, a lot of photographers will line up to buy it.

The street price is $1060 (USD) and, according to Popular Photography, "well worth the price". The tripod collar is an extra $115 (USD).

The non-IS version of this lens has been hugely (and deservedly) popular with photographers. It is one of the sharpest lenses in its class, reasonably sized, not too heavy, and great to work with. The non-IS f/4 lens is also much less expensive than the bigger and heavier (and really quite wonderful) 70-200 mm f/2.8L lenses (both IS and non-IS versions).

The Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L USM lens started it all. Superbly made, super sharp, and a joy to work with. It became the primary short telephoto zoom lens for a lot of photographers, myself included. Despite its fine attributes, a lot of photographers wanted a lighter and less costly version. Enter the f/4L version, smaller, lighter, much less expensive, but a virtual match in sharpness to the f/2.8 version. It quickly became popular with serious photographers who wanted a premium quality lens without a very expensive price.

Canon came out with an IS (image stabilized) version of the f/2.8L lens and a lot of photographers upgraded. A lot more photographers longed for an f/4L lens with the IS feature. That day has come.

This new lens sports the latest IS technology with a claimed 4 stop shake correction. That means you should be able to hand-hold this lens at four shutter speeds slower than a lens without image stabilization.

If you don't need the IS feature, the current version is still a great lens and you can buy it from Amazon.com for less than $600 and pay no shipping (link below).

The Canon family of 70-200 L series lenses (along with current "street" prices) looks like this:

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L USM (non-IS) - $582

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM - $1060

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L USM (non-IS) - $1115

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS USM - $1713

If you buy one of these lenses using the links below, you will get a great deal, pay no shipping, and help support this site.

The new Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens:

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The Canon EF 70-200 f/4L non-IS lens

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2007-01-31T22:47:00.000-05:00

COMPUTER NIGHTMARE: Not-A-Virus.Exploit.ByteVerify

I spent several hours today in a computer nightmare.

My first mistake was being online with a Windows computer. I usually check emails with a Mac. It is less risky since most viruses and malware are written for Windows machines. I don't open emails that are obviously spam. I opened an email that I thought was from a person that I know but it turned out to be spam. I deleted it and moved on. I never clink on links in spam, but sometimes just opening the email is enough.

After logging out I tried to close the browser window but every time I did, two or more windows opened. I tried to close them and more windows opened. I finally right clicked the icons in the task bar to close the windows.

I disconnected my computer from the internet. If a trojan was at work, it could track my key strokes and potentially acquire passwords that I used online.

I double clicked a folder on my hard drive and several folders opened. If I clicked on a file inside a folder, several other files were selected. Nothing worked quite right, like my mouse was on a secret mission and was opening folders, files, and programs on its own.

Thinking my wireless mouse was the problem, I changed mice but no dice (sorry). I went to Folders in the Control Panel and reset everything to the defaults but that didn't help either. I tired resetting individual folders but that didn't help either. Things continued to open without clicking on them.

Fortunately, I had recently downloaded AVG Anti-Spyware so I ran the software. It found several tracking cookies and two files it marked as high risk. AVG Anti-Spyware removed everything but the file "Not-A-Virus.Exploit.ByteVerify". Clicking on files and folders still caused havoc. I rebooted from a Knoppix CD but I wasn't able to delete the offending file.

FYI: Knoppix is very handy to have if Windows is acting up or dies. Knoppix will run your computer so you can at least get to the internet, do some essential computer functions with Open Office (and open source office suite), and access critical files on your hard drive and save them to a CD or DVD. You can download the English ISO file and burn it to a CD.

When all else fails, I call my son Jared who is my computer guru. A few suggestions from him and I went to work.

This link and this link were a huge help.

I downloaded ATF-Cleaner and followed the directions below. I updated Java in the Control Panel and followed the directions below to empty the cache. Then I ran AVG Anti-Spyware. The offending file is gone and my computer is back to normal. My five hour computer crisis is over.

Directions:

REMOVING "NOT-A-VIRUS.EXPLOIT.BYTEVERIFY"

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.

This program is for XP and Windows 2000 only

ATF-Cleaner.exe

Main

Select All

Empty Selected

If you use Firefox browser

Firefox

Select All

Empty Selected

NOTE:

If you use Opera browser

Opera

Select All

Empty Selected

NOTE:

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

Updating Java and Clearing Cache

Go to Start > Control Panel double-click on the Java Icon (coffee cup) in the Control Panel.

It will say "Java Plug-in" under the icon.

Please find the update button or tab in the Java Control Panel. Update your Java then reboot.

If you are unable to update you can manually update by going here:

After the reboot, go back into the Control Panel and double-click the Java Icon.

Under Temporary Internet Files, click the Delete Files button.

There are three options in the window to clear the cache - Leave ALL 3 Checked

Click OK on Delete Temporary Files Window

Note: This deletes ALL the Downloaded Applications and Applets from the CACHE.

Click OK to leave the Java Control Panel

Run AVG Anti-Spyware. If the file is still there, delete it or Quarantine the whole archive.

2007-01-20T12:22:00.001-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: ORGAN AND ORGANIST

Organ and Organist. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

I wanted the unusual perspective of being inside the organ console so I used a 15mm fisheye lens which bends lines, distorts shapes, and exaggerates the size of anything (or anyone) close to the lens. Note the reversal of the usual black and white color arrangement of the keys.

Organ and Organist. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

2007-01-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

DUNN'S RIVER FALLS, JAMAICA

Climbing Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Dunn's River Falls cascades 600 feet down to the Caribbean. Dunn's River was featured in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, and has been used in other films. One of the top tourist attradctions in Jamaica is to climb the falls (or at least the stairs that parallel the falls).

to continue, click more

Each group to climb the falls must go with a guide. The boulders are slick so you would be wise to rent the special climbing shoes available at the top of the falls. The guide gives each group an orientation, takes them down the stairs that parallel the falls, and then leads the group up the falls. The climb takes about an hour.

The falls are not far from Ocho Rios on Jamaica's north coast. Tour buses travel to the falls from Ocho Rios and from most resorts in the area.

Beginning the climb up Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica.

Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

2007-01-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: PYRAMID PROPOSAL

Keith and Nicholle's Pyramid Proposal. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Busloads of tourists were visiting the Mayan ruins at Altun Ha in the country of Belize, Central America. After the standard tour, a bunch of tourists headed back to the air-conditioned buses, the souvenir shops, or somewhere in the shade, while a number of us climbed to the top of the Temple Pyramid on the south plaza.

Everyone was enjoying the view when one man dropped to his knees and proposed. The very surprised woman said yes and he gave her a ring. Everyone cheered. Congratulations to Keith and Nicholle!

As they like to say in Belize, "It was UnBelizeable!"

2007-01-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SUNSET AT SEA

Sunset at Sea. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

There are several creative and technical choices involved when shooting a sunset over water.

The light was bright enough to eliminate the need for a tripod and a tripod isn't always useable when shooting from the deck of a ship anyway. On shore, I would have the camera on a tripod.

The sky was metered to the side of the sun without including the sun itself (which would have thrown off the look I was after). This rendered that part of the sky as medium toned with the sun much brighter than medium toned, the sky farther from the sun as darker than medium toned, and the ocean much darker. Metering the sky closer to the sun results in a darker photo. Metering the sun itself results in a very dark and dramatic photo. Metering the sky farther from the sun results in a lighter photo. Several exposures options will usually work with any given sunset. I bracketed exposures for a variety of looks. More information about exposure is in this article.

When considering compositon, I chose to center the sun in the frame from left to right, but placed it high in the frame from top to bottom. This gives more emphasis to the specular highlights of the sunlight rimming the edges of the swells in the water. The specular highlights run right down the center of the frame. I used a long enough lens focal length to isolate the sun and the light on the water and eliminate more of the ocean and the blue areas of the sky. I "bracketed" the composition of this scene by using different focal lengths and placing the sun in different locations in the frame. This is one of several variations that worked well.

Although the shutter speed was reasonably high, I still had IS (image stabilization) turned on which is almost always the case when I am shooting hand held without a tripod.

This photo was taken from the deck of the Norwegian Dawn, out in the Atlantic about 250 miles southeast of the South Carolina coast.

Data: Canon 5D, EF 24-105mm lens set at 105mm. Aperture: f/11, Shutter: 1/200, ISO: 100.

2006-12-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SUN DECKS

Sun decks and pool of the Norwegian Dawn. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

A balmy day in the Caribbean and people are soaking up the sun.

to continue, use the page links to the right

In order to capture the full sweep of the deck area, I used a full frame fisheye lens. This accounts for the bowing of straight lines since fisheye lenses are non-rectilinear. The diagonal field of view is 180 degrees, giving this lens a very wide sweep.

Canon 5D. Canon EF 15mm lens.

2006-12-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

Ahhh! CHRISTMAS!

Santa and children. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Ahhh! Christmas!

I was strolling through a local mall when I found - to my great surprise - Santa! (I could tell who he was by the name on his belt.) He was visiting with two adorable children. They chatted and I took pictures. (The mother gave me permission to use this photo on my web site.)

I visited with Santa later in the day. He cut his beard down to 1/4 inch in length the day after last Christmas, and he has been letting it grow ever since. Hmmmm. I didn't know Santa cut his beard. The things they don't teach you in school. Live and learn.

I hope you enjoy the Christams season as much as I do.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-08T21:52:00.000-05:00

CHRISTMAS GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS

It is the time of year that I get asked a lot of questions from people who are buying gifts for the photographers, or from photographers wanting to drop hints. (In this post, "photographer" means anyone who likes to take pictures.) "What is the best book for . . . ?" "What are the best point and shoot cameras?" "Is there any really good image editing software for less than $100?" Many of those questions are answered in the December posts here. Happy Gift Giving.

2006-12-03T23:51:00.000-05:00

Pentax K100D

The Pentax K100D may be the camera you are looking for if you want to go digital with an entry level SLR and have Pentax KAF2, KAF, and KA mount lenses (K mount lenses work with limited funtionality).

DP Review just published a full review of the K100D and gave it a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, their highest. Image quality is significantly improved over the Pentax *st DS, is better than the Nikon D50 and very close to the Canon Rebel XT (350D). Read the full review for more details.

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2006-12-02T00:44:00.000-05:00

A SATIRE ON PHOTO SHARING WEB SITES

There are a lot of sites where photos are posted for critiques from other site members. Mike Johnston posted a deliciously satirical spoof of these sites at his blog, The Online Photographer. Enjoy!

2006-11-25T13:50:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: ASH CAVE

Ash Cave, Hocking Hills, Ohio. Photography © Jim Doty Jr.

Ash Cave is in Hocking Hills State Park in southeastern Ohio. The horseshoe shaped "recess" cave is 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep from the front edge to the rear wall, and 90 feet high from the floor to the rim. Due to its huge size it has been used for large meetings including church services where ministers would preach from "pulpit rock".

Waterfall flow varies widely depending on the amount of recent rainfall and can occasionally by dry. The cave floor is 1/2 mile from the parking lot via the lower trail and it is wheel chair accessible. The upper trail climbs to the lip of the falls at the trail rim.

The near cave wall is about one foot from the camera lens so the lens aperture was set to f/22 to allow for maximum depth of field.

Data: Canon 5D with EF 17-40mm lens set at 17mm. Aperture: f/22, Shutter: 6 seconds, ISO: 100.

2006-11-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: TAHQUAMENON FALLS

Upper Tahquamenon Falls. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls is an impressive site any time of the year.

to continue, use the page links to the right

Located between Paradise and Newberry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.), it is well worth the trip. It is early winter and a small handful of people were out enjoying the falls. The tea color of the water is from tannic acid that leaches from the trees in the area. Some late winter photos with ice columns around the falls are here.

Overlooking the lip of Upper Tahquamenon Falls. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

2006-10-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

CANON DIGITAL REBEL XTi/400D

New Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

I wrote about the new Digital Rebel XTi (400D in Europe) when it was first announced. It is now available for purchase. It received a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (the highest possible rating) from DP Review (see the links below). The XTi will have a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, a new EOS Integrated Cleaning System, and a larger and brighter 2.5” LCD and 9-point AF system. The maximum frame burst increases from 14 to 27 large JPEGs and from 5 to 10 RAW files. So how much better is this camera?

A bigger LCD is nice. A bigger burst rate may a help a tiny percentage of photographers. After all, who shoots 14 or 27 frames in a row anyway? Going from 8 to 10 megapixels shouldn't mean an increase in image quality at any but the largest print sizes. The new dust reduction system might be really nice. Dust in a D-SLR is a digital photographer's curse.

If you are ready to buy your first Digital Rebel, then this camera would be a good choice. If you have a recent Digital Rebel, it may not be worth the price simply to upgrade for a few minor improvements. If you have one Digital Rebel and you need a second digital body, this would be a good choice.

Is this camera better than similar models from competing brands? Maybe, but that really shouldn't matter. I've long maintained that a camera brand should be chosen for the quality and selection of the lenses rather than the current camera bodies. This is especially true if you have (or some day will have) specialized lens needs. Bodies get replaced, lenses are forever (or at least a long, long time).

A full review is now available at DP Review.

Order this camera with the 18-55mm kit lens:

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or get the body only:

2006-10-20T11:53:00.000-04:00

SAVE INK, DON'T CHANGE THAT CARTRIDGE

Epson's Low Ink Warning

Don't change the ink cartridge when you get the low ink warning (above) from your Epson printer. There is more ink left in the cartridge than you might think.

I've printed five or six 8x10 inch prints after getting the yellow diamond warning before the ink cartridge was completely empty. On the day I made these illustrations, I printed two 11x16 inch prints and one 8x10 inch print between the time I got the first warning and when the ink cartridge needed to be replaced.

What happens if a cartridge runs out of ink in the middle of making a print? With my Epson 2200 printer, the printer stops mid-print and tells me to replace the ink cartridge. Once the cartridge is replaced, the printer charges the ink cartridges and resumes printing. The print shows no evidence that a cartridge was replaced in the middle of the printing process.

So save yourself some money and wait to replace the cartridge until you get the out of ink warning (below). Once the white cross in a red circle appears, the printer will not continue printing until you replace the empty cartridge.

Epson's Out Of Ink Warning

2006-10-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: ROAD TO NOWHERE

"Seasonal Road", Hiawatha National Forest. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

When you see "Seasonal Road" on a sign in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, what it really means is "You are on your own." Seasonal roads are not maintained. They are usually passable in a 2-wheel drive vehicle from late spring through late fall if they aren't too wet and you are careful not to get high centered. In a typical Michigan winter with several feet of snow on the ground, they are snow mobile only. These roads are usually used by hikers, hunters, snow mobilers and the occasional photographer.

2006-10-09T10:55:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: DAWN AT THE MACKINAC BRIDGE

The Mackinac Bridge at Dawn. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Early morning light from the north side of the bridge looking southeast. From the north side of the bridge, exit I-75 at US 2 and go west. Turn south on the road to the Father Marquette Memorial and go past the memorial to the bridge viewing area.

2006-10-08T21:15:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: TURNING LEAVES

Turning Leaves. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

After shooting a somewhat lackluster sunrise from the north shore of Lake Michigan, I looked down at my feet. The dew covered leaves were varying shades of green, orange and red. I picked out a nice cluster with a pleasing background and dropped my tripod legs to get my camera about a foot off the ground.

I put a Canon 500D double element closeup lens on my 70-200mm zoom lens so it could focus closeup enough to provide enough magnification of the small leaves. The 500D is actually a screw in closeup filter with two pieces of glass for better image quality. It is an excellent and relatively inexpensive way to do quality closeup work if you have a lens in the 200mm range.

The shutter speed was slow, a recipe for unsharp images with longer lenses, so I turned on the mirror lockup feature on the camera body. The mirror locks up prior to the shutter release so there is no vibration from the mirror slap. I use mirror lockup with long lenses (200mm and longer) any time the shutter speed is between 1/30 and 1/4 second. I would not buy a camera body for critical work that didn't have mirror lockup.

In order to keep the background out of focus, I used a wide aperture so depth of field was minimal. Only part of the center leaf is in sharp focus. With a much smaller aperture, all of the leaves would look sharp due to increased depth of field, but the background would no longer be soft for the same reason. I could preview the results with the camera's depth of field preview button, another valuable feature.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 70-200mm lens at 180mm with a 500D closeup lens. Aperture: f/4. Shutter: 1/30 second. ISO: 100.

2006-10-07T20:29:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: CUT RIVER GORGE

Cut River Gorge from the Cut River Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Cut River Bridge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a popular spot. On the day I was there, lots of tourists were lined up on the bridge to take photos.

The view is beautiful in any season and especially in the fall. The only secret to getting a good photo is to wait until cars and trucks pass by before clicking the shutter since the bridge sways with the traffic. If it is a cloudy day, leave out all or most of the gray sky. Contrary to popular belief, fall colors can be rich and saturated when it is cloudy as it was on the morning I took this photo.

I've seen several published versions of the same scene from a variety of professional photographers. This is a popular place. From just north of the the Mackinac Bridge between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, leave I-75 and take U.S. 2 west. It is less than a 30 minute drive from the Mackinac Bridge to the Cut River Bridge. There are parking lots and picnic tables on each side of the bridge.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105 lens at 37mm. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/30. ISO: 100.

2006-10-06T21:26:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SUNSET, LAKE MICHIGAN

2006-10-05T09:29:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: THE MACKINAC BRIDGE AT NIGHT

The Mackinac Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Mackinac Bridge (pronounced mack-i-naw) between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas is a magnicificent sight. At five miles in length, it is one of the longest suspension bridges in North America. This photo was taken at deep dusk from the north side of the bridge.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm lens at 96mm. Shutter: 30 seconds. Aperture: f/8. ISO: 400.

2006-10-02T15:19:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: TAHQUAMENON FALLS

Upper Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

My two favorite places to film fall color are Colorado and Michigan. Colorado aspens turn gold and Michigan maples turn red. The color show in Colorado is beginning to wind down. Due to an unfortnate mix of weather conditions, the color show in Colorado was not as stunning as it usually is, but reports indicate there were some pockets of fine color (check out Todd Caudle's photos on this thread). Unfortunately, I didn't get to check this out for myself.

On the other hand, reports from Michigan indicate that the UP (upper peninsula) looks great this year and the color is working it's way south. If you are headed for the UP, go now. I updated my fall color report page with some new Michigan links for the benefit of everyone who will be filming the gorgeous colors in the Great Lakes State.

The photo above of Upper Tahquamenon Falls is one of my favorites and it is currently linked to by a number of websites. The water really is "tea" colored due to leeching from trees in the area.

Other places in the country should also have some great color. Go out and have some fun!

2006-09-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

NIKON D80 REVIEW

A full review of the Nikon D80 has just been posted at DP Review.

This is a great camera and Phil Askey gives it a much deserved HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (his highest). If you have Nikon lenses and have been thinking about jumping into digital, this is a great way to do it. If you hve an older Nikon didital SLR, is is worth upgrading? That depends on which D-SLR you have and whether or not you consider the features and improved image quality worth the price. Read the review and weigh your options.

There is also a hands on look in the August issue of Popular Photography which is also posted online. They call it a "D200 at nearly half the price".

I don't shoot Nikon, but I'm glad to see good competition. It keeps all of the manufacturers on their toes.

2006-09-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM (beta 4)

The latest version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (beta 4) is now available as a

free download for MAC or Windows. This is fully functional (so far as a beta release goes) software that you can try out.

Early reviews of the MAC versions have been good. Wuindows reviews have been more iffy since the Windoews versions have lagged the MAC versions. Adobe has not brought the Windows version up to speed.

Try it out!

2006-09-18T15:49:00.000-04:00

FALL COLOR REPORTS

Aspen, Marshall Pass, Colorado. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The hearts of landscape photographers are beating faster. Shutter fingers are getting itchy. Visions of gold and orange and red and crimson dance in their heads. Fall color is already arriving in various parts of the country, especially up north and at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. Reports this week indicate that some places in Colorado are already nearing peak color.

You can keep up with the changing colors. I just updated my page of links to fall color reports and locations. Head out with your camera and have some fun!

2006-09-11T12:58:00.000-04:00

REMEMBERING 9-11

Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.

On this date, five years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. Not only in the lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks, the families torn asunder, and the emergency responders who are suffering terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene - but also in the way we view ourselves and our world.

The photo essays linked below (in the September 9 post) are a reminder of what we all went through on that fateful day.

2006-09-10T17:33:00.000-04:00

BILL BIGGART: REMEMBERING 9-11

Bill Biggart's final photograph. He was killed when the second World Trade tower collapsed on top of him. He was 53 years old.

You can read the story about Bill Biggart's last images and see an album of his last photos at The Digital Journalist.

You can see other 9-11 photo albums by Chip East, Peter Turnley, David Turnley, and Aris Economopoulos.

2006-09-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

"CROCODILE HUNTER" STEVE IRWIN

Steve Irwin, his wife Terri, and a Joey

I was saddened to hear about the death of Steve Irwin who was stabbed in the heart by a sting-ray barb while filming off Australia's coast. I liked his high energy, somewhat over the top style as he shared his love for crocodiles in particular and the wonders of the natural world in general. He will be missed.

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Terri, their children, and the rest of the family.

2006-09-01T12:52:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: LARK

Lark. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

One of my favorite photos from a recent portrait session. It was sunny outside so we used the nice soft light provided by the overhang on my front porch. Children are wonderful!

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105mm lens at 84mm. Aperture: f/5.6. Shutter: 1/40 second. ISO 400.

2006-08-31T12:54:00.000-04:00

LAUREESA: NATURAL LIGHT PORTRAITS

Laureesa. Photo © Jim Doty Jr

Although studio lights give you an amazing amount of control, you don't have to have studio lights to do nice portraits. The right kind of natural light can work very well.

This photo was taken about 2 1/2 hours into a multi-location shoot. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was shining. We worked on the shady side of the columns to take advantage of the soft light of the eastern sky, creating a very subtle version of "short lighting" (see the next post). Light levels were low and cool so I raised the ISO on the camera and warmed up the color temperature.

The sun was a little too high when we first arrived. As the sun got lower and dropped into the haze, it began to cast a soft warm light on Laureesa's hair and left cheek, adding just the right extra touch. I couldn't have asked for better light. It doesn't hurt at all that Laureesa has such nice facial features.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105mm lens set at 67mm. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/60 second. ISO: 800.

2006-08-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

LAUREESA: STUDIO "SHORT LIGHTING"

Laureesa. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

A recent stroll through two large malls with three different portait studios turned into an unplanned and brief study of "mall lighting". I wandered into all three studios and looked at the photos and watched them take some photos. In almost all of the photos the lighting was the same. Two light sources were placed in front of the subject. Each light was softened with an umbrella or "dish" to create a very soft, even light across the face with minimal or no shadows. It is attractive lighting and not difficult to do. It makes for quick shoots and fast turn around times. After going through the third studio, most of the photos began to have a certain "sameness" to them.

Personally, I prefer more variety and at least a few photos with more drama and bold shadows. It takes longer to shoot this way, but it is how I like to work. I usually do sessions that last from 90 minutes to 2 hours (or more with some high energy people) with several different outfits and in several locations. The shoot goes by quickly and it is fun. When we are done, most people are surprised when they look at the clock.

There are several basic forms of classical studio lighting with lots of variations. When the face is turned at an angle to the camera, the side most visible is called the "broad" side and the side turned away from the camera is the "short" side. Short side lighting, or "short lighting" is when the main (brighter) light is on the short side of the face, and the fill (dimmer) light is on the broad side of the face. Done correctly, it can be very attractive.

Careful attention needs to be given to the location of the lights and where the shadows fall. When positioning the main light, the shadow from the nose usually should fall in the valley between the nose and the cheek bone. In the photo above, The main light is "camera left" and to the right of Laureesa's face. It is high enough to create a nice shadow underneath her left cheek and give some nice contours to her face, but not so high that there isn't a catch light in her eyes.

The fill light is "camera right" and the light level is just high enough to fill in the shadows but dark enough to give the photo some drama. The fill light is to Laureesa's left and a little behind her left shoulder so it doesn't create a second catchlight in her eyes.

Both the main and fill lights were bounced into umbrellas to soften the light.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105mm lens set at 65mm. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/100 second. ISO: 100. A pair of "ALIEN BEES" studio flash units (model B800) with umbrellas.

2006-08-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

GREAT NEWS! Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM lens

Recently announced Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS lens

This week, Canon announced the new EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM lens. The expected release date is in November at a price somewhere around $1250 (USD). A lot of photographers, myself included, have been hoping and praying Canon would make this lens. The price should drop several months after its initial release and after the usual first rush of purchases.

Canon came out with an IS (image stabilized) version of the f/2.8L lens and a lot of photographers upgraded. A lot more photographers longed for an f/4L lens with the IS feature. That day has come.

If the new f/4L IS version proves to be as sharp as the rest of the Canon 70-200 L series lenses, lots of photographers will rejoice - and line up to buy it.

I will keep you posted as test reports and purchase information become available.

If you don't need the IS feature, the current version is still a great lens and you can buy it from Amazon.com for less than $600 and pay no shipping (link below).

The Canon family of 70-200 L series lenses (along with current "street" prices) will soon look like this:

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L USM (non-IS) - $591

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM - est. $1250 in November

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L USM (non-IS) - $1129

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS USM - $1699

It looks like the f/4L IS lens will be about the same price as the the f/2.8L non-IS lens. An interesting choice, one stop slower (in a smaller and lighter package) with IS or a one one stop faster lens without IS?

More information from Canon is here and here.

The current family of Canon EF 70-200 L series lenses:

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2006-08-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

New Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

This week Canon announced the new Digital Rebel XTi (400D in Europe). The XTi will have a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, a new EOS Integrated Cleaning System, and a larger and brighter 2.5” LCD and 9-point AF system. The maximum frame burst increases from 14 to 27 large JPEGs and from 5 to 10 RAW files. So how much better is this camera?

This camera appears to be an incremental improvement rather than a big step forward. A bigger LCD is nice. A bigger burst rate may a help a tiny percentage of photographers. After all, who shoots 14 or 27 frames in a row anyway? Going from 8 to 10 megapixels shouldn't mean an increase in image quality at any but the largest print sizes. The new dust reduction system might be really nice. Dust in a D-SLR is a digital photographer's curse.

If you are ready to buy your first Digital Rebel, and if testing shows that this camera is up to the quality of its predecessors (and it should be), then this camera would be a good choice. If you have a recent Digital Rebel, it may not be worth the price simply to upgrade for a few minor improvements. If you have one Digital Rebel and you need a second digital body, this would be a good choice.

Look for a full review to appear at DP Review some time in the future. That will tell how significant the improvements really are. I will keep you posted.

Canon has more information here.

2006-08-16T17:39:00.000-04:00

DIGITAL TRIPLETS

Three of Ryan. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

If you do everything right during the shoot, it is pretty simple with digital photography to put one person in more than one location in the same photo, provided the light source remains constant. It didn't take much longer to composite the above photo in the computer than it did to set up and shoot in the first place. Working on the tiny details of the photo took a lot longer than compositing three photos together.

To keep things simple, the camera must be on a strudy tripod. Compose to allow a little more room in the final picture than you think you will need. Meter manually and focus manually. Don't change anything between exposures and don't bump the tripod or you will have to start over.

Make sure while you are shooting that your subject isn't in overlapping locations unless you want a ghostly affect, or the very time consuming editing job of having your subject in one location that is behind another location. It looks nice, it just takes a lot more work, time, and skill to layer mask or erase the layers so it looks right when you are all done.

I took serveral exposures of Ryan on the left with slightly different poses. Then several more with Ryan on the right and in the middle. We had to work quickly since thin clouds were moving across the sun and the light was changing a little. You can see more defined shadows on the left than the right due to the movement of the clouds between photos.

If our light source had been more constant and given us more time, Ryan could have changed clothes so he would be wearing a different outfit in each location.

When I got home, I picked one photo of Ryan in each location. These will each become a layer in my composite image with layer A on the bottom and layer C on top.

I began with the photo of Ryan on the left (which will become layer A). Then I took the photo of Ryan on the right (which will become layer B), and SELECTED the whole photo in Photoshop, clicked the MOVE tool, and did a SHIFT-click-drag to pull layer B over layer A. Holding down the SHIFT key in Photoshop while doing the click-drag insures that the two photos are perfectly aligned after one is moved over the other.

I created a layer mask with layer B and began erasing the left side of layer B to reveal Ryan underneath in layer A. The layer mask allows you to go back and un-erase and re-erase if you erase too much. If your software doesn't allow layer masks, use the ERASER tool, work carefully and save often so you don't have to start all over if you make a mistake. I made sure that I erased enough of layer B so that Ryan's shadow was also included.

I didn't want to double erase (although that wouldn't be terribly difficult to do), so I took the photo with Ryan in the middle (which will become layer C) and I used the LASSO tool to draw a SELECTION around Ryan and his shadow. I made the selection a little bigger than I needed to so there was some room for error. Using the MOVE tool, I did a click-drag to bring my selection (layer C) on top of layers A and B. When layer C was close to being in place, I changed its opacity so I could see the layers underneath. Then I made sure that layer C was exactly aligned with the other layers by using the up-down and left-right arrows to move layer C one pixel at a time. When it was perfectly aligned, I changed the opacity of layer C back to 100%.

I turned layer C into a layer mask and I erased the excess edges so that everything looked just right. Then I saved the whole thing with the layers intact before flattening the image and tweaking with LEVELS before preparing the image for the web. Preparing the fine details of the layered photo for a good print took a lot longer than compositing the three layers in the first place.

This is all fairly simple to do with a little practice and experience and some basic software that allows levels and has an eraser or layer masks.

You can do this with film, but you will need to scan each image with exactly the same scanner settings, and it will take more time to align each layer.

2006-08-07T15:11:00.000-04:00

SENIOR PIX?!

Ryan's Yearbook Photo? Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Ryan's senior pictures will be even more unique than I had planned. We showed up at one of my pre-selected outdoor shooting locations, only to find these two dancers using the same location to shoot a video-tape for a national competition. (A good location is a good location.) They were doing the last few "takes" as we arrived. It would have been a shameful waste of good talent not to include them in some of Ryan's pictures.

Belly Dancers. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

My thanks goes to both dancers for being nice enough to stay around at the end of a long, hot (no double meaning intended - it was 93 degrees outside) video session, and make Ryan's senior pictures more memorable.

Ryan. Photo copyright Jim Doty Jr.

2006-07-25T10:46:00.001-04:00

SPEC 2006

"Chapter 6" at SPEC 2006. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

BMX at SPEC. Side by side back flips. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

2006-07-23T08:19:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: STANFORD MEMORIAL CHURCH

Memorial Church, Stanford University. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Stanford University in Palo Alto California has a beautiful campus. One of the photographic opportunities is the Memorial Church which is open for visitors until 5 pm (except on Sunday when it is open only for services). Visitors wander around to take it all in and take pictures. I had to wait for a while until no one was in my photo.

A tiny flash on a point-and-shoot camera won't help much in the large sanctuary. Use a high ISO (film or digital) and a wide aperture if you take hand held photos. Better yet, bring a tripod. I used a tripod mounted camera with a wide angle lens.

Data: Canon 5D, EF 17-40mm lens set at 20mm. Aperture: f/16, Shutter: 2 seconds, ISO 100.

2006-07-21T21:15:00.000-04:00

THE MERCED RIVER BELOW HALF DOME

The Merced River Below Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Half Dome and the Merced river from Sentinel Bridge is one of the classic photo locations in Yosemite Valley. On pleasant summer days people are rafting down the river. In the fall and winter the river is more placid and you can get reflections of Half Dome.

Countless photographers, both famous and lesser know, have used this vantage point. While you are scouting about for your own unique view of Half Dome, you might as well stop and take at least one photo from this classic view point.

2006-07-20T17:01:00.000-04:00

PANORAMA: GATES OF THE VALLEY

"Gates of the Valley", Yosemite National Park. Photo © Jared Doty.

A bigger version of this photo is currently located here.

Can a hand-held, 6 megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera take a better photo than an expensive 12.8 megapixel D-SLR and a high quality lens?

As soon as we arrived at "Gates of the Valley" (also called "Valley View"), my son Jared took a series of seven, hand-held, vertical photos with a Canon Powershot S3 IS camera. I was busy setting up my tripod.

He overlapped each photo with the prior photo to allow for stitching together later in the computer. The camera was set in an autoexposure mode so the exposures varied from 1/160 at f/5.6 to 1/250 at f/5.6. The software compensated for the exposure variations.

The first photo was taken at 7:03:08 pm PDT and the last at 7:03:52, a total elapsed time of 44 seconds. By the time my tripod was set up and my camera mounted, he was done with his first series. He did take more photos over the next 45 minutes, but this set was definitely a prize winner.

When we got home, I loaded the seven individual photos into Autostitch, set the scale to 100% (full size pano) and left while the software did its thing (it takes a while to do full size panos in Autostitch). I came back a half hour later and the software was done (I don't know how long it took to stitch the images and the time would vary with the horsepower of the computer.)

The end result was a 45.5 MB tiff file (156 MB in layers as a PSD file) that would print out at 9 x 19.5 inches at 300 ppi without any interpolation. I downsized the image to 8.5 x 18.5 inches so we could make a print that would fit on 13 x 19 inch paper. The photo looks great and my son was really pleased with the results. The file should interpolate up in size to allow for a nice 14 x 30 inch panoramic print (our next project).

I compared the resolution of the panoramic file from the S3 to a similar single photo of the same scene from my Canon 5D and EF 24-105mm L series lens. The rocks on El Capitan looked much sharper in my son's pano than in my single photo, as would be expected. A series of photos stitched together, even from a camera with less native resolution (less pixels or photosites on the sensor), can have more total information than a single photo from a camera with a higher resolution sensor.

In this particular instance, Jared created a higher resolution photo with a $430 camera than I did with equipment costing several times as much. Had I done a similar set of vertical photos with my equipment at the equivalent angle of view, and stitched it together later, my photo would look just as good or better in a very large print, but I didn't do that.

I did note some color fringing in high contrast areas with the Canon S3 lens that I did not have with the 24-105mm lens. The 24-105 lens is a better lens. The good news is that the color fringing does not show in the 8.5 x 18.5 inch print.

The really good news is that a camera with less resolution and a somewhat inferior lens can produce better photos than a single high resolution photo from a more expensive camera and lens if the photo is divided up into separate shots and stitched together later. Something to think about if you are using a point-and-shoot camera and you are doing a big scenic photo and want a big enlargement. Of course, it should be a good quality camera to begin with.

On the other hand, even with a higher resolution camera, if you want a really big print, take a set of photos and stitch them together later, rather than doing it all at once in one shot with a wider angle lens.

To find the Gates of the Valley location, read the next post.

The Canon Powershot S3 IS camera is a fine camera for still shots. It has a class leading movie mode, the reason I bought the camera in the first place. Why look at dinky little movie clips of my grandchildren when I can have screen filling clips at the touch of a button. The camera has received top marks from DP Review and Popular Photography magazine (June 2006 issue). It is the camera I carry if I don't have a D-SLR with me. If you want to buy one, you can get a great price, pay no shipping, and help suport this site by buying your camera at the Amazon link below.

Autostitch is great software for stitching photos together in a Windows XP computer, and the demo version is free. Read more in the Autostitch article at my photo web site.

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2006-07-18T15:57:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: GATES OF THE VALLEY

Gates of the Valley, Yosemite National Park. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

"Gates of the Valley", also know as "Valley View", is one of the best views of Yosemite Valley and is a favorite spot for photographes at the end of the day. This location is on the Northside Road toward the western end of the valley about 4.3 miles west of Yosemite Lodge. It is marked on almost all park maps and photographic guide books. It is worth scouting out ahead of time so you can find it quickly at the end of the day.

El Capitan is on the left, Cathedral Rocks on the right, Bridalveil Falls is in the shadows on the right, and the Merced River is in the foreground. In the summer, the light leaves El Capitan before Cathedral Rocks. I waited as long as possible for the light to turn warm at the end of the day, but minutes before it left El Capitan. I used a polarizing filter to reduce glare and saturate the colors.

Data: Canon 5D with a 24-105mm lens set at 28mm. Aperture: f/16, Shutter: 0.6 seconds, ISO 100.

2006-07-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

THE 4th of JULY

Fireworks over Yukon, Oklahoma. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

From the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826). 3rd US President (1801-09).

To see an engraving of the original and George Washington's personal printed copy, go here.

The entire declaration follows.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows:

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts

John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York

William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey

Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland

Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia

George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina

William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia

Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

SOURCE: Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington

2006-06-29T23:53:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: RYAN

Ryan. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

It was bright and sunny today when I took this photo. I prefer "cloudy-bright" days with soft shadows when I do portraits, but mother nature wasn't cooperating. There is enough overhang on my front porch to provide nice, soft light for portraits and allow me room to work. I prefer to do casual portraits with the camera handheld so I can move around freely and work quickly. The reduced light level in the shade of the porch meant using an ISO of 400 for reasonable shutter speeds. The white balance was set to "cloudy".

Data: Canon 5D camera. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS lens at 92mm with image stabilization on. Aperture: f/4. Shutter: 1/80 second. ISO 400.

2006-06-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

SAVE THE INTERNET 2

An open post from Representative Zoe Lofgren who is on our side in the Net Neutrality debate in Congress.

Guest post from Rep. Zoe Lofgren

May 26th, 2006

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5417, the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006,” which I introduced with Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member John Conyers and Rep. Rick Boucher last week. This is the first bill with real protections for Net Neutrality that has passed any committee in Congress, and I am proud to be a part of it.

The bill requires broadband providers to operate their networks in a non-discriminatory manner and makes sure that the phone and cable companies cannot favor or block access to the Web sites or online services that they pick instead of the consumer. It will keep the Internet an open and free marketplace of ideas and services chosen by consumers instead of big corporations. It will also guard against those who own “the pipes” gleaning profits by creating a virtual toll road.

H.R. 5417 was introduced by a bipartisan coalition from the Judiciary Committee and passed out of the Committee by a vote of 20-13. Fourteen Democrats and six Republicans voted in favor of it, and 13 Republicans voted against it. One Democrat voted present.

The Internet has revolutionized the way Americans communicate with one another and do business. It’s only right to keep that revolution where it belongs — in the hands of Internet users instead of the phone and cable companies.

The next hurdle for Net Neutrality is whether we will have a full vote on the House floor. If you care about the freedom that Net Neutrality protects, contact your Member of Congress and ask that H.R. 5417 be scheduled to come before the full House of Representatives as either a separate bill or an amendment. Urge them to vote for Net Neutrality protection!

Source: http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/

2006-06-03T02:48:00.000-04:00

SAVE THE INTERNET

A plan before Congress, backed by big telecom dollars, could gut the internet's first amendment: Net Neutrality. What is at risk is your right to choose the internet sites you want to go to, and even your right to receive emails from whomever you want. Do your part today to protect your internet rights and save Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality means YOU choose the sites you want to visit, and they are provided to you without outside intereference.

Action could take place as early as next week in the House of Representatives to protect or take away your rights.

AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, AOL-Time Warner, and other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are spending millions of dollars lobbying Congress to gut Net Neutrality. If big telecom companies get their way, big subscribers can pay ISPs to have their web sites delivered to your computer in the "fast lane", and slow down or block other web sites from being served to your computer. You lose your power of choice.

The big telecoms could block you from viewing this blog simply because I am criticizing them.

Sound far fetched? It's already happening.

* In 2004, North Carolina ISP Madison River blocked their DSL customers from using any rival Web-based phone service.

* In 2005, Canada's telephone giant Telus blocked customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to the Telecommunications Workers Union during a labor dispute.

* In April, Time Warner's AOL blocked all emails that mentioned www.dearaol.com — an advocacy campaign opposing the company's pay-to-send e-mail scheme.

NPR and PBS have reported on these and other similar abuses.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has called for stronger Net Neutrality protections. Existing laws provide insufficient protection against these abuses. The FCC acts on the rules but congress makes them. If legislation before congress passes, we will have little or no protection from having our ISPs (internet service providers) decide what sites they will allow us to access, and how fast.

If big telecom companies get their way, the internet as we now know it will go away. Imagine you want to buy an item on the internet. Company A is selling it for $100 and Company B is selling it for $60. You go to Company B's web site but it loads very slowly or not at all. Why? Because Company A paid the telecom company to give them priority so your access to Company B is either dramatically slowed down or blocked completely. Big dollars, not your choices, will control the internet.

Who is on our side? Supporters of Net Neutrality include Amazon.com, Earthlink, EBay, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Skype, Vonage and Yahoo, the American Library Association, churches and hundreds of other non-profit organizations, political groups, bloggers, small businesses, thousands of small web site owners, and thousands of others who are opposed to the telecom backed plan now before congress. Also on our side are some of the computer scientists that developed the internet in the first place.

NPR and PBS have reported that several telecom executives have already announced their plans to decide which web sites get served to you in the fast lane (based on big buck payments to the telecoms), which web sites are served in the slow lane, and which ones won't be delivered at all. Big telecoms and other ISPs want this huge source of potential new income.

For big telecoms, the internet isn't a highway system where you choose to go in whatever vehicle you have Idial up, cable, DSL etc). Telecom execs refer to the internet as "big pipes" and they want to control what flows down the pipelines to your computer. And they will choose based on who pays them the biggest bucks to send their content to your computer.

A multi-million dollar ad campaign ("Hands Off the Internet") has been launched by the big telecoms to downplay the Net Neutrality cause. Do you trust the big telecoms to have your best interests at heart, or all the online companies, big and small, that want you to have equal access to the sites you want to visit on the internet?

The glory of the internet is neutrality. Any ordinary Joe or Jane can put up a website and anyone else can go to it. The pages on my web sites receive between 1,500 and 2,000 visits per day, and anyone can find me on Google or most any other search engine. If big telecom gets their way, I would have to pay them or they won't feed my site down "their big pipes" to your computer. I will be shunted off to one of "their little pipes" at really slow speeds or not at all.

For more information, go to SaveTheInternet.com. Be sure and read the FAQ, then write, call, and email your representatives in congress.

2006-05-28T15:35:00.000-04:00

REUTERS: CANON CONSIDERS HALT TO FILM CAMERA DEVELOPMENT

Canon Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai (right) and President and COO Tsuneji Uchida during a news conference in Tokyo, May 11, 2006. REUTERS/Issei Kato

This could be the beginning of the end of an era.

"TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Canon Inc. said on Thursday that it would consider halting development of new film cameras as it focuses resources on digital models, the latest sign of the rapidly fading role of film in photography.

to continue, use the page links to the right

"A spokesman at Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, said it would consider whether it needs to continue developing both compact and single lens reflex (SLR) film models because the markets for both are shrinking.

"Canon said it would continue to produce and sell existing models and make a final judgment on the business in the future while monitoring market demand."

The full Reuters story is here.

2006-05-24T11:02:00.000-04:00

OPTIMIZING DIGITAL CAMERA FILES

Rachel. The original file straight out of the camera is on the left, and the digitally optimized image is on the right. Photos © Jim Doty, Jr.

This is an excerpt from a longer article:

"Point and shoot digital cameras are designed to produce punchy (colorful, high contrast) photos right out of the camera. This saves the average person from doing a lot of digital work on their computer. There is a cost: images that lose valuable photo information that shows up in lost highlight and shadow detail. Pixelation, banding, and other problems can show up in large prints. Fortunately, many of the better point and shoot cameras will allow you to tone down the in-camera image processing if you want to work with the digital files yourself and maximum quality is important.

"Professional digital cameras are designed to capture maximum data with minimal in-camera processing. The images may look flat coming out of the camera, but more data has been saved so the skilled digital darkroom artist has the maximum potential for beautiful enlargements. Levels, Curves, Hue-Saturation, Shadow-Highlight, Channel Mixer, Adjustment Layers, Gaussian Blur, Unsharp Mask, Layer Masks, Clone Stamp, and Healing Brush are just a few of the tools and options available to make the most of an image. Just as in the old black and white darkroom, skill and experience are still important."

You can read the full article at my photo web site.

2006-04-19T16:35:00.000-04:00

RATED: ONLINE PHOTO LABS

You've been thinking about trying an online photo lab. It sounds simple, send your files over the internet and the photos arrive in the mail a few days later. But how good is the quality? What about cost? How long does it take? How good are the poster prints?

Pop Photo to the rescue with another of their fine comparison articles, "Click to Print", in the May 2006 issue (pp. 75-79). They sent photo files to 10 online labs and rated them in six categories: Print Quality, Price, Ease of Use, Turnaround Time, Storage Policy, and Poster Prints (quality). Each lab was given from 1 to 6 stars (6 being best) in each category. I've summarized the results in the following graphic.

There are additional comments in the article about each lab. Do you want to create a photobook, make U.S. postage stamps with your own photos on them, or put your photos on specialty items? How easy or difficult are the sites to navigate? Does a site excel in some unique way? The article will tell all this and more. If you want to try an online photo lab, this article article is well worth reading.

2006-04-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

USING GRADUATED NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS

A common problem for nature photographers is the contrast range between bright skys and a darker foreground, or a bright scene and a much darker reflection of that scene in a lake or pond. Expose for the bright part of the scene and the dark part disappears. Expose for the dark part of the scene and the bright part is washed out. For years, the secret weapon for such situations has been the graduated neutral density filter (also called a graduated gray filter or split neutral density filter).

A "grad" filter is half clear and half neutral density (one or two stops darker than the clear section) with a gradation zone in the middle. Grad filters are usually square and can be rotated and moved up and down in a filter holder that mounts on the front of your lens. The darker part of the filter is put over the bright part of the scene with the clear part of the filter over the dark part of the scene. With the light part of the scene toned down by one, two, or three stops (the most common strengths), the contrast has been tamed for a more pleasing picture.

When I use a grad filter, I meter first and align later. I set my camera in manual mode and choose the aperture I want.

With the grad filter in place, I meter the light part of the scene through the dark part of the filter and note the shutter speed. Then I meter the dark part of the scene through the clear part of the filter and note the shutter speed. If the shutter speeds are the same, all is golden. If they aren't, I shoot at both shutter speeds plus everything in between in half or third stop increments.

If the two meter readings are really far apart, I switch to a stonger grad (time permitting).

I move the filter up or down for the meter readings so the meter isn't confused by the gradation zone in the middle of the filter. I slide the filter down so the lens/meter sees through only the darker part of the filter when metering the brighter part of the scene. Then I slide the filter up so the lens/meter sees only through the clear part of the filter when metering the darker foreground.

Once the shutter speed (or speeds) have been determined, I stop the lens down to its taking aperture and position the filter before taking the photos. The location of the gradation zone will shift as apertures are changed so its important to stop down to the taking aperture when positioning the filter.

This all goes much faster than it sounds. (1) Slide filter down, aim at the sky and meter. (2) Slide filter up, aim at the foreground and meter. (3) Recompose, position gradation line and shoot.

If I don't have time to meter both areas, I only meter the light part of scene through the dark part of the filter, recompose, shoot and bracket. I think the greater photographic "sin" is a washed out sky than an underexposed foreground.

You can get filters with a soft or hard gradation (the soft gradation is more gradual) and the neutral density part of the filter can range from one stop to 5 stops.

My most used grad is a two f-stop filter with a soft gradation zone. My second choice is a 3 f-stop grad with a hard gradation zone.

A two stop soft grad was used on the photo at the top. The dark part of the filter was over the peak and sky and the clear part of the filter was over the foregorund and snow covered hills.

In the digital era, a lot of photographers take several exposures based on the light and dark poart of the scenes and composite them together in the computer. This works but it is a lot of work. It is still better, if at all possible, to get it right in the camera with a grad filter.

Singh-Ray makes my favorite brand of grad filters and they have several examples of their use.

Bob Walker took this photo of me (left) and Kathleen Norris Cook (right) as we photographed Mt. Sneffels. It is hard to see in this photo, but we are both using graduated neutral density filters. She does some stunning photography.

2006-04-12T20:11:00.000-04:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY - KATI

This photo was taken as part of the shoot for Kati's senior pictures. We are both flat on the floor. We did a similar shot without the hair falling across her face, but we both like this one.The camera was hand held in natural light with no flash so the ISO was set to 800. Even at that, the shutter speed was 1/8 second - awfully slow for hand held work. The image stabilization (IS) built into the lens made the shot possible.

Data: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens set at 90mm. Aperture: f/5. Shutter: 1/8 second.

2006-03-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

FREE MICROSOFT GOODIES FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Microsoft has free goodies for photographers. Book mark www.microsoft.com/prophoto/ and check it out on a periodic basis. A variety of helpful articles are posted on a regular basis. Under DOWNLOADS you will find Microsoft's Raw Image Viewer which has been updated to include the Canon 5D and the Nikon D200.

2006-03-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

Q&A: FIRST BEACH SESSION

I checked my email inbox and read "I will do my first beach session today and I am panicking...any advice?" Here's the email. . .

--- ---

Jim,

In order to calm down I came online and searched about the Canon 20D and white sand. I was led straight to you. I have a light meter if you think it will help. Jim what exact settings would you use in this event? I will shoot one hour before sundown, and the sand is pure white as snow. My subjects are 3 small children hopefully dressed in white and khaki.

I pray that you will email me before I leave at noon with some comforting advice. Oh I use a 580 speedlite as well that will be bracketed on my camera. My problem is I want to compose the shot and lose sight of all those settings of aperture, shutter speed ISO, metering, white balance etc… If I could just be prepared when I get there that will be 80 percent of the battle.

Your web-site has been a blessing, you speak a language I actually understand.

Debbie

--- ---

I checked my watch and had about 10 minutes to send a response and meet her noon deadline. With a little more lead time, I would have provided more detailed answers and suggested she pick up a light amber gel for her flash to match the color temperature at sunset. Given ten minutes, this is what I came up with:

--- ---

Debbie:

Print this and take it with you!

Put the camera on manual mode. If the children have light caucasian skin, get in close and meter the sunlit side of the face of one of the children and add about one stop of light. If the camera meter says 1/125 at f11, set the camera for 1/125 at f/8. If that makes their skin too light, add 2/3 of a stop over the meter reading.

If you do this right, their skin will look normal and the beach will look white. Don't let the white sand fool the meter. That's why you get close and meter a face.

With children I would want a shutter speed of at least 1/60 second and 1/125 would be better. I would also want an aperture of f/5.6 or better yet f/8 for enough depth of field. You may need to increase the ISO from 100 to ISO 400 or ISO 800 to get a fast enough shutter and enough depth of field.

Use the flash to fill in shadows, not as the main light source or you will lose the wonderful warmth of the sunset light.

Push the flash compensation button on the camera (top deck right) and spin the thumb wheel (camera back) to set the flash for minus 2/3 to minus 1 stop of light. Take a couple of test shots to see how things look.

Take lots of pictures and bracket around your primary exposure if need be.

Above all else - HAVE FUN!

If you have fun, everyone else will be more at ease.

Let me know how things work out.

Good Luck!

Jim

--- ---

I sent the email at 11:52 AM. I hope she got it in time.

The photo at the top of this post was taken in a grassy meadow with dark, shaded trees in the background. The exposure challenge is the same as a subject with a white background: Don't allow the background to influence the camera meter. The solution in both cases is the same, set the camera meter in manual mode and move in close enough to meter just the face.

For light skin, add a stop of light to what the camera meter tells you. For medium-toned skin, shoot at the meter setting. For dark skin, subtract one half stop from what the camera meter tells you. You can learn more in my exposure article.

UPDATE: March 25, 2006

I received the following email from Debbie.

--- ---

Jim,

Thanks a million! I took the note with me and tried what you said and got some beautiful shots! I will send you some when I get the time, its real busy for me right now. Mostly thanks for reminding me to have fun! I did that too and so did the clients. Your email was very encouraging and I was amazed you caught me before I left. I thank God for you and have told all my close peeps about my special email experience. Once again thanks a million!

Debbie

2006-03-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE TUCSON AREA

Where would I go if I were in the Tucson area and wanted to take pictures? I've never been to Tucson, Arizona, but I do know the places that are highly recommended in a lot of photography magazine articles. The top three are the San Xavier del Bac Mission, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and Saguaro National Park.

San Xavier del Bac Mission is at 1950 W. San Xavier Rd, Tucson, AZ 85746-7409. Ansel Adams created one of his classic photos at the mission in 1968 (you can buy a print here from the Ansel Adams Gallery). An untold numbers of photographers, professional and amateur, have taken photos of the mission (one more here). Do a simple Google image search for the mission to see hundreds of photos.

Photos from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum web site.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) at 2021 North Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona 85743 is less than 15 miles west of the I-10/I-19 intersection (see the map below). By all accounts ASDM is a nature photographer's dream location. Cacti, flowers, and wildlife (including cougar, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and owls) are all there in natural settings, just waiting for you and your camera.

Saguaro National Park is also west of Tucson and just north of the Sonora Desert museum. The giant saguaros look their best in the warm light of sunrise and sunset with long shadows across the landscape, but good photos can be taken any time of day if the light is right. Scroll down this page to see the blooming seasons for annuals, perennials, cacti and trees. More info is at this unofficial site.

The photo below was kindly provided by Quang-Tuan Luong.

Saguaro cacti. Saguaro National Park, Arizona, USA. Photo © QT Luong. You can see more of his impressive photography at TerraGalleria.com, a larger version of this photo, and more photos from Saguaro National Park.

Based on what I've read, these locations will be at the top of my photo list the first time I am in the Tucson area.

If you have more time and can venture farther from Tucson, head west to Organ Pipe National Monument.

Map: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park

Update: March 22, 2006

My son Jared called two days ago from Phoenix and asked for suggestions as to some good places to take pictures while he is in Arizona. That is what led to writing this post.

He spent yesterday in the Tucson area. He said ASDM is "very impressive" and much more like a zoo than a museum. He photographed a lot of the wildlife and really enjoyed the raptor show. It is a popular place and there were 100 people there to watch the hawks fly.

He went to the mission next. He wanted to know where Ansel Adams took his classic shot (he hasn't seen the photo). I found an image of the mission on Google Earth and told him where to set up on the north side to shoot through the arches. The back of the mission is filled with scaffolding for construction so it isn't currently possible to drop your tripod in Ansel's tripod holes. He did take other photos. The place is impressive.

He finshed up at Saguaro National Park and had a good time wandering around and taking pictures. He did have to watch carefully for rattlesnakes, especially the little ones that don't warn you when you approach.

Jared had a good time and would recommend all three locations.

2006-03-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: DOCTOR'S OFFICE PORTRAIT

If the light is right, you can take a portrait almost anywhere. This young woman is the receptionist behind the counter in a doctor's office. By special request, I had taken an "environmental" portrait to illustrate an article I had written previously for my Reflections blog. Then I moved in closer to get a head and shoulder's portrait.

The original photo is in color, but I thought it would look nice in black and white. Of the three channels (RGB), the red one looked best. To get the look I wanted I used Channel Mixer in Photoshop, checked Monochrome, and set the red channel to 80% and the green channel to 20% (all the channels should add up to 100%).

To drop out the office clutter in the background, I used the Eliptical Marquee Tool to draw an oval around her face, feathered the selection to about 100 pixels, reversed the selection so her face was protected, and then erased the selection to create the white vignette.

Data: Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens set at 93mm, Shutter 1/60, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 800.

2006-03-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

"BUDGET" DIGITAL SLRs COMPARED

The March 2006 issue of Popular Photography (pages 64-74) has another “Shoot-Out”. This one is between the low-priced digital SLRs with 6 to 8 megapixel sensors. “Low priced” is a relative term since digital cameras are more expensive than film cameras. The “street price” for these cameras (body only) ranges from a low of $570 to a high of $790. At least in D-SLR terms, these are the budget models.

I have generally found the assessments in Pop Photo to be reliable. A summary of the major finding in the article are in the following table.

Pop Photo puts the cameras through a series of tests to determine the overall Image Quality. Ease of Use should be self explanatory. Control refers to how many controls the camera gives you over the image making process (not how easy those controls are to access). System Flexibility refers to the number of lenses and accessories that are available to use with the camera.

Other items compared in the article are resolution, color acuracy, noise, image quality at different ISOs, autofocus speed, and CIPA batttery rating. I recommend you read all of the details in the original article.

Before making any choices, remember that lenses are more important than camera bodies. Lenses should last a long, long time. camera bodies (especially digital) get replaced. Years of teaching photography and looking at student work reinforces a valuable message about quality: A photographer's sense of vision along with proper photgraphic technique has the biggest impact on image quality. Lens quality comes in second. Camera bodies are a distant third.

I have had a few students where a substandard camera was holding them back - but not very many. More students suffered from using el-cheapo, bizarre-brand lenses and needed to spend a modest amount of money to get a good lens. On the other hand, good technique with good quality equipment beats out great equipment and poor technique any day of the week.

If you already have a film SLR and are thinking of getting a “budget” digital SLR, your first thought should be about the number and quality of the lenses you already have and whether or not they will work on a digital SLR. If you have several lenses and you are happy with them, you should consider getting a D-SLR that will take the lenses you already have. All of these cameras will take good quality pictures even though some have an image quality edge. Even if the body your lenses will fit isn’t ranked as high as you would like, an improved quality camera will come out in the future (PROVIDED your manufacturer stays in business).

If, like many photographers, you will only want a few lenses for your D-SLR, the choice of brand isn’t so important. If you will need specialty lenses (i.e. image stabilization, vibration reduction, macro, tilt-shift), then the brand and selection becomes more important. Nikon and Canon have the most complete systems with the most flexibility. I use a number of specialized lenses for a variety of projects, and only Canon makes all of the specialized lenses that I need. Having said that, most manufacturers make enough lenses to keep most photographers happy.

What if you don’t have any SLR lenses now, or you have some lenses but you aren’t happy with the total selection of lenses available from your manufacturer? In either case, camera quality and features as well as the total system of lenses available in a particular brand becomes more important. You should read the Pop Photo article carefully to compare features along with the camera reviews at DP Review and other review sites listed on my LINKS page. Pick a camera with the features you want that has a lens system that is adequate for your present and future needs.

I have a comparison of mid-priced digital SLRs here.

2006-03-07T11:12:00.000-05:00

ONE MILLION PAGE VISITS

Early in the morning of March 3, my primary photo website rolled past one million page visits. That was hard to imagine when I started the site a few years ago. In 2000, the first full year the site was online, there were 4,432 page visits for the whole year. Now the site has around 36,000 page visits per month. My thanks to all of you who visit!

I have no idea how many people have visited my web site since that particular counter starts over every month. I do know that in a typical month, 9000 different "computers" visit my web site, but I don't know if more than one person uses the same computer.

Many people find my site the first time via a search engine. I did check recently and in one day I had visitors referred by search engines in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Denmark, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Hungary, Latvia, Belgium, the Philipines, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, and several places where I couldn't read the language to determine the country of origin.

A lot of visitors come to the site via links from other sites. Currently there are over 800 references and/or links to the pages at my site.

Based on language stats, about 40% of the visitors to my site come from Europe, 10% from Asia, and 50% from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and other English speaking countries. The numbers from Europe and Asia are probably higher than those indicated above since a number of people from those countries probably read my site in English.

I try to keep the site as useful as possible and I get appreciative e-mails on a regular basis from all around the world. I'm glad you find my photo site and this blog useful. Come back any time.

2006-03-03T00:14:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY - TAHQUAMENON FALLS

Upper Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.i) s a great place to take pictures. At 200 feet wide, with a 50 foot drop, and a flow of up to 50,000 gallons of water per second, Upper Tahquamenon Falls is one of the largest falls east of the Mississippi. The falls are west of Paradise, Michigan on M-123 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. More information, along with another photo, is here.

2006-02-27T12:34:00.000-05:00

THE WHITE ROSE

Hans (left) and Sophie Scholl with Cristoph Probst (right), leaders of "The White Rose" resistance movement. Munich Germany, July 1942.

Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie were part of "The White Rose", a group that opposed Hitler and the Nazi party. Hans served as a medic on the Eastern (Russian) front from late July to October 1942. One month later, 300,000 Germans were trapped in Stalingrad and only 5,000 returned to Germany. . . .

Hans and Sophie were arrested February 18, 1943 for distributing leaflets and indicted for treason. They were "tried" February 22, 1843 along with their friend Cristoph Probst, found guilty, and executed by guillotine later the same day. A moving account of the trial and visits with their parents during their last hours is toward the end of this article.

12 or so years ago, my son Jim acquired the above photo. He and his friend Eric wrote the following poem at that time.

--- --- ---

WHITE ROSE

They are the things of nursery rhymes

Such as ones you read to children –

Unknowing toddlers suffering parents’ crimes

And burned beneath the ashes of Dresden:

Petals falling to the ground.

Sophie stares darkly serious

With heavier weight than should be

Allowed for a woman on twenty-one.

But everyone carried burdens.

Three hundred thousand bodies

make the conscience sour,

Shameful that a much larger number

would be necessary to sate one man’s

Thirst, or earn

righteous vengeance.

For Hans, perhaps no healing powers

Ever learned could stop the burns and amputations

from the

EAST

Or mend the bleeding of a people

Once vast

Once proud

Once beautiful.

And more than beauty, the daisy

sits

Close to Sophie’s bosom,

In its last bastion of protection

Where life and beauty survive

If only for a moment –

Innocence lost, like blood drained and

Whitened leaving zombies in blind sleep;

Red sapped from passionate roses

Stifling growth,

Cultivating compliance,

Leaving only a single symbol

Of virginity

Of purity

On aninimity

White Rose

You can learn more about Hans, Sophie, and the White Rose here , here, and (if you speak German) here.

Sophie's story has been made into a critically acclaimed movie that will be released in major U.S cities between February and May. You can learn more about the movie here and here.

Playdates are listed at the movie site.

2006-02-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

SWEDISH BLOG LINK

Every once in a while I check out the server stats to see how people find my web sites.

Links from this blog send people to two of my digital infrared articles. Here is the post.

Here are the links from the above screen capture: Tidigare sökningar, svart-vit IR, and färg IR.

Unfortunately, I can't read Swedish, so I ran the post through a free online Swedish to English translator with somewhat odd results:

"Sat and muse few if husband should want one IR filter to Christmas. And was bending surfer about few for that watch what people says if IR photographers and Canon 20D. Olds sökningar had goats few halv positive answer but the interacts iaf product wholly possible. Tex find followings two equipment from Jim Doty , a if black - white IR and a if colour IR. Them sheep husband take and read through decently ngn tread."

I wrote to the blog's author, Karl-Petter Åkesson (Kalle), at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science. He was kind enough to send me an English translation that matches the structure of the Swedish post. You can compare the two.

"Was just musing about if one would wish for an IR filter for Christmas. And started to surf around a bit to see what people say about IR photography and the Canon 20D. Earlier searches have given half positive results but it seems to at least be possible. E.g. found the following two articles from Jim Doty, one about black-and-white IR and one about colour. Sometime one has to read those through carefully."

As Kalle pointed out, the online translator "failed at many abbreviations, for instance, iaf, tex, ngn which are quite common in colloquial writings like blogs."

You can explore more of his writings on a wide variety of topics (much of it in English) by going here.

2006-02-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

NEW! CANON 30D

It has been known for months that Canon would announce a replacement for the Canon 20D sometime in Feb 2006. Today it is official. The Canon 30D (not to be confused with the D30 of several years ago) is here.

For several weeks now, I've encouraged anyone who wrote to me about buying the Canon 20D to wait and see what the new camera will be like.

Here are the basics from the press release.

* 8.2 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor
* 5 fps and 30 large JPEG frame burst
* 2.5”, 230K pixel, 170º wide viewing angle LCD screen
* Picture Style image processing parameters
* Spot metering and High Precision 9-point AF system
* DIGIC II image processor with 0.15 sec start-up time
* Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software
* 100,000 cycle shutter durability and rugged magnesium alloy body
* Simultaneous RAW and JPEG recording
* Wide 100-3200 ISO range
* E-TTL II Flash
* PictBridge compatibility
* Complete compatibility with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
* USB 2.0 Hi-Speed and Video Out connectivity

This is basically a "tweaking" of the Canon 20D with the same essential sensor and probably the same image quality. Upgrades are the spot metering and "Picture Styles" taken from the Canon 5D, and a faster frame rate and more rugged shutter.

If you already have a Canon 20D, I don't see a really compelling reason to upgrade unless you simple must have spot metering and a faster frame rate (5 fps).

If you are thinking of upgrading from the 10D or Digital Rebel, you have a choice, get the 30D at a little less than the 20D used to cost, or save a lot of money and buy a 20D as the prices drop and the remaining stock of bodies is sold.

So which should you get? I would suggest you wait until DP Review has a full review comparing the two cameras, and then make your decision.

Canon's official info is here and DP Review has info here .

2006-02-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

CHOOSING A DIGITAL PROJECTOR

With the switch to digital, a lot of photographers are going from analog to digital slide shows. Finding a good digital projector that will keep photographers happy can be a challenge. Projecting photos is much more demanding than projecting a business Powerpoint presentation, so a lot of the digital projector reviews on the internet aren't that helpful to the photographer that wants to do a high quality digital slide show.

The good news is that you can get a good quality digital projector in the $900 - $1900 price range, depending on the specs and power (ANSI lumens) that you want. Quality goes up and prices come down. $1400 today buys you a better projector than $3500 would buy three years ago.

It is important to get an LCD projector (not DLP) for the best image quality. XGA resolution (1024 x 768) should be the minimum for projecting photos. You can read more about resolution here. It is nice to have a digital projector that has computer and video inputs. You can use your laptop to do slide shows, and your video or DVD player to show movies. Read the specs carefully to make sure your digital projector will do everything you want it to.

When it comes to digital photography, one of my trusted sources is Tim Grey. Before working for Microsoft, Tim was George Lepp's digital guru and taught some of the classes at the Lepp Institute of digital Imaging. With Tim's permission, I have quoted from his digital newsletter before.

If you aren't already on Tim Grey's DDQ email list, think about signing up. He answers digital photography questions on an almost daily basis when he isn't traveling. Signing up is free. I would suggest you consider making a voluntary contribution to support his newsletter.

Below is part of a recent DDQ newsletter on choosing a digital projector. It provides some helpful advice. Tim likes Epson and Canon LCD projectors. I'm using an earlier model Epson projector (a predecessor to the 755C) that Tim recommended a few years ago and I have been very pleased with it. George Lepp is also impressed with the recent Canon projectors. If money is no object, check out the Canon Realis SX50, linked below and reviewed here.

Projector links are at the end of this post and range in price from $900- $1900 models, plus the Canon Realis SX 50 at $4200. If all the links don't show, REFRESH (RELOAD) the page.

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Digital Darkroom Questions e-mail list
December 2, 2005

Our camera club is considering purchase of a digital projector. We want to consider the following uses:

1. Potential speakers want to bring digital program material (e.g. on Powerpoint). What would we need for a system and how could we be sure that it is compatible with any speaker's material?

2. There is some interest in using a digital projector to present members' images for competitions. What would this involve?

==========

"The particular specifications would depend a bit on the projection conditions. In particular, the concern is about the ability to darken the room. I assume, however, that the location you're using for this does allow you to darken the room reasonably well. I also assume you're talking about a moderately small room, without the need to project the image over a significant distance to a particularly large screen. In other words, I'm assuming you're dealing with a situation that is pretty typical of most camera club presentations in my experience.

To meet those needs, the requirements are relatively modest. I'd suggest a project that supports a resolution of at least 1024x768 (XGA) and that has a brightness value of at least 1000 lumens. I recommend an LCD projector rather than DLP projector for photographic displays, because LCD projectors are able to project slightly better saturation. I've been very happy with the Epson PowerLite line of projectors, and am also very impressed with the latest models from Canon. You can get a very good projector at this level for around $1,000, such as the Epson PowerLite 76c. If portability is a significant concern, or you have other needs, you can certainly spend more for a higher-end model. I also recommend checking out specifications and reviews at Projector Central (www.projectorcentral.com) as you research the model that best meets your needs.

Quite frankly, once you have a projector it is very easy to put it to work. Think of it as a monitor that can be connected to a computer but functions in a different way. You can connect it directly to virtually any laptop (provided it has an external monitor connection, which the vast majority do), set the laptop to send a signal to that port (which is usually handled via a shortcut key on the laptop) and you're all set.

This, of course, leads into your next question. You've no doubt seen plenty of presentations where the speaker comments that the projector doesn't look good, but it looks great on his laptop display. Considering that anyone who presents or submits images should have created that presentation on a calibrated monitor display, you should be able to rely on the image files or presentations containing accurate color. Therefore, the only real trick is to get accurate color from your projector. You can work to make adjustments to the projector display using a target image that assists in this regard, such as the PDI Target image you can download from my website at www.timgrey.com/ccdownloads.htm. The better solution is to purchase a projector calibration package, such as the Beamer from GretagMacbeth (www.gretagmacbeth.com). This allows you generate a profile to set as the default monitor profile for the laptop (or other computer) being used for the projected presentation, ensuring accurate color for all images and presentations assuming the source data is good. This is the best way to get accurate color from your projector and is a solution I highly recommend." - Copyright (c) Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved.

*** *** ***

Epson Digital Projectors (The Powerlite 76C is$899.99 as of Feb 21, 2006)

Canon Digital Projectors

2006-02-18T16:01:00.000-05:00

FREE PANORAMA STITCHING SOFTWARE

Christmas at Easton, Columbus, Ohio. Photo (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

One of the great things about digital photography is that it has made panoramic photography much easier. No more time consuming film scans. No more arduous sessions trying to match the color and density of all those scans. With a digital camera in manual mode with the exposure, white balance, and focus set so they don't vary from image to image, it is much easier to produce a "matched" set of images.

The second challenge is to get the digital images stitched together into one panoramic photograph. That just got easier and less expensive. AUTOSTITCH is free and it works very well. It is much better than most free software, and it also works better than a lot of the commercial software I have tested. Best of all, once you set the OPTIONS (easy to do, and I provide directions), the stitching process is completely automatic. There is one minor file order quirk, but I explain the easy work around.

Learn all about AUTOSTITCH in this article.

The photo at the top of this page is too small to give you an idea how well this software stitches photos together. No seams! You can get a much better idea here.

2006-02-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

ONLY 2 DAYS to SAVE OUR U.S. NATIONAL PARKS

From the National Council of Churches home page, February 16, 2006

You have until February 18 to do your part to save our National Parks. It will take you less than two minutes of your time if you use the form letter at the link below.

Proposed changes to the policies that have protected our National Parks can turn them into "A Noisy, Hazy, Off-road Nightmare." Keeping the 2001 NPS Management Policies would be much better for our parks than adopting the proposed changes.

A number of retired employees of the National Park Service, each of whom served the National Park Service in executive level leadership positions, are opposed to the proposed changes and have explained their concerns in a detailed letter. The signers of the letter include three Deputy Directors that served between 1975 and 2002 and a long list of Regional, Associate, and Center Directors. Their letter will tell you most of what you need to know (see the "letter of protest" link below). They call the proposed changes "a drastic and dangerous departure from a longstanding national consensus." They go on to say "We are especially troubled by the omission from the opening sections of the Management Policies of their long-established emphasis upon the NPS’s overriding responsibility to preserve resources on behalf of all Americans, including those yet unborn."

Several senators are also opposed. The National Council of Churches (NCC) and FaithfulAmerica.org are calling on Americans to do their part to stop these changes. Surprisingly enough, it was an email this morning from the NCC that brought this issue to my attention.

If you are a photographer and you want to protect our National Parks from visual degradation, DO YOUR PART.

If you are a person of faith (no matter what religion) and you believe that stewardship of the earth and preserving the beauty of some of our national wonders is important, DO YOUR PART.

If you want your children and granchildren to be able to enjoy our National Parks in the future in the way that you have enjoyed them in the past, DO YOUR PART.

If you believe in the values of wilderness, tranquility, and peace, and you don't want our National Parks to sound more and more like amusement parks, DO YOUR PART.

If you use the form letter at the link below, it will take you less than two minutes to fill out and send. The NPS deadline for sending emails or post marking letters is February 18 at 11:59 pm MST.

While you are at it, write to your representatives in the House and Senate. Find your elect officials here.

Send an email to the NPS:

Send a message to the National Park Service with this online form letter from the Faithful America web site. Just fill in your name, email address, and mailing address and click "Send this message". You can edit the letter or write your own letter in the box provided.

You can also use the NPS comment form. You are limited to a 4,000 character message.

Or write to this NPS email address: waso_policy@nps.gov and use this subject line: "Comments on NPS Management Policies (ID: 12825)".

There is an online form letter you can log on and use at the Sierra Club web site and another online form at the National Parks Conservation Association web site.

Information Links:

The web site of Faithful America with more information about this issue.

Read the letter of protest to the NPS Director from National Park Service employees that served in executive level leadership positions with the park service prior to their retirement.

The National Parks Conservation Association is also opposed to the proposed NPS policy changes.

Some Republican and Democratic Senators oppose changes to proposed NPS policies changes.

The complete text of proposed revisions to National Park Service management policies.

National Council of Churches home page.

From the FaithfulAmerca.org web site, February 16, 2006.

2006-02-14T18:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Grocery store, February 14, late in the afternoon. Photo (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Ah! Valentine's Day. I was at a local grocery store about an hour ago and the flower section was packed with men and women doing some last minute shopping. The card section was packed too and the card shelves looked like a tornado had gone through.

Despite all the reports in the media about how stressful this day can be (Men: "What if I don't choose the PERFECT gift?" Women: "What should I wear?"), I like Valentine's Day. The flowers I bought are in a vase, the card purchased, the gift ready to go, and I will take my favorite girl out to dinner later this evening. It's a good day. Maybe this day is less stressful since I am less perfectionistic than I used to be (at least that is what I keep telling myself). So what if things aren't just perfect? Flowers orders can get lost, dinner reservations get mixed up, things can and do go wrong. So? What really matters is the people we care about.

If you haven't done so already (and it doesn't matter what day you read this post) it's a good day to call, write, or email some of the special people in your life and tell them how much they mean to you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2006-02-13T17:53:00.000-05:00

MOVIE: GRIZZLY BEAR MAN

Grizzly Bear Man is a parody of the movie Grizzly Man. The parody is an 18MB download and you will meed QuickTime (a free download for Windows or Mac) installed on your computer to watch it. Featuring "Tommy Treadlow," much of the parody will only make sense if you've seen the original movie. This is definitely a low budget production with a "limited" cast.

Some of the scenes that parallel the original movie are the back scratching bear, Treadlow with the bears (different names, same bear costume), the pilot, Treadlow's "I wish I were gay" speech (yes that is part of the part of the original movie), the director with Treadlow's ex-girlfriend, and Treadlow with the fox. In a thoughtful and touching scene from the original movie, the director tells Treadwell's ex-girlfriend never to listen to the tape of Timothy's death. Some of the add-ons to this scene in the parody (like "the book" segment) are as humorous as the original scene is touching.

On the other hand, there are some offensive scenes in poor taste that I would have left out of the parody. It is not politically correct. More info is here.

2006-02-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

CANON DIGITAL FLASH

The message began like this:
"Help! My Canon 540EZ flash doesn't work on my new digital SLR."

That's right. I found that out myself. Canon "EZ" series flash units that were made for film cameras don't work at all or with very limited functions on the digital SLR bodies. You need one of the "EX" series flash units. Two good current models are the Canon 430EX and the Canon 580EX (see the links below).

A higher model number means a higher guide number (i.e. more light output). At maximum power, the 580EX puts out about one more stop of light than the 430EX. The 580EX has a few more electronic bells and whistles, like the ability to fire other flash units via an infrared remote signal. If you don't need the extra power or the extra bells and whistles, the 430EX will be just fine.

You can also buy discontinued EX models like the 550EX, the predecessor to the 580EX, or the 420EX. Look for used flash units at KEH.com and other used photo equipment dealers on my LINKS page.

2006-02-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

GRIZZLY MAN

"Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell

The award winning (Sundance Festival and L.A. Film Critics) documentary film Grizzly Man is showing on the Discovery Channel this weekend. If you like nature, Alaska, bears, nature photography, or human behavior that is beyond the edge, watch this movie. Director Werner Herzog's movie provides a fair, sensitive, non-sensationalized account that is worthy of the awards it has won.

Grizzly Man is about Timothy Treadwell, a self-styled bear expert and naturalist that spend 13 summers living with the bears in Katmai National Park. Much of the footage in the movie was taken by Treadwell who spent his last few years at Katmai recording over 100 hours of footage of his bears, his foxes, and himself. He did a number of retakes of scenes of himself, so he was obviously preparing to make a movie with himself as the on camera narrator.

Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37

On October 5, 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by one or more bears. The attack was recorded on 6 minutes of audio tape. His friends grieved his death, but they were not terribly surprised. Treadwell took a lot of unnecesary risks, despite warnings from Park Rangers. After a few years with the bears, he stops using an electrified fence and quits carrying pepper spray.

He loved his bears, called them by name and treated them like friends. In some of the footage, he reaches out byond the camera lens and touches the bears on the nose. He tells each one "I love you." It is a dangerous thing to treat wild and potentially dangerous animals like cuddly friends. He sets up camp in locations that he himself called very dangerous. In other ways he lived by the rules, being scrupulously careful about food storage and cooking. He knew the bears and their behavior very well. He is a strange contradiction, being both very knowledgeable and aware, and naively foolish.

While his love for bears grows, so do his paranoid suscpicions about humans. He finds a note on a log (Hi Timothy, see you in the summer of 2001) and a happy face drawn in ink on a rock and interprets both of these as threats on his life. He goes into an angry, vulgar (bleeped out), obscene gesture (fuzzed out) filled rant against the National Park Sevice, and then does another take of his rant. In Treadwell's world, bears are perfect, people are bad, and he is the only one who cares about and protects his bears from poachers, eco-tourists, and the National Park Service.

Some of the videography is quite stunning. The fight between "Mickey" and "Sgt. Brown" is powerful and terrifying. The landscape is beautiful. There are wonderful scenes of the bears at play and him at play with the foxes that den near his campsite.

The foxes that become habituated to his presence climb on his tent, chase him across the fields, and let him stroke their fur like they are pet dogs. There is some mutuality betwen him and the foxes and he grieves when one is killed. It also conflicts with his fairy tale view of nature. He doesn't like nature "red in tooth and claw" and he is disturbed when his "perfect" bears eat the cubs when there aren't enough salmon during a drought. He yells at God for not providing enough rain so the salmon can run upstream so the bears can feed.

On October 5, Treadwell called his best friend by satellite phone with good news to share. He spotted one of his favorite sows that had been missing and he feared she had been killed by poachers. Now that she had been spotted he was ready to be picked up. Arrangments are made for a pilot to come the next day.

Treadwell shot some more video footage that afternoon. Later that day or that night, he left the tent to check on a bear. He or Amie turned the camera was on but the lens cap was left on so the final 6 minutes of tape is audio only. Mercifully, the audio is left out of the movie. The very few persons who listened to the tape describe the final minutes.

Treadwell yells that he is being attacked. His girlfriend tells him to play dead and the bear ends the attack. When Treadwell moves the bear attacks again. Huguenard attacks the bear and hits it repeatedly on the head with a pan but to no avail. Amidst his moans, Treadwell sense the end and tells his girlfriend to run away. She will not leave him and continues to fight the bear. Her screams change to shrieks. The tape runs out.

The next day the pilot who comes to pick them up is charged by a large older bear. He runs back to his plane and takes off. He flies over the camp and sees the bear over a human rib cage. He buzzes the bear but can't scare it off. He calls state troopers and Park Rangers. When they come on the scene they are charged by the same bear and have to shoot it. While they gather the few remains, they are stalked by a 3 year old bear and have to shoot it too. They take the remains and all of the camping gear and leave. Hindered by bad weather, they can't return for two days.

When they come back, all of the younger bear has been eaten except for its head. There is nothing left to tell if he was involved in the deaths. The bigger bear is 28 years old, weighs 1,000 pounds and has broken teeth. When they cut him open, he is filled with human parts and clothing. Having eaten his fill, he was hiding what was left of the remains when the pilot arrived. There is no way of knowing if he killed the couple, or came along later to take advantage of a smaller bear's kill. The whole thing was a real trajedy.

Timothy Treadwell and one of his beloved bears

Grizzly Man is a fascinating look at this contradictory man and the the world he loved. Director Herzog's view of nature is the opposite of Treadwell's, but he is still sensitive to Treadwell the man and his complex motives.

For further reading:

The Myth of Timothy Treadwell
A tragic loss by Lynn Rogers
News Account: Grizzly mauls, kills a bear 'expert'
Blood Brothers

Treadwell's book and Herzog's movie:

2006-02-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

CANON 5D CAMERA SETTINGS

Three new articles on how to set up the Canon 5D camera:
Canon 5D Menu Settings
Canon 5D Custom Functions
Canon 5D Top Deck Controls

2006-01-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

ANSEL ADAMS: LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, AND ART

Ansel Adams, 1960, by Nancy Newhall

Letter from Ansel Adams to Cedric Wright, June 10, 1937:

"Dear Cedric,

A strange thing happened to me today. I saw a big thundercloud move down over Half Dome, and it was so big and clear and brilliant that it made me see many things that were drifting around inside of me; things that relate to those who are loved and those who are real friends.

For the first time I know what love is; what friends are; and what art should be.

Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone; the resonance of all spiritual and physical things. Children are not only of flesh and blood -- children may be ideas, thoughts, emotions. The person of the one who is loved is a form composed of a myriad mirrors reflecting and illuminating the powers and thoughts and the emotions that are within you, and flashing another kind of light from within. No words or deeds may encompass it.

Friendship is another form of love -- more passive perhaps, but full of the transmitting and acceptances of things like thunderclouds and grass and the clean granite of reality.

Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things. It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit. It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the interrelations of these.

Ansel"

--- --- ---

In the summer of 1936, Ansel Adams worked past the point of exhaustion preparing for a one-person photography exhibit at the request of Alfred Stieglitz, curator of "An American Place" gallery in New York. Stieglitz was the most highly respected photographer of his day and Adams was largely unknown. Partly due to the importance of the show, and partly because Patsy English, his darkroom assistant, pushed him to higher levels of excellence in his prints than he had ever achieved before, Adams produced what many consider to be the best set of prints of his life. Immersed in the project, they would sometimes work for days without sleep. Complicating the summer, Adams fell in love with his assistant. Physically worn out at the conclusion of the project, and torn between his conflicted feelings for his wife Virginia and for Patsy, Adams had a nervous breakdown.

Loyalty to his wife and children and a desire to "do what is right" took priority over his feelings for his assistant. Time spent in his beloved Yosemite brought emotional and physical healing. As he emerged from the breakdown months later, he wrote the letter above to Cedric Wright. It is now considered a classic and the final paragraph is quoted in a host of photo books and on dozens of web sites. The exhibit at the Stieglitz gallery was a huge success and Adams went on to become one of the most famous landscape photographers of the 20th Century.

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, 1927, by Ansel Adams. This photo was a major turning point in Adams conception of his own photography, and a validation of his decision to switch from concert pianist to professional photographer.

Sources:
PBS: Ansel Adams with an edited version of the letter to Cedric Wright
Transcript of Ken Burn's Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film
Text of the letter to Cedric Wright

The Ken Burns documentary is well worth watching.

2006-01-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

KISS KONICA-MINOLTA GOODBYE

In the saddest photo news of the last week, Konica-Minolta announced their departure from the camera and photo business. Minolta and Konica have both had a long and good history in the photography business. I hate to see good competition get out of the photo business.

The Konica-Minolta 7D digital SLR received excellent reviews as I pointed out in a brief review last July. One of the great features of the K-M7 is that AS (anti-shake) is built into the camera rather than into individual lenses (like Image Stabilization in some Canon lenses or Vibration Reduction in some Nikon lenses). I'm jealous. I wish I had Anti-Shake in my Canon bodies. This kind of breakthrough feature keeps other manufacturers on their toes. They also produced some very fine point and shoot digital cameras.

Photo assets will be transferred to Sony who will continue to market equipment with the Konica-Minolta mount but the Sony label. If you are thinking about adding to your collecction of Maxxum/Dynax lenses, now is a good time to do it.

2006-01-16T17:06:00.000-05:00

I HAVE A DREAM . . .

Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

The text below is from the end of King's "I have a dream" speech, one of the most significant and powerful speeches of the 20th century. Links to the full speech and an audio file are below.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." [Isaiah 40:4-5]**

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

**Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The complete text and a downloadable audio file of the whole speech can be found at American Rhetoric.

2005-12-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

GREAT COMPUTER MOUSE

Short List:

Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse

Christmas came early when I was given a Logitech MX1000 mouse. Installation was simple, plug in the power cord and plug the small base station/charger into the computer and charge the mouse. Windows XP found and installed the mouse automatically. Install the software to customize the buttons and controls.

I've gone through several mice while editing photos using various versions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. This mouse is terrific. It is fast and responsive with more precise control than any mouse I've used before. The laser technology provides a high degree of accuracy. No wonder it is so highly rated. Logitech info is here and there are great reviews all over the internet.

Save money, support this site, and buy yours here:

2005-12-25T21:13:00.000-05:00

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

Merry Christmas to each one of you! May the coming year bring us closer to "Peace on Earth" (Luke 2:8-14) for all of God's children in every place and of every race.

2005-12-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

MY NATURE CALENDAR IS AVAILABLE

2006 Nature Calendar Preview

You can order the calendar (and see a larger preview) by going to Lulu.com/Jim Doty.

If you've been following my posts about Lulu.com, you know about my experiment with file types and their printer.

If not, you can read more here and here.

The short story is that I sent a test calendar to Lulu with photos of my grandchildren as three different file types. When the test calendar came back last Saturday, I knew what kind of file to send to Lulu to get the best results. I uploaded the photos for my nature calendar Saturday evening. The calendar shipped from Lulu on Tuesday and arrived here today. That is pretty good service.

The calendar looks good. I am pleased with the overall results. For those of you who have been asking me to do a nature calendar, it is now available.

The preview above shows the cover and the monthly photos. You can order the calendar (and see a larger preview) by going to Lulu.com/Jim Doty.

If you want to do a calendar of your own photos but have someone else print it, I recommend Lulu. Be sure and send them properly edited sRGB files (see the above linked posts).

2005-12-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SANTA'S HELPERS

Santa's Helpers at Changes. Photo (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

I go to Changes to get my hair cut, not to take pictures. When I arrived today, several of the staff were dressed up like Santa's Helpers. They wanted a picture of themselves but none of them thought to bring a camera. They asked me if I had a camera with me (I usually do), so I took a few quick photos.

2005-12-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

BEST TRIPOD HEAD QUICK RELEASE SYSTEM

Short List
Arca-Swiss

The Arca-Swiss quick release system is the best and most universal quick release system. The system is simple and you can start for less than $80 and use almost any tripod head you now own.

The Arca-Swiss system has a clamp on the tripod head and a mounting plate on the bottom of your camera or lens. The jaws of the clamp grab two long ridges on the side of the mounting plate. It is quick and secure.

Arca-Swiss, Graf, Foba, Acratech, Markin, Kirk Enterprises, and Really Right Stuff all make some tripods heads that use an Arca-Swiss style clamp. Some of the heads by Linhof, Giotto, and Bogen-Manfrotto can easily be modified to take an Arca-Swiss style clamp. And finally, an Arca-Swiss clamp can be screwed on the top of almost any tripods head that has a 1/4 x 20 thread mounting stud for the camera.

I addition to the clamp, you need a mounting plate to go on the bottom of your camera and any long lenses that mount directly on the tripod.

The cheapest way to get started is to buy a $40 QRC-1 Quick Release Clamp and a $39 PZ-3 universal mounting plate (sorry, there is no photo of the PZ-3 on the Kirk site) from Kirk Enterprises. Screw the QRC-1 firmly on top of your existing tripod head and the PZ-3 on the bottom of your camera or long lens and your quick relese system is ready to use. Just drop the mounting plate between the jaws, tighten the jaws, and you are ready to shoot.

For $55 or $60, you can get the QRC-1.75 or QRC-2 and have a little wider clamp. I think it is worth the money to get the QRC-2 clamp. For your information the QRC-3 and QRC-4 are drilled for a 3/8 inch mounting stud and are too large to mount on most tripod heads.

A step up from a universal mounting plate is to get a plate that is machined specifically for your camera. These plates have a lip so your camera won't rotate when you flip your camera over to the vertical postion. You can order these custom made plates from Kirk Enterprises and Really Right Stuff. Unless the initial cost is a serious consideration, I recommend getting a custom mounting plate that is machined for you camera body. A universal plate will hold an SLR body and a small lens in the vertical position provided the plate is screwed on tight, but the custom plates are more elegant and will handle the larger lenses.

For a step up from the custom mounting plates, get a custom made L-plate/L-bracket (I will use the word plate for both). These L-plates wrap around the bottom and left side of the camera, add minimal size and weight, and allow you to go from horizontal to vertical without flopping over the tripod head. The two best sources for L-plates are Really Right Stuff and Kirk Enterprises. The L-plates are designed so you can change batteries, connect a cable release, or access other camera connections without removing the bracket/plate.

What if you have two cameras?

If they are the same model, you can move the mounting plate back and forth. It takes me less than 60 seconds to take the bracket off of one one camera and mount it on another camera. I switch back and forth too often to want to do that, so I just got two plates. If you have two different camera models and one is a less used backup, put a universal plate on the backup and get a custom plate for your primary camera. If you use both cameras a lot, you will need two plates.

If you have long lenses that mount directly on the tripod, you will need either a universal or custom plate to go on your long lenses. Again, the best source is Kirk Enterprises or Really Right Stuff. I have custom plates on my long lenses and a universal plate on my Canon 1x-5x macro lens.

Some day you will want a ball head that has the Arca-Swiss style clamp built in. My current ball head of choice is the Kirk BH-3. I highly recommend it. I picked it because it is the most reasonably priced, highly-rated ball head that will suit my purposes. I've used mine for months and it is a high-quality, modest-sized, relatively light weight ball head that easily handles an SLR/DSLR with a 70-200mm f/2.8 or 100-400mm zoom lens. For a larger lens, you will need a bigger ball head.

I haven't used any of the ball heads from Really Right Stuff but they are sending me a set to test in January.

Do I have a preference for either company? Mostly no. I've been to Kirk Enterprises in Angola, IN and visited with the owner of Really Right Stuff by phone. Both companies are really good to work with. I own products from both companies and they are very good.

My sole preference is when it comes to L-plates. The Kirk Enterprises L-plate grips the strap ring on the Canon 20D for added stability. This photo shows an extra attachment that goes on the L-plate for the camera strap. Since I occasionally remove the L-plate, I want the camera strap attached to the camera, not to the L-plate. For this reason, I prefer the Really Right Stuff L-plate for the Canon 20D and 5D. For everything else I have no strong preferences between the two brands. You can't go wrong with either company.

2005-12-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

BEST MEMORY CARDS FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS

Short List:
SanDisk
Lexar

There are other good brands but these two are very popular with working pros due to their high reliability. Be sure you get the right kind of card for your camera (CompactFlash, Smart Media, etc.).

2005-12-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

BEST DIGITAL PHOTO STORAGE

Don't lose your digital photos to disc rot or a hard drive crash. Choose the best archival options.

Short CD List:
MAM-A Gold Archive
Delkin eFilm Archival Gold
MAM-A Silver Archive
Verbatim DataLifePlus (with Super AZO dyes)
Taiyo Yuden

Short DVD List:
MAM-A Gold Archive
MAM-A Silver Archive

Short List of External Hard Drives:
Maxtor
Seagate

It is a terrible feeling to go looking for that prized photo you took three years ago, only to discover the data on the CD-R is gone. The same can be said for a hard drive crash and the resulting loss of unretrievable files. I've heard too many sad stories from both friends and strangers that have lost important photos. A couple of days ago I received yet another frantic "What happened to my photos . . . " email.

If you want your photos to be around 5, 10, 20 or more years from now, you need to back up your photos on the best drives and media. The best current approach to archiving your photos is to use both external hard drives and removable optical media (CD-R and DVD discs). After reading a number of web sites and wading through dozens of pages of government optical media tests and recommendations, here are my suggestions.

Maxtor and Seagate make some of the most reliable external hard drives. Any hard drive can fail, even from one of the more reliable manufacturers, so the best plan is to have two external drives. Archive your best photos to one external drive and have the second external drive mirror the first. Maxtor one touch drives have software that make mirroring a simple process. (While you are at it, think about having another external drive that mirrors your internal hard drives.)

Burn your photos to two archival CD-R or DVD discs. Store one disc on site and the other disc at another location. In the event of a local disaster (think Hurricane Katrina), you will have a set of your photos in another location.

I've listed the best CD and DVD discs in order of quality, starting with the best. MAM-A Gold discs are the best for both CDs and DVDs. Delkin eFilm Gold is equal or close in quality. MAM-A Silver comes in second. MAM-A discs are made in the U.S. You can learn more about MAM-A here.

Verbatim DataLifePlus comes in third. Read the labels carefully and make sure you are getting the discs with the Super AZO dyes.

Taiyo Yuden is the only company making CD-R discs in Japan. They are higher in quality and much higher in consistency than the discs that are made in Taiwan, Mexico, and other countries. Taiyo Yuden makes discs for Maxell, Sony, Imation, and other companies, but not all of the discs sold by these companies come from Taiyo Yuden. Just read the label. If it says "Made in Japan", it was made by Taiyo Yuden. I just bought some "Maxell CD-R pro" discs that are "Made in Japan."

For short term use, transferring files, and sending photos to publishers, I use less expensive Maxell, Memorex, and other discs. For long term storage I use archival discs plus external hard drives.

A slightly different version of this article appears here, and an article on the use and care of CD-R discs is here.

You can save some money (and support my web sites) by getting your MAM-A and Delkin discs and Maxtor external hard drives from Amazon.com by clicking the links below. (I stopped at two major computer discount chains today and their prices were $20 higher than the Amazon price for the 200GB Maxtor drive and $40 higher for the 300GB drive.)

MAM-A Gold CD-R and DVD-R discs, Delkin eFilm Gold CD-R discs

Taiyo Yuden 100-Pack Silver CD-R & 50-Pack Silver DVD-R 4.7GB

Maxtor One Touch II USB 2.0 External Hard Drives, Seagate USB 2.0 and FireWire Drive

2005-12-10T16:28:00.000-05:00

YOUR OWN CALENDAR AT LULU - PART 2

If you haven't read the first part of this article, scroll down to the December 3 post.

The test calendar I put together and ordered last Saturday arrived in the mail today. In a word, the calendar looks really good! I also think a 7 day turn around time is pretty good.

In comparison to high quality calendars, like those produced by Browntrout, and lesser quality color calendars, I would say the Lulu calendar isn't quite as good as the Browntrout calendars, but much better than some of the lesser quality calendars.

I suspect the people who complain about the quality of Lulu's calendars probably aren't sending good quality files.

It is important that you send them a quality jpeg file. Your monitor needs to have reasonably accurate color. If not, red on your monitor might end up being orange or purple on a print from some commercial printer. If the color on your monitor is off, faces in print could come back looking pretty strange. The colors on the Lulu calendar are close to what I see on my monitor.

I sent three file types to Lulu. The sRGB files looked best in the calendar. When I do "real" calendars in the future (as opposed to my test calendar), I will know what to do to give them the best file.

I will work in Adobe RGB as I always do. I will save my optimized photo in layers as a PSD file, just as I would for making a print at home. Then I will flatten the layers and convert the file from Adobe RGB to sRGB. I will resize the photo to 11.25 x 8.75 inches at 300 ppi, sharpen to taste, and save the file as a jpeg file (quality level of 10) with a different name. This is the version I will send to Lulu.

Now that I have a calendar in mind hands, I can highly recommend Lulu as a good way to make your own calendars.

2005-12-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Your photos will look their best if you optimize them with some good image editing software.

Short list:
Photoshop Elements 3
Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2

For editing your photos, it is hard to beat Elements and Photoshop, both from Adobe.

Photosohop Elements is one of the best of the mid-priced (about $100) image editing software programs. It is the "lite" version of Photoshop I use it regularly. Of the four versions, I recommend version 3. Elements will give the you basic features and tools of Photoshop. If you buy a $17 book, you can add more of the features of Photoshop. If you have version 1 or 2 it is well worth the upgrade to get version 3. I am not yet ready to recommend version 4.

Adobe Photoshop is the most popular software among professionals. It is arguably the best software available. It can do amazing things. When I need the more advanced features that Elements doesn't have, I use Photoshop. The only kicker? The price tag. There is a discount available at the present time from the links on my photo website and below.

Read more about Elements and Photoshop here.

Photoshop Elements 3, Windows (left), Mac (right)

Photoshop CS2 upgrade, Windows (left), Mac (right)

Photoshop CS2 full version, Windows (left), Mac (right)

2005-12-09T18:14:00.000-05:00

TRIPOD RECOMMENDATIONS

Next to your camera and lens(es), a tripod is probably your most valuable photographic accessory. It makes all kinds of photography possible that can't be done with a handheld camera.

Tripod short list:
Manfrotto 3001/3021/3221GN3/3221WN
Gitzo G1228 Mountaineer

Tripod head short list:
Manfrotto 3025/3028 3-way-heads
Slik Proball 800 ball head
Kirk BH-3 ball head (Arca-Swiss type quick release)

These tripods are all steady. The Manfrotto 3001 as somewhat short (better for people who want a lighter tripod that is a little shorter), but the other two operate at a good height. They have no center bracing so the legs can be splayed out to get close to the ground. The legs also splay separately for uneven terrain. The Gitzo is made of carbon fiber so it is a lot shorter (and a lot more expensive). All of these tripods allow you to use the head of your choice, and change heads if necessary.

There are other good tripods, many of the made by Manfrotto and Gitzo. Be sure and pick a tripod with the features you need.

The 3-way heads control movements in all three directions (left-right, up-down, horizontal-vertical) with three separate knobs. They give you a lot of control for landscape, architecture, closeup, and similar knids of photography. A bell head controls everything with one knob so they are much better for wildlife and other kninds of photography where quick control in all three directions is important.

For more information, read my recently revised article on Tripods and and Tripod Heads.

What is a good place to buy a tripod?
Your local camera store is one option. If you would like to help support this website, and save some money in the process, consider getting your camera at Amazon or Adorama. Just click on a link at the bottom of my home page and order your camera. Other good sources are in the "CAMERA STORES" section on the top right side of this page. The BH-3 tripod head is available only from Kirk Enterprises.

Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!

*** *** ***

Kirk Enterprises BH-3 Ball head (available only from the manufacturer)

Manfrotto Tripods and Heads

Slik Pro Ball 800 Head with Quick Release

GITZO G1228 MK2 Mountaineer Reporter Tripod

2005-12-08T18:26:00.000-05:00

CAMERA RECOMMENDATIONS

It's that time of year. "What kind of camera, lens, software . . . . . do you recommend." The questions come all year long, the pace just picks up a lot this time of year. This is the first of a series of articles based on emails I have writen. Film and digital, P&S and SLR, my highly opinionated suggestions follow.

The primary choices are film or digital, point-and-shoot or SLR. The choice is yours. Here are just a few thoughts to consider.

Film or Digital?

If you like film and want to stay with film, then do so. Don't worry about the folks that say "film is dead" or urge you to get on the digital bandwagon. If you are happy with film, stay with film.

On the other hand if you like to work on the computer, you get some of your film images scanned to disc, and you want to edit and print your own photos, then maybe it's time to jump to digital.

Some folks love to tinker around with photos on the computer. Others just want to get their prints back with minimum fuss. Film is quick to have processed and printed. Digital is time intensive if you edit and print your own photos.

Digital gives you fast feedback - click and look. Film is delayed gratification.

Film cameras cost less, film processing costs a lot over time. Digital cameras cost a lot more than film cameras and get replaced a lot more often. It is very economical to burn your digital photos to disc. In terms of total cost over time, one may not have a significant advantage over the other.

Only you can decide if it is time to jump over the digital divide.

Point and Shoot or SLR?

If you want an all-in-one, do-it-all camera with no decisions to make, point and shoot may be the way to go. Of course many point and shoot cameras give you a lot more control than they used to. Most DSLRs have a simple mode so they can be used like a P&S. The big question is do you want thye flexibility of being able to change lenses? If you do, then you need an SLR or Digital SLR. SLRs and DSLRs are bigger, heavier, and usually more expensive than point and shoot cameras.

Point and Shoot Film Cameras

Short List:
Canon Sure Shot 130m
Contax T3
Minolta Zoom 110 Date
Olympus Stylus Epic (the best, inexpensive non-zoom cameras)
Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 115
Pentax Espio 24 EW (widest zoom lens on a P&S)
Samsung Evoca 90W Neo
Yashica T4 Zoom

To figure out what features you need in a P&S camera, read my article here. Part 2 is a bit dated but the cameras mentioned are still good cameras.

Manual SLR Film Cameras

Short List:
Canon AE-1
Canon AE-1 Program
Canon A1
Canon F-1N (New F-1)

For a retro approach to film photography, these oldies but goodies will take good pictures. Be sure and get them from a reputable source, preferably with a warranty of some sort.

I've used Canon film cameras for a long time. I know them and like them. There are other excellent cameras of course. I just haven't used them.

If you want to go the all manual route, you can still find some AE-1 and AE-1 Program cameras out there. The Canon F-1N (sometimes called the New F-1) pro line camera is a great manual everything, professional grade camera. My AE-1 and F-1N cameras are now 15-20 years old and they still work fine. The Canon "FD" manual focus lens line is highly respected and you can get them for a song compared to the autofocus lenses. NOTE: FD lenses go on the older manual focus bodies like the A-series, T-series, and F-1's. The EF Canon lenses go on the autofocus and digital bodies. THE TWO SYSTEM ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE.

So far as the other cameras brands are concerned, these cameras have good reputations but I haven't used them so I can't vouch for them myself:

Nikon FM (shutter works without batteries)
Nikon FE/FE2
Nikon FA
Minolta Maxxum 7000/7000i
Minolta Maxxum 9000
Olympus OM2n
Pentax Super Program
Pentax LX
Nikon FA

Autofocus SLR Film Cameras

Short list:
Canon EOS Rebel T2
Canon EOS Elan IIe
Canon EOS Elan 7e/7ne
Canon EOS-3
Minolta Maxxum 7/9
Nikon N80/F100
Pentax *ist/ZX-5n/MZ-s
Sigma SA-9

For autofocus cameras, my short list includes the Elan IIe, and EOS-3 cameras. I own and use them, and they are great camera bodies. You can use the lenses in manual or autofocus modes. You can meter manually or use program, aperture priority, or shutter priority modes. What more could you want in a film camera?

You can pick up a used Elan IIe for a very reasonable price. I've recommended them to friends who were ready to go from P&S film to SLR film and they all like this camera. I've purchased the Elan IIe for myself and to give away. It is a great little camera. I haven't used the Elan 7e in either version but I've read good reports. If getting a used camera makes you nervous, the Elan 7e/7ne is a good mid priced option.

The EOS-3 is a step up from the Elan cameras. It is more rugged, faster, and better weather sealed. It has more autofocus sensors and focuses faster. My EOS-3 is my number one, autofocus film camera.

I haven't used the Canon Rebel T2 or the other cameras on the list so I can't vouch for them personally. They are highly rated by the sources I trust.

Digital Point and Shoot Cameras

Short List (sensor size in megapixels, lens range):
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 (7 mp sensor, 3x zoom)
Canon PowerShot A620 (7 mp, 4x)
Canon PowerShot S80 (8 mp, 3.6x)
Sony Cyber-shot DSC V3 (7 mp, 4x)
Canon PowerShot G6 (7 mp, 4x)
Canon PowerShot S2 IS (5mp, 12x)
Sony Cyber-shot DSC H1 (5mp 12x)
Panosonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 (5 mp, 12x)
Sony Cyber-shot DSC R1 (10 mp CMOS sensor, 7x)

These are all of the cameras that received a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (the highest) from DP Review in the last 12 months. They are listed in order of approximate size. It is a good beginning list for picking a digital P&S. Don't buy any of these cameras without reading the full review at DP Review.

You can expand on this list by deciding what kind of P&S you are interested in: compact, medium sized, or an almost full-sized camera with a long zoom lens that looks like a DSLR.

Look at reviews of the kind of camera you are interested in at DP Review. Make a short list of the cameras of the type you want that have at least a RECOMMENDED or HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating from DP Review. Take your short list to your local camera store and look at just those cameras. Don't let some salesperson talk you into looking at something that is not on your short list. Buy a camera you like from the short list.

It will help if you read my article on choosing digital cameras.

Digital SLR Cameras

Short list:
Canon 10D/20D/5D
Fuji FinePix S3 Pro
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
Nikon D50/D200
Olympus E-1/Evolt
Pentax *ist D/S

DSLRs come in low, medium, and high priced ranges. I will mostly cover the first two. These are relative price ranges of course since a low price digital SLR can cost as much as a mid range film SLR.

The good news is that most of the current crop of digital cameras will do a fine job. If you already have a set of lenses for a film SLR and are going to make the jump to digital, it makes sense to get a digital body that you can use your current lenses on.

I will cover Canon cameras first.

I've used the Canon D30, 10D, 20D, and 5D cameras and own all but the D30.

The D30 was fine for its day, but technology has passed it by. If you can find a used D30 for $300, it could be a great camera for you provided you understand its two primary limitations: image size and digital noise at high ISOs.

You can make excellent prints from the D30 up to 8x12 or 10x15 inches. With excellent technique and the right subject, you can make 12x18 inch prints. If that is big enough for you , the D30 will work.

The D30 has higher digital noise levels at high ISO settings. If you work mostly around ISO 100 or 200, this won't matter to you. ISO 400 is still pretty good. At 800 and higher, noise is much more obvious. If you need low noise levels at high ISOs, then think twice before getting a D30. Or use Neat Image (there are free and paid versions) to remove the noise. Lastly, a good friend of mine just acquired a used D30 and loves it.

Then 10D and 20D are both very fine cameras. The difference are spelled out in this article. If the particular advantages of the 20D are not important to the kind of photography you do, by all means save some money and get a new or used 10D (around $650 used, in fact I have one for sale). On the other hand, if you need the 20D advantages, then get the 20D (around $1300).

One last thought on the 20D, there are a lot of rumors that a replacement will be announced in February. If you want a 20D, I think it is worth waiting to see if the replacement is significantly better. If it is, get the replacement. Iff not, the prices on the 20D will drop and you can get a 20D.

The 5D has some advantages over the 20D, most notably a full frame sensor. The disadvantage is a big increase in price ($3300 vs $1300). My 20D vs 5D comparison article is here.

That covers the camera I have used. What about the Digital Rebel XT? I haven't used it myself so I can't vouch for it personally. It has a good reputation. If cost is a consideration, consider getting the Rebel XT.

EF vs EF-S Lenses

One last important Canon digital camera point. Canon EF lenses fit on all of the Canon digital SLR cameras. EF-S lenses will fit on the 20D and Digital Rebel XT. They will NOT fit on the D30, 10D, or 5D. If you have an eye on one of the EF-S lenses, particularly the 10-22mm lens, then you should choose a camera that will let you use EF-S lenses.

How about all of the other brands? They all make some fine digital cameras. Pick one that you can put your existing SLR lenses on. If you don't have any SLR lenses, then consider one of the Canon cameras above.

If you have Nikon lenses, the D50 is a good low priced model. The D70 is a good mid range model but I think it is worth waiting for the D200 instead.

Two magazines have published articles comparing DLSRs. Be sure and read my summary of these articles here.

Where to Buy?

What is a good place to buy a camera?

Your local camera store is one option. If you would like to help support this website, consider getting your camera at Amazon or Adorama. Just click on a link at the bottom of my home page and order your camera. Other good sources are in the "CAMERA STORES" section on the top right side of this page.

For used equipment, I recommend Adorama, B&H, and KEH which are listed under the above CAMERA STORES link.

Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!

2005-12-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

CREATING A CALENDAR AT LULU

Drew in the Dragon Slide. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

What to do with all of your digital photos! Have you thought about making your own calendar?

My children are working on their annual Christmas calendar with photos of our grandchildren. In the past they have printed their own, using a template and adding family dates to the calendar.

This year they are thinking about using Lulu to print the calendars since Lulu allows you to add your own unique events to the days on the calendar.

They asked me to edit the photos to get them ready for Lulu's printer.

I have read varying reports on the quality of calendars printed by Lulu, anywhere from "pretty disappointing" to "quite good." I think part of the problem is the quality of the files that people send to Lulu.

I've seen my website on enough different monitors to know that the color accuracy of monitors ranges from excellent to awful. If people edit a photo on their own monitor, and the monitor's color balance or brightness is way off, the resulting photos they get back will be pretty disappointing. I happen to know my monitor is in good shape. The photos I send out to several service bureaus come back looking like the photos I see on my own monitor.

I haven't sent photos to Lulu before. I've read a lot of advice, some of it conflicting, as to what kind of file to send to Lulu for the best results. Today I sent a calendar to Lulu as a test. I sent five photos (or photo pairs as one image file) in three different file types: Adobe RGB, sRGB, and U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2.

I optimized each image as an Adobe RGB file first, the file type I use for doing my own archival printing. Then I converted each photo to an sRGB file and saved it again with a different file name.

Lastly I turned on Proof Colors in the Photoshop menu (go to View > Proof Colors and make sure "Proof Colors" is checked). Then I went to View > Proof Setup > Custom. For a profile I chose Working CMYK - U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2. I checked: Use Black Point Compensation, Ink Black, and Paper White. I unchecked: Preserve Color Numbers. The color went flat and dark. I re-edited the photos to bring back the color, saturation, and contrast and saved them again with a different file name.

I logged on to Lulu, created an account, and created a test calendar. I used each image three times, once as each different file type. When the calendar was complete, I ordered a copy for myself. When the calendar arrives in the mail, I will compare photos and see which file type gives me the best results on Lulu's printer.

I will keep you posted as to which file type is best and if I like the overall results.

You can see the test calendar here. The calendar is viewable by the public so my children can order a copy for themselves and see how the different file types came out. I will eventually make the calendar non-viewable by the public since it is purely experimental. Besides, who would want to order a calendar that has the same photo three months in a row. Now is your chance to preview it.

Creating an account and a calendar at Lulu was quite easy. If you would like a way to create a calendar for your friends, Lulu is a simple way to go. It doesn't cost anything to create the calendar. You only pay for what you order and you can order as little as one copy. Prices are quite reasonable.

It should take 7 to 10 days to get my calendar. I will report back then. If I like what I get, I will create a nature calendar for 2006. If I do, it will appear here.

2005-11-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

REMARKABLE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

This is the most remarkable Christmas light display by a home owner that I have ever seen. It is computer synchronized to the music and the most spectacular part is at the end. You will need a broadband connection and Windows Media Player. Go here or here or here.

Merry Christmas!

2005-11-30T13:48:00.001-05:00

MAGIC DIGITAL ERASER

It would be nice to have a magic digital eraser to remove unwanted objects from photographs. Just click on the object and it is gone.

It can be done, it just takes lots of clicks, some time, some skill, and the "digital eraser" tools that come with most image editing software. The photo above was edited entirely with Photoshop Elements 2, excellent software that you can get for less than $100. (I have the full version of Photoshop CS but didn't need it for this task.)

I was asked if I could remove the hands and arms from this photo. The task was more challenging than the usual digital removal request, but I decided to give it a go.

Simple removals, like taking a power line out of blue sky, are easy. Just use the CLONE STAMP tool, click to select some blue sky pixels next to the power line, then click again to drop the blue sky pixels right on power line. Voila! That part of the power line disappears. Simple. Repeat up and down the power line until it is gone. The same is true for removing a small skin blemish from a face. Click on some clear skin nearby, then click on the blemish and it is gone.

The challenge with this photo was the need to create whole new areas from scratch, or so it seems.

Part of the hands and arms were easy to remove. Grab some orange from the tiger costume, some burgundy from the caballero costume, or some of the dark shades from the background, and clone them right over the adjacent hands and arms.

In other areas, using the CLONE STAMP tool was more like free hand drawing. Grab an orange and black edge and drag it over the hand, extending the existing line. This works well if you don't have to drag too far. If you make a mistake, simply undo the last step, or back up a few steps in the history palette and try it again. It takes a steady hand and a bit of an artistic touch. The more you do this, the better you get.

The trickiest part of this photo was creating the missing one and a half fingers on the right hand. Use the CLONE STAMP tool and drop or draw pixels from the fully visible fingers.

For larger sections, instead of using the CLONE STAMP tool, it is easier just to grab a "selection" from somewhere else in the photo. The missing part of the right shoulder was taken from the left shoulder. This is easier than the description of it sounds.

Using the LASSO tool, draw a SELECTION around the area to be borrowed from the left shoulder. From the menu go to LAYER > NEW > LAYER VIA COPY. This turns the selection into a new layer. Pick the MOVE tool. Hold down the ALT key, left click, and drag the left shoulder layer over to the right shoulder area. The shoulder is backwards so you will need to flip it. From the menu choose IMAGE > ROTATE > FLIP SELECTION HORIZONTAL.

To make minor changes, go to the menu and pick IMAGE > TRANSFORM > FREE TRANSFORM to resize or make slight changes in the rotation of the layer so it fits the new location. Change the OPACITY of the layer to see what is underneath it.

Once your layer (shoulder) is in place, change the OPACITY back to 100%. Use LEVELS (under ENHANCE > ADJUST BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST) to match the layer brightness as closely as possible to the new location. Then go to LAYER > FLATTEN IMAGE. Use the CLONE STAMP tool to do any necessary blending and matching of colors where the new selection was dropped in place.

The same technique took the left sleeve to create the right sleeve. The area under the right sleeve (next to the yellow cloth) came from the area under the left arm.

Using selections and layers to take one area of a photo and use in another is a lot easier than trying to create the area free hand. This works for small touches too. The star on the caballero costume was selected, turned into a new layer, distorted in shape (IMAGE > TRANSFORM > SKEW) and moved to two other places of newly created costume.

There really is a magic digital eraser. The tools in the image editing software provide the eraser. You provide the magic!

Support this site. Buy your image editing software from the links at the bottom of this page. Or use the Amazon link at the bottom of the pages of my photo website and search for the software of your choice. Thanks.

2005-11-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY: CLIFTON MILL

Clifton Mill Ohio. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Clifton Mill, built in 1802, is one of the largest powered grist mills still in existence.

Of several mills that were built along the Little Miami River near the Village of Clifton, Clifton Mill is the only one still in existence. Clifton is in the Dayton area and just east of Yellow Springs.

From late November through January 1 there is a nightly lighting display from 6 PM to 9:30 PM. More information is here. You can eat at the mill, shop at the store, and watch 3 million lights go on. Go early so you can park near the entrance. More mill infomation is here.

Both sides of the river bank are covered with lights. You can see one of two waterfalls to the left of the lighted mill wheel (the other is not visible in this photo). This photo was taken from a window on the covered briidge. The camera was tripod mounted to allow a long shutter speed.

If you want to make it a day, check out the art galleries and shops in Yellow Springs, then head east to Clifton for the light show. Some of the shops in Yellow Springs have a distinctive kind of "60's hippie" feel.

Canon 10D, ISO 100, daylight white balance. Canon EF 17-40mm lens at 17mm. Aperture: f/8, Shutter: 8 seconds.

2005-11-26T17:05:00.000-05:00

DVD RECORDERS

DVDs are replacing videotapes. DVD Recorders are replacing VCRs which will probably go the way of the 8-track. Some DVD Recorders will record TV shows to a hard drive and allow you to edit out the commercials before you record to a DVD. You can slo record your videotapes to DVD with a DVD Recorder. If you are worried about your treasured videotapes wearing out or deteriorating over time, now is the time to convert them to DVDs.

Prices are going down and quality is going up. So how do you pick a good unit? A list of good review sites is here. The same site also has its own reviews.

2005-11-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

PHOTO MECHANIC BETA

Photo Mechanic is an excellent image viewer and editor for Windows PCs and Macs. You can download the current beta (version 4.4) here.