outdoor photography

Geneva Wilderness Area Chapel I drove out to Geneva Wilderness Area this morning before work.  I was hoping to try out my Christmas present that came in the mail yesterday: a Canon Powershot S100.  This is an advanced, compact point and shoot camera.  It has a number of features that I like: GPS tagging, a sharp, moderate wide-angle zoom lens (5x), a large sensor with relatively low noise (for a p&s camera), and the capability to shoot RAW images. I've been thinking it would be good to take scenic shots while photographing birds, and I didn't want to be slowed down by carrying two cameras or, worse, constantly switching lenses. I was really hoping to give the camera a work out this morning, but it was so dreary, cloudy, and drizzly that I didn't use it much.  I'm including one image above just because it seems like I should have something to show for my efforts.  What I find interesting in the above image is not the beauty of the photo (I don't like it t...

Ovenbird Canon EOS 7D with EF 400mm f/5.6L (f5.6 | ISO 1600 | 1/125 sec) I just received a new (used) Canon EOS 7D yesterday afternoon.  I was eager this morning to test it out at Central Winds Park.  It was a pretty good morning, but nothing like it's been earlier this week.  There was a small group of people there, and between all of us we found 9 warbler species: Yellow, Prothonotary,Yellow-throated, Black-throated Blue, Prairie, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Northern Parula.  I didn't see all of these myself, partly because I wanted to go back into the woods to find an Ovenbird and challenge my new camera at higher ISOs.  Compared to the 50D I've been using, I was extremely happy with the results.  If you want to compare these shots to what I've been able to get on th 50D, see my Ovenbird photos from Sept. 5th. In those shots, I decreased the sharpness and clarity in the out of focus leaves and background to minimize noise ...

Canon EOS 40D Today I would like to pay tribute to a wonderful camera--my Canon EOS 40D.  It's been good to me for 4 years, and I've taken in the neighborhood of 200,000 photographs with this camera.  It's been my trusted companion, whether photographing nature, birds, wildlife, or my kids' birthday parties. But sadly, on June 21, 2012, the mirror mechanism failed, so it no longer moves to expose the shutter when I take a picture. There was a green screen set up in the studio of my office this morning, so I decided to take a studio portrait. Perhaps one day I'll have some fun and put interesting photographs behind the camera in this shot. Here are a couple photographs from the last day I took pictures with this camera. Zebra Longwing Silver Spotted Skipper I thought it may also be good to take this moment to share a little bit about how a camera "ages." We're familiar with how cars age more by miles than by years. Cameras age more by ...

Patapsco State Park (camera phone) It happens to me more often than I care to admit.  I find myself struck by a beautiful scene, and I have no camera but my cell phone.  My cell phone camera stinks--well, all cell phone cameras stink.  They're phones, for crying out loud.  But at least iPhone users can use a camera made by a company that hopes you'll actually use the camera for photographs.  I have a cheap, Pantech android phone with a 5.0 megapixel camera.  If you use the digital zoom at all, the photo becomes unusable, so you have one focal length to use, and you have to make it work. Cranes Roost, Altamonte Springs (camera phone) Now I don't say this to complain; I don't have iPhone envy.  I'm happy with my phone.  But I used to walk away from beautiful scenes without even using my phone's camera.  I've realized recently that this is a mistake.  You may not be able to get incredible pictures with your cell phone, but you c...

Orlando Wetlands Park I'm sure you've seen photographs on the internet where the horizon is just a little bit off.  The camera was just a little bit crooked, so the horizon slopes to the left or to the right.  Now let me be clear--there's no absolute rule that says the horizon has to be straight.  There are good reasons why you may choose to take a landscape photo at an odd angle.  But if you do, it should be clear that this was intentional on your part.  A slightly tilted horizon simply looks a little strange.  Now, if you happen to have photos with a tilted horizon, you can fix it easily in just about any imaging software program.  You can even do it after posting your image online with many sites.  However, I still believe you're better off shooting the picture horizontal the way you want it--that way you don't have to crop the edges of your image to get the horizon straight. Orlando Wetlands Park Now your camera can be level in two d...

To make sure I had this in focus, I needed to make sure my viewfinder's diopter was set properly Not all photographer's eyes see and focus the same way; some are farsighted and some are nearsighted.  This can seriously affect your ability to see that your image is sharp in the viewfinder.  And it's hard to see through a viewfinder with glasses on.  Thankfully, the fine makers of digital cameras have included a diopter adjustment on most DSLRs that allow you to account for this. On most cameras, the adjustment dial is near the viewfinder; in some cases, it may be necessary to remove the rubber guard from the eyepiece.  If you haven't done that before, don't worry.  It's easy to get it on and off.  Check your camera manual to locate the diopter adjustment dial for your viewfinder.  Once you locate the dial, look through the viewfinder and autofocus on something nice and sharp.  Then adjust the dial until the focus points and the text displ...

Rose at Brookside Gardens (1/25sec, mirror lockup) Under most circumstances, having your camera  on a good tripod will allow you to take sharp pictures.  But when shooting with shutter speeds between 1/2sec and 1/60sec or so, the camera itself can cause a problem.  Your SLR camera is equipped with a mirror that allows you to see through the lens of your camera before you take your picture.  This mirror covers the sensor of your camera.  Whenever you trip your shutter, that mirror has to get out of the way of the sensor, so it slaps up against the top of your camera.  That action can cause vibrations in your camera.  For fast shutter speeds, the picture is taken before these vibrations can cause an issue.  For very slow shutter speeds, the camera is still long enough that these vibrations do not significantly effect the image.  But somewhere in the range of 1/2sec to 1/60sec (actual values will vary based on your camera, lens and tripod...