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September 2007 ArchivesAn Important Note Concerning the Photos Here.Read the byline on the entries. I do not want folks crediting me with the creations from Wil's hand. I have already received a couple of emails about his photos, telling me how great photo such and such is, and I want it to be known that those are his work, not mine. Depth of Field
A challenging aspect to photography is Depth of Field. I have been playing with allowing a viewer to explore very different aspects of a scene all within the same picture. I like the play here between the very near and low angle and the distant and glowing structure. The colors are vivid also. Just a note: This photo took me about three hours to shoot from front to end. America's Sweetheart - Erica Jenkins
America's Sweethearts
Mother of All Tripods
So the other night i had to get some elevation but still use a tripod...the solution? a ten foot ladder, a six foot ladder, a roll of duck tape, and some cat like balance and reflexes...it may have looked like a really rough setup but in the end "size matters". What was i shooting you ask? 21 million dollars worth of house...i was going to buy it myself but had forgotten my checkbook in my other pants. maybe next time... Final Version
Here is the final photo...i generally prefer to put pictures in a black matted frame as it sets a mood better for viewing...this photo in its full majesty is over three feet wide...and it was taken with a Velbon tripod ($465) just to tie this in with Dave's earlier entry...I agree with Dave that you can NEVER be doing yourself a favor with a cheap tripod...my next one will be specifically for panorama's and is almost $600 as its main function is to keep the focal point consistent throughout the pan. And yes it is heavy...the trippod will be $600 and the sherpa to carry it should be about $14 an hour. Bogen/Manfrotto 3021BPRO Tripod
However, my main sticking points have been a basic lack of understanding of some of the most important, yet easily overlooked, accessories and their applications. The most important accessory I have overlooked is the tripod - until recently. I recently purchased two things which altered my perceptions about shooting. The first, purchased about 6 months ago, was The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby. The second, bought after reading about the importance of a tripod (in the book), and after reading some recommendations on the Canon Digital Photography Forums, was a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021BPRO tripod with a 488RC2 Ball Head. These two things have virtually revolutionized the way I have been shooting. Especially at night. Yes, I've known that I needed a tripod, and yes, I've used a tripod before. But what I was missing before and has since been corrected, was the tantamount importance of having and using a tripod, even in situations in which I thought I didn't need one. In fact, there are now almost no situations in which I don't use a tripod. Previous tripods had always been cheapos. Tripods that invariably lacked either stability or simply weren't up to the task of supporting my camera's weight. What you trade in cost you lose in either weight or stability, and I was buying tripods which were both lightweight and cheap. Light and cheap just isn't a working combination for tripods. You can have it light, you can have it cheap, and you can have it stable, but you can only pick two of those. Light and cheap = unstable. Light and stable = expensive. Stable and cheap = heavy. As an owner of the 3021, I can be assured that my pictures are the images I intended while also knowing that I have a platform that is stable enough to trust with my camera operating in a totally hands-off manner. Previous tripods have always left me thinking that I would soon see my camera crashing to the ground if I pulled my hands too far from a "safe" distance. Now I can shoot an exposure that is several minutes long and walk away to have a conversation with a passerby. And believe me, on a military base in the middle of Iraq, there are plenty of curious passers-by who wonder why you are out taking pictures with such a "complicated" setup. Another Night in the Park
This image has along way to go, but before I decide whether to proceed with a photo I do a rough edit...this is rough...with the final in the next week... Mother-n-Law
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| © 2003-2007 David Earney – daves-not-here.net |
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For the last three years I have been learning the very basics of photography, as can no doubt be seen in many of the shots I have displayed here in days past. I've taken countless sunset shots that could have been dramatically improved by simple compositional changes. Many "landscape" shots could have been much better if I'd known some pretty basic rules concerning the so-called golden hours at dawn and dusk. 
