Steve's Fine Finish: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

More Moon Tips

The nearly full moon of October 28th, 2012.

When using a DSLR for Moon shots, many of the same film based tricks or techniques still work.

A 100% full Moon is a subject fully lit by direct sunlight, so the Sunny16 Rule applies for an exposure starting point. The Sunny16 Rule states that for a subject fully lit by direct sunlight, a good starting point for exposure would be f/16 at the reciprocal shutter speed of the film's ASA (ISO).

So, if using Kodak Plus-X B&W film, our exposure would have been 1/125th of a second (the reciprocal of the film's 125 ASA) and f/16. Kodacolor II at ASA 100 would give us 1/100th of a sec, but we would have still used 1/125th on those older cameras, it being closer to 1/100th than 1/60th was. We could have adjusted the f-stop a bit if we wanted to get the EV (Exposure Value) exactly the Sunny16 Rule for that film. Tri-X (ASA 400) would give us a 1/400th speed, 1/500th being closest to that on our old cameras.

We mostly likely would have bracketed exposures, taking one or two each above and below the recommended EV, perhaps in half stop increments. Of course, we were only doing this Sunny16 Rule if our exposure meter was out, or if we were just having fun going "old school."

Now, our DSLRs don't have any mechanical speeds (what would be the point?), but we do have full manual control available on most of them. And we have incremental shutter speeds, either in 1/2 steps or 1/3 steps. Our sensor sensitivities are changeable from shot to shot if we choose. We can go from an ISO (ISO replaced ASA) of 100 to 12,800 on some models.

So, when shooting the Moon (Earth's natural satellite), we set our cameras to manual and use the Sunny16 Rule as a good starting place for the exposure. Bracket a lot, it's not like we are burning through rolls of film. Don't get fooled into thinking we need multi-seconds long exposures. That will merely burn out our exposure, giving us no useable data.

Another thing we may need to bracket is our focusing. Depending on our camera, lens, and focus system, we may not be able to find true infinity with autofocus. So, switch to manual. And when you get a clear image on your viewscreen or in your viewfinder, take that pic, but also tweak your focus forward and back a tiny bit, thus increasing your chances of getting a sharp image.

Finally, even though you are using fairly fast speeds (compared to other low light situations), brace yourself. Tripod, monopod, fencepost, beanbag, etc...

Now, even if your image looks small on your computer screen, you probably have enough sharpness and image detail to crop in, giving you a virtual zoom. In the photo above, I shot at 300mm (450 equivalent compared to 35mm). I enlarged it via my image processing program to about a 1000mm equivalent.

Enjoy your digital Moon shots!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Presentation Mounting

When you see a photo gallery at an art and crafts show, the prints are often in a presentation mounting.

The way I like to do presentation mountings is with hinge taping. This allows the photo to stay centered in the mat without being permanently mounted on the mount board. That way, whoever buys the print can either frame it as is, or have their framer do a more permanent mounting.

There may be other ways to do this type of mounting, this is how I do it.

First, assemble the materials. I am mounting 11 x 14 inch photos onto a 16 x 20 board. The 11 x14 mat has an opening that is actually a little smaller than the print, so be sure your photo can take the cropping intrusion. For the hinge tape, I like to use a pre-glued dry self sticking linen tape. You can use the gummed tape which requires water to activate it, but the self sticking tape makes the job quicker and cleaner, imho. I have a large flat area to work on ( a card table), a heavy flat straight edge, and another weight (in this case, a heavy clear plastic T), and a good pair of scissors.

materials

I lay the mat and the mount boards together, mat face down. Run a length of hinge tape across most of the joint, press it down to stick well. This is makes a hinge.

hinge

Now, I place the photo on the mount board, fold over the mat, and center the print. Place your weight on the print to keep it in place.

center print

Open the hinged mat and put the heavy straight edge down near the bottom of the print. This way, you can handle the top of the print without moving its position. Cut four 3 to 4 inch pieces of linen tape. Stick two strips on the back on the print, leaving an inch or so of tape sticking out glue side up.

glue side up

Now, use the other two pieces to stick the tab of tape sticking out to the mount board. This will hold the print in place until it's removed.

stick it down

Next, put it in the plastic presentation bag.

plastic bag

Seal the bag.

signed, sealed ...

And put it in your display. Ready to be held and handled without getting bent, creased, dirty, or otherwise damaged.


delivered!

And that is my easy version of presentation mounting.

Enjoy!

"Fascinating..."

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Image Enhancement; Should I?

A lot of photos look pretty good as they are. But most could benefit from some image enhancement.

What is image enhancement? Anything from cropping to color changing, and lots of stuff in between. Some photos don't need a lot, but an artistic eye can find a way to improve them. Remember too, sometimes subtle is the best choice.

In film photography, we got used to using filters. A polarizer was very useful. We often used one to enhance the blue sky and make the clouds seem to pop out. A polarising filter is actually a very useful filter even in this digital age. Besides the apparent color enhancements, it can remove certain reflections when used properly. Reflected light from water, leaves, glass, etc... could be removed or toned down, making for some nice effects. Be sure to buy one that is compatible with your specific camera, tho. The AF system, pellicle mirrors, digital sensors, etc... can be affected by an incompatible polarizing filter. Sticking with your camera brand for this filter is a safe, tho pricey, choice.

In B&W film, we used filters to change the contrast relationships between colors. Light yellow and dark red were two popular filters used for landscapes. Other filters (light green, for instance) softened facial tones.

There were color correction filters, neutral density filters, filters for our flashes and lights, and filters for our darkroom printing.

Now, many of those adjustments can be done post camera by means of computer software. A program like PhotoShop, LightRoom, ACDSee, or Gimp, or even the free software in your camera's packaging are all useful. Some have more features or control. Some are very easy to use. Any of them can enhance a good photo, some can make wild, really out there looking changes.

In our next post, well talk a little bit about how much to change.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

New Mexico Panoramas

Here is some fun we had on our trip up to and back from Cloudcroft.

Click on the photos for a larger version.

(all have been resized for the web)

These are panoramas. Multiple exposures stitched together for a very wide angle of view. I use a program from Serif, but many others are available, some for very low cost or even free.