The Nerve Optic

Standing by for Homecoming October 3, 2009

Waiting to play for the homecoming crowd

We Won.

My high school had a horrible football squad from 1975 through 1979.

We lost every one of our homecoming games.  My son no longer faces that threat, as his high school clobbered their able opponents 41-14.  The band, all 220 of them, line up in the dark underneath the scoreboard and warm up.  The glow of the red LEDs from the board lend a strange glow to everything, as if lit by an internal light.

Shot at 1600 ISO, the colors become over-saturated and nearly posterized.  Some folks will tone down the colors in post processing, but I like the look, especially when the subject matter lends itself to detail shots like the one above.

Clicking on the photo should take you to a slide show of 20 or so images picked from the 550 I shot last night.

Shot with a K20D and a 50mm-300mm Pentax DA lens.

Rains at Twilight October 2, 2009

Clouds internally lit by lightning

The October Rains…

After an epic summer of 100 degree days, the heat has been broken by a rainy pattern that all Texans welcome.

In this photo, taken during the last rays of twilight, show the approach thunderstorms.  The clouds are not externally lit; this 4 second exposure shows the collective illumination from the flashes of lightning inside the storm.

Click on the image for a larger, better view.

This is the view from my driveway.  Two and a half hours later we had driving rain, pea sized hail and high winds.

Texas.  Ya gotta love it.

Tips of fire September 30, 2009

Iris leaves backit in the setting sun

The fading springtime sun artfully backlit these iris leaves.  The tips of the leaves had dried and withered, coloring the sunlight red as it passed through.  The soft bokeh in the background is from this SMC 55mm 1.8 lens being run wide open to make the most of the setting sun.  Click on image for a better look.  I like this one.

Passion… September 30, 2009

Passion, close up.

A Passion Flower

It’s intricate loveliness is breathtaking and memorable.

Taken with a Pentax D FA 50mm 2.8 lens and K10D camera.

NOTE:  I’m trying a new trick in linking these small images to larger versions on Smugmug.  Click on the image to see this flower in full bloom.

Bovine Thoughts September 30, 2009

Thinking steer thoughts

A lovely spring day, a quiet Texas country road, and some longhorns who love to pose.

It seems to me this fellow is thinking happy thoughts.

Shot with a Pentax K10D with a 45 year old SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4 lens.

Stairway to Sundown September 27, 2009

Sundown as the band loads in

The Load In

For a 220 piece band, the act of loading into position for a long night of Friday football can take a great deal of effort.  Each member has a specific row and seat to find, and going to a different stadium each week can be daunting.

Here members of the brass section move along the highest part of the visitor’s seats as the sun goes down.  Shot with a Pentax 55-300mm DA lens, with a little help from Lightzone PP.

What Do You Do With A Sick 14 Y/O? September 26, 2009

Astrid would be proud.

A punk feeling kid looking like a Beatles punk.

I just wish I had the leather jacket and I would have had Beatles/Hamburg down perfect.

Shot with my SMC Takumar 135mm 2.8 and heavily reworked in Linghtzone.

Pride of Barbados September 25, 2009

Stunning colors counter the softer greens

This bloom from a “Pride of Barbados” plant shows how brilliantly contrasting colors can deliver almost three dimensional qualities.  This image, shot with a Pentax DA* 16-50 lens, is wide open at f2.8.  This wide iris allows the bokeh to really go creamy just a few inches behind.  The regularly repeating pattern of fern-like leaves lends an interesting composition to the rest of the photo.

What what’s cool about this is the contrast of color, the explosion of warmth that separates the bloom from the leaves.  Shot on an early fall evening in weakening light.

Depth Of Field September 23, 2009

Depth of Field is used to guide the viewer

Sharp focus guides the viewer’s eye.

Rarely is an image in total complete sharpness everywhere in the frame, from closest object to farthest landscape detail.  The human eye constantly shifts and an refocuses for distance as we look around.  At least, that’s how it is supposed to work until you’re about 40, when the refocusing part becomes dicey.  But photography is a time-slice.  It can only capture the view and focal point presented at the time the shutter is snapped.  If the camera is focused a few inches before the camera lens, then that plane will be in focus and all becomes soft and dreamy.  This characteristic of capturing a limited amount of distance in sharp focus is called “depth of field.”

Depth of field is your friend

At first it would seem that DOF would be a hindrance.  It would seem a photograph should mimic the same view characteristics as our own eyes, with everything seemingly in focus.  But having an item “pop” with crystal clarity while all else seems soft and dreamy can guide the viewer around the frame, and defines the image’s composition.  In the example above, shot with a 50mm 2.8 macro lens, the dof is probably about one centimeter thick.  This allowed the photographer to select the section of the image that should stay in focus and make that the primary element of the frame.  This technique is used all the time, and is often seen in people portraits.

How do I get DOF in my photos?

There are many conditions that contribute to shallow depth of field.
You want low light.  The iris of the lens must be as wide open as possible, which means situations where available light is low.  The image above was shot with a light hanging from the ceiling, no flash or special gear.
You want to use a camera that allows aperture control, for the reasons pointed out above.  You want to set the camera wide open so that DOF is as shallow as possible.
You want to control the focus of your camera.  A DSLR is best, but any camera that actually allows you to control focus will work.
Use longer lenses, or “telephoto” on your point and shoot.  Longer lenses tend to accentuate the effect of DOF.  This is why many portraits are shot with longer glass, like an 85mm – 135mm lens.

You want to experiment with how the depth of field will affect the look of your images.  You can’t see DOF through your camera’s viewfinder, you have to look at the captured images.  This is why shooting many images while tinkering with your focus and deliver shots you never expected.

Monday Night Lights September 22, 2009

Shooting a marching band from a lit stadium can be a challenge…

Here are two examples of a long, long shot taken high in the stands with not a whole lot of light to work with.

The field shot is a 300mm telephoto shot, at 3200 ISO.  Grain is evident, but required to stop the action with a 1/90 shutter speed.  I was pushing this lens way beyond its ability, and it shows in the lack of sharpness.  The young clarinetist in the front was the focal point.

Monday with Rimsky-Korsakov

What ARE they doing?

This one was shot a long way away, clear across the stadium.  Again, the light fall off was brutal, and this photo was shot at 260mm focal length with an ISO of 6400, which is way, way too high a sensitivity for this shot.  The shot is soft and grainy, made worse by the fact the band was in full dance gyrations when taken.  They were dancing to a 70′s disco song being played by another band.  Can you guess what the song was?

It's fun to stay at the ....