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Love your tripod

Love your tripod

One of the finest tools that you can have is a tripod. It makes certain aspects of photography a breeze. In fact without a tripod certain shots would be virtually impossible. Photographing flowers with superb depth of field for example often requires long exposures. For example I recently shot some Lillie's at F32 for 8 seconds with a macro 100mm lens. A tripod was vital.

Some people think that with the advent of digital photography the tripod is dead. They point to impressive high ISO settings as the answer. But the higher the ISO setting used the lesser the quality of the image becomes. There is no way around this. High ISO settings can get you the shot in some situations but a tripod will often accomplish much more and allow you to achieve a higher quality with sometimes greater creativity. In fact using digital cameras and a tripod you can do more than you dreamed of.

Some point to the anti vibration settings in lenses. these are great. My standard walk around lens has anti vibration technology built in.  This is great but still has significant limitations. Tripods can let you do much much more.  For example perspective alters greatly depending on the height of the camera. If you take all your shots at head height you miss a lot. Sure, at full height we are stable and bending down may make us unstable but there are lots of photo's that look very good from a lower position. A tripod is the key. It gives you a full range of shooting positions.


Are you convinced? So what do you look for?

Look at how well it is made. I use three tripods in the field. Each are light weight but very stable.


So ask the questions.

Is this stable?
How well do the leg mechanisms work? Do they lock easily and have no play?
Is this sturdy? Is it still light enough to carry?
Does the size suit what you are doing when both open or closed?
Is the tripod one that you can carry around all day if that is it's use?

Stability is a given??? Right? Not always. Some tripods have a lot of play. There is no point in having a tripod that you don't use because you can't trust it or it is too difficult to use. If the salesman won't let you check it over then go somewhere else. It's your money and a poor choice could cost you twice if it causes you to miss a great image.

Some of the very light tripods are not so well made. When they get loose there is no way to tighten them up. A good ball head will often have a point at which to tighten the head as it wears in. Worth checking. Two of mine incorporate spirit levels and I use them all the time.On uneven ground the levels are very useful. The concern with some heads is that they add a lot of weight. They feel strong and are smooth but the extra weight can be a drawback to successful photography. Look at the weight carefully. In a studio setting I use a heavy ball head tripod that is really superb but its far too heavy to use in the field.

Leg mechanisms are very interesting. Some twist and lock whereas others have plastic locks. Some loosen easily whereas others can lock up and become hard to use. Careful choices are needed. Cheap plastic locks break easily. I use three tripods in the field. From a mini which is very light to a medium and a large. None of them have cheap locks on the legs. [I was given a very light weight tripod which has cheap locks and it never travels with me. I do actually use it but never on site. I wouldn't trust it.]

So take your time and get a good one. They will last you a long time and often save the shot!

Basic Work Flow For Photographers

One of the most important stages of working with photos is the stage where the raw file is converted for use. Imagine that you have 100 images to process and you want them relatively quickly. At 2 minutes per image that's three hours plus! That's a lot of time.However with a typical wedding, you would quite likely be producing around 1000 images. Typically that would mean, that you would spend a day shooting the wedding, returning with about 2000 images and then spend the week editing and processing. You need to work much more quickly than that if you are going to be successful.

Today with cards holding 1000's of images we cannot afford that amount of time. But we still want good results.  [1000 x 2 minutes = 2000 minutes or over 33 hours.]

Establishing a consistent workflow is an essential part of digital photography. Having a workflow will help ensure that you handle your images the same way each time. Consistency is important as it establishes your style but also makes your files easier to locate. Give particular attention to naming and metadata.  A proper workflow will help you move, rename, and archive your photographs and should substantially reduce the risk of losing that important shot. When you know that you have the image and cannot locate it it can become very frustrating. If you have a large data file it may take you hours unless your images are named and filed correctly.

As a basic workflow suggestion here is something very basic.  It is worth writing out your workflow and pasting it in an area alongside your computer. It may help to keep you on track.  At the very least, there is always a certain discipline that needs to be adopted as part of supporting your photographic technique. So here is something basic.


1. Use a card reader (not your camera, it's much too slow) and transfer your images to your computer.  Having a reasonably fast computer is always good at this point. I will often load my images to transfer into two separate hard drives and then go away and do something else for five minutes. When you return the files have been transferred and are ready for examination.

2. Be ruthless. Examine your photos and discard those that don't make the cut. You will probably lose a third of your images. Are they in focus? Are they well composed? Do they make sense?  You cannot be emotional when looking through your photographs. In many instances you may find that you have taken two or three that are essentially the same. Choose the one that really works. The system that has been adopted where images are given some sort of rating is superb. Rating your images with a simple scoring system of one through to 5 is simple but very effective.

3. Using your editing program re name the images and add key words. This is best done as a batch. The more data you can add the better. Make sure that you amend the meta data to show that you are the author.  Your camera has already recorded information such as camera settings. Most cameras can be programmed to write the authors name, dates and file. It saves time. It's good to add some sort of brief description so that your computers search programs can find the images quickly.

4. Now you are ready for processing.  Don't be too concerned about the thousands of tools that have been built into the editing program. For photography you will rarely use use many of these tools. A basic processing sequence will work fine. Essentially, it comes down to white balance so that you get natural colours. Then it's a matter of looking at the vibrancy and dominant colours in the image. Make sure that the image pops so to speak. Then you need to look at the crop to determine anything that needs discarding. There are often very good photographs sitting inside bad composition. By cropping out that which does not make sense you may find that you have a winner. Then it is simply a matter of sharpening and addressing any noise issues that may affect the final image. Remember the sequence. White balance, colours, crop, sharpen, noise.

 I have purposely omitted healing tools from this basic sequence. If you are selling images you will need to go through and remove any spots using the healing tool. This adds minutes to each image so it is best kept for just those images that will be supplied.


5. When you are satisfied that these are addressed then save as your preferred file.

You will probably have your own favorite settings for colours based on the camera that you use. Everyone is different. But never forget to correct white balance as step one and save sharpen/noise to the end.

Just simple tips but once you are consistent you will get faster and enjoy your photography more!  There are complicated discussions regarding workflow for photographers but please remember that photography is being about with your camera taking photographs. It is not about sitting in front of a computer doing endless editing. This all takes time and unless you are being paid considerably for this time you need to work quickly. Enjoy!

Interpreting camera reviews.

One of the most influential elements in the sales of cameras in addition to recommendations from friends are the written camera reviews that we find proliferating magazines and the World Wide Web. These reviews are very informative. Personally, I get a lot of pleasure from reading reviews of new gadgets, cameras and lenses. It is helpful to be informed. And the developments are amazing these days. Some of the great new lenses stagger the imagination as they come to the point that they can convey the right amount of information to a digital sensor that has been set to record detail well beyond that of the old film.

35mm Film ISO 100 Canon 1N

There are two limitations in camera reviews that are worth commenting on. The first is the camera review written by the person who has just got a new camera and is in the honeymoon phase. The way that they write the review as often as if the camera can do no wrong. (This is the camera that can wake you and put breakfast on the table and clean afterwards.) There is no such thing as a perfect camera.

The same photographer, after they have used the camera for a period of time is going to have a different view. It will likely be very positive but at the same time they will have discovered its limitations. Every photographer has to work around the limitations of the equipment that they have. Of course if the camera has strengths that are the same as the photographers, then it can be heavenly to use. That is just the way that it is. So then with regard to this type of review it is important to recognize that there is not always complete objectivity in the way that the report or review is written.

The second limitation in reviews is that the reviewer's experience is based upon other cameras that they have used. If they are coming from a background of using a basic camera and they go to an enthusiast SLR and they get good results then it is not surprising that they will rave about the camera. For them it will be a big step up. If however they have been using a top-of-the-line medium format SLR pro camera then their experience is a step down in some ways and this will reflected to some degree in their comments. It is always helpful to know on what the comparison is based.

6 megapixel Image

Probably the most helpful reviews are those reviewers that objectively examine the camera and compare it to other cameras that are manufactured for the same market and price point. Some reviewers for example intentionally include comparisons of two or three cameras that would be regarded on the High Street as being similar.





It is also helpful when they include references to where the camera fits into the overall scheme of things photographic.Some reference or comparison point is essential.

 As a final observation on camera reviews it is important to recognize that photographs are taken by people using the camera as a tool. 35mm film has been effectively compared to an eight megapixel camera.

There is merit in this simple viewpoint. Many mobile phones have eight megapixel cameras these days. However using 35mm film some of the most remarkable and influential images of all time have been taken. They were put together by thinking photographers. They knew what to capture and how to do it and they worked within the incredible limitations of film. No auto ISO settings in those days. The ability to see the photograph, to compose an image focusing on what is really important is the key.

Who can forget the image of the great ship Titanic ready to sail. A black-and-white image taken on film  on a not so bright day. Priceless! Or what of a certain road crossing with a popular band spaced out across the road; you immediately think of Abbey Road. How often do wedding photographers try to take the same image. Of course it was taken on film whereas today we would be using digital photography. It is the photographer that makes the image. Composition is a key element. Have something to say! Let the image tell the story.

Buying a good camera is a good idea. It will not make you a photographer but it will give you the tools to start with. A friend of mine observed that it takes about 10,000 hours of photography work to become a good photographer. I'm not sure that that's actually right but it's probably in the right region. Photography is as much about thought and composition as it is about firing the shutter. As you read this notation you are surrounded by wonderful photographs. Can you see them? If you can then pick up your camera and get shooting.

Introduction This Blog Is About Getting The Shot

Well for years we've been asked whether or not we will put up a proper functioning blog. So we thought we'd start with this Google blog and through it we'd inform you about various things that we do as well as giving you a bit of information about some of the equipment that we use and taking the time to comment on some of the issues that go around in the photography world.

Perhaps like me you have read some of the raving reviews about various cameras and photographic equipment, often written by people who have just got the camera and are in what we would call the "honeymoon period" when the camera can do no wrong. The fact is that modern cameras are very impressive and when you combine that with very good lenses you get some good results.

However it's only when you've had the camera for little while that you begin to realize that it has limitations. You walk into a situation and you're pretty much convinced that you'll get a shot only to find when you get back to the studio or digital dark room that the image that you took didn't work out quite as you thought it would. It's frustrating especially when you consider that certain moments just occur as one-offs and there is nothing you can do to recreate the shot.

Many of my friends have obtained  digital SLR cameras and when they go out to take photographs and look at the screen on the rear of the camera they are absolutely convinced that they've got good photographs because they base their decision solely on the rear view.  Sometimes they're right. But as any working photographer will tell you, what appears on that small screen on the back of a camera can look very different when you have it on the big screen. And when you go to make the print then contrast and detail can be missing.

This then is a real world Blog. It's about the challenges of getting the shot. Over the years we have picked up a few tips and I intend to include a number of these in various posts. Often when taking the shot the key ingredient is to know your equipment. We use Leica, Pentax & Canon cameras and lenses. With Leica and Pentax we shoot medium format and Canon we choose for reliable 35mm format. We use primes and zooms. We use both CCD and CMOS sensors. They all have a place. But regardless of the camera used the starting point is vital: when the image is there to take you must be ready to take it. No matter how great the shot was - when its gone then no matter what camera you were carrying you cannot get the moment again.

As an example of the sort of photograph that you just have to get right on the day I have put down below a photograph taken looking across the bay in Albany in Western Australia. It's an early morning shot with storm clouds overhead, mist over the small islands that dot the bay, and the sun is breaking through. The scene will exist for approximately 30-45 seconds. You are driving around the head land and you see the parking bay; you spend 15-30 seconds pulling in and getting out of your car quickly. You now have to take your camera in your hand, decide ISO, aperture and exposure, frame the shot and take it.

If you know your equipment well enough to take it then the shot is there.