http://www.learningtosee.org en-us Copyright 2010 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:12:02 EST michael@learningtosee.org michael@learningtosee.org http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1255106429

Sometimes for whatever reason there isn't time for elaborate preparation or staging for a photograph. For those occasions its important to be able to quickly flatter a subject with whatever is at hand, in this case that old mainstay, a simple window.

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Sometimes for whatever reason there isn't time for elaborate preparation or staging for a photograph. For those occasions its important to be able to quickly flatter a subject with whatever is at hand, in this case that old mainstay, a simple window.

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As you may have noticed, I've take quite the hiatus from posting photos. After investing a lot of time and effort in photography, it was time to take a little break and spend more time with my family. My daughter is my number one motivation, and as she's gotten older, has become more vocal about not being a subject.

And so finally there's something I feel like posting. In the end I'm not interested in the technical approach, what lens and the textbook description of the facial angle, but rather that the image evokes something poignant for me personally, and there's absolutely no logical reason anyone would like this. In the end, you can learn how to set up a camera and lighting out of book, but there's no way to learn how to evoke a feeling with an image.


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As you may have noticed, I've take quite the hiatus from posting photos. After investing a lot of time and effort in photography, it was time to take a little break and spend more time with my family. My daughter is my number one motivation, and as she's gotten older, has become more vocal about not being a subject.

And so finally there's something I feel like posting. In the end I'm not interested in the technical approach, what lens and the textbook description of the facial angle, but rather that the image evokes something poignant for me personally, and there's absolutely no logical reason anyone would like this. In the end, you can learn how to set up a camera and lighting out of book, but there's no way to learn how to evoke a feeling with an image.


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A self portrait in the reflection of a really old Toledo scale in the Saxapahaw upper mill. The gritty look is intentional, by the way. The internet mechanism is interesting, with gracefully designed curves.]]>

A self portrait in the reflection of a really old Toledo scale in the Saxapahaw upper mill. The gritty look is intentional, by the way. The internet mechanism is interesting, with gracefully designed curves.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1231511982

Part of the control system for the giant dye spheres in the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house. A macro lens would have done a better job here, but I didn't have one with me. You can see the harsh edges caused by the setting sun streaming in through the open sections. The mill is reputed to have been there since just before the civil war, and so why these controls are obviously newer than that, you have to wonder how many times someone's hands touched these controls.]]>

Part of the control system for the giant dye spheres in the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house. A macro lens would have done a better job here, but I didn't have one with me. You can see the harsh edges caused by the setting sun streaming in through the open sections. The mill is reputed to have been there since just before the civil war, and so why these controls are obviously newer than that, you have to wonder how many times someone's hands touched these controls.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1231511831

Pipes sticking out of the floor in the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house, close to the giant boiler spheres. I don't know if the knobs fell off of these, or they simply kept putting in more pipes when the old ones wore out. I'm guessing these somehow controlled water flow into the spheres, but who knows, there weren't any labels.]]>

Pipes sticking out of the floor in the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house, close to the giant boiler spheres. I don't know if the knobs fell off of these, or they simply kept putting in more pipes when the old ones wore out. I'm guessing these somehow controlled water flow into the spheres, but who knows, there weren't any labels.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1231511723

Another image of the same strange bowl-device as yesterday in the Saxapahaw upper mill, this time with a little more light. I liked the symmetry of the double bowls in this angle. This was set in the floor of a giant room with lots of dials and controls everywhere that you will see later on.

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Another image of the same strange bowl-device as yesterday in the Saxapahaw upper mill, this time with a little more light. I liked the symmetry of the double bowls in this angle. This was set in the floor of a giant room with lots of dials and controls everywhere that you will see later on.

]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1231511589

This is from the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house as I've been told. This strange object is a giant sphere where it looks like they dyed the cloth. I got to the mill late in the date as the sun was setting, so there wasn't much light, so I took advantage of the dark to create a photo with negative space.]]>

This is from the Saxapahaw upper mill, the dye house as I've been told. This strange object is a giant sphere where it looks like they dyed the cloth. I got to the mill late in the date as the sun was setting, so there wasn't much light, so I took advantage of the dark to create a photo with negative space.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1227877220

This image at the Benjamin Vineyard just outside of Saxapahaw shows a couple of characteristics of the D700, dynamic range, and decreased depth of field. For the first, note that this is just a little after noon, and the sun is high in the sky, but even with direct sunshine on the subject, his hair isn't so bright as to lose all detail, and yet his face isn't in deep shadow. According to dpreview.com Nikon was able to get an extra stop of dynamic range, the ability to represent the different between light and dark in an image. Typically in this situation you'd use a flash to even up the difference in light intensity between the light falling on the background and the subject, but the flash really distracts kids to the point they start mugging at the camera. When no flash they forget you're there and you can take pictures at will.

The other aspect of this is an increased depth of field as a result of being full frame. Previously I liked to shoot single person portraits at f2.8 when I'm this distance from the subject, but with a full frame, I've been running that up to f4 and higher and still getting the background nicely blurred as you can see here. Its a good thing the D700 is excellent image quality even in low light it or this would be a huge problem in low light situations.]]>

This image at the Benjamin Vineyard just outside of Saxapahaw shows a couple of characteristics of the D700, dynamic range, and decreased depth of field. For the first, note that this is just a little after noon, and the sun is high in the sky, but even with direct sunshine on the subject, his hair isn't so bright as to lose all detail, and yet his face isn't in deep shadow. According to dpreview.com Nikon was able to get an extra stop of dynamic range, the ability to represent the different between light and dark in an image. Typically in this situation you'd use a flash to even up the difference in light intensity between the light falling on the background and the subject, but the flash really distracts kids to the point they start mugging at the camera. When no flash they forget you're there and you can take pictures at will.

The other aspect of this is an increased depth of field as a result of being full frame. Previously I liked to shoot single person portraits at f2.8 when I'm this distance from the subject, but with a full frame, I've been running that up to f4 and higher and still getting the background nicely blurred as you can see here. Its a good thing the D700 is excellent image quality even in low light it or this would be a huge problem in low light situations.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1227124009

Again, ISO 6400 with no noise reduction to take pictures of a room lit by only a few candles. There is a little grain, but its pleasing to me, and much of the detail is retained in the subject's face.]]>

Again, ISO 6400 with no noise reduction to take pictures of a room lit by only a few candles. There is a little grain, but its pleasing to me, and much of the detail is retained in the subject's face.]]> http://www.learningtosee.org/img/1226525941

Everything you need to make witch's brew in Saxapahaw, NC. M. really outdid herself putting on a great show for the kids at The River Rock School on the Haw.

The detail is amazing at this ISO, and although its not hard to focus on a candle given the bright light, the exposure was nailed automatically. Note that this shows one of the advantages of auto ISO settings on modern DSLRs. Typically you'd have to adjust the ISO level by hand previously, and now I can just put the camera on manual (except for ISO), and specify the minimum shutter speed and my desired aperture, and the auto exposure determines the best ISO rating.]]>

Everything you need to make witch's brew in Saxapahaw, NC. M. really outdid herself putting on a great show for the kids at The River Rock School on the Haw.

The detail is amazing at this ISO, and although its not hard to focus on a candle given the bright light, the exposure was nailed automatically. Note that this shows one of the advantages of auto ISO settings on modern DSLRs. Typically you'd have to adjust the ISO level by hand previously, and now I can just put the camera on manual (except for ISO), and specify the minimum shutter speed and my desired aperture, and the auto exposure determines the best ISO rating.]]>