XDrivePhoto

XDrive Photo Lesson – 12 – Shooting in Raw

For this xdrive photo lesson Raj introduces the reader to raw photography as well as explores the advantages and disadvantages of setting the camera to raw.

Some of the disadvantages of using raw are:

  1. size of files and required storage space
  2. requires editing
  3. sluggish burst mode
  4. software required to process files and convert to jpg
  5. sharing images while traveling

On the positive side, raw images allow the photographer to:

  1. recover areas in the image that may be over or under exposed.
  2. easily adjust white balance.
  3. make use of high-end image editing software
  4. ensure that original raw images are not destroyed during the editing process.

Nikon D750   f/7.1   1/400s   35 mm   ISO 400

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sample of raw image

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raw adjusted image

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edited image in Nik’s Color Effects

The second set of images were created using:

Nikon D750   f/6.3   1/6s   40 mm   ISO 400

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sample of raw image

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raw adjusted image

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3 raw images edited using Nik’s HDR software

learn photography – 10 – black & white

I’ve had a bit of a problem with my computer so my submission for Raj’s black & white lesson was on the back burner for the past week.  I decided to challenge myself during this lesson by using a 50 mm lens and manual focus during a rain storm.  The outcome of my exploration with various f-stops was hampered by the – sigh – a very limited experience and trust with manual focus.

Nikon D750  f/5.6  1/30s  50mm  200 ISO  manual focus

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Nikon D750  f/5.6  1/30s  50mm 200 ISO  manual focus

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Before the rain, I decided to explore the interactions of the histogram and shutter speed in the Nikon D750 while photographing the arrival of autumn.

f/7.1  1/6s  300mm  ISO 200

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xdrive photo lession – 8 – close up/macros

RAJ’s photo lesson about close ups and macros, encouraged me to create images with my camera set to manual focus, “Remember, only you know the story you are trying to tell, not the camera!”

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Nikon D750  f/6.3 40mm  1/4s  100 ISO

This initial exploration with manual focus brought to mind the summer between the 4th and 5th grade, when I put on my first pair of glasses (Cat Eyes). I can still recall the visual experience of seeing for the first time individualized leaves on trees and multiple shapes and colors of gravel stone…the world, sharpened and focused, was a moment of awe.  Corrective lenses was a means of normalization; yet, there are no words to describe and there are no photographs that can replicate the amazing bokeh of Christmas lights created by astigmatism and myopia.

Nikon D750  f/5  40mm  0.2s  100 ISO

The ease of using auto focus–a reliance upon technology–to create images that satisfy a self-imposed standard has me question if the advancements in genetic, genomic, and reproductive technologies, identified by a UC Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster as a back door to eugenics, to lessen human suffering will also nudge us into a world absent of human uniqueness.

 

Drive Photo Lesson – 5 – Sharpness

I found myself attracted to these two sunflowers in a fallowed field that borders a trail I walk almost everyday.  Since the field is situated next to an apartment complex’s parking lot, it seemed to me that the background would have muddied any image. Therefore, with the aperture value at 5.6,  I composed this image following RAJ’s instructions for a technique called “Focus Locking.”  First I composed the image with the sunflowers in the center, then pressed the shutter so that the flowers were in focus, and then with a half-pressed shutter I recomposed the image before pressing the shutter fully.

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Nikon D750  f/5.6 1/40  300mm 100 ISO

 

XDrive Photo Session – 7 – frame your subject

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Nikon D750  f/5.6  1/20s  300mm  100 ISO

Within this week’s photo lesson RAJ restates that a successful picture is one where your viewer lingers for a bit.  One way of encouraging a prolonged and concentrated stay is through the use of frames that add depth, bring in the context to the story/object, create mystery, and hide unwanted elements within the image.