There can be only ones and zeros

Is that a manual-focus lens? Why are you using that? You should get an auto-focus lens. Manual-focus lenses on modern cameras offend me. I find them very offensive. You should get modern lenses. Some people are still shooting film. Can you believe it? I can't believe it. Have you gone digi-tal? I heard they aren't going to make film anymore. You should definitely go dig-ital. Everything is going to be dig-ital soon. I have a digi-tal camera. It has 12 megapixels. I have really good pictures of my cat. Take a look at them. I printed all of them from my dig-i-tal camera. I used the dig-ital printer at the store to make these digi-tal prints from my dig-ital camera. I'm going to get a digi-tal printer of my own so I can make my own dig-ital prints at home. Then I won't have to pay for digital prints of all of my pictures. I will only print the ones I like. These pitchers of my cat are my favorites. He's so funny! I like digital pitchers because I can look at them on the screen and if they didn't work, I can delete them and try again. Should I get a digital flash for my digital camera? I want to make sure the digital light is compatible with the digital camera. And I definitely want to make sure the digital glass in my digital lens is compatible with my digital camera. See, this lens is a digital lens. It's on the label: "Digital." You know pretty soon there won't be any thinks. They're going digital. Have you gone digital?

Cheyenne River Bridge near Hot Springs, November 26, 2009

Bridge detail over the Cheyenne River in Fall River County, South Dakota, November 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This bridge south of Hot Springs has been closed for a number of years now. Every so often I visit and see what I can photograph with and from it. This ultra-wide view is a near-far study, with giant bolts and tiny trusses. I originally did a black and white treatment, but during a recent review session decided to rework it in color. The shadows aren't entirely natural, but I wanted to keep certain details more apparent, especially in the diagonal divide between the bolts on the left and the rest of the bridge on the right. That diagonal would normally be much darker. Here, it allows the two sides to meet, to some degree.

It helps me in the bathroom, too

Wow, these are great pictures! What kind of camera do you have? I'll bet it was really expensive. You probably have one of those professional cameras. Those can take really nice pictures. Is that the one that has the advanced auto focus? You know, those can track a jet at 1000 mph. You don't even need a tripod. That one can go to 102,000 speed. I'll bet you use that speed all the time. Everything can be in focus there! I want to get a good camera, so I can take pictures like that. I'm saving up for it. Right now I have a Sony Mavica that I got on sale. I like that it's easy to use. You just put the disk in the computer and get your pictures. They aren't as nice as your pictures, but when I have enough money saved I'll get one of those really good cameras. Maybe I'll get the one with 24 megapixels. That way I can crop it really close.

Flower, October 24, 2009

Flower closeup near Ponca, Nebraska, October 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This small arrangement of flowers stood out to me, so I made one of them stand out. Much of the finished photo is in the post-processing. Although the foreground flower stands out by being in focus, it was necessary to do some local adjustment to selectively darken the background. I like the color contrast on the left, and then the shift in color to pinks on the right. The character of the blurred portions is also pleasing; it feels like a good shift from semi-blurred to fully blurred.

Tree Outline, October 23, 2009

A tree on Binkard Hill, lit by electronic flash from multiple sides, October 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This tree in the front yard had an intriguing shape when briefly lit by the car's headlights, so I set up my camera on a tripod, locked open the shutter for about a minute, and ran around popping my flash a few times on the left and right sides. It's fairly symmetrical, with a kink in the trunk to give it some character. I like the remaining leaves. It's not quite spooky, but I'll take it as a bit of Halloween-time fun.

Is this lens soft?

I was reading about this lens and a bunch of people said it was soft. Is it soft? I don't want a soft lens. I think I wasn't looking for the softness when I bought the lens, but now I want to know. I mostly print wallets and 4x6's from the kiosk at the store. You know, you put your digital memory card in and get prints in 10 minutes? I looked at my 4x6's with a magnifying glass to see if I could find the softness, but I'm not sure. I also looked at the photos at 100% and 200% on the screen, but I'm not sure. I just want to make sure this lens is sharp, because soft lenses aren't what good photographers want. Maybe I should sell this lens and wait for them to make a second version with improved anti-softness.

Font management

One of the reasons I like using Macs is their built-in font management. Linux has been less useful since the Gnome font viewing software disappeared, and Windows is just painful. I did use AMP Font Viewer for a while, and it worked pretty well, but not as simply and smoothly as Font Viewer on the Mac.

Oh, and NeoOffice works with OTF fonts. OpenOffice.org on Linux always seemed second-rate without that support. Where is it, guys?

Why f/2.8?

A common question among new photographers concerns high-speed lenses. Why get the f/2.8?

Advantages of f/2.8 zoom lenses (14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 300mm, 400mm for Nikon users):

More depth of field control. A big advantage f/2.8 has over f/4 and f/5.6 is depth of field control. You can throw a background out of focus more easily with larger apertures. Consider the 50mm and 85mm f/1.4: Incredibly thin depth of field.

However, you must be careful in how you exercise that depth of field. In portraiture, it's generally preferable to have the subject's eyes in focus. With a couple centimeters that are in focus, it's easy to misfocus and have the ears in focus. Oops.

Focusing advantage. A larger aperture gives the camera's autofocus sensors more light to work with, generally enabling faster and more accurate autofocus. It's also easier to manually focus a fast lens because you can see what you're focusing on a little bit better.

The thinner depth of field comes back to haunt you, because it's easier to misfocus. If you're just a little off you're back to having ears instead of eyes in focus.

Optical and build quality. Generally, f/2.8 lenses are in the professional ranks of a manufacturer's product lineup. So they are among the top performers optically, especially compared to slower lenses. They are well-built, to take abuse from professionals who are really good at crunching them into rock faces or dropping them off waterfalls.

But, there are many slow lenses that are great performers. There are f/2.8 lenses with all sorts of weaknesses. Consider Nikon's 70-200mm f/2.8. Great on small sensors, but rather lacking on 135 format cameras. Consider Nikon's 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5. Its only real problem is vignetting at large apertures.

And many of Nikon's lower-end lenses can take abuse. I have kicked my 18-70mm around for five years and it's still going.

They're big. If you've got assistants and budget, you can carry five or six f/2.8 zooms. The rest of us have limited bag space and limited transportation space. Slower lenses are lighter and cover fewer cubic centimeters. I'd rather carry five pounds of gear than 10.

So basically, consider your needs and the limitations you'll encounter when planning a lens purchase. Everything in photography is a compromise.

Designing the F

Like Saul Bass applied to cameras, or something like that. Triangle, circle, square. All you need to achieve enlightenment.

Toadstool Geological Park, April 19, 2009

 

Big Cottonwood Creek and badlands at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Hoodoos at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Hoodoos at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Lichen on hoodoos at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Hoodoos at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Hoodoos at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Layers of sandstone at Toadstool Geological Park, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Silhouettes in the Rain, April 18, 2009

Branch silhouettes through a rain-streaked window, Dawes County, April 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Every so often, the photo you take through your car window works. Usually it doesn't. This is a simple arrangement, water on the glass in the foreground, tree shapes in the background. I like the texture of the water, and having focus on that plane seems to be effective. Focus on the background would likely reveal more detail than is needed, and create an overall softening effect from the rainy window. The roughly triangular arrangement of the branches, plus some elements at the bottom, provides flow for the eye to explore.

Fence Line and Tree in the Dust, March 22, 2009

Fenceline and tree on Dead Horse Road in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

An exercise in linear forms, whether in an orderly set of lines or as a mass of fractal lines. There's a bonus line running across the background. The dust from a recent car adds some depth to the scene, which helps alleviate the otherwise flatly lit areas and pull the tree away from the black hills.

Out There in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 22, 2009

 

Fenceline in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Clouds over Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fenceline and tree in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fenceline and tree in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fenceline and tree in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Badlands in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Badlands in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Sunset Over Dawes County, March 21, 2009

Sunset over Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Along Highway 385 south of Chadron, there are views west that show the distant hills of Dawes and Sioux Counties. This is a pretty simple arrangement to showcase the subtle shapes of the hills, the brilliant oranges of the sunset, and even a little rain in the distance.

Sunset over Dawes County, Nebraska, March 21, 2009

 

Sunset near the Chadron Reservoir in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Sunset over Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Morning Clouds, March 19, 2009

 

Morning clouds over Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

The moon shows through a break in clouds over Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Moon and clouds over Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Moon and Clouds, March 19, 2009

Moon and clouds over Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

One morning, the clouds formed interesting shapes around the half moon. I like the random patterns throughout this, anchored by the moon and the more solid cloud on the right. This photo has a lot of contrast work to keep the more subtle clouds from disappearing, and to bring out the features of the moon.

Night Scenes in Chadron, Nebraska, March 16, 2009

 

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Night scene in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Andreas Feininger

Andreas Feininger is one of my favorite photographers. He was a staff photographer for Life in the 1940s and '50s, and did impressive work with extreme telephoto lenses and showed tiny objects larger than life. You can find some of his work on Google Images, in the Life archives. Any of his numerous books are worth owning, and the concepts he explains in his technical books remain relevant, for the most part, even 50 years after they were published.