Photography, inspiration and a pandemic

Well, what a year it's been so far! Life during a global pandemic has certainly thrown up a lot of challenges, restrictions and changes that are still taking us, as a species, time to adjust to and adapt to as the "new norm".

I guess i was one of the lucky ones, in that I was already more of an introvert and spent most of my time either alone or around a small number of people.  That and my "day job" switched me to be working from home, so my Mon-Fri is pretty much normal; well, as normal as anything can be in all this.

Now, as anyone who's read any of my previous posts (meanderings) will know, I've been spending a lot of time being introspective. Yeah, yeah, I'm being a little "light" one the whole introspective thing; there's been a lot, but as long as you still retain some level of creativity, it's not a bad thing. Just resist the urge to let it paralyze your creativity. Over-thinking can really do a downer on creating anything. What it has done for me is to allow me a means to strip away the un-needed. To realize that I need to be myself, not try to imitate others and go with my "view" of the world around me. No one sees things quite the same as I do, as my eyes and brain process information uniquely; and yours is unique to you. Add to that my own personal aesthetics, such as selective focus and shallow depth of field, which you may or may not like. 

While 2020 may not go down as one of my most productive years image-wise, it certainly won't go down as my least productive. But what it will be marked as, is a year where I spent the most time working with just one camera and lens combo, and trying to instill/capture a feeling or emotion in the picture. While it is "easy" to produce a technically good photo, unless it has the ability to impart a feeling or emotion into the viewer, it is just a snap shot.

I have travelled a little bit this year, but the majority of the photos I've shot have been in and around the house and garden. And yes, there have been quite a few doggy portraits as their expressions are fun to capture. Some of my personal favorites have been shot on rainy days; and my "keeper" count has crept up a bit more. I'll add a few here for you to enjoy:

Nikon Picture Control

A feature of Nikon DSLR cameras that some people may not know about; or if they do, they don’t use is Picture Control. For the uninitiated, Picture Control offers the ability to shoot pictures with customizable presets (not unlike shooting different film stock). In fact, there are presets available online that provide a film emulation look for select film stocks. And yes, while the camera bodies come with several preloaded presets from Nikon, you can add additional ones yourself; the actual number varies depending on the camera model.

I would like to take a bit of time now to clear up some confusion as to their use. If you do a quick online search you’ll see a lot of people commenting that Picture Control presets only work for shooting in JPG format. This is inaccurate. Picture Control presets are applied in camera to RAW files and JPG files. Now, it’s what you do next to process the RAW files that matters. The only software that reads and applies the Picture Control presets while processing RAW files is Nikon’s own software; such as Capture NX-D. Using any other software, such as Adobe Lightroom, will result in the Picture Control presets (and some other Nikon image settings) to be discarded; resulting in rather dull and lifeless images.

The main camera presets that Adobe ignores/discards are:

1. Picture Control

2. Active D-Lighting

3. High ISO Noise Reduction

There may be some others, but these three settings are ones that are only recognized by Nikon’s own software, and ignored by all other RAW image processing software.

Now if you continue searching the internet on how to improve the “base” RAW images in software, such as Adobe’s, the advice is to essentially disable these settings in your camera. In other words, turn down the image capture capability of your camera. Which conversely means you’ll have to spend even more time in their software as you try to recreate the settings you had to disable. Sorry, not my idea of fun. As regular readers of my (sporadic posts) will have gathered, I now look to minimize my time editing my images and much prefer to “get it right in camera”. Now it’s not like I haven’t spent countless hours editing a single image, my preference is to be the “Creator” not the “Editor”.

Now admittedly Adobe (or any of the other software companies) can’t bear the brunt of any complaints as to these RAW settings being discarded during processing. Nikon (and other manufacturers) are still very secretive as to the RAW file formats they use. That and these third party companies have to make concessions to make their products work with as many cameras as possible; so targeting the most generic and widely used settings/values makes a lot of sense. But it does mean that there are a small percentage of photographers that suffer. You’ll even see some software companies offering unique versions of their software targeted at specific camera manufacturer users.

Anyway, back to the Picture Control settings. Nikon does include a program called Picture Control Utility 2 that apparently allows you to create your own presets. This is not something I’ve done myself, at this time. Instead I downloaded some pre-made presets from the internet, Nikon has a webpage offering various downloads.

And circling back to my earlier comments, to utilize the Picture Control plugins I do my initial RAW processing in Capture NX-D and export as uncompressed TIFF images or JPG; or just shoot in JPG. But as anyone who has sot with both formats knows, solely shooting in JPEG can be restrictive and not the best image quality. To get the best exposure latitude with good shadow and highlight values, you need to be shooting RAW. Although there are times that the JPG is my preferred format, even though the shadows tend to block up and the highlights can blow out (much like it would shooting slide film), as the extended shadow and highlight capability of RAW files can look “fake”.

Like in all other aspects of photography, the goal is to find that aesthetic/look that appeals to you. That and find the best software and process that provides that aesthetic; even if it does entail spending extended periods of time fine tuning the images. No two people are the same, so practice different techniques and find what is best for you.

Now to adding some examples. Both of these images were shot on a Nikon D700, with Active D-Lighting set to Auto and using a Picture Control called Kodak Ektachrome P (downloaded off the internet). Both were simply downloaded to and basic RAW processed in Nikon Capture NX-D, then exported to JPG format. The only other thing done was to reduce them down to 72DPI (in Photoshop) for web use; this step can also be done direct in Capture NX-D. Other than that, they are both straight out of camera.

New beginnings

I've been in North Carolina for three weeks so far. Not that I've really explored yet, but what I have seen has certainly shown promise for photo subjects and direction.

Not done a lot yet in the way of photography, although I have started dabbling in video a bit more. I did consider picking up a small "action" camera for things like timelapse and pov work, but until my finances recover a little from the move, I'm sticking with trying things out with my little Sony point and shoot. Not like it's a slouch, it can record in 1080P hi-def; it does suffer from the 29 minute clip limitation that all non video cameras suffer. Despite all this, I'm still finding it a valuable introduction to video.

I did break out my DSLR last night though, the first time since moving to NC. Since I've been here I've noticed the night sky is a lot more photogenic than where I was in OK, and last night was particularly attractive. Of course it also highlighted one of my "pet peeves" about photography; how there is still no camera or process that can (accurately) capture what the eye can see. Of course this is also further complicated by the fact that no two individuals will see the same scene exactly the same, as differences in their visual acuity will come into play.

I've not done much with night-time long exposures; not since I played with reciprocity failure of different film stock and how the colors morphed. A lot is due to how digital cameras behave at longer exposure times; instead of color morphing you are more likely to get "noise" in the image. Newer cameras are able to better handle this, but I currently use an aging Nikon D2X, so have to rely on my software to clean up the images.

This is a fairly good representation of the night sky I saw while walking my dogs; although it's far from what my eyes really saw. The eyes can perceive a lot more subtle colors, shading and transitions than the camera can capture. I would really be interested to know if any camera maker is working towards the capability of the human eyes.

I believe the stars and other celestial objects in the photo are "real" and not digital noise but it's not that easy to tell, so I let my noise reduction algorithms do their best and left it at that. For the technically inclined the details of the photo is, 30secs @ f4, ISO 1600 (H1), Tokina 12-24 @ 12mm.

Changes

A lot can change in our lives, sometimes the pace is slow and others it is much faster. Whichever pace it takes, the end result is inevitable; change will happen.

In the months since my last post, a lot of changes have either happened or are still in the process of happening. The biggest, and still ongoing change in my life is that I no longer work for the University of Oklahoma. Also within the next couple of weeks, I will no longer be living in Oklahoma. Instead I will be living in North Carolina. So, among other things, this will give me a whole new realm to explore photographically.

Photo wise, I did take a trip to South Dakota a couple of months ago and spent 10 days camping. And wow, this was an eventful trip and not for all the right reasons. Before we got very far into South Dakota, from Nabraska, we ran into a nasty hailstorm. Up to golf-ball size hail and so heavy it was a "whiteout" and we had to pull to the side of the highway. Suffice to say, the truck hood and roof was pretty badly dented; whereas our camping trailer was heavily pockmarked and had a roof vent smashed in (letting in the hail and rain). So the first order of business afer we got to the campsite was find someone to repair the vent to keep any further weather out. If that wasn't enough of a hassle, during the drive there I had noticed some noises coming from the driver's side front wheel; suspecting the wheel bearing being worn. Picked out a local mechanic (close to the campsite) and booked it in for repairs. Then on the day of the repairs and while driving there, the brakes failed and emptied the contents of the fluid reservoir all over the road. Luckily for me the mechanic (Wicked Wrenches in Rapid City, SD) was able to arrange a tow truck to get me to the shop. A couple of days later, and after a new wheel bearing and all new front brakes, I had my truck back and could start to explore the area.

The two main locations we wanted to check out was Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Both iconic rock carvings, on vastly different scales; Crazy Horse being the larger carving. It's also not that easy to take images other than the classic views of these locations. Not unless you have time an opportunity to make multiple visits, at different times, in different weather and different seasons. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a lot of flexibility due to losing so much time with truck issues. So I stuck with the "tourist" frame of mind and went for it!

Mount Rushmore was pretty impressive, and the iconic figures quickly pop into view as you approach. And as you enter the main path towards the monument, they stay in your view as it's perfectly straight and centered on the monument.

Once you reach the other end of the path the monument is pretty dominant, although the visitor's center is very informative and well worth a visit, providing the history and backstory to the site.

However, for me the lady performing the "hoop dance" was a captivating sight to watch and was an unexpected bonus; and one I was glad to have a fairly high FPS capability.

Now, using  slower shutter speed could have given a completely different view as blur would be introduced but I chose to stay fairly fast to capture more detail.

Then the next day we visited Crazy Horse. The difference in scale is pretty impressive and I can see why the locals recommend visiting Mt. Rushmore first. And Crazy Horse is all the more impressive in that is is entirely funded by donations and the profits of the on-site shops. Unfortunately you cannot get as close to the monument as you can with Mt. Rushmore (unless you wish to pay for a special tour) so a long lens is an essential to get a close view; or you can switch to a wide angle lens and photograph the scale model of what the finished carving will look like.

Not that you can't get a good view of the monument but I certainly hit the limit of my available zoom range when shooting from the visitor center area.

My personal recommendation is to hop on one of the tour buses that will take you closer, as well as give you some further insight into the history of the area.

And yes, I know I could have zoomed in a lot closer here, but I really like the context of the image and the sense of scale that you can't really convey from a zoomed in shot. Also while here, take the time to explore the visitor complex as there is a lot to see. There is a lot of fascinating indigenous art and crafts as well as earlier work of the sculptor. Among the sights I found this wonderful, life-size Kachina doll.

All in all, south Dakota is a great place to visit. My only regret is that I didn't have more time to explore and to visit these sights ant different times of the day to maximize lighting options. Suffice to say, when the opportunity to revisit comes, I'll be heading back.

And now I need to get back to packing in preparation of our move to North Carolina; I've put it off long enough to get this post put together but really need to get back to it.