Mar 5 2013

Important Difference Between Film & Digital

What NOT to expect from Digital!

Fuji X-E1 with its 18-55mm lens

Recently I had a series of conversations here with a reader who wanted to pick up a Fuji X-E1 camera and have it deliver Velvia results out of the camera. This conversation did not start well, but moved into meaningful dialog very fast. I thought that I would share my thoughts as I gave them to him with you as it is important to understand what a digital camera can really deliver…

As a new convert to digital from film you need to understand one MAJOR difference between the two. Images generated from film are/were dependent upon the film emulsion, exposure, chemistry and glass quality/coatings for colors, saturation and white temperature which in combination gave each film its own distinctive look.

Now, along comes digital, where the only real move into the film Look/Feel is with a built in simulation or the proper selection of White Balance and the filters/coatings on the sensor plus the lens glass and its coatings. Some digitals give a more saturated look, some less. Some pump up the reds to the point of problems.

The Fuji’s typically give a more saturated image with a slight bluish feel. But, knowing photographers with experience who understand these issues and the capability of shooting in RAW understand that ALL of the films/sensor character is really defined in post processing! Looking for a Velvia look and feel out of the camera is foolishness and very short sited. You take your pictures, making sure that the WB is correct for the scene and day, you shoot in RAW, you get your exposure correct then when you get home you do your color/saturation/tint adjustments in the RAW conversion. Then in Photoshop you do your real work where you can move your image into the film looks as you like with simple adjustments like, saturation, levels, color shifts and so on. With the addition of the NIK filter set you then get total control over these adjustments in an easy and fast way.

If you are looking for Fuji (or any camera) to give you a film look right out of the camera then you should just quit now before you have a nervous break down.

My Fuji’s are an incredible tool. But they are just tools, the creative work happens on the computer in post processing. I have used dozens of cameras from simple point and shoots, micro 4/3s, fuji X systems, Canon’s, Leica’s, Nikons and many many others including lots of film systems including (and still in use) a very nice 4×5. NONE of the digitals will give an accurate film simulation, period. Don’t look to them for that or simply stay with film.

Go out and try different cameras yourself. When with friends try a memory card in their camera. Take the images home and work them over on the computer. Make your own decision and move forward.

My own decision path was simple…

I dumped ALL of my canon system including top pro line bodies and $30,000 in L glass due to medical problems where I lost 80% use of both arms and hands. The DSLR’s are simply too heavy for me to use now! What was I to do?
I experimented with ALL of the various Micro 4/3 systems. Kept a GH2 as an Infrared system and the OMD as a high speed replacement for my Canon 1DSMK3 and lenses in order to chase birds and other wildlife.
I tried and decided against the Leica system because of lack of longer lenses and lens expense. I could easily spend another $30,000 on the needed lenses and still not have the range I desired.
I Tried the Fuji X100, Cool, nice small camera with great images, but no interchangeable lenses, bummer
I found out that Fuji came out with the X Pro 1, rushed out and got one with EVERY Fuji lens plus 3 Voightlander M mount lenses for the Leica. Fell in love with the camera/lenses and the images generated. But it had no electronic shutter release so it would not work with my lightning trigger and water drop system. Bummer…
I found out that Fuji introduced the X-E1 with this functionality built in. Purchased it and have been happy ever since. The Fuji E-X1 is an amazing system for landscapes, long exposures (REALLY GOOD), water drops and lightning photography. Does it look like velvia when that is enabled? Not really, a little close BUT WHO CARES!!!! I can make it look like ANY FILM TYPE in post processing! It creates amazing low noise images at high ISO’s but I rarely use high ISO’s. It is light, easy to use and has GREAT lenses. I love the Leica and Voightlander lenses when used with the Fuji M to X adapter with its corrections built in!

You can read about ALL of these things here on the blog. You can ask questions on the various forums on the net but they are generally filled with camera lover/haters/bashers rather than people who are trying to learn and improve with their equipment (even though they are there but due to the noise of the others are just un-heard!).

Good luck in your search. Please keep in touch and let me know how it goes as you progress!

OK, you get one Fuji X System image!

Stormy Seas at the dock. Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens. Notice the focus from about 3 inches to infinity.

Mar 3 2013

A day in Georgetown with the Fuji X-E1

Travel and the Fuji X Series, a match made in Heaven!

1 camera, 3 lenses and a good filter system and we are good to go!

Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8

I spent last Sunday in Georgetown, SC. I had a gallery change out in a gallery that I am a member of (Co-Op). The change out only took about an hour so I decided to take the rest of the day to scout new locations and just shoot!

There are several places there that I love to visit. As you drive North on Front Street out of the Down Town area you start passing several side streets on the right. Each of these leads to a marina with several Shrimp Boats (and in 1 case many!). I like walking around the docks and working each group of boats then moving in closer and doing detail images. These vessels are not long to be with us so if you have the chance to visit and photograph them you should youmake it a priority to do so!

The 3 Shrimpers!

The choice between Color and B&W is a tough one for most photographers. For me, I like B&W much better but I will porcess both for each and every image that I take. So I will have the choice as to what I eventually use readily on hand!

Sun in the rigging…

I do not normally shoot intentional lens flair but for this image I composed the image with it in mind! This generated such a perfect series of light beams that they were visible in front of the boats cabin door! Again, the choice between Color and B&W was a no brainer for me!

The 3 Bows…

Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens

In the end I will still offer you a Color Shrimp Boat selection. These boats are old, and full of color! Rust, bright paints, bottom paint, lines and life rings can make for a bright and eye catching display if you present it properly with a composition that is pleasing.

At the very end of Front Street you will find several parks along the edge of Winyah Bay with pilings in the fore ground which make idle compositions for long exposures. Plus there is a boat launch that you should walk out on and look north across a long line of pilings!

Lee Seven5 Filter System

What fun I had! I found some really great Shrimp Boat compositions and did some long exposures with the Fuji and the Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 Lens with the new Lee Seven 5 filter system! Consider, that the Lee system is a bulky but light system (look at the image to the left), when you add in the camera and lens the entire combination can become bulky and heavy making it difficult to use. I also used the Voigtlander Ultra Wide-Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical and the Fuji M to X adapter for several of these Shrimp Boat images.

This is the main reason that I switched to the Fuji X system (aside from the fact that it generates stunning images!

Ok, as the day go away from me I went further North to the parks looking at long exposure locations for sunset. After looking at all of the locations there I decided to set up at the boat launch and setup looking to the North across the pilings there. The sun was setting fast and I setup using the 75mm f/1.8 and the Lee Seven 5 system with a solid 3 stop ND and a soft Graduated ND to darken the sky. The result was this 90 second exposure:

Boat Launch Pilings, Deep Twilight, 90 second exposure

With the sun totally gone and deep into twilight, I simply turned the camera 90 degrees to the right and looked at the industrial complex across the bay with great columns of smoke spewing into the sky! I removed the 3 stop solid ND and kept the soft Graduated ND in place to further darken the sky. So the resulting image was a 240 second exposure and full of color, smooth water and blowing smoke:

240 second exposure, deep twilight.

Do you see how a light weight high quality camera/lens system like the Fuji works to our benefit when traveling and needing the ability to shoot in all conditions? With the X-E1 system there is no limit to my shooting styles including Lightning, Water Drops and Long Exposures.

Please let me know what you think!

Feb 12 2013

Getting Better Long Exposures: Fuji X-E1 & Sekonic L758DR, A Detailed Tutorial

All things are fair in Love and War…

and we need every advantage we can get as photographers in long exposure!

Long Exposure Twilight Abstract with a 3 stop graduated soft ND filter to darken the sky.

The long exposure game, is one of compromises: fighting too little light, balancing the moon and its reflections, cameras and lenses, camera meter or external meter! Long exposures are one of the more difficult photographic styles and one that takes experience and patience to master. As such, the photographer needs every helpful trick that they can gather into their bag of tricks in order to generate, stunning etherial images!

Equipment tailored to Long Exposures that I like and use:

Fuji X-E1 Camera. Provides both electronic and mechanical remote shutter releasees, Bulb mode with back panel displayed timer, ultra clean low noise long exposure images!
Olympus OMD with the Panasonic 14-140mm lens. Great built in long exposure modes like the Live View Bulb mode where the camera will display an updating image on the LCD panel as the exposure continues to be made. This gives you a very clear indication of the exposure as it is happening and is like watching a Polaroid develop! The ISO noise performance is not as good as the Fuji but is indeed acceptable. I use both camera systems but like the Fuji better!
Fuji XF 18-55mm zoom lens. Sharp images with good range of wide angle to standard lengths! 58mm filter size. ZERO lens flair.
Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 Lens. Coupled with the Fuji M to X adapter provides an easy to focus sharp image with a 52mm filter with a f/1.8 to f/16 aperture.
Voigtlander Ultra Wide-Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical M Mount Lens. Ultra wide super sharp and a depth of field that just goes on forever! This lens takes a 67mm filter and can only take advantage of screw on filters due to its built lens hood.
Gitzo & Feisol Carbon Fibre Tripods with Really Right Stuff BH55 Ball head. This is a light weight combination gives solid steady support with ZERO camera creep from the ball head!
B+W ND filters, 3, 6 & 10 Stop. These filters use Schott glass and are the best ND filters out there. I much prefer fixed ND filters to variable because I KNOW what the filter factor always is for exposure settings and lack of guess work.
Lee Seven 5 Micro Filter System. Simply stated, the Lee series of rectangular ND filters is the best in the world. The Seven 5 system was designed for small camera systems like the range finder styled Fuji X-E1 camera system. This provides the ability to use a set ND in the 2, 3 and 10 stop range in conjunction with a graduated ND filter in Hard or Soft edges from 1, 2 & 3 stop ranges to darken the sky for further control! While expensive (what isn’t?) this system gives the photographer the best opportunity to capture PERFECT long exposures in any situation!
Sekonic L758DR Light Meter. This is my main tool aside from the camera, for long exposures! It is a 1 degree spot meter that can be calibrated to your camera and gives PERFECT exposures while accounting for what ever ND filter you have installed. It gives you a choice of where you meter in the scene and then using the ZONE SYSTEM allows you to shift your exposure up or down in order to give you the image you envision! For me, this is my MUST HAVE MAIN TOOL for exposure control. It goes way beyond the capability of your in camera metering system.

Must Have Thought Processes to Master Long Exposure Photography

You must MASTER the physics of exposure! But relax, this can be accomplished in about 1/2 hour then a few outing to experiment with your new knowledge set!
You must MASTER the ZONE SYSTEM of exposure control. This is simply a different way at looking at exposure where you divide what the camera can see and record into 10 distinct zones from black to white with each zone assigned to a specific stop that can be adjusted with either shutter speed or aperture. This will make your in head exposure calculations easy and automatic. When you couple this with the fact that ALL metering systems force the measurement area into the 18% gray area (ZONE 5) then you can see how easy it is to force the camera exposure to give you the envisioned image the first time! There are several books and videos on Amazon that will be good to read. Here is a nice book on the overall zone system, and here is one dealing with it for digital systems.
The ability do look at a scene before you ever pick up a camera and envision what you want to capture and how you want it to look! Remember, the camera is a tool, you master your tool and make it create your envisioned image!
The drive to suffer through long hours in the dark and cold just to capture 3 or 4 images! Know this, the exposure, say 15 minutes is only 1/2 the time needed by the camera to save the image onto your memory card. The camera will run a noise reduction cycle the same length as the exposure before you can move onto the next exposure. So if you take a 15 minute shot your camera will be tied up for 30 minutes! This then, is why you need to get the exposure dead on each and every time! You only can get so many shots when it takes 1/2 hour for each 15 minute shot.
The ability to post process (I use Photoshop CS6 and the Nik Software filter set) in both Color and B&W.

The Pawleys Island Pier, Fuji X-E1 with the 18-55mm lens, 3 stop Lee Graduated ND for the sky and a 3 stop ND overall.

So let’s put all of this together in a process or recipe (if you will) that will lead us to success in the Long Exposure game (NOT Star Trails which is a slightly different game!

My favorite time to setup and start taking my long exposures is from 1/2 hour before sunset to about 2 hours after (depending upon the moon).

I will usually go to the beach and look for something in the foreground like some rocks, groin, dead trees, pilings or a pier.

680 second exposure, Pawleys Island Pier and Groin. Fuji X-E1, at the end of twilight going into full darkness

The ocean state only make a difference in that if the waves are large then you will need a much longer exposure to flatten them out. So many of the long exposures you see with bands of dark and light in the ocean are caused by your exposure being too short to totally flatten the surface. A single band of white in the foreground is caused by the surf crashing down onto the sand and that can also be overcome by extending your exposure past 10 minutes!

1/2 hour prior to sunset: For this time period you will need a 6 to 10 stop ND filter (depending upon the light in the sky) to darken the scene enough to slow the water and clouds down. By adding a graduated ND filter to cover the sky you can further even the scene and give a moody sky especially if there are colds!
1/2 hour before Sunset, Fuji X-E1 250 seconds with 10 stop ND, extremely cloudy!
Sunset/Sunrise: keeping the same filters in place you are now getting exposures in the 6 minute range. The water is very smooth and milky. Start show up in the sky and leave curved trails. Sky colors explode and you will get your best color saturation.
Sunrise, Outer Banks Fishing Pier, Fuji X-Pro 156 seconds, 3 stop ND.
Twilight: The sun is down, and the sky is turning dark blue. The stars are bright. It is time to remove the fixed ND filter but perhaps leave on the graduated ND for the sky. Your exposure times should drop down into the 1 to 3 minute range providing the moon is not full. At this point a full moon will provide way too much light and turn the sky white. A 1/4 moon will give nice even lighting and a much better image.
The 2-fer, The pier & groin, Pawleys Island Twilight
The DARK: Ok, there is no light in the sky other than the moon, stars and pollution. Sometimes though, the light pollution from buildings and towns can add a dramatic component to your images like the one shown below! This is the time now when you are looking at exposure times from 4 to 20 minutes depending upon the light conditions. I will now remove all filters unless there is a very bright moon.

Full Dark! Fuji X-E1 with a 3 stop Lee graduated ND filter covering the sky to the horizon. 125 seconds at f/11. Light pollution from the hotels and pier behind me.

Of all of the times in the list above I like the Sunset and Twilight times for my best images!

Metering:

Metering of all the aspects of long exposures is your most difficult hurdle. The in camera meters when set to spot, are indeed capable, but they are not totally accurate and more importantly, they are large spots, in the 5 degree range rather than the 1 degree of the hand held meters. Yes you can use them but be prepared to have to adjust your exposure for a second shot… And this is WHILE the ambient light is rapidly changing as the sun continues to set!

Time for a talk on exposure..

We have the 3 basic exposure settings to work with, ISO (which should be set on your cameras lowest or native setting), APERTURE, which for a sharp image with proper DOF should be set for f/8 to f/16 and Shutter speed which should be set at least at 30 seconds and around 2 minutes for good smoothing of the ocean surface and clouds. You will lock the ISO and APERTURE while looking for a good shutter value to be generated by the metering system. So as you can see, you can set the camera in Aperture Priority mode to shoot here. I find though that I like full manual mode better.

Here is what you can expect for various shutter speeds:

30 seconds, start to have good smoothing of the waves with some of the bigger waves still showing above the water surface. Alternating dark and light bands in the waters surface.
60 seconds, a more profound smoothing in the waters surface, more even lighting and coloring, still with some bands…
120 seconds, total smoothing of the water, no banding and great even coloring of the water.
480 seconds and up, totally smooth water, even color and shading, almost a glass like surface of with milk. Very pleasing and soothing…

Keeping the Depth Of Field (DOF) in mind, you can see that the shutter speeds are the key to your images.

Now, how best to determine your exposure?

Time for the meat of this post, metering…

As discussed earlier, the internal meter of digital camera systems is not the best meter out there. In the spot mode they provide a very large spot (5 degrees) when what we really need is a 1 degree spot. The smaller spot gives us a more accurate and isolated reading which can be vital in determining the overall exposure. If you use this in conjunction with the ZONE system developed by Ansel Adams then we have a really powerful system. Lets take a look.

Zones

The ZONE system is very simple. It divided your total exposure into 10 equal parts or zones. Each zone is a specific “stop” and the center (zone 5) where where ALL METERS place the exposure of anything it sees!

As you can see from the chart on the left of the zones, they start at black for zone 0 and move to white at zone 10. Zone 5 being the 18% gray is what the meter sees and will adjust the exposure of the spot metered to be there in the 18% gray! This explains why so many photographers snow images come out as gray! Knowing that the meter will automatically place the measured spot into the gray area it is a simple matter for the photographer to mentally move the zone up or down in adjustment in order to place the metered spot into the desired zone!

It is easy to understand and implement!

Looking at Zones

So, let’s take a look at a sample image, not as a photograph but what we would see with our eyes. If you were to look at the top meter spot in the sky you would see that it falls into zone 7! But if we were to meter on this spot, the meter/camera would move it to zone 5 which would be just too dark for the overall picture. The fix is to take the meter reading then mentally move it into zone 7 by adding 2 stops of exposure. Here is what the meter system suggested for this measurement: Spot reading on the overcast sky at f/8, ISO 200 gives a shutter speed of 15 seconds, but we KNOW that it is in zone 5. We simply add 2 stops to place it into zone 7 by increasing exposure to 60 seconds, or 2 stops. The sky now brightens into zone 7.
Lets do another and meter on the horizon water. The spot meter reads this as f/8, ISO 200 and the shutter speed of 60 seconds which it sees in zone 5 and since it is actually in zone 5 we can just go with the suggested exposure!

See? Easy to do.

So, hopefully the camera meter has a small enough spot to read these small areas and give you an accurate exposure suggestion. But, what happens when you add a 3, 6 or 10 stop ND filter into the mix? Well 3 stops will not affect the meter, but 6 and 10 will destroy any accuracy and your exposures will be all over the place. We just cannot have that happens so this is where a hand held spot meter comes into play!

There are 3 things that you must keep in mind when you are thinking about hand held meters.

They are more accurate than camera meters
They have a true 1 degree spot
They allow you to tell them of any ND filters installed on the camera and automatically compensate for them!

I suggest 2 meters from Sekonic for you to consider, the L508 and L758DR.

The 508 has an adjustable spot from 1 to 5 degrees and allows you to account for an installed ND filter . It is no longer produced but readily available for around $300.00.
The L758DR has a fixed 1 degree spot, allows for filter compensation up to 10 stops and can be calibrated to your camera. It also has a viewfinder display and much greater functionality than the 508. It can be found for about $650.oo.

Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter

Here is the L758DR which is what I am using and will show in the following examples. The meter has 2 modes of measuring light, the lumasphere and the spot which is simply an eye piece that you look thru and shows a target you place on the area of the scene you wish to measure!

How to use the Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter:

You need to use the custom functions on the meter to set WHOLE stops for the shutter speed. This will simplify you life in a major way!
Set the meter MODE to SPOT with the APERTURE selected which enables you to lock in a specific Aperture. This will have the F surrounded by a BOX. Then when you take a measurement, the Shutter Speed will be displayed for Zone 5.
You need to set your natural ISO into the meter. Press and hold the ISO 1 button and simply turn the round dial to select that ISO you desire to work in!
Decide on which ND filter (if any) you are going to use for this shot! Then hold down BOTH the ISO 1 and ISO 1 buttons while turning the round dial to select between +/- 0 to 9.9 stops.
Then you just press the measure button under the spot viewfinder to measure your selected area of the scene and adjust the Zone up or down as in the zone examples above! It is that simple!

Set Mode to SPOT

Set SPOT Mode

Setting the ISO

ISO Set

Setting the Filter compensation

Filter Compensation

Taking the Measurement

Meter Viewfinder showing the target and measured values. The meter button is just below this.

That is all of the necessary steps to use this meter. It really is very easy! There are several videos on the Sekonic web site as well as on Utube.

Understanding ND Filters:

The B+W, well most others as well can be tough to understand! Here is a break down of all of the filters and how to read the codes!

B+W ND INFO

Knowing how to read the filters is important but understanding how to use them even more so. Lucky for us in long exposures we are interested in the shutter speed. If we get a shutter speed of 1/15 second with no ND installed we know that it is simply too fast to slow the water down! So we realize that a ND filter is needed.

Standard ND Filters effect on a 1/15 second shutter speed with a fixed ISO and Aperture:

No filter 1/15 second
1 Stop 1/8 second
2 Stops 1/4 second
3 Stops 1/2 second
6 stops 4 seconds
1o Stops 1 minute

These are the standard ND filters from B+W, other companies offer the same and other values. Lee offers in the Seven 5 system, 1, 2, 3 and 10 stop values as well.

So now, you take your meter reading and look at the suggested shutter speed, install a ND filter and then tell the meter which one chosen and it will give you the corrected shutter speed. Remember, all camera meters will fail at 6 stops on!

Graduated ND Filters:

Lee Hard Graduated ND

Lee Soft Graduated ND

These are filters from Lee (some round ones from B+W but they divide directly in the center) that come in 1, 2 and 3 stops. They are either a hard transition between dark and clear or a soft transition covering a larger area of the filter. I use these filters to darken part of the image, usually the sky. If you have a firmly visible seperation between the sky and water at the horizon, you can use a hard graduated filter. Otherwise you will use the soft which is the normally used choice. Take a look at the images here of both and you can see their usefulness.

Deciding on which value to choose, 1, 2 or 3 stops is simple. You simply use your meter to spot read the sky and then again the ocean. Look at the difference between the shutter speeds given with a fixed Aperture and ISO. The difference will tell you how much graduated ND you need to use.

These filters are also handy for other landscapes as well. How often are we plagued with waterfalls or landscapes where the sky is just too bright? Apply the same metering difference to those images as well for a vastly improved result.

Last minute considerations as you venture out to practice your Long Exposures!

Keep your lens clean, salt spray can and will sneak up on you and spit all over your glass!
Push your tripod legs slightly into the sand for increased stability.
Keep aware of the surf! Do not let it over take your tripod. it will cause your camera to drop a little lower and ruin a shot.
Keep the Horizon STRAIGHT!! If you have an in camera level use it! If not, purchase and attach an external level onto your flash hot shoe and use it!
Use your in camera long exposure noise reduction setting in the custom settings! This will not only reduce noise in camera (yes photoshop can do this) but it will remove all sensor hot pixels and dark pixels which photoshop will NOT DO! I understand that your exposure time will double due to this but isn’t the final image quality worth the extra wait?
Take a light weight chair.
Have a light to see the camera setups or a ultra bright light to lighten a subject for focus! I like a lighted hat for this and a Sure Fire LED 500 Lumen light to reach out and light a subject for focus (not to mention light painting!)
Gloves?
Warm Coat?

480 second exposure, Fuji X-E1 Late Twilight! Metering of the cloud base just above the horizon then moved to Zone 7!

OK all done, I hope that you both enjoyed and learned from this post! Please let me know.

Feb 3 2013

Twilights Bitter End…

No Words, just images…

The Bigger End, Olympus OMD.

The 2-fer, The pier & groin, Pawleys Island Twilight

The B&W 2-fer, The pier & groin, Pawleys Island Twilight

Jan 27 2013

Olympus OMD EM5 and Ultra Long Exposures!

And now for something different!

Pawleys Pier, Twilight. 847 Second Exposure, Olympus OMD with the 12-60mm lens. Iso 200, f/22

I know, most of my recent posts have been about the new Fuji X-E1, but tonight I decided to take out the OMD and test it out for ultra long exposures. I have the OMD as a high speed replacement for my Canon DSLR (currently a 7D) in order to reduce weight and ease of use. Overall the camera performs very well and generates impressive, sharp images up into very high ISO’s! But a friend recently purchased one to use and wanted to do some long exposures. So I got mine out, looked over the in camera options and was VERY surprised to learn of several very nice long exposure benefits built into this camera!

Live View Bulb Mode: This is an amazing feature (are you listening Fuji?)! With this mode, you must first set the max shutter speed length, then the update times. What this means is that you can set an exact exposure or some ultra long one. Then you can let the camera time the shutter or you can use a remote shutter release to start and stop the exposure as one would normally see in a BULB mode. What the added value here is that the camera turns on the live view screen and updates the LCD panel with the image displayed with the CURRENT exposure during the BULB exposure! The timing of the update is the value you set when you set the update times! You can have up to 24 updates. In simple terms, this allows you to SEE the image developing on the LCD panel during the exposure! Way cool and very valuable. The only change I could wish for is for the histogram to also be displayed for each updated image. A remote shutter release with a lock is required for this mode.
Live View Timer Mode: This works just the same as the BULB mode except that you press the shutter release once to start and once to end! If you forget your remote shutter release you can still get the picture!
Onscreen Level: This allows you to get the horizon straight! Simple thing but important for any image and critical for long exposures.
Programmable Function Keys: Makes long exposures in the dark easier but setting Function Button 1 to Manual Focus. This means that you can switch back and forth from manual to auto focus modes without having to go through the menu system.
On Screen Focus Point Touch Select: With the camera in auto focus mode you can touch the area of the image that you wish to focus on and then do a focus. By using this in conjunction with the function key as described above you can easily change your focus. In the dark, this makes it very easy to select a point of light on a long pier and have the camera focus, then hit the function key to select the manual focus mode to lock it in! If there is not a point of light, having an ULTRA BRIGHT flashlight and lighting something in the scene to focus on works well also!

The OMD worked tonight flawlessly for these long exposures! The longest was over 14 minutes and generated a clean low noise image! But most importantly, I was able to take this image with NO metering at all. I simply chose the Live View Bulb mode and watched the image develop on the LCD screen during the exposure and when it was where I liked it I simply stopped the exposure! Understand, this is not exact as the LCD does not give an exact true image display, but it was always within 1 stop!

Here is a B&W version as well but I think you will agree that this entire outing was easy and fun and gave superb results!

The B&W version processed in Nik’s Silver EFX.

Jan 21 2013

Death by neglect….

Lila Lee, in the boat grave yard…

There is something about Shrimpers… I cannot get enough of them and find myself visiting them again and again. I love the dilapidated nature of them and even though they are in such rough condition they seem to venture out into the deep time after time. Perhaps they are a reflection of the men who sail them, rough hewn, salty men, eking out a living from the sea. Regardless, they are things of photographic beauty and deserve to be documented for history. You see, they are vanishing from sight. Shrimp seems to mainly come for fresh water farm ponds in the lower americas and soon these beautiful boats will be a thing of the past.

The Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi: “connotes a way of living that finds beauty in imperfection and accepts the natural cycle of growth and decay. Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.

Thus begins my exploration of Sabi…

You had better get out and enjoy them while you are able too..

Here captured in Black and White, is a detail shot of the shrimper Lila Lee. She is resting in the boat grave yard in Georgetown, SC. The older shrimpers seem to be abandoned along the shore here in Georteown till they sink. We have some sitting on the bottom growing trees and weeds from their decks.

This image was captured on the Fuji X-E1 with a MC Soligor 70-300mm C/D manual focus macro lens, another relic of the past…

Lila Lee

Jan 20 2013

Further X-E1 Long Exposure Work

Fuji X-E1 280 second exposure at f/8

Or, if your are thrown off the horse, climb back on!

I went out tonight at sunset to the Pawleys Island Pier to try some more very long exposures with the Fuji X-E1. I used the new 18-55mm lens with a B+W 6 stop ND filter until it got really dark then I shifted to just the lens.

It was just perfect out tonight. A few clouds in the sky, medium wind and very little blowing sand in the air. I setup with an angle on the pier with the moon behind my back. I got there early enough to setup and pre-focus.

I used my Sekonic L758DR light meter with 6 stops of exposure compensation dialed in for the ND filter and started shooting. In failing light, the hand held spot meter makes exposures easy, fast and perfect! I simply aimed the 1 degree spot at the gray/purple band of clouds right next to the horizon and took my meter reading from that. Then I moved it from Zone 5 to Zone 6 or 1 stop brighter. The meter gave me 15 seconds of shutter speed and f/22 so I simply added 1 more stop by changing the shutter speed to 30 seconds! Very easy and by using the Zone system when thinking about exposure it can fast become second nature.

Fuji X-E1 30 second exposure at f/22

The first 10 min or so I was only able to get 30 second exposures but only at f/22. I did have a 10 stop ND filter in the bag but I decided to just stay with the 6 stop. Even at 30 seconds, they were still quite pleasing! I really like the Time mode on the X-E1 as it makes setup easy, but the Bulb mode is very well thought out. It gives a nice count up timer on the LCD screen and makes for perfect exposure!

Even checking the focus after it gets too dark to see is easy with the X-E1. Place the camera into manual focus mode place one of the pier lights into the middle of the focus square and push the jog dial straight in. This will cause the camera to magnify what is inside of the cameras focus box. You then go back and forth with the lens focus ring till you get the smallest sharpest light! All done.

As it got darker I was forced to re meter the scene again and again. For this next shot the light had faded another entire stop and forced me to again double the shutter speed to compensate for the changing conditions and still allow me to capture the clouds on the horizon at Zone 6!

60 second shutter speed at f/8

Things start to get very complicated and fast as the sun falls below the horizon. The next image was metered at 140 seconds but during that exposure, the light dropped another 2 stops! so I split the difference and increased the exposure by keeping the shutter open another stop or 280 seconds. this worked quite well and gave a very pleasing exposure! Please keep in mind that this image was taken after the sun was totally gone and it was quite dark out but with enough light left to give a good exposure of the clouds and pier. You can tell that this image was taken in very low light because the pier lamp reflections are prominent in the picture. Here is that image:

280 second exposure, f/8

Remember, for every minute of exposure the camera requires a minute of noise reduction. So for the above exposure the total time of forced waiting was 560 seconds! So for this last image a lot of time passed while I waited and it was TOTALLY dark out now. The moon gave very little light but the lights on the pier worked very well and put some interesting colors on the waters surface!

Ok for this last image there is ZERO light left in the sky. The stars are very bright and fill the sky with a wonderful pattern. But, the pier lights are so bright that they pollute the image and wash out the sky blocking the stars in the image. Another complication is that it is just too dark out now to need the ND filter. So I removed it and adjusted the meter so that the compensation is now set to zero. The reading suggested was 425 seconds at f/8. Why f/8? Well I desired the sharpest image possible so I locked the meter to that. I still needed to move the lower sky 1 stop brighter, you know from Zone 5 to Zone 6. This made it necessary to move the shutter speed from 425 seconds to 850 seconds (14 minutes) and now I am ready to shoot. So lets look at this last shot, 850 seconds of exposure then 850 seconds of in camera noise reduction. So I have to wait for 28 minutes from the start of the exposure until the image popped up on the LCD panel!

Here is the final image of the evening, a 14 minute exposure at f/8. Yes the pier light reflections close to the pier/water intersection is a little harsh but still, this demonstrates exactly what you can achieve by thing long exposure, but more importantly, it shows what the Fuji X-E1 is capable of capturing with a little bit of creative thinking!

850 second (14 min) exposure at f/8

Did you find any of this post helpful? Please let me know!

Jan 13 2013

Dang, “DID I REALLY DO THAT? REALLY!!!”

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you…

Long day today at the gallery. The electrician was in all day installing 22 new high intensity lights with floods to better light the co-op walls. But the place has a lot of dry wall dust around and a simple sweeping will not be enough.

I needed to get away…

Skittles & me.

So at 5 I went home and took the doggy out. She was happy to see me to say the least. I really do not pay enough attention to her. But after a half hour there with her I grabbed:

Fuji X-Pro 1 camera
Fuji 18-55mm lens
3 stop ND
6 stop ND
10 stop ND
Sekonic L758DR spot meter
Remote shutter release

Please notice that I did not grab my camera bag…

So off we go to the island. I did the Pawleys Island Pier the other night so I headed to the south end and the groin there to shoot some long exposures.

It was nice out, warm and empty of people. Perfect. Got out the Sekonic, dialed in 6 stops of EV to correct for the B+W 6 stop ND, set the meter to ISO 200 and started taking reading off the sky just above the watery horizon. Got several changing values but it was fast getting dark. The first few image captures went very well and I was starting to warm up to the evening on the beach.

Feel guilty being out here tonight, Ellen (my wonderful wife) loves the beach and has been deprived of this for the entire year and to add insult to injury she is working all night at the local hospital. I suppose that i will just have to enjoy this for her.

Pawleys Island south groin. 30 seconds @ 30 seconds. Fuji X-Pro 1 with the 15-55mm lens.

I got some very nice 30 second shots at f/11 but I was aching for something more meaningful, you know around 20 minutes! So it is time to change things around and go after the really long exposure. I get out the meter again, set it and the camera to f/8 for the best sharpness, check the shutter speed… hmm f/8 @ 8 minutes but this is a metered spot on the horizon and I simply do not want it in Zone 5, so I add in 2 more stops to move it into Zone 7, set the camera and shoot!

Time goes by…

Still going by…

Slowly…

10 minutes have gone by… Why didn’t I bring a flash light? It is so dark that I can hardly see! Gee Mark YOU KNOW BETTER THAT THAT! So I give myself a smack on the head, then shake it in minor annoyance of myself and … HEY WHAT THE HECK!! MY FEET ARE WET!! THE TRIPOD IS SINKING INTO THE SAND! DANG! DARN CRAP!!

Stop the exposure at 11 minutes and move the tripod up the beach to dry sand and wait….

Still waiting…

Dang, the in camera long exposure noise reduction takes sooooo looooonnnnggg… Didn’t I tell you that what ever you long exposure is the camera takes the same time after it to do a noise reduction???

I QUIT! I carry the tripod/camera to the truck with it still doing the noise reduction when it happens… you know, the REALLY BAD THING!

The camera quit the noise processing and the image pops up into the LCD panel and it is….

WHITE! WHAT HAPPENED?

I got wet for white? I stood here for 22 minutes for white?

THE EXPOSURE WAS PERFECTLY METERED AND ENTERED INTO THE CAMERA! THIS CANNOT BE MY FAULT…

Ohhh…

I am SO STUPID! Look at that, the ISO has been set to 1600 instead of 200. How did that happen? I only shoot at high ISO’s when I am with the grandkids at Disney World! Now I recently got back from Disney and I took this camera and haven’t used it since then…. No, that can not be it, the first 30 second images came out properly as metered…

Hmm, lets see, ISO 200 to 1600, and the image had already been shifted from Zone 5 to Zone 7!

DANG AGAIN! That is an additional 3 stops of brightness.. ZONE 10!

!*:$@!)&$ DANG, (*!#&(^!(@&) DARN )(*&$&#@)$&

Ok, I am calm now, it didn’t cost any film, wet feet can dry and I can go out and shoot it again on another night. ZONE 10!!! No wonder the image was white! !#)*(#*@&(E*Q&R

22 minutes W A S T E D and no ultra long exposure.

_____________________________________________

OK, what did I/WE learn here?

BRING A FLASHLIGHT!
Be aware of the changing tide!
If you are going to take super long exposures DOUBLE CHECK YOUR EXPOSURE VALUES and do NOT forget to check the ISO! I think someone walked up to the camera in the dark and changed it on me while my back was turned!
Bring a change in socks!

See, we all make mistakes, even photographers with 48 years of experience!

Got it? I hope so, because I would be so embarrassed to hear that you made so many beginner mistakes, After all we do have appearances to keep up!

Smile, life goes on… and we occasionally get lucky. In the parking lot packing up to leave I see this across the tidal creek…

Moon over the Marsh.. 4 second exposure

So the bear won this time but there is always tomorrow night…

Update:

I have had a lot of questions about this creek image. Mostly folks want to know how I got a dark blue sky in the deep night! And it was totally black out when I took this image. There was supposed to be NO moon this night. But for some strange reason there was the smallest sliver of it showing under its bottom. I mean so small that it was almost cut with a knife! The clouds below the moon were barely there because for what ever the reason the moon was getting a little light it reflected down and highlighted the clouds. Above the moon the sky took on the deep blue cast (again due the to the strange lighting on the moon). This only lasted about 5 minutes then the moon disappeared totally, the sky turned black and the clouds lost their light and faded from view.

The exposure data:

ISO 200 (yes I double checked this time)
4 second shutter
f/4

Jan 12 2013

Photo Quote…

Things that I think about. It is just so sad…

“I drifted into photography like one drifts

into prostitution. First I did it to please my friends,

and eventually I did it for the money”

-Philippe Halsman

Sea Strike… Panasonic GH2

Jan 11 2013

Ultra Long Fuji X-E1 Exposure Tutorial

**Slower can be better…**

Pawleys Per, Fuji X-E1, 480 seconds, f/22, 6 stop ND

Pawleys Pier at night, Fuji X-E1, 480 seconds, f/22, 6 stop ND

Ultra long exposure photography can be a very fulfilling pursuit and generate etherial images that draw your viewer into them leaving them week in the knees! As a photography master generalist I can tell you that there are a few speciality areas that can really excite me and force my juices to flow! Specifically they are:

Ultra High Speed photography: Water Drop Collision Photography, Daytime Lightning Photography & Hummingbird Photography
Infrared Photography
Grist Mill Photography
Ultra Long Exposure Photography.

This post is a tutorial on Ultra Long Exposure photography using the Fuji X-E1 camera with its 18-55mm lens, a 6 stop B+W ND filter and a Sekonic L758DR spot meter.

Fuji X-E1 with its 18-55mm lens

The Fuji X-E1 is my 3rd in the Fuji line. I started with the X100 and moved to the X Pro 1 in order to have interchangeable lenses, then to the X-E1 to take advantage of its Electronic Shutter Release. I have always been a Canon shooter with closets full of L lenses. But due to a spinal operation that went dreadfully wrong I lost 80% use of both hands and arms. No longer able to hold heavy camera equipment I started on a long journey searching for high quality camera system that was small and light weight and produce world class images. A long story shortened, I settled on the Fuji X lineup and their fine quality lenses along with a few CV and Leica M mount lenses.

Now, the Fuji X-E1 with its electronic shutter allows me to hook it up to my water drop machine, Lightning Trigger and Hummingbird control system! The only lacking item is its short lens lineup. With the introduction of the new 55-210mm lens this spring even that will no longer be a problem for me!

Long exposure has several issues that you must overcome to successfully create the etherial, emotionally charged image.

Long Shutter Speed: Even in low light you will find it difficult to get a shutter speed at f/8 (sharpest).
Difficulty Focusing: Darkness you know…
Unreliable Metering: Especially with an installed ND filter.
Camera Shake: Requires a STURDY tripod and REMOTE SHUTTER RELEASE.

The Long shutter speeds generally can range from 15 seconds to 20 minutes. These are difficult to reach unless you shoot at night with light from the moon. What I find that I do is shoot at dusk on or just before sunrise to overcome this issue. Usually I will add a Neutral Density Filter (ND) to reduce the total amount of light reaching the image sensor. This will allow you to shoot with more ambient light and generally make this style of photography easier!

Heliopan Variable ND Filter

Shutter Speeds in Full Stops

I like the B+W line of ND filters and keep 3 on hand for each of my lenses I use: 3 Stop, 6 Stop and 10 Stop. There are also some really good variable ND filters as well. But be warned: You get what you pay for with these! If you get one of the Fader filters on Ebay for $30 then you are sure to be disappointed. But on the other hand if you get the Singh Ray Vari ND (~$450) or the Heliopan Digital Vari ND (~$350). The trouble with the variable ND filters is that they are generally limited to 6 stops before they start to generate artifacts into your images.

If you take a look at your standard 1 stop shutter speeds you can see what adding 6 stops of ND filter will do… If you have a metered exposure say, f/8 at 1 second, adding a 6 stop ND filter will give you a 1 minute exposure!

Aperture in Full Stops

If you desire a longer shutter speed you can also increase your aperture value up to a higher number forcing the shutter speed down to allow more light to strike the sensor.

We started at f/8, but by moving it 3 full stops to f/22 (see chart on the right) we can then move our shutter speed 3 more stops slower to 8 minutes!

You can move the aperture and shutter speeds up and down to get the balance you need for your artistic interpretation you desire for your image. Remember though, the sharpest that most lenses are capable of is at f/8!

Ok, lets talk about the issues in focusing!

It is dark out, you can see very little detail in your viewfinder! How can we accurately focus? Here are some ideas for you to consider!

Use a Light as a focus point

If shooting a subject like a pier or a lighthouse, set your camera on manual focus and adjust the focus to create a sharp round ball of one of the pier lights. These lights are a great focus point. You can also look between pilings for areas of dark/light.

Surefire E2D

If there are no lights to focus on then you can use a high power flashlight to high light the part of the scene you wish to focus on. There are several high power LED tactical lights that you can get and are a good idea to have in your case. Look at the Surefire E2D LED light.

Get someone to go stand at your selected focus point if possible with a light, then focus on the light!
You can manually set your focus distance to the hyper focal value if you have previously determined it for your camera/lens combination.
Remember, manual focus is the best and easiest way to get the focus that you desire.

Unreliable Metering…

Ok, this is a biggie. You will find that when using a 10 stop ND and on some cameras, the 6 stop ND that the in camera metering system does not work reliably. Plus to make this even more interesting consider a very long exposure, say 10 min where the light is changing and getting a stop or 2 darker during the exposure! These are not small matters to overcome. There are several work arounds for this from a simple pain in the but to advanced hand held meters!

Here is a list of suggestions for you to consider..

Try shooting in Aperture mode: Allow the camera to attempt to set the shutter speed. If shooting at dusk or in the dark with a ND filter installed you have about a 50/50 chance on getting the correct exposure. But… this is DIGITAL, and you will have a histogram with your exposure which will give you a baseline on which to adjust the exposure up or down! This is a good low cost way to get it spot on for the 2nd shot. There is a down side to this though, if the shutter speed is long, then you have to wait the same amount of time after the exposure for the in camera noise reduction software to run. This means that a 8 min shot becomes a 16 min wait! Workable but time consuming.
Leave your ND filter OFF the camera, in manual exposure mode: Compose, focus and meter, then screw in the ND filter and adjust the exposure manually to account for the addition of the ND filter. You must be careful to NOT change the focus by screwing on the filter. The exposure adjustment must of course be correct. Leave the aperture sat at a standard value like f/8 and do your adjustment via the shutter speed. So for a exposure of f/8 at 15 seconds with no ND, the addition of a 6 stop ND will change the exposure to f/8 at 15 minutes! you need to be able to do this in your head.
Use a hand held meter like the Sekonic L758DR spot meter. This meter allows you to set in a filter based exposure compensation of +/- 10 stops. You decide upon the ND filter you wish to use, dial in the exposure compensation into the 758 and meter on a spot in the scene that you desire to be 18% gray and the meter will give you the proper exposure settings!

Using the Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter with the Fuji X-E1 Camera system for Long Exposures…

Now, it is time to go through exactly how I created these images using the spot meter and the Fuji!

The scene as seen from my eyes at the time I was setting up…

Above is how the scene looked like at 7:30 pm (dark) when the image was taken. As you can see it was so dark that the only way to focus was to use the bright spots of light on the pier to manually focus, then pot meter on the sky with the L758DR meter. This gave an initial meter reading of f/22 @ 2 seconds thus making the sky 18% gray (too dark for me) with ZERO exposure compensation dialed into the meter (not yet adjusting for the 6 stop ND)! Now, adjusting the meter for the 6 stop ND filter by entering 6 stops of exposure compensation, the reading became f/22 @ 2 minutes but with the sky still at 18% gray. My imagined, finished image was one with the sky 2 stops brighter, or moving the spot metered point from Zone 5 to Zone 7 which is 2 stops! So I simply added 2 more stops and moved the shutter speed to 8 minutes (2 stops brighter) and shot the image.

Normally, I would have the 6 stops of compensation dialed into the meter ahead of time and make this a 1 step process.

So here is the resulting image…

f/22 @ 8 minutes with a 6 stop ND and moved to Zone 7

I am showing you the images in B&W so that you can better visualize the shades of gray to see the 18% moved from Zone 5 to Zone 7! The Sekonic is very easy to use and is a true 1degree spot meter. To dial in the 6 stops of exposure compensation I held down the ISO1 and ISO2 buttons and turned the control dial. The meter reading adjusted for the ND filter and gave a perfect exposure the first time!

Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter

The exposure compensation shows up on the LCD screen so that you know what you are actually measuring. You could have easily set it to 4 instead of 6 and that would have taken the move from zone 5 to zone 7 for you but I prefer to do that adjustment in my head!

Zones…

Simply stated the Zone System (Ansel Adams), assigned a series of stepped gray changes, 1 stop apart and across a valued scale of 10 stops with Zone 5 being 18% gray which is where ALL camera and handheld meters place the exposure. By looking at the chart below you can see the change between Zone 5 & 7 (2 stops) and what difference it will make on the brightness of the sky! I use the Zone System in ALL of my exposure calculations and it is how I see contrast changes across my image!

The Zones…

There are plenty of great books out there that will teach you the Zone System of exposure control and adjustments! Here are 2 on Amazon:

Here is how you would apply actual Zone values to an image. Then you can shift the exposure to move the metered Zone up or down to adjust the overall brightness of the image!

Using Zones to understand what your meter sees…

Now given the meter reading for Zone 5 you can change the exposure up or down to brighten/darken the overall image! Combine Zone Exposure techniques with Long Exposure photography then you can see how easy it is to control your final image. Plus if you use a handheld spot meter that allows for +/- 10 stops of compensation then you can see how easy it becomes to get a good exposure that is measured in seconds or minutes!

Here is a simple explanation of what each Zone looks like:

The Zone System explained.

Here are a few more images taken this night on the beach! I hope you enjoyed both the article as well as the images! Please let me know!

250 second exposure, Fuji X-E1

30 second exposure just before sunset, Fuji X-E1 shifted to zone 7

Dec 30 2012

Putting the Fuji X-E1 Thru Its Paces…

Or, the Fuji X-Pro 1 is soon to be 830nm Infrared…

Stormy Seas Pano, Fuji X-E1 & Fuji 18-55mm lens

Why?

Well, while the X-Pro 1 is a much finer camera than the X-E1 due to its hybrid viewfinder, but the E1 offers some minor upgrades that make it more attractive to me. First and foremost was the addition of an electronic remote shutter release! This one single change allows me to attach the camera to both my High Speed Water Drop system as well as my Lightning Trigger. I can also use it now with high speed hummingbird photography! This is in following my plan to completely remove my Canon equipment from my photographic tools in order to achieve a leaner lighter photographic system (click HERE for an explanation as to why this is so important!).

I am REALLY HAPPY with this decision. The camera is light and small, people around me rarely notice it in my hands! It generates GREAT images that I can use in place of images generated on my Canon 1DSMK3 and 7D without the need for a donkey to carry it around! (if you did not follow the link in the above paragraph as to the WHY reason, please do so, it will explain sooooo much!).

B&W Foggy Dingys, X-E1 and the 18-55mm lens

Now that I have completed the evaluation and testing of the new E1 camera I have decided to send the X-Pro 1 off to LDP in New Jersey to be converted to 830nm Infrared. I have a Panasonic GH2 Micro 4/3 system already converted to 590nm IR so I am thinking that the X-Pro 1 will be a novel deep contrast B&W IR system to have. I really do like the X-Pro 1 and love the hybrid viewfinder so I will likely be watching closely next year to see what its replacement can do!

Dingys in the Fog, Georgetown, SC with the Fuji X-E1 & 18-55mm lens

CV 75mm f/1.8

So with all of these photographic paths in mind I jumped on the X-E1 camera system. I also ordered the new Fuji 18-55mm lens as a walk around lens further allowing me to reduce the camera bag by three extra lenses, the 18mm, 35mm and the 60mm. Now all that I carry is the 18-55, 8mm fisheye, Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 Lens with two 5mm Leica extension tubes (I LOVE the Leica and Voightlander M mount lenses for this system!) and a Pin Hole lens! This makes for a much lighter camera case.

Rotten Meat Mushroom, member of the Stinkhorn family. Fuji X-E1 with the Fuji 60mm macro lens.

There is no sense in evaluating the new camera, it has been done a thousand times all over the world, and basically it is identical to the X-Pro 1 in all ways except for the Viewfinder and the LCD panel and has the addition of 2 separate inputs for an electronic remote shutter release.

Shem Creek Shrimpers in B&W, Fuji X-E1 & 18-55mm lens

What is important here is to show that in operation, the camera handles just like the X-Pro 1 and generates great images. I shoot in RAW and currently am using Adobe’s ACR within Photoshop CS6 and I am anxiously awaiting the release of Phase One’s Capture One V7 with Fuji support! Capture One has been my main tool for RAW conversion for years and it is just killing me to have to wait so long for this update!

I hope that you can see why I am so excited over this smaller sister to the X-Pro 1 camera! It really will fill every of my photographic needs in time. I am anxiously waiting for the release of the 55 to 200mm lens in 2013!

Salt Marsh in the fog…

Please let me know what you think and of your own experiences with this marvel camera system!

Nov 18 2012

A DETAILED look at X Pro 1 long exposures….

The Fuji X Pro 1 camera system is VERY WELL suited to this style of photography!

Outer Banks FIshing Pier Sunrise, Fuji X Pro 1 + 10 stop ND filter

Avalon Pier Sunrise, 30 second exposure

I just got back from leading an advanced photo workshop & excursion to the outer banks on Nags Head Island in the Outer Banks! The subject was HDR and Long Exposure Photography. It was an amazing workshop filled with great students and we visited amazing locations. What was so special about this was the sunrise locations at the Avalon Pier (which was broken into 3 parts) and the Outer Banks Fishing Pier. The wave conditions were a little high due the the North Easter having just passed and made for tough long exposures due the the required shutter speeds!

As you can see with the image on the left, the waters surface was still a little bit misty even with a 30 second exposure. The light was simply too bright and the waves too large to get a slower shutter speed. Still, the image is pleasing and as you can see from the blue sky it is just after the sunrise was finished.

Ok, some discussion on equipment is in order here.

A sturdy tripod is a must. It must be able to hold the camera steady even if the water washes over the tripod legs. I use a large Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with the Really Right Stuff large ball head on top. The X Pro 1 has the Really Right Stuff L bracket installed. This system works very well.
A remote shutter release is also a must. The X Pro 1 can only use a mechanical one so I have two in my bag, a 14 inch and a 40 inch. Both have a BULB lock which enables you to lock the shutter open.
A 10 stop and 6 stop ND filter. I like the B+W versions due to their German Schott Glass construction. BUT, be aware, the X Pro 1 (in fact most camera systems) cannot meter through the 10 stop ND filter. If you have a hand held spot meter you can get accurate exposures even with the ND filter!
A lens hood is an absolute must for long exposures. This will keep light from striking the objective element of your lens and reducing contrast and causing lens flare.
Know where the sun is going to rise! There are several great apps for smart phones out there that will tell you this right on the spot!

For rough seas, the longer you can get the exposure the smoother the water will become. The X Pro 1 will allow up to a 30 second exposure in the T mode. You simply use the arrow keys to change the exposure up or down, but 30 seconds is the max. For longer, you must use the BULB mode. The Fuji has a very well designed BULB mode! When you trip the shutter, a counter will start on the back LCD screen counting up! This makes for very easy timing control. Here then is an example of a 90 second exposure in both Black & White and color.

Outer Banks FIshing Pier Sunrise, 90 second exposure with the 35mm lens. Exposure: 90 seconds, f/16, ISO 200, 10 stop ND filter.

Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 Lens

Not all long exposures require such a long shutter speed. For some a shorter speed can generate a nice image as well. Here are two for your consideration. The first is simply a daylight shot of a creek mouth into the bay but with the exposure slow enough to smooth out the water and show a little pattern there! This was a 15 second exposure using the incredible Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 Lens with the Fuji M mount adapter shot at f/16 and ISO 200.

Mid Day Creek Mouth, CV 75mm f/1.8 lens.

You can see patterns in the water just at the point on the right side.

The second image is of the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse at sunrise. This was a .3 second exposure at f/3.2. This image was a bit challenging as I wanted detail in the front of the lighthouse. I used a Sekonic 758 DR hand held spot meter to measure the building and set the exposure accordingly. This is a very easy to use metering system and will NEVER fail you in use. Sometimes you simply cannot use the cameras metering system to get the proper exposure. This is always a factor when you are using ND filter attached to the lens!

For this shot I used the Fuji 35mm lens with a lens hood attached to keep incident light from striking the objective element at an angle.

X-Pro1-Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse Sunrise

Here are a few more sample images for you to think about. I hope that you enjoy them!

Avalon Pier Sunrise

Outer Banks Fishing Pier Sunrise, 60 second exposure

Sunrise

60 second exposure, Outer Banks FIshing Pier Sunrise

So, take heart, get a ND filter and go out and try some long exposures at sunrise or sunset. If you do not have access to the ocean then use the exposures to slow the motion of the Clouds! There are all sorts of possibilities out there for you to experiment with!

Sep 15 2012

The Olympus OMD E-M5 and Long Exposure Water Images…

Wonder of Wonders… Emotionally Charged Slow Water Images with the E-M5!

Etymology of the word ‘photography’:

From the Greek words phos (“light”), and graphis (“stylus”, “paintbrush”) or graphí, together meaning “drawing or painting with light” – allwords.com

Painting with light… Really this is just the perfect description of what I do with my photography! I rarely take snap shots. I will walk up to a subject and study it, allow it to wash over me and evaluate its emotional impact upon my sense of self, then I will take my my camera and use it as the tool of creation and force it to capture the scene as I visualize it!

Such was the case during my last workshop where Jamie Davidson and I took a group of students deep into the New River Gorge in West Virginal to photograph Grist Mills, Water Falls and Vistas. Usually I used my Fuji X Pro 1 (my main creative tool) but at one location I was forced to use a longer lens in order to overcome intense, harsh mid day lighting on a small set of water falls. So I choose to try my new Olympus OMD E-M5 camera system with the Panasonic 14-140mm f/4 – 5.8 lens and a 10 stop B+W ND filter (110) and of course on the tripod.

These waterfalls images were very difficult to capture in the fashion that I visualized them in my mind. I was looking for dark, forbidding images of the water and dark rocks surrounding it with a little highlight detail on either side on the rocks. I ended up spot metering on the water then placing its exposure into Zone 7 on the 10 zone scale (yes I DO use the Zone system for exposure as you should! This will be the subject of a future post!). After setting the proper exposure for the Zone 7 water and very dark rocks I then used a 900 lumen tactical LED flashlight to light paint the rocks around the water to bring out some slight detail there. The exposures were long, 3.5 seconds for one and 1/5 second for the larger falls. The longer exposures allowed me to repeatably repaint the rocks with the very, very bright tactical light. Take a look at the results below and decide if the effort was worth it or not!

Water Falls, New River Gorge, 3.5 second exposure, f/22, 10 stop ND with high intensity light painting around the falls area.

As you can see in this first image, I have created an etherial image with slight edge detail which was generated by the small high power tactical flashlight. The image worked much better in B&W so I did not really work at the color version of it at all. My intention was to create a dark moody image that would wash over me emotionally…

Water Falls, New River Gorge, Color, .5 second exposure, f/22, 10 stop ND with high intensity light painting around the falls area.

This second image in color was my 2nd attempt on a different location at the same series of falls. I really like this one in color. The exposure time was much shorter due to an increased amount of ambient light falling on the water and I did not have enough time to paint both sides of the falls with the light. Still, all in all the image is quite pleasing and the colors brought out during the long exposure are quite stunning.

Water Falls, New River Gorge, B&W, 3.5 second exposure, f/22, 10 stop ND with high intensity light painting around the falls area.

This last image I chose to process in B&W with a little darkening of the image corners to make it slightly more moody. I think that I like the Color image a bit more than the B&W version. What do you think?

All in all, I have to say that I am very impressed with the functionality of the OMD camera body. It worked perfectly for these difficult images and allowed me to capture the images as I envisioned them in my mind and that is the best that one can hope for when you are out in the world creating art… I will also admit that if I had a longer lens for my Fuji X Pro 1 at the time that I would have used it instead, but at the time the Fuji 60mm macro was the longest I had. I have since purchased the CV 75mm f/1.8 for the Fuji!

LED Tactical Light

Now, as to the tactical light, Surfire makes lights for the police and military but will sell to you directly or at Amazon or even in a local gun store. They are used in 2 ways, mounted on the weapon or hand held and are used during a gunfight to see the target and half blind them. They can be VERY powerful and VERY costly. Being LED, they will not burn out. All of them have multiple output powers and the one I used here had 2, 20 lumens and 900 lumens. You must be very careful with the high power mode as you can damage peoples eyes with it but being so bright, you can use it during a bright sunny day. These lights use lithium batteries and they will last about 30 hours on low power and 2 hours on high power. I keep this light in my camera kit at all times as you never know when you will need to add some detail light on a scene!

Aug 23 2012

Fuji X Pro 1 and Advanced HDR Photography with NIK, Photomatix & Merge

Or, Look Mom at what I made!

A brief overview of the 4 major HDR tools…

The Glade Creek Mill, Fuji X Pro 1 w/ 60mm lens, 10 stop ND and Nik HDR EFX Pro 2 with 3 source files

I just got back from a major workshop that Jamie Davidison and I led to the New River Gorge in West Virginia where to took our students on a hectic 4 day workshop/excursion. We explored waterfalls, grist mills, trains and vistas while studying Infrared and Color post processing back in the classroom each night till about midnight. This was EXHAUSTING to say the least but never the less, a great workshop full of great photographers who gave as much as they took! My days started every morning at 5am and ended about 1am. I am still recovering!

The Glade Creek Mill, Fuji X Pro 1 with the VC 12mm lens

While the main focus was shooting in Infrared and its associated post processing, I needed to provide loaner IR camera systems to those who did not yet own one, so even though I own three IR systems I was forced to shoot color! The sky each day was free of clouds and very bright, so if I wished to photograph in color I was forced most of the time to shoot HDR images in order to overcome the dynamic range of the day! A lot of the time I was able to successfully capture an image with The X Pro 1 in a single shot like the one shown here on the right of the Glade Creek Mill. But the norm was indeed HDR. The X Pro 1 camera has an unfair advantage over most other camera systems, it has a wider dynamic range and can capture more image data!

Notice that the mill did have some running water which forced me to use very long exposures in the range of 10 to 5 seconds in order to slow the water down. While there was not a lot of water flow there was enough to make the images very nice. I used the 60mm lens on the camera along with a 10 stop ND filter in order to slow it down!

OK so let’s get to it! From this point on, we are going to be working with the same three source files. I will take you through the post processing for the following HDR tools:

Nik HDR EFX Pro
Nik HDR EFX Pro 2 (new)
Merge To HDR Pro (Photoshop CS6)
Fotomatix Pro 4.2.3

I also will be using Nik’s Color EFX Pro 4 and Viveza 2 for post processing (fine tuning) after the HDR conversions are finished!

Overview:

OK, what is HDR? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Think of it this way… You are out taking pictures during the brightest part of the day. You can get a good image of the foreground subject, but the sky is totally blown out, you know pure white. The total range of the light from black to white in your image exceeds what your camera is capable of recording, but our eyes can still see and understand the complete range. So, in the world of photography, we have developed the ability to take several photographs, say three to six, each one with a different exposure from way too dark to really blown out. With these pictures in hand you can now run one of several software programs available that will combine the best of each of these differently exposed image into one that can display the entire range of of the image from black to white!

Now this requires a image with more data than you can store in a 8 bit JPG image, and even more than your 16 bit RAW, TIFF or PSD image! Now we move into the world of 32 bit images that can hold and display a far greater range of black to white data. Now, 32 bit images are all but useless to us in the real world so the HDR software will compress it down to 16 bits by removing select bits of brightness data without really negatively affecting the view of the image and making it possible to view and print the image! Pretty neat technology don’t you think?

What I normally do when shooting HDR is to take a test image and evaluate the histogram. I will look to see what areas are out range, or totally black or totally white. Usually, the blacks will be fine but the whites will be blown out. I will then retake the same image with a negative EV dialed in and re evaluate the image again looking to see if the blown out white areas of the image are now in the proper range. This gives me an idea of just how wide the range of the image needs to be. If the blown out areas take two or three stops of adjustment to bring them back into range then I will then decide upon how many HDR images are needed to be taken to get the total range covered in 1/2 stop increments. You will need to set your camera on a tripod and have it locked down to assure that you get the same exact composition in each shot. You can either use the auto bracket mode on your camera to generate your shots or do it manually. Weather or not you change the ISO or shutter speed is dependent upon the scene or your artistic intent. Some cameras will bracket at most three shots, some 5 and some even 7 or more! You can usually choose to bracket with Aperture, Shutter Speed or ISO. It is important to keep the Aperture constant as to not change the depth of field.

For these shots, as long as I kept the shutter speed longer than 3 seconds I would not have any issues with keeping sharply defined slow moving water to generate the HDR. So I chose a 3 stop bracket using the Shutter Speed, leaving the Aperture and ISO steady.

Here are the 3 component images that make up the final HDR image:

In the first, 3495, the trees and mill look good, the water is overexposed about a stop and has lost detail and the rocks are a little under exposed.
The second, 3496, the rocks are perfect but the water is very over exposed. There is some detail in the black area under the top of the falls.
The last, 3497, the water is perfect but everything else is just to dark.
The water was always the key to this shot, getting it so that it was not blown out is the reason to use HDR. These three images generated by the camera without any processing other than raw conversion and bracketed .7 ev apart with -1.3 ev being one of them, -.6 ev and lastly –2 ev. If you decide to try this, keep in mind that the closer together the exposures are, say 1/2ev the more data you will have to generate your final image. You can also add more data with more images. Every HDR you setup and shoot will be different and you must evaluate how many shots to take at what exposure.
The very dark black under hang below the top of the waterfall was another consideration when deciding the exposure values of the component images. I needed a brighter image to bring out some detail here as well.

3495, -1.3 ev, f/8 8 seconds, I chose this value to get the correct exposure on the trees

3495 Histogram, -1.3 EV

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3496, -.6 ev, f/8, 13 seconds. I chose this value to get the rocks and mill exposure correct knowing that the water would be blown out

3496, -.6 ev

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3497, -2 ev, f/8, 5 seconds, I chose this exposure for the correct falling water exposure

3497, -2 EV

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These three images are the only ones that I will use to explore the various HDR processing software.

Final considerations on component images that make up the HDR image:

You MUST shoot on a tripod to control camera movement (prevent ghosting) and to lock the composition.
Use a remote shutter release.
Wind will cause plant and tree movement which will cause a ghosting effect (bad).
Keep the aperture constant to force the depth of field the same between shots.
ISO bracketing is ok as long as you keep the jumps in ISO below the level where noise is introduced by your camera.
Exposures closer together will allow you to generate better HDR’s as long as the subject matter doesn’t move.
More component images mean more data to build a better HDR image.
Take notes in the field as you shoot so that you can remember what your intentions were at that point in time! This will help you when you build the HDR.

Some notes on the software:

HDR conversions require image editing software that can process in 32 bits. This means that unless you purchase HDR stand alone software like Photomatrix Pro you MUST use Photoshop CS5 or CS6. Elements and Lightroom simply will not work.
I do not like over cooked HDR images. I process them to a natural look and feel, close to what I can see with my eyes!
CS5 & CS6 both include an internal HDR conversion filter called Merge to HDR Pro for free.
The NIK HDR software, HDR EFX Pro and HDR EFX Pro 2 require a 64 bit operating system and the appropriate 64 bit CS5 or 6
Photomatix Pro is a stand alone filter that does NOT run inside of Photoshop and will allow you to save a 16 bit HDR converted image that can be opened in Elements.
All of the conversion software will cost between $100 and $200.
I am not going to take you step by step through each of the HDR conversion packages. This is HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE and no two photographers will get to the end results via the same path! There a quite a few good books out there on this!

Photoshop CS6 Merge To HDR Pro

This HDR program comes built into Photoshop CS6. It is quite powerful and gives you a lot of options. I found it very easy to use and it gives very nice results. You will find it under the FILE > Automate menu and it will ask you to locate and open your component images or add images already open!

Once your images have been chosen, it will open them and drop you into a full screen dialog where you can make any image adjustments. Once done the software will drop the finished image into Photoshop where you can then do your final tuning with Nik’s Color EFX Pro 4. I like to use the Tonal Contrast filter due to the ability to adjust color contrast in the Highlights, Midtones and Shadows separately from each other. This one tool will really bring out the full potential of your images.

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Photoshop’s Merge To HDR Pro:

X-Pro1-3495 3496 3497 -Glade Creek Mill -2012 -M to HDR Pro

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Nik’s HDR EFX Pro:

OK, onto Nik Softwares HDR EFX Pro. This is the first version that Nik offered earlier this spring (2012) It has a great interface and does a pretty good job, but requires a little more fine tuning after the HDR conversion is finished. The tuning process was again done using Color EFX Pro 4 and Viveza 2. This is a plugin filter for the Photoshop family and requires that you run a 64 bit operating system in Windows or OSX. It will NOT run on Elements and Lightroom.

I found that the images to be a little flat and lifeless until I applied the Color EFX Pro 4 in the after process tuning steps, then the images started looking pretty good.

X-Pro1-3495 3496 3497 -Glade Creek Mill -2012_NIK HDR EFX Pro

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Nik’s HDR EFX Pro 2:

OK, now, this is a MAJOR upgrade to Nik’s HDR software. This one revision corrected all of my complaints about flat and lifeless images! There is VERY LITTLE fine tuning needed at all. I think that Nik’s HDR EFX Pro 2 is my favorite conversion tool out there. But I will let the images speak for themselves!

X-Pro1-3495 3496 3497 -Glade Creek Mill-2012 NIK HDR Pro 2

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Photomatix Pro ver : 4.2.3

Photomatix is likely the most popular HDR conversion package on the market. It cost around $150 and does NOT require CS5 or CS6 to run. It is a standalone system and when it finishes it will directly save a 16 bit version of your HDR image on your computer that you can then open for further editing. It has many recipes and adjustments and you can do great work with it. I highly recommend it even if you are already running a 64 bit operating system and CS6. You will not be sorry!

X-Pro1-3495 3496 3497 -Glade Creek Mill -2012 -Photomatix Pro HDR

As you can see, the 4 converted HDR images are not at all the same. That would be difficult if not impossible to achieve. Each software package has its own adjustments and none of them are exact. I like Nik’s HDR EFX Pro 2 and Photomatix 4.2.3 the best. They are all easy to use and as long as you properly evaluate the scene that you are trying to photograph and properly choose the exposure values of the component images you will get really nice HDR shots!

What do you think? Please let me know!

Jul 16 2012

Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens and the Fuji X Pro 1

Good things that come in small packages!

Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens

Fuji M Mount Adapter

I have been testing the Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens with the Fuji M mount adapter on the X Pro 1 for the last week or so and have to admit that I am both impressed and love use and feel of this lens! It is well made and smoooooth to operate!

I have tested it both on the Kipon adapter and the new Fuji M mount adapter and have to say that the differences between the two are major due to the fuji’s ability to adjust corner color and darkened corners live with version 1.11 firmware! Pincoushion adjustments still require you to shoot and adjust.

I adjusted the pincushion by taking a picture of the pattern of 2×4’s on the surface of a deck. This allows you to maintain straight lines. I found for the 12mm that an adjustment of +4 was perfect.

I took the 12mm out to two locations for testing, Shem Creek in the Charleston, SC area and the waterfront in Georgetown SC. Both locations provides nice vistas and shrimp boats full of color and character.

Stormy Seas at the dock. Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens. Notice the focus from about 3 inches to infinity.

As you can see, the DOF of the 12mm is simply amazing. The cleat was about 3 inches from the camera.

Here is a monochrome of the same image.

Shem Creek with approaching storm, Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens

Shem Creek Shrimpers, Voigtlander Heliar Ultra Wide-Angle 12mm f/5.6 Lens

Notice the light rays coming down from right to left thru the clouds! The lens is VERY sharp and a real pleasure to use!

Let me know what you think!

Jun 18 2012

True Macro With The X Pro 1

Being Small in a Large World..

Zebra Longwing Butterfly Caterpillar, 1/4 inch long, Fuji X Pro 1 and the 60mm f/2.4

In another creative fervor with the Fuji X Pro 1, I decided to attend a formal CNPA (Carolinas Nature Photography Assn.) outing yesterday at Cyprus Gardens in Moncks Corner, SC. The park is full of flowers, swamp and a nice butterfly house. I had decided to leave all of my other camera equipment at home (it seems that this is becoming the rule now with the X Pro 1!) and concentrate on macro/closeup work with the Fuji system. In truth, I spent all day with the 60mm f/2.4 macro lens. The lens can shoot in the macro mode at .5x which is 1:2. The closest focus range on this lens is a little over 10 inches. With these limitations in mind I setup on a sturdy tripod and got about the business of creating images!

This post is NOT intended as a macro or flash tutorial. I will post images that I consider are the best at macro and closeup that this camera system is capable of creating. Anyone can create this type of macro images with just a little forethought and a full understanding of the physics of exposure and how to use your camera as a tool! I intend to show you what this camera system is capable of creating with thought out setups, exposure and lighting! I am going to share with you my experiences in using the camera system with the following accessories, modes and shooting supports:

Fuji X Pro 1, aperture priority, spot metering
Fuji 60mm f/2.4 lens
Fuji EF-20 flash
EF-X20 flash
Fuji EF-42 flash
Surefire 6PX Pro LED flashlight
Tripod and hand held
40″ remote shutter release

Fuji EF-20 Flash

The Zebra Longwing caterpillar above was about 1/4 inch in length and was taken with the Fuji X Pro 1 with the 60mm f/2.4 lens on a tripod. Lighting was the Fuji EF-20 flash unit on camera but tilted down and set at -1ev. As you can see, the overall setup gave a very nice image with reasonable lighting given only 1 flash! The overall image ratio is about 1:3 which puts this squarely in the macro range. I kept the aperture set to f/9 in order to get the entire insect in sharp focus and have a little bit of detail in the background. Now, the real surprise: the focus was auto with the selected focus point being the middle of the curve on the insect! Normally, we expect to manually focus when working in macro, but I intended to test the focus capabilities of the system as well.

TIP: I added a slight lens vingyette in post processing to darken the top and sides of the image to further accent the main subject.

Given that the flash uses two AA batteries, the re-charge time should be considered quite slow, but it was actually quite fast. I enjoyed using this flash because the tilting head enabled me to shoot past the end of the the longer 60mm lens and keep the subject in nice light with no lens shading even with the lens hood installed at the 10 inch focus distance! I did find that using the button on the back of the flash to set the EV value to be a bit tedious but since I usually set it to some negative value and leave it there it was not a very large negative!

Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar, Fuji X Pro 1, 60mm f/2.4, 10 inch focus, 1:2 ratio, Fuji EF-42 at -.5ev

Fuji EF-42 Flash

This next image of the Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar was taken using the Fuji EF-42 flash set at -.5ev and an aperture of f/8 on the tripod. Here I intended to have more of a blurred background (remember in the macro range the DOF is very narrow and even a a mid aperture you will get a very blurry background) yet again keep the insect in sharp focus across its entire focus plain.

The EF-42 flash is a much higher power unit compared to the EF-20 and it uses four AA batteries for a faster recharge time. The controls are easier to use BUT the flash head will NOT angle down beyond the level plain. This can be overcome by pulling out the wide angle lens on the top and using it as s bounce surface to angle some light down. As you can see in the image I created the exact image I envisioned. The main subject (insect) is in perfect focus and the exposure is dead on with no blow out of the whites. The background is nicely indistinct and blurry with only slight detail thus taking nothing away from the subject! Focus was again in auto with the spot set on the top hump of the insect as it was getting ready to move forward up the branch. Again, I added a slight lens vingyette in post processing to darken the top and sides of the image to further accent the main subject. As stated, this was all pre-planned before I ever looked at the camera!

The Red Flower, Fuji X Pro 1, 60mm f/2.4 lens, 1:4 ratio, Ef-42 at -1ev.

OK this image of the small red flower (sorry, I have not yet identified it yet…) was again done with the X Pro 1 with the 60mm lens and the EF-42 flash at -1 ev. The big difference here was that this was hand held. I just could not get the camera into a position on the tripod in order to capture it. Plus I was setting up to switch over to shooting butterflies on the move which you just cannot do on the tripod. The flower was about1 inch in length so the image ratio here is about 1:4 which puts this image in the closeup range. Depth of field is much better in this range so in order to have a un-defined background I set the aperture down to f/4 which gave me a sharp focus on the entire flower in its plain of focus yet blurred the background nicely.

TIP: The flash was setup using the wide angle adapter pulled partly out in order to reflect some of the light down towards the flower.

All in all I think that this is a nicely done image considering it was hand held!

Zebra Longwing Butterfly. Fuji X Pro 1, 60mm f/2.4 lens, EF-20 flash at -1ev 1:8 range

Ok, moving up further into the closeup range, I created this image of a Zebra Longwing butterfly. This was again handheld but using the EF-20 flash set level at -1ev. Focus was auto with the focus point set silghtly off center to the top in the portrait mode.

TIP: When shooting macro/closeup, I always set the focus point for each and every shot. This gives me far greater control during the setup and composition phase of my process.

Purple Orchid, X Pro 1, 60mm f/2.4, EF-20 at -1ev, 6PX Pro LED Tactical light.

Fuji EF-X20

OK, almost done! This last image of a purple orchid was shot on the tripod in shadow was one of the more difficult images of the day. I had to use a 40 inch remote shutter release and hunch below the flower and tripod with a 5000 degree kelvin LED flashlight angled up into the flower. I also used the EF-X20 flash set at -1ev to give the purple of the flower even lighting and a sparkle. The EF-X20 is the easiest of all the Fuji flash units to control due to its top mounted mode dial.

Surefire 6PX Pro

The LED flashlight is a 6PX Pro Tactical light with variable output and is perfect for macro work. Its light is bright white and since you can control the power level it makes for very easy control! This light and many others can be found at www.Surefire.com but be advised, they are expensive! I keep several versions of these tactical lights on hand. They are all useful and a positive addition to a macro kit!

OK, that is it for today. But consider this last point, Macro work can be done with any lens, you do not need to have a dedicated macro lens. With the simple addition of a closeup adapter (I recommend the Canon 500D series of adapters) you can convert ANY lens to macro/closeup!

What did you think of this post? Please feel free to leave feedback and comments! I value your input.

May 29 2012

Ultra Long Exposures with Fuji X Pro 1 using the Zone System and a Heliopan Variable ND Filter

**Interesting Things Come To Those Who Wait….**

Pawleys Island Surf, X Pro 1, 2 1/2 min exposure

Heliopan Variable ND w/ Stops

This variable ND filter from Heliopan comes in a 52mm size which works on both the Fuji 35mm and 18mm lenses. It is touted as being totally color transparent with no color shifts! Online reviews have stated that it is by far the best variable ND on the market. My own testing has shown that it adds ZERO color cast to my images and that the physical stops on the filter work very well while the settings are quite repeatable. The only negatives found are:

The fit of the ring components are very sloppy. They are loose and easily moved. I like a little tension between the moving rings on any adjustable filter and this one fails in that regard!
The base of the filter is wider than the top. You cannot attach any lens hood because of this. Since there are no filter threads on the front if the filter you cannot attach a screw on hood. This bothers me quite a bit, but the fact that the filter adds no color shift allows me to overlook this.

Its stops on the filter that keeps you in the 2 to 6.2 stop range and generates no banding at all. So far I have been very impressed with the images created with this filter in all way. Yes you can do the same job with a fixed ND filter but even the high quality B+W ND filters add a slight color cast to your images!

Suggested Equipment:

Sturdy Tripod
Remote Shutter release cable ( I found a 40″ model online ) You can typically find many choices here for the X Pro 1 at Adorama, BH Photo and Amazon. I have 2 in my kit, a 12 inch and a 40 inch model which allows me to back away from the tripod a little..
Bubble level. ( for some reason the internal built in level is not accurate ) You can always fix a tilted horizon in post processing, but you will loose part of your image in doing so. As with all things photographic, the better the image created in the camera the better the final image will be! The level really helps in this and you can find them for next to nothing on Amazon!
Charged camera battery ( long exposures chew up batteries), there is nothing worse than having to walk back to the truck for another battery! Keep an extra in your pocket.
Lens cleaning kit ( beach shots in the wind cover everything in salt spray )
ND filter (variable or fixed, Heliopan or B+W 6 or 10 stop)
External Spot meter like the Seikonic 508 (not necessary but make exposure a little easier!), more on this on later in the post!

Subject Considerations

Foreground, Mid Ground & Background: As with any photography, it is very important to have easily recognized areas within the images. The best images contain three. Foreground, mid ground and backgrounds that are clearly defined will draw you viewer into your image and make a longer lasting impression! This is the same in long exposures. I like to find objects in or that project into the ocean to achieve this effect. In the images here I have the rock groin, the ocean and the sky/horizon that cover these three areas. You should consider these important compositional areas as you pick your image.
Size and timing of the waves: When photographing the surf, and attempting to soften or smooth the waters surface you need to consider the distance and timing of the waves. A long period between the waves will require a longer exposure to even them out. This is just as true with larger waves as well! A good starting point for the normal surf is a 30 second shutter speed. This should give you 3 or 4 waves coming ashore with which to average the waters movement. The B&W image shown here in the post was a 2 min 30 sec exposure. The reason for the difference is because to flatten the waters surface I needed a much longer exposure due the the size of the waves (12 feet).
The Sky: The sky is a funny thing in long exposures. Normally we hope for some structure in the sky, especially with color. But the ultra white sky can also add a striking compositional element to our images as long as there are other darker areas within the composition to balance against. The addition of clouds, especially clouds that are moving will add another etherial component to your long exposure image. The clouds will be tearing across the image, trying to flatten themselves with movement. Usually, this effect is very subdued due to the slower movement of the clouds as compared to the waves! Some photographers make the moving clouds their main compositional components, something to think about…
B&W or Color: For me this is an easy choice… I prefer B&W to almost any other type of image! There is just something striking about a well done B&W image. Don’t get me wrong, I do shoot in color and like it very much, but the B&W image is universal in the way it tends to draw viewers into the image. The complexity of the colors having been removed seem to show the soul of the image in all of its splendor! This is an area in which the Fuji X Pro 1 really shines! The various built in art filters with their various options (red, green and so on) gives splendid B&W internal conversions within the camera. I am always amazed by the clarity and quality of the Fuji B&W images that I get out of the camera! The B&W image shown here is one such example of an in camera conversion. I used the B&W with Red filter choice in the Fuji X Pro 1’s film type selections!

Zone System Metering & Exposure:

Zone Exposure System

The ZONE system is an old exposure evaluation tool developed by Ansel Adams. While old, it has a real place in modern digital photography as well. There are many books and videos on the subject and I STRONGLY suggest that you take the time to learn about the tool.

Simply, by taking a spot meter measurement on a particular part of the subject, you can place it in the 18% gray area or Zone 5. Then you simply adjust the exposure up or down to place it in its proper zone!

It is a very easy to understand exposure evaluation system that can save you important time and thinking when you are evaluating your exposure setup.

Here is an example on how I use the Zone System to evaluate exposure:

Take a SPOT meter reading on the sky.
The meter in the camera or hand held meter will place the tone of the spot it measured into 18% Gray or Zone 5.
Knowing that I wanted the sky to be in Zone 8, I will lighten it by adjusting my exposure lighter by 3 stops by opening the aperture 3 stops wider!
The entire image is shifted by the decision I made above. I could have chosen ANY OTHER SPOT to measure and adjust according knowing that the camera spot meter would force that tone area under the spot meter to 18% gray!

The Zone System for exposure control in this image

So, looking at the sample image above, you can see that a spot meter reading on the sky which I want to place in Zone 8, is forced into Zone 5 by the camera metering system. If I left it here then end sky would be a dark gray and the overall image way underexposed. So, knowing this I simply adjust the exposure lighter by 3 stops, shifting the sky into Zone 8 and brightening the entire image properly! Look at the image above, notice that I have shown spot meter readings for several areas of the image? You could also choose ANY of these, knowing that the camera would force the area chosen into Zone 5 and then make adjustment up or down via the aperture to place it in the Zone that YOU wish it to be in. Perfect control!

One last thought on this for you. When using a fixed or variable ND filter, you simply take the meter reading through the filter then make your zone adjustments. The LCD preview of the X Pro 1 works VERY well in low light and allows you to do so easily and accurately!

The Zone system is a very easy way to understand and control your cameras exposure for perfect pictures.

Pawleys Surf, Long Exposure, 25 seconds, Fuji X Pro 1

So, what do you think? The Heliopan Variable ND Filter is a VERY good tool to have in the camera bag. But, it is VERY expensive ($300/52mm). Optically, it is pure with no color poisoning at all. I have not check out how it works in the IR spectrum yet but I will in the future. The only real complaint for me is the lose fitting elements!

May 20 2012

Detailed Fuji X Pro 1 Infrared Tutorial: Part 1, Equipment & Shooting!

Creating Emotional IR Images From Your Heart

Using the Fuji X Pro 1 for Infrared

Infrared photography means so many things to me… I have a popular Infrared Educational Blog at http://infraredatelier.wordpress.com/ where I have shared all of my secrets surrounding Infrared photography for several years, I have a book in work on Infrared photography, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, I have practiced the art of creating emotionally charged Infrared images for longer than I can remember, even as long as 45 years ago with film. Here, today, I will disscuss with you the technical details of using your Fuji X Pro 1 camera system to create these emotionally powerful images as well.

X Pro 1 Faux Color IR Image with only the channel swap

Understand this, you can create Infrared images several different ways:

Film: Rolli makes a great 720nm IR film in many different formats that with the addition of a 720nm filter on your lens will create great IR images at 100 ISO, and with no filter great B&W images at 400 ISO!
Hoya R72

Standard Digital COLOR Camera: With the addition of a 720nm or 850nm IR filter on your camera lens your camera can capture Infrared images. There is a tradeoff to this way though because each camera manufacturer places some sort of UV/IR blocking filter over the image sensor that allows only visible light to pass through. Some of these filters are weaker than others and these cameras make for a system that will do well in Color and OK in Infrared with reasonable IR exposure times around a second or two. Others have a strong filter allowing only a small amount of IR energy to pass. These require VERY LONG exposure time in order to overcome this filter. The Fuji X Pro 1 is one of the cameras with a weaker filter! This is exciting because it enables you to easily create IR images with an unmodified camera system!
Converted Infrared Camera: This type of system is the most popular by far. There are 2 types:

Full Spectrum conversion: The internal UV/IR blocking filter is removed and replaced with a clear glass filter. You can then program the camera with an external IR filter in any range from UV to Color to Infrared! This is the most adaptable IR system but costly because IR filters for your different lens sizes are expensive!
Dedicated Infrared Conversion: This type has the internal UV/IR blocking filter removed and replaced with a specific IR pass filter and will create IR images in that band only.

What your camera sees!

So with regard for the Fuji X Pro 1 system we are going to discuss option #2, the standard color camera with an external IR filter attached to its lens. But you ask: “What filter can I use?”. Well since we are not modifying the internal UV/IR blocking filter you must understand that the camera will pass normal visible colors as well as IR if the external filter allows it. This is both good and bad! If you were to install a 590nm IR filter on your lens the camera, it would see everything from 590nm up to 1000nm. But because the internal UV/IR blocking filter allows much more visible light than IR through, it will poison the exposure metering system. It is going to see the vast majority of the light as color (red) and expose for that rather than the IR portion. So attempting to do this will cause very unreliable exposure and great frustration on the part of the photographer.

What we need is to attach an IR filter that blocks ALL of the visible light and only passes IR to the sensor! So it is best to choose a 720nm IR pass filter to your lens like the Hoya R72 or a 800nm B&W IR only filter like the B+W 093. The higher you go in nm the longer the exposure time will be…

Now, knowing that we are going to use the 720nm filter which will only pass IR energy from 720nm and up while blocking ALL of the visible light our metering system will now function as it should!

Considerations of problems that must be overcome within the X Pro 1 to get good IR images

Even though the Fuji X Pro 1 has a weak UV/IR blocking filter there is still one there. Exposure time at a normal low noise ISO of 800 and below will still require an exposure time too long to hand hold and still get sharp images. Most of mine were at 1/30s and longer.
Yes, the X Pro 1 works well at high ISO settings, but in IR the camera will still create noise in the dark areas of the image.
Fuji X Pro 1 with a custom WB right out of the camera. This is as close as you can get but will still generate a great image.

White Balance is IMPORTANT when shooting in IR! The X Pro 1 will NOT reliably do a custom white balance with the 720nm IR filter installed. But it does have a manual Kelvin White Balance option, so when shooting IR you need to go to this sub menu in the WB settings and set it to 2500K. I have talked to others doing this and have heard that they also take away green as well in the menu. I personally think that this is unnecessary and by leaving the green neutral you will get more pleasing Faux Color images. A properly white balanced image taken on your camera has s slight reddish cast, the sky should be bronze and the green leaves should have a monochromatic feel with a bluish cast. (more on this later) An improperly white balanced camera image will be pure dark red. While you can still use this image in post processing the lack of a good white balance will throw off your exposure system. Read your camera manual on white balance and understand it!
Longer shutter speeds need a tripod to get sharp images!
Remote shutter cable to cut down on camera shake!
The Hoya R72 720nm IR filter will generate good Faux Color infrared images some of the time, but good B&W images all of the time. Keep this in mind while shooting and plan to always explore both options in post processing!
Faux Color IR images require a channel swap in post processing. ONLY the Photoshop family (CS through CS6) has this function built in! Photoshop Elements has an optional plugin called Elements Plus that you can purchase to do this. Lightroom and Aperture DO NOT have this function!

Ok, enough of this for now. Lets talk images…

The Hoya R72 IR filter is almost black. You can see very little through it but don’t worry, the camera can see through it just fine! You can find these filters on Amazon for about $58.00 in 52mm. There are a lot of other filter companies out there that make these, some good some not so good… I trust the Hoya!

Mount the filter on your lens, set the ISO to around 1000 and put the camera on a tripod. Make sure that you have properly set the WB either as a custom on or as a Kelvin entry. If you choose custom, the camera will require a lot of light to due this properly. Use green grass to generate the custom white balance.

I like to use the optical viewfinder rather then the LCD or EVF for shooting in IR. Choose and frame your subject carefully. Hmm, a word about composition…

There are three items that can make IR images really powerful and full of emotional impact:

Sky with clouds!
Water reflections!
Green Leaves!

The more of these items you can get in your images the better they will be! Here is an example…

Clouds, Water and Leaves! What more could you ask for? While not done on a X Pro 1, this image could just have well been so!

As you can see, the sky, reflections and leaves create an emotionally packed, etherial image that draws your viewer into it! Keep these three compositional elements in mind as you go forth and create your images!

Exposure Issues…

OK, last part of this post! There are a few small exposure issues that you need to be aware of while doing IR work. They are:

Red Channel over exposure: The RED channel will aways expose a stop or more higher than the blue and green. After you have taken the image and see the preview on the LCD panel look at the histogram. It only displays the combination monochrome histogram and if it is close to being overexposed you will get better results by dialing in -1ev exposure compensation and re-take the image. This is due to the red channel being more sensitive to infrared and causing the overexposure. You can really see this during the RAW conversion or in photoshop during post processing by looking at the RGB histogram there.
Hot Spots: Some people have reported hot spots in the center of their images when using the 18mm lens. I have NOT personally seen any evidence of this with my system as of yet. Hot spots are areas in the center of each picture that is usually a stop brighter. They are caused by light bouncing back and forth between the sensor and the lens elements. These are lens specific and very little can be done while taking the picture to stop or reduce them. BUT, the aperture can have a drastic effect on them! If you see these then try adjusting the aperture and review the results, you just might be surprised! You MUST ALWAYS use a lens hood when shooting in IR. This will also help stop hot spots by stopping light from striking the objective lens at extreme angles then bouncing around inside the lens between elements. If you do notice the hot spot you can remove it in post processing very easily by using Nik Filters Viveza. You use the selection point by placing it in the center of the spot and then reduce the brightness!

OK, this is enough for today. The next post will be a detailed Post Processing tutorial that will take you through both Faux Color and B&W processing. I even have a photoshop action that you can download to semi automate the channel swap and cut down your post processing time!

May 7 2012

Updated Grist Mill & Covered Bridge Gallery…

Major Image Gallery Update

I have just updated the images in my Grist Mill & Covered Bridge gallery in the menu on the top of the page under galleries! I added about 25 new mills and bridges plus provided name and state data under each image! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did in creating them!

There is something especially pleasing about mills and bridges that can transport me back to a different time and age! I will literally travel hundreds of miles out of my way to visit them! In 2011 I spent 3 weeks visiting 19 states on the eastern seaboard doing just so, plus this year in May, I spent several days exploring the mills and bridges of south central Georgia!

You can visit the updated gallery by clicking on the drop down under Galleries in the top menu or if visiting from off site click on the link below:

https://markhilliardatelier.wordpress.com/gallery/color-infrared-grist-mills/

May 5 2012

Georgia Grist Mill & Covered Bridges with the X Pro 1

A Few Hidden Treasures…

Starr’s Mill, GA

BW Auchumpkee Creek Bridge, GA

Well my wife and I spent a day exploring the counties north of Columbus Georgia on Thursday looking for covered bridges and grist mills! We actually visited 2 bridges and 2 mills but only one of the mills was really worthy of any type of photography (more on that later…) All in all a very enjoyable day!

GPS Track of this trip. Yellow Pins are Mills and Bridges!

I will drive hundreds of miles out of my way to visit a Grist Mill or Covered Bridge and today was no exception. We left Columbus early and drove about 150 miles in a large circle to hit these 4 locations. There is just something very special about these old landmarks don’t you think? I still have about 15 more mills to visit in Georgia and around 20 more bridges! We have 2 more trips planned this year there, one in August and another in September. If I can capture 4 or 5 good locations then it will be well worth the time and money to visit them!

: Starr’s Mill, GA

: Starr’s Mill, GA

: Auchumpkee Creek Bridge

: Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, GA

: Wilkerson Mill, GA

: Red Oak Creek Bridge, GA

: Auchumpkee Creek Bridge

: Auchumpkee Creek Bridge

: Auchumpkee Creek Bridge

: Red Oak Creek Bridge, GA

: Starr’s Mill, GA

: Starr’s Mill, GA

: Starr’s Mill, GA

: Wilkerson Mill, GA

: Red Oak Creek Bridge, GA

: Antique Texaco

: Auchumpkee Creek Bridge

: Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, GA

: Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, GA

: Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, GA

: GPS Track of this trip. Yellow Pins are Mills and Bridges!

: Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, GA

: BW Auchumpkee Creek Bridge, GA

: Red Oak Creek Bridge, GA

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What NOT to expect from Digital!

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Travel and the Fuji X Series, a match made in Heaven!

1 camera, 3 lenses and a good filter system and we are good to go!

Please let me know what you think!

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All things are fair in Love and War…

Equipment tailored to Long Exposures that I like and use:

Must Have Thought Processes to Master Long Exposure Photography

Of all of the times in the list above I like the Sunset and Twilight times for my best images!

Metering:

Now, how best to determine your exposure?

Time for the meat of this post, metering…

How to use the Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter:

Set Mode to SPOT

Setting the ISO

Setting the Filter compensation

Taking the Measurement

Understanding ND Filters:

Graduated ND Filters:

Last minute considerations as you venture out to practice your Long Exposures!

OK all done, I hope that you both enjoyed and learned from this post! Please let me know.

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No Words, just images…

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And now for something different!

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Lila Lee, in the boat grave yard…

You had better get out and enjoy them while you are able too..

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Or, if your are thrown off the horse, climb back on!

Did you find any of this post helpful? Please let me know!

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Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you…

OK, what did I/WE learn here?

Update:

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Things that I think about. It is just so sad…

“I drifted into photography like one drifts

into prostitution. First I did it to please my friends,

and eventually I did it for the money”

-Philippe Halsman

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Slower can be better…

Ok, lets talk about the issues in focusing!

Unreliable Metering…

Using the Sekonic L758DR Spot Meter with the Fuji X-E1 Camera system for Long Exposures…

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Or, the Fuji X-Pro 1 is soon to be 830nm Infrared…

Why?

Please let me know what you think and of your own experiences with this marvel camera system!

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The Fuji X Pro 1 camera system is VERY WELL suited to this style of photography!

Ok, some discussion on equipment is in order here.

Here are a few more sample images for you to think about. I hope that you enjoy them!

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Wonder of Wonders… Emotionally Charged Slow Water Images with the E-M5!

Etymology of the word ‘photography’:

From the Greek words phos (“light”), and graphis (“stylus”, “paintbrush”) or graphí, together meaning “drawing or painting with light” – allwords.com

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Or, Look Mom at what I made!

A brief overview of the 4 major HDR tools…

Overview:

Here are the 3 component images that make up the final HDR image:

Final considerations on component images that make up the HDR image:

Some notes on the software:

Photoshop CS6 Merge To HDR Pro

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Photoshop’s Merge To HDR Pro:

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Nik’s HDR EFX Pro:

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Nik’s HDR EFX Pro 2:

Here is my version of the three component images processed in Photomatix Pro ver : 4.2.3

What do you think? Please let me know!

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Good things that come in small packages!

Let me know what you think!

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Being Small in a Large World..

What did you think of this post? Please feel free to leave feedback and comments! I value your input.

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Interesting Things Come To Those Who Wait….

**Slower can be better…**

**Interesting Things Come To Those Who Wait….**