Which is better? Film or Digital?

This entry was inspired by a response I made to a thread on PentaxForums.com titled: “Why is film still better than digital?” I’ll assume that the vast majority of you shoot digital exclusively, but if you actually click on the link and read the thread, it will definitely give you some food for thought.

Here’s my take on the issue…I guess it could be titled something to the effect of “Why digital photography is so great” or “Why the development of the DSLR is one of the best things since sliced bread.”

Yes, there definitely is a certain nostalgia when using film. Up until nearly 10 years ago, I used film exclusively until my then husband-to-be bought an Olympus 1.3MP p&s digital camera for around $300 to take with us on our honeymoon. On the honeymoon, he had the digital camera and I had his old cheap film p&s film camera. Looking back at those pics, there were some good ones between the 2 of us, but for many of the shots, the IQ left something to be desired. After that, I moved on up in film cameras, owning a series of both SLRs and P&Ss, with a few digital P&Ss thrown in for good measure. By the time I bought my first DSLR in October 2007, I was mainly using digital. Even since going digital, I’ve played around with film, but I’ve always relied on digital for the bulk of my photography for several reasons:

1. Film (beyond consumer quality) is getting harder to find locally.
2. Depending on how much you like to shoot, film and developing can become awfully expensive. Memory cards are reusable and decent image editing software can be had for free or inexpensively ($100 or less). Since you’re reading this, I’ll assume that you’ve already got a computer at your disposal that you can load image editing software on to.
3. If I’m going to take a film camera on a trip with me, then I’ve got to make sure that I have enough film for the trip, otherwise I might run out and not be able to find my favorite film at my destination. My memory cards are always available; when I fill one up, I transfer the images to my PC and reformat. In a typical day’s shooting, I generally don’t run out of memory card space.
4. Unless I send my negatives off to a specialized scanning service, I just can’t get the quality of scans that I desire from local developers and I don’t have the type of money to pick up a Nikon Coolscan for myself. The main reason that I would want to scan my film in the first place is to share it with people like you.
5. Unless I send my film off to be developed, then that means having to make a special trip to the camera store to drop it off and then another trip to pick it up.
6. If I rely on somebody else to develop your film, my prints may not come out like I want them. Doing my own film developing at home requires dedicated space, as well as special equipment and chemicals, which can get messy. I don’t have that type of space in my house and I don’t have an overwhelming desire to get involved in film developing on that level. OTOH, I can do many of the same things involved with film developing with my digital pics–dodging, burning, color adjustments, etc. with my computer, mouse, and Bamboo Fun tablet using Lightroom and PSE and I’m really enjoying the process of seeing what I can do with each image. As for printing, I generally rely on uploading and ordering prints from a printer like AdoramaPix, although eventually picking up my own photo-dedicated printer (think 9×13 print size) isn’t entirely out of the question.

Really, what it boils down to for me is convenience. With skill development (behind the camera) and practice, I can safely say that the results I’m getting from my DSLR are definitely on par with what I could do with a film camera.

If you feel the same way I do about digital, but would like to edit your images to mimic that film look, check out LifeInDigitalFilm. The author of this blog has developed LR and ACR presets that aim to emulate different types of film, both past and present. I have a good many of his LR presets and I use them pretty regularly when I’m editing in LR.

Yes–I am very thankful that DSLRs have become relatively affordable so that it is a lot easier for me and other people like you to experience the pleasure of photography.

Looking beyond the obvious

fall photo workshop 09-1112

Originally uploaded by Heather’s Lightbox

This was one of the shots I got while I was at Lori Kincaid’s fall photography workshop last month. This post really isn’t so much about the picture itself as the experience involved in getting this picture to begin with.

Overall, the weather was not what any of us had anticipated. While we were expecting the cool temperatures, we weren’t expecting all of the rain and fog we got. At 4100 ft in the Pisgah National Forest, the fog did not lift all weekend–we did not get to see the spectacular view of the mountains from the back deck of our cabin at all. Believe me, it was most definitely a challenge to keep ourselves from getting too wet and muddy as well as keep our spirits up in spite of the fact that the weekend hadn’t turned out like we had hoped. In addition, I was also dealing with a head and chest “bug” that I had caught before I had left home.

Despite the cold and wet, we still made the best of it and managed to get some great shots like this one. I think most everybody else that I was with would agree with me in saying that in spite of everything, we were glad that we pushed ourselves past our normal limits and faced the challenges of the less-than-ideal weather we were presented with. After this experience, I can now say that I’ll be less likely to skip a photo opportunity simply because the weather isn’t ideal. As long as I and my gear are properly protected, I now know that I am capable of going out and shooting in almost any kind of weather.

A clean camera is a happy camera…

I made it back from the photography workshop in one piece and with some great pics. More details will be coming later on the workshop itself, but I want to share one little tip that I picked up while I was there that will help you keep your camera and lenses cleaner and possibly save you a lot of money in the process.

Lens cloths are a necessity in keeping your gear clean and you can never have too many of them. I find a couple of problems with the ones you get at the camera store, though–they’re often too small, not providing you with enough surface to clean your gear sufficiently. Their too-small size also makes them easy to lose. When you do lose one, that means you have to go out and buy a new one, which can be expensive if you keep losing them. I have a solution, though…

This solution actually comes from Lori Kincaid, our workshop leader. She suggests taking an old and much-washed t-shirt and cutting it up into rags; how big or small you want the rags to be is up to you. After cotton knit has been washed a bunch of times, it develops a smooth lint-free finish to it that’s perfect for cleaning the glass on our lenses. Before putting those rags to use, make sure that you wash them first, but leave out the fabric softener. Since I also had some wool hiking socks that needed to be washed by hand, I opted to wash my cleaning rags with them in the kitchen sink using Woolite and cold water. As I write this, both the rags and socks are out in my laundry area air drying. Not only are you saving money, you’re also recycling a t-shirt that might otherwise go into the trash.

Woolite and cold water in the sink also works great for camera straps, especially the neoprene ones. If you live in a warmer climate like I do and tend to get hot and sweaty while out shooting during the summer, this is a great way to get your strap clean. Once you’re done washing and rinsing your strap, just roll it up in a towel to absorb excess water and then hang it up to air dry.

Keep an eye out for more postings and pics from the workshop. While I’m not done editing the pics yet, I have already gone ahead and uploaded a few of the finished ones to my Flickr page–click here to take a look at them.

Yet another workshop…I like workshops

This posting finds me sitting in a hotel room in Newport, Tennessee before the parents and I head over to Max Patch, which is on the Tennessee/North Carolina border where Dad and I will be attending a photography workshop led by Lori Kincaid. Dad and I first met her at the spring photography workshop at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont earlier this year. Out of all the instructors, she was our favorite, so we were tickled to find out that she offers workshops of her own. In addition to being a great instructor, she is also a great photographer and we’re looking forward to learning more from her. If you’re interested in seeing some of her work here’s the link to her website:
http://www.kincaidphoto.com/index.html
I’ll be posting more about the workshop once I get home, so stay tuned.

A higher purpose?

One of the reasons that I established this blog to begin with was that I wanted to connect my photography with my spirit. No, I’m not referring to organized religion, but the spirituality that lies within all of us, regardless of our religious beliefs. For the record, I am a Christian.

Lately, I’ve been pondering the idea of how I can use my photography to uplift the spirits of the people of the world. Sure, I post on several different photography forums, share my pics via my Flickr account (and here), and by posting my thoughts to this blog, but I sense something in my spirit that longs to do something on a greater level that will have a greater impact on more people in the world.

Within the framework of my own spirituality, I believe that my passion and talent for photography is a gift from God. As a result, I want to use that gift to uplift as many people as possible and hopefully bring them to a greater awareness of their Creator. In doing so, I know I am honoring my Creator.

You may not share the same spiritual worldview as I do, but I encourage you to ponder how you can use your photography to have a positive impact on the world.

I haven’t figured it all out yet, but I’ll post more as ideas pop into my head.

Which DSLR system?

On a personal level, being in the process of switching systems (see my last post for the details) has gotten me to start thinking again about the process that I’ve gone through twice now in choosing a DSLR system.  If you’re in the position of either choosing your first DSLR or have been using a DSLR, but  contemplating switching systems, here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

First of all, no one DSLR system is going to be right for everybody; each system has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Companies like Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sigma all make great cameras and lenses. You just need to figure out which system will best meet your needs as a photographer.

While this list of questions you’ll want to ask yourself isn’t exhaustive, for sure, I think it’ll start to point you in the right direction of which system will be best for you.

1. What is your experience level with photography and cameras? How important is ease of use to you? Do you want just a basic camera to get you started, or do you want a camera you can grow with?

2. What type of photography do you intend to do with this camera? Kid pics? Great vacation pics? Specialized types of photography like flash photography or macro photography? As I mentioned before, different systems have their strengths, so choosing a system that will allow you to best do the photography that you want to do will save a lot of frustration in the long run.

3.  Where do you want to go with your photography? Are you content with just getting great snapshots of your kids and vacations or do you plan on making this a serious hobby beyond just the snapshots? If you’re already a hobbyist photographer, do you have thoughts of someday going professional?

4. What kind of budget are you looking at to start with? Even if you’ve done your homework and have planned out what you want to have in your camera bag, but feel a little down because you can’t afford to buy everything you want right away, don’t fret. All you need is one body and one lens to get started; you can add more lenses and accessories as you get the money. Also, keep in mind that you can save some serious cash by buying gently used bodies and lenses off of reputable dealers and individuals. On the other hand, just because you have a bunch of cash to blow on your new DSLR and lenses doesn’t mean that the most expensive ones will be the best for your situation, either.

5. Relating to question #2, once you’ve figured out where you want to go with your photography, as you look at each system, what types of lenses and accessories does each offer? While having a wide variety of lenses and accessories to choose from is a good thing, that alone should not be the main determining factor. While more serious enthusiasts and professionals may need to have a wide variety of lenses and accessories at their disposal, family snapshooters don’t really need that; any of the DSLR systems offer good quality basic lenses and accessories that will do the job.

Now you may be thinking–where do I go to learn more about DSLRs and figure out what it is that I really want or need? Excellent question–I’ll give you some resources below that will get you started.

If you’re debating on whether or not you really need a DSLR to begin with, Adorama has an excellent article that will help you determine whether or not you’re ready for a DSLR. Once you’ve determined that you do need or want a DSLR, they have another excellent article with suggestions for starter DSLRs.

Seeing about picking up or subscribing to some photography-related magazines, as they are good sources of information for gear information and reviews. Out of the major ones, Popular Photography is my favorite general photography magazine.

Since you’re already on the web reading this, go check out some photography-related forums. Almost every brand has a specific forum covering their gear. Browse, read, sign up, and ask questions. Photographers tend to be a pretty friendly bunch and are willing to help newbies. Here are some that I know about:

• Pentax: http://www.pentaxforums.com
• Canon: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/
• Nikon: http://www.nikonians.org/
• Olympus/Panasonic (4/3rds system): http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/

A few good general ones for all brands include:

• DPReview
• DGrin
• Photo.net

For reviews, I like:

• Steve’s Digicams
• SLR Gear
• Imaging Resource

Another excellent resource is the people you know. Look around in your circle of family and friends–do you know anybody who is currently using a DSLR? If so, talk to them and ask them about what they like and dislike about their own gear. If you’ve got a local photography club in your area, that’s another excellent source of information, as you’ll generally have a wide variety of people doing all different types of photography with different cameras and systems all in one place.

While this list of resources isn’t anywhere near exhaustive, hopefully it’ll be enough to get you started on your search to finding the best DSLR system, camera, and lenses to fit your wants and needs.

The story behind the big switch…

For those of you who aren’t already aware, I’ve made the decision to switch from the Pentax system to the Canon system. This is how I’ve explained it to people in the Pentax community…

The 40D vs. the K20D–in a nutshell, I have to say OH MY GOODNESS!!

What really got this going was that on Monday of this week, my husband and I were in a small local camera store looking for some old extension tubes for the Pentax among the store’s used gear for sale. As it turns out, the salesguy and I got into a conversation about how hard it is to find accessories for Pentax (either OEM or 3rd party). He mentioned that he had a very gently used (maybe 100 shots) 40D and asked if I would like to take a look at it. Out of curiosity, I opted to. He mounted a EFS18-200 onto it, let me have it to play with and it was then that I was hooked. What hooked me was the much faster AF speed (I used it indoors, under so-so lighting), how quiet the AF was (even though 18-200 isn’t a USM lens), and how quiet the shutter was. Even though I really haven’t had a real need for it thus far, I was really impressed by the burst mode (6.5fps) Other than messing a little bit with my dad’s XSi (since replaced with a T1i), I really hadn’t played with a Canon DSLR before, so it wasn’t like I really had anything else to compare my Pentax to before then. The salesguy wanted to sell it to me right then, but it wasn’t like I had the $629 they wanted for it lying around. I went home with a copy of Canon’s Spring/Summer catalog and started doing some serious thinking, including figuring up how much I could get for all of my Pentax gear. Tuesday evening, I had a conversation with my dad (in Tennessee), sharing my excitement about my experience with the 40D and hashing over my plans to possibly switch. Needless to say, he was very excited about the whole prospect.

I’ve had fleeting thoughts about switching before the, but a couple of weeks ago or so I got the latest issue of PopPhoto and was perusing through it and found out that Nikon had just come out with a dedicated hot-shoe mounted GPS system for under $250. That got me to at least give a little more thought about switching then. Even though Canon doesn’t have anything equivalent at this point, I’d be surprised if they don’t eventually come out with their own dedicated GPS to keep up with Nikon. Besides OEM accessories, there is so much greater choice in 3rd party accessories with either Canon or Nikon than with Pentax and it’s been frustrating to get all excited about a new gadget that I read or hear about, but discover that they don’t make it for Pentax.

The story gets even better. Wednesday, after getting home from work and eating dinner, I get a phone call from my parents, as I’m doing the dishes. They called me to inform me that they called down to that local camera store I was at on Monday and bought that 40D for me!! It was so unexpected and so generous of them. I’m planning on going back to the camera store tomorrow afternoon to pick up the camera. It doesn’t come with any lenses, so that’s why I’m pushing to get my Pentax gear sold, so I can buy some great lenses for it.

Another reason that prompted me to consider switching is that there’s more of an upgrade path with Canon than with Pentax. I have a long term goal of eventually going FF and most of the lenses that I’m planning on buying for the 40D are also FF-compatible. Pentax has basically more or less said that they don’t intend to produce a FF body and I know I won’t be able to afford the 645D when it does eventually come out + I’d have to buy a whole new set of lenses for it even if I could afford it. For the long term, it really does make more sense for me to switch to Canon.

Originally, I was thinking of making the switch starting around Christmastime, but Mom and Dad’s unexpected gift threw that whole idea out the window. I’ve got another photography workshop in Tennessee in October that I’ve signed up for, so I need to get going on building my Canon kit and getting familiar with it before then. There’s also an advanced photography class through the Continuing Education program at the local college that’s supposed to be starting towards the end of August and that’ll be a good opportunity for me to get to know my new gear better, as well.

In a way, switching does make a lot of sense, but at the same time, I’ve come to regard you folks like an extension of my family and that’s the hard part about it. You’ve been so helpful and I’ve learned so much from you over the over 1.5 years that I’ve been reading and posting here. Once everything is sold, I still plan on stopping by every once in a while to see how everybody’s doing.

Even though I feel that Canon will be a better path for me in the long run, I will still continue to be a cheerleader for Pentax. I really do hope that Hoya can really make something of Pentax and attract even more attention to it and the great value that it really is in the DSLR world. To people who come to me and ask about buying their first DSLR, I will still continue to recommend Pentax as a viable option.

For those of you out there that are contemplating your first DSLR and are leaning towards Pentax, don’t take this as a sign that you shouldn’t choose Pentax. Do your own research and buy into the system that will best meet your needs in the long run. For many people, Pentax will be that best system, and for you, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

In the near future, I’ll be following up with posts further detailing the experience of my transition to Canon. Stay tuned!

Are your online images secure?

I hadn’t planned on doing 2 posts in a single day, but after reading and contributing to this thread on PentaxForums.com, I thought it would be something that you would be interested in.

If you pay attention to the news (or have read the PentaxForums thread if you don’t), you will periodically learn about people who have posted their pics to one of the many photosharing sites out there in cyberspace (i.e. Flickr, PicasaWeb, etc.), only to have them stolen by unscrupulous people who use them, oftentimes commercially for either innocent or not so innocent purposes. This is a classic case of where the lawmakers of the world are way behind the rapidly advancing technology in terms of updating laws that will help curb this issue for photographers like you and me.

Until the laws catch up with the technology, it is up to us as individual photographers to protect ourselves. I have three suggestions that should give you more peace of mind when it comes to sharing your images with the world:

1. Reduce the resolution size of the  images you upload to your favorite photo sharing site; 600×480 pixels is sufficient to allow for easy viewing on your computer screen, but will prevent anybody from making prints of any decent size. If you would like to save your original-sized images for printing out, it is possible to keep those, but create duplicate copies for uploading. If you’d like to do this batch-style, but don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a more advanced program like Photoshop Lightroom, I highly recommend Irfanview, as this is one of it’s strengths. It’s also FREE, which is always a good thing. Another good option with a few more bells and whistles is FastStone Image Viewer, also FREE.
2. Check and see if your favorite image editor will allow you to add a watermark with your copyright info when you export your pictures for uploading. Of course, Lightroom will do this, but FastStone offers this capability, as well. Here’s an example of a watermarked image that I uploaded to Flickr just earlier this evening:
3. Check your favorite photo sharing website to see if they have a setting making it impossible for other people to download your pictures. Since Flickr is my main photo sharing site, I have discovered that it is an option there. I wrote out a set of instructions for doing this that I shared with the folks on PentaxForums and I’ll share them with you, as well:

•  At the top of your Flickr page, click on the “You” tab to get the drop-down menu. 
• Scroll down and click on “Your Account”. Click on the “Privacy and Permissions” tab.
• Under “Global Settings”, look for “Who can download your stuff” (the first option). Click on “edit” on the right side of the screen.
• You’ll see that Flickr’s default setting is “Anyone (Recommended)”, which is at the bottom of the list of options. If you don’t want anybody besides yourself to download your images, then click on the radio button next to “Only You”, or one of the other buttons, if you want only you and select groups of people to have downloading privileges.
• Once you’re done, click on the blue SAVE button.

Since doing all of the above, my mind is now more at ease about being able to confidently share my images online in a more secure manner. I hope that this will help you as well. 

Reading about photography

Besides photography, one of my other main interests is reading, so once I started getting more serious about my photography, it was natural that I started looking for books on the how-tosof photography. I’ve read a bunch of books on that aspect of photography, but it has been just recently that I’ve started getting more interested in reading and looking at photos produced by the better-known photographers of times past and present. The idea behind this is by studying their work and methods and applying the relevant parts to my photography, that I will become a better photographer.

I’m currently working my way through Mary Street Alinder’s excellent biography about Ansel Adams. During the later years of his life, she was his personal assistant, so with that and some pretty thorough research on the early part of his life, she has painted a detailed picture of Ansel Adams as both a photographer and a person, much of which I can relate to on a personal level, as a fellow photographer. Even though I’m only about halfway though the book, I’ve already learned a lot, particularly when it comes to the process he used in the darkroom to produce the prints that are so loved, even to this day. Even though I’m not using the same type of “darkroom” that he used, I can still apply some of his methods to the digital pictures that I work on in my Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (more on photo editing in a future post). An excellent collection of Ansel Adams’ photographs can be found in Ansel Adams : 400 Photographs. Even if you prefer to shoot in color, this is still a valuable resource for studying photo composition and lighting as it relates to the great outdoors.

Another book that I just got today via ILL at the public library is Intimate Landscapes by Eliot Porter. This is a collection of landscape photography that proves that you don’t necessarily have to include a horizon with a big sky or use a wide-angle lens to capture landscapes. Often times, the best landscape shots are those that don’t include any sky at all. I first became aware of this title when I read an article on shooting the American Midwest in the June 2009 issue of Outdoor Photographer and I think it will provide some much needed inspiration for my photography right here in north central Florida, where I live.

I will leave you with an example of an intimate landscape that I captured just earlier this week as I was walking around my neighborhood. Enjoy!

“What is it that you’re trying to shoot?”

While I was at the GSMIT workshop, one of my instructors asked me this question (or something like it) while we were out on a shooting trip at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Besides getting to understand my gear and it’s capabilities better, one of my goals for my shooting while at this workshop was to learn how to slow down. Usually, when I’m out shooting with other people in tow, especially those who aren’t photography enthusiasts like I am, I have a tendency to feel rushed. Unfortunately, this feeling can sometimes seep over into those times where I am by myself and actually have a good bit of time to devote to getting just the right shot–I still have to make a concious effort to slow down.

What slows me down? The act of setting up and adjusting a tripod to just the right angle definitely slows me down, but stopping long enough to ask myself what it is that I’m trying to shoot requires me to actually give more thought to things like composition and lighting. There may not be one right approach to shooting any given subject, so my thought process may ultimately produce several good shots that I would not have gotten otherwise if I had been in a hurry. Especially with shooting digital, there’s no need to worry about wasting film, so I feel more free to experiment.

On the subject of film, some people really do still like to use film because having a fairly limited number of exposures to work with (24 or 36 usually) forces them to take their time with each shot to make sure it counts so that no film is wasted. If you want to try something like that with your digital camera, get a small capacity (512MB or 1GB) memory card and set your camera’s file format or image quality to it’s highest level so that you’ll minimize the number of images that the card will hold (higher quality images take up more space on a memory card that lower quality ones). If you have a DSLR or high-end point & shoot that will shoot in the RAW format, then set it to that (a 1GB card in my Pentax K20D will hold approximately 40 RAW images); if you don’t, then set it to your camera’s best quality JPG mode. To really replicate the film experience, as you shoot, don’t delete any images until you’re done filling up the card and have had a chance to look at your results on a computer screen. While I haven’t actually tried this myself (someone on one of the photography forums that I keep up with originally suggested this), I’m going to give it a shot in the near future and see how it works for me. I’ve got a couple of older manual-focus lenses that I’ve acquired in the last couple of months that I really haven’t spent a lot of time with yet, so I think this exercise would be a perfect way to get to know them better. Perhaps I’ll share some of my results in a future post.

On a different note, I’ve finished editing my pics from the workshop itself (although I still need to go through the ones from the rest of the trip). Feel free to take a look at them. Here’s one that I’ll share here:

While the hike to this waterfall was fairly short at just under 1 mile, it was a bit of a challenge stepping and climbing on and over rocks, tree roots, and wet places to get to, but it was definitely worth it.