Estimate of all Unknown Bugs Please

There are some things you know you don’t know.  Even after reading wikipedia.  Neurosurgery and the hypothalamus.

There are some things that you can do okay, and think you are doing All-Right.  Setting the “A” on your first digital camera and going out on the first day.  Looking at the pictures, Okay!

But photography is about corners and edges, even when they are in the middle of the picture.  About subtle changes that make big differences and big changes that don’t help at all.  Youtube doesn’t do it.  Talking about it doesn’t do it. Reading?  Nope.  You need a workshop.

I’m writing this note, because I really didn’t appreciate the value of the workshop.  I’d like to write about my photography as it came lens to lens with the workshop.

Day 1:

Four of us jumped into one car.  Two teachers and two students.  I didn’t realize it but this start was the most significant thing of the workshop.

We drove quickly from the Bay Area, through the Central Valley, and into the Sierras via Hwy 108.  We piled out of the car at Lake Kirkwood.  Everyone pulled out a camera and started shooting.  It was just afternoon, with a lot of light.  Taking pictures like I always did.  Why? We weren’t there at the Sierra Fall Colors yet.  Hmmm..

In the car again.

Lesson 1: IPM : You have a captive audience of teachers!  Ask questions.

I had a lots of questions about Lightroom 5 and some basic things I’ve been playing with recently, so asked.  And wow, the amount of Information Per Mile was truly impressive.  Once I learned that, I asked questions whenever we were in transit from one location to another.  Lightroom, location, position, exposure.. anything. And the result was that it opened up a flood of related knowledge that left me always in record mode so that I could later try and process all that I heard.

Lesson 2: They know the places

It is really kind of nice.  I’m there to take nice pictures.  I need to spend all my energies in working on photography.  Not on finding pictures to take.  Now with Sierra Fall Colors, it is a matter of timing, luck, and most importantly, experience.  They got us to several very nice spots on 88 where the Aspen were exploding in color.  We brake hard, jump out of the car, and run around looking for perfect views.  Without worrying about searching, I could focus on the picture.

Lesson 3: Sharing the excitement

I don’t know about you, but with my family, I’m the only one running from the just parked car to the scene.  Oh, and the last one back to the car.  Imagine my surprise when everyone jumps out of the car rushing for perfect spots, for perfect views.

That was a lot of fun.

Day 2:

Lesson 3: Tripod

Dawn at Mono Lake is of course tripod time.  I was playing with an ND gradual filter, so actually spent all my time shooting from one spot.  I got the ND for the trip, and using it in conjunction with the tripod was really interesting.  The tripod is great for the steady shot in the dark, but what is really great about it, is that you can take many shots of exactly the same scene.  In this situation, there are so many things you can do in playing in this very limited-light situation.

Lesson 4: Dawn, Dusk and the Flat Histogram

I came back from Mono Lake, and in a rush to get some pictures to share, rushed through Lightroom.  I messed up all my Mono Lake pictures.  So I picked others from the later part of the day.  On returning later in the evening, I went back to the Mono Lake pictures and noticed that the histograms showed most of the light in a narrow range between 50 and 75% of the histogram, with a tail going to the left.  I’d remembered about using the “Lights” and “Darks” sliders to try to use the entire exposure range.  And there they were, the colors that were grays because they were clustered together around 125,125,125.  Once I’d found that, I realized how important the histogram was, and that I’ve got the colors if I only know where to look.

Lesson 5: The light is all there, you got to know where to look, Part 2

We were going by a grove of Aspen in the shade of a mountain.  In the shade, the great colors of the changing trees were just not there.  Ah, but they are there I’m told.  The leaves are yellow.  With the Sun’s rays blocked, the blue of the sky over powers the yellow.  Solution?  Set white balance to cloudy day.  When we stopped in front of just such a shaded spot, we all jumped out and took pictures.

That night, I shifted the Temperature slide up in Lightroom, and low and behold, the yellows and reds came out of the shadows!

Lesson 6: Taking 1 picture of 500 things, or 500 pictures of 1 thing

An infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of cameras, given an infinite amount of time, will take “Moon Over Hernandez.”  You get the picture ? .. !!

Day 3:

Lesson 7: Life is a matter of degree

Every teacher came by and told me:  Shade your lens.  Even the smallest ray will bounce around and decrease the contrast.  But it didn’t make a difference.  Everything was fine.  Of course, until the Sun was very near the subject.  These pictures were washed out.  I got to back off in degrees since the tripod was set up.  I watched as the wash decreased quickly.  But it occurred to me, that even though I didn’t really notice it after a while, it was certainly there.

I would painstakingly select a clear filter that transmitted 98% of the light, over one that blocked 5% of the light.  I learned that if I could, I would shade my lens.

Lesson 8: Watch what your teachers are doing

Also the other students.  Look at what they are looking at.  Watch someone else’s idea of a view.  What an opportunity.  To see what others are seeing.  And best of all, if you can see their pictures.  See through their eyes.

Lesson 9: Tripod Tripod Tripod

By the end of the trip, I always had my camera on my tripod.  If I didn’t need it, the legs were collapsed and I was using them to stabilize the camera in some manner or other.  When I could, I’d setup and take several pictures.  Often changing things up to over/under expose, or play with the DOF.  Tripods are great for these experiments.

 

Lesson 10: Just the beginning

In the end, evolution says we are just a band of chimps, going from place to place in a group, learning from each other.  We build upon what any one finds.  We get excited together, help each other up or down hills, or just sit together at the end of the day, exhausted.. but happy.