reflecting on photography past

I was reading a columnist this morning who was reflecting on changes he's noticed over the past decade. It got me to thinking about how photography and photojournalism has changed since I started doing it professionally about 25 years ago. And, yes, I have photographer friends who are older than I and certainly their starting point of reference is different, but here goes.

It goes without saying that film was the norm. But the standard for newspapers was black and white Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5. At newspapers, most of us also carried color transparency film like Ektachrome or Fujichrome in addition to some Plus-X if we wanted some really fine grain.

One camera held black and white film; the other often contained color.

To process these films meant using any combination of machine or hand-processing method with a variety of chemicals. It would take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes--after driving back to the lab/office--before we knew if we hand any "good" images. There was no such thing as a monitor on the back of the camera to check focus, color balance or exposure.

Changing ASA (now ISO) meant changing out an entire roll of film and/or developing a second batch of film in a different chemistry/time combination.

Shooting something at ASA 3200 meant really grainy black and white images often using bleach and a cotton swab while printing under a dim amber bulb just so you got detail in some portions of the image.

If we ran out of film, we were pretty much done for the moment. You couldn't erase an image to make more space. You either begged a roll from someone or found a drug store or grocery store for more film if you didn't have some rolling around the floor of your car.

You used to be able to drive up to booths and drop off film to someone and return a few hours or days later to get your photos.

Looking at your images with any kind of urgency often required a good light table and a nice loupe if you were in the print media industry. Nevermind using a slide projector two weeks later if you shot Kodachrome at National Geographic.

Most every photojournalist carried two camera bodies and a bag with four, five or more prime lenses and had to change lenses OFTEN to get a good variety of images. Zoom lenses were not considered professional lenses.

Oh...and there was no autofocus on ANY of those lenses.

Seventeen millimeters was an exotic lens.

We carried one or two flashes and often had to dial in the best possible setting using a vague guess of red, blue or yellow setting on that flash to accommodate the distance/ASA/situation variables.

Motor drives were add-on devices. They often shorted out in wet weather. I used Band Aids over the button of my Nikon MD-12 to keep rain out of it.

Nikon was the undisputed king for Photojournalists.

Thirty six was a magic number.

More camera buying tips

As promised, here are a few more random camera-buying tips.

Be sure to consider exactly what kind of photography you plan to do with this camera. Keep that in mind for things like choosing what kind of lens you need, what kind of zoom, video and other critical features that might be relevant to you.

I advise not to buy anything online that is the cheapest price unless you are getting that price from a known retailer. If you get a dirt cheap price from some unknown seller, you may be setting yourself up for a disaster. Don't let a $20 price difference push you toward a poor purchasing decision.

Some of those low prices can mean you're not getting a full warranty or any USA warranty. You may not get a full kit or you might be buying refurbished equipment. You may have a very difficult time returning an item or you might have to pay a restocking fee.

A good rule of thumb is to alway get the camera in your hands and physically look at the features and how the camera feels. I always encourage buying locally. Give your local camera store the business. They are super helpful and their prices can get to within a few dollars of online retailers. They often will toss in a camera lesson or two. And certainly you can always go back with the camera to ask questions.

Another good rule of thumb: don't buy anything that is packed in those plastic clam shells. Just don't.

Also, generally any kid camera sold in the toy aisle or toy store is just junk. Yes, you can spend $35 and get her a "camera". It will frustrate them and you. Trust me.

Enough for now. More to follow

Camera Buying Tips

I've written a lot of camera tips, but I've decided not to recycle old ones. I'm freshening them and making updates. Here's one that's a little late in coming but still valuable for this time of the year.

Buying a digital still camera is high on people's list this Christmas. Here are a few random things to consider. I'll add to this list soon. But also, do your own research by using independent reviewers like Consumer Reports or some other authority.

I've preached this before, but don't be fooled by big numbers and low price tags. Just because a camera features a lot of megapixels, bunches of zoom and loads of internal memory doesn't necessarily make it a great camera.

Avoid camera brands you're not familiar with. When in doubt, stick with traditional camera manufacturers. Sure, some off-brand cameras are great. But they are few and far between. I love Canon and Kodak for inexpensive point and shoots. Olympus and Nikon are great if you want to spend a little more on a point and shoot or middle-of-the-road camera. I'm no shill for any of these companies, I just know what I've seen and liked. I still carry around a 4 mp Fuji from six years ago that's an awesome little point and shoot.

Also, remember that upgrading to a new digital camera means you'll probably be making images that have larger file sizes. That means your computer might slow down while grinding on these new photos. You'll need more memory to store these images (via internal or external hard drives; more on this later) and you might need to add more RAM to your computer. You might even consider buying a newer machine if you're not happy with your computer's performance.

If you're upgrading cameras for someone, you might be careful what kind of memory device the new camera uses. If it's got a slot for some sort of memory card, you might consider buying a camera that uses the same type of card as the old camera. This keeps the camera's owner from having to buy new cards immediately. Again, if this new camera makes larger file sizes, the old cards won't hold as many photos as before and the cards will eventually need to be replaced with ones that hold more data.

Video is a big feature on many digital cameras. Be aware that on most digital SLRs, you CANNOT use the autofocus when shooting video.

Again, video takes up a lot of space on the computer--especially if you start shooting high definition video.

Oh, you'll need software for that video. Sure your new camera might come with some freebie software. It'll be OK, but your inner Orson Welles will compel you to go get a beefier software which might require some upgrade to your existing computer like the addition of a video or sound card, etc.

That's a lot for now. I'll add to this in a day or two.

Inexpensive vs. "cheap" cameras

A close friend recently decided to buy an inexpensive camera that would basic digital still photography and video. He wanted a digital camera so he could make notes on job sites and record some information for work purposes. David is an accomplished photographer but he's not a techie so he turned to me for advice when he started picking out cameras.

He was really wanting to keep the price low. The camera, after all, was only for documentary purposes and not for art or anything serious. He ended up buying a $39 Vivicam made by Vivitar. The features of the camera, taken at face value, were reasonably attractive: 14 megapixels; video; SD card memory; built-in flash; plus a carrying case and cute table-top tripod.

I have never bought an inexpensive camera like that and was curious--if not dubious--of how it could really perform.

Sadly, the camera was worse than I could have imagined.

The most glaring disappointment was that the video recorded no audio. Period. The lag time on the shutter was pathetic and the quality of the images was stunningly poor. The camera body was toy-like. The slot for the SD card was not even behind a protective cover. It simply slipped into a slot like the front of a computer or card reader.

I wish I had kept an image from our brief experiment. But we packed it back up and returned it to the store for a refund.

Lesson learned. Not all 14 megapixel chips perform alike. There are a lot of valuable algorithms, mechanical and electrical features that make a camera perform well. Don't be fooled by big numbers and small prices. My old, old Fuji 4 megapixel $150 point and shoot outperforms this clunker by far.

Soccer Action

I dropped in on a Gaston Day School soccer match versus St. Anne's from Rock Hill on Tuesday. This is a gorgeous setting for a soccer match. The field is dropped in a pretty scenic location. The only bad view happens to be the one from where I was shooting most of my pictures. With the setting sun behind my back, I was forced to shoot mostly into the side of the pitch where there is an annoying white fence and tops of houses in the background. Still this was a fun match to watch. I found it interesting the St. Anne's team had several girls playing on their team against an all-male squad from Gaston Day School. But St. Anne's held their own quite nicely.

Foggy morning

We had a nice bit of fog a few days ago. As I walked to get the paper I snagged four frames of our front yard and stitched them together for a little panoramic. Again, it's nothing extreme. It doesn't even look very panormic-like. But I'll be getting to those soon enough.

Panoramic attempts

This is an old structure near my house that I've been looking at and wondering how to shoot it. I did this using my home-made panorama gadget and Arc Soft's Panorama Maker. It's not a very extreme panoramic--just something to play with and test out the system. This is only four vertical frames stitched together probably approximating about 100 degrees.

Pear trees

This is another location I'm eyeballing for a landscape photo. This is a few miles from my house, just near the South Carolina border. I think these are pear trees. The light here is tricky. I love the tall pines that create a shadowed backdrop for the backlit trees, but fighting off the lens flare is a real trick. I'm going to watch this sight as the seasons change and keep shooting it until I'm satisfied. I don't know what those pear trees do in the fall, but I can see the leaves starting to turn red. This might make a pretty dramatic shot come October.

Yet more soccer

I hit more of the Gazette Cup soccer tournament on Saturday. I'm still shaking off the rust, but starting to get my groove back for shooting sports. Soccer is a great sports event for working out the kinks. Its got a lot of action, but it's not too hard to shoot. I also tried shooting some video with my new, little Canon camcorder. The video quality was OK, but the shakiness of the camera is hard to overcome even with stabilization. This kind of video is best done with a pro camera that is shoulder mounted and has an eyepiece. Shooting video essentially from the hip by using the camera's fold out monitor is just not very easy.

Moonscape from my front porch

Here's a bit of fun from my front porch in south Gastonia. This is a moonscape about two days after a full moon. I've been eyeballing the light from a street lamp that pushes through my trees. It makes some great shadows on the lawn. But the picture has needed some extra kick.

I was on the phone talking outside late Wednesday night and noticed the full moon intermingling with the clouds and thought this might be a good time to knock off a few frames.

I noticed on the initial exposures how the moon was a little hot when I exposed for the lawn shadows. Instead of shooting a set of images for a high dynamic range composite, I decided to go old school. During the 15-second exposure, I used my hand to dodge out the corner of the frame where the moon was illuminating the sky. This effectively cut that part of the exposure to about 8 or 10 seconds, giving me a fairly well exposed single frame.

Soccer in Gastonia

After a brief hiatus, I'm back shooting. I visited a soccer match between Forest View and Highland Technical on Wednesday to work out the kinks and check out my new Nikkor 300 f/2.8.

The lens performed flawlessly but I feel the need to add the Nikon battery grip to my D700 to increase my motor drive speed.

I had a ball shooting for the brief time I was there. The light in Poston Park is beautiful and it's accentuated by a gorgeous landscape that provides a great, clean background for sports action.

I didn't shoot any prize winners for sure. I'm still rusty and I've got to shake off some cobwebs, but I'm excited to be out and shooting again.

Visit to New Bern

Visiting a new city is always exciting. And getting a chance to stroll a historic downtown like New Bern, NC is a thrill, especially in that magic hour when the sun is low in the sky and creating all kinds of wonderful visual effects.

There's a wonderful old church in the heart of downtown New Bern (First Episcopal Church). Old head stones poke out randomly in the lawn surrounding the church. I was toting my 7- and 2-year-old so the opportunity to really create images was brief for me.

But I did have a moment to watch the sun move in and out of the clouds just long enough to see some light sifting through the trees. I shot two frames--one with very flat, even light and this one with the rays of light tickling the shadows. The flat-light image was too blue and dull. The sprinkling of sunlight added just a touch of warmth and depth to the scene.

Shot at ISO 200 with my 17 - 35 f/2.8 Nikkor at f/4 @ 1/160.

First in line

This is the inaugural blog on "carlosblog". We just relocated to Gastonia in time to escape the blazing hot Arizona summer. And don't believe this nonsense of "...but it's a dry heat." Arizona has a fair amount of humidity and when the temps reach 115 with just a tad of humidity, believe me...it STINGS outside.

This blog is primarily concerned with promoting good photography practices in addition to Photoshop tips and tricks. I'll be offering photo tips beyond your basic "keep sun behind you" and "use force flash outdoors".

Hopefully some of my friends will chime in and correct me and/or offer their own perspective or just tell me I'm full of it.

Along the way I'll post my musings about things related to media and pop culture just to keep it interesting. Look for photos and even the occasional video clip as well.

Thanks for visiting.