The Dark Night (No, not Batman)

Every so often a reader comments on a post or send me an email asking what my “original RAW image” looked like before post-capture processing. Several have asked how I “enhance” my RAW images in Lightroom and Photoshop before posting them to my blog or my Flickr page. I guess the assumption is that I’m somehow “cheating” and that my final output is heavily edited before publication.

I suppose that some folks feel my Photoshop talents exceed my photographic talents. Oh, how I wish this were true. What would take one of “The Photoshop Guys” only a few moments would most likely take me hours and hours of effort. Most of my images are created IN THE CAMERA, not because of some innate talent, but because I’m just too damn lazy to learn all that stuff about layers, curves and masking. Maybe someday when I’m older (oops, too late) but right now the extent of my PS knowledge is knowing which Nik filter to apply in a pinch.

But talk is cheap so here’s an image taken in January of 2009 on a magnificent winter evening in southeast Texas. Just a simple shot taken about 45 minutes after sunset when the southern sky turns a wonderful shade of purple. No special filters and no special technique other than shooting from a tripod and using the mirror lock-up setting on my Canon 50D to eliminate as much camera shake as possible.

NO POST CAPTURE PROCESSING other than what Lightroom applies by default and a bit of cropping. No adjustment brush, no graduated filter, no custom white balance, no added vibrance, saturation or clarity. No tone curve adjustment and hue, saturation or luminance adjustments. No added sharpness, no noise reduction, no lens corrections and no post-crop vignette. In fact, I didn’t even remove the dust spots. As the saying goes “Nothing But Net”.

The Dark Night – Needville, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 15mm, f/22 for 2/3rd of a second at ISO 100. No post capture processing was done on this image at all. Click on the image above for a larger version.

So download the HUGE VERSION (4.1 MB at 240ppi) and pixel peep to your heart’s content. You’ll find some noise in the shadows and the deep purple regions but no PS artifacts at all. And if you’re still not convinced, drop me an email and I’ll send you the .CR2 or .DNG file.

Reflections of Spring

Spring is coming soon to a Texas town near you! The poppies are beginning to bloom in the Franklin Mountains and the Hill Country’s lakes and streams are flowing well. The air is cool and crisp and the clouds a billowy white and gray in the distance. Don’t sit home another weekend. Get out and see the beauty of a Texas spring!

Reflections of Spring – Bastrop, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon Powershot G10 set on aperture priority (Av) using a circular polarizer. The exposure was taken at 30mm, f/5.6 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 80. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Smooth & Rough

Here’s a shot I took last month while hiking the upper sections of Pedernales Falls near Johnson City, Texas (home of good ‘ol LBJ himself). The light was pretty harsh that morning but I really liked the contrast between the smooth, green water flowing through the rough, gray rocks and didn’t have the time to wait for early evening. I have no idea why the water at Pedernales Falls is green but it sure makes a beautiful subject to photograph.

This is a one stop on the Texas Landscape Safari that everyone loves and it’s easy to tell why. You could spend weeks exploring these pristine waterfalls and never find all the great shots that are waiting just over the next rock or two.

Smooth & Rough – Johnson City, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 85mm, f/32 for 1/3rd of a second at ISO 50 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Making Your Photographic Hobby Pay

A friend sent me an email last week posing an interesting question for all amateur photographers namely, “How do you make your photographic hobby pay for itself?”.

At first I was tempted to tell him it’s impossible because gear lust tends to overcome common sense in most amateurs (and many professionals). The manufacturers keep adding features to keep us dishing out money for new cameras every year. If we fall into this trap (we’re all guilty of this folks) then it’s impossible for amateurs or most professionals to break even, let alone make a profit.

Successful professionals understand this reality very well and look at their gear as capital equipment that depreciates over time. No small business replaces capital equipment before it’s fully depreciated and the key to making money as a small business is watching your cash flow like a hawk.

However, somewhere along the way, serious amateurs begin to realize that their 10 megapixel 20D or 12 megapixel D300 is really all they need to achieve consistent image quality. They come to the realization that a good photograph has a lot more to do with the photographer than with the camera. It’s a profound and humbling realization for most and it’s the time when they sets aside their gear lust and begin their search for knowledge. It’s the time when serious amateurs seek out teaching professionals at workshops, seminars and photo-tours.

It’s also the time when many begin to give back to the photographic community as a whole. This is where many folks really begin to grow as photographers and discover that sharing knowledge freely with others multiplies their opportunities to connect with potential customers, sponsors and other photographers that share their passion.

The next steps amateurs take to make their craft pay for itself depend greatly on the personality of the photographer.

Selling fine art prints or coffee table books to the general public is hard work and most amateurs know very little about their regional market for such images.

Microstock photography is one possible revenue stream but a quick search on sites like iStockphoto turn up thousands of incredible images from very talented amateurs and professionals. (Face it. The stock photography market today is already flush with talent.)

Getting commercial work as an amateur is extremely difficult, given the fact that so many top-notch professionals are already out of work due to the ailing economy and the rapid decline of print media. Competing in the commercial arena means going up against the likes of David Tejada, Tyler Stableford and Kirk Tuck. Not for the weak of heart.

Some how do you make your photographic hobby pay for itself?

• Control your gear lust and stop spending money for the latest & greatest stuff! The easiest way to break even is to stop spending your hard-earned money on a new camera every year.

• Volunteer at your church, your local food-bank or your local civic center. NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) in your local area may well need the services of a photographer to document their work. But please don’t under-bid your local pro who needs all the work he can get.

• Sell to small, local companies that won’t usually hire a professional photographer to shoot their widgets, facilities or staff but want new images for their web site every so often. (Just don’t do this in Sugar Land )

• Sell your services to local folks that need a simple but professional head shot for a blog, Twitter or Facebook. You don’t need a studio. Make house calls using your minimalist “studio in a box” on-location lighting kit.

If you’re good and can find a local niche for your work, your photographic hobby has the potential to pay for itself. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll have gained valuable experience that most hobbyists never dream of.

“Give, and it will be given to you.” (Luke 6:38)

Looking Up at Enchanted Rock

If you’ve read yesterday’s post about packing for the Texas Landscape Safari, you might be asking yourself “why all the worry about packing emergency supplies, extra water and first aid kit for a short photowalk in the Hill Country?”.

Some of the best photographic opportunities in all of central Texas are in the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area at the top of this 350 foot tall granite dome and it’s 425 foot bigger sister. The climb from this side is very steep but manageable, ascending 425 feet in a little over 1/2 mile. Anyway you do the math, it’s one steep slope. The view from the top of Little Rock (pictured here), Enchanted Rock or Freshman Mountain is spectacular and on a clear day you can see most of the way south to Fredericksburg. It’s a photographic opportunity not to be missed!

Looking Up at Enchanted Rock – Fredericksburg, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/11 for 1/100th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Packing for the Texas Landscape Safari

The spring Texas Landscape Safari is less than eight weeks away and weather should be perfect for some great shooting in the Hill Country at the end of April. After a cold and wet winter all the rivers should be flowing freely and the waterfalls should be in the best shape we’ve seen in the past five years.

As the TLS draws near most folks like to know what kind of gear to bring and how much weight they can comfortably carry. This is especially true if these folks are new to the Texas Hill Country.

So here is a list of what I pack for a typical day hike and shoot.

• Canon 5D Mark II with EF 24-105mm f/4L zoom attached.
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L zoom with lens hood.
• Singh-Ray CP, Vari-ND & ND Grad filters.
• Black Rapid R-Strap & Clips.
• Bubble level, CF cards, lens cloths.
• Garmin Dakota 20 GPS on one strap.
• Motorola MR350 Two Way Radio on the other strap.
• Emergency Thermal Mylar Blanket.
• Hiker’s First Aid Kit.
• LED Flashlight & Hunting Knife.
• Emergency Food & Lots of Water.
• Trail Snacks (for energy).
• Gitzo Traveller Tripod & RRS Ballhead strapped to the bottom of the pack.

This much gear weighs in a little under 20 lbs and fits comfortably in my Moose Peterson designed MP-7 pack. The nice thing is, the weight decreases during the hike as I consume my water supply and trail snacks.

I caution folks about carrying too much weight in their packs. I’ve done these hikes and climbs several times in the past few years and every extra ounce of weight you carry takes that much more energy. When you’re out shooting in nature, the last thing you need to be thinking about is how sore your lower back is from carrying all that gear.

In fact, during the summer and fall TLS I generally carry only one lens (24-105mm) on my 5D2 and a few filters in my pockets. I load my pack up with as much water as I can carry along with some apples for energy. One thing I tell all my attendees; if it’s a choice between a lens or a bottle of water, always take the water. The Texas sun can be a relentless companion in the Hill Country and folks that don’t respect its strength soon find themselves dehydrated and exhausted. Not a great combination for a nature photographer.

Packing for an Industrial Shoot

After my Lighting a Dungeon (Without a Fire Breathing Dragon) post last week I received several emails asking for more information on the gear that I used and how I packed for an industrial shoot. If you remember a few weeks back I posted about the new Subaru Forester I’d purchased to make lugging my gear a bit easier on my back. The Forester is a great little SUV and gets 25 mpg running around town. It holds all my normal on-location gear in the rear compartment and the back seats will fold down perfectly flat to accommodate my nine foot stands and a roll or two of seamless background paper.

My normal grip kit for an industrial shoot like last week’s consists of my Gitzo 2541 tripod and Really Right Stuff BH-40LR ball head. I always bring three Manfrotto 6′ light stands (3373 or 5001B) with umbrella adapters, an Avenger collapsible reflector holder, and a 60″ Westcott shoot-thru umbrella, three Photoflex water/sand bags, all of which fits perfectly in a Hakuba 37″ tripod case.

I also carry four essential light modifiers wherever I go; the 24″ Lastolite Ezybox Hot Shoe softbox, the new Grin & Stir FourSquare 30″ QuadRing Softbox (a new acquisition), three 36″ (David Ziser) Shoot-Thru Zumbrellas and a Lastolite 38″ Diffuser/Reflector kit. Between the soft boxes, umbrellas and reflectors, I generally have everything covered for a normal shoot. All this gear plus my Think Tank Airport Security roller with cameras & lenses fits easily into my Subaru Forester and the rear cargo cover hides it from the prying eyes of would-be thieves.

And when the job is just too big for small strobes there’s always the Profoto Acute 2R Kit from my friends at LensRentals.com. Renting gear you don’t use all the time is always a great option, especially when your cash flow (and common sense) won’t allow plunking down $4000 for these big lights. This 1200 watt-second kit (2 strobes, stands, umbrellas & battery pack) can be rented weekly for about $188 plus shipping. Even if the economy does begin to improve this year, renting your lighting and grip gear is something every photographer should consider.

McKinney Falls in Winter

There’s not much color to shoot in winter. The trees have lost all their leaves. The grass has gone dormant or is covered with snow. The once beautiful blue skies are overcast and gray.

But winter has a beauty all its own, full of photographic possibilities. The sun is lower in the southern sky, casting wonderful shadows and creating dramatic contrast. The air is crisp and clean and you can capture details seldom seen during the hazy summer months. The lack of color pushes the mind to see texture and detail often missed during more vibrant times of the year.

So pick up your camera and go back to visit those places you shot during the spring, summer and fall months. Look for texture, contrast and detail to capture and enjoy the soft, wrapping light of those gray, overcast days. Open your mind to the endless photographic possibilities on a cold and dreary day and bring back some images that capture the spirit of Winter!

McKinney Falls in Winter – Austin, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 200mm, f/29 for 1/4th of a second at ISO 50. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Nothing Could Be Finer…

I occasionally get asked why a “point & shoot” camera like the G10 or G11 is so good for landscape work and the answer is really simple: depth of field. One key to a good landscape shot is keeping the entire scene in perfect focus and with G10/G11’s small sensor, this is a snap (no pun intended).

I’m no sensor engineer but I can tell you this, the smaller the sensor, the “larger” the depth of field. That’s why a full-frame sensor like that used in my 5D2 can so easily throw the background out of focus, even at smaller apertures like f/8. That’s also why a crop-body sensor like that found in the Canon 50D, 7D or Rebel series will never be able to match the bokeh produced by a full frame camera.

It’s also why a point & shoot can take such wonderful landscape images where every detail is in perfect focus. That small sensor may produce noise at higher ISO setting but at ISO 80 and shot at f/5.6 you’ll have almost unlimited DOF and near perfect focus. So for inexpensive landscape shooting, nothing could be finer…

Bastrop State Park, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon Powershot G10 set on aperture priority (Av) using a circular polarizer. The exposure was taken at 30mm, f/5.6 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 80. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Lighting a Dungeon (Without a Fire Breathing Dragon)

There is only one Joe McNally and only Joe gets the BIG jobs like this. The rest of us? We get a wee bit more modest jobs…

Had some fun Friday shooting a pretty cool computer controlled coordinate measuring machine (CMM) made by none other than Zeiss, a name very familiar to most photographers. I wanted to get a few close-up shots of the probe that does the actual measuring as well as an environmental portrait of the machine and operator in action.

I walked into the 10′ x 20′ room housing the CMM and took a few snaps with my G10 to see what the room’s fluorescent lighting looked like. As in most manufacturing plants, the dark floor and walls seemed to suck up the available light like a sponge. And as luck would have it, the CMM’s base was a giant block of black granite and Miguel, the operator, was wearing a grey shirt and black pants. (Butterflies in the stomach…)

I decided to get the easy shots out of the way and began with a few closeups of the measuring probe as it zoomed all around the part it was measuring. I shot these using a softbox on the left and a shoot-through umbrella on the right at 45 deg. I chose a fairly wide aperture to throw the cluttered background out of focus. My 580EX II’s were on manual around 1/4th power controlled wirelessly using the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 units. My biggest issues were the specular highlights (that’s a David Hobby term for a blinding reflection) coming off the (very Terminator looking) probe. These shots contains a few small areas that are almost completely blown out but hey, that’s life.

CMM Close Up – Houston, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on manual (M) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 180mm, f/5.6 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 400. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

CMM Close Up – Houston, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on manual (M) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 135mm, f/7.1 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 400. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.

With the easy “product shots” out of the way, now I had to figure some way to light this dark room, the big shiny machine and Miguel, the operator. All with three Canon 580 EX II strobes, a 24″ Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe (softbox) and a 43″ Westcott shoot-through umbrella. (Panic begins to set in…)

Miguel was extremely patient while I tried several different lighting positions attempting to light the machine evenly without leaving him in the dark. I settled upon the layout shown below by pure luck, using the softbox pointed at Miguel through the arch of the CMM, as the key and using the shoot-through umbrella as the fill. I also bounced another 580EX II against the white ceiling to add some additional fill behind the CMM to soften the shadows. I pumped up all three strobes to 1/1 power to fill this dark room with as much soft light as possible.

Shooting at ISO 400 with the Canon 5D Mark II really makes this a snap due to the almost nonexistent noise at ISO 200 – 800. The 580EX II’s worked perfectly with their external battery packs and new PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radio triggers. Post capture processing was simple using Miguel’s shirt to set a custom white balance in Lightroom. I spent less than 10 minutes retouching these shots in Photoshop so my entire “labor” for this shoot was under four hours.

My next shoot is a bunch of big green machines under sodium vapor lamps on the factory floor, so wish me luck!

Hard at Work – Houston, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on manual (M) using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 47mm, f/6.3 for 1/80th of a second at ISO 400. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta and in Photoshop CS4. Click on the image above for a larger version.