Here is one of the incredible sights you can expect to photograph if you decide to join me on this fall’s Texas Landscape Safari. The beauty of Gorman Falls in the Colorado Bend State Park near Lampasas, Texas is truly unmatched in all the Texas Hill Country. It’s like climbing down a steep Texas gorge into a tropical rain forest. Unexpected and wonderful!
Moss & Rocks – Gorman Falls, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 105mm, f/8 for 1/15th of a second at ISO 100 on Sandisk digital film and post capture processed in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.
Texas Landscape Photography 
That’s a gorgeous image.
I notice Moose mentions his Lexar card…then again, they probably pay him to do so. 🙂
My question is, how often to use a brand new card. I’ve been using the same card, just reformating, for a couple of years now. Do you think that affects my images.
(BTW, I use SanDisk Extreme digital film. 🙂
Hey Mark!
Wonderful noir shot you took the other night. Actually, I’d be willing to bet that Moose pays the same price for his CF cards that we all do. As for when to retire an old card I’m not really sure. I rotate my work between about ten different Lexar and Sandisk cards and try to keep them dry, cool and safe between shoots. I’ll send a Tweet to Lexar and see what they say on the topic.
Jeff
Amazing image, and your photography is always an inspiration to me. I have a question. You talk about ‘Sandisk digital film.’ I understand that’s the card upon which you recorded the image, but to me, using that phrasing implies that if I used a Kingston card, say, my image would somehow be different. Is that what you mean? You are the only photographer I’ve come across that even mentions the card you use. Cards matter, but I had only thought about their recording speed in rapid-fire mode, not about their image quality issues. And certainly their reliability matters, making sure that the image gets from the card to your hard drive. While some people might think I’m being silly, it’s a serious question because you may have had an experience that led you in this direction.
Hey Chris,
Really good question and thanks for asking.
In my opinion, the three most important pieces of photographic gear required to capture a great image are the lens, the camera and the film. I believe this applies as much today as ever before and I do use the words “digital film” for a reason. In the days of 35mm film, photographers chose their film very carefully and understood that not all films would provide the same results. We went through a whole litany of precautions to make sure our film was “fresh” before a shoot including storing it in humidity controlled refrigerators. We were also extremely careful about protecting our exposed film to ensure it wasn’t damaged by heat, moisture or anything before we had a chance to develop it. Many a wonderful image was lost to careless handling of 35mm film in those days.
I believe that many amateurs (especially younger folks that grew up in the digital age) feel that all brands of “memory” are basically the same and don’t want to spend the extra money for a name brand like Lexar or Sandisk. We had those same arguments between brands of film 35 years ago and I feel that the old adage “you get what you pay for” still applies. That’s why I don’t begrudge Lexar or Sandisk one penny for what they charge for their “digital film”. It’s the same reason why I use a MacBook Pro instead of an HP or Dell notebook and the same reason why I’ll spend the extra money for Adobe products. It’s exactly the same reason I’m willing to pay more for a Canon L Series lens over a similar lens make by Sigma or Tokina. I want these companies to make a decent profit so they can continue to develop better products for all of us to use.
I’m not an electrical or computer systems engineer and I don’t really know if all brands of “digital film” are the same or not. I suspect they are not and I’m just not willing to risk losing what could be some of my best work to save a few dollars on a compact flash card. I feel very confident in my choice of “digital film” and it looks like most professional photographers feel the same way. I’ve never lost a single image taken with either Lexar or Sandisk CF cards and zero out of over 20,000 looks like pretty good odds to me!