Bracketing digital style

Film shooters used to bracket high dynamic range scenes because there was no way to know if they’d nailed the tricky exposure until the film was processed. For some reason this bracketing approach has carried over to digital photography, when it’s a complete waste of storage and shutter clicks (not to mention all the unnecessary images to wade through at home) that shortens the…

Goosebump moments

On consecutive nights last week I had the good fortune to witness two memorable non-photographic events: Last Wednesday I watched on TV as Matt Cain pitched Major League Baseball’s twenty-second Perfect Game (and the Giants’ first ever); on Thursday night my wife and I went to see the touring Broadway production of “Wicked.” Both events were amazing, but only one moved me to tears….

My essential smartphone apps for photography

I have a few iPhone apps that I use all the time, and am always on the lookout for more (so feel free to share). There are many great apps out there, but given the amount of photography time I spend off the grid, a prime consideration for me is the ability to use an app without cell or wifi coverage, taking many out of…

It’s my pleasure

Have you noticed a pattern here? Every spring I post an image or two (or three) of a delicate crescent moon rising above Yosemite Valley at sunrise. This spring is no exception, nor will next year’s be. Or the next. Or the next…. I certainly can’t justify this lunar obsession from a business perspective. While the moon rises in a slightly different spot each…

Photographic reality: The missing dimension

“Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The sixth and final installment of my series on photographic reality.) So far I’ve written about focus, dynamic range, confining borders, motion, and time, but I think most obvious (and also I’m afraid most overlooked) difference separating the camera’s vision from our own is the missing dimension: depth. Photography attempts to render a…

Photographic reality: Expand time

“Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce your reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The fifth installment of my series on photographic reality.) There’s probably no better example of the difference between a camera’s reality and yours than the way we handle motion. In my previous post I compared the camera’s ability to accumulate light to the serial, real-time processing of seamless instants we humans do….

Photographic reality: Accumulate light

  “Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce your reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The fourth installment of my series on photographic reality.) Before getting too frustrated with your camera’s limited dynamic range, remember that it can also do things with light that your eyes can’t. While we humans experience the world by serially processing an infinite number of discrete instants in real time, a…

Photographic Reality: See the light

  “Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce your reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The third installment of my series on photographic reality.) Dynamic range One of photographers’ most frequent complaints is their camera’s limited “dynamic range,” it’s inability to capture the full range of light visible to the human eye. To understand photographic dynamic range, imagine light as water you’re trying to capture from a…

Photographic reality: Framing infinity

  “Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The second installment of my series on photographic reality.) If you’ve ever tried to point out to someone a small detail in nature that pleases you, perhaps you’ve experienced a conversation like this: You: “Look at that!” Friend: “What?” You: “Those leaves—look at the frost on those leaves.” Friend: “What leaves?” You:…

Photographic reality: Your camera’s vision

“Photography’s gift isn’t the ability to reproduce your reality, it’s the ability to expand it.” (The first installment of my series on photographic reality.) When I hear a photographer say “That’s exactly what I saw when I was there,” I cringe. Not only is capturing human reality in a photograph impossible (really), attempting to do so is so limiting. I’m a strong advocate of “honest” photography,…