Cellos and Monster Trucks

Also in this issue:

• Seattle Seminar
• Shooting Monster Trucks (and getting great results with the "worst" equipment)
• Other Stuff

Light is everything in photography.  It's more important than sensor size, resolution, high ISO performance, or shooting RAW.  Just as there's no substitute for proper focusing, there's no substitute for good light.

Case in point: Have a look at this photo of a talented young cellist taken in ambient light (click on this or any other image to enlarge):

1/60th, f/5.6, ISO 1000

Even though I used an A99 and Zeiss optics for this shot, its an incredibly bland shot.  Nobody will ever say "Wow!" when they look at it.  (And shooting RAW wouldn't have helped! :-) )  Let's see if we can improve this shot by improving the light. 

A99 & A77: Same Settings, Different Exposures

Also in this issue:

• A Death in the Family
• How I Shot This Really Annoying Sculpture
• Rescheduled Seminars 

A99 & A77: Same Settings, Different Exposures 

It started out innocently enough.  Here I was, photographing a science experiment we found in the pantry one night (a potato that decided to start sprouting) and so I thought I'd document it in the studio and go for some dramatic light.  I used just one flash on the right, set to manual output.  An early shot can be seen above.  (As always, click on any image to see a larger version.)

"The depth-of-field is too shallow" I said to myself.  "The front leaves are very sharp; but the back ones 4 inches back are too fuzzy".  And so I switched from an A99 to an A77, knowing that the smaller sensor will give about 1.5 stops' worth of increased depth-of-field for the same composition.  I carefully set up the camera so all the settings were identical, and took a similarly-composed shot:

My Life as a Geek

Me and the World's Smallest Telephone (as verified by the Guinness Book of World Records) back in 1980.

Once upon a time, back in the days of film, time exposures (like of the picture below, which was taken at 2:00 AM using a 20-minute exposure) were very much a trial-and-error process.  It was difficult to know how long to keep the shutter open, as the light was too low for the camera's meter to measure accurately, and even if you had a Sekonic handheld light meter (famous for ultra-low-light sensitivity) you still had to account for something called film reciprocity, a property where film would become less sensitive to light the more light hit it.

Preventing Image Theft

Also in this issue:

• Studiozaloon Portrait - Behind the scenes
• The Road Ahead
• Seminar Schedule
• Preventing Image Theft

Studiozaloon Portrait -Behind the Scenes

Say hello to "Uncle Chin", owner of the Studiozaloon Sony Pro Shop, the store that sells more Sony Alpha equipment than anyone else in Malaysia.  Uncle Chin credits his success in this space by employing good customer communications both before and after the sale, and has been responsible for producing an army of loyal followers.

I wanted to take a proper "Environmental Portrait" (a portrait showing a person in the environment in which they thrive) of Uncle Chin using my now infamous Five Dollar Studio - one wireless flash and one large diffuser, with some volunteers acting as light stands.

Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and...

A LOT of cool stuff in this issue:

• A99 and NEX 5R / NEX 6 ebooks are out!
• Singapore's Iconic Architecture (and the building I can't show you)
• Sony's top Lens Designer speaks at Sony Alpha Experience 2013 (video)
• Kickstarter project - help make a romantic comedy!
• Next Seminars...

Another Busy Month

I just returned from Malaysia and Singapore, then when I got back I pushed out not one, but TWO new books:

• E-book on The Sony Alpha 99 
• E-Book on the Sony NEX 5R and NEX 6 (co-written by Mike Hendren)

As with other recent e-books, one price gets you a .pdf (ideal for your computer or iPad), a .mobi version for your Kindle, AND a .epub format for every other type of e-reader.  Those who opt for the printed versions also get a .pdf file - just email me your receipt and I'll send you a download link.  Spread the word!

What was I doing in Kuala Lumpur?

Flash Exposure Problems FIXED!

The kinds of problems I had with automatic fill flash (left) with the NEX-7 (the A77 behaved the same way).  Switching to manual flash and manual exposure (right) was the only way to correct for it... until now.

Also in this issue:

• Not Your Father's Flash Exposure
• Living Vicariously through war photojournalist Chuck Nacke
• Upcoming Events
• Underwater Photography with the RX-100

Anyone who’s followed my blog knows the problems I’ve had to endure with the flash exposure accuracy of the A77, A65, and NEX-7.  Above is an example of a subject taken outdoors, in the shade, with the NEX-7.  The left image is with the camera set to AUTO (where not only was the flash overexposed but so too was the background), and the right is when I switched to Manual Exposure Mode and put the flash on Manual output.  (Good thing I grew up doing this sort of thing so it took me only a minute to recover from this frustrating output.)  I wrote about this problem in my books and blogged about it on more than one occasion.

Are Classic Metering Modes Obsolete?

Also in this issue...

• Interpreting the Histogram
• Seminar Updates: Singapore, Seattle, Vancouver
• Some upcoming books 
• E-reader Hell

Are Classic Metering Modes Obsolete?

Remember when you first learned about your camera’s different metering modes?  (You know, spot metering vs. center weighted vs. multi-segment?)  Remember how confusing it was, especially knowing what mode to use in what scenario?  And the disappointment you first experienced because you couldn’t get the tools to create the image you had in your mind?

Not many people realize it, but these tools are pretty much obsolete now.  They (and the concept of bracketing in 0.3 stop increments) are throwbacks to the days of shooting film, when you were literally shooting blind.  Well, with digital you’re not shooting blind anymore.  (Just look at the picture you just took, and if you’re not happy with it, use the exposure compensation control to Make it Darker or Make it Lighter.)

The Taming of the Shoe

The PC Sync connector

Also in this issue:

• A99's Wireless Flash Delay
• A Zeiss Full-Frame Alternative
• Seminar Update

The Taming of the Shoe

Once upon a time there were cold shoes.  Nobody called them that, but that’s what they were -- small brackets mounted onto the camera body onto which you could mount your flashbulb holder.

The original Flash bracket holder,
retroactively labeled the "cold shoe".

Once mounted, you would connect the flashbulb holder electronically to the camera via a PC Sync cord into a PC Sync socket (whose design hasn't changed much over the last century).  Inside the camera there was a mechanical switch which briefly “shorted together” the 2 wires of the PC Sync cable when the shutter was actuated.  It was a very simple and very effective mechanism, which also worked well when the electronic flash was invented.

Adding the circuitry to trigger the flash
now made it a "hot shoe".

“Hey, let’s get rid of that annoying PC Sync cable!” one engineer must have said to himself in the 1960’s, as he

The $1800 picture...

Also In This Issue:

Deals!  Deals!  Deals!

Brief Notes (Stuff I’m working on)

Parting Shot - Environmental Portrait of Robin Yukiko

=========================
The picture you see above cost $1800.  Actually, for a professional studio shoot that’s pretty cheap.  It was produced by writer and director Greg Bowyer for his new romantic comedy called “With This Ring”.  It’s about a female surgeon who loses her engagement ring inside a notorious malpractice attorney.  I’ve read the script, and it’s brilliant.  (And, being a guy, I’m not usually a fan of romantic comedies!)

I pulled off this shot (plus about 500 others) with only 4 wireless flashes.  More detail about that in a minute.

So what was the budget for what seems to be a very simple picture?

The Most Distortion-Ridden Zeiss Lens Ever (and Why You Won’t Notice It)

Also in this issue:

• London and Malaysia Trip Report
• Cameracraft Magazine - Early Feedback
• RX-100 and Spanish NEX-7 ebooks are out!
• Data Storage that Lasts 1,000 Years

The Most Distortion-Ridden Zeiss Lens Ever (and Why You Won’t Notice It)

Carl Zeiss may be the Rolls Royce of optical brands, but when Sony worked with them to design the Cyber-Shot RX-100 they had to make a LOT of engineering tradeoffs just to make everything fit in such a small package.  (Hey, if designing such an amazing camera were easy, it would have been done before!)  And I have to say they employed some out-of-the-box thinking on this one, which I can appreciate as an engineer but many of you optical purists may have a hard time swallowing.

Case in point: Have a look at this RAW+JPG of a test shot from the RX-100.  Yowza!  Look at all that distortion on the unprocessed RAW file!  Has Uncle Carl thrown their traditional standards for optical perfection out the window??

How These Hummingbird Shots Were Taken...

Also in this issue:

• A New and Different Photo Magazine
• London Seminar Update
• Least Likely Place to License and Image

A New (and Different!) Photo Magazine

For as long as I can remember, the vast majority of the “Popular” photography magazines served as a vehicle for their advertisers.  And as I got older things seemed to get worse, as content took a back seat to both the latest gear AND the will of the graphic layout artist.

As an example, have a look at some of the sample pages of a photo magazine I actually used to write for.  Its layout is gorgeous.  It has the backing of the camera company whose products they herald.  But its content leads the crusade of mis-information the photo industry loves to impose on the masses: If only you had the latest gear, or if only you understood this obscure feature of the intimidating camera you can’t ever hope to understand, only THEN can you get the great shots you see in their pages.  (In one issue they had a FOUR PAGE spread on how to use the shutter release button!)  They would showcase a guest photographer and only talk about what gear he used, not the light or how he approached the shot in his mind (sending the message that if you bought gear like his, your shots would be as good).