Join Rick and Jason for an exclusive birding safari to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas

Our first-ever workshop was a trip to the Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2007. Since then, we’ve had the pleasure of leading more workshops and meeting more people, and the experience has been wonderful. We often get asked “when are you going back to Texas?” Well, we’ve managed to work out a first-class birding experience for four nights in the Rio Grande Valley, May 30- June 3, 2012.

The Texas Birding Experience is an exclusive photo workshop. As many of you know, you don’t just wander around with a 500mm lens looking for birds (although we’ve done that, too). If you want the best bird photos, you’ve got to get close. And by close, we’re talking less than 75′ in most cases. We’ve teamed up with the Dos Venadas Ranch in south Texas, where you can shoot from professionally designed photo blinds. There are numerous blinds on the property; some face West (for morning shooting) and others face East (for afternoons). Each blind faces an array of natural perches with clear lines of sight. Even better, most of the blinds also offer a small pond, which not only attracts the animals, but gives you even more creative shooting possibilities. Read more

Without looking at the EXIF, do you know what sensor format I used here?

We all hear about “full frame” and “crop” sensors, and usually there’s a certain air of smugness about having a larger sensor. Nikon currently has three sensor formats (outside of the Coolpix line): FX (24 x 36mm), DX (16 x 24mm) and CX (13.2 x 8.8mm). Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of different sensor sizes in today’s digital photography.  Read more

We talked a bit about self assignments on the podcast and their ability to get your creative juices going.  Here are a few from recent shoots that are intended to have a “darker” feel to them.  The black and white shots are from my infrared-modified D300+18-70mm, while the color shot was made with a D3s and 28-300mm VR.  Give yourself an assignment and have fun with it!

After posting the recent high ISO images from Egypt that were made with a D3s at ISO 12,800, I thought I’d post a few tips for how to work with images of this type.  Depending on your camera, what’s “high ISO” will vary.  It could be as low as ISO 400 or 800 with either a point and shoot or older DSLR or it could be ISO 3200+ with some of the more recent DSLRs on the market.  This types should work well with all cameras, and I’m focusing my discussion on the two most popular raw converters out there amongst our former listeners: LR3/ACR 6 and Capture NX2.

First things first.  Don’t obsess too much about noise in an image.  If you try to eliminate every last trace of noise, you’ll get a smeared up, plasticky-looking imaging that isn’t very appealing.  It’s better to have a bit of graininess left in an image than to wipe it out entirely.  A little bit of grit can actually increase the perception of sharpness in a print.  If you’re going to eliminate a component of noise in an image, it’s best to go predominantly after color noise, which is the stuff that looks like colored specs.  Also, before going nuts with noise reduction and sharpening techniques, consider making a test print.  You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how little of problem you have before doing anything fancy,  Especially in smaller print sizes, noise is rarely much of an issue in the real world.  A great composition or creative idea trumps a bit of noise any day of the week.

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When I was about to get my first Nikon, an older friend of mine suggested foregoing the 50mm lens that came with most cameras at that time and instead getting 35mm and 85mm lenses.  His point was that having to choose between a wider view or a tighter crop forced you to make decisions about your photo as opposed to just accepting the middle ground – one that was a fairly common look at the time.  I thought it was great advice, but given that I was only fourteen at the time and couldn’t afford that option, I stuck with a 50mm 1.4 with my new Nikkormat.  It worked just fine, but I came to appreciate his advice over time.  When I could finally afford an option similar to what he prepared, I made the jump and loved it.  For many years, my normal set of lenses included a 35mm 1.4 and an 85 or 105mm, often supplemented with a 20 or 24mm and a 180mm.   This was in the mid-eighties through mid-nineties, and I generally used those lenses with either an F2 or F3.  Good stuff in the days before digital (still good in many ways). Read more

Subject isolation is a technique in which you make your subject stand out distinctly from the background. This technique is most commonly used for portraits or close-up shots, but it can work in any scene if you know what to do and have the right tools. The two fundamental methods for creating subject isolation are narrow depth of field (DOF) and post-processing effects.

Method 1: Narrow Depth of Field

Using a fast telephoto lens at close range causes the background to go completely out of focus. By orienting myself perpendicular to the cormorant, I was able to get most of it in focus (click to enlarge).

Depth of field is the perception that objects in front of or behind the exact plane of focus are either sharp or soft. Depth of field is an optical property, and it depends on three things: lens aperture, focal length, and distance to your subject. While all lenses can be stopped down to maximize depth of field, you’ll need a wide aperture (fast) lens to minimize DOF. Most budget lenses offer maximum apertures of f/4 or smaller; to really get good subject isolation, you’ll want a lens that has f/2.8 or faster. Some of the classic “portrait” lenses offer fast apertures of f/2 or f/1.4.

While aperture is important, focal length is another determinant of DOF. A telephoto lens will have a narrower DOF at a given subject distance than a wide-angle or normal lens. This helps to explain the common “portrait” focal lengths of 85mm, 105mm, and 135mm. Two of my favorite portrait lenses are the 85mm f/1.4 AFS G Nikkor and the 200mm f/2.0 AFS G VR Nikkor. If you’re on a budget, the 85mm f/1.8 Nikkor is also excellent. DX users will find an extreme bargain in the 50mm f/1.8 AFS Nikkor.

Lastly, subject distance is a component of DOF. Regardless of the aperture and focal length you choose, the closer you are to the subject, the shallower the DOF will be. In fact, with extreme close-ups, the DOF is so shallow that many macro photographers will stop down to f/22 or greater just to try to get more of their tiny subjects in apparent focus.

The best way to limit depth of field, therefore is to use a fast telephoto lens at a relatively close subject distance. Shooting for limited depth of field requires some practice, because you will be dealing with a very shallow range of perceived focus. Because the focal plane will be very thin, you’ll want to orient yourself as perpendicular to the subject as possible. If the subject extends beyond the focal plane, it will quickly go soft. For portraits, make sure the subject’s nearest eye is in focus. For inanimate subjects, make sure that you define the area of interest by focusing on it precisely. Live view focusing can often help in these situations, especially if you’re using a tripod and the subject is static.

Another thing to check when you are using limited DOF is the corners of the frame. Look for distracting background elements, especially large bright areas. Usually you can reposition yourself very slightly and eliminate the unwanted background, especially if you’re using a telephoto lens.

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Here’s a quick summary of some of the things I’m doing in my image processing to speed things up and get the results I want.  This is based on a Lightroom 3 or ACR 6 workflow, although the plug-in portion is more generic.

-  Import images via Lightroom 3 and as part of that, apply a metadata template that’s oriented to the year.  This automatically fills in contact info for me, as well as the year in the copyright field

- I let LR3 use my default image editing parameters, which override the standard values in the following way:

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Canon EOS-1D X: A paradigm shift?

Canon has announced a new flagship DSLR, the 1D X. This is an 18-MP, full-frame (24x36mm) sensor DSLR that is capable of a top frame rate of 12fps (although 14fps is possible with the mirror locked up). New tweaks include a fully redesigned AF system, and an in-spec top ISO of 51,200 (expandable to 204, 800 if you dare…).

But the part of the commentary surrounding the 1D X that caught my attention was this tidbit on Rob Galbraith’s site (and similar comments elsewhere by those “in the know”): “Going forward, the EOS-1D X will be the only 1-series camera the company makes, or at least it will be once it becomes a shipping product starting next year.”

What? No 1Ds? That’s an interesting paradigm shift, because it suggests that Canon’s market research has determined there is little or no market for a high megapixel sensor in a flagship body. Sure, the top-end cameras with the crazy pixel counts are expensive (that’s why I still don’t have a D3X), but the message Canon is sending is that the 5D series will be the high megapixel body and the 1D series will be a hybrid photojournalist camera. Moreover, we see the end of the 1.3x crop (APS-H) bodies with this new camera, and the move to 24x36mm format implies that Canon is now favoring photosite size over photosite count.

From a sales perspective, this shift certainly makes sense. I’m sure Nikon and Canon only sell a minuscule fraction of D3x and 1Ds bodies as compared to their faster cousins. But there are nice things about the “pro” body style that often go missing in the lower-end cameras. Or maybe, Canon’s working to develop an entirely new high-end line of bodies that offer high megapixel counts with even larger sensors.

While I’m not a Canon user, my own experience owning Nikon D3s, D700 and D300s bodies has shown me that there are often nice little “extras” in the flagship body that go beyond the integrated battery grip. For example, in the D3s, I get some features that might be overlooked:

• Real-time DOF preview in Live View Mode
• Exposure bracketing indicator in viewfinder
• ±3EV metering display in viewfinder
• Full weather-sealing
• Built-in viewfinder cover
• Dedicated controls for bracketing

While none of these features are “dealbreakers,” they’re awfully nice to have, especially when you get used to them and then switch to a lower-end body.

Despite the major advances in imaging technology over the last several years, there’s still a fundamental trade-off between image resolution and speed/ISO. Camera companies have to make tough decisions about how to position their product line(s), and which photographers to cater to. I, for one, have wished at times for a DX sensor in a D3 body. As much as I love my D300s and D700, I gravitate towards the D3s most of the time I’m out shooting. For most photographers, I think 18MP represents a perfectly reasonable combination of resolution and performance. I would suspect that Nikon will follow suit with their follow-up to the D3s. What’s in doubt now is whether we’ll see a “D4x” or if the rumored high-resolution D800 will take its place in the lineup.

The Canon EOS-1D X will be available in March 2012 at an estimated street price of $6800.

Friends,

After nearly six years and over 150 episodes, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to retire our microphones and bring the curtain down on The Image Doctors podcast. This is not a decision that we made lightly, but it is something that was in our best interests. We would like to thank all of you who have followed us from our humble beginnings in December of 2005 and also those of you who maybe just recently discovered us.

We never expected The Image Doctors to be such a popular production within the photography community. We are especially thankful to all of the great photographers who have joined us over the years to help enlighten our listeners on exciting ways to foster their interest in photography. Even more than that, we are humbled by the sheer number of our listeners who have written us or posted on our Facebook Page to ask questions, suggest topics, or offer their thanks for our tidbits. Without you, we’d never have made it this long. Finally, we’d like to thank Nikonians.org for their steadfast commitment to delivering The Image Doctors podcast free to everyone around the world.

We wish everyone who supported us the very best going forward and good light.

-Jason Odell & Rick Walker

We’re back from Limon, CO, site of our weekend workshop. We had a great group of participants (as always), and everyone captured some interesting shots. Our theme for this workshop was “don’t be afraid to fail.” We tried new perspectives, interesting subjects, and overall had two days of “play time” with our DSLRs.

Our first stop was a boarded-up convenience store, which we shot in “crummy” mid-day light. We emphasized side-lighting and textures, and shot for black and white as well as HDR.

The next stop was the old train museum, where we spent the better part of two hours roaming the old equipment yard, working as many subjects as we could.

We finished off the evening shoot with a less than perfect moonrise over the plains, but it was still nice to be out there.

The next morning we headed over to a nearby wind farm to photograph the turbines in the early morning light. We got some great color in the sky and in the adjacent corn fields. We then photographed along some of the dirt roads outside of Limon, where the cows were quite interested in our activities.

We want to thank all of those who attended, and we hope to see you again soon!