Photography 101

I wonder if winter is finally over this time. The sun is shining and it is beautiful outside. If I didn’t have a lot of homework to do tonight in my statistics class, I would be outside taking pictures or seeking new locations to take pictures. I will have opportunities later this week, as the forecast is calling for mid-70s within the next few days. I love snow, I don’t mind winter, but I admit that spring fever is now in full swing… and gardening comes next! Cool!

Too bad it was rainy and cold when we were in the Cities a couple of days ago. It was a long drive and stopping at the Minnesota Zoo made it more enjoyable for the family. The weather was lousy so we checked out the Tropics building and the main building. We have seen those areas three times this year, but it gave me the opportunity to take pictures and experiment with the teleconverter and the long lens. I have another dental appointment in a few weeks, and if the weather cooperates, I will finally be able to take advantage of the brighter light conditions outdoors for the long exposures in the larger enclosures. The elevated track of the monorail may be conducive to some great photos I haven’t had the chance to capture the last few times we visited the zoo. Listen to me, talking about photos as if “they” were living things. “Watch the photograph hunter as he approaches the unsuspecting snapshot. With luck, he may finally capture a live one in its native habitat. The wild snapshot has a keen awareness of its surroundings, but fortunately for us, has not yet detected the photograph hunter”, etc., etc.

With more experimentation, I am sure that I can get the right exposure in the more complicated lighting situations, but I will keep practicing. One of my favorite subjects in the Tropics is the white-cheeked gibbon exhibit, along with the sun bear and the cougars. The lighting is great for the cougars, but at the gibbon and sun bear exhibits, the light is comparatively weak for a long-glass situation. Using the teleconverter, I lose one stop of light-gathering ability. Even with a monopod, it isn’t easy to get really sharp photos at 465 millimeters, because to compensate for the low light, I need to lengthen the exposure time to 1/30 second or longer. In the future, I will try to shoot RAW format in that building (without on-camera processing). Then I can use Photoshop to tweak the various attributes of the raw picture with much greater latitude, a lossless file format, and photo stacks so I do not compromise the original file. Then I can always revert to the original, unedited RAW file if I don't like the results of my own manual adjustments.

The other thing that occurred to me is that I should have adjusted the exposure bias to compensate for the low light. The distance is too great for a flash, and so I can manage some acceptable (but not tack sharp) photos, but the problem for me is that the result of the low light situation is that I end up needing to use an ISO around 1800-3600, which isn’t suitable for enlargements, in my opinion, due to the noise that is introduced in the photos. Had I adjusted the exposure bias and used a tripod, I am confident that I could have gotten tack sharp photos. That is the great thing about digital photography. If at first you don't succeed, go back and take a dozen more photos with bracketed exposure settings and you are sure to get it right!

Don’t let my comments sound like I am negative on this camera. The D300 takes beautiful photos, even at ISO 3200, but pictures shot at high ISO settings are best viewed at a reduced size or possibly the size that fits on a computer monitor, but not at the native resolution. Of course, this is just my opinion, and maybe I am starting to become a photo snob, wanting my pictures to be better all the time. Remember, kids, this is merely my own opinion, and my personal experience. I am still experimenting and have much room to improve, but I love every minute of it. The problems I face with the camera so far have been due to the learning curve of the settings on the camera much, much more than any shortcomings in the camera itself. Nikon, if you are listening (not that anyone at Nikon is paying attention to this), this camera is superb. The D300 is an incredible piece of photographic hardware and I think this camera rocks. I have always loved taking pictures, but the D300 has awakened a new enthusiasm in me that is incomparable.

Photography is really exciting again. I love that.