Lens questions come up all the time and here's an answer to one of those: What to look for in a lens!

Debra,

 

Here's a "rating" of lenses" by DP Review and will show how both prime and zoom lenses did in their tests. I'm suspect, and surprised to see Canon out number the Nikons, which here on the DXO site, the Nikons show up in masse, way before the Canons! And the After Market brand, Sigma, is on top. The lack of Carl Zeiss lenses here on the DP Review also is suspect. Regardless, both of these listings/rankings will give you a sense of how lens makers try and produce the best possible quality and seldom acheive that goal, with each lens they design.

 

Carl Zeiss lenses, which you can purchase, for your Canon 5D MKIII, is $4,000, Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2  and is arguably one of the World's finest lenses ever made.

 

 http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews?sort=rating

 

And here's DXO's info:

 

http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Ratings

 

As Paul,Andrew and Patrick pointed out and I mentioned, there will be choices to be made,when you are putting together your "kit". On a long list of parameters, I wouldn't have weight anywhere near the top. A pound here or there doesn't matter and you not hiking the Appalachian Trail,where ounces may make a difference. It's like carrying an extra water bottle. 

 

As a general rule,

 

1. Prime lenses will always be sharper than zooms, mostly due to the mechanics of the lens and and things moving in and out. Prime lenses don't move and remove one obstacle from the designers and the result, are amazing lenses,even less expensive prime lenses will out perform most zoom lenses.

 

2. The aperture generally indicates the relative quality of the lens. So a F4.0 lens will generally cost less than an F2.8 and a F2.8 lens will cost less than an F1.4 lens,generally!

 

3. With that said, an F2.8 lens will generally produce better images throughout it's range, but the "sweet spot" is usually closer to the middle numbers, F8,F11,etc. but again, really hard to see in actual use.

 

 So with those 3 statement above, used as the basis of what I'm going to say,let's try and answer your main question, "Rich, does buying the most expensive lens, guarantee me the sharpest images?" NO, not always and not if you don't use the best techniques to produce those images, but it will give you the opportunity to take the best images.

 

Another question: "Rich, How does the aperture at f/4.8 differ from the aperture at f/2.4 but more importantly is it worth the difference in cost which is quite a bit (I think so)? Will it make the difference between spending twice as much? You seem to imply that those factors don’t have any effect on the overall results and that only one’s expertise and personal technique can create any real effects that are satisfactory on the final results.?"

 

So there are a few questions here and I'll answer what I can. As I stated in #2, the aperture "hole" and in this case, let's say,is F2.8 and another lens you have is F4.0, doesn't make much difference in tha actual capturing of the image, landscapes,since with that wide angle and shooting landscapes, the actual aperture used will be almost ALWAYS towards the other end, F11,F16 or F22,etc. So the questions about taking images of landscapes with a wide angle lens and the largest aperture is either F2.8 or F4, doesn't really matter. Those aperture will be seldom used and if used, then the "softness" of the image, on either side of the focal point, is desired.

 

And furthermore, buying an inexpensive lens, with an aperture range of  F5.6 to F16, the resulting "sweet spot" wil be very narrow, like one f-stop,where on the more expensive lens, with a range of F2.8 to F32.0, the the "sweet spot" is much wider and that is what you're paying for.

 

So I hope this has answered a few of your questions and let me and the others here,know if you have other questions that we might be able to answer,

 

Rich

Photoshop Quick Tips:

Ryan,Billy,et al.,

 

 If you are using PS, then no need to start all over. And as far as color rendition and your lens, don't worry any more brain cells about it. We, photographers have the best equipment probably ever made and even cheap lenses are better than older expensive lenses, the glass just can't compete with today's technology. If you were shooting fashion and needed accurate color, then maybe,maybe the lens would be an issue, but the lighting would have more effect than the possible color shift in the lens.

 

Here's a quick tutorial on a "quick way to do stuff to your images.

 

1. Open the image and "duplicate" it. Close the original.
2. On the layers side, right click on the background layer and create a new layer,"duplicate" layer and call it "saturation"
3.Either go to "adjustments" and then "saturation" or if you have the big Photoshop, go down to "selective color"
3a. If saturation, go in and saturate the entire image, go beyond what you want and then come back. The whole time, just look at the tiger, not the grass or any thing else.
3b. If "selective colors", open box and start at "red" and at the bottom of the box, you'll see sliders,grab the "black" slider and slide it towards the right. This will show you the effect of intensifying the red in the image and only the red. If you slide it towards the left, it will decrease the "red" in the image. Now, if you slide the individual sliders,cyan,magenta,yellow, you are adjusting those colors in the "reds" only! So if you have a "red" and you want a warmer red, then take the yellow slider and slide it towards the right and the "reds" in the image will get more yellowy!!!
3c. Just play with the red and yellow, for this test.
4.Now,regardless if you used the "saturation or selective colors",you can now go over with the tools and above the "bucket or gradient tool", is the "eraser" click on that.The "brush should be about 100-200 and soft and @ 100%.
5. Enlarge the image to atleast 100%, more if this is the first time that you've used a brush.
6. Now just erase away the effect from anywhere you DON'T want the effect, so in this case, everything but the tiger, go ahead, I'll wait..............................Looks good Huh!
7. If you're happy with this effect/adjustment. then flatten the image, but make sure you're done with this layer.

 

BUT WAIT, IF YOU ACT NOW, WE'LL INCLUDE ANOTHER GREAT TOOL TUTORIAL!!!

 

Here's another easy tool and sometimes simpler to use for larger areas.

 

1. Follow the instructions above to create a "duplicate"layer.
2. Over on the tools, find the "sponge" tool,which is usually under the "burn/dodge" tools. Click on the sponge. Above you'll see, "Brush" size,saturation,desaturation and also "Flow".
3. Set the brush for a soft brush, and depending on the size of the area to work, a brush relative to that size and if this is the first time, then small, maybe100 pixels, to start. Click on Saturation and then about 20-30% for flow.
4. Now, just brush or paint in the saturation and it might take a few strokes,since you're set at 20-30% flow,which is like "thinning" out the paint. If you overlap, it will be twice as strong or so. Go ahead, I'll wait...................Looks good too,huh!

 

So, Billy and Ryan, these techniques will work with most programs that have brushes and layers and these tools. I think "Selective Colors" may only be with the big version of Photoshop.

 

Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions,ask away and I'll try and answer them. I am no "GURU" when it comes to Photoshop and know the bare minimum to get my images to where I think they should be, so some questions may be over my bald head!

 

RIch     

Here's another response to a question from a photographer that was hired to shoot a friends wedding, her first, the photographer, maybe not the brides!

Amber,

 

Which is it, 2 hours or only the ceremony? Big difference. Looking at your site, I think you'll do fine, but here's what I would suggest.

 

1. Have a list of shots, that both you and the bride agree upon, BEFORE the wedding day, couple,parents,family,wedding party,etc. and then check off each shot, as you finish them.
2. Since for this kinda money,you won't have an assistant, ask the bride for somebody, NOT in the wedding, to be your "wrangler" and this person should know everyone and will help gather them for the next shot.Shoot the largest shot first,the most people and then ask those not needed to LEAVE! And by the time you're ready for just the Bride&Groom shot, everyone will be more relaxed and better images will be made.
3.If the budget allows, buy a mounting bracket for your flash,a diffuser and you'll need a cable from the hotshoe to the flash,once it's mounted on the bracket. The bracket holds the light off to the side and looks more natural, then having ALL the shots with the flash directly over the camera/lens.And don't forget the diffuser, some of your shots look like they were all shot without one on your site.
4. For this job and price, don't offer to do ANYTHING to the images, just turn over the memory card at the end of the ceremony. There is typically hours of editing from these events and for $200, that ain't covered! Offer to edit images for $50/hour and let her know for 1 hour, what she'll get,for each hour you edit.
5. Ask to have your "assistant/wrnagler" announce at the beginning of the ceremony, please allow the photographer to capture her images, before rushing in with your smart phones. I would suggest that everyone not in the wedding party,leave and then you can deal with the ones needed for the shots. What will happen, is somebody with a smart phone, will get a good image or two and the bride will then wonder why did she pay you ALL that money, so try and limit those opportunities for others.
6. A few days before,scout out, at the time of the wedding, the site and then have a list of locations, ahead of time, so the day of the wedding, YOU are in charge and people aren't coming up to you and saying "wouldn't this be nice for a shot" and interrupting your job. Remember how large the group will be for each shot and plan on that space.
7. Have business cards with you and be ready to hand them out, if asked for. Try not to talk money right then and there. If you need to, suggest $200/hr, 2 hour minimum and editing is extra@$50/hr. Each hour of shooting will probably involve 1 hour of editing. 4 hours is $1,000 and includes editing+++
8.DON"T LOSE THAT SHOT LIST!!!
9. +++ MARKETING! You can suggest to the bride, before the big day, that you will include the editing in your price, but will need to keep the files for a while and let people order through your web site or through FAA and let them know the price for 5x7,8x10,etc. and this will compensate you,you're telling this to the bride, for your labor in the editing. Might work or it might be something you don't care to do, but it's a thought.

 

Weddings are stressful, for everyone involved, so try and keep this as a fun thing, a "paid" seminar for you, to see if this is something you enjoy,not everyone does.

 

You're biggest problem will be the guests and their smart phones, so if you can control that, you control your success,

 

Good Luck!

 

Rich

Hello to All! I'm a member of Fine Art America and have two groups, that I manage and also post a lot to the other threads, relative to photography, Photoshop,photo business,camera gear,etc. Many of these never see the light of day again, so I've decided to go and "rescue" them and post them here. 

Here's one form that FAA site, about "Night Photogrpahy", in response to another members question:

Mary,

 One of the easiest techniques to use, along with a cable release or self-timer, is MLU, Mirror Lock-Up. Many photographers mistakenly attribute "softness" of the image to the quality of the lens and in many cases, it's the vibration from the heavy mirror,slapping down,while the shutter is still open. So get the manual out and look this up and see if your camera has this MLU.

Here are 2 good explanations of MLU:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/mirror-lock.shtml

https://improvephotography.com/9442/mirror-lockup-is-a-conspiracy-sort-of/

"However, if you don’t yet have a professional tripod and ballhead (click here to see my good, better, and best tripod and ballhead recommendations), then MLU is one setting you should pay attention to when using shutter speeds between 1/80 and 3 seconds."

So any shutter speed faster than around 1/80th won't see/be affected by the mirror and then from there, to the longer exposures,seconds,it will be seen and then any longer exposures and the vibration will blend in and not be seen. So there is a range when you should use MLU.

Next, night shots! Don't know if you have any "night" around you,probably do,so let's practice before you go to this great location. Now, with no pressure, you should really learn your camera and controls,before getting somewhere and looking to find certain buttons or functions,while the shot of your life is slowly vanishing! Take your camera AND your husband! and just go and find some horizon shots,doesn't need to be pretty for this excercise,set up the tripod,camera,cable release and set the camera's ISO @100 and begin to record the setting Sun. I would actually wait until the sun is below the horizon for this test. Keep the F-stop constant, F11 or F16 or so and watch the sky,as it turns from warm to blue and record the exposure times(should be in "file Info",if you camera records that stuff) and watch your "histogram" too. As it get's darker, the meter is going to want to open up and make the scene brighter,which we don't want! So watch the histogram for that or just watch the screen,but at night,the histogram is better to use for judging exposure.

Ok, here's where the fun begins! To your eye, it's pretty dark and not much color, BUT to the camera, it's GLORIOUS! (By now, most of the other photographers will have left,but you'll know that the best is yet to come, in Acadia.) The sky might look black to you,but it's still has lot's of color to your camera. I'd keep shooting until the exposures are getting long,minutes, instead of seconds, for this test anyway. This may take 30 minutes to do this,more, if you start when the sun is still visible in the sky or horizon line.

It also might help for you to have a small note book and record your "classification" of the sky/sunset and how light and dark it is,as you're capturing the images. Later, you can look at the notes and see " Pretty black now and can't imagine getting anything from this" and then compare that to the actual file capture and you'll be in for a surprise!

Later, your "eye" can be trained to know how the sky looks and know how the image will come out! But I would make a tiny chart,with exposure times and time "time" relative to the time posted for actual sunset and know, 14 minutes after the actual "posted" time for sunset, F16,@ISO 100 and 1 minute and 30 seconds and I've got the shot!

There have been times(usually lot's of bugs were involved) when I won't even get out of the car, until the sun is below the horizon!  

Rich Franco's “The Art of Copying Art Work!”

Hello to All!

There seems to be a lot of discussion here, on FAA, about art work being copied and the resulting issues, too dark, too light, blurry, areas out of focus, “Is it my camera?”, etc., and I'd like to take some time(Rich,sometime?, How about lots!) and explain the basics and then the not so basics of copying your art work correctly.

First, the vast majority of images copied and then rejected if sold, are from not following a few fundamental steps and generally, not the quality of the camera, or for that matter, the size of the art work, itself.

ANY camera,digital or film, can adequately copy your art, but of course, you are limited with the output that your camera can produce and enlarging your file, adds to the list of problems. So I'll start with this, if you have a digital camera and it's in sorta newish and can be mounted on a tripod and has a self-timer and finally, can be switched to something other than “Auto”, you're good.

What limits great copies from good copies,will be the quality of the sensor, that's in the camera you have. Example: if you have a point & shoot (P&S) camera, it's sensor is about the size of you finger nail on your pinky and I'm not looking at my nail, but yours! That's pretty small. Of course, cell phones have sensors, even smaller! Although they are catching up.

http://www.gizmag.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/

Using your P&S camera and it's tiny sensor,regardless if it says 12-14-16 mega-pixels(mps), will limit you to the eventual size of the print that can be offered here,when you compare the same 12-14-16 mps that are on DSLR's, Digital Single Reflex cameras, with sensors that are almost full frame, or are actually the full frame sensor, that is the same size of the old 35mm negatives and slides we use to get.

So all “pixels” aren't created equal! The pixel from the full frame DSLR is many times larger than the pixel from the P&S camera and thus, the amount of information,stored/captured in the larger sensor,will make a much better image.

This little “side trip” through digital cameras, will answer a lot of questions later and hopefully, benefit the understanding of the process, as we come to each step.

Bottom Line: Any camera can be used to copy your art, the better($$$) the camera, the better the file that will be produced.

Let me talk a little about “light” and the quality of light,both inside and out. Studio lights, strobes and even hot lights, are produced to create a certain “type” of light, looks like sunlight, looks like incandescent light, but are used to create that particular type of light, over and over. When I used my strobe light to photograph a person or product, I knew that the light would be consistent,shot after shot. One last thing to consider,when working 8-10 hours a day, in a dark studio.

Outside light, on the other hand, is almost constantly changing through the day. Did you notice I said “almost”? There's a period and I learned this many years ago, from the local Kodak guy,when testing film for Kodak, that roughly from 10:00 a.m. And 2:00 p.m., on a cloudless day, the “color” of light is almost a perfect 5500 to 6500 kelvin, no, or little color caste. There is an argument that 5500 or 6500, is now the standard, although ALL TV stuff, is now set to 6500,which is a tiny bit warmer than 5500 k.

My point, you ask? Well, if you are going to copy your artwork outdoors, then guess when's the best time to do that? Yepper, 10:00 to 2:00 and the closer to 12:00, the better. This is assuming you can “light” your art work, directly by the sun and not in the shade. Using a nice white “tent”, to kill any direct light coming from the sun, is best. Second best, is to have your art work in the shade, but bounce sunlight, from large 4x8 foot sheets of white Foamcore,evenly, back into the art.

And even the mostest betterer, set your camera's white balance and use a gray card,to first capture the art, which “teaches” the camera, what a true and accurate color is and ALL the colors in the art will be reproduced accurately.

Bottom Line: You can accurately copy your art work, outside, if you use a few rules and tools(white diffusion material,white Foamcore), and white balance(WB).

So, say you're living in Seattle and you say to me, “Hey Rich, I think I remember what the sun thing you talk about is, but what do I do?” Good question, let's go inside,out of this rain and talk about it!

Shooting your Art Work Indoors

What's really nice about shooting your art work indoors, is that, it hardly ever rains,get's dark,windy,buggy(mostly, I'm in Florida!) AND YOU can control the light! Unlike that Sun thing, which is constantly moving! So good news! So where do we start? Whoa, not so face, mon ami, lets gab a bit first. There are ALL kinds of light sources you can use inside, from professional lights, both hot and cool(fluorescent).

Probably my first choice, if you have the room!

They make these neat vertical banks of light now, 4 bulbs, like in a “shop light” and turned vertically and provide a very even,steady light source and once the “white balance is “corrected” to these lights, will be perfect, as long as the bulbs last. Of course, you can make this same kit your self, with a trip to Home Depot, buy the 4 bulb “shop” light kit and 4 5500K bulbs, for each “Shop”light and you're good to go! Unlike true hot light, these never,ever get hot and can be on, all day. In fact, the bulbs should be on about 20 minutes when you start, so they get all up to the right temperature. So if you have the space and shoot a lot of artwork, then this set-up will work for you!

The next level is to use the bulbs/reflectors in my tutorial,which cost here about $23 each, so you would need about 4 to 6 lights,depending on the size of your art work. And then anything else you might use, should have the same bulbs,regardless of how you point them or direct them. Using different bulbs,with different light color,will be a true headache and not worth the savings.

Bulbs:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-120W-Equivalent-Daylight-5000K-R40-CFL-Flood-Light-Bulb-ES5R42350K/100687002?N=5yc1vZbmatZ1z0u1gt

Reflectors:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-150-Watt-Incandescent-Brooder-Clamp-Light-HD-303PDQ/204684496

Bottom Line: You can easily and cheaply set up your own “studio” for copying art and cheaply too and get great results!

Now, before we jump into the “mechanics” and the “copying”, one last tidbit of information about light and how it applies to copying art work. Unless I'm wrong and I doubt it(Sir Charles Barkley), MOST art work will be rectangular or square, not many circles being sold here on FAA! So here's the issue, we are using a light source, that is round and the “circle” of light that is aimed towards and onto the art work,will also create a circular pattern, makes sense? And to keep the circles of light from ONLY lighting the spots they hit, we have to make sure that the circles overlap each other and blend in.

Here's a “tidbit” and a great crossword puzzle/Scrabble word, “Umbra” and her brother, “penumbra”. I really just like to use words that have “bra” in them, like “braccolli”! Anyway, I digress. The diagram below,demonstates both the “umbra”, A and the “penumbra” B. Why this is important, is that you ALWAYS want your artwork, within the umbra, or “A” here in this diagram. So the first short black line (C), is where your art should hang, not on the back wall(D),where there is a smaller and harder “sweet spot” to hit. The umbra, is evenly lit and if done correctly, the entire surface of the artwork, will be properly exposed. You can see that the lights are on a 45 degree to the artwork and that's the reason, so now you know why I always say, make sure the lights at at this 45. You now know as much as me! Good news/bad news!

*** Having trouble uploading images right now to my Blog!

In response to an Online Article, U.S., now averaging 1 school shooting a day!

And it will get worse. This is now the "norm" for people with problems,bullying,money,marital,etc. grab your legal or your family's legal gun and go shoot as many as you can, the more you shoot and kill and injure,the more famous you'll be. 

It's part of the fabric of us, as Americans and can't be "fixed" with new gun laws,or the restriction of new gun sales. NOW, it's a "American" problem, and I predict, countries that try to imitate us and our ways, will be begin to have the same atrocities in their countries. So it's a bigger problem, more than just limiting or outlawing "illegal" type fire arms or even limiting the number of guns people can have, it's now the "go to" answer for problemed people. And we as a nation and a People, have allowed this and now, this has taken on a life of it's own and is beyond simple solutions and will be come a part of the "fabric" of American Life, for now and the foreseeable future. We can't on one hand, accept the profits from all the "violence" we create, Movies,Music,Sports,etc. and not expect some "payback". If all or most of these shootings are indeed done, using "legal" weapons,legally purchased and in most cases, used for legal purposes, then now it's no longer about the "automatic" weapons vs hunting and home protection weapons, it now a much larger problem, it's become "Americanized" and a "solution" to troubled peoples problems.

The Future of America, Not So Good!

   Hello to All! It's Sunday and a good time to sit and read a bit. Here's 2 suggestions, for those interested in what the Unitied States is and is becoming, both not good. The first is a short piece by Robert Reich on the growing split between the have's and the have nots, the 1%'ers and everyone else. If you enjoy,learn or are intriqued by the "paper",then the next learning journey, is to buy/rent his latest documentary "Inequality for All",
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCbAyk8aRxI.

 I watched this movie this past Friday and I found it to be very informative,easily understood,explaining very difficult concepts and humorous. The direction we, the Unitied States of America, is headed,based on this paper and movie, isn't where I would hope my children and their children are headed. As bad as the economy is now, it will only get worse,maybe not for the 1%'ers, but for the rest of the nation. Simply can't get better, the way the 1%'ers are running and driving this country. This should be considered an "apolitical" piece and both sides will take the blame. As Americans, we have an individual responsibitily to continually educate ourselves, about ourselves and our country, and this video will help.                                                                                                             The next project and even more frightening is the book I just read about a month ago,that created many nights of sleeplessness, The Rise of the Warrior Cop,

             http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Warrior-Cop-Militarization-Americas/dp/1610392116

   which when read and understood, will bring more clarity to the events, we see, everyday, the "strong arm tactics" of our local police, the increasing use of Military grade weapons, in our local police forces, the loose new meaning of "Deadly Force",used now by the cops, to justify the "murders" they have created,killing unarmed citizens, because of the "potential harm to them or others"! The cover of the book, may seem like a Science Fiction depiction of "Star War" characters,defending the Empire, but in reality, it's a bit more recent than that, This image is from the 2008 Republican convention, held here in Tampa!