Here is what a National Geographic photographer looks like when he is taking your picture. We spent the morning in a local tropical rain forest (aka Marinoni Scenic Area) shooting images for the upcoming article on the Ozark Highlands Trail. Peter has made six trips to the trail in the past eight months and is now finished with the shooting - the article will appear in the October issue of National Geographic. He shot many hundreds of scenes, including sessions with both me and my lovely bride (at her waterfall), but the chances of either of us making it into the article will be about one in a zillion, but it was fun working with Peter anyway!
I think he shoots most stuff at iso 1600, although I have been with him when he used the same "tree stand" tripod that I use (goes up to nearly 7' tall) - he uses that when he is doing his fine art stuff, but handheld for most people stuff (probably also pretty wide open). The images only have to be one or two page at most, and that magazine is really pretty small. I am trying to fine-tune his printing workflow though, and talked him into buying one of the new Epson 7900 printers that will be out soon.
The azaleas are coming along, as are the umbrella magnolias...
EXACTLY, Bill! That was the first thought that popped into my head... isn't that like number one on Tim's 10 steps list? Anyway, it's good to know the azaleas are starting to bloom.
Tim - was there much water running in the scenic area?
Yup, I teach fine art wilderness photography techniques and that does REQUIRE a tripod 99% of the time - people and wildlife are generally done handheld unless you are in a studio. I actually did a SENIOR PORTRAIT the other day and did it handheld - turned out great - of course I was shooting a VR lens wide open in wonderful light, and that gave me something like 500th of a second - I'm not very good handholding anything but they turned out really good...
Very little water in the small drainages right now since the vegetation is sucking up so much water per hour - we need RAIN, and lots of it!
Very interesting Tim, I shoot everything on a tripod. Maybe I should open up to handheld some.
Tim I read about your tripod on your journal, shooting the slot canyon. 7' very cool!! what brand etc. is this baby and is it way high end (aka pricey) I might lug one around some if I could afford one. I'm sure it's at least a 4 section leg tripod. Thanks
Yup, handheld for people and wildlife and tripod for the serious outdoor fine art stuff. One reason for this is that with lighting conditions, low ISO, polarizer, and your lens stopped down to the best optical quality, your exposure is going to be 1/2 second to ten seconds or more, and there is no way you can handhold that. You really need to have a shutter speed at least TWICE the length of your lens (meaning a 200mm lens should be shot at a 400th of a second or FASTER for critical sharpness). You also have to take the movement of your subject into account - rocks don't move, and trees should not be moving during your exposure either. When people and wildlife that are moving you also need a FAST shutter speed to stop their action - your VR or IS lens will not help with this at all and the only thing you can do is use a faster shutter speed (gained via opening your lens up and/or higher iso).
My Gitzo 3540xls tripod (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/475956-REG/Gitzo_GT3540XLS_GT_3540XLS_Systematic_6X_Carbon.html) weights only four pounds and is the LIGHTEST tripod I have ever used - it is a joy to carry around in the woods for sure, slung over my shoulder via a strap. It is four-section but most of the time I just use three, and with Gitzo's new twist system it is a snap to loosen them and get the tripod set up (a NIGHTMARE with the old system as some of you know). I also have their spiked feet which make a huge difference - you really need to dig the legs into the ground and make sure they are seated in solid ground (or on a solid rock) in order to get critical sharpness - the "convertible" feet won't work since they are really too short to do any good. Expensive? About four days worth of film and processing in the good old days...
Discussion
6 repliesThe azaleas are beautiful! No doubt I'll be pointing my camera at a few of those this weekend.
The azaleas are coming along, as are the umbrella magnolias...
Tim - was there much water running in the scenic area?
Very little water in the small drainages right now since the vegetation is sucking up so much water per hour - we need RAIN, and lots of it!
Tim I read about your tripod on your journal, shooting the slot canyon. 7' very cool!! what brand etc. is this baby and is it way high end (aka pricey) I might lug one around some if I could afford one. I'm sure it's at least a 4 section leg tripod. Thanks
Yup, handheld for people and wildlife and tripod for the serious outdoor fine art stuff. One reason for this is that with lighting conditions, low ISO, polarizer, and your lens stopped down to the best optical quality, your exposure is going to be 1/2 second to ten seconds or more, and there is no way you can handhold that. You really need to have a shutter speed at least TWICE the length of your lens (meaning a 200mm lens should be shot at a 400th of a second or FASTER for critical sharpness). You also have to take the movement of your subject into account - rocks don't move, and trees should not be moving during your exposure either. When people and wildlife that are moving you also need a FAST shutter speed to stop their action - your VR or IS lens will not help with this at all and the only thing you can do is use a faster shutter speed (gained via opening your lens up and/or higher iso).
My Gitzo 3540xls tripod (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/475956-REG/Gitzo_GT3540XLS_GT_3540XLS_Systematic_6X_Carbon.html) weights only four pounds and is the LIGHTEST tripod I have ever used - it is a joy to carry around in the woods for sure, slung over my shoulder via a strap. It is four-section but most of the time I just use three, and with Gitzo's new twist system it is a snap to loosen them and get the tripod set up (a NIGHTMARE with the old system as some of you know). I also have their spiked feet which make a huge difference - you really need to dig the legs into the ground and make sure they are seated in solid ground (or on a solid rock) in order to get critical sharpness - the "convertible" feet won't work since they are really too short to do any good. Expensive? About four days worth of film and processing in the good old days...