Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

For users of digital cameras with interchangeable lens, dust can be a real problem. This is especially true for photographers who shoot at smaller apertures (large f/stop numbers). Why? Because the dusts are not sitting directly on the micro lens of the sensor but on the anti-aliasing (AA) filter. The typical distance between the AA filter and sensor surface is much greater than the size of typical dusts. At large apertures, the light rays that pass through different part of the lens surface can go around the dust and focus on to the pixel. The dust may not be visible at all or appears to be a fuzzy dot in your photos. When shooting at small aperture, the light is restricted and therefore more directional (coming through a smaller hole). It causes the dusts shadow to show up clearly and sharply in the photo.

It is not a good surprise when you come back from shooting then found out there are dark spots on the exact locations of your otherwise great photos. You cannot completely avoid getting dusts on the sensor even if you seal your camera in a air-tight bag. The moving parts on your camera and lens can also generate some particles. So, what are the options? Read More…

I heard numerous praises for the ergonomics and rich feature sets of Nikon’s SLRs. I personally think their digital SLR offerings are great, especially for the high end products such as Nikon D200, D300, D2x, D3, etc. However, a DPReview visitor has come up with a list of things that Nikon should have made it right. Many agreed and some have also contributed to the list. I think some of them really make sense but some are probably user preference. It is still great if Nikon would listen and offer more customizable functions in new digital cameras.

Nikon Japan has posted the official D300 sample photos. The photos were taken at ISO200. People have been anxiously waiting for a high ISO sample so they can find out the noise performance of the new CMOS sensor. The lack of high ISO samples for D300 have fueled some speculations that the performance might not be very good. Join the discussions at DPReview.

The program, titled 100 in 100 - 100 Photography Tips in 100 Days, officially started on September 10, 2007 and will end on December 18, 2007. Read the press release by Adorama for more information. The first tip: Look down.

Linux.com has a feature article about CHDK (Canon Hacker’s Development Kit?), an open source hack that can upgrade (not replace) the firmware in Canon DIG!C II based Canon digital cameras to enable whole lot more:

• Shooting in RAW
• Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
• Zebra mode (blinking highlights and shadows)
• DOF-calculator
• Battery indicator
• Scripts execution (exposure/focus/… bracketing, intervalometer and more)
• File browser
• Text reader
• Calendar

It sure looks like a fun project if you have these compatible cameras. It should be safe for the product warranty in case you have concerns with this.

The Jerusalem Post has a story of how Robert A. Cumins, the photographer who specializes in documentary photography in Middle East, captured the second hijacked plane crashing into one of the the World Trade Center towers six years ago.

The photos have won numerous awards and were featured on magazine covers such as Time and People. The event also profoundly affected the photographer. There is also a related story (2006) on the Montclair Times, in which Robert shared his 9/11 memories.

There are many photo sharpening techniques. Some are quite tedious with many steps and lots of slider adjustments to make. This tip I learned today works very well and it is very simple. First, let’s check out an example. Read More…

DPReview got their hands on a pre-production version of Nikon D300 and produced a detailed hands-on preview. Still no full size sample images though. The 922,000 pixel display looks great. The inclusion of the HDMI port may change the way people use the video-out port on the camera. Personally I have never used the video-out on my D70 or D200 due to its poor quality. Nikon paid great attention to details. No more tiny 10-pin connector screw cap to lose as it is replaced by an attached rubber cap. There is no need to remove the battery door to attach the vertical battery grip. On one down side, the exposure bracketing is still 1 EV maximum step size, just like D200. I wished they could make it possible to do 2EV/step, which is more practical for HDR photography.