On Deciding . . . Better 3.0

Hand, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

A break from the farms and hay. I grabbed this shot in my car while putting the 105mm f/2.8 VR on my Nikon D300. This image, focusing on the closer hand, not the face was the most interesting image that I captured. It works for me because the focus and light puts the hand at the visual center, but the face and expression creates a strong secondary focus for the eye.

The 105mm is so sharp and with the VR it’s possible to get a shot like this hand held, stopped down a bit to f/4.5 with a shutter speed of 1/30 sec. The specialty lens, put to an usual use here, is for me the primary reason why DSLRs are the most widely capable image makers, limited only by size and noise compared to compacts.

Hay Field Harvest, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

About 6 weeks ago I decided to take advantage of the longer days and less pressured schedule to do summer base training. I tried to put in as many hours on the bike per week as I could, sticking to the same two weeks high volume, one week rest and recovery.

Since it’s the end of my second recovery week, I tested my fitness with Chris Carmichael’s maximal effort method. I have a route that’s about 2.5 miles long (short of the recommended 3 miles). I ride it as fast as I can, ride slowly back to the beginning, then ride again the second time.

The last time I tested myself was May 2, when I had a few months of shorter, high intensity interval training completed. My best run was 17.7 mph with an average heart rate of 164. Two and half months later, I managed 17.2 mph at the same heart rate. My muscular endurance was worse, because I was much slower on the second run this time compared to last.

So I feel like I detuned myself riding at high intensity by upping the miles and dropping the intensity. However, the idea of periodization is to build an aerobic base with slower, longer rides and build on it with intervals. So once I start building again in September, it will be interesting to see whether I can beat the May times.

Hay Stubble, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I have 4 cameras available and in use right now.

This image was captured with the Sigma DP1. It’s compact and provides stunning images from its Foveon sensor. Unfortunately, it is crippled by slow RAW write times so that images can’t be captured any more often than every 2 seconds or so. It takes 5 or 6 seconds after capture to adjust shooting parameters. Fortunately, autofocus and exposure are very well tuned, so most images are technically acceptable. Its useful for slow, deliberative shooting or for single grabbed shots. It has a fixed focal length lens that is pretty wide, making it useful when one is in the scene.

My second most used camera is the Nikon D300. It’s a relatively heavy DSLR with really good low light capability. It’s got all of the adjustability that comes with modern automation and interchangable lenses. I’ve got a good selection of lenses, so it’s a matter of bringing both the big camera and the lens selection. It’s worth transporting all of that camera and glass if I’m expecting to be shooting a situation where it’s needed: low light, changing light or changing focal length needs.

Next is my film camera, the Lecia M6ttl. In the last two years, I’ve only used it for my urban photography project, using C41 Black and White negative film through it. It’s my best way of getting a very specific look which at this point is a legacy materials one. It will probably remain a specific purpose project camera.

FInally, there’s my Nikon D80, a smaller, lighter DSLR. With the 24mm f/2.8 or the 50mm f/1.8 primes, its a great image maker. The problem is that I don’t agree with its idea of exposure in evaluative mode. That means that unless I use spot metering, I get too many poorly exposed shots. The D300 with active D-Lighting generally interprets the scene correctly. I’ve gone out with the D80 on a few occasions where I wanted something light but with some flexibility, like macro capability with the 105mm f/2.8 VR. I’ll shoot somewhat deliberately though, using spot metering. So it sits between the DP1- small but inflexible and the D300, the big guns and able to do anything.

Tilted Hay Bale, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

This is another hay image from yesterday. Expect more over the next few days. This is technically a better image than yesterday’s and is a really nice print. Hay is interesting in that it picks up both specular highlights because of it’s hard reflective surface but also absorbs in a really warm range, especially in morning or evening light.

I should note that this is another Sigma DP1 image in which a straight RAW to TIFF conversion was done using Sigma PhotoPro. I only manipulate the conversion if I need to change exposure or work hard to recover shadows or highlights. In general, the DP1’s exposure is so good that it’ve very rare that I do that. I have a little more success using spot metering, but the evaluative mode generally gives ma a full range image to work with. I credit the excellent dynamic range of the Foveon sensor for that.

While I was glad to see the news about Panasonic’s latest iteration of the Serious Compact Camera, the LX3, I’m generally unimpressed with the image quality of the JPGs posted to the net so far. They look like typical small sensor images, with noise showing up even at base ISO and cramped dynamic range.The improvements seem aimed at low light shooting- f/2.0 lens, better capture efficiency.  The sensor in the DP1 has lousy low light capability; I’ve come to accept that ISO 800 isn’t generally usable and the lens is only f/4. There’s no stabilization. But when ISO 400 permits at least 1/30th at f/4, I can get photos of outstanding quality. I wouldn’t trade it for usable photos at 3 stops less light but loss of quality in the range that the DP1 performs in.

My enjoyment of photography is largely derived from the transformational process of image creation. I see certain aspects of the world with my own visual system, capture images, and through the photographic process they are transformed into something that is both evocative of what I saw but also something entirely new.

When it comes to getting hooked on photography, you see the same story again and again. It is magic first time you slip that print into developer from the enlarger and see the emergence of a photograph. When I load the images into Aperture, I get some of the same feeling in the digital realm. I’ve brought a perception back into the world, transformed by the photographic process.

Hay Bales, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

Somehow I’ve become interested visually in the Baltimore County countryside that I’ve been cycling through for years. This image was captured this morning at about 8 am.

It’s an 8.5 x 11 inch crop because my shadow was in the lower left corner. The light was coming directly over my shoulder and I could barely see the LCD on the Sigma DP1. It’s one of the worst faults of the DP1. But then again I was holding the camera well up above my head which would have been difficult with the Nikon D300 without going into live view mode.

Post processing was Image Ingester Pro-> Sigma Pro Photo -> Aperture –> Capture NX2 (with Nik Color Efex) -> Aperture.

American Eagle Portrait, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

As I’ve used Capture NX2 more and more over the last month because of it’s much improved curve tools. One important part of my workflow that was left behind in Photoshop was my NIK Color Efex filter set. I’ve used the Skylight filter and lighten Center on many of my images.

Today I saw a press release regarding the new Color Efex for Capture NX2 release from NIK and it sounded like my license might be good for the NX version as well. Sure enough, when I logged onto the NIK site, I was notified that the Capture NX2 version was available to me for download.

Color Efex integrates into NX2 much more completely without the second screeen that the Photoshop interface requires. It is also very fast and, in keeping with the NX2 process is entirely non-destructive. This is a huge advantage over the layering that Photoshop requires. I don’t have to create snapshot layers to apply the filters. And when two filters interact poorly, I can go back and adjust something like a curve earlier in the workflow.

Overall, it’s cementing the role of Capture NX2 as my editing program of choice. Now if I could just more easily send RAW files from Aperture to NX2, I’d have a nicely integrated workflow.

Too Deep in the Forest, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

After I downloaded Capture NX2, I found that it was able to achieve much of what I was doing in Photoshop much more quickly. The ability to selectively control where curves were applied with the U-point technology was a key factor in this.

Since so much of my current workflow has been influence by Vincent Versace’s “Welcome to Oz”, which is Photoshop-based, I thought it would be valuable to buy one his Capture NX materials. Since I was exploring Capture NX2, I thought that it would be a nice combination to both get his approach to NX2 while learning the program in more detail.

This is a DVD training course that is very, very dense. Just like “Welcome to Oz”. It bears repeated watching and you really need to play along with the video to try the techniques and see the effects. It’s all simply video of the screen with a well recorded voiceover. Absolutely no filler at all. I’ve watched the movies straight through. Now I’ve been playing the quicktime version on my laptop screen while I have Capture NX2 running with one of my own images open on the second. I’m working by figuring out what problem I want to address in an image and then find the section in the DVD that deals with it. It’s harder to do this than you might think because control over location with a long single Quicktime movie is very in exact. It would be useful to have a collection of smaller movies to open if only to find spots more easily. More indexing would help as well.

This is an image that I worked on while watching Vincent work on a flower image. As usual, I’m a bit over the top in the approach, but I often do that as I’m learning. I’m piling up multiple experiements and it’s like an over spiced dish. Later on, when I’m trying to create an image, I’ll be more subtle. Here I was trying just to get the complementary colors of the green foliage on the red dirt of the tree roots to pop and vibrate, creating a visual center for an image that was way to busy as it came out of camera. Toned down a little, it could be mistaken for a Velvia chrome perhaps. But I would never have been able to go back and fix the light like this shooting slides.

I haven’t been a big purchaser of DVDs in the past as I always find the pace too slow. DVDs also make lousy references compared to books to look up a technique. Judging by this DVD, the Acme approach may be more suitable for me and could be worth some futher investment as time goes on.

No Haystacks, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

Two days later, I rode past the same field, this time with the Sigma DP1 in my underseat bag on the bike. I stopped in what I recalled was the same spot as on Sunday’s ride, but about 2 hours later in the day.

The haystacks had been brought in. The wider lens on the DP1 renders the scene differently, but the image quality difference is quite striking, especially when view full size on the monitor or as prints.

Maybe on my next ride I’ll drag along the Nikon D80 with the 24mm f/2.8 or 50mm f/1.8 and try yet another rendering.

For Sale Coal Country, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

US 209 through south-central Pennsylvania is an interesting ride through a struggling region. Photographically interesting, but intimidating to me to stop and capture. But I guess that Summer is for traveling and my images lately have been further afield than my usual suburban landscapes.

This image was entirely post processed with Capture NX2. The 2.0 version of Capture NX is a very capable program and could serve as my only post processing software when dealing with my Nikon D300 images. Even with the Sigma DP1, after RAW conversion in SPP, I’m favoring post processing in NX2. The only fly in the ointment is that Capture NX doesn’t play well with Aperture, so I’m faced with the separate folder structure containing the edited NEFs and Exported TIFFs. But as long as I leave file names the same, I’m OK with the moving in and out of Aperture.