Why I Never Shoot in Soft Focus

A photographers ability to take great pictures has never been easier than it is with the technology available today. From many of the point and shoot digital cameras to the high end DSLR's, you have many filters readily available for you to use. Today I want to review the use of the soft focus filter when taking pictures.

Keep in mind that my history and experience has been primarily with film cameras. Over the years I have used soft focus filters for weddings and children photography. So one of my filters in my camera bag was the soft focus filter.

Even though I had a soft focus filter I really didn't need one. I could have had any soft focusing effects I desired applied at the photo lab.

Now today's cameras bring photographers these abilities to soft focus with built in digital filters. That is a kewl feature but there are options we should consider before we choose to take pictures in the soft focus mode of our camera.

Here are some of the questions we should consider asking ...

1) Can the camera apply the soft focus effect after taking the original picture?

2) Can the soft focus effect be applied with computer software?

3) Have you ever taken a soft focus picture you wish was a regular focus picture?

4) What soft photo options are available?

Now I currently shoot with a Pentax K7 and I am very pleased with it. Some of the filters allow me to take a photo and set the image to base parameter, then I can save it and/or apply a different type of filter. The soft focus filter does not allow me this option.

So here is an image I shot some time ago without any filters applied.

Now using the soft focus filter built into the camera I used the same image and applied it to create the image below.

Now this was the maximum soft focus I could apply with the cameras soft focus post production capability.

The image below was created using the original image and applying a photoshop filter.

The photoshop filter allows for more of a soft focus effect than the camera filter and can be tuned per your specific liking.

Personally, I would never use the soft focus capability of the camera to take pictures at all. In my case, once a picture is taken in soft focus there is no recourse in post production to return to the crispness of a picture taken without the filter.

As you know the topic today was about the soft focus filter function of a camera. As with most digital cameras that offer filter capabilities, it is important for you, the photographer, to understand the abilities of the filter effects. Take time to learn these abilities. Take pictures with different effects and tinker with the capabilities of your camera. It helped me learn more, I hope it helps you learn more also.


Enjoy Life! Take Pictures!


BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.  You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

Framing Subjects in Your Photo

Scanning Negatives Project - from Roll 3

From my third roll of film, here is an example of a common mistake made by many beginning photographers. Yup, I am even guilty of it. By looking at this image I can tell where the center of my lens is focused and instead of moving around to get the subjects to fill the frame, I took the picture you see here. Look at all that useless space around the two subjects! I certainly new nothing about composing a picture when I started. 

Since I was using a fixed 50mm lens what I should have done was moved in closer to the subjects, focused on the edge of their faces and then moved the camera so that the subjects filled the frame of the camera better. 

Using Photoshop I have created an example of what a better image would have been. See below.

From a typical photographers point of view this is a better photo of the two subjects. This is a more pleasant photo to be shared with others and for printed memories. Notice that the focus is on the subjects and filling the frame with the two subjects.

With the digital cameras available today they make it so much easier to frame your subjects better in the display or viewfinder. But there are still things to take into consideration in regards to framing your subjects for digital display and for prints. That is a subject I will discuss further in a another article.

For now though, the next time you go to take a picture take a look around your subjects and ask yourself, do I really want that in the final picture? If not, take the picture anyway and then try to look for a better shot and take that too. It’s digital, you don’t need to care anymore if you take a picture you don’t like!

For DSLR users many of them have a cropping function built into the camera, I know mine does and I use it often. There are limitations to zooming and cropping and you need to make yourself aware of them. I suggest taking test shots and playing around with it, learn the limitations especially with the high ISO ranges.

Tip for Compact Digital Cameras - before making your purchase make sure that you test the zoom feature of the camera. I have noticed some of them have almost fixed points when it comes to zoom which means that once you have it where you want it it makes an adjustment to a fixed point determined by the camera. You don’t want that (at least I don’t want that), you want to zoom in on your subjects and have the lens stop in that position so you get the picture you want.

My next request is that you share what you learn about taking better pictures. If someone can learn from my mistakes and help a friend or relative take better pictures go for it! 

Enjoy Life! Take Pictures!

BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers. You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

Photography Concerns With Young Adults

I don’t know about you but when I grew up life was very different than it is for the youth of today. I look at the technology today and compare it to what I had in my teen years and I am amazed. Even more so, I am unnerved, concerned and sometimes frightened.

Actually, to some degree or another we are all concerned with technology and we should be. But my focus today is on the subject of young adult photography and the internet. Before I go into details, let me ask you to take a moment and think about something. Look back on your years as a teenager and think of one or two dangerous or stupid things that you did that were really dumb things to do now that you think about it.

I am not going to share with you some of the stupid things I did but I’ll tell you this, I would never do them again and I darn sure don’t want my teenagers doing them. Now let’s fast forward to the here and now. There are cameras everywhere, portable cameras, security cameras, traffic cameras and children, teens and adults with cameras on their phones.

As with any technology there is a list of the good and bad things about it. For most of us who are photographers we usually are in the state of mind to capture and share photography moments with others. Our young adults on the other hand, may become subject to the malice of others on the web. This is a subject that we need to be prepared to discuss with the youth of today and tomorrow.

My story today is one that was shared with me by a close friend of mine, if it can happen with his children it can happen with yours. My friend has a teenage daughter who is in high school, she has one of those phones that also takes pretty high quality images. It was summer break and this young girl and her friend were hanging out together at her home, just having some fun girl time.

The parents are fine with this because both young girls get along well together and usually stay out of trouble. On this particular day however, they decided to have fun with the camera phone. Like most girls they make their silly girl faces and take their pictures and post them on facebook.  These are typical things to do until the dad sees pictures of the girls kissing each other on the cheek.

Now normally this would not be a problem, but because some people tend to be vicious and spread rumours this could be a problem. The father was angry with what he saw not because what they were doing was wrong, it was because these girls could really set themselves up for harassment from friends and more importantly, from enemies.

So the dad decided to do something a bit different with this situation. After everyone had dinner he called the two young girls to his computer and told them he wanted to talk to them about something. He pulled up his daughters facebook page and went to her recent photos, he told them he was not mad at them but he was very concerned about what he was seeing.

He proceeded to show the girls how the image could be downloaded and reposted to another website. He explained to them that things could be said about them on facebook and other websites that just are not true. He had a discussion with them telling them that even though what they were doing was for fun and it was innocent, he told them that there are perverts on the internet that spend hours online looking for pictures like these so they can do bad things with them. Things like photoshop their heads on to the bodies of unclothed women to create something that they did not do, and then post those pics on the web.

Then he explained how the photos could be tagged to show up in web searches. The dad told them, on their own time to go to Google, click on images, search on the key words “lesbians kissing,” then change the setting from “safe search moderate” to “off” and see what the results are.

The dad went on to say that just because you have a lot of friends on facebook the most important thing to remember is that the internet is not always your friend. As you both continue to learn and grow in this cruel world you need to make sure that you do not become subject to the harm of others because of what was innocent fun in the beginning.The dad did not even ask, he just looked at the girls for a moment. They looked at each other and each said, “we should delete those pictures!”

Now this is just one example of things that could go wrong with cell phone cameras. Unfortunately there are way too many bad stories of children who end up in bad situations because of internet predators or any number of the evil doers of this world. It is good to teach our children how to take a good photo. It is good for them to be able to capture memories for their future. It is good for children to have fun with photography.

It is important that we teach our children of the dangers of technology also. Don't let our children become statistics to the dark side of the internet. Spend time with them, teach them, help them. Be there friend on facebook and in life, but first and foremost, be their parent.

Art in HDR

I recently spent some time in St. Louis and I was able to take a lot of photos. It was hot as blazes but we just walked a little slower and drank a lot of water. As I did my usual photography I found myself wanting to walk around a bit more to take unusual photos also. I hope to get those posted soon and write about them.

While there, I found in the lower ballroom halls paintings on the walls. I thought they were very interesting paintings so I took pictures of them. I like to take pictures of art when I travel, it seems to bring back memories of the trip.

Anyhow, there was one painting that really caught my eye. I just kind of fell into the artist for a moment. Then I wondered, what would the photo look like in HDR? Well, I did not have my tripod to take an actual HDR photo but my camera has a post picture HDR feature.

So below is the photo of the image as I took it and then photoshop cropped it. Below that image is the HDR image which was also cropped in photoshop.

I was actually quite impressed with the HDR conversion. I really like both images a lot, but I am pleased with the HDR conversion of the image. I may even have a poster size image made of it to hang in my house.

What are your thoughts about the two images? I would really like to know.

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!
TMS Photos

BTW, here is a pic I took of the arch. I only used photoshop to size the image.

Photography, Philosophy and a Question

The other day I was looking out from my back deck and I saw this image and took a photo of it. This particular post may be a bit deep, but it might help you think about things in a different light. I ask that you read it with an open mind, respond if you would like, but try to learn something. I know I did.

After taking this photo I recalled a question that caused me to think a bit, and that question is:


"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" According to Wikipedia this “is a philosophical riddle that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality.”


Years ago I heard this same question and at that time I really did not put much thought into it. For some reason, when I took this picture this question had come to mind again, and for some reason I took time to think about it a bit more.


So I did a Google search and found “In June 1883 in the magazine The Chautauquan, posed this question, "If a tree were to fall on an island where there were no human beings would there be any sound?" They then went on to answer the query with, "No. Sound is the sensation excited in the ear when the air or other medium is set in motion." This seems to imply that the question is posed not from a philosophical viewpoint, but from a purely scientific one.” - Wikipedia 


Giving some thought to this I feel if this is the case then it seems to me that there is no regard or consideration for any other living creatures. Most birds, animals, reptiles, insects and fish have a sense of hearing, this sense is not limited to the human species. In my mind, the answer to the question posed by The Chautauquan is: "there would not be a sound to a human being!" 


The magazine Scientific American corroborated the technical aspect of this question, while leaving out the philosophic side, a year later when they asked the question slightly reworded, "If a tree were to fall on an uninhabited island, would there be any sound?" And gave a more technical answer, "Sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centers. The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound." - Wikipedia 


Again, if this is the case then it seems to me that there is no regard or consideration for any other living creatures. Like I stated before, most birds, animals, reptiles, insects and fish have a sense of hearing, this sense is not limited to the human species. In my mind, the answer  to the question posed by Scientific American is: "there would not be a sound to any non-residents!" 


So what are some facts about sound and hearing:
1) When a tree falls a sound is made.
2) The absence of hearing does not prevent sound from existing.
3) The only time sound could not exist to us is if the sense of hearing did not exist.
4) Humanly fabricated audio detection and recording devices capture sound in remote locations.


Here is a biblical twist to the subject. There are many references in the Bible that refer to heavenly sounds and auditory communications. With that in mind, it appears that there is the existence of a spiritual sense of hearing. Some scientists might dismiss this notion since they may not have a test to prove the possibility.


In regards to “Proving Possibilities,” I have been to the Isle of Capri twice in my life and to this day I have no personal validation that it is an island. I did not walk around the entire island myself to verify the information provided to me on a map. But I think we could all agree it is an island. Just because I did not prove it to myself does not reject the fact.


Now, back to the photograph and a different question involving another of our senses.

If the sun is shining on a forest and no one is around to see it, is there sunlight on the forest? I feel the answer to this question is quite obvious.


I feel that the question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" is not a philosophical question at all. I think it falls more into the riddle category and there are answers to the question. With another example I might be able to make the tree falling question a bit more philosophical. 


I once heard a story about a philosophy professor who gave a one question final exam. If the story is true or not I do not know, but it’s a good story.


The class was seated and ready for the exam when the professor picked up his chair, set it on his desk and wrote on the board: “Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist.”


The only student who got an "A" had the shortest answer and was the first student to complete the exam.


The student answered: “What chair?” on his paper and turned it in.


If you want to get philosophical about the question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" You might respond like this, "What tree?” Or, "Did it scare any chirping birds?"


The photo used in this article is not to be considered a good photo. At first glance many may consider this photo not worthy of anything and they may be right in their point of view. But look at how much it did to my thinking. Is there any value in that? My use of photography to take this photo assisted me with a thought regarding a topic in philosophy. It helped me put rational thoughts around a topic. Philosophy can help us answer questions, it can also generate new questions.


We are brought into this world as babies with limited thought and vocabulary, we grow, learn and understand more and more as we age. Our philosophy of various topics in life may remain constant or they may change based on our knowledge, information and experience in life. If our philosophy did not change over time the world could still be considered flat. With what we learn in life we can obtain a greater wisdom and understanding of the world and lives of others around us. We can move ourselves to open up our minds and hearts to see, feel, taste, touch, think, create and hear more both physically and spiritually. If we choose to do so, in a good and righteous manner, we may lead ourselves to live better lives.


You can think about it.


Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!
TMS Photography


P.S. 
“Sometimes photography can distort reality, or is the photo the reality our eyes distort?” 
- Bill Thom


Wikipedia Reference Link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest

My Facebook Friends List

I am NOT cleaning out my Facebook Friends list! We are Facebook friends because we made the decision to be friends. I enjoy seeing what is going on with all of you through photos, thoughts and ideas. I really enjoy the greetings shared among friends for birthdays and holidays. If you like this, you can repost it. If you don't want to be my friend, you don't have to ask me, you can just unfriend me.

I created and posted this today on Facebook.

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

Photographing Insects

Recently my lovely wife had asked me how do photographers take those pictures of bees? I told her that I had done that and all it takes is a little patience. So here are some things to think about when taking pictures of insects. Depending on the insect it may be difficult. For example, flies and mosquitoes tend not to stay still for very long and it may be more difficult. However, if you capture these insects and put them in an aquarium, without food or water they tend to slow down. At that point you can use your shooting through glass technique and get those shots.

Bees on the other hand pretty much require just a bit of patience. When flowers are in bloom they tend to go from flower to flower to collect pollen. Once they land it is just a matter of taking the picture. A macro lens can be your best friend in these cases but I have used zoom lenses and cropped images also.

Here are a couple of pictures of a bee I took last year according to my image information. I was using a manual lens at the time on my Pentax DSLR. Even though I was in manual mode I still had time to get these pictures.

With my macro lens I would have been able to get a closer look at the bee but I was looking to capture the flower and the bee as shown above.

The next shot was pure luck I think. I saw this insect on the screen door of our kitchen and just happened to take several pictures from several angles. This picture is the one I like best.

In regards to this image there are a couple things I want to note. One, it looks like I am getting an expression from this little bugger like "What the heck you looking at?" Two, this is an example of not having set the depth of field properly. When I look at this picture I notice the tail end of the insect is out of focus. Had I manually set the aperture to a larger setting I may have had an image of the insect that was crisp from front to back. 

You can learn from my mistake, I know I have.

Your Tips are welcome, feel free to post it in the comment section below!

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

P.S. Added Zoom and cropped image.