Thank you to Lars for suggesting this assignment. In a reply to last week's assignment description Lars suggested
"Why not a weekly assignment "straight out of camera". I know by own experience its easy to get addicted to use Photoshop so it could be a challenge to "Think inside the box." I think this is an excellent idea. I know that many of us
do rely on post processing to "correct" any problems with our images. With digital, we tend to "snap" more images and then edit and correct the images on the computer until we have a "keeper".
In my experience, there are two primary arguments for periodically practicing "straight out of camera" techniques. The first argument brings me back to my days of Large Format photography. I used a wonderfully engineered 4x5 Linhof Master Technica view camera, which allowed me to produce tremendously detailed prints, especially when I took advantage of the capability to tilt the lens in order to extend the plane of focus from the foreground to infinity. However, as with everything else in life, there were trade-offs with using this camera. Because of the complexity of using a view camera, each shot took me about 20 minutes to set up, and because of the expense of 4x5 inch sheet film, each time I released the shutter would cost me a minimum of $5.00. When using a view camera like this, you obviously can't just "snap away." I meticulously composed each shot and used a spot meter to check and predict how all the regions in my scene would expose on the film. Because the image on the ground glass was presented both upside down and reversed from side to side, it allowed me to "abstract" the scene and view it as a combination of complex compositional elements, where much more emphasis was placed on how the elements in the scene "came together" into a well balanced frame. When I carried the view camera, I spent much less time snapping pictures, and much more time looking for (or creating) those exceptional compositions that would be worth the effort and expense. My ratio of "exceptional" images taken with the view camera was much higher than with any other camera, primarily because of the time and effort I took to compose each shot. I would thoroughly explore an area, and examine different viewpoints before deciding where to set up the camera, and if an exceptional image didn't present itself, I would move on to the next location. If I did find a suitable scene, I would set up the camera on the tripod and wait for the perfect moment...Perfect light, perfectly calm, perfect mood. Large Format photography gave me much more pleasure than any other form of photography, largely because I can still remember many of those times when I stood in a trance-like state, waiting for the perfect moment to press the plunger on the cable release (and burn the perfect image in my mind). I'm convinced that if we could force ourselves to adapt the same discipline with digital photography, we would produce more exceptional images than our typical "snap and run" photography.
The second argument for practicing "straight out of camera" techniques lies at the other end of the spectrum. With digital photography I have learned to set my camera in order to capture the "best" data for post processing a fine print. These settings include using the widest gamut color space (adobe RGB) and the lowest contrast tone curve, without any adjustments to shadow or mid-tone brightness. I set my camera this way because I know it will give me the best chance of capturing high quality raw data without "clipping" any of the color channels. Unfortunately, these settings will most likely require some post processing effort in order to get a "pleasing" image out of the raw data. I will typically "post-process" an image by selecting a higher contrast tone curve, converting the color space to sRGB (if I'm posting on the web) and then adjusting the exposure accordingly to ensure that I'm not clipping any of the data. If we are photographing a wedding, where we will typically shoot between 1200 and 2000 images (with two photographers) throughout the
long day, then the post-processing time required even for these very simple adjustments becomes very significant. An average of one minute per frame of post-processing time can add up to a lot of minutes (and hours) when we are talking about this many images. So, I need to understand when and how to change my camera settings to provide the best "out of camera" images in order to minimize the required post-processing. My camera settings and exposure techniques for optimum "out of camera" images will be different than if I were planning to "optimize" each image in the raw processor. It is good to practice these techniques, and paying more attention to "nailing" the composition, exposure and white balance will make me a better photographer.
Your best chance of "nailing" the exposure comes from understanding how to use your camera's exposure meter and histogram. You might want to review the following thread for some helpful tips on how to optimize the use of these tools:
http://community.spiritofphotography.com/index.php?topic=361.0 As a clarification, the settings recommended in the linked thread are for optimizing
raw data capture. If your objective is to produce the best "out of camera" results for posting on the web, you will want to use sRGB color space and a "standard" (not neutral) tone curve, and might want to use active d-lighting (Nikon) or highlight protection (Canon) for high-contrast conditions. (Active d-lighting and highlight protection settings will automatically adjust the exposure to protect the highlights and "bump up" the shadows and midtones to produce a more pleasing out of camera image in a high-contrast situation.) It might help to think of all the changes you would typically make during post processing to enhance an image, and then use the equivalent "in camera" settings.
The assignment for the week of 19 - 25 October 2009 is "Straight from the Camera." You should upload your images without any post-processing, with the notable exception that you will need to resize your image to 800 pixels on the longest side in order to upload it into the gallery album. Please upload your images to the "Straight from the Camera" album in the Weekly Assignments category of the Gallery no-later-than midnight Mountain Time (GMT-07:00) on Sunday, 25 October 2009.
I'll look forward to seeing your images.
Keith
P.S.
I welcome suggestions for assignment topics. If you think of any topics, or there is a subject or technique that you would love to see covered during an assignment, please let me know.
