The Digital Photo Guy

Gathering on the Green at Deer Park Winery

On Sunday, June 10, Deer Park Winery in Escondido will celebrate its grand re-opening with Gathering on the Green, a mini-Concours d’Elegance. The centerpiece of this event will be a restored 1929 Pierce-Arrow convertible. Anyone driving any pre-1976 automobile will receive free entry to the Deer Park Museum and parking on the green (as long as space is available.) The event runs from 10AM until 3PM.

Photographers can take photos of pin-up models with their favorite cars. Cuties for a Cause, an Escondido-based group of professional and amateur pin-up models will be on hand to pose with the cars to add that special “pop” to your photos. In return, Cuties will ask for donations to support the San Diego Animal Support Foundation. SDASF is an umbrella organization that assists all animal welfare groups in San Diego.

Here’s Celestina, founder of the group with some of her girls at other fund raisers and shoots. Please join us for a fun-filled day of old cars, young women and timeless art.

Sometimes, You CAN have Your Cake and Eat It, Too!

Further to my email exchange with Roy Ang, I pointed out the SX40 HS didn’t have RAW support and that would make it untenable for many advanced photographers. Roy was all over that. “Au contraire, mon frère”, he fired back. CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) is available for the SX40 HS.

CHDK “unlocks” many features of the Canon DIGIC cpu that are not accessible in all Canon cameras. There is a CHDK version for over 120 Canon Powershot P&S models but not all are supported. CHDK does NOT work with Canon dSLRs or other brands of digital cameras. CHDK is NOT supported or sanctioned by Canon.

Not having kept up with P&S cameras for many years, I was unaware of CHDK. In the past, “hack” usually meant taking a chance of bricking a camera (as in, “I turned my Digital Rebel into a brick.”) The cool thing about CHDK is that it is external to the camera’s firmware. CHDK is loaded onto the camera’s memory card and loaded either manually or automatically when the camera is powered up. When that memory card is removed from the camera, the camera reverts to it’s original state. This is slicker’n owl snot on a brass doorknob.

If CHDK only added RAW capability, that would be cool but what makes it spectacular is the long list of other features it enables. These include, in no particular order: bracketing, full manual exposure control, live histogram, grids, DNG output and much more. It also adds features not found in any Canon Powershot such as:

• Motion detection - Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.
• USB_Remote - Simple DIY remote allows you to control your camera remotely.
• Scripting – Control CHDK and camera features using ubasic and Lua scripts. Enables time lapse, motion detection, advanced bracketing, and much more.
• My favorites are the built-in Depth of Field calculator and infinity focus set.

If you have a Canon P&S and you want to extend its capabilities, CHDK would be a good place to start.

CAVEAT: I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to either your camera, yourself or anyone or anything else. I have not personally tested CHDK as I do not own a compatible camera. Read and understand what CHDK can and cannot do for you BEFORE installing it on a camera. Do NOT be like this reader (see Cautionary Tales.)

It’s Not the Camera but How You Use It

I received an e-mail from Roy Ang, a very talented San Diego photographer, hinting at interesting macro photos for the fiscally challenged. When I received the above photos from the San Diego Wild Animal Park Butterfly exhibit, I was impressed but not blown away as I knew the sophisticated gear Roy owned. I asked him what was so unique about these macros and received the following reply:

OK, Here is the amazing part…I DID NOT (emphasis mine) do it with the following:

Canon MPE65
Canon 100 macro
Tamron 90 macro
Kenko Extension tubes and/or Canon/Kenko TC’s

There was no cropping here.
The only post work was some recovery slider in LR3 and some clarity boost in LR3.

Further, he stated these were handheld. Now, my curiosity was piqued. Just how in the heck did Roy manage this?

Hold on to your hats! Roy used a Canon SX40 HS P&S camera with a 1/2.3″ sensor. P&S cameras have always had a reputation for good macros because of their tiny sensors. For a comparison, see the chart on this page. Notice the SX40 HS sensor is 1/6th the size of a Canon G1 X. In theory, the smaller sensor results in smaller photosites (light detectors) which, in turn, result in greater noise. But, the SX40 HS uses a Canon DIGIC V cpu, the same cpu used in most Canon dSLRs, to wring the most out of a potentially noisy sensor.

Combined with a 35x optical zoom (24mm to 840mm, 35mm equivalent) lens, the SX40 HS is able to produce some amazing macros as Roy’s photos attest.

Really, Really Smart Kids

I saw this on a news site the other day and wanted to share because these kids give me hope for America’s future.

After you pick yourself off the floor, check out their home page. I found their game Tidepool to be particularly addictive.

How to Win Photo Contests

I was writing an article by this very same title when Outdoor Photographer beat me to it. It’s really not rocket science so, if photo competitions hold any interest for you, read this article several times.

Landscape, Nature, Pin-Up and Portraits

In 2012, I plan to focus my efforts on landscape and nature photography with an eye toward entering more competitions and producing sellable fine art pieces. A secondary goal is to expand my pin-up and portrait portfolio. I want to create more images like these below.

On April 22 & 23, I’ll be at the Clay Blackmore portrait workshops in Tempe, AZ. Blackmore was trained by the legendary Monte Zucker. I was scheduled to take a class with Zucker in 2007 when we learned of his passing. I’m hoping Blackmore will be able to fill in what I missed. These are two separate classes with the 22nd being a seminar type session with 200 of your closest friends crammed into a hotel auditorium. I generally eschew such sessions but it was cheap when combined with the hands-on class on the 23rd. The cost of both classes was $249. Let me know if you plan to attend and we’ll try to meetup.

Although it’s a bit late, in early May I plan to visit the Salton Sea to look for burrowing owls, my favorite small birds. BO breeding season generally starts around late March to early April. After the chicks hatch, they hang around for 6 weeks before fledging so we may be able to catch some naive young chicks poking their heads out of the burrows.

My annual Eastern Sierras photo trip is tentatively scheduled for the week of October 8-14. That’s the week after the Lone Pine Film Festival so I may be there the previous weekend to check out what’s new at the festival. The festival offers guided photo tours to various movie sets around Alabama Hills so that may be a good way to see several new sites in one swell foop.

In late November/early December, I plan to scout the area around Willcox, AZ for wintering sandhill cranes. I had heard there were sandhills in the area but recently learned there can be as many as 20 to 30 thousand. That’s more than Bosque del Apache, my favorite sandhill crane reserve. The major difference may be accessibility. At Bosque, areas like the Railroad Pond and Flight Deck make it easy to practically be on top of the birds before their morning flyout. I hope to discover the best places for crane photography.

There will be other photo shoots during the year so stay tuned if none of these float your boat.

Stop Copying, Start Doing

For years, I’ve subscribed to several magazines because the articles often gave me ideas for new lessons or techniques in my classes. With my recent decision to no longer teach classes, I haven’t renewed my subscriptions to most. The only one I still read is Outdoor Photographer because I find inspiration in the photographs.

Today, I received my last issue of a well known magazine put out by a company that stages several annual orgies of Photoshop excess. Basically, these are large parties for geeks who wouldn’t normally be allowed out of their cubicles. I also received a copy of a magazine that covers Photoshop Elements. That subscription expires at the end of this year and I won’t be renewing.

The cover of one rag breathlessly proclaimed, “Unlock the secrets of…” I rolled my eyes and recalled something I had learned years ago, “The secret to good photography is that there are no secrets!” Scanning the rest of the cover, I realized the whole magazine was geared toward people who were simply trying to gloss over bad photography with visual eye-candy.

Turning my attention to the Photoshop oriented rag, I flipped through the pages to see what might be of interest. First, I was struck by the number of ads and ad-like articles for products, each promising to make me a PS maven if only I sent them a few dollars. Next, there were the graphics design articles of no interest to me. Third, beginner articles that bored me to tears. And, finally, a few photography articles that promised to show me how to achieve a particular look or effect. Why would I want to constantly copy others’ look or effect?

Reports of My Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

I haven’t posted much over the past two months because I’ve been dealing with the excruciating pain of gout. With no history of gout in my family, the doctors have chalked it up to, “Stuff happens!” In any case, I finally broke down and saw a rheumatologist. I actually met with two to get a second opinion. The pain and swelling are now under control and the doctor plans to put me on a long-term drug after the current attack.

I think the word, “drug” has always made me wary of medication. I remember all too vividly the effects of illegal drugs on friends in Turkey and Vietnam. I swore I never wanted to be so out of control that I didn’t know when I was endangering myself or those around me. Fortunately, in our home, I can do whatever I want so long as my wife lets me. In this case, she “let me” see a rheumatologist before she strangled me. Therefore, rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.