Finally - The Cure for Bad Pictures

More Gear!

My last two posts were rants about my pictures not being what I want them to be. I was complaining about how flat or boring my pictures of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were. Sure, I made up reasons to pacify myself but they didn't change the bottom line.

But now I've got the solution to my woes, possibly every photographers woes.

Buy another lens!

Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED AF-S VR

For some time I'll be able to complain about how I'm still learning the ins and outs of the lens. I'll be learning how to use the settings or controls. I'll be learning about how to compose with it. I'll be learning how to blame it for my poor pictures! Woo hoo - how cool is that? An excuse that doesn't blame me!

Okay, perhaps I'm being facetious.

But I really did order a new lens just in case this plan works!

Nikon is having their annual instant rebate program and this year I took advantage of it. I ordered the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED AF-S VR lens from Adorama.

I checked out Adorama, B&H, and Amazon. The prices were all about the same but Adorama includes an additional warranty and a filter package. Since this lens uses 67mm and I don't have any of that size I figure they'll get me going. By the way, that was one of the only complaints I saw many  of - the filter size. Why couldn't it take the 77mm filters? Like others, when I decide to buy better filters I'll get a step up ring and get 77mm filters. Or, like I did for my 16-35mm wide angle, I'll get the Cokin ring and just get the Cokin filters.

I already have an old 70-210mm f/4-5.6 non-D lens. So why spend the money on a replacement that is even 10mm shorter at the long end? Well, there are a few reasons...

1. It is a newer lens. I have read a few places that for new cameras with higher pixel count sensors you need lenses made within the last 5 years or so to provide enough resolution for the sensor. If you look at DxO Labs reports you can find that information, at least if you read between the lines.

2. I wanted VR. My old lens doesn't have VR at all.

3. I wanted the improved communication between the lens and camera. My older non-D lens doesn't transmit distance information to the camera.

4. My old lens has a push-pull zoom and although it isn't horrible, I've had it creep when shooting a picture where the lens is pointed down. That is, if you put the zoom at half way, for example, and have the camera on a tripod, the lens will slowly extend the zoom. It's minor and manageable but at the same time I don't like it. And, any zoom that expands and collapses has to inhale and exhale to do it, and when inhaling it can cause dust to enter the lens.

5. The front element turns on my old lens when you focus it. That makes using a circular polarizer filter (CPF) less fun. Yeah, you just have to make sure you compose and then adjust the CPF but often I'll take a number of shots and adjust the zoom for each one. That means you have to adjust the CPF for each shot and they will likely have slightly different settings for the CPF.

So, the new lens address all of these issues and more. It is an "IF" lens meaning all of the zooming in and out causes elements to move internally - the size of the lens never changes. The front element doesn't turn while focusing. It has a constant aperture at all zoom levels (the old lens is f/4 at 70mm but only f/5.6 at 210mm). This new lens has ED and N element coatings which reduce flare. Most of all, the new lens has the GOLD BAND!

The new lens has great reviews, along with test results that it is sharper than my 16-35mm lens. I'm stoked! I can't find measurements for my old lens, but I will say that while it seems sharp it seems like the pictures don't have enough contrast. But, that could just be due to what I've shot with it.

So now I'll have two thirds of one of the Nikon lens trinities! I am excited! And, as Ken Rockwell suggests, I'm going to stick with these two and my 50mm prime for my kit. I do plan to upgrade my 50mm to the "G" version though - DxO Labs rates it a bit sharper.

My other thought, and one I almost followed through with last December, was to get the Tamron 150-600mm lens. However, a friend who has a friend that has the lens said it wasn't producing very well for his friend. Now I know that can be due to technique but I'd read reviews like that from others too. However, with Adorama's (or whoever I got it from) return policy I wasn't worried. If I didn't like it I'd return it.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized a lens like that is really made for wildlife shooting. I don't do much of that and am not really interested in it (at this point) so having a sharper lens that would work great for what I DO shoot ended up swaying me to this lens.

That desire, coupled with the $200 instant rebate, led me to placing my order. I can't wait until it's in my hands! I'll write some opinions about it when I get some use out of it...

I missed the Golden Hours

My last post touched on this but I had more to get off my chest about my picture quality...

I got out for an overnight picture taking trip on the Valentine’s Day weekend, the first overnighter in quite a while. I have a couple of ways that I make my overnighters, and this one was the simple version. Take a sleeping bag, some clothes, camera gear, my dog Elmer, and plan to sleep in the back of my Ford Explorer. I like this version when I don’t plan to stay in one campground for a couple of nights – it’s pretty quick and easy to get up and get going in the morning.

I pulled out of the driveway at home at about 4:30 AM on Saturday. We, my dog Elmer and I, fueled up and I got some gas station groceries including a case of bottled water. My plan was to hit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in south west Arizona. We headed that direction – and got to some little turn off a bit north of Ajo as the sunrise was happening.

I’m a sucker for sunrises but after shooting a number of them I usually only bother with them if there are good cloud formations or when I have a good foreground subject to shoot. Otherwise, while each day that dawns is something to be thankful for, they’re not all as photogenic as the special ones are.

Such was the case that morning. There were a few clouds, and a small section of the sky turned some nice reds and purples, but I’ve taken better shots at other times. Still, I enjoyed stopping, getting the camera out, and being prepared for an amazing sight. I enjoy the process of taking pictures almost as much as having an image.

It’s like when I used to fish – I enjoyed being outdoors and fishing whether I caught a fish or not. And that’s a big reason why I started photography. I wanted an excuse to get outdoors. I wanted something to do if or when I went camping.

On the downside, I didn’t get to the Organ Pipe Cactus Park during the morning Golden Hour. When I did arrive at about noon and took some pictures and processed them, they seem somewhat less than spectacular. I really wanted to get some pictures of cactus silhouetted against the rising sun or at least with the purple skies behind them or with the warm sidelight from the sun hitting them. But I got none of that.

I got some pictures with compositions that I like, but due to the lighting they look like quick vacation snapshots. I could have bought a cheap point and shoot, or used a cell phone to take the pictures instead of my expensive rig. I am really getting picky about my pictures and it’s causing me to shoot fewer of them. I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – being choosy about the pictures. 

On the one hand, taking a lot of pictures leads to more familiarity with the equipment, helps train your eye as to what to look for in a composition, basically provides an education that can’t be replicated by reading books or watching a video. On the hand opposite, I may be over-estimating myself but I feel like I know what types of pictures I like to take and if I know they’re not going to be that great I pass them by. 

I recently finished reading Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images (Voices That Matter) by David duChemin, the second of his books that I read. His books resonate with me regarding composition and I like his example photographs. I work to try to get the same aesthetic qualities in my pictures. One of his points is that we have choices in our photographs, including whether to take a shot at all. My paraphrasing is that if the picture isn’t likely to be very good why take it at all; why do something if you know it’s only going to be half butted?

My answer is that I have started taking fewer pictures. But, because I also use photography as a reason to get outdoors, and because I don’t do it for a living and consequently don’t have a schedule to keep or clients to please, I still take pictures that won’t ever make it into Outdoor Photography magazine. But they have perhaps even more value to me, they serve as reminders for places I’ve been.

I often look at my pictures and I can remember if it was cool or warm when I took the picture, what Elmer had been doing, whether it was a day trip or an overnighter, where I slept if it was an overnighter, how the air smelled, etc. The pictures remind me of my life.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The Wild West

Organ Pipe Cactus

I've lived in Arizona for almost 14 years and have had a visit to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on my list of things to do for almost that entire time. I finally headed down there on 2/14/2015 with my dog Elmer and my cameras, expecting to get some wonderful pictures.

The park is located in south west Arizona, along the border with Mexico. It is in the northern part of the Sonoran Desert. The park is the only place in the United States where Organ Pipe Cactus grow naturally in the wild.
The park offers two scenic routes that you can drive, a 40 mile and a 21 mile route. I drove the 21 mile route; the long route requires 4 wheel drive which I don't have.

Not to fear, though, there are plenty of Organ Pipe Cactus along the short route.

My Checklist

What is to fear, though, is getting good pictures. I don't mind the picture above but it doesn't make me go "WOW". I think the composition is okay. Rule of thirds somewhat applied - check. Subject isolated as much as possible - check.

But after getting home and post processing these pics I was disappointed. The pictures I took of a place I'd longed to visit for years seem flat to me. I actually increased the saturation quite a bit and futzed with getting the sky more dramatic on these, to the point when I was editing that I thought they were getting overblown. The following day when I re-visited the images I was underwhelmed.

I think the biggest issue left is just the time of day that I took the pictures. I think that if this pic had a purple or red sunrise or sunset behind it (I don't remember which direction the camera was facing for this particular image), or perhaps even if it was being hit with golden hour sunlight from one side or another, it would probably be better. As it is, the sky was fairly overcast as you can see, with almost no shadows.

It's just an even, and from a "stunning" point of view, boring light source. Sure, the cactus is to be appreciated on its own merit, but to result in an image that makes the cover of Arizona Highways magazine, this picture fails, in my opinion. And its disappointing.

I only hope that I'm learning something - but I'm afraid that what I'm learning is to only take pictures with dramatic lighting. It seems like I should be able to make a good picture of this cactus! Here's a few more pics to prove my point: