Ooops – wrong format – learn your Camera!

This last weekend I had a problem that I haven’t had for some time. I changed a setting on my camera without noticing it and ended up with less than optimum photographs.

View of Tucson from a viewpoint on lower Mt. Lemmon

I was up at the ski resort on Mt. Lemmon, just north of Tucson, Arizona. Who would think that there’s a ski resort there? But there is; located near the 9,159 foot summit, it claims to be the southernmost ski resort in the United States. And, there was some snow!

It was pretty chilly (by Phoenix standards anyway) with a gentle breeze. My Ford Explorer said about 37 degrees Fahrenheit. I got out of the car to reconnoiter the area for possible shots, taking my dog with me. I had him tucked inside my jacket and he was shivering. I found some shots I decided to take so I put him back in the car and grabbed the camera which was already mounted on the tripod after taking a few shots at a viewpoint on the way up the mountain.

I set up and took my first shots. I had my Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 wide angle lens mounted to my Nikon D610.

Looking at the histogram, I really wanted to move the curve to the right, brightening it up. I was using an f/9 aperature and didn’t really want to open it up any more in order to try to keep as much depth of field (DOF) as possible. And, I was already shooting at 30 seconds.

I decided to increase the ISO. I always have the camera at ISO 100 and thought I’d bump it up to 400. On the D610 you have to push a button on the back of the camera and change the main command dial.

I was working in the dark and didn’t have a flashlight with me. I thought I pushed the correct button but nothing happened when I changed the dial. So naturally I pushed other buttons and changed the dial, observing through the view finder any changes. I finally got the correct button and dial combination and bumped up the exposure. I liked what I was seeing on the histogram.

It wasn’t until the following day when I imported the images and started processing them that I found out I had changed the format to JPEB FINE / SMALL. When I saw that the images were JPEG and only 3,008 x 2,008 pixels in Adobe Lightroom, I knew immediately what I’d done and that the images were not going to be able to be adjusted as much as if they were RAW format.

I hopped up from my chair and verified the setting on the camera. I also verified my sinking feeling and disappointment. The camera was indeed set on JPEG FINE / SMALL. I switched my mode dial from my U2 setting and back again to reset everything.

I’ve learned that I need to keep my skills a bit more polished. I was pretty sure the ISO button was the bottom button on the left side of the back of the D610, and it is. I must have hit the button above it at first and then, in my confusion, just started hunting and pecking instead of taking the time to know for sure what I was adjusting.

Looking north from Ski Valley on Mt. Lemmon

One of the 3 books I’ve got on the D610, probably the Thom Hogan book, said you should learn the camera so that you can adjust it in the dark. I worked on that because I seem to gravitate towards shooting at night. I’ve been pretty good. I think that in this case I had been using Live View a bit to try to focus, zooming in and out. This requires the use of two different buttons on the back of the camera (different than the ISO button).

The zoom in button, which is the one right above the ISO button, and which I’d been using with Live View, also doubles as the QUALity button, meaning that when I changed the command dial with that button pushed in I had changed the format to JPEG. Darn darn darn.

Don’t let this happen to you! You really should learn all of your cameras controls well enough to operate them blindfolded, especially if you are going to take night shots. This means you don’t need a flashlight. Flashlights ruin your night vision and if you’re shooting with other people nearby, a flashlight can ruin their shot or their night vision as well.

Quick Tip - John Muir

Excuse me while I diverge from pure photography again…

Aspen along FR 611

I was really changed by my trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in October, 2015. It was beautiful, peaceful, and very rejuvenating. I can’t claim to be an explorer, or to be brave when it comes to facing the heights. But nonetheless I was affected to my bones with the experience of being alone in some of the “remote” areas I visited.

The best for me was found at two locations.

Basically anywhere I went along Forest Service Road 611 – there were very few other cars or people on that road. I was able to park my Explorer alongside the road with the windows down and not worry about anything. I was able to walk off of the road and into the trees (trying not to damage or even alter growing vegetation as I did so). I could hear the wind blowing through the upper reaches of the Aspen and the birds calling to each other. The air was clean, cool, and invigorating.

My and my Explorer on FR 611

I took a number of pictures of the Aspen, and even some of the road, but as I look at them I realize they fall short of conveying the peace of the place. Perhaps they show some of the beauty but, while that is commendable, the peacefulness is missing. I am transported back but only because I experienced it firsthand. That is a great aspect of photography – being reminded of life events. But I know when my wife looks at the photographs her experience is limited to what is presented within the borders of the image. I want to try to figure out how to incorporate more feeling into my photographs whether through capture or post processing.

The other location I truly enjoyed losing all sense of time at was at a small meadow on the side of the paved road leading to Point Imperial. I was there early in the morning, having just been to Point Imperial and watching the sun start to rise over the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon. Driving down from there I stopped at a paved wayside by a small meadow. There was frost on the ground and I could seem my exhalations. The meadow stretched up into some hills on my left and the sun was just starting to light the tops of the trees that bordered the grass.

Frosty Meadow near Imperial Point

The frost shimmered in the light becoming even more obvious. There were very few birds chattering. The air was very still as if holding its own breath while waiting for the sunlight to reach down and warm the meadow.

Again I stepped into the grass. I did step on the wintry grass. I had to immerse myself. I took some photographs. These photographs seem to portray a cool meadow with abundant frost. I like these images but perhaps I’m jaded again by having been there to take them.

I am mentioning these two locations because I just started reading a book that imparts a joy of location and experience to me. I read quite a bit but probably 99% of what I read is technical writing (I’m a software engineer and tend to stick to that type of reading). I did finish War and Peace recently, and although it’s main characters are supposed to be fictional, the book intertwines Napolean’s conquest of Russia with the details of life there so I consider it semi-fictional.

Kindle book free with Amazon Prime

The new book that I started and highly recommend to those with a literary interest is “My First Summer in the Sierra” (http://www.amazon.com/First-Summer-Sierra-John-Muir-ebook/dp/B004TS16CU) by John Muir. The Kindle version is available for free if you have an Amazon Prime  from Amazon but I read reviews that said the print version, with the Muir sketches, is much better so I’ve got a copy on order.

The text alone, though, is impactful to me. I don’t know much about John Muir (yet) but it’s clear he is an educated and thoughtful man with great command of the written language. His writing style is different than anything I’ve read – factual yet poetic. There are passages with a lot of Latin botanical names which kind of escape me but the rest of the writing is very refreshing. He is getting to the essence of how I’m beginning to appreciate the natural wonders I’m exposing (pun semi-intended) myself to now that I’ve got my photographic excuse to visit nature!