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.

Being Picky

Over the last few weeks I have been out on the weekends with the intent to take some pictures. I have ensured my camera equipment is clean, batteries are charged, and campground reservations are in hand. I have gone to my chosen locations. But, my picture taking is very limited. I have lately been experiencing at least two impediments to my productivity.

First, and this one I don't know how to manage, is that lately I have been sleeping more regularly. I rarely wake up in the middle of the night now resulting in less night shots. I don't know what is causing this but I know from experience that it's likely to turn back to waking up naturally in the middle of the night again at some point. I'm torn about whether to set alarms for midnight or 1 AM, because I actually benefit during the work week when I get regular sleep. And, I normally go through these phases over a period of some weeks or possibly months and then I'll go back to waking up in the middle of the night. It's because of this experience, coupled with the fact that landscapes will always be there, that means I allow myself to sleep through the nights and to give up the night photography for now.

Because of the different sleep habits I'm also missing out on the golden- and blue-hour shots. This mainly leaves the "pool light" shots (paraphrasing Brian Peterson - the mid-day hours better spent by the swimming pool rather than shooting pictures). Due to this sleep "disorder" I don't take as many pictures as I was.

Second, I'm just getting picky about the pictures I want to take. This stems from a number of reasons:

1. Locality Saturation

I have been to most of my home state of Arizona a number of times for the purpose of taking pictures in the last couple of years. I feel there are three basic types of scenery in Arizona: a) Canyon / Hills / Cliffs - such as the Grand Canyon, Salt River Canyon, Sedona areas; b) Desert / Cactus - such as Saguaro, Organ Pipe National parks; and c) Pine Forests - such as on the Mogollon Rim, Flagstaff, Prescott areas. There are a few outliers, such as the desert lakes, Indian ruins, Tonto Natural Bridge, Kartchner Caverns, but those are short diversions. I'm just feeling the need to expand my horizons.

Because I feel like I've almost already shot all the pictures available in Arizona, I don't take as many pictures lately.

2. Creatively Stifled

When I look at my pictures I tend to just see travel photographs and not very much "art". I'd rather be shooting "art", whatever that means. For me, it means being able to eliminated the number of subjects in my pictures but I struggle to find or compose pictures that I can create the way I want. I believe it's my inability to find the subject of a picture and then my technical proficiency to isolate or contrast the subject with a very limited set of objects in the same picture.

This has been my fight for a year or so, especially after reading the David duChemin books. But I've also been admiring a number of photos posted on 500px.com, especially under the "Fine Art" group. There are a lot of photographers creating landscape or scenery images like I'd like to produce. I'm just not one of them yet.

Unless I see something that is striking to me in the view finder I don't take many pictures.

3. Post Processing

A result of items 2 and 3 above is that I no longer want to spend much time post processing images that I really don't care for. Consequently I avoid taking as many pictures in order to reduce my post processing activities (including uploading to the computer, reviewing and/or rating, and actual image post processing).

Next Steps

I need to overcome these mindsets somehow. I still enjoy the picture taking process, but have grown to where I don't care for the results as often. I do enjoy the "snapshot" quality pics that I do take and minimally process - they remind me of times and places I've experienced. Usually I can instantly remember the temperature of a place (of some significance here in Arizona), the solitude, the level of noise, etc. I remember certain things my dog might have done or at least how he sits in the seat next to me on the road and stares at me for hours. Those things are valuable.

The difference is that I want to create some art. For me that means better perspectives on better subjects with better isolation and better lighting. I hope that is something I can achieve and that it is not something that has to be innate rather than something that can be worked on and learned.