So, I decided it was time to finally plow through a concept that I have not had the patience, nor brains (apparently) to tackle: ISO speeds on my camera. Why? You ask? Actually it is not for the reason I should be learning it. Any person who take photos and would like to use the moniker 'amature photographer' should KNOW WHAT IT MEANS! No, I need to know ISO speeds because my camera will not take photos in Camera RAW format unless it is on the 'really hard settings' that you never put your camera on because, well, it is too hard and you have to know things like the damn ISO speed and what it should be set at for any given photographic encounter. OK, so why Camera RAW format?
BECAUSE IT IS MAGICAL!!
Read all about it when I read my Photoshop CS4 books and have been coveting the format for some time now and really, really wanted to play.
Pulled out two books: 'Understanding Digital Photography' and 'Understanding Exposure' and started plowing through. When I became very 'verklempt' reading up on the history of photography, I knew I was in deep shit and that I really needed to keep plowing. (Oh ... go look it up, I had a very close Jewish friend when I worked at Shell and it is the only word that fits ...)
Got far enough to experiment - and keep my mind off the fact that I was 'losing my shit' for no apparent reason and had a fun time experimenting. So of course I thought I would post the results - since y'all care so much about photography and Photoshop - but maybe someone out there will actually care ... IT COULD HAPPEN!
This first photo I took with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi (a Digital SLR camera - Single-Lens Reflex as opposed to a 'point and shoot' type camera), with my Sigma DG 28-300mm lens, set to 'auto', on a tripod with the flash firing. I 'spiffied' it up a bit in photoshop - made it look as good as I could:
(Yes, I am too lazy to move from my desk chair to take a photo - this is the only thing in range ...)
It might just be me, but it looks like I took it when I took it - at 11:00pm in the dark.
OK, so now I tell the camera that I want to take pictures in RAW format, turn to the 'scary' setting, set the ISO speed to 1800 and take a couple of shots WITHOUT the flash firing (and there is very little light in here right now...). They look awful on the screen on the back of my camera. Dang! I can't do it! How stupid can I ACTUALLY be?
Whatever ...
Decide I am going to play anyway - I have my RAW files, I am going to do something with them - dammit! So, now I pull one into Photoshop and it brings up a brand spanking new screen I have never seen before - with a histogram and tons of slider bars: Temperature (just read about that ... know what I need to do ...), Tint, Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation.
Thing is - you dick with the sliders and MAGIC HAPPENS!! Suddenly, your photo looks like you took it at noon on a sunny day! WHO KNEW!!!
My first attempt was not so great - it was too ... someting (yellow? orange? reddish?) - if I knew I would have fixed it ....
My second attempt left me speechless. It is freaking DARK IN HERE right now, and this looks like I took it, well, like I said - at noon on a sunny day (and remember NO FLASH FIRED)! It is SO MAGICAL!
Seriously, I don't know why this stuff makes me so happy. Maybe just 'conquering it' and understanding it is all it is. I simply LOVE to learn new things. Maybe there is some psycho 'photographer' gene that lie dormant in me until 2005 and then mutated until I have become this raving lunatic! But - I haven't sobbed about the first fixed photographic image being the 'daguerreotype' with an exposure time of just under 30 minutes for, oh - AT LEAST a half an hour ...... and that is something worth smiling about!
3 comments:
Lori! I love shooting in RAW! And then you are right, using "RAW Processor" is so much fun! You're speaking my language girl! Anytime you want to practice shooting in the "scary" mode I would love to do it with you! Your photo looks awesome!
It's like you are speaking a different language, and yet still so entertaining!
I always think about whatever photographic magic filmmakers use to color the film and make movie magic. For example, every time I see Sleepy Hollow (SO AWESOME) I sit there and think about the bluish tint of the whole show for a good 15 minutes. And you can tell in less than a second when you flip the channel and CSI: Miami is on. The whole film looks like it has been dunked in neon Sunkist.
Andrea - I would love to go out with you some day and take photos! If we take YOUR kind of photos - I will just sit there and stare, in wonder, 'cause ... people - I don't know what to do with them! I love how you can pose a person - a concept that I don't think I am going to find in any of my technical manuals, yet I have absolutely no idea how to do it!
Jen,
I sit and watch movies the same way - gets a bit distracting ... maybe thats why I don't watch much TV any more!
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