Update on digital photography

Ok, I haven't updated my Canon 5D blog lately. It's the old adage, life keeps sneaking in around the times I go out with the camera. Ok, that's a handy excuse or reason, and a little true, but still I haven't done enough in the last 2-plus months. So what have I done and learned?

Well, there are a few more photo galleries for recent trips and events, such as the Daffidol Festival and parade, rides on Washington State Ferry (WSF) ferries, Seattle walkabouts, and the recent Seattle Pride parade (film images to follow). Mostly, however, I've been focusing on the computer side of the work, namely scanning some of my Dad's old photos from 1946-49, scanning in my 4x5 sheet film, learning black and white printing, and working on my Mt. Rainier NP Web pages.

I'm still working on trying to understand why I have problems keeping things level. I don't have an answer yet, but I keep reminding myself to check the horizontal lines to know if they're not later, ask myself what happened. And yes, I know ole Photoshop can fix anything, I'm still a stickler for doing the best work in the field while you're standing there, it's minimizes the work later. I also rediscovered an old problem shooting the two parade events, which is a matter of geting old, as they say.

I can't photograph for more than two hours at a time, and must give my eyes 15-30 minutes rest. My eyes have problems focusing through the viewfinder and my non-focusing eye, usually shut when looking through the viewfinder, won't focus on distant objects at all. It started ten to twelve years ago from working on the computer for 8-plus hours a day, and has slowly gotten worse if I force it into one activity for any length of time.

Ok, I can rely on autofocus (AF). Yes, however, I often want off-center subjects in focus, so I did change the settings on the camera so I can set the AF and still work - moving the AF off the shutter to the star button. But I notice the AF hunts with some lenses, and I often tend to turn it off. So it's a conundrum, but I noticed the last bunch better at having and/or holding the subject in focus.

And the last thing I learned? I shoot mostly large jpeg. I shoot raw when I want the images where I can use Photoshop the most, but for the most part I like jpeg. They're easy to process, format and print. The problem is if you get the white/color balance setting wrong. If it's wrong, the images most likely aren't fixable beyond getting close but not quite right. For the most part though, I'm taking my chances. After all, shooting a parade and converting all the raw files, give me a break.

Anyway, that's the story to date, and if you're still interested, as Rusty Wallace said, "Stay tuned, Hotrod, we're just getting started."