The Light:

[AB26]

I am still exploring light, trying to understand why a photographer should put away the camera when the light is not right.

Shot in Jpeg with a Sigma 70-300mm lens at 170mm. Camera on a tripod. 1/80, F8, Iso200, WB 5600K.
Colour settings: Vivid with enhanced saturation.

Late afternoon winter sun.

[Shadowman]

Andre,

What have you heard regarding wrong light? The only thing I've heard is when there is "no light" and even then there are ways to continue working. I was doing a bit of low light shooting recently and the only reason to stop was my subjects were constantly moving so even with high ISO, wide aperture (only options were 2.8mm with short focal length or 5.6 with longer), and very slow shutter speeds, all shot handheld. Needless to say, it was a toss up between very noisy or very blurry images.

With a stationary subject like yours, there are options available to continue on. Nicely shot.

[Kodiak]

"When everybody take their cameras back in their bag, it's time to get mine out of the case!"
This is the kind of "arrogant" attitude I teach my sons. There is no bad light just wrong gear
or attitude.

Your attitude is the right one for sure! I think you got a cool shot… don't stop questioning the
well received ideas or even "laws". This is the first thing to learn in image hunting: if you
accept the limitations of the others, you make them yours.

[AB26]

Andre,

What have you heard regarding wrong light?

Thanks John.

Wrong light? What is the wrong time of day to do a shoot?

I once read that you should put away your camera when the sun is high. Shooting in low light gives me a better understanding of why it is not advisable to shoot in high sun.

Of cause it will apply mostly to landscape and nature photography.

[AB26]

Sir Mr. Kodiak,

Your attitude is the right one for sure! I think you got a cool shot…

Thank you for that nice compliment. Well, coming from you it is accepted as a compliment.

There is no bad light just wrong gear or attitude.

You want to tell me that gear has anything to do with good Photographs? Are you serious?
What you are telling me is that it has to do with attitude and gear? Am I understanding you correctly?

[Kodiak]

…better understanding of why it is not advisable to shoot in high sun..

And why?
This landscape shot from my book was taken under mid-day sun!

http://www.kodiakmedia.at/cambridge/PDO_5605.jpg

As usual, SOOC.

[Manfred M]

Agreed Andre and Daniel!

Let me present my latest shot:

Black cow at midnight on a moonless night. Great Photoshop work here too..







Actually, all joking aside, I have to completely agree with both of you; nighttime photography is challanging, a lot of fun and there really is no arguing about colour temperatures and colour casts, as you are shooting well outside of what your camera's algorithms were designed to handle. I feel some of my best cityscapes and panos have been done after dark when others have put their cameras away.

[Kodiak]

…You want to tell me that gear has anything to do with good Photographs? Are you serious? :confused

What you are telling me is that it has to do with attitude and gear? Am I understanding you correctly?

Very serious!
Let's be clear. To work in low light and have good results is not given to anything nor anybody!
One has to have the proper tools for the job: tools that could work well in high ISO if needed,
tools with proper sensor and proper onboard software to record the take, etc.
In this case, your tool did a good job but you may reach the maximum capabilities of your gear
as you get bolder and bolder in your attitude… pushing further, very rightfully, in your exploration.
I would not have bought the gear I have if it performed under my bold attitude and expectations!

[Kodiak]

Coool night shot, Manfred!

[NorthernFocus]

Agreed Andre and Daniel!

Let me present my latest shot:

Black cow at midnight on a moonless night. Great Photoshop work here too..

Perhaps your best work to-date, Manfred

[Manfred M]

Very serious!
Let's be clear. To work in low light and have good results is not given to anything nor anybody!
One has to have the proper tools for the job: tools that could work well in high ISO if needed,
tools with proper sensor and proper onboard software to record the take, etc.
In this case, your tool did a good job but you may reach the maximum capabilities of your gear
as you get bolder and bolder in your attitude… pushing further, very rightfully, in your exploration.
I would not have bought the gear I have if it performed under my bold attitude and expectations!

Agreed!

I find that the primary reason I upgrade my gear is when I consistently find that my existing equipment is limiting my ability to produce the images that I am trying to create. Financial realities are definitely a constraint; I know that there are certain types of shots I will not be able to take.

[Shadowman]

Thanks John.

Wrong light? What is the wrong time of day to do a shoot?

I once read that you should put away your camera when the sun is high. Shooting in low light gives me a better understanding of why it is not advisable to shoot in high sun.

Of cause it will apply mostly to landscape and nature photography.

Andre,

I was looking for a Joe McNally passage about shooting midday photos, he does it quite a bit; but found only slight references to the topic. Here is another source on the topic I found which I haven't read completely.

http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/image...0321862694.pdf

[DanK]

Very serious!
Let's be clear. To work in low light and have good results is not given to anything nor anybody!
One has to have the proper tools for the job: tools that could work well in high ISO if needed,
tools with proper sensor and proper onboard software to record the take, etc.
In this case, your tool did a good job but you may reach the maximum capabilities of your gear
as you get bolder and bolder in your attitude… pushing further, very rightfully, in your exploration.
I would not have bought the gear I have if it performed under my bold attitude and expectations!

I'm a little lost here. Andre's photo was at 1/80, F8, Iso200--hardly low enough light to pose a problem for any modern DSLR. I thought the lighting issue in the OP was just the aesthetics of that particular lighting (which I think is quite nice).

Re pushing the limits of equipment: I do some night photography, and that is indeed one thing I used to rationalize my relatively new, expensive body. However, the fact is that you can do quite well with almost any recent DSLR. Most night photography, in my limited experience, is shot with long exposures and low ISO, so ISO is not a limitation. Noise from the sensor heating up, however, can be, particularly in warm weather, and some bodies handle that better than others. Still, I would not discourage anyone from trying night photography because they have a modest DSLR.

I'll post two examples, both shot with a 50D, a 6-year-old design which is known for being noisy at all but the lowest ISOs.

This one is a 10 minute exposure at around 11 PM:



This one is a 30-second exposure:

[Manfred M]

Andre,

I was looking for a Joe McNally passage about shooting midday photos, he does it quite a bit; but found only slight references to the topic. Here is another source on the topic I found which I haven't read completely.

http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/image...0321862694.pdf

John - her book is all about portraiture (I've read it) and she "cheats" by placing her subjects in shade and uses reflectors, scrims, etc. to modify the light so that she gets decent images. Well, it's not cheating, really, but does show us how to deal with light that is problematic for that genre. She seems to have a number of assistants to hold the various light modifiers while she shoots.

The book does not cover off landscape work and other nature photography at all.

[Kodiak]

I'm a little lost here.

Nice shots you got there! No need to feel that way…

Your statement is very reasonable and correct but I include for example
photojournalism in my thoughts (I hate typing so I don't write everything
I think) where movement is a parameter that implies usage of higher ISO
settings in dim light.

[Shadowman]

John - her book is all about portraiture (I've read it) and she "cheats" by placing her subjects in shade and uses reflectors, scrims, etc. to modify the light so that she gets decent imags. Well, it's not cheating, really, but does show us how to deal with light that is problematic for that genre. She seems to have a number of assistants to hold the various light modifiers while she shoots.

The book does not cover off landscape work and other nature photography at all.

Hi Manfred,

Your points are valid which is why I was looking for the Joe McNally reference; as he talks specifically about shooting outdoor/midday conditions. There were a few links to McNally's comments but they were partial quotes on various blogs.

In addition to your thoughts on her (Lindsay Adler) techniques, one of the first comments she makes (for outdoor shooting) is don't do it, but then she starts out with methods to overcome but they were related to indoor shooting under mixed lighting conditions.

[NorthernFocus]

Honestly if one has any hopes of ever becoming an accomplished photographer, recoginzing interesting lighting is prerequisite. Even for studio shooting, one must recognize what "good" lighting is in order to produce it. One risk of reading/listening to the words of "experts" is that they too are human and may be limited by their own personal frame of reference. And photography technique is very subject specific. It's great to look at others' work and try to understand how a particular image was made. Then one can add that understanding to an overall knowledge base from which to draw upon in any given situation.

In the context of the OP, the real learning opportunity is to shoot a given static subject in various lighting conditions to see what works and what doesn't. That information can then be extrapolated SELECTIVELY to other subjects. To apply any rule universally is utter nonsense.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Manfred, I loved the black cow shot. Would you mind giving the exif data ?

Agreed Andre and Daniel!

Let me present my latest shot:

Black cow at midnight on a moonless night. Great Photoshop work here too..







Actually, all joking aside, I have to completely agree with both of you; nighttime photography is challanging, a lot of fun and there really is no arguing about colour temperatures and colour casts, as you are shooting well outside of what your camera's algorithms were designed to handle. I feel some of my best cityscapes and panos have been done after dark when others have put their cameras away.

[bnnrcn]

I like your shot Andre, beautiful light

[Shadowman]

Hi Manfred, I loved the black cow shot. Would you mind giving the exif data ?