Blog | The Camera Company

How Can I Shoot In Different Weather Conditions?

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 03:23:06 GMT

When you spend enough time outside with a camera, you stop waiting for “perfect” conditions, and instead you start working with

what’s in front of you. Harsh sun, blowing snow, torrential rain, dust, or fog all brings its own challenges, but also its own kind of opportunity. The difference between coming home frustrated and coming home with something you’re proud of usually comes down to two things: how prepared you were, and how well you adapted.

It’s easy to look at a forecast and write the day off, but those are often the days that create the most interesting images. Flat light can

be great for details and color, storms bring drama and contrast, and sunlight can bring some of the most vibrant skies you can find. If you go into a shoot expecting to “salvage” something, you’ll shoot differently than if you go in looking for what the conditions are actually giving you.

As a professional landscape photographer, I’ve had my fair share of experiences over the years of all sorts of conditions. I’ve chased

over 50 tornadoes in my lifetime, and although not all of them were photogenic, I found something from each chase that had me ending the day excited. When I’m not chasing, no weather condition is left unphotographed. I’m a fanatic for cloudy days, I crave warm sunsets, and any winter storm has me racing to the fresh snowpack for sunrises. Safe to say, the weather has never stopped me - or my camera - from having a good time. Let’s talk about the gear I use to maximize my images, no matter the condition.

Gear-wise, you don’t need a massive setup, but you do need to think authentically about protection and reliability. Weather can turn

quickly, and the last thing you want is to be scrambling when it does. A solid rain cover or even something as simple as a microfiber cloth goes a long way, and I almost always have one accessible in my pocket, rather than deep in my backpack. Mist, ocean spray, and blowing dust can do just as much damage over time, so keeping your front element clean and dry matters more than people think. Just a few months ago I was in Death Valley under a high wind warning. Courtesy of both my microfiber and my HGX Protection Filter on the front of my lenses, I never once worried about scratching my gear, or worse yet, damaging my sensor. In fact, on the topic of wind, using a sturdy tripod is a must. This allows you to lower your setup, remain stable, find unique exposures, and slow down the shooting process.

An often overlooked or under appreciated tool is the backpack of choice. I’ve gone through multiple iterations of how I pack my gear,

but as someone who frequents air travel, ProMaster’s Cityscape series has been a dream to fly with. This backpack can handle moisture, dirt, and being set down anywhere without concern, and at the same time, it holds all of my gear comfortably. This includes two full frame cameras, a filter wallet , spare batteries, three lenses, and a tripod for the side pouch. It’s all there, ready to be accessed. On the topic of batteries, cold weather drains batteries faster than expected, so I keep spares on me at all times. And now on the topic of cold weather, knit photo gloves that still let you adjust settings make a huge difference.

Now I won’t dwell on just the gear. After all, from a shooting perspective, each type of weather changes how you approach your

scenes and light. Bright, harsh sunlight is often avoided, but it’s incredibly useful if you lean into strong shadows, contrast, and simplified compositions. Overcast conditions are forgiving, with even light and rich color, making them ideal for details and textures. Rain and storms add depth through reflections, motion, and atmosphere, and slowing your shutter can help bring that scene to life. Snow can trick your camera into underexposing, so compensating exposure is key, but it also simplifies scenes beautifully and removes distractions. Fog naturally creates layers and separation, allowing you to focus on depth without needing complex compositions. My number one advice when using the weather to your advantage:

Capture the atmosphere, not the weather.

At the end of the day, shooting in all types of weather comes down to showing up and staying open to what’s possible. You won’t

always get the conditions you hoped for, but you’ll almost always get something worth working with if you’re prepared and willing to adapt. The more you lean into the unpredictability, ironically, the more consistent your results will become. From my years of chasing the worst weather on earth, the “bad” weather is often where the best images come from.

Tips for Better Travel Photography

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 15:25:47 GMT

Travel photography has a way of exposing both your strengths, weaknesses and your habits as a photographer. New locations, unfamiliar light, and limited time can either sharpen your instincts, or leave you scrambling. While gear and destinations matter, travel photography is far more about preparation, intention, and restraint than seeking out those iconic shots. These tips are meant to help you come home with images that feel thoughtful, personal, and consistent, no matter where you are in the world.

One of the biggest mistakes I make while traveling is shooting too quickly. It is tempting to start firing the moment you step into a new place, but doing so often leads to shallow, soulless compositions with repeated frames of the same idea.

One of the most valuable methods that I’ve added into my shooting routine is taking a few minutes to observe before even considering pulling the camera out. Notice where light falls and how it changes. Look for patterns, leading lines, or moments of contrast. See what gets you excited before forcing excitement into the frame. Slowing down early often leads to stronger images later, even when the pace of shooting speeds up.

A famous location does not guarantee a strong photograph. Light will always matter more than where you are standing. Harsh midday sun, flat overcast conditions, or cluttered highlights can drain life from even the most iconic scenes. It’s important to understand the timing of your visit, and that’s coming from someone who has a very, very hard time getting up for sunrise.

Whenever possible, plan your shooting around the quality of light rather than a checklist of locations. Early morning and late evening offer softer contrast, longer shadows, and more dimensional scenes. If the light is poor, use that time to scout, explore, edit or rest. Good light rewards patience.

Travel photography benefits from a lighter approach to gear. Choose tools that cover your needs without redundancy. A versatile zoom or a small set of primes is often more than enough. The goal is not to have every option available, but to know your arsenal well enough that using it feels instinctive. Familiarity builds confidence, and confidence shows in your images.

Instead of chasing isolated “hero” shots, think about building a cohesive set of images. This mindset shifts your focus from spectacle to storytelling and rhythm. Travel isn’t one image - it’s a series.

Look for a mix of wide scenes, medium context, and tight details. Pay attention to transitions, textures, and quieter moments between the obvious highlights. When images work together, they create a stronger sense of place than any single photograph ever could.

Not every travel image needs to be clean, sharp, and perfectly composed. Weather, motion blur, grain, and unconventional framing can add mood and honesty to your work. Fog, rain, crowds, and challenging conditions are not obstacles. In fact, these conditions are the ones I seek out. They are part of the environment you are documenting. Learning to work with imperfect conditions rather than fighting them often results in more memorable photographs.

Relying too heavily on automatic modes can lead to inconsistent results, especially in changing environments. Take control of your exposure when it matters. Know when to protect highlights, when to let shadows fall, and when motion should be frozen or embraced. A basic understanding of how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO interact allows you to adapt quickly without overthinking. There is still a time and place for Auto mode; It can help jumpstart your creative thinking for settings.

It may sound counterintuitive, but stepping away from the camera can improve your photography. Constant shooting can lead to visual fatigue and creative burnout. Allow yourself to experience places without documenting everything. These moments often sharpen your awareness and help you return to shooting with clearer intent. Presence fuels creativity more than constant capture.

Better travel photography comes from intention, patience, and awareness. It is less about chasing landmarks and more about responding to light, atmosphere, and moments as they unfold. By simplifying your approach and staying present, your images will begin to reflect not just where you went, but how it felt to be there.

When your camera dies, where does it go?

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 23:18:55 GMT

When cameras reach the end of their life we often end up just letting them sit in the attic for years, or worse yet throwing them in the trash.There are better options. Here’s how to dispose of your cameras and equipment ethically.

Option 1: Trade it in or sell it!

If it still works we are always going to recommend giving it a second life with a new owner. You may think it's outdated or that it doesn’t have any value, but it might to someone else! If it’s in good working order, bring in your old cameras and lenses to the Camera Company to get it appraised and we’ll let you know if it has any value to us or on the open market.

Option 2: Let the materials live on!

Recycling electronics matters. There are so many valuable materials in electronic devices that are worth recycling. Recycling is so much better than sending it to the landfill for a most unceremonious burial. Some of the chemicals in cameras & batteries are hazardous to our health and environment when not disposed of appropriately.

Thankfully here in Madison, non-business entities may use our local drop off sites FREE of charge for cameras, batteries & other electronics. While not illegal to put cameras into the landfill in Madison, they do everything they can, with 2 drop off sites and flexible hours , to make recycling easy in order to keep our local environment safe. If you’re worried about who does the recycling, the city doesn't ship it off to Africa or Asia, it is done locally right in Wisconsin.

ALL batteries in Madison should not go to the landfill. They can be dropped off after proper preparation at the recycling dop off sites or some local retailers like Batteries Plus & some Ace Hardware stores. Just be sure to separate your Lithium batteries from the rest, and make sure you cover the Lithium batteries’ terminals with clear tape to avoid leakage and fires.

For more information on where, when and how to recycle in Madison visit the Madison Streets & Recycling website.

What about my old photos, film, or slides?

Option 1: Digitize!

If you want to stop storing the physical copies of the old photos you have, bring them to the camera company to get digitized, restored, or colorized and get updated clean prints or enlargements! We do bulk scanning of prints and slides through our gather boxes. We even convert old movie film or VHS tapes to digital for you!

Option 2: Reuse!

There are some beautiful and meaningful ways to repurpose your old photos or slides into things like lamp shades or curtains.

Option 3: Landfill

Sadly most photographic paper, film negatives, tapes, and slides are not recyclable. Once you have them digitized and restored, feel free to discard them in your waste bin.

Thank you for doing your part to help the environment stay clean!

How to Enhance Your Photography with a Neutral-Density Filter

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 12:30:37 GMT

What is a Neutral-Density Filter anyway?

In a nutshell, it’s like putting sunglasses on your camera. An ND-filter is a piece of glass that goes between your image and your camera's sensor allowing you to lower the exposure of an image without needing to change your ISO, shutter speed, or aperture.

Why would someone want to cut the light to their camera?

This is a great question! Often we are trying to get as much light as possible to our camera's sensor to lower our ISO, reduce grain, increase our shutter speed, and maximize clarity. However, there are some very common situations where we actually have too much light!

Film is all the rage again! We can’t change the ISO of our camera without changing the roll of film. If we are shooting in varied lighting conditions and don’t want to make drastic changes to our aperture or shutter speed, we can cut light instead by using an ND filter.
When we have a scene where part of the image is very bright, and part of it is very dark. Think about a mountain scene with the sun setting behind the peaks. The sky may be very bright, but the foreground may be very dark. This is where you may want to use a graduated ND filter to help balance the exposure of the image to preserve detail in both the highlights and shadows.
Long exposure photography is great, but what do you do when you’re wanting a long exposure of a waterfall at noon on a sunny day and are trying to isolate your subject with a low aperture setting? Even at your lowest ISO the image may still be too bright. Here’s another great example of a time where cutting light via an ND filter is very useful.
ND filters are used widely in the world of video & cinema. When we shoot video we have limited shutter speed options which are tied closely to our frame rates and they are generally very low. When you shoot in a bright environment and want to get a shallow depth of field with a wide open aperture you often find yourself over exposed by many stops of light! ND filters quickly become an indispensable tool for controlling exposure for anyone doing video or cinema work.

What are the types of ND filters? Is one better than the other?

While there are many different types of ND filters, they all have their place, advantages and disadvantages. Each type of filter should be used for the correct situation and shouldn’t be considered better or worse than the others. However, each type of filter can vary significantly in quality and price.

Solid Filters: A single piece of glass that has been chemically or mechanically altered to resist the passage of light. This is different from Variable filters, which are described below, and utilize two or more pieces of glass to achieve the effect. Solid filters are generally less expensive, but you often have to carry several of them around and swap them regularly to obtain the desired exposure. They can be circular or square/rectangular.

Variable ND Filters: These filters contain at least 2 pieces of glass that when rotated separately from one another gradually increase or decrease the amount of light going through them. Common VND filters are 2-8 stops or 5-12 stops. These filters are wonderful for their versatility, but are very difficult and costly to make well, and many less expensive VND filters create a lot of color shift, glaring, or ghosting artifacts. The Promaster’s HGX Prime VND filters that The Camera Company sells are a wonderful value, being of high quality, while not being the crazy prices of some manufacturers.

Square/Rectangular Filters: These filters come in various strengths and gradations, but are never variable in nature. They require a special filter holder to be placed in front of the lens either by attaching to the lens itself or by a support system like 15mm rods attached to the camera or tripod baseplate. They come in various sizes and formats but commonly are 75mm, 100mm or 150mm in width. Many of the graduated filters are rectangular so you can slide them up and down in the filter holder to move the gradient across the frame.

Circular Filters: Circular filters come in threaded sizes that screw onto or otherwise attach to the front of a lens. They can be variable or solid. The main advantage over square filters is that they do not need a separate holder to attach to the lens. However, they are generally harder to swap than square filters.

Rear Filters: Some lenses, especially very wide angle lenses and fisheye lenses, tend to have a bulbous front element where putting a filter in front of the lens can be challenging or even impossible. Lens manufacturers create a location at the back of the lens to take filter inserts so you can still use a filter on these lenses. A note of caution with these is that they tend to be proprietary in shape and may require a specific holder, so make sure you check the documentation on your lens to get this set up correctly.

Graduated ND Filters: These filters offer a gradual fade from more to less darkening. It can be very gradual from one end to the other or fairly concentrated towards the center with a dark side and light side. These filters are often used in landscape photography to darken a bright sky but leave the dark foreground alone.

So whether you’re a video shooter wanting a shallow depth of field, or you’re trying to get silky smooth waterfalls, ND-filters are an important and overlooked tool to keep in your camera bag.

Why aren't my images sharp?

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:04:00 GMT

Intro

You just finished taking a few pictures of your child, niece, or wildlife. You take a quick look on the back of your camera and think the image looks sharp. You download the photo to your computer but discover that your subject is fuzzy. What could have possibly gone wrong? Before you blame your camera, there are some settings and techniques to consider before sending your camera out for repair.

Check Your Autofocus (AF) Mode

Most modern cameras with autofocus have two general settings: AF-Single (or One Shot), and AF-Continuous (or AI Servo).

AF-Single/One Shot is for use on still subjects or in situations where there is no motion. You pick one focus point, press your shutter-button halfway and wait for the camera to lock focus, and then push the shutter to capture the image.

AF-C/Servo is used for subjects that are in motion. You typically use this setting to photograph sports, moving vehicles, or wildlife in action. In some cases, you can also use AF-C for portraits if the subject is moving.

A third option, AF-A, or hybrid, is supposed to allow the camera to determine if the subject is moving or not. Cameras are getting smarter, but many experienced photographers claim that this mode is not very reliable.

Check Your Shutter Speed

Another issue could be that you are using a shutter speed that is slower than you need. Shooting at a low shutter speed may introduce shakiness, especially when hand-held. Traditionally, shooting at shutter speeds slower than 1/30 of a second could introduce camera shake.

One additional general rule of thumb is to set your shutter speed to 1/x, where x is the same number as your lens’ focal length; that is, if you’re using a 200mm focal length, the guideline suggests setting your shutter speed to at least 1/200.

If you need to shoot hand-held and lower the shutter speed, one traditional trick is to brace your camera and yourself. To brace the camera, hold it with two hands, tuck your elbows into your body, and lightly press the viewfinder to your eye. You can brace yourself by leaning into a wall or propping your arms on a horizontal surface.

You will still need to consider your exposure when changing your shutter speed. A faster shutter speed means less light entering through the lens, so you may need to adjust your aperture and ISO.

Check Image Stabilization/Vibration Control

Using a camera or lens with image stabilization turned on will help reduce camera shake, especially at lower shutter speeds. Building on the shutter speed guidance from the “Check Your Shutter Speed” section, you can lower your shutter speed by at least one or two stops (that is, one or two clicks longer). Some photographers report being able to get sharp images when shooting handheld at 1/25 or 1/15 with image stabilization.

One note about image stabilization and tripods: If you are shooting from a tripod on a calm day and using a remote trigger or your phone to snap the shutter, you want to turn image stabilization off. Why? Because the camera is trying to compensate for camera movement that isn’t there. The same is true if your lens has image stabilization (such as some higher-end telephoto DSLR lenses). However, when using a monopod, you’ll want image stabilization to remain on.

Check Your Aperture

Aperture is another setting that affects how much light passes through your camera lens. It also determines your depth of field, or how much of the image, from front to back, will remain acceptably sharp.

If you’re shooting with your aperture wide open (f/2.8, f/2, f1.4, or wider) and trying to focus on your subject’s eyes, you may find that other parts of your subject’s face are not as sharp. This could be because your depth of field is too low; that is, the depth of field is very narrow.

If your aperture is too small (f/16, f/22, f/32), you may find your images suffer from diffraction. In this case, the light passing through the sensor is interfering with itself. In this case, try to lower the aperture and adjust your other exposure settings (shutter speed and ISO) to accommodate the larger aperture.

Check Eye Autofocus and Subject Type

If you have a mirrorless camera with eye autofocus, and your subject has eyes (that is, a person or an animal), check to make sure it’s on. This helps your camera lock focus on one of the subject’s eyes. However, there might be times when you don’t want to focus on their eyes, in which case you can turn off this feature.

Add Light

In lower-light situations, you may need to increase your camera’s ISO to a higher number to capture an image. When doing so, your sensor boosts its signal, so you end up with an image that looks like it has a lot of “grainy” pixels (for film, we tend to use higher ISO-rated films). If you have the room to, you can lower shutter speed, open your aperture, and reduce your ISO to get a less-grainy image.

If your camera is at its lowest settings for low-light images, consider adding light. A flash mounted on top of your camera and bounced at a white ceiling will provide a decent amount of light for a nearby subject. Using off-camera flash with a light modifier, such as an umbrella, softbox, or lantern, will produce softer, more even light, depending on the distance between the light source and the subject.

Check for Atmospheric Interference

With recent wildfires sending smoke into the atmosphere and then winds blowing them towards us, we’ve seen how hazy our landscape can become. Smoke and haze in the atmosphere can cause an image to appear fuzzy.

Make Sure Your Lens is Clean

There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and dust. We sometimes might find that dust gets on a lens, and when we find it, we don’t have a lens pen or rocket blower handy. You might try to blow the dust off, or you might reach for the end of your shirt. These, as well as other things in the air, might find their way onto your lens, causing your images to look a little distorted. It’s often a good idea to occasionally check your lens, and perhaps keep a protection filter on it to prevent it from getting scratched. I personally prefer the Repellamax II coating of the ProMaster HGX Prime filters found in our store, since moisture beads up on it.

Conclusion

Troubleshooting your blurry images can feel like a chore. But once you’ve learned some techniques, you’ll find yourself making these adjustments and nailing focus better in the future. If, however, you still find that your camera isn’t focusing correctly, bring it in for us to check out.

How Large Can You Print iPhone Photos?

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 18:51:31 GMT

Are my iPhone photos good enough quality to print?

People ask me all the time how large they can print their iPhone photos. How large you can go depends on a number of factors. The iPhone model that you use, the final resolution after editing and whether the photo is in focus and properly exposed.

Also, remember that when you crop a photo it changes the size and therefore the resolution. We suggest you crop your photos with an app that shows the resolution as you crop, so you always know where you stand size-wise. If you come across a photo and you’re not sure what size it is to begin with, the ImageSize app is great for quickly checking size and resolution.

Is your photo in focus? You can get an idea whether the image is in focus by zooming in on your photo and look for detail. We would be happy to take a look at your image and give you some advice.

The iPhone can take fantastic panorama photos. Viewing your panorama photo on your iPhone doesn't do it justice so why not print a large panoramic print?

Order Photo Prints, Canvas Prints, Metal Prints, Fine Art Prints, Photo Gifts and more. Pick up in-store or ship to your home

Print your photos directly from your iPhone or iPad. Go to https://cameracompany.com/photo-lab

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I’ve created this simple chart for reference.

RECOMMENDED IPHONE PHOTO PRINT SIZES AND RESOLUTIONS

Image Gallery

Rear Curtain Flash Sync Explained

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:14:58 GMT

Here I go again!

I thought I would share some information and tips about another flash mode. This time I want to tell you about Rear Curtain, also known as 2nd Curtain Sync.

So for starters here is what it is and how it works.

We talk about our camera having a shutter curtain that opens and closes to control how long of an exposure we are going to make. Your DSLR has TWO curtains. The front, or 1st curtain and rear, or 2nd curtain. The reason there are two different names for the two curtains is for the most part because camera manufacturers did not get together and agree on one name to give it.

When we press the shutter button we think of the shutter(as one part) opening and closing. The way it works is that when we press the shutter button the 1st or front shutter curtain opens exposing the sensor or film to light. At the end of the exposure, the 2nd or rear curtain moves across the film or sensor plane closing to end the exposure. If we are photographing a car going down the street at night if we are in front curtain sync and we are taking, for example, a one-second exposure. When we press the shutter the first curtain opens and the flash fires. The shutter remains open for the one second and then the rear curtain closes halting the exposure. In rear curtain sync, the front curtain opens. At the end of the one-second, the flash fires, and the rear curtain closes. Thus, with front curtain sync, the flash fires at the beginning of the exposure while in rear curtain sync the flash fires at the end of the exposure.

Here are examples of photos taken with front curtain and rear curtain sync.

The picture of the car shot in the default or front curtain sync shows the streaks from the headlights and taillights coursing through the image of the car. It does not make sense. The solution to this problem is using rear curtain sync so that the streaks from the headlights and taillights follow behind the car.

When the photo is made firing the flash in rear curtain sync the result is an image that accurately depicts the direction that the car is traveling.

Give rear curtain sync a try. It can also be fun and useful when shooting people in action. Do some experimenting with it and see what you can come up with once your rear curtain sync creativity starts to flourish. You will never know what fantastic shots you might get until you give it whirl.

Why are my pictures blurry?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:03:33 GMT

Dave Fiala - October 15, 2020

Is it time to phone a friend?
Why are my pictures blurry is a frequent question.

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There are a few answers to this question so let me go through those one at a time.
If you get blurry pictures there are a few things to check.
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1. Is your lens or filter dirty or covered with smudges or fingerprints. If they are the first thing is to clean the lens and or filter.
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2. Is your autofocus turned on? Note that the autofocus on and off can be controlled by a switch on the lens and a switch on the camera. The on/off could also be controlled in the menu of the camera. Check to see if you can focus the lens manually to make sure the focus mechanism is not jammed. Also, check to see if the lens has a focus limiting switch. Some macro lenses and some of the longer zoom lenses have a switch that limits the range of focus. If the limit switch is set for close range the lens will not focus on greater distances. If the lens has been set to limit the focus to longer distances it will not move to the closer distance. Set the limit switch to FULL. Check and make sure that you did not turn on the back button focus and have forgotten that you did that. Make sure you check all of these options. OK so we have checked all of that and we know the AF is turned on. When you press the shutter button do you see the lens moving the focus? If the lens still does not seem to be trying to focus try another lens on your camera. If you try another lens and it is focusing correctly then you may have a mechanical/electrical problem with the lens that is not focusing. If the second lens is not focusing there could be a problem with the camera. Time to phone a friend who hopefully works at a camera store.
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OK! You have checked off all of these questions and the lens seems to be focusing but it still looks out of focus in the viewfinder. Take a picture and review it. If it looked out of focus when you looked through the viewfinder but the picture is in fact in focus your diopter is likely misadjusted. This is simple to fix because all you need to do is readjust the diopter for your vision. If you don’t know where the diopter is on your camera you could check the camera manual. Or, you could phone that friend who works at a camera store.
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Now let’s assume that the camera and lens are focusing but some of your pictures are still turning out to be out of focus.
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If you are shooting subjects that are moving and they appear out of focus it may not be a focus issue at all. It could be that your shutter speed is too slow to freeze the motion. Check this by photographing a stationary object at the same distance. If the picture is sharp the camera and lens are focusing properly. So the solution is to select a faster shutter speed. There is a complicated formula for calculating how fast of a shutter speed you need to stop a moving object traveling at a specific speed at a specific distance. But to keep it simple, let’s look at it this way. If you are standing in the parking lot of The Camera Company watching cars go down East Washington Avenue they do not look like they are going very fast. If you are standing in the middle of East Washington and the cars are going past a few feet away from your knees they look like they are going very fast. Don’t test this; just take my word for it. A person 10 feet away and walking should be stopped at 1/125th of a second. If you are shooting a bicycle race and standing close to the action you probably want to start at a 1/500th of a second.
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If you are shooting in a lower light situation and your pictures are coming out blurry it is probably motion again. If your shutter speed is too slow and you are hand-holding your camera the likely problem is camera shake. These pictures at first glance look out of focus but a little closer look will often reveal double or multiple images. Or you may see what looks like a smear effect. The solution to this problem is again to increase the shutter speed. The general rule is that you want to shoot at a shutter speed that is equal to or greater than the focal length of your lens. 50mm lens would be a 50th of a second or faster, 300mm lens 300th of a second or faster. OK, you get the idea. The image stabilization systems that are built into cameras and lens today will help when shooting slower shutter speeds of stationary subjects but do not provide a benefit if the subject is moving. The motion of moving subjects can only be arrested by using a fast shutter speed.

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Whenever we increase our shutter speed we need to compensate by opening the aperture to a lower number f-stop to let in more light. If you have a lens that is already opened all of the way you will need to raise your ISO. If applicable to the situation, you could use a flash.

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If you cannot use a flash and if you do not want to increase your ISO you are left with only one option and that is to get a faster lens that will let in more light.

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It is time to phone your friend who works at a camera store.
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If you don’t have a friend that works at a camera store and you need more help with any of these problems or questions. The best thing to do is call one of The Camera Company stores and tell the person who answers the phone that Dave said “I need a friend at a camera store.” And suddenly, like magic, you will have a new friend. And they will be working at a camera store!

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Should I get a monopod or tripod?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:57:39 GMT

Some people wonder, should I get a monopod or a tripod? What will work best for me?

For starters, it depends on what kind of photography you do the most. If the answer is that you do all types of photography the answer might be that you need both! Luckily some tripods have a monopod option built-in but I will touch on that later.

First I will tell you that for me, and for the kind of photography that I do, it would be rare to see me taking a picture without a tripod. I shoot a lot of landscapes and buildings so I find that my tripod is invaluable for checking and double-checking what I have in the viewfinder. Is my horizon level is the first question? Have you ever seen a picture that someone took of the ocean or a lake and the horizon is not straight? Have you ever looked out over a body of water and noticed it was tipped. I hope not! I also want to check how trees or buildings are framed in the viewfinder. Using a tripod encourages us to look at our composition more carefully. A tripod forces me to be more deliberate about my composition.

When you are shopping for a tripod, there are quite a few things to take into consideration. A tripod is used to provide a safe and stable platform for your camera. In general, heavier is better. If you go for a lightweight tripod you can always use a stone bag to add some pounds. A stone bag is just a bag that you hang from the bottom of the center column that you fill with stones to add some weight. When you are done shooting you dump the bag leaving the stones where you found them and off you go continuing your adventure with your lightweight tripod.

The first thing I would consider is height. Look for a tripod that is tall enough so that if you are aiming the camera at a high object, for example, an eagle in a tree or some detail on top of a tall building, you don't need to crouch down to look through your camera. Also on the question of height, one of the accepted facts is that your camera is going to be held more still if it is on a tripod that is tall enough without raising the center column or at least not having to raise it to the maximum height. Tripods that get tall are generally longer when collapsed so they tend to be harder to transport. But, not always. Some tripods have more leg sections than others, and many of these get tall enough and close down compact enough that they are still convenient to carry.

Taller tripods also tend to be on the heavier side. But, not always. This brings me to the material used in the construction of the tripod. A carbon fiber tripod that can reach the height you are looking for and have enough leg sections so that it collapses down to a nice size for transport may not be much different in weight than an aluminum tripod that is shorter and does not collapse. But everything comes with a price. True, a carbon fiber tripod with more leg sections is going to cost you more money. The cost-benefit analysis is something that each person has to calculate themselves. One person may be willing to carry more weight than another person. A shorter person may decide they do not need a taller set of legs. Then there is the person that does not care what it is going to cost. My compliments!

There are many options when selecting a tripod.

The type of leg locks is one option. Some people prefer the clip locks. Some people prefer twist locks. That is a matter of personal choice. I have both types so I suppose I can not be much help with that. You will have to see which one you like. I will say that the clip locks are faster. Occasionally the clip locks may need to have the tension screw adjusted so that they lock properly. The twist locks never need to be adjusted..

Some have center columns that can tip sideways for shooting straight down or allowing your lens to get very close to the ground for those shots of tiny mushrooms.

Most of the tripods you will encounter today have legs that kick out so you can adjust the angle of the legs. This makes it easy to set up the tripod on uneven ground. Or even on a stairway if you need to do that.

The next choice is going to be the type of head.

There are ball heads, three-way pan-tilt heads, geared heads, and fluid heads. Fluid heads are for video. In this article, I will stick to heads used for still photos.

For my first 30 years of photography, all I used was a three-way pan-tilt head and it worked pretty well for me. Then, I went to a ball head and that was OK but for the kind of pictures I take, it was not the best. For a short time, I went back to the old reliable three-way. Then I discovered the geared head.

Head selection is all a matter of what you shoot. As I said I do a lot of landscapes and buildings. But it does not end there for me. I shoot a fair amount of macro work as well as a ton of night shooting. I shoot some wildlife and birds but for that, I use a monopod.

The ball head is probably the all-a-round most popular. It is the fastest head to use so for sports, wildlife, and portraits. Typically you have one lock that unlocks all of the head movement. On the three-way head, you have 3 locks to loosen.

The 3-way Pan Tilt Head is easy to adjust but not as quick as the ball head.

The geared head is the slowest to use but the most exact in adjustment.

The geared head has three-way adjustment but instead of the screwdriver type handles of my three-way pan-tilt, it has knobs that I turn to make adjustments. Each of the 3 adjustments has two knobs.

The star-shaped knob on my Benro is for making a quick, rough adjustment. Once I have done that I turn the round knob for the final adjustment. As I turn it the head moves ever so slightly permitting extremely deliberate micrometer adjustment. This is slow but when I am lining up a shot of architecture or a landscape, but it works great. It is super for shooting the moon or Milky Way. When I am shooting macro it lets me get the precise adjustment that I need when working close to a subject with my macro focus stage. Most heads today have a quick-release plate so you aren't always screwing and unscrewing your camera from the head. Manufacturers use different plates. The most common today is the Arca-Swiss type. You want to stick with one plate so they fit your tripod head and monopod head and any other equipment you plan to mount such as a macro focusing stage or rail.

A slow and deliberate process to be sure. But using a macro focusing rail with a geared head affords excellent control of positioning and focusing when doing very close work. If you add a tripod with a gear-driven column to the setup then you have the ultimate as far as critical control.

Monopods

As I said, I use a tripod a lot, but there are times when the only thing that will work for me is my monopod. Monopods also have options. For tripods, I have carbon fiber and aluminum. I decided to go with a carbon fiber monopod. While I am not too concerned about the weight of my tripod, (I have 4 to pick from) my monopod has to be carbon fiber. For my monopod, I want lighter weight.

I use my monopod for photographing birds. When I use my monopod, I'm invariably using my fairly heavy Fuji 100-400mm lens, often with a 1.4 teleconverter. I need a solid monopod. I need the monopod to support the weight because while looking through the camera waiting for a bird to take off my arms would get too tired. This is also important if you shoot sports. If your camera is not in the up, ready to shoot position at all times during an event, you are going to miss shots. No one can hold a big lens up “at ready” to shoot during an entire game or auto race. The monopod can easily be used when sitting in the stands because you just have one leg between your feet.

On my monopod, I have the ProMaster MH-02 head . It is a tilt head which is all I need on a monopod. Some people use ball heads but I tried one and did not like it because when I would unlock it, I felt that the monopod and camera were a little bit out of control. I am trying to be diplomatic about a ball head on a monopod. Is anything “a little” out of control? Another thing I like about the MH-02 is that it uses the same Arca Swiss type quick release plate that my Benro geared head and my macro focusing stage use. This makes switching between the monopod, tripod, and stage seamless.

The Promaster MH-2 Head on my monopod is just the ticket for shooting detail on the tops of tall buildings. Birds, planes, and UFOs.

Monopods work great when you are in tall grass where setting up a tripod would be difficult. You can also use them in the stands. If you are sitting in the bleachers at a softball game you can lower it so your camera is right in front of you up and ready to shoot so you don’t miss a great shot.

Some tripods have a leg that unscrews and becomes a monopod. That might be something to look into when shopping.

The Promaster XC-M 525 CK is a Carbon Fiber tripod with a built-in monopod. A friend of mine has that one and it works great for her. It comes with a ball head and it uses the popular Arca-Swiss type plate. At $269.99 it would get most people off to a good start.

What is a prime lens?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:21:52 GMT

I keep hearing people use the term “Prime Lens.” Just what is a prime lens?

I can explain that!

A prime lens is also referred to as a “fixed focal length lens.”

The two types of lenses that we encounter are zoom and prime.

Zoom lenses are identified by their range of focal lengths. 14-24,24-70, 70-200, 150-600 and so on. There are zoom lenses that have a very wide range of focal lengths like 18-400. In the case of the 18-400 for example by zooming the lens from 18mm to 400mm you can get anything from a wide-angle to a long telephoto shot without you having to move forward or backward. At 18mm you can get a picture of the whole team while standing right in front of them on the sideline. Zoom the lens to 400mmand now you can get the shot of a single player that is out on the field. All without having to walk closer or backing up.

Prime lenses are identified by their fixed focal length. There are many, many lengths available but just for some examples 14mm, 24mm, 50mm, 85mm,300mm, and 500mm or longer. When using a prime lens you look in your camera and what you see is what you get. There is no zooming so if you need to get closer you start walking closer. If you want a wider angle you walk in the other direction. When using a prime lens you zoom with your feet. So it sounds like a zoom lens is the way to go, right?

Hey buddy! Not so fast. When considering a lens we don’t just think about the focal length or the zoom range. The other consideration is speed. When we are talking lenses the aperture might be just as important as the zoom range or focal length. If you are shooting portraits you may be super interested in getting images with a creamy out of focus background (bokeh). Yea, that is what I want! For that, you are going to need a fast lens. Let me take a minute to explain how this works. The way to get that bokeh everyone keeps talking about is by narrowing the depth of field. Here is what we need to know about that. The larger the aperture (lower f-stop) that we can open our lens, the less the depth of field so we are heading in the right direction if we are trying to get nice bokeh. Let’s say you have a 24-120 zoom and it has an aperture of f4. You also have an 85mm f1.8 prime lens. Better yet let’s say you have an 85 f1.4 (You are innocent when you dream). You can set the 24-120to the 85mm focal length. However, your maximum wide open aperture with the zoom is f4. 85mm at f4 is not going to produce the bokeh we are looking for because at f4 we have too much depth of field. Now we switch lenses to the prime 85mm and we open the aperture to f1.4. Guess what? Super nice bokeh, that very creamy out of focus background that we are going for. If you have a 50mm f1.8 and compare the results you would get from using that at f1.8, you will get a nicer bokeh than you will with the 24-120 at f4. The 85mm f1.4 will give better results than the50mm f1.8 for two reasons. First, the 85mm f1.4 has the wider aperture and we already know that the lower f-stop gives less depth of field. Second, we also know that the longer the lens, the less depth of field at the same aperture. So at f1.8the 85mm has less depth of field than the 50mm. Now open the 85 to 1.4 and you are really in the bokeh business. Of course, when we are going for a nice out-of-focus background the other thing to consider is your distance to your subject and the distance of your subject to the background. This all plays into the final results.

There are some pretty fast zooms available like 70-200 f2.8and those are great for wildlife and sports but if we set it at 50mm or 85mm we are still stuck at f2.8 and the 50 1.8 or 85 1.4 will still beat it at bokeh.

In general prime lenses will be not only faster, but they will usually give sharper images.

Here are two pictures shot with a 50mm f1.4 lens and you can see the effect that the aperture has on the depth of field.

When shooting with the prime lens the background is less distracting thus drawing attention to the subject of your portrait.

If you get closer to your subject you might be able to have the background completely out of focus forcing the viewer to concentrate only on your main subject.

There is a wide price range in prime lenses. Depending on what make of camera you have you could get started with a 50mm f1.8 in the $130.00 to $200.00 price range. Even the 85mm f1.8 lenses are not super expensive. When you start looking at the faster f1.4 50 and 85mm lenses the price can go up pretty fast. But starting with a 50mm f1.8 is a great idea for just about everyone. They are quite small and light and will be very useful for low light photos like a kid's birthday party! I will go so far as to say that it might be one of the best and most handy investments you can add to your camera bag.

The pictures below were shot with an 80mm lens.

Is it safe to use my camera in the cold?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 19:51:05 GMT

As I was getting ready to go out shooting one-day last week, I looked out the window and it was nice and bright and sunny. I loaded my equipment in my car which was sitting in my garage. I drove to the location I had planned for my little outing.
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As I began setting up my tripod the wind started to blow. The sun was still bright and the sky was clear. The trees were shading the sun but not blocking the wind. I felt a little numbness in my feet. My teeth started to chatter. I thought, was I having a stroke? My fingers were starting to get numb and my hands were shaking. I am freezing! Then I figured out it is really cold out here! I am kind of clever that way.

I was not prepared for how cold it was. I didn’t check the temperature, I just thought it was so nice and sunny. And it didn’t seem cold at all when I was loading my car in the attached garage. All I had was a light jacket. A few days before I had to move a lot of equipment so I took everything out of my car including this box that I keep in there that has a winter hat, gloves even some hand warmers.

I just decided to tough it out and shoot in the cold. I have lived in Wisconsin all of my life so I have endured some seriously cold weather. Over the years I have wondered why my grandparents moved to Wisconsin in the first place. My dad’s side of the family was from Czechoslovakia and I guess they have about the same weather there. On my mom’s side of the family, they were Danish and Norwegian. Ah, Norwegian! Norway has a lot of areas that are tundra and from November to January the sun never rises above the horizon. I suppose Wisconsin seemed almost tropical coming from that.

I suppose your idea of cold all depends on where you came from. Years ago I bought this Meade Telescope and it was one of the first ones that had computer-controlled guidance. I was setting it up in the winter and I started to wonder if it was OK to have this instrument out in the cold weather. So I called the company and asked about it. They tell me that cold weather shouldn't be a problem. They use them in the cold all the time when they are testing them and using them at the factory. OK, I said I am just wondering because it was pretty cold last night. Then the guy at Meade asked how cold it was and I told him it was 2 above. Two above what, he asked? Zero, I told him. 2 Above zero, where are you? Wisconsin I told him. Then I asked where he was located? Costa Mesa, California he replies. Now, Costa Mesa never gets any colder than about 40 degrees. In Costa Mesa when it is 40 degrees these guys are wearing long underwear. In Wisconsin, when it is 40 degrees, the UPS guy is in shorts and sweating bullets.

So I suppose this is as good a time as any to get the subject of this post which is.

Is it safe to use my camera in the cold?

The answer for the most part is yes. That being said, the next question is how cold, and for how long?

The problems encountered when using cameras in the cold are condensation and battery life.

Condensation can form in and on the camera and the front of the lens. So when you are out in the cold you have to watch the front of the lens and make sure that it stays clear of condensation or frost. When I had my telescope out in the winter I would use a hair drier to keep it clear Later I got a heater that wrapped around the hood and that would keep the front element clear. You can buy similar battery-operated heaters that attach to your lens hood. You can also use some of those hand warmers that you put inside your gloves. Just use some double-sided tape or Velcro tape to hold them in place. Just make sure to attach them to the outside of the hood so they don’t interfere with the light coming in.

The next problem is battery power. Everyone knows that batteries do not like cold weather. When your car will not turn over, it is usually on the coldest day. This is not because some guy named Murphy thinks it's hilarious for you to be standing out in the cold. It is because the extreme cold is very hard on batteries. For some cameras, you can get a battery pack the plugs into your camera and has a cord the feeds to a battery that you have inside your coat. The battery stays warm and so the camera keeps working.

Another option is to simply carry spare batteries inside your coat. This is my method and it works as long as I wear a warm enough coat! When the battery in my camera starts going dead I switch it out with one of the warm ones. Once the battery has warmed up inside my coat it may come back to life and I may be able to put it back in the camera and get some more shots out of it. Buy a spare battery here.

But I make sure I have plenty of spare batteries so I can keep shooting and not miss those great shots.

I have 3 spare batteries but the number of batteries you are going to carry is up to you. I carry more batteries than I have ever gone through on a shoot. But after all, that is how I planned it!

The other things we need to do are make sure we have spare batteries for any remote controls, flashes, and flashlights that we take on our cold weather expeditions. Hand warmers and gloves. I have a couple of pairs of Promaster gloves that we sell in the store and I always leave one pair in my car just in case. It is too easy to think I have everything only to arrive on location and realize I forgot my gloves. Another thing about the extra gloves is if I am shooting with someone else and they forgot their gloves. Then I get to be the good guy and save the day!

As the days get colder and the nights get longer we have to be prepared if we want to stay out and shoot. Winter provides events like skiing, ice skating, sledding, and don’t forget those clear starry nights.

So many fun events to shoot, as long as you are properly prepared for it.

Even being the guy that wrote the article I know it is inevitable. I will be out one cold night and I will have forgotten something. And I will be standing in the cold muttering to myself. Whatever possessed grandma and grandpa to decide to settle in Wisconsin?

What does a lens limit switch do?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 19:30:38 GMT

I see that some lenses have a limit switch. What exactly does that do?

This switch is encountered on Macro and some telephoto lenses.

These may have two or three distances that you can limit the focus to thereby providing a solution to the camera and lens searching for the focus. For example, when using a macro lens and we are photographing a bug at a close distance sometimes the lens will miss the focus. Without having the limit switch set to close range the lens will run all the way to infinity. Once it reaches the stop at infinity it will start on its way back to the closer distances to try and find the focus. If it misses again the lens will hit the close-range stop and start searching for focus again. If we have the limit switch set for the close distance it will not run all the way out to infinity because we have set the lens not to allow that long travel. The same is true if we are using a macro lens to shoot a head and shoulders portrait. If we are shooting someone at say, 12 feet away and the camera misses focus it might run the focus all the way back to the closest macro distance. Only when it hits the close distance stop of the lens will it start running back out to search for the focus. My Fujinon 80mm macro has a 3 position switch. The distance can be limited to, 0.24 to 0.5 meters or 0.5 meters to infinity, the 3rd setting is Full. Only if set to full will the lens run the full range of travel searching for focus. By setting the limit switch I can save time, battery power, and the aggravation of having the camera and lens searching for focus.

My Fujinon 100-400 telephoto lens also has a limit switch. On this lens, it is a two-position switch providing the option of setting the focus limit to 5 meters to infinity or full. If set to the 5 meters to infinity it will not attempt to focus any closer than 5 meters. So if I am out shooting birds I would probably not need the lens to ever run the focus down to its closest focus distance which is 1.75 meters.

The limit switch serves an important function by providing the benefit of controlling the amount of focus travel of your lens. Thus, affording you with a solution to the aggravation of your lens doing a lot of unnecessary focus searching. Try it out and become familiar with the way it works. One tip I might give it after you are done shooting reset your lens to the Full setting so that the next time you get it out it can run the whole focus range. Otherwise, you may be trying to shoot some macro photos and the lens will not go to close focus distance until you think. Oh yea, last time I used this lens I was shooting portraits and I set that switch! Well, easy fix.If you have any questions about the limit switch on your lens call or stop by one of our locations and one of our friendly staff will be happy to help you out.

An Interview With Nature Pro Photographer Alyce Bender: Sponsored by Tamron

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:47:59 GMT

An Interview With Nature Pro Photographer Alyce Bender: Sponsored by Tamron."Alyce started her creative life in 2013 and turned pro in 2019. In those six years, she ran the gamut from landscape to wildlife using a wide variety of Tamron lenses. Her technique involves patience. When she encounters a potential photograph, she pauses and looks for what draws her attention. Only then does select the best lens to capture what she sees. Alyce carries five Tamron lenses in her bag at all times. For landscapes, she generally uses the Tamron 10-24mm lens and the Tamron 18-400mm lens. For wildlife, she favors the Tamron 100-400 lens and the big Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens."

Not Getting The Whole Picture?

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:42:25 GMT

Have you had photos printed and been disappointed because someone or something was cropped out? The problem is that the aspect ratio of your image does not match the aspect ratio of your print size.

A typical DSLR or Mirrorless camera has a 3:2 aspect ratio.
A typical phone as a 4:3 aspect ratio.

You have three options if your image aspect ratio doesn't match your print aspect ratio.

Pick another photo size that will match the aspect ratio
Crop the image
Select "Shrink to Fit" when ordering on or website or on our kiosks This will center your uncropped image on the print with a white border on the sides or top.

Throughout the years, we have expanded and opened other locations. Currently, we have two locations in Madison: one on the Eastside near East Towne Mall, and one on the Westside near West Towne Mall. We have created an online business that ships everywhere in the U.S. We offer complete photo lab services and products as well as a wide variety of classes and photo outings.

Ed's son, Tim Erickson, is now part-owner. We look forward to many more years serving the Madison area and beyond.

The Camera Company History

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:14:09 GMT

The Camera Company Quick History

By Ward Lundgren

Over a hundred years ago, my grandfather, Arthur Lundgren, decided to open a camera store in Rockford, Illinois, called Lundgren Camera. When he passed away, my father, Gene Lundgren, took over the business. I started working in the Rockford store when I was around 9 years old. I would go on Saturdays and do odd jobs, such as stocking and shipping/receiving. Eventually, I worked my way up to salesman.

In 1977, my father Gene was approached by our Pentax rep, Ed Erickson, with an idea to open a camera store in Madison, Wisconsin, with him as a partner. We had been getting customers at Lundgren's in Rockford from Madison, so the idea made sense. Ed and my father asked me if I would move to Madison to help Ed set up the camera store, and I said yes. The Camera Company on the Square was born.

Throughout the years, we have expanded and opened other locations. Currently, we have two locations in Madison: one on the Eastside near East Towne Mall, and one on the Westside near West Towne Mall. We have created an online business that ships everywhere in the U.S. We offer complete photo lab services and products as well as a wide variety of classes and photo outings.

Ed's son, Tim Erickson, is now part-owner. We look forward to many more years serving the Madison area and beyond.

Image Gallery

Bird Photography Tips

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 17:29:33 GMT

Bird Photography Tips

Photos and article by Lisa-Ashley Smith

‍ Focusing on Bird Photography! This is a perfect time to get out and shoot as we not only have birds returning from their winter homes but also have some species passing through on their migration further north. Bird photography is a fascinating and rewarding art, but it can be challenging when starting out. When I was new to bird photography, there were a few tips that helped me immensely that I would like to share.

Use the right equipment

Getting the right equipment is essential for bird photography. A good camera with a fast shutter speed, like a DSLR, is a must. Many of the latest mirrorless cameras even have bird eye tracking, which can make things easier but is not essential for successful bird photography. A telephoto lens with a minimum focal length of 400mm will allow you to zoom in on birds from far away (if you don’t own one, renting is a great way to try out a lens before committing). A tripod or monopod can also be helpful for stability and the added weight of a long lens.

Learn the habitat and behavior of the birds

It is essential to get to know the behavior of your subject and habitat. This way, you can anticipate their movements and choose suitable locations to take shots. Species of birds behave differently, so it is worthwhile to research your target bird species. This information can also help you select the right time of year and time of day to take photos. An App like Merlin Birds is excellent for identification. You can even have the app listen to the sounds around you to tell you what species are near you. Observing species, you will notice routines like flight paths and feeding spots. Also, some behaviors are pretty universal. Birds are generally more active at dawn. Often a bird will take a deep breath, feather ruffles, or take a dump right before they fly off.mportant and generally for street photography you want as much of the scene as sharp as possible, front to back.

Get the right angle.

Try to get the best angle possible when photographing birds. Get close. With experience and patience, you can learn how best to approach a species. I am often on the ground in an army crawl. Eye level can create a more intimate relationship between the viewer and the subject. Lower angles can also help create those dreamy blurry backgrounds (bokeh). Also, when you get familiar with a species, you’ll find that certain places they perch are better for photos than others. Look for less distracting spots. If my subject is in a location with lots of branches, I will usually pass on taking shots and use my time out to observe. Another critical angle to consider is the angle of light. Dawn and dusk have some of the most beautiful light but in the middle of the day, not so much. For most bird-in-flight shots, I try to have the sun behind me and the wind at my back because birds take off/land into the wind, and with the sun directly on my subject, I am less likely to have harsh shadows. Bright but overcast days are also a favorite of mine because the clouds are a giant diffuser of light. If you can't avoid shooting into the sun, consider a silhouette.

Camera Settings

There are a few settings that I have found useful when photographing birds. One of the first things that helped me advance my bird photography was to use back button focusing. Most cameras come with the shutter button for focusing and then taking the shot. Still, you can change that to set the focus on a button on the back of the camera allowing you to select the focus with your thumb. Once it’s locked on your subject, the shutter button will only take photos, making it quicker and less likely to focus on something else. Some DSLR and mirrorless will even allow you to set up custom settings ahead, and if yours does, I recommend a custom setting for a perched bird and one for when it is in flight.

When shooting a still subject like a perched bird, I will shoot in Aperture Priority with my ISO in auto. This allows me to only focus on adjusting my depth of field. Getting the eye sharp is a must; how much more of your bird is in focus is a matter of taste.

For birds in flight, I shoot in Shutter Priority, and again I am in auto ISO. Each camera has different ISO capabilities, so when setting a range in Auto ISO, you will want to keep in mind how much ISO your camera can handle before a shot gets too noisy. Post-processing applications such as Lightroom can remove noise. You can pair that with Topaz DeNoise for a much greater ISO range. It’s a game-changer for lenses with apertures above f4 and in low-light situations. In addition to those settings, I also shoot in Continuous High+, allowing me to get the most frames of the bird in flight as my camera can take. I might take 20-30 shots to get one with the wings just perfect. Now the camera is set up for me to control the shutter speed. Every species is different, so it helps to practice on larger, slower birds.

A general rule of thumb is:

Large birds like owls, eagles, and geese: 1/1000-1/1250
Medium-sized birds like ducks and songbirds: 1/2000-1/2500
Small or fast birds like puffins 1/3200
Tiny birds like hummingbirds: 1/4000-1/5000

Composition

As in all types of photography, the composition can make such a difference in whether it's just a snapshot of a bird or a photo that you might hang on a wall. Aim for a simple uniform background that makes your subject pop. Use the rule of thirds to position the bird's eye. Point the bird to any open space in the frame. With birds in flight, consider leaving space in the image area for where it will fly. For me, it was helpful to follow photographers whose work I admire and spend some time analyzing the light, the background, and the crop to help me think through composing my next shots.

Lastly, I would like to leave you with some final thoughts. Go out with a plan but have the attitude that if it doesn’t work out, there are other things to shoot (that’s how I started shooting macro). Most importantly, place the bird's needs above your needs for a photo. Most birds must extend every calorie on life or death needs, and fleeing the paparazzi could have dire effects.

Street Photography: A Classic Genre

Sun, 28 May 2023 18:24:51 GMT

Street Photography: A Classic Genre

By Jeff Brown

Some of the most iconic images of the 20th century were examples of what’s known as street photography—images made by photographers roaming city streets, snapping scenes that appealed to their sense of artistic composition and their fascination with human behavior.

Want to try your hand at street photography?

For inspiration, look at some of the images made by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gary Winogrand , or Joel Meyerowitz . For a more modern take, check out Valerie Jardin’s Instagram feed.

Law and Ethics

Before discussing how to approach street photography, it’s important to say that under U.S. law, if you are lawfully in a public space you have the legal right to photograph anything that’s in plain view, including people—even without their consent.

Please note that the laws in other countries are different. For instance, in South Korea, photographing people in public without their consent is a crime. If you want todo street photography abroad, make sure to check the laws of the country you plan on shooting in.

Just because you have legal right to photograph something or someone doesn’t mean you should, however.

Street photography often presents ethical issues. For instance, whether you should photograph children in public and if you do whether you should post the images on social media. I usually avoid including children in my street photography, even if they’re with a parent and the parent gives permission, because it’s not a good idea to post photos of other people’s children on social media, and social media is the main outlet for my photos.

Speaking of consent. Most times, if you avoid eye contact before you press the shutter button and then give a quick smile before moving on, people won’t notice or care if you’ve photographed them.

If someone does spot you and complains—and you’re shooting digital—be polite, apologize, and offer to delete the photo. If the person asks you to delete the photo, do so (if you’re using a camera with two memory cards you can set the camera up so that a copy will be saved to one of the cards; it’s up to you whether you use that copy). For what it’s worth, in two years of weekly street shooting someone has complained and asked that I delete a photo only once.

Fear of this type of thing can be crippling. I’m an introvert and still retain some of my teenager’s shyness when out shooting. This psychological block has been the biggest hurdle to me getting better at street photography. You just have to be bold and press through any shyness if you want to get good at street photography.
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Approaches to Street Photography

I use two approaches to street photography: prowling and sitting.

When I prowl, I move up the street like a panther, scanning the space ahead and around me for scenes. When I see what looks like an interesting scene or face, I compose and shoot quickly.

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When I sit (stand, actually), I find a backdrop that looks like it would make an interesting composition—say, a shop window with interesting lettering, or a brick wall marked by a slash of shadow. Then, I wait for someone to walk past and time the shutter release to catch the person mid-stride or making a gesture.

I’m a fidgety, so Ido more prowling than standing. Winogrand was a famous prowler. You can see by the composition of some of Cartier-Bresson’s iconic images that he often waited for someone to enter a scene that he’d presumably pre-selected.
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Gear and Settings

The iconic street shooters of yesteryear generally used 35mm rangefinders (usually Leicas)because a rangefinder is smaller and easier to conceal than a larger SLR.

Today several companies make good digital rangefinders. I prefer the Fujifilm Xpro 2, others swear by the Fujifilm X100V (both crop sensor).

Leica makes superb digital rangefinders but they’re too expensive for most people. Sony and Ricoh also make small and affordable point-and-shoot digital cameras that are good for street photography.

I’ve found thatDSLRs, because they’re larger and more noticeable, aren’t well suited for street photography.

Ditto zoom lenses.Fast primes lenses (f/1.4 or f/2.8, max) are the way to go, with either 28mm or35mm being the go-to for most street shooters, because of the ability of those wide-angle lenses to include more elements from a street scene in the image. A fast 50mm lens is probably the second most popular street photography lens. Cartier-Bresson used a 50mm almost exclusively; Winogrand a 28mm.

I will sometime rock two bodies when out street shooting—one with a 35mm, the other with a 135mm telephoto. The long lens lets me compose with a 35mm angle of view from across the street and allows me to both get in close for impromptu portraits and compress compositional elements.

For camera settings, stick to a wide aperture, say f/8-f/16, if the light will allow. Again, context is important and generally for street photography you want as much of the scene as sharp as possible, front to back. Set your shutter to at least f/125 (f/160is even better) to freeze the motion of passersby. There’s a good argument to be made for using even faster shutter speeds. For instance, Winogrand and his acolytes would use Kodak Tri-X, a 400 ISO film, pushed to 1000 ISO, so that they could shoot at wide apertures and 1/1000th of a second in broad daylight.

A word about color.Classic street photography was shot on black-and-white film and this look is still considered the baseline for modern street photography. But Meyerowitz revolutionized the use of color for street photography. I usually make my digital street photos black-and-white. I make my digital street photos color only if the colors in the scene inspired the composition. When I shoot street photography on film, I always use black-and-white film.

What to Shoot

So what is street photography? What kind of images should you be looking to make?

Basically, street photography is people watching, with a camera. Capture people doing the things that makes humans fascinating—laughing, crying, kissing. stumbling, flipping someone off, pawing through garbage.
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Don’t look only for gestures or movement. A man wearing a fright wig and galoshes, standing motionless as he waits to cross the street, is also an example of fascinating behavior.

You can also combine humdrum behavior with background elements to great effect. For example, an average person striding past a mural. Ideally, there would be some link—some“rhyme,” if you will—between the person and the mural that allows you to, on some level, say something about our world by making the image ( here’s a great example) .

Conclusion

Street photography is a great way to get some low-impact exercise, improve your composition and camera-handling skills, and meet people. I heartily recommend it.

https://pdnonline.com/photography-business/legal/street-photography-and-the-law-what-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=This%20type%20of%20photography%20is,anyone%20else%20with%20a%20camera.

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Cash For Cameras June 9th and 10th

Mon, 22 May 2023 15:54:41 GMT

CASH FOR CAMERAS
MEET THE FACTORY REPS
FROM CANON, SONY, AND TAMRON

TURN YOUR OLD CAMERAS & LENSES INTO CA$H!

Get a 10% BONUS allowance when you take store credit. Buyers from one of the world’s largest used camera brokers will be at The Camera Company paying top dollar for your gear!

Eastside - Friday, June 9th from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. and Saturday, June 10th from 10 A.M to 5 P.M.

Westside - Friday, June 9th from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. and Saturday, June 10th from 10 A.M to 5 P.M

Trade in or sell your old or unwanted camera gear during our TWO DAY trade-in event. Bring in your old, outdated, or unwanted cameras, lenses, and other photographic equipment. You can sell them or trade them in for new gear!

What we're looking for: Working Digital Interchangeable lens (SLR or Mirrorless) cameras, lenses, and accessories for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Leica, Panasonic, Olympus, Tamron, Sigma, Hasselblad, and more. We also buy many film cameras, including point and shoot cameras, expired film, SLR’s, Large format, medium format, and collectibles and collections.

Feel free to bring your gear for an assessment, we would be glad to give you an appraisal and/or an offer on your equipment.

We usually do not buy tripods, darkroom equipment, older lighting equipment, polaroid cameras video cameras, or projectors; With the exception of high-end gear in these categories. Some examples are- Manfrotto/Gitzo/Bolex/Arriflex.

Also, remember to bring a compatible charged battery and a charger with any digital camera you would like to sell. If we cannot test the gear, it will affect the price quote!

MEET THE FACTORY REPS FROM CANON, SONY & TAMRON

See the latest cameras and lenses and get some great deals.
Eastside - Friday, June 9th from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Westside - Saturday, June 10th from 10 A.M to 5 P.M

FREE CAMERA CLEAN AND CHECK

A technician from Excellent Camera Repair will be performing free camera cleaning and checks. Sensor cleaning will be only $25. (reg. $49.99)

Eastside - Friday 12:00pm - 6:00pm

Westside Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm

Using Multi-Flash Mode

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 21:26:22 GMT

I have said it before. I always try to make sure that I get the most out of the equipment that I already own. I have been shooting a lot of flash lately and that got me thinking about a flash mode that I have not used for a long time. I wrote a little bit recently about using the FP mode AKA high-speed sync. Then I got to thinking that it has been a while since I did any shooting in the Multi-Flash mode.

Multi-Flash is another function that most of the newer add-on flashes have but one that I know some people overlook. It is another one of the flash modes that let us get creative while exploring new possibilities.

The benefit of the multi-flash mode is that it lets you fire a set number of flashes at a specific rate during a single exposure.

This rate of firing is referred to as Hertz.

Hertz is the rate or frequency of how often something happens. If something is occurring at 1 hertz it means that it is repeating once per second. So if we set a flash to fire at 6 hertz it means the flash is firing at a rate of 6 times per second. If we set the fire the flash at 12 hertz it means the flash is firing 12 times per second.

So if we set our flash to the Multi-Flash mode and want to fire the flash 6 times during a one-second exposure we would set the flash to fire 6 times at 6 hertz. If we want the flash to fire 6 times in ½ second we would change the setting to 12 hertz.

You can set your flash to fire a wide range of times at varying hertz. The maximum number of flash firings and hertz available is dependent on the limitations of your flash.

Once you determine how many times you want your flash to fire and at given hertz, you will need to calculate how long of a shutter speed you need to capture all of the times the flash will fire. If you are going to fire 8 flashes at 150 hertz you would need a 1/20th of a second for that sequence to complete.

To calculate your shutter speed you take the number of flashes you want to fire divided by the hertz you are setting them to repeat at and that number converted to a fraction is your shutter speed.

Multi-Flash is usually set up on the flash. With some cameras, you may be able to set it up on the camera. When I was using Nikon I would set it on the flash. With my Fuji I can set it up on the flash or the camera as long as the flash is on the camera and the flash is turned on. When using the Godox 860 II that I just purchased it is easy. I put the flash on my camera and power it on. Then I go into the flash menu on the camera. I go to Flash Function Setting and normally that displays TTL. I rotate the main command dial on the camera to select Multi. Then on the same screen, I select the flash power. You can set however much power you think you want. With the Godox, I can select full power, half power, or down to 1/128th power. Then I select how many times I want the flash to fire and last I set the hertz. It might sound like a lot but once you see how to do it you can run through it in about 30 seconds. In the camera flash menu, I also check and make sure it is set to front curtain sync. It is easy as pie!

Some cameras will automatically set the flash to rear curtain sync when you set longer shutter speeds. If your camera does this you will need to go into the flash setting and set the flash to front curtain sync. I know this seems contradictory when shooting at longer shutter speeds but I have encountered this with my Fuji X-T2 and multi-flash does not work properly in rear curtain sync. This is easy to check. When using multi-flash your camera should be in the normal front curtain sync mode.

I recently purchased the Godox 860 II and this flash has quite a bit more power than the flash I had been using and the extra punch is coming in handy when experimenting with multi-flash. The Godox 860 II uses its rechargeable battery. I have been doing a lot of shooting that requires a lot of flash power and I have not had to recharge the battery yet. The Godox flash with this battery is a real powerhouse.

This flash is going to be just the ticket for me as I work on my next flash project.

Coming soon!

Rear Curtain Sync!

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When should I use a lens hood?

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 18:07:39 GMT

People have often asked. When should I use a lens hood? The short answer is, almost always. A lens hood is used to reduce or eliminate unwanted lens flare. Using a lens hood will increase contrast and give you better color.

There are times when you might want to introduce lens flare to a picture to add a dramatic or mysterious element to the image but this is an exception to the rule.

Lens hoods also provide a little extra protection for your lens. A hood is not intended to act as a shock-absorbing bumper. However, there have been many times when lens hoods have offered their valiant service for that purpose.

When using a lens hood you should check and make sure that it is not blocking your built-in flash. Make sure you zoom your lens all the way through its range to be sure that the hood is not interfering with the flash.

Many manufactures include the correct hood with the lens. Tamron for example invariably packs the correct hood with all of their lenses so when you buy a new Tamron lens you automatically have the hood. If you have a lens that did not come with a hood and you want one just make sure you get the correct one for your specific lens. With some exceptions, lens hoods are not an expensive addition to your collection of necessary accessories.

You could say that a lens hood is like a pleasant smile. It is one of the things in life that costs the least and does the most.

Check out our large selection of lens hoods here

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Why I use High-Speed Flash Sync

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:24:52 GMT

When I am out shooting, I am always trying to think of how I can get the most out of my equipment. I am thinking about how I can expand my ability to create using my camera, lenses, and filters. And, what about my flash, what I can I do with that? Flashes today are a lot different than when I started in photography. Back then you had a manual mode and an auto mode and that was about it.

Most modern flashes today have a multitude of functions. Balanced fill flash, front curtain, and rear curtain sync. High-Speed Sync also is known as FP (focal plane) mode. Some flashes can be set to fire multiple bursts creating several flash images on a single frame. Many flashes available today are set up to be used off-camera. Back in the good old days if you wanted to get your flash off of the camera you could use an off-camera cord. That was OK for close work but the wireless flashes setup of today permit unlimited flash positioning.

One of the modes I use quite a bit is the High-Speed Sync or FP mode.
First a little bit about how it works.

High-Speed Sync is also known more accurately as Focal Plane flash. Here it is in a nutshell. flashes and cameras have a maximum shutter speed that the flash can be synced to. On most of the older cameras that was 1/125th of a second. Cameras today can sync at 1/250th. With these cameras, if you set a higher shutter speed one speed faster than the sync speed, you will get a black band usually at the bottom of the image. If you increase the shutter speed another stop faster the black band will double in width. So if your camera has a sync speed of a 1/250th and you set your shutter speed to 1/500th you will see that black band. Increase the speed to 1/1000th and the band doubles in width. Go ahead, increase the speed to a 1/2000th and see what happens?

This occurs because the flash and camera cannot, in the normal mode, sync to the higher speed, and the black band is caused because the shutter is not open all of the way when the flash fires.

In the normal flash setting, the flash waits to fire until the instant that shutter curtains are open all of the way. The flash only fires for that instant.

In High-Speed Sync. Wait. Let’s call it the focal plane mode or FP mode because that helps explain what is happening. In FP mode when you press the shutter button on the camera the flash starts firing. The flash continues to fire all of the time that the shutter is opening and closing. So the functional difference between the standard and FP mode is that in the standard mode, the flash fires only for the instant that the shutter is all of the way open. In the FP mode, the flash is firing and continues firing during the entire operation of the opening and closing of the shutter, thus there is no black band.

When we use the FP mode we have to be aware that the flash is working very hard to put out that continuous flash and so flash distance is decreased. Also, the batteries are being drained at a faster rate and the flash may heat up if fired continuously. When I use this mode to shoot water drops, I have my camera set in high-speed continuous shooting mode and my Nikon SB-900 would get to the point of overheating and shut down to protect the flash. So how hot was hot? So hot, that I would open the battery door and drop the batteries out on to a plate. I did not want to hold those batteries in my hand. Not for long anyway.

Ok, so that is how it works now on to what does it do for me?

High-Speed Sync is useful for almost all types of photography. It can be used for shooting portraits. It can be used when shooting sports as long as you are close enough to the action and have a powerful enough flash. Small flashes can be convenient to carry around but if you are planning on buying a flash to do this kind of shooting my advice is to go big or go home! To get any good distance when in FP mode you need a flash with a lot of punch! That said, I have been using my little Promaster 100SL. Coming in just south of $150.00, it has been doing a pretty darn good job at garden distances.
If you are going to use a flash in FP mode for portraits or sports I would recommend a more powerful flash unit.
Lately, I have been using the 100SL flash in FP to shoot hummingbirds, bees, and plants and flowers on my deck. Did someone say quarantined?

I use the FP mode to get high shutter speeds when I am shooting the little birds to slow down the wings and to slow down the fast-moving birds in general. I get a stop action effect that I do not quite get at the slower shutter speeds. Using the high shutter speeds also causes dramatic flash fall off creating dark, sometimes black backgrounds that make the bird stand out. When I shoot flowers with the fast shutter speeds I get the same result. Very dark backgrounds that make the colors of the flowers pop! Sometimes people who shoot a lot of plants and flowers will carry a piece of black velvet to place behind the subject to get that black background. I have done that, but it is kind of a pain because it is another thing to carry and it also picks up lint and little pieces of debris that are almost always white (Murphy’s Law) and they show up in the photo so I have abandoned the velvet practice and now just use my flash to get the darkened background effect.

Here are a few pictures. See how the dark background makes that flower pop when compared to the version without the flash.

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Should I use image stabilization when using a tripod?

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 21:10:43 GMT

A: While using a sturdy tripod to shoot, your camera is generally completely still and free from any vibrations or movements. Image stabilization is great when you are hand holding a camera in lower light settings or if you are using a telephoto lens, however, when there is no movement present, image stabilization can create its own movement, this can add blur to your images. The best way to avoid this, is to turn your image stabilization off while you are using a tripod.

What are these spots on my photos?

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 14:48:05 GMT

Black spots on your photos?

If your black spots appear consistently in the same location, you probably have dust particles on your sensor. This is a common problem for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses.

When you change a lens or have your camera body open dust can enter the body and adhere to your sensor. These dust particles will block light that your sensor needs in order to give you a complete picture.

A good way to check is to get your lens out of focus and take a picture of the sky with a small aperture. Once you have this photo, you are able to zoom in and start looking around for spots.

We recommend getting your sensor cleaned every year, or whenever you start to see spots.

We offer sensor cleanings at The Camera Company. https://cameracompany.com/services/sensor-cleaning

What is a Geared Head and why do I want one?

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 15:37:11 GMT

Something I wanted for a long time was a geared head.

Until now there was something I did not like about one version or another.

I recently picked up the Benro GD3WH 3-Way Geared Head.

This type of head permits the very deliberate adjustment of composition. Geared heads are the argument ender for landscapes, architectural, macro, and subjects like the moon when using a long lens.

Geared Heads are not suited for sports or any type of fast action photography.

You can make quick and great adjustment by turning the knobs that are star shaped. Then, using the round knob you can make micrometer adjustment. This allows very fine adjustments to be made to composition. When shooting the moon I love this thing. I get my moon in the viewfinder with the lens zoomed back to 100mm. Once I have the moon in the center I zoom in to the 400mm setting. Oh, I am using a 100-400 lens. Anyway, when I zoom in I still have the moon right in the center.

While I am making my exposures I can make the very fine adjustments to the head as the moon moves in the viewfinder. It works great owing to the head moving ever so slightly when turning the adjustment knobs.

The Benro uses the Arca Swiss Quick Release plate and that I really like .

Constructed of magnesium the head is light and strong. Coming in at 1.9 lbs. it will hold up to 13 lbs. The use of high-carbon steel and bronze for the mechanics insures long life and smooth operation.

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