Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

eBook SCP is no longer for sale online

Comments[0] 07:17PM Nov 26, 2009 by Charles in General

The book "Science for the Curious Photographer" is being prepared for publication by A K Peter, Ltd.  It will not be sold through this site until it is available in book form.  A K Peters also has rights for electronic distribution.  There are no immediate plans for another ebook version.

The type edited book has changes in the arrangement of notes and references and some minor changes in wording, but there has been no significant change in content.

The eBook SCP is for sale again

Comments[0] 05:10PM Oct 12, 2009 by Charles in General

I am happy to report that the eBook, Science for the Curious Photographer, is for sale again. Figure numbering errors have been corrected, and there are a few other minor changes. This is a temporary offering because A K Peters, Ltd. now has exclusive publication rights. Sales on this site will end when the book is published.

Please report any suspected errors in the eBook or the published excerpts.

Mount Desert Island, ME/ Grand Manan Island, NB, August Photoshoot

Comments[0] 05:58PM Sep 20, 2009 by Charles in General

I just posted a sample of my photographs from Mount Desert Island/Acadia and Grand Manan Island here.  I believe the Bay of Fundy is one of the best places to see a variety of whales.  Also, from my experience Cadillac Mountain in Acadia N.P. is unequaled for sunrise photography.  It may also be the first place the rising sun is visible in the United States each day.  My sunrise and sunset photos are usually taken in the HDR mode and processed in Photomatix (Lightroom plugin).  However, the subtle shades of the dawn and predawn sky are often not captured well in the tone mapped image.  I sometimes resort to a single well exposed image.

E-Book off-line

Comments[0] 08:55AM Sep 13, 2009 by Charles in General

The e-book "Science for the Curious Photographer" is temporarily off-line.  I am sorry for the inconvenience.

PUBLICATION NEWS!

Comments[0] 02:45PM Sep 09, 2009 by Charles in General

Science for the Curious Photographer is being published in book form by A K Peters, Ltd.  This publisher is well-known for books on mathematics, computer science, and general science; so I think it will be ideal for my kind of book.  We expect the book to be available in the spring, maybe March.  The publisher also has electronic rights; but for the time being, the pdf version of SCP will continue to be available on this site.  I appreciate the advice, support, and encouragement offered by my readers.

Photo shoot on Mount Desert Island, ME, and Grand Manan Island, NB

Comments[0] 12:34PM Sep 07, 2009 by Charles in General

We returned on August 25^th from a great vacation/photo shoot in Maine and Canada.  I came back with about 1500 images from my Canon 40D and XTi cameras.  The numbers were inflated by the fact that I used HDR methods for most landscape shots and 6.5 frames per second when appropriate for photographing birds and whales.  Unfortunately, I have been so busy preparing SCP for publication that I have had little time to work up the images. (Yes, there is good news;[Read More]

Figure numbering errors in the book SCP

Comments[0] 10:40AM Sep 07, 2009 by Charles in General

In reviewing the text and converting the figures for publication, a number of errors and inconsistencies in the numbering of figures were found.  Also, three previously unnumbered illustrations have been given numbers.  Before the corrections,[Read More]

Learning to process images in Adobe Lightroom 2

Comments[0] 12:36PM Aug 09, 2009 by Charles in General

Well exposed images from a DSLR usually do not look very good right out of the camera.  Accordingly, most of us have learned that post processing is necessary to get the most out of our images.  I have used Photoshop for many years to process my RAW images, but I did not have a good way to handle my growing collection of images.  Adode Lightroom seemed to provide an answer for database management and, in addition, offered developing and printing capabilities.  However, my initial attempts to use Lightroom were not very successful because I did not know how to use its many features.  I tried to read books about Lightroom, but my attention span is not very long when I don't know what I am looking for.[Read More]

Reminder: Publication news about SCP

Comments[0] 10:08AM Aug 08, 2009 by Charles in General

The discount code is scheduled to end on August 15.  Please refer to the July 17 posting for the code, information, and links to excerpts from the book.

DSLR AF problems

Comments[0] 08:49PM Aug 07, 2009 by Charles in General

A friend recently found that his new Canon 50D seldom gave sharp images when compared with his 40D, and he sold the 50D.  This week I tested a new Canon T1i for AF focus accuracy. [Read More]

Reporting errors in SCP

Comments[2] 03:13PM Aug 04, 2009 by Charles in General

Please report any typos or other suspected errors in the e-Book SCP.  I will make a list and post them from time to time.  You can just use the comment space here.  I just noticed that Fig. 17.1 is misnumbered.

Air Travel – What equipment to take?

Comments[0] 12:36PM Jul 30, 2009 by Charles in General

I am a serious amateur photographer, and I do several photo-shoots far from home each year.  That means air travel with all its hassles.  I start with the requirement that all valuable and sensitive equipment, e.g. cameras and lenses, go with me as carry-ons.  So what do I really need and how can I pack it so that it will be allowed as carry-on luggage?

Why Moore’s law will continue to apply to digital photography

Comments[2] 04:05PM Jul 29, 2009 by Charles in General

Recently, at Luminous-landscape.com (LL), Ray Maxwell expounded on his view that Moore’s law is no longer relevant to digital photography.  This was based on his observation that we have all the pixels in our digital sensors that most of us need.  I thought that was a very narrow view, indeed, and was planning a rebuttal when Nathan Myhrvold’s rebuttal was published on LL.  Myhrvold explained that we can still use more pixels in many situations, and that he expects to buy sensors in the future with many more pixels than are now available.  I agree with everything he says, but I think he misses the point.

Publication News

Comments[0] 11:56AM Jul 17, 2009 by Charles in General

The book "Science for the Curious Photographer" is now available for sale here.  Until August 15 the following discount code is in effect: intro010.  You can click on the Buy Now button to see the effect of this discount on the price.  Should you buy this book?  Readers tell me that this book is great for some people but not for everybody.  Parts of it require some facility with mathematics and a tolerance for equations.  To help with your decision, I have included a link to the detailed TOC.  Also, you can read parts of the book.  I suggest you look at the recent excerpt on art in photography published on Luminous Landscape (LL).  An earlier LL excerpt on equivalent images contains a few equations.  Also, the chapter on close-up photography (930 kb pdf) can be downloaded here.   This chapter contains equations and simple algebra.

Proposals for hardcopy editions are still being considered by publishers now.  I will report on those efforts later.

Thanks for the comments

Comments[1] 03:47PM Jun 18, 2009 by Charles in General

Many thanks for the comments about my article both here and in direct emails.  Your interest in eBooks was reconfirmed, and I got good leads about sites that handle eBook sales online and outfits that offer POD services.  I am currently reformatting the text for a different font and font size.  I hope to have some news soon about publication of the book.