Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

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.   

Introduction to Photographic Science (Science for the Curious Photographer)

Comments[6] 09:52PM Jun 15, 2009 by Charles in General

Excerpts from my book started appearing on Michael Reichmann's site today.  Traditional publishers have not expressed any interest yet; in fact, none of them has seen more than the title and table of contents.  I am now considering "Publish on demand" perhaps with Lulu.com or Authorhouse.com.  That would produce an expensive paperback available on Amazon.com and elsewhere, and would permit me to purchase less expensive copies to distribute on my own.  I could also sell eBooks at much lower rates.

 In any event I expect a small audience for the book because it is really fairly high level science.  I think a love of science is required as well as a scientific way of looking at the world.  Besides that, there are equations, graphs, and tables.  It does not tell anyone how to use their camera, but rather provides answers to questions such as:  what does ISO sensitivity mean, what is the signal-to-noise ratio, what are color spaces, how does a lens coating work, what is a circular polarizer, etc.  The information and the level are similar to that found in the Handbook of Photography and the FOCAL Encyclopedia of Photography, except of course my book is much more up to date.  Keep tuned.  I will let you know what happens.

Galapagos Photoshoot via the Tip Top II

Comments[0] 10:26AM May 30, 2009 by Charles in General

On May 17 we returned from a wonderful tour of the Galapagos Islands.  I was not prepared for the underwater wonders.  My vision is limited without glasses, and I had not arranged for contact lenses.  Also, I did not have good underwater photographic equipment.  However, land, sea, and air visible above water provided unequaled opportunities for nature photography.  I made a couple of thousand images primarily with a 100-400mm IS lens on my Canon 40D camera.  A sampling of these images can be seen at this link.

I find that portraits of animals and birds in their natural habitat can be satisfying.  However, it is much more of challenging and satisfying to capture wildlife in action.  I was fortunate to be able to see birds catching fish, lizards, and even other birds.    One of the photographs linked above shows a Lava Gull with a lizard in his beak and apparently attached to his eye.  This was one of a set of six photographs of the Gull-lizard encounter.  As you can see from this set, the outcome is not clear.   I also observed and photographed a Galapagos Land Snake attempting to eat a lizard.

I love nature photography because it gives me a new window on the world.  I see things in detail that I previously missed.   Sometimes this involves the microscopic world that is revealed by macrophotography.  Other times it comes from action shots that catch things that were too fast for my eyes and brain to register.  My images from the Galapagos show many things that my “nakedâ€� eyes missed.  One striking example involves Storm Pertels.  These small birds dart about and are very difficult to photograph.  I thought that I would have to be satisfied with a wide angle shot of a swarm of petrels above their nesting area in a lava field.  I was also photographing frigatebirds in that area, and on inspection of the images I found that a female frigatebird had sagged a petrel in flight.

Art/Photography and the Brain

Comments[1] 10:42AM Feb 18, 2009 by Charles in General

Writing “Science for the Curious Photographerâ€� has been a wonderful learning experience for me.  In fact, it has been life altering.  I never before realized the amazing job that our brain does in converting relatively poor 2D images from our two eyes into a stable, colored, 3D illusion of the world.  We perceive as real a representation, based on statistical inference, that is subject to contradictory illusions.  Psychologists are beginning to understand the mysteries of vision and are even exploring why some images appeal to the human mind more than others.  Michael Gazzaniga’s book, “Human,â€� is a great resource for those who are trying to understand the uniqueness of the human mind.  Also, Daniel Tammet’s elegant book “Embracing the Wide Skyâ€� presents an accessible and succinct introduction to the wonders of vision in the chapter “Light to Sight.â€�  My research has led me into the worlds of Surreal Art, Op Art, and Computer Vision.  All of this has enhanced my love of photography and image processing.

CNPA Outer Banks Photoshoot

Comments[0] 11:11PM Feb 12, 2009 by Charles in General

The Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association (cnpa.org) is a great organization.  On January 16 we gathered at Kill Devil Hills, NC, for a weekend of nature photography.  Saturday, Jan. 17, was reported to be the coldest day in five years, and on Sunday the 18th it rained all day.  However, 52 great images were submitted for the weekend photo contest on Sunday night.  We got together on Monday morning to view the images and to hear the judges conclusions.  You can see the images here.

 On Saturday at sunrise I was standing with a group of photographers in a field near Pungo Lake.  We were trying to photography Snow Geese, but they were too far away for my 100-400mm lens.  It was beautiful but cold (12F), and I was looking around for other photo opportunities.  Behind us were weeds and bamboo shoots backlighted and glistening.  I made a number of photographs handheld with my 28-135mm IS lens without really realizing what a wonderland of ice crystals was being displayed.  When I studied the images on my notebook computer that night, I saw the forest of crystals.  One of my images is shown here.  This image won second prize.  It is interesting to note that birds were not the subject of any of the award winning photographs.