Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

The engineers and scientists at Canon have made another contribution, albeit small, to the evolution of digital photography by developing the 120 megapixel APS-H sensor. This is a worthwhile development and not just for increased resolution! Yet all I see and hear on the internet is derision. It runs something like this. Canon is in a mad pixel race and there will be no actual gain in resolution because of diffraction. Hogwash![Read More]

Those who capture photographic panoramas need to know the No Parallax Points (NPPs) for their lenses. The NPP is often referred to as a nodal point, but that is a misnomer. In fact, every lens has two nodal points, and neither is relevant to this discussion. The proper rotation axis for a panoramic photograph lies in the entrance pupil of the lens. If one rotates the camera around this axis when taking photographs, then the images can be stitched together accurately so that even close-up objects will be properly represented.[Read More]

I am really concerned about the misuse of terms, and I will rant about that from time to time. Now it’s High Dynamic Range (HDR). When a photograph is displayed with unnatural gray sky, over-saturated colors, or pumped-up shadows, someone will always say that it has the HDR look. Give me a break! HDR is getting a bum rap. Scenes in nature often have high dynamic range. For example a bright day with gleaming clouds and dark shadows may exhibit 14 stops (EV) of luminance contrast. Now for the first time HDR techniques permit photographers to capture the full dynamic range and color gamut of a scene. This gives the knowledgeable photographer the opportunity to produce a low dynamic (LDR) image on a computer screen or paper that is as limited as a single photograph, an improvement on the single shot, or an art work with extreme saturation contrasts. That is to say, HDR really means “better than photographic.” Of course, I am not the only one defending the good name of HDR, see: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/hdr-plea.shtml

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     Steve Berardi, the Photonaturalist, wrote to me last year about one of my articles on Luminous-Landscapes.com. He expressed interest in my writing project, and he gave me good advice about book publishing and the online sale of eBooks. Since that time, I have been reading the Photonaturalist newsletter and the associated website.

     Photonaturalist dispenses useful tips about nature photography including techniques, equipment, websites, Iphone Apps, etc. Each item is a succinct clip, easy to absorb, and useful. I am pleased to note that Steve provided a blurb for the back cover of my book “Science for the Curious Photographer,” and this week he reviewed the book on his website.

Whenever a complicated procedure is involved, it is wise to make and to use a checklist. I rediscovered this truism the hard way. I realized that all-angle (spherical) panoramas require the use of a spherical tripod head and benefit from high-dynamic range image capture techniques. Accordingly, I equipped myself with a Nodal Ninja 3 MKII panohead and prepared to take spherical panoramas with my Canon Rebel XTi.[Read More]

I recently prepared a very brief tutorial on HDRI for the Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association (CNPA) newsletter.This tutorial is not a how-to guide, but rather it attempts to explain what HDR is all about.  It can be accessed here:  HDRI Tutorial (316KB)

I have found a few typos and other minor errors in SCP.  A list of corrections can be found here.  I will update this page when necessary.

Also, some of the photographs are much more effective at a larger size.  The complete set of high-resolution photographs can be seen in this slide show.  They are available on Flickr.

Please report any problems with these links as well as any other suspected errors.

I understand that from point on my entries on this Blog, Photophys.com, will also appear on my page at Amazon.  When I am sure that is up and running, I will re-post the link to corrections for "Science for the Curious Photographer."

As of this morning, SCP is in stock at Amazon.com. Please tell your friends!

Here's the link to SCP on Amazon.com.

"Science for the Curious Photographer" is now becoming available, and I am listing here the errors/typos that I have noticed.  The list is very short and mainly has to do with font conversions in symbols and equations.  The publisher was able to handle Microsoft Word text, but the characters and equations from MathType presented some problems.  Click here to read the pdf corrections page.  Also, I repeat from an earlier post that the photographs at high-resolution can be found here.

Serious photographers now have great tools for making sure that their images have the same appearance on a monitor, a print, or when projected. However, effective color management requires some planning and some effort. I have put together a brief tutorial on color management (calibrating, profiling, etc.) for my own education and hopefully to help others. This is not so much a "how to" guide as an introduction of the principles of color management. If you are interested in this topic, please take a look:

Tutorial on color management (120kb)

The book SCP is now available from several sources.  Some of the photographs are more effective when enlarged, so I am making available high resolution copies here.

Please report any difficulties you have with this link.

I have been a happy user of Sigma lenses (Canon mount) for several years.  I currently have the following Sigma lenses: 105mm macro, 150mm macro, 15mm fisheye, and 10mm fisheye.  The 105mm lens is compact and light, and I tend to take it on travels instead of the 150mm lens.[Read More]

Just this week I received a copy of SCP.  It looks good, and I hope it is available soon on Amazon and elsewhere.  The pages are 8"x10" with a two column format, and the figures and illustrations are in full color.  You can see sample pages on Amazon.com.

I am sure some errors will be found.  I plan to make a list and post it here.  Please send me your comments and any errors you find.