Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.—Ansel Adams
You can find all kinds of interesting stuff on the Internet. For instance, I recently found an interview with a photographer whose work I’ve admired for years but when it comes to the topic of Auto Review and Chimping, he doesn’t like it. He even wrote a blog post showing people how to turn this setting off on their cameras. Up to a point, I get where he’s coming from. For some photographers who have a background in film photography, Auto Review might be distracting. I, on the other, hand love this feature.
I think this minor disagreement has it a lot to do with how I make photographs and how it’s different than his way of working. There is a crispness and precision about his impeccably composed photographs but during a time when we were making photographs together during a PhotoWalk, his approach to capturing images seemed almost casual. On the other hand, I may look like I’m being precise in my approach but I’m not. I’m haphazard and it may have to do with how (what passes for) my mind works. I need the Auto Review feature to keep me in line. But there’s more to it than just being a bozo when I shoot. Sometime in challenging lighting situations you need to see how you’re doing. For example…
How I made this image: I’ve photographed the gazebo in Parker, Colorado’s O’Brien Park many times but only twice, I think, at night. The one thing that’s important in night photography is to start when there’s still some light in the sky. As I continued to shoot O’Brien Park’s gazebo, the sky kept getting darker and the temperatures dropped 20 degrees. Brrrrrrrrr. The image you see was made with a Canon EOS 5D Mark I with an exposure of 1/15 sec at f/1.4 and ISO 1600 with a plus one-third stop exposure compensation. At that shutter speed, I might have been able to hand hold a lighter lens but for Sigma’s 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Len, that weighs 1.38 pounds, I thought using a camera support—in this case a Sirui monopod— was a good idea.
When photographing people…
…I find that Auto Review gives me an instant look at the photograph I just made and make any changes on the spot. It could be their expression wasn’t just right and I want to make another shot—that’s why communication is so important—or, at a more practical level, maybe the subject blinked, always a challenge when photographing contact lens wearers. For example, the linked photograph was made after several shots (in a sequence) to arrive at what I think, anyway, is the best portrait in the series.
So what’s the right way to work with Auto Review and Chimping? It’s up to you. This was never intended to be a ‘my way or the highway’ blog. Everybody, including any of this blog’s guest contributors, have their own opinions on how to capture images and never, ever will we tell you that it’s the only way to do anything! We want you to have fun with your photography whether you use Auto Review or not.
And to all of my Jewish friends and readers out there, I want to wish you a Happy Rosh Hashanah.
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Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography with new and used copies available on Amazon for $21.50, as I write this.