Tested: Below is one of my favorite photos I took last year. I shot it at New York's Museum of the Moving Image when we were in town last September. The exhibit was for the most recent Men in Black movie, with props and costumes from the film on display. It's a wonderfully detailed mask, which while I assume is made of latex, but looks much slimier than rubber. But the reason I like this photo so much is because of the conditions in which I was able to take it. Even though this mask was lit under a spotlight, the exhibit hall that housed it was extremely dark. Under automatic settings, I would expect a camera to bump the ISO up to at least 1600 for a scene like this. That's not for me. This photo was taken at 200 ISO (the lowest on my camera), and a full half second exposure. Completely handheld.
9 comments:
This is something that I definitely struggle with, that delicate balance between grainy images and blurry images. I, unfortunately, am not blessed with steady hands. If I try to hold "perfectly still" my hands have a natural tremble to them, so I would never be capable of this incredible mask shot without a tripod or some other completely immobile surface to rest my camera on. But I have definitely had to struggle
a lot in the past with a combination of low lighting and movement, the two of which are not combined in this article. There are many times when these factors are combined and flash is not permitted, so I would be interested to know what the author has to say about such a situation.
I never really understood the ideas behind grainy and blurry pictures until reading this. Thanks to the article I now understand a little more about shutter speeds and such. I actually am interested to learn more about this, since documenting my work will be an important part of my time at CMU and of my career. I, fortunately, have pretty steady hands so I am now a little more excited to try to get more comfortable with picture taking and to get brighter, sharper images. I would agree with Emma that low light can be a problem as well and would like to hear what the author does in these cases.
I take pictures all of the time, I'd even go so far as to call my self as a good photographer, yet something I always struggle with it getting non grainy pictures in low light situations. Who has time to turn there ISO all of the way down and have a tripod and wait for the shutter speed to click? The quality of this picture is spectacular considering the conditions under which the photo was taken.and the fact that a tri pod wasn't used in tantrum with the shutter speed and f stop he had his camera set to it absolutely unbelievable. There are lenses for cameras that specialize in low light situations so you don't have to sacrifice quality and function.
I never had much of education on photography, and because of that I never had much of an interest. For years I have had a point and shoot camera. But now I am appreciating photography more (because I have to), and I realize I need a better camera. Part of the reason is that when I take a longer exposure picture, like or my camera obscura, I need to hold still, and when I try to hold still, I cannot. Also, the one day build is something I admire: I would one day love to have the skills to do a fairly freehand one day build that looks so good.
I've always been a fan of the fact that regardless of how much money you can spend on an item, if the user is incapable (or incompetent) then it might as well be worthless. Sure, you can shell out $120 for a new lens or something but if the photographer does not have the correct shutter speed or lighting tweeks or even doesn't breathe properly, the picture won't be of a stellar quality.
I have never thought about photography as a skill the way Norman Chan does. I used to think about someone who was good at photograph as someone who knew a lot about shot composure and what camera was the best. But it turns out that there is a lot more to it. The physical practice that Norman puts in to get good photos in hard conditions is really impressive. I don't know a ton ab out photography, but when I have tried to document live events like the construction of sets for shows I have had the same problem of not wanting to miss any moment. Maybe I can improve my photography skills.
I have a revolutionary invention: the tripod! But really, I do appreciate the amount of skill it takes to get this type of picture without using a tripod. Attempting to take long exposure pictures of my black box for Susan Tsu's class while holding my camera was a very trying experience. I've never had much skill or interest in photography, but it is definitely a skill that I feel is worth knowing. As someone who hopes to work in sound, capturing my work visually is not really an issue, but good photography skills are valuable nonetheless.
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