Something Different… Rob Van Petten

 Rob Van Petten says:

Something Different… Rob Van Petten

In the past year or two Steve has worked on the introduction of the Nikon D600 and I have worked on the introduction of the D800. These are both remarkable new creative tools. Nikon has released a line of similarly amazing cameras with breakthroughs in High ISO beginning with the D3, and D3s, higher resolution as in the D3X and D800 and D600, compact convenient and lower cost cameras, a very high image quality DX format as the D 7000, D 3100, D3200.

These all offer significant changes in the capability of shooting in low light, high rez, battery life, ability to access hard to shoot places, wifi improvements, video, internal camera controls for time lapse, retouching, face recognition, auto focus tracking… and on and on.

Frame rate is crazy fast for digital cameras – any camera. Immediate review allows us to be confident of things we were not even trying before. Auto white balance. Auto ISO. Auto focus capabilities that allow follow focus and 3D tracking that give us higher frequencies of good images.

The new cameras have certain new image qualities that are different besides being better. They are allowing us to make new image that have not been possible before. These cameras have done some amazing work in the hands of some very talented people in the past year. What have you done that is different?

Just the way images look is different. Dynamic range is greatly improved. Noise is non – existent. Resolution is better… and different. Images have a new look. I was reviewing prints at a school today and I had to admit that student work has gotten much better because of the improvements in cameras and printers. If beginners can do that, we the pros must have huge advantages beyond what we did only a short time ago.

Enough laundry list of fabulous features. Look at the improvements in technology and equipment and show me what improvements you have used with this new gear to further expand your creativity. Focus, color, b & w, lenses, motion, tracking, frame rate, all better. Pictures are better as a result.

How has it changed your images?

Posted at 10:03PM, 13 November 2012 EST (permalink | reply | edit | make sticky | close | delete topic)

Ivan Sorensen    says:

I’m a bit of a cheapskate although I refer to this trait as getting the most possible out of every equipment dollar I spend.

With my advent into the world of concert and band promo shooting and the acquisition of a D7000 (up from D90) I now find that I can shoot concerts at crazy ISO’s and still maintain image intergity. Admittedly I’m still testing these limits but, jeez murphy, the results are nothing short of astounding allowing me far more creative head room. Every time I come back from a shoot I keep putting off the purchase of a D600 because the only thing I would gain is a little more resolution and a more standard crop ratio. I am able to switch auto focus modes to suit concert dynamics. The thing I find most rewarding about concert shooting is that there really are no ‘formulae’ to follow. There are no real shooting rules. See the lighting and then shoot it. The new equipment will accomodate almost whatever you need so long as you know how to tell the camera what it is that you need.

Originally posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)
Ivan Sorensen edited this topic 2 months ago. 

BioArt    says:

Great topic Rob – apropos one of your recent threads, I experimented with some super high speed shots using the flash duration of a SB-800 (1/128 power) at faster than 1/40,000th second. It worked with all bodies, even the compact D3100 using an SC-29 cord. It stopped action on water droplets out of a faucet. I also played around using the rear flash sync function and got some very cool shots with streams and then a droplet at the end.

With Nikon’s current products, your limit is only the limits of your imagination!!!
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

PVA_1964    says:

Wow Rob. This will be a tough one to answer without sounding like a Nikon commercial. So, I will try and not be too “Nikon guy” about my answers. But the new technology has made for wholesale shifts in the way I see and capture images.

The higher ISOs are ridiculous! 12,800 ISO straight from the D4…

Resolutions that I hadn’t ever thought I would see are now common place… This is the full frame from a D800…

and this is the 100% crop of just her eye… and, Yes. The is the print pattern of her color contact lens.

Bigger pictures from smaller cameras are a reality… from the V1

From the Coolpix P7700

(same girl as the one with the pink hair – above)

Both of those images have been printed bigger than 18×24″ and look great!

Then there is the flash technology. It is getting to be way too easy! Inside and outdoors it is amazingly simple to get flash exposure that just a few years ago would have been much, much more difficult… today, just slap the flahses in place and turn them to TTL.

But for me the biggest difference come in the actual type of images I have been capturing. With the newest wave of D-SLRs, my pictures now move!

It is still a process that I am working on, but I am surprised at how much I am enjoying it. I had always discounted video/movie capture as “not for me”. I was and am… a still image shooter. But recently I have found a place for moving images in my work.

I am currently working on a year long project with my dad. We are recording his life stories in his words. My favorite story is how he and my uncle got to the 1962 world’s fair. They lived in southern California and the fair was in Seattle. So naturally… they rode bicycles. Even though they didn’t have bicycles at the time.

That project is still in the works as a Christmas gift for my family. (none of whom are on Flickr) I will share some of it after they get the gift next month.

Rob, as always, thanks for the great topic.
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

 Rob Van Petten says:

Ivan – Totally crazy ISO’s. These concert images are terrific. You’re right about no rules to shooting concerts. The lights are usually so varied you can get some crazy effects just my being patient and seeing what happens – maybe change up your white balance. In these situations the D7000 maybe a big benefit over the full frames because the lenses will get you out there longer. I especially like the polka dot Stratocaster with matching hat band.

These new cameras are bringing back images like these in concerts that were not possible a short time ago. Right.
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

 Rob Van Petten says:

Bio Art – I’m very glad to hear that my suggestion of utilizing the speed of the flash duration instead of the speed of the shutter got you where you want to be. 1/40,000th sec. is lightening fast. I don’t want to be an engineer, but at some point i’m sure reciprocity and color phase start to break down… But that’s what LCD’s are for. So share some of these. Let’s see what they look like. Water droplets. I’ve been trying to catch splashing paint. Not easy. I’ve been much more successful at splashing paint in Photoshop.
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

 Rob Van Petten says:

PVA – It’s OK to sound like a Nikon guy. We are all Nikon Guys to some degree. I envy your Nikon guyness. Your D4 shot at 12,800ISO is staggering. I received an early D3 a few years ago while shooting in Puerto Rico. I took it out at night where the LCD was the brightest thing on the street. The images at 6400ISO were amazing. But now the D4 makes that look boring.

Yes the D800 resolution is something to behold. I have had this same phenomenon with contact lens resolution not holding up to the detail captured by the camera. Cyber eyes.

Great stuff Paul. Thanks. It proves that it is not just about the improvements in the technology. Like Bio Art says, “your limit is only the limits of your imagination” and you have a great creative and diverse imagination. The video dimension opens endless doors. Great subject with your father. That will be a very valuable document for the future. This is a great time to be a photographer. Thanks.
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

Dream Source Studio    says:

For me the ability to handle high ISOs better than the previous camera is what really counts. For example here’s a shot with my Nikon D40X at ISO 1600:

While the D40X was quite capable, I felt it hit the limit at ISO 1600 and a lot of venues required higher ISO settings. I wasn’t happy with the detail I had to sacrifice when I tried to reduce the noise in post, so I started looking at the D7000.

With the D7000, I now felt more able to go up to ISO 3200 and still get a very usable image. However in darker environments, I found the focus of the D7000 falter. It hunted too much if there wasn’t enough contrast to lock onto. With dim, colored lights this was a nightmare to work with.

D7000, ISO 2500:

I’ve always been very intrigued with the D3s, but it was and still is way out of my price range. When I saw the D600 come out and saw the high ISO samples, I was very eager to purchase it. Now I couldn’t be happier. The high resolution, faster AF even in dim light, the incredible color fidelity even at high ISO and dynamic range blew me away. The next weekend I went to test it in the same venue where I had the most trouble locking on with the D7000. My results were incredible. I went and tested it again the weekend after that, and again the D600 did not disappoint one bit. The images were sharp, colors were amazing and noise was minimal. Ididn’t need to do any noise reduction on the images, even at ISO 6400! Here’s a couple of examples from the two shoots.

D600, ISO 3600:

D600, ISO 6400:

Technology will only get better. I think it will help us produce better and better results as the equipment improves. While I don’t believe that equipment alone will yield better results, I think it has a lot to do with it.
Posted 2 months ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

shottwokill    says:

Noise handling at the higher ISOs for shooting handheld in lower light is one of the best improvements I have favored. Coupled with improved metering and dynamic range and these are just a few. The tools are just amasing. Not really a new feature but the ability to sperately control multiple lights groups wirelessly is really pretty cool.
Posted 6 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

Zeroneg1    says:

For me it is not just the high ISO low noise but rather the retention of color SATURATION that made the difference. Previous DSLR would clip color when overexposed. Also the amazing dynamic range:

The shots above would not be possible in previous DSLRs, at least it will not have the color saturation, textured highlights and shadow details in the image without heavy post-processing.

Having an almost 14 stop dynamic range changes things in a big way. Previously, having an high ISO results in addition of color that is devoid of life and character but no more. The real challenge is really not megapixels anymore but dynamic range. It is all about how much color and texture/detail can it hold in the highlights,middle tones and shadow areas.
Originally posted 6 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)
Zeroneg1 edited this topic 6 weeks ago. 

BioArt    says:

Rob – here are a couple examples from test shots – 1/41,600th second

Using “rear” mode

©BioArtPhotography.com – All rights reserved
Originally posted 6 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)
BioArt edited this topic 6 weeks ago. 

GStrader says:

Like Ivan, I am still digesting the capabilities of the new Expeed II Image processor. Actually all of the various improvements, like focus controls, and as for video, I have not even played with that part yet.

I just mentioned this in another thread I think, but since you asked, I will bring it up again: How has it changed things for me? Number one has to be the ability to shoot low light/ High ISOs. Ironically I discovered that the Expeed II Image processor actually does a much better job of reproducing in low light using lower ISOs and longer shutter times.

I am just old school enough to still revert to this way of shooting when I am doing a landscape shot at night, but WOW! I never got the nuance of light/shadow, and colors that I do now.

Originally posted 6 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)
GStrader edited this topic 6 weeks ago. 

platypusstudios    says:

I want to play, but don’t have any of these new cameras. So, what’s new for me? Post processing. Sometimes I go over the top with PhotoShop…but not here.

Posted 5 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

GStrader says:

Looks like a winner to me platypussstudios
Posted 5 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

 Rob Van Petten says:

Dream Source Studio –

Certainly the High ISO improvements from a D40 to a D7000 and D600 are a significant step forward in grain, noise and color quality. Not having to compromise sharpness with noise reduction softening all makes the process simpler and pictures better. Your music images are a good example. Your Spindrift image especially tells the story. To be able to shoot at 1/160 at F/2.8 ISO 6400 with no noise reduction in post processing and have an image look that clean is something new – a huge advancement in capabilities. It’s such a big jump it’s hard to adapt to the possibilities ahead. Shooting in the dark is one of the most amazing changes in the newer cameras. We will continue to see images that no one has made before.

shottwokill –

Another vote for low light improvements. Improved metering too allows us to manage difficult lighting situations better. The options are there in the meter from spot to center weighted and matrix metering with greater accuracy.

I’m glad you mentioned dynamic range because that may be my greatest apparent change in picture quality. My pictures look not just sharper with a D800 at 36.3mp. The dynamic range is so different and the whole character of my images looks different. The high range of tones has more detail and the shadow areas don’t block up. This is where I am noticing the biggest change in the look of my studio pictures. This may be what I was trying to get at when I first thought up this post.

Zeroneg1 –

You may be noticing the same color qualities that I am. The dynamic range improvements has changed the way pictures look, process and retouch. I’m noticing I do a lot less adjustment in RAW processing. The camera is more accurate so I adjust less to correct. The retouching I do on skin needs a finer brush because the resolution is finer. Maybe more detail shows up, but when it’s clean it really looks cleaner.

I appreciate your comment that it’s not about megapixel count anymore, but dynamic range, color, texture and the qualities that appear in the image that make the determining distinctions of one camera over another.

BioArt –

1/41,600th second. I think you are on to something. The geometrics and tone qualities happening here simply by stopping time at a different rhythm is pretty fascinating. I recently shot some time lapse (moving in the other direction) and it was fascinating to discover the three layers of clouds moving at three distinct speeds – previously undetectable to my eye.

This opens up a whole new magical world.
Posted 5 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)

 Rob Van Petten says:

GStrader –

This shot over the water is a great example of all the extras that the new Expeed processors are adding to the file. I noticed this phenomenon also shooting night shots of landscape recently. All of a sudden there is all this color and shadow area magic going on. Film didn’t do this. Earlier processors and sensors didn’t do this. Things have changed big time.

I encourage you, everyone, to take your camera out at night, shoot low light long exposures. Light paint, try the sky in the dark for long exposures, shoot motion and traffic, sunsets just after the sun has gone down. Your newer camera will surprise you. There is something new going on inside these black boxes.

platypusstudios

Photoshop has a lot of new tools and toys also. Our job now is to integrate what we can do in the camera and what we can do in the computer. With improvements in both there is a never ending opportunity for unseen images.

I did a workshop last weekend demonstrating the 10 steps I use to produce a fashion shoot. I demonstrated all the steps during a shoot, and when I got to the Photoshop part of the show, I thought I would be boring the audience to death and planned to jam through that quickly. To my surprise, the attendees left their seats, gathered around the computer, and got engaged in the strategy of layers and choice of tools and tool behaviors and seemed more interested in the PS than the rest of the show. Photoshop is growing too. Magic tools like Content Aware Fill and masking tools are making big time consuming manipulations easier and more accessible.

Posted 5 weeks ago. (permalink | reply | edit | delete)