Author: Cooper Strange

2007-11-20

Street Life in America

Ever since I landed in the United States in mid-September with my wife and little bambino, I have struggled to find my beloved street life shots. I think it is an American culture thing.

American lives are so isolated. We grab our coffee for breakfast, get in the car to go to work, sit at a desk all day, and return to our car to go home, and watch our favorite TV series before going to bed. How many minutes of fresh air do we actually take in a day? Really, we ought to think about that: how many non air conditioned minutes of air do we breathe on average?

For someone who enjoys photographing people, the American lifestyle sure makes that hard. I am always in my car moving from one place to the next just like everybody else, because even riding a bike, much less walking, in Texas is more like a commitment to professional sports than just simplifying life! I have to grasp those few moments in a day when both I and the next guy are both using up our non air conditioned time to take my shots.

keep readingStreet Life in America
2007-11-18

Wheelbarrow Races

2007-11-04

Fungus Warning

I used to live under the false presumption that my lenses were sealed. I now know they are not. Now, if you have a compact camera, this basically is not problem for you. If, however, you have an SLR camera with changeable lenses, you need to keep those lenses dry.

I appeared quite suddenly, but not even knowing what it was at first, I did not realize anything bad was happening. The fungus looks a little like tiny spider webs or maybe some kind of dusty looking crystal. I now know we have fungus among us.

keep readingFungus Warning
2007-10-28

Fighting Against the Wind

2007-10-18

Other Worldly Glow Globes

2007-10-16

Using the Depth-of-Field Preview Button

I had an interesting revelation lately. Once upon a time, I had no idea why I would ever use the depth-of-field preview button on my camera, just beside my lens. I had pushed it, it made a click, and nothing seemed to happen. So, with all the gadgetry on my camera already, I just moved on in my manual to try to understand the next baffling button.

Ok, “depth-of-field preview button” sounds pretty self explanatory…and in fact, it is. You just have to learn how to use it. First, though, we need a brief recap of some basic photographic theory: the larger the aperture, the more narrow the depth-of-field.

We often want to drop out the background details or use the focus to draw the viewer’s eye to a particular section, and to do that, we enlarge. Sometimes though, like in landscape photography, we want everything possible in focus, and thus will need a small aperture. The depth-of-field preview button can help us see what is and what is not going to be in focus.

My revelation began when I was exploring what a little lever on my lens mount actually did.

keep readingUsing the Depth-of-Field Preview Button
2007-10-12

Sunsets with No Color

Why do these blasted digital cameras seem to ruin sunsets so consistently? Honestly, I would love to give you some wonderful answer to this problem, but this is something with which I have struggled much and still do not have a good answer. At best, I can give you my hunch.

When I shoot sunsets with my film camera (with slide film), I seem to always come away with stunning colors. I shot sunsets about every other day for two or three weeks with my digital camera and came away with a few “well, that’s nice” photos. Am I the only one having trouble with this? I have heard answers suggesting white balance issues, changing the speed and aperture, and so forth, but nothing seems to really solve it for me.

keep readingSunsets with No Color
2007-10-10

What Camera Should I Buy?

Good luck on me actually answering that one to your satisfaction! Recently though, I have taken it upon myself to begin shopping for what camera my brother should buy for his needs, even though he has not chosen to buy a new camera just yet. So, maybe a few of my own thoughts into what camera my brother needs will help some of you out there.

My brother has a run-of-the-mill compact camera (aka point-and-shoot). He is frustrated with the camera’s lag time in actually taking a photo. You know the story: kid makes a cute face, picture taking button is pushed, camera calculates the velocity of an unlaiden swallow, child moves on in life at a child’s pace, and camera finally records some image…albeit a kiddy version of some over-drugged 1960s album cover. I would be frustrated too. So, I started convincing him to buy a new camera (and phone/handheld too, but that is a different story).

keep readingWhat Camera Should I Buy?
2007-10-07

Manual Focus Epiphany

I can manual focus, I just did not know it. I had previously thought that when I went to manual focus on my Nikon D100, I just had to focus till it looked about right. I did not have the old split circle in the middle of my viewfinder like my older manual focus camera has, so I assumed I did not have anything at all to guide me. Wrong.

I was goofing around at Epperson’s Photo in Oklahoma City—I must say, having not been in a nice camera store for a few years, this trip was exhilarating—talking to a guy behind the counter about all kinds of topics: using this flash on that camera, this lens for that purpose, and such. I mentioned my manual focus woes, and he said, “You should be able to see the little dot in the bottom left of the viewfinder to tell you when you are in focus, even if using a manual focus lens…I think.” You are kidding me?

keep readingManual Focus Epiphany
2007-10-02

Evidence of Skinny Dipping