Artificial Bokeh…

Continued from Let’s Bokeh…

This image was taken at San Diego Wild Animal Park in 2006 pre Nikon DSLR. All I was using was an inexpensive Kodak point-in-shoot. The camera took nice colorful images, but lacked manual adjustments. Unfortunately the camera didn’t allow the ability to create (DoF). The entire image appears to be on the same focal plane. I adjusted colors and contrast in Adobe Lightroom 1.41.

This next image I adjusted in Adobe Lightroom 1.41 and Photoshop CS3. I created a Layers Mask and added Lens Blur. I didn’t think that the adjustment I made was blurry enough so I did it again.

Since I am using an adjustment mask in Layers I switched to the brush tool. Selected a soft edge brush. I made sure my primary color was black and painted over the entire sheep. The black allows the Mask to be removed in top layer to reveal the bottom clear layer, resulting in an “in-focus” sheep. This creates an artificial Bokeh and or Depth of Field.

Now I fudged a little. If I really wanted to create a true DoF look, I would have made everything within the focal plane of the sheep in focus. Instead I just made the sheep in focus, I felt this made the animal stand out a little more.

Err – (blinks)

Err – (blinks)

Problem - Camera malfunction.
Solution - Release shutter. If error persists
or appears frequently, consult with Nikon-authorized service representative.

I know this is a direct translation from Japanese, but come on someone needs a new way of writing product manuals. This isn’t rocket science it consumer electronics…

Really the only way I could get the Err to stop flashing was to turn the camera off and turn it back on again. This would give one maybe two shots before I had to do it again… What am I talking about, I will explain.

About two weeks ago I ran into an issue while taking pictures at the San Francisco Fleet Week. The crowd was loud, the planes were loud so I really couldn’t hear if anything was wrong with my camera. All I could tell was every so often an image would come out extremely under exposed.

This issue started reoccurring more often to every other image would be so dark you could barely see the image. I first thought it was my CF memory card. I switched cards and got the same result. I decided that if it happened on a third CF card that it wasn’t a memory card issue. I was correct, in my assumption it wasn’t the memory cards.

Next I decided to clean my camera really well. Now that my camera is so clean you could eat breakfast off of… this didn’t correct the issue.

This last weekend I decided to continue to use the camera. Still with an every other image black out. However, now I was getting a message Err. I continued to shoot through this, but I would need to switch the camera on and off every time the “Err” would appear. This was a drag, but I didn’t have another camera to use. Plus it would still produce images (sort of).

I did notice that as I pressed the shutter release, I no longer heard the smooth movement of the mirror. The action had an inconsistent lagging electric sound. When I would check the image, it would be dark. So for self diagnosis I determined I was experiencing what we would call in the film camera world “Shutter Drag”. This is when the shutter would no longer operate properly and without a smooth precise open and close of the shutter. The picture result would give you an extremely under exposed image. I think the same type of problem is happening to me and is caused by the movement of the mirror.

Yesterday I took my camera back to the big box store where I purchased it in 2006. At the time of purchase I also spent the extra $100.00 for the extended service plan. I normally don’t purchase these, but on a camera (DSLR or Video) that is going to see some major wear and tear, I figure $25.00 and year was a good investment. Considering Nikon only gives you a one year parts and labor warranty.

The Geek Squad guy behind the counter that checked my camera in for repair made a good point. Most electronics manufactures only expect their equipment to last the length of the original warranty. Otherwise manufactures would offer longer warranties. Case in point major appliances i.e. washer, dryers and refrigerators, have you seen how long those warranties are?

I won’t have my camera back for 2 to 3 weeks. If for some reason they cannot fix or repair my camera or the cost of repair is more then to replace the camera they will refund the money and let me pick out a new camera. Not a bad deal considering the cameras have improved greatly and if I wanted to upgrade to a Nikon D300, it would cost relatively little out of pocket.

All I can do now is wait for the call…

Lets Bokeh...

In the world of Depth of Field lives the little town of Bokeh… No just kidding. The term bokeh used in photography comes from the Japanese word boke a noun form of bokeru.

Bokeh - is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.

I use a couple different lenses to achieve Bokeh. The lens that works the best is the Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8. The 50mm lens allows me to have the greatest versatility with a great range of aperture range. Te other two lenses are the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 and my 80-200mm f/2.8. All these lenses achieve a great depth of field and much defined bokeh. But the best is still my inexpensive 50mm f1.8.

Another way I create bokeh is artificially in CS3. Sometime if I want to have a subject pop out of the background or my depth of field isn’t shallow for the effect I create the same effect using lens blur or Gaussian blur in layers.

Here are three examples.

Shot with shallow depth of field f/6.3.

The same image with an artificial lens blur layered over the image.

This is also the same image with layer mask, to allow the center of the picture to be clear.

To be Continued...

Galapagos Diving...

I found this on Vimeo. I thought it was awesome. It's seven minuets long but worth watching. Kirk Out

Galapagos from Darek Sepiolo on Vimeo.

Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Fleet Week is over and all the planes have gone. I walked to Pier 41 on Friday. Not the best vantage point to shoot the air show, but it was better then nothing. I took photographs from the Marina Green last year. Pier 41 gave me a different look at the planes.

Sunday was the fun day. I got up early and got to my secret spot by 11:15 AM. At 2:30 PM my secret spot wasn't very secret anymore. This spot puts me right under center stage and in front of the crowds.

The above image was taken on Friday October 10, 2008 at Pier 41. This was media day and practice for the Air show. Blue Angels flights 1 thru 4, however flight 4 has been replaced by flight 7. Blue Angel #7 is the two seater F/A-18. If you look carefully you will notice someone in the RIO position (Radar-Intercept Officer). This seat is usually set aside for media or dignitaries that get the rare privilege to fly with these amazing machines.

I only have one question. When’s my turn?

The Blue Angels from Joe Bloggs on Vimeo.

Black, White & Blue Angels

Black & White & Blue Angels, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Blue Angels are back in San Francisco for Fleet week. Yesterday they spent two hours running survey flights from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM.

This is a shot I took from my office window yesterday, as flights BA-1, 2, 3, 4 headed back to San Francisco International Airport after practice. It was a lucky shot. I took this image with my Panasonic DMC-TZ3 camera, through a tinted plate glass office window, and the Blue Angels cruising at 450 knots.

Blue Angels shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. The rest of the air show will start at 11:00 AM including the Canadian Snowbirds.

Here is the link: www.military.com/fleetweek

Notes: Converted the JPEG to Grayscale in Lightroom. The painted with light in CS3 using a little of Scott Kelbys seven point system.

The Wordle Around Me

The Wordle Around Me, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

It was a slow day at work today (Oct. 3). While I was sitting at my desk, I remembered a conversation I was having with Magellan. She asked me if I had ever used Wordle? I said that had not, but I knew what the program was…

While I was sitting at my desk I thought It would take a stab at Wordle. I thought it would be interesting to take all the tags that I have used in Flickr, Zoomr, SmugMug, Photosig and all the blogs I had contributed in the past year.

This is what I came up with, and I titled it “The Wordle Around Me”.

I did the blending of the two wordle.com pages in PS CS3 along with combining the shot Magellan took of me in Alcatraz Island, San Francisco. I did all the PS work on my flight from Oakland, CA to San Diego, CA

Heading South...

Leaving for San Clemente in a few hours. We are go to see family and to surf. I leave you with the Wordle of the day.

The Wordle of the day was taken fro the City of San Clemente's website. I copied the text from the San Clemente history page and pasted it into Wordle. Fun little program... give it a try. Click here...

Maybe I can bring back some images of Hot Surf Action. Catch ya next week...