Photo Review tips section
Understanding and Using MTF Graphs
We hear a lot about lens sharpness; but what does it actually mean? It’s not easy to quantify but for images to appear sharp, both sharpness and contrast are involved. However, you can’t measure either factor objectively and both are inter-related.
The Print’s The Thing
Leading expert on image preservation, Henry Wilhelm, talks about issues critical to today’s digital photographers.
Some useful Photo Websites
Is there no end to the Aladdin’s cave of wonderous photographic resources that is the internet? Your editor shares another selection of useful and intriguing websites.
White Balance
These pictures simulate the effects of common lighting types that can be corrected with the white balance pre-sets in most digital cameras.
Using Lens Adapters
When you’ve made a significant investment in camera bodies and lenses from a particular manufacturer over a long period of time, there’s little incentive to swap to a different brand. Most serious photographers have pondered the pros and cons of swapping when the manufacturer of a different brand from the one they use releases a particularly attractive camera body. In the main, however, inertia kicks in and they stick with their current brand – even at the cost of reduced shooting versatility.
Using Geographic Tools to Find Great Shooting Locations
If you’re planning a shooting trip to a new location and want to maximise the time for taking pictures, a little pre-trip research can help you to locate the best vantage points beforehand. Two of the best tools for doing this are topographic maps and Google Earth. In this feature we’ll provide some tips on how to use them.
Using Aperture-Priority Mode on a Digital Camera
Aperture priority – which is usually denoted by A or Av – is one of the most useful shooting modes on any camera, analogue or digital, because it’s the best tool for controlling depth of field. In this mode, the photographer sets the lens aperture, leaving the camera’s auto exposure (AE) system to set the shutter speed. By selecting an appropriate aperture setting you can change the appearance of a picture from having everything in it sharp, no matter how far it is from the lens, to having a narrow plane of sharpness that isolates your subject from background details.
The Indecisive Moment
From the Archive: Don’s Editorial, Photo Review Issue 2 Dec/Jan 2002.