So after looking at the shot from the other day, and thinking about the elements that I wished could have been improved with that shot, I decided that perhaps a simple crop would make the shot better.

So here's the crop and the original... place your vote and let me know which one you think looks better.

Original	Cropped

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/11. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

As usual, place your vote and then drop me a comment and let me know why you chose the one you chose.

- Bill

It has been a while since I've done a poll, and I took several different shots of this day lily leaf with water droplets on it that I feel this is a good way to share them all. So here goes...

	Version 1 1/200 sec at f/16
	Version 2 1/160 sec at f/22 slight crop
	Version 3 1/160 sec at f/22
	Version 4 1/200 sec at f/32
	Version 5 1/200 sec at f/32

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, shutter speed and aperture as listed. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw (and additional cropping as listed).

I know, they all look pretty similar, but after a bit, you really can see just how different each one is. And while the differences may look random, some of them are quite intentional.

For example, you will notice that I specifically switched apertures (smaller opening, larger f/#, more depth of field) to control the depth of field as I went along, which allowed me to get more of the droplets in clarity. (Ignore that for a couple shots the shutter speed switched to 1/160 - I don't know how that happened, and apparently I fixed it after a couple shots). But then I also intentionally played around with the angles, trying to see whether a diagonal view would look better than straight centered.

I will admit that I should have been doing this whole exercise with a tripod (and preferably with a Wimberly Plamp), but I still haven't upgraded my tripod, and as such still don't use the tripod as often as I would like. However, had I done so, we'd probably have three times as many shots to compare here, so maybe it is good that I didn't...

I honestly can't choose which version I like the best. Probably because I like elements of each - some I should have combined for a single better image, and some I simply couldn't combine (ie: liking both the diagonal and the straight centered).

Cast your vote and let me know which one(s) you like best (yes, I opened this one up to multiple selections!) and don't forget to leave a comment letting me know why you picked the one(s) you did.

Thanks!

- Bill

Well, I've been on the fence about shooting RAW for a little while now. I've heard some a great deal number of sources that I really should. My reluctance stems from not really liking to have to do too much post production work. I really like to get my shots right in camera and not mess with things after the fact.

But this past weekend, I captured some shots in both RAW and JPG formats so I could start comparing them to see what I preferred. Take a look and let me know what you think...

JPG Straight out of the Camera
JPG w/ Auto-Smartfix from PSE8
RAW w/ Brightness +50, Contrast +40, Sharpening 25

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/13th sec at f/11. Image Stabilization on. ISO 200. Post production as noted. Powdermill Nature Reserve, Rector, PA.

In case you're wondering, the flower is a Claytonia carolinana. They are tiny little flowers - probably in the range of 1/2 to 3/4 inch in size - and are some of the early bloomers each spring. I had been to Powdermill a couple weeks earlier, but it was cold the night before and there were no flowers to be found. I made a return trip this weekend and found many of them scattered all over (if you looked closely enough!). I searched around for a good specimen to shoot (most times, the flower faced downwards), and actually ended up accidentally uprooting it while trying to clear some debris around it - I relocated it, replanted it, and took the shots I wanted.

Oddly enough, I specifically remember "under-exposing" this image in the field. The camera kept wanting to meter the scene brighter to get the details in that dirt background, and I specifically wanted to avoid that so that I could maintain as much detail in those white petals as possible. Yet, when I looked at the JPG, it still looked bright and washed-out. Then when I ran it through the Auto Smart-Fix function in Photoshop Elements 8, it made that background even brighter still!

I will be honest, I have no clue what settings I should have chose for the Brightness and Contrast when converting the RAW file to JPG, but I simply slid things along until it looked like I remembered it looking in the field. Probably a little more aggressive than it really was, but that's ok. I had wanted the background dark, and I think the RAW file achieves that. I still have some learning to do to figure out what to do with the RAW conversion.

But for now, place your vote for which version you think looks the nicest.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

First off, my apologies for the delay in getting to these posts. After getting home from the trip, I realized I had taken over 6600 exposures (mostly due to the camera being set to high speed burst mode). I spent time removing any photos that we're up to par or just duplicates due to the high speed bursts, and trimmed the set down to around 1750. I meant to go through posting photos from the trip in a chronological order, but I know some folks are waiting for this one, so we'll bounce around a little here to start.

The photo was taken towards the end of the week at the Roma dive site. All week long, I'd been enjoying taking photos of the various anemonefish, and this particular set of False Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) provided a nice opportunity for several great shots.

This one, however, was selected by our dive-masters as the "Photo of the Week" for our week. I was absolutely flabbergasted by that announcement. My underwater photography improved by leaps and bounds each dive during this trip, but I still consider that luck was a very (very) large factor in what I came back with. In the coming posts, we'll discuss some of the ways in which the underwater photography improved.

As I said, I was running the camera in high speed burst mode (providing up to 8 frames per second with my Canon EOS 7D) which helped with my luck in capturing the fleeting moments that occur with the constant movement of the subjects, but I distinctly remember seeing this shot develop in the viewfinder and knowing then that I had captured something nice.

When the shot was presented by our dive-masters at the dinner slideshow, it was slightly modified, so I attempted to duplicate those modifications as best I could here. Mouseover each thumbnail below to see the different versions, then place your vote below to let me know which version you prefer (leave a comment with details as to why you selected what you did if you like).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/40th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400 (Auto). Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Modified version cropped and auto-smartfix in Photoshop Elements 8.0

The modifications are very subtle (as I usually feel any post production modifications should be). Initially, the shot was cropped specifically to make the the fish rest right on the intersection of two of the thirds. Then I ran the shot through Photoshop Elements 8.0's Auto-Smart-Fix to adjust some colors (producing a bit more bluish tint to the anemone and darkening the orange of the False Clownfish).

I know I've mentioned before that I should start selling prints, but I haven't gotten setup to do that yet, even with some requests for this photo specifically. So for now, enjoy it for free if you'd like. Here are the links to the fullsize versions - Original and Modified - for use for printing or as a wallpaper (be sure to resize first, or use the smaller version above).

Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to visit back frequently over the coming days/weeks as I will be continuing all the updates from the trip. And don't forget to place your vote below, and leave a comment as to why you voted as you did.

- Bill

PS: Alastair, enjoy the photo, perhaps we'll meet again underwater some day in the future. Best of luck getting certified!

PPS: As a 'prize' for the 'Photo of the Week', the fantastic staff at Wakatobi presented me with a fabulous cake made up to be a coral reef. The cake was absolutely fantastic and I shared it with our entire group! The pink stuff on the right is some strawberry roll which was my favorite dessert of the week, and the staff were attentive enough to notice that and give me one of the leftover pieces as additional 'prize'! If anyone from Wakatobi is reading this, thanks again for a most memorable week!

Ok - that last post reminded me that I promised to share different cropping options for the 'winner' of that poll. So here we go... Three fairly different crop options with the color corrected version of the photo. As usual, mouseover the thumbnails for the larger image to display.

Hopefully by now, you know how this works... choose your preferred version below, then leave a comment with why you chose what you chose.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

PS: I do have to admit that I removed the small Blue Chromis from the upper edge of the second version as it was actually cut off by my preferred crop line, and rather than move the crop line, I used the spot heal tool to remove the half fish leftover.

I have started receiving some of my Christmas presents to myself... I've been ordering some camera gear to make my upcoming trip to Indonesia much nicer. Stuff to try some night time-lapse, as well as to take my EOS 7D diving with me. But I'll get into all of that later.

All the research I've been doing to get the gear necessary to take my 7D diving has had me looking at different underwater photos, and a lot of places suggest black and white conversions. So I figured I'd give it a shot myself.

Technical Data: SeaLife DC600 at 5.4mm, unknown shutter speed at f/2.8. ISO 64. No flash.

All of the research for underwater camera equipment really has me chomping at the bit to get back into the water. Hopefully I'll be able to come back with some higher quality dive photos.

If my coral identification skills serve me right, this is Black Sea Coral (Plexaura homomalla) which is a branch yellowish gorgonian coral. It is fairly common around the reefs in Cozumel. The wide angle view of the original shot produced that typical blueish cast to the shot (remember, light travels much slower in water, and red color is the first to disappear).

With that in mind, I figured I'd try a quick bit of color correction on the photo as well as provide the black and white treatment. Place your vote, and leave a comment on why you chose what you did.

- Bill

PS: Working with this photo made me also consider some possibilities with cropping options, so perhaps once we have a "winner" of this poll, I'll run that version through some crop options to see what we can get out of that.

PPS: Also, stay tuned as I'll try to get myself back into a routine of posting by discussing the various equipment I bought myself for Christmas... ;)

I usually don't do polls so close together, but I wanted to share these and gather opinions on whether folks liked more water or more sky.

I know I've mentioned it repeatedly in my critiques of shots, but I don't know if I've specified what exactly is mean when I refer to 'the thirds'. Imagine drawing a tic-tac-toe grid on your photo (or in your viewfinder when composing your shot). One thing to look at is whether any lines work well along one of those grid lines - an easy one is your horizon in landscape photography like this. Another way to look at those grid lines is where they intersect - placing one of your main focal elements at that point is generally considered. This is usually referred to as the Rule of Thirds even though it is more of a suggestion than a rule.

		Top Third
		Bottom Third

Both Photos Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/12 sec at f/22.6. ISO 200. Circular polarizing filter. No post production. Cedar Creek Park, Westmoreland County, PA.

I know these shots are not 100% identical left-to-right as I think I had to sidestep some low hanging tree branches to get the bottom third image, but I think it serves to show the difference between the placement of the horizon (or in this case the water level) on the top or bottom third.

You know the drill - place your vote, then leave me a comment to let me know what made you vote the way you did.

- Bill

So today's trip to Cedar Creek Park was pretty successful. I'll have several good photos to share from the trip, but today I want to talk a little about deleting photos from the camera.

I usually am fairly good about being careful when deleting photos through the camera, but every once in a while I have a bunch I'm deleting and I zone out and delete one too many, or (as in the case with my SeaLife DC1200) sometimes confusing menus cause an unwanted delete of more than I expected. It has happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again, and you might not think it, but it'll probably happen to you someday too.

Today, I accidentally deleted a photo I wanted and decided I would simply try to replicate it. But also when I got home, I used Pandora Recovery to undelete the file from my compact flash card. I've used Pandora Recovery a couple times before, and really like it as a piece of software.

First, it is free. If want to download and use it for free, you definitely can. I personally am not a fan of doing that for software I like and have sent a small donation to the team to show my appreciation. So while it technically is free, I'd recommend tossing a few bucks their way to support such a good product. The software is small and light, and doesn't try to install any other software you don't want. It isn't adware or nagware. It is just exactly what it says it is. A powerful and easy-to-use tool to recover deleted files.

Pandora Recovery is definitely something that should be in every photographer's toolbox for those cases when you really need to get that one shot back. Do yourself a favor and download it today and then send the team a quick PayPal donation - you won't regret it.

So let's look at the photos...

	The Undo
	The Redo

If you mouse over the thumbnail on the left, the larger image will display that photo. So you can easily compare the two back and forth.

Interestingly enough, despite twenty minutes passing between the two shots, I managed almost identical shots. The technical data was 100% identical, the only thing that differs is the lighting and the framing of the shot from setting the tripod down and angling the ballhead differently.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/3 sec at f/22.6. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod. No post production. Cedar Creek Park, Westmoreland County, PA.

I'm going go back to my typical stance here and not share my preferred photo just yet. Place your vote and leave me a comment to let me know which photo you chose and why. Give a full critique if you like.

Oh, and don't forget to check out Pandora Recovery before you need it in a hurry.

- Bill

Ok - I mentioned this in a couple of the previous TTV posts, but I seem to prefer a darker or slight "under" exposed shot with this TTV photography. I can't quite put my finger on it, and so I thought I would put it out there to you guys for your opinion.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/6 and 1/12 sec at f/8. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Usually I don't share my choice early on, but like I've said - I definitely like the darker exposure. Vote below and then leave me a comment and let me know why you liked the one you did.

And of course, tune in tomorrow for more TTV goodness.

- Bill

Alright - bear with me for one more dragonfly photo, and then I'll switch it up.

So today, we'll look at several different crops of the same photo. The subject is a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I saw while at Raccoon Creek State Park.

Horizontal

Square

Vertical

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/260 sec at f/8. OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

I honestly originally thought that I would like the square crop the best - I'd recently read an article in one of my photography magazines about the virtues of a square crop. However, after seeing them all together, I honestly am not sure which crop I like best. I'll have to debate a bit before deciding.

Place your vote and leave a comment to let me know why you feel the way you do.

- Bill