Photography News August 22, 2022
Quote: “A rule of thumb is that shutter speeds slower than 1/60 won’t remove even minor human subject motion.” – Thom Hogan
Articles:
7 Composition Mistakes – 23m
What Causes “Soft”? – Thom Hogan
A Hard Lightroom Skill that Pays Off Forever! – 18m
This Could Be My Favorite DIY Photo Background System Yet
How to Choose the Best Focal Length for Landscape from 14mm-200mm
Experimenting with Creative Studio Lighting Techniques – 9m, Lindsay Adler
Artist or Art Field of the Week: Clay Cook – 11m, yes this this is an ad for a course but you can learn a lot from this overview.
Thought for the day: Emergency Repair and Cleaning Tools
This is for in-the-field repairs. I’m excluding internal optical cleaning from this writeup.
A small toolkit can save a shoot. You don’t need much and if you are hiking to the best places you probably want to keep the weight down. I like to carry a good multi-tool (my favorite is the Leatherman Skeletool CX with additional screwdrivers and Allan wrenches as needed for my tripod and other gear. And some Locktite). On the on other hand, you probably don’t want to do major repairs in the field. Cameras and lenses are precision instruments. You don’t, unless it is life or death, want to take them apart in a dusty area, or anyplace outside of a clean room.
Tools for camera repairs in the field:
- Screwdriver or US Quarter to tighten quick release plate (tighten this too much and you can rip the screw hole out of your camera, a very expensive mistake to fix).
- Locktite for quick release plate (I’ve used this for a loose foot on a 70-200, I’m not sure I’d use it on the camera to quick release plate)
Tools for lens repairs in the field:
- Filter wrench for filters that won’t unscrew (about $20)
- Optical cleaning pads (wet, in tear-apart pouch-I like the Zeiss ones)
Tools for tripod repairs in the field – this is an exception, I’ve done a full strip down for a tripod in the field to repair something:
- Allen wrench(s) of the size needed for disassembled and assembly, and only those sizes
- A bit heavy and expensive but if you have a Really Right Stuff tripod this toolkit stores very nicely and adds a useful hook: RRS MTX Multi Tool
- Grease as needed (get the type manufacture recommends)
Tools for ballhead (or similar) repairs in the field (I’d suggest not taking ball heads apart in the field):
- Allen wrench(s) of the size needed for disassembled and assembly, and only those sizes
- Grease as needed – get the type manufacture recommends
Other Items: Dust rags (microfiber), optical cleaning pads (NOT the same as normal microfiber).
The above should weigh under a pound, maybe under 3 ounces. I think this would be enough for a week long photo trip. More is extra weight and probably won’t help you.
What am I forgetting? What would you add?
The content of this blog post done in collaboration with one of our members, Greg Edwards: http://gregoryedwards.slickpic.site
