In order to give you a more complete idea of what you can expect in episode one of Dynamic Range, here’s a full five minute segment from the hour long episode.
If you enjoyed that, then please do consider buying the entire episode. Fifty-five more minutes of landscape photography education and humour await! Click on one of the links below to purchase.
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In episode 16 of the podcast, Roger is missing in action so it’s up to Peter & Neil to carry the can. Sorry about that. We promise to return him (mostly) unharmed next week.
In this episode we discuss the troubles at Kodak and make comparisons between the failing film giant and Apple. This sparks a lively debate between the two digital photographers about the merits of digital vs. film.
Yet another new camera is discussed along with yet more copyright talk – this time about a SOPA-like law that’s threatening to come into effect in Ireland. We also discuss a landmark plagiarism case in England.
To cap things off, we talk about the recent auroral displays in the north of Ireland.
Olympus OM-1 - what might the OM-D be like?
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In episode 15 of the podcast, Neil admits he will get medieval on you if you steal his photography, Peter describes the logo for the 2012 Olympics with a reference to Lisa Simpson, and Roger admits to killing a bird.
We talk about SOPA and PIPA, and copyright legislation – but try to be helpful rather than boring. We also discuss gear and seminars.
And Roger wrote about the concept of dynamic range in an article that gave Neil brain freeze.
To hear the podcast, just click on the player below. By the way, the podcast is available via iTunes as well. And if you have feedback or comments, do let us know.
SOPA/PIPA
In the podcast we talk about the SOPA and PIPA legislation being drafted by the US House of Representatives and Senate respectively. Here is one take on what PIPA could mean for the internet.
Neil and Peter have both joined the pool of professional photographers sponsored by bag manufacturer F-stop. Consequently, they go all dewy-eyed about them.
In case you’re wondering, Roger was asked as well, but decided he wasn’t a good fit for the company. Mind you, F-stop probably dodged a bullet there given his recent review of the Vanguard Skyborne 51.
Seminars
Peter recently launched a fresh set of seminars. You can find out more here: Peter’s Gear Porn 101 And Composition Seminars.
Roger is delivering his first day-long documentary wedding photography seminar in Dublin this coming Sunday. He has one space left. You can find out more here: Roger’s Take A Proper Documentary Photograph At A Wedding Seminar.
Shameless plug (we have to put shoes on our children’s feet, you know)
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
Filed under Podcasts
Dynamic range is one of those onion phrases. The more you dig, the more complex it becomes. And that’s after you’ve narrowed your choice down to which discipline you’re talking about. Apart from photography, it is also used in audio engineering, electronics, music, and metrology.
The simple definition of dynamic range is this: the ratio between the largest and the smallest possible values of a changeable quantity, such as light.
That’s the easy bit. Thing is, in photography, what light are we talking about? The light in the scene? The light the human eye can see? The light your camera can record? The light it can convert into a file? The light your monitor can show you? The tonal range of the final print you produce?
For now, let’s stick to the human eye and your camera.
The human eye is a big fat liar
We all know that the human eye is able to cope with a much wider range of highlights and shadows than our digital cameras are. That’s a nailed on certainty, we all have that experience first hand.
On the face of it, our eyes can handle 20-24 stops of dynamic range. Your DSLR can’t hope to compete. You’d be lucky to get half that.
Except, it’s not that simple. Your eyes cheat. Big time.
For a start, your eyes aren’t static devices. Your pupils dilate or constrict to suit varying light levels. They do so rapidly, so that when you sweep your gaze across a scene, they are adapting to the changing light levels it contains instantaneously, giving the impression that you can see a wider range at any one time than you actually can.
In addition, your eyes adapt chemically to the amount of light available to them. Just think of how your eyes adjust in the dark, which in itself is dependent on a number of factors, including how efficiently your blood circulates. Alcohol and tobacco consumption are known to affect eyesight because they can impair circulation.
As if that weren’t enough variables, the ability of our pupils to dilate reduces as we get older, affecting our perceived dynamic range.
So, all in all, it’s tough to put a distinct value on the dynamic range of the human eye. Estimates range between 6.5 and 14 stops, depending on your source. Not exactly a narrow band.
Nevertheless, that brings our eyes closer to what DSLRs can manage.
Or does it?
Buckets and golf balls
Brace yourself. This is where your brain might start to hurt a bit.
Let’s start simple and go from there.
Digital imaging sensors are made up of individual cavities (photosites) that catch particles of light (photons) during an exposure. We commonly refer to the photosites on a sensor as pixels, which is short for picture element.
Now, remember that dynamic range is the ratio between the largest and the smallest values of a measurable quantity. Well, the smallest number of photons that a bucket can hold is one.
You might think that number should be zero, but bear in mind that dynamic range is a ratio. A ratio of x:0 isn’t possible. The only thing x:0 is good for is an interesting emoticon, but that’s about it. Ratios need to be x:y. Equally, we’re not going to entertain the notion of a fraction of a photon. As a result, the dynamic range of your digital camera sensor is going to be x:1.
The dynamic range of a sensor is determined by how many photons it takes to fill a photosite. A full photosite translates into white as far as the sensor is concerned.
Think of of a photosite as a bucket into which you pour golf balls – the golf balls being individual photons. Once the bucket is full (saturated), adding more balls isn’t going to make it any fuller. They will simply bounce off. The same goes for photons when they reach a saturated photosite.
The advantage of a bigger bucket (photosite) is that it can hold more golf balls (photons). In the case of a sensor photosite, that means the bigger it is, the wider its dynamic range range at the highlight end, and thus overall. In the case of an actual bucket, the more golf balls it can hold the longer you can go at the driving range before you have go for a refill, or steal some from your neighbour's bucket.
If the photosites on a sensor can hold a maximum of 1,000 photons and a minimum of 1 photon, its dynamic range ratio is going to be 1,000:1.
As photographers, we’re used to expressing that ratio differently, speaking instead of stops of exposure. If each stop is twice as bright as the preceding one, a dynamic range ratio of 1,000:1 is roughly the same as 10 stop increments (1 : 2 : 4 : 8 : 16 : 32 : 64 : 128 : 256 : 512 : 1024). That’s why we tend to talk of 10 stops of dynamic range*.
But wait, it’s not that simple
You know that often quoted statement about bigger photosites being better than smaller ones? Well, here’s the reason. Bigger photosites can hold more photons before they are full. That means they are capable of reproducing more shades of white than smaller sensors. What a small photosite sees as white, a big one sees as off-white. It’s capacity hasn’t been reached, so it won’t show up as quite white yet. In other words, a small photosite will report white at a lower level of light than a bigger one.
Because a big photosite can catch more photons, the dynamic range of a sensor with bigger photosites is going to be wider. If instead of being full at 1,000 photons (10 stops of dynamic range) a photosite that can take, say, 4,000 photons, it is going to have two stops more dynamic range (1,000 : 2,000 : 4,000).
So far, so good.
However, that’s only part of the story. Equally important is how well your camera converts the photons captured in its photosites into an image. A sloppy conversion will reduce the dynamic range. The reduction can be quite dramatic. Even a camera with a sensor capable of 10 to 14 stops of dynamic range could end up with an output equal to only five to nine stops. Bummer.
Does it matter?
In the end, the dynamic range of your camera depends on how big its photosites are and how well it can convert only a few photons in to a shade of grey and lots of photons into not-quite-white.
Even then, that could mean nothing when it comes to your final image.
You need to get your exposure bang on to make the most of the camera sensor’s dynamic range. Then you need process it sympathetically in your preferred post-production software, making sure you lose nothing along the way (sRGB anyone?). Finally, your display medium has to be able to cope with the dynamic range you want to show.
None of which is going to be at all relevant if the photograph is eyeball-combustingly bad to begin with. A great photograph with limited dynamic range will always trump a pitiful attempt with wide dynamic range.
*Not that photographers know what they are talking about. In optical science and in ISO standards, a stop is the actual physical aperture. What photographers call a stop of exposure is really a step, which could be a step too far for many of your reading this, so we’ll stop.
Sources:
http://www.hdrsoft.com/resources/dri.html
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/dynamic-range.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_eye
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_value
http://www.telescope-optics.net/terms_and_conventions.htm
Shameless plug (we have to eat, you know)
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
In episode 14 of the podcast, Neil forgets Peter’s name, Roger gets annoyed and Peter makes a snap judgement about one of the most exciting cameras to come down the pike for a long time. Roger discusses a recent high profile shoot in which the client had a problem with his quote – but not the way in which you’d expect. We say goodbye to Eve Arnold, one of the legends of Magnum and discuss the impending death of the SLR form factor.
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
In episode 13 of The Circle of Confusion, Peter discusses his recently announced Arctic workshop for 2013, Neil meets a dragon on a mountain, and Roger has nothing. All three discuss their own favourite photographs of 2011 and they talk about remarkable videos filmed in remarkable locations. Peter’s alter ego is also revealed.
Peter’s alleged supplementary income stream in Bristol:
Peter earns a bit on the side doing this and that
In the podcast, Peter and Neil refer to a terrific video filmed by Jordan Manley as part of the Skier’s Journey series. Here it is:
Neil’s:
Neil McShane's favourite photograph of 2011 © Neil McShane 2011
Peter’s:
Peter Cox's favourite photograph of 2011 © Peter Cox 2011
Peter’s other favourite of 2011:
Peter's Alternative 2011 Favourite © Peter Cox 2011
Roger’s:
Roger Overall's favourite photograph of 2011 © Roger Overall 2011
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
In episode 12 (the second episode of the newly revived Circle of Confusion podcast), Roger, Neil and Peter discuss what’s been significant to them in their careers as photographers in the last year, and what’s coming in 2012.
Peter sounds like a dying elk with a bad case of the flu, Neil talks about his social media addiction and Roger says sensible things about the state of the social photography industry.
Have a listen and we all hope you had a great Christmas and have a prosperous new year! Tune in next Thursday for another scintillating episode.
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
Filed under Podcasts
A different kind of tutorial
‘Dynamic Range’ is a breakaway from the traditional photography tutorial video. At its heart is our belief that education and entertainment make the strongest learning combination.
In this launch episode, you’ll get first-class instruction and a duel at dawn with tripods. No other tutorial video can offer you that.
In it, you can follow Peter and Neil as they explore the stunning landscape of the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Along the way, you’ll learn how to improve your photography, both technically and artistically.
You’ll see how the shoots themselves unfold and get honest commentary on the resulting photographs – some of which are quite good; others not so much. You’ll see what worked and, importantly, what didn’t work. After all, we learn best from our mistakes.
Need your gear fix? We’ve got you covered.
There’s also a stranded car, a missing sound engineer, and some breathtaking scenery.
This hour-long, high definition episode will make you laugh and learn.
The official trailer
We’ve had some fun over the past couple of days with spoof trailers.
Here’s the official one.
And tell all your mates.
The podcast
To celebrate the launch of the new series, we’re relaunching the audio podcast that Roger and Peter hosted in 2010. We’ve added Neil into the mix, and the new podcast will be weekly. In this week’s episode, the trio talk about the pitfalls of making your very own video series. Take a listen!
Thank yous
Finally, we have some people to thank.
US landscape photographer Jim Goldstein has been great support in the last couple of days as we pushed towards the final release.
We’d also like to recognize our most vociferous supporter, Rene Bruun, who has lived the production of this episode with us every step of the way on Twitter.
Lastly, but most fondly and with huge respect, we’d like to thank Fiacre Muller, our sound engineer. Sourced from the college in Tralee and participating in return for little else than a bed, some food and the pleasure of riding in Roger’s car, Fiacre was a real find for us. We have nothing but praise for him and we are grateful for everything he’s done over the past two months. The production of ‘Dynamic Range’ is a turbulent sea. You couldn’t ask for a better man on the bridge with you than Fiacre.
If Carlsberg made sound engineers, this is what they'd come up with
Filed under Dynamic Range, Podcasts, Videos
Hi folks -
At 1pm GMT today, be sure and check in as we’ll be unveiling Episode One at long last!
Of course, it’s now here! You can purchase the first episode for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
Cheers,
Peter, Roger and Neil.
Love conquers everything.
So they say, anyhow.
Certainly in the case of landscape photographers, a love of their subject conquers a multitude of challenges.
Early starts. Inclement weather. Draughty transport. Mud. Other landscape photographers. The list goes on.
‘Dynamic Range’ episode 1 launches in the next 48 hours, and with the above in mind, we’ve adopted a more gentle approach for today’s trailer. It is the season of goodwill after all.
As the series is now live, you can purchase the first episode for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
