Author: Tim Grey

Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing, speaking, and training.
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My “Final Answer” on Lens Compression

It is often said that a long lens will “compress” a scene, making near and far objects appear to be closer to each other. In actual fact, it is not the longer lens focal length that is compressing the scene. What actually causes this compression is moving the camera further away from the subjects you are photographing. I can demonstrate this with a few images.

This photo was captured at a lens focal length of 100mm:

The Brooklyn Bridge photographed at a lens focal length of 100mm.

Standing in the exact same position, I then zoomed in to a focal length of 400mm to capture this photo:

The Brooklyn Bridge photographed at a lens focal length of 400mm.

If you examine both of the above images, you can see that the relative sizes of the two key objects (the lamp and a tower of the Brooklyn Bridge) remain the same in both photos. That is because I stood at the exact same position for both photos, only changing the focal length to zoom in. In other words, changing focal length only cropped the scene, not compress the scene.

To help make this concept a little easier to understand, I have created a composite with the 400mm image resized to match the applicable area of the 100mm image, highlighting the area that the 400mm image represents. Here is that image:

The inset image captured at a longer lens focal length from the exact same position simply reflects a cropping of the image captured at a shorter lens focal length, with the inset image aligning with the area identified by the red box.

Next, I walked closer to my subjects. As I walked, the apparent size of the lamp increased relative to the tower of the bridge in the background. I was reducing the apparent compression of the scene by moving closer to my subjects. Of course, because I didn’t have a ladder and couldn’t hover, the lamp appeared in a higher position relative to the tower of the bridge. But that is an issue of parallax, not compression. You can see the change in relative size for the two objects in this photo, which happened to be captured at a lens focal length of 118mm:

Walking closer to the subjects, the lamp now has a larger relative size compared to the tower of the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. The lamp appears at a higher position because of parallax.

To be sure, when you change your distance to the subjects you are photographing, you may need to change your lens focal length in order to maintain the same framing for the scene. But it is your relative distance to the scene that causes a change in apparent compression of the scene. The lens focal length is merely cropping that scene to achieve the desired framing.

This issue has been the subject of several questions recently in my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, and so I hope this blog post helps to provide something of a “final answer” on the subject.

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Webinar Recording: “Top Critical Tips for Lightroom Classic”

Today’s presentation as part of the GreyLearning Webinar Series focused on what I consider to be the top critical tips for working with Adobe Lightroom Classic. In effect, these tips represented the information I wish all photographers understood before they started using Lightroom as the foundation of their workflow for organizing and optimizing their photos.

You can view a recording of the entire presentation on my Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/ZIx9wxXE8Vs

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Birthday Specials!

Today I’m taking a little break from work to celebrate my birthday. I’m also offering some special discounts on courses from my GreyLearning library.

If you’d like one-on-one help directly from me to help you optimize your photography and workflow, you can get $300 off my “Premium Access” bundle by using coupon code birthday300 during checkout, or by using this link to get started with the discount applied automatically:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/premium?coupon=birthday300

If you’d like one-on-one help for three months to help you get your Lightroom Classic catalog back in order, my “Lightroom Cleanup One-on-One” bundle is available for $100 off by using coupon code birthday100 during checkout, or by using this link to get started with the discount applied automatically:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/cleanup-one-on-one?coupon=birthday100

And finally, you can 25% off any individual course you’d like by using coupon code birthday25 during checkout. You can view all courses available in the GreyLearning library here:

https://www.greylearning.com/collections

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Get a Sales Tax Refund from B&H Photo

As you may be aware, a decision last year by the U.S. Supreme Court requires companies to collect state sales tax for online sales based on the state the customer resides in. But B&H Photo now has a way for you to get a credit for those online purchases: The new Payboo Card from B&H Photo.

You will receive a credit in the amount of your state sales tax on all orders through B&H Photo when you pay with the Payboo Card.

With the Payboo Card you can get an immediate credit in the amount of the sales tax when you make a purchase from B&H Photo. That means you are still technically paying the tax as legally required, but that B&H Photo will essentially refund that sales tax as a credit on your Payboo Card account. It is a clever workaround that means you can save on every order.

Even better, the sales tax credit can be earned for in-store purchases in addition to online sales.

You can get more details about the new Payboo Card from B&H Photo here:

https://timgrey.me/payboo

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Webinar Recording: “Which Lenses Do You Bring?”

In my latest presentation in the GreyLearning Webinar Series I addressed the process of deciding which lenses to bring with you on a given photo trip or outing. I discussed the various factors to consider, as well as an approach I use when trying to decide which lenses to put in my bag and which to leave behind.

You can view a recording of the entire presentation on my Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/d1NFXqL__fw

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Price Increase for Creative Cloud Photography Plan?

Adobe temporarily changed the pricing plans displayed by default on the Adobe.com website, causing many photographers to worry that the price for the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan was about to double. Fortunately, at least for now, there is nothing to worry about, and the $9.99 price can still be found here:

https://timgrey.me/photoplan10

As you can see in the image below, the Photography Plan was showing a price of $19.99 per month rather than $9.99 per month. However, that doesn’t actually represent a doubling of the price for the Photography Plan. Rather, the $19.99 price includes the upgrade to 1TB of cloud-based storage, rather than the 20GB that is included with the $9.99 subscription rate.

The Adobe.com website was temporarily showing a $19.99 subscription plan option instead of the $9.99 rate. The $9.99 plan is now once again the default plan on the Adobe website.

Of course, it is altogether possible that at some point the $9.99 subscription option (with 20GB of cloud-based storage) will be removed, so that only the $19.99 option (with 1TB of storage) will be available. But so far that is not the case, and photographers can still get the Creative Cloud Photography Plan for $9.99 per month here:

https://timgrey.me/photoplan10

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The Red Pod Bean Bag

I was recently on a trip where I was traveling extremely light, which among other things meant I didn’t bring a tripod. Then, after departing on this trip, I realized there was going to be a total lunar eclipse in a few days, and I certainly didn’t want to miss that. Fortunately I had my “Red Pod” bean bag camera support, which enabled me to get the shot.

Total lunar eclipse photographed in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the help of the “Red Pod” bean bag camera support.

One of the best features of the Red Pod is that it has a built-in 1/4″ camera mount. You literally screw the bean bag directly onto your camera using the same mount you would otherwise use for a plate for a tripod. This provides a secure platform for your camera that is pliable enough to adjust your camera to a variety of different positions.

The Red Pod in use supporting my DSLR on a railing, just as it was used to capture the lunar eclipse photo shown above.

I’ve found the Red Pod to be tremendously helpful in a variety of situations. In fact, I’ve now given my Red Pod a permanent spot in my camera bag, to make sure I always have it with me to provide good camera support even if I don’t have a tripod with me.

You can get more details about the Red Pod here:

https://timgrey.me/redpod

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Webinar Recording: “Finding Favorites” Workflow

I recently made a change to my workflow for reviewing photos, which in turn will help ensure I’m always able to find my favorite photos when I need them. I shared this change in the context of my full workflow for managing photos in my “Finding Favorites” Workflow presentation as part of the GreyLearning Webinar Series.

You can view a recording of the entire presentation on the Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/2I73Eq2r7E8

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Hand-Held HDR

In an Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter (http://asktimgrey.com/2019/04/04/hand-held-hdr-2/) I addressed a question from a reader who wanted to know if it really is possible to capture bracketed high dynamic range (HDR) exposures hand-held, rather than using a tripod.

The simple answer is “yes”, though there are some caveats I’ll mention in a moment.

The bracketed exposures for this HDR image were captured hand-held through the keyhole of a door in Rome, Italy.

It is indeed possible to capture bracketed exposures for an HDR without the use of a tripod. The software you use to assemble the exposures into an HDR image, such as Aurora HDR (https://timgrey.me/aurora2019), is able to align the individual exposures so all of the details are blended properly without any ghosting. In other words, the slight movement between frames captured as part of a bracketed sequence can be compensated for.

In the image below, for example, you can see the ghosted evidence of camera movement during the bracketed exposure sequence. The effect is especially obvious in the leaves of the hedges along both sides of the image. With HDR software, however, I was able to align the images to create the final image shown above.

In this composite of five bracketed exposures you can see the duplication and lack of alignment caused by camera movement while the bracketed sequence was being captured.

Of course, you do need to be careful with your camera settings to avoid other problems with hand-held shooting. With a bracketed exposure sequence you might have a significant range of shutter speeds, so that the longest exposure in your sequence might be too long for you to be able to get a sharp image without using a tripod.

In other words, HDR software can most certainly compensate for a degree of movement between frames of a bracketed exposure sequence. But you still want to make sure that all of those photos are of high quality. That means you need to consider all of your camera settings carefully, and in the context of hand-held exposures also making sure that the shutter speed for each exposure will be fast enough considering the absence of a tripod.

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“Stuttering” Video with Fast Shutter Speed

A reader of my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter recently asked me what I meant about a “stuttering” appearance for videos captured with a fast shutter speed, which I discussed in an earlier newsletter. This is a good example of a situation where a picture (or video in this case) is worth a thousand words.

In the brief clip below, the video is split between a 1/2000th of a second shutter speed on the left and a 1/30th of a second shutter speed on the right. The left side of the video exhibits motion that is not fluid (if you’ll pardon the pun) because of the fast shutter speed.

When you use a fast shutter speed in video, fast motion gets frozen, and the sense of motion gets lost to some extent. Looking more closely at the video above, you’ll notice that the water droplets on the left side of the frame don’t fall with a smooth motion, but rather jump from one position to the next.

In the video on the right side you can see that motion is rendered much more smoothly. Of course, the video on the right also exhibits motion blur to a much greater extent than in the video on the left, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your intent.

The bottom line is that the shutter speed you use when recording a video can have a significant impact on the overall look and feel of your video, so it is worth giving careful consideration to which shutter speed you’re using when establishing your overall exposure settings for video.