Sutro Baths, San Francisco.

The workshop is primarily for those interested in medium format digital photography.  Participants are able to use the latest technology, such as the Leica S2, Leica M9, Cambo RS, Phase One P65+, P40+ and P45+ digital backs, and a host of the latest lenses from Rodenstock and Schneider, all of which were graciously provided by Dave Gallagher of Capture Integration (CI).   Although the focus of CI in Carmel is on landscape photography, many of those attending are also photographers that work in other fields, such as weddings, portraiture, commercial, and fine art—those that demand the finest in image quality for their clients.

Dave Gallagher of Capture Integration sets up a Cambo RS with Rodenstock 40mm Digiron and Phase One medium format digital back

John Muir Redwoods: Rafa, Dave, Don, Mariah, Phil, Christine, Kristen and Ken (just missed Gary and Chester!)

Dave Gallagher reviews images taken with the new Leica S2 and 70mm lens with Mariah, while Rafa and Phil look on.

The itinerary this year started at the historic Sutro Baths in San Francisco.  Not entirely planned (but consistent with how we roll), we then headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Muir Woods National Monument.  By the way, all of the images on this blog post were taken with a Panasonic GF1 camera (more on this great little camera later).  I’ll post of a few of my landscape images taken with the Phase 645AF and Phase One P65+ medium format digital back in part two of this series.  We ended the first day’s activities with a tour of Alcatraz at Night.

Alcatraz at Night

Me & Don. That's Don with the new Leica M9.

The workshop then headed down the coast back to locations in Carmel, Monterey, and Big Sur.   On Saturday, Dave Gallagher taught an incredible two hour class on the new Capture One Pro 5 raw processing software.  Don and I both noted that it is this type of customer service and support that makes Capture Integration such a formidable photography dealer.  I know that my boutique studio in Carmel can depend on Capture Integration for all my Canon DSLR and Phase One medium format digital needs.

Photographing Garrapata

Don and Dave work with Gary on the Cambo RS

Kristen works the Carmel Mission. www.kristenphoto.com

Gary and Rafa at the Mission

Chester Ng tries his hand at with the new Leica S2 and 70mm lens

Dave Gallagher teaches a C1 Pro 5 class; Dave really enjoyed using my Dell PC workstation...

A ten foot projection screen in studio made it easy to follow Dave's Capture one Pro 5 class.

Happier than Pigs in a Blanket---Breakfast at The Wagon Wheel in Carmel Valley. How many orders of Pigs in a Blanket? That's no typo...

Don and I were really happy with the outcome and we learned alot.  We’re already talking about future Pigs in a Blanket workshops… Stay tuned!  ; )  I hope to post a few landscape images taken with my Phase 645AF and Phase One P65+ digital back in the next blog installation.  And a big thank you to Dave and Christine Gallagher from Capture Integration!  Without Christine, we would never have known how sharp that Leica 70mm lens really is….   ; )

For more information (including future Pigs in a Blanket excursions) contact me at my boutique studio in Carmel at (831) 626-1844.  Ken Doo Photography.  www.kendoophotography.com

My landscape work can be seen at:  www.houseoflandscapes.com

Further Editors note: GetDPI also runs some of the best photographic workshops in the world. They have one spot remaining in their upcoming Salton Sea workshop starting Feb 28.

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By Jack Flesher of GetDPI.com

Thanks to our good friends at Capture Integration, I was able to borrow their Cambo W-RS tech camera with a Rodenstock Digiron HR lens mounted in a Cambo TS lensmount for a quick field test.

Some background. I have avoided investing in a tech camera kit since one of the main features I wanted was separate tilts and swings up front with rise, fall and shifts at the back, and only recently has that option become (readily) available. Sinar released the Arctech about a year ago, and to date I have not been able to even look at one, though I understand there are a few floating around. Arca recently introduced their RM3D tech camera that incorporates a front standard tilt with rear rise/fall and shifts, all while using a dedicated focusing helical on the camera for all lenses. Without going into laborious detail, both of the aforementioned solutions will accomodate my desires, but if I understand their operation correctly, require some added camera gymnastics to get a combination of swing, tilt, rise and focus at the same time. For me, that trio is an often desired combination of movements when photographing three-dimensional subjects with broad near-far subject distances. Which brings me to the main feature that intrigued me about Cambo’s TS lensmount solution — it allows separate tilt and swing adjustments up front on the lens axis while allowing rise, fall and shifts at the rear. (There are a few excellent view camera choices which offer all of these movements, even independently at both ends, which is an obvious advantage for precise adjustments. However a view camera makes for a significantly larger package to transport, is more complicated to set up and use, and is virtually impossible to use hand-held, so I leave them out of the tech camera discussion.)

So armed with the Cambo and 40 HR, I mounted my P65+ back and set out to photograph a decent test subject. In this case, an old passenger train car. I’m going to get straight to picture examples showing results, and leave out all the preparatory discussion on how to use a tech or view camera. While the how-to portion is a worthwhile discussion, it’s lengthy, and most folks considering a tech camera purchase will already know the basics of working them. For those of you who don’t, you’ll hopefully at least be able to see why a camera with movements is worth considering.

Click on the images below to view at 100%.

Here’s the “normal” shot. For this one, the Cambo is leveled and zeroed, meaning no movements of any kind have been made:

The first problem we note is my shadow is in the image, which is an absolute no-no. So the first movement I make is rise, or back fall. Here I used 5mm rise, and note it has the effect of moving the camera to a shooting position several feet higher — note that the camera has not moved at all, the only adjustment is 5mm of rise:

Note that my shadow is gone, and I have more room over the train car, all good things. The three red squares indicate where I’ll be pulling crops from. The far left is the “near” subject point, the center is the “focus” point and the far right is the “far” subject point. Our goal is to get all of them into acceptable focus. I shot all of these frame at f10 as that is near the ideal performance aperture for the lens before diffraction starts deteriorating the fine detail. Here are the crops from the frame with no tilts or swings and only the 5mm rise:

First the focus area, and as you can see we have good focus:

Next the far end, and you can see we are well out of focus, having run out of DoF:

Finally the near end — and note it is in good focus as well. This is because it happens to lie in the same plane as my main focus area:

Next let’s take a look at what happens when I add one degree of swing toward the train car. (Note that from years of experience of shooting Large Format view cameras and tilt-shift lenses, I have a pretty good idea how much tilt or or swing I am likely to need to solve most problems, so I had a good idea where to start for this one.) Anyway, as you can see, focus has clearly improved over the frame above, though still a bit soft for my tastes:

Now for the near zone. Unfortunately our swing has moved the plane of focus closer to the camera at this side of the frame and now our near end is seriously out of focus:

Here is where the “magic” of having tilts and swings comes into play. Let’s take a look at what happens to the image when I now add one degree of forward tilt while keeping the one degree of swing.

First the far end. Wow, pretty darn sharp!:

But what about our near end? Well, presto, it popped back significantly too. Not perfect, but all-in-all a very good compromise IMO:

Note that I also took a set using 1/2 degree of tilt and 1/2 degree of swing. This combination ended up favoring the near end slightly at the expense of a slightly softer far end, for roughly the same final result. I opted for this version as it worked best for the entire side of the car, keeping critically sharp along it’s entire length, which I felt was the more important subject. As with most things, there are compromises, and it’s physically impossible to render all points on a three-dimensional subject in perfect focus on a two-dimensional sensor. But at least with some minor camera movements, we can get a lot closer than we can without them.

Here is a shot of the tilt/swing side of the Cambo, taken when the settings were at the 1/2 degree points:

Here’s a closer shot of the scale at the 1 degree marks:

Here’s the rise/fall side of the Cambo showing my 5mm of rear fall:

Tip: If you shoot a tech or view camera, you will probably want some type of hand-held meter and some kind of viewing device or optical finder. Sure you can guess the exposure, then use the histo on your back to get it nailed, but we usually want to get closer to start. You can pay upwards of $500 for a good spot meter, then spend another 20 hours really learning how to use it properly, and you can also pay several hundred dollars for a good viewfinder with masks for your lens focal lengths — and I do own both. Or alternatively, you can do what I did for these images — carry a small digital camera and use it as both a meter and a finder! In this case, I used my GF1. For my P65+ I divide the mounted focal by three to get the GF1 focal — in this case the 40 needs a 13mm on the GF1, so the wide end of my 14-45 was near perfect. By pointing the GF1 at the train with the lens set at 14mm, I was quickly able to determine the ideal position for the tripod with the tech camera, as well as the proper direction to point it. Next we have exposure. Really easy, just set the GF1 to ISO 100 and using Av mode with the appropriate aperture plus a one stop correction for the P65+ being at ISO 50 and we’re done! To wit, the very first frame I took with the Cambo was the frame I used above with my shadow in it — I was that close out of the gate! If you use a DSLR, you could also use the lens distance scale to help judge the focus setting for your tech lens, but that’s a much heavier and larger solution. In the case above I just estimated my desired focus distance figuring my desired focus point on the train was about 5 meters away. So I just set the Digiron’s scale to 5 M and fired, hitting it right on.

Conclusion. I like this camera a lot. A whole lot. It is easy and intuitive to use and relatively compact and thus easy to transport. Plus it’s fast to set up and adjust. And I really like that Rodenstock Digiron HR! It is stunningly crisp to the corners of my P65+ frame, which is a tough oder to fill for any lens. I suspect the 70 is equally as good as this 40, and my preferred trio would be those and a 135 in the TS mounts.

So is there any bad news? Yes, at least for me, and that’s the groundglass. Estimation in the field is fine when distances are long, as you rarely need more than a degree or two of tilts with an 80mm lens, or half that with a 40 and twice that with a 150. But when distances get closer and lenses get shorter, movements and focus becomes far more critical and even minute changes can impart a significant change in the image. Thus for critical work, I absolutely need to be able to compose on a ground glass. To use a GG on the Cambo W RS, you need to remove the digital back and mount the GG. Once you have composed, you remove the GG and remount your digital back. I have an aversion to mounting and unmounting a digital back in the field, especially in cold or wet conditions when I am likely wearing gloves. A dropped back during that transfer seems a likely accident waiting to happen, and that will be an expensive accident when it does happen.

Here is where the aforementioned Sinar and Arca tech cameras have an advantage — both have sliding backs available as options. Here you mount your back and the GG on a slide which you simply move to position back or GG behind the camera. When the GG is in viewing mode, the back is protected by a cover on the slide. Very cool. But it also adds weight, and size and cost, and all of a sudden your compact tech camera isn’t so compact.

On the upside, for my uses in the field I think I can get away with estimation probably 80% of the time. For critical work, I’ll usually be in the studio where swapping out GG’s and backs is less of a hazard, so maybe I could live with the Cambo GG arrangement — but it sure would be nice to have a sliding back option… I think I’d really like to test drive the Arca with it’s sliding back and the same 40 Digiron before I make my investment — switching platforms is expensive — but the Cambo is definitely a compelling solution as it sits.

An added note on the Cambo leveling/pan base. If you look at the last image above, you can see the base under the camera. It is a very elegant affair, quite compact for what it does, and also extremely rigid. The base has three leveling screws, two situated at the rear to the sides, and one up front on axis. To level it, you simply dial one of the rear knobs to get side-side (roll) level. Then you either adjust the front knob or move both rear knobs the same direction to get fore-aft (pitch) level. And you’re done, easy. The head pans about the lensplate axis, which I assume is going to be very close to nodal for most of the lenses you’d mount. FInally, it is topped off with a degree wheel for reference and even has a set of adjustable click-stop indents you can set for 15, 30 or 180 degree intervals.

Here’s a closer shot of the base showing the two rear adjusting wheels and the three-position click-stop selector. Note that I have a generic Arca-style plate mounted to the bottom so I could more easily mount it to my existing Cube. And obviously, if you already have a head like the Cube, this leveling base is somewhat superfluous. But if not, this is a good option for this tech body:

Join the discussion: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13238

Deciding to Buy the P65+ or How One Loyal American Stimulated the US Economy

Lake Moraine, Banff Canada. 4-shot panorama. Mamiya 645AFD, Mamiya 35mm, Phase P30; 100 iso, f/22 at 1/3 sec

My decision to purchase the Phase P65+ digital back for my studio, Ken Doo Photography in Carmel, CA was not without reservation.  I am not new to shooting with medium format digital, beginning with a Kodak Pro Back 645M years ago, and since then, shooting extensively with both the Phase P30 and more recently the P45+. I still believe that the P30+ is in a sweet-spot as a digital back, providing a good balance of both speed and excellent resolution.  But the advent of Sensor+ technology on a full-frame 645 medium format sensor and the claimed ability of the P65+ to provide both higher quality images and speed had me intrigued.  Yes, cost was a factor, but I also firmly believe that to be successful in business you need to invest in yourself.  It also helps to be single.

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, CA. 8-shot panorama. Phase 645AF, Mamiya 75-150mm, Phase P45+; 50 iso, f/20 at 6 seconds

After extensive discussions with my good friend, Don Libby of Iron Creek Photography, Tucson, AZ (okay, maybe I should have talked with an adult…) I knew the P65+ digital back was calling to me.  Was there anything inherently wrong with either the P30 or P45+?  Absolutely not!  In fact, I have created numerous beautiful images with both backs, including stunning panoramic landscapes eight-feet long.  I used the P30 exclusively in the Antelope Slot Canyons and in Canada and used the P45+ recently on my trip to Death Valley. Those galleries can be seen on my landscape website, www.houseoflandscapes.com.  All of the current Phase digital backs are capable of producing stunning images, well beyond the quality of a DSLR.  But for me, the P65+ was personally a good fit.  After talking with Don, I called Chris Lawery at Capture Integration in Atlanta to place my order for a P65+ digital back.

Capture Integration Comes to Carmel

SF GG Bridge, Baker Beach, 1103, Phase 645AF, Mamiya 75-150mm, Phase P65+; 50 iso, f/16 at 1/60 sec.

Chris Lawery has always been a good resource for my studio and I knew that I could rest-assured on continuing customer support from Capture Integration well after the sale. Although I have always had good luck with both UPS and Fed Ex, it is always disconcerting to ship an expensive item such as a digital back. I had never met with Chris Lawery before and chided him that he should hand-deliver the P65+ to my studio in Carmel, California.  What started as a half-joke quickly turned serious, resulting in an informal workshop and gathering of medium format digital photographers at the Capture Integration in Carmel 2009.  Don Libby and I co-hosted the three-day event with activities starting in San Francisco and proceeding south through Carmel and Big Sur.  It was nice to finally meet Chris Lawery in person.  He had obviously done quite a bit of planning for Capture Integration and brought a lot of equipment with him.  At our disposal were the Phase P65+, several Phase P45+ backs, several Phase 645AF cameras, a Horseman SWD, several Cambo RS cameras, and a wide selection of lenses for all the systems.  Over the course of three days, we met with several other photographers and even enjoyed a quick Capture One Pro class given by Jack Flesher of GetDPI.

Shooting with the Phase P65+

SF Palace of Fine Arts. Phase 645AF, Mamiya 35mm, P65+, 100iso, f/8 at 8 seconds

GG Bridge at night; Phase 645AF, Phase 75-150; 400 iso, f/16 at 30seconds

First stop, San Francisco.  We started with the several views of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.  Don and I never really let Chris rest, and we literally were off and running as soon as his plane touched down.  The consummate gentlemen, Chris was always helpful and ready to answer any questions.  Phase One digital backs have always been known for their long-exposure capability, producing clean digital files with exposures often measured in minutes and even hours.  If there is an achilles’ heel to the P65+, I knew it would be longer exposures probably limited to no more than sixty-seconds.  Sensor+ technology may help here, but my P65+ was not enabled with Sensor+ technology.

I wanted to see what the P65+ could do given a difficult lighting situation. I waited until nightfall to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge from a different vantage point.  I set the P65+ for 400 iso, and set the aperture at f/16 and thirty seconds. The full JPEG/RAW file can be accessed here. ***   I am of the mind that manufacturers regularly over claim the ability of their products for marketing purposes.  And Phase One is not immune from my scrutiny here.  The ability to shoot at 800 or even 1600 is rather pointless if the digital file produced is not commercially viable or salvageable with minimal post-processing.  In dark lighting conditions and with a set aperture of f/16, I believe the P65+ performed admirably here.  Although I rarely photograph anything above 100 iso, I am confident the P65+ is capable of producing commercially viable images at 400 iso with minimal post-processing or noise reduction software.

McWay Falls, Big Sur. Four-shot panorama. Phase 645AF, Mamiya 75-150mm, P65+; 50 iso, f/22 at .7 sec.

If there was any disappointment in this P65+, it was because it had not yet been enabled with the Sensor+ technology.  Although not at all the fault of Capture Integration, I chose to have Chris take this P65+ back to Phase (rather than the trouble of me sending it back) and instead use my P45+ pending Phase One’s delivery of a Sensor+ enabled P65+.  If the Sensor+ technology works as well as promised, the P65+ could possibly produce commercially viable images at 800 iso!  I recognize that some digital backs have the ability to shoot at 1600 iso (to include the P65+), but again, my subjective standard is the ability to produce clean digital files with minimal effort in post processing.  Again, because I rarely shoot above 100 iso, I would rather have a Sensor+ enabled P65+ digital back with thirty megapixels, instead of the slated pixel binning of fifteen megapixels.  Are you listening Phase?

Mamiya Lenses and the Phase P65+

Carmel Mission; Phase 645AF, Hartblei 45mm t/s super rotator, P65+; f/22 at 1/8 sec

One of the biggest concerns I had about upgrading to the P65+ was the ability of my Mamiya lenses to be able to keep up with the incredible resolution of this digital back.  I had absolutely no concerns that the new and excellent Mamiya “D” series lenses would be outstanding performers (Did I mention that excellence is not cheap?).  But what about Mamiya’s older glass?  Or how about the Hartblei 45mm tilt-shift super rotator lens?  One of my favorite lenses is the Mamiya 35mm wide angle, and although I believe it performs admirably with the P65+, if Mamiya updated this lens to a “D” series lens, I would buy it in a heartbeat!

Pfeiffer Big Sur B&W; Phase 645AF, Hartblei 45mm t/s super rotator; P65+; f/22 at 2 seconds

The surprise performer is the original Hartblei 45mm tilt-shift super rotator.  This uber funky retro lens hailing originally from Eastern Europe did quite well with the P65+ as we traveled from the Carmel Mission Basilica and worked our way down the coast towards Big Sur.  The 45mm Hartblei is what it is, and I think at least my copy of the lens does it well.  Those who need more should look towards a technical camera.  I left feeling confident that all of my Mamiya lenses would work well with the P65+.

Kudos

Although medium format digital produces the ultimate in quality, I do not know a single medium format digital photographer that does not also use a top-level DSLR.  We are just simply not at the level of technology where one camera system can do it all.  And on that note, I am thankful to the folks at Capture Integration for providing my boutique studio with the latest technology from both Canon and Phase One.  Overall, I am quite pleased with the quality of images produced by the P65+ and I am confident in the investment I have made.  I very much enjoyed meeting Chris and working with other photographers on what I hope will become the first of many informal workshops with Capture Integration.  As my “brother” Don Libby says, this past week with Capture Integration in Carmel was the most fun I’ve had legally in a long time!  Thank you, Chris, Doug, and Dave!  I hope to see you again in Carmel soon!

I will be photographing landscapes in Monument Valley next month and hope to have a Sensor+ enabled P65+ digital back and will be providing updates on my impressions soon.

Ken Doo
Ken Doo Photography
Carmel, California
831-626-1844
www.kendoophotography.com
www.houseoflandscapes.com

I had a conversation with Chris Lawery while on the way home from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon recently; part of the conversation centered on my thoughts and feelings of Cambos newest technical camera, the RS 1000.

I’ve recently made a move from what was my primary camera kit, Phase One AFD III and P30+ to a technical camera. I was able to test the RS this past October while at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the test, as short as it was sold me on the camera.  Coming back home to Tucson I returned the test camera to Capture Integration and immediately ordered one along with a 35mm lens.

I’ve had my RS now for just shy of 90 days and while it’s a short time I will state that I believe it to be one of the best landscape kits I’ve ever had the pleasure to either own or use.

It’s the end of December now and as I’ve already said above, I’ve used the RS1000 on two different trips, both to the Grand Canyon and on numerous occasions around Tucson.  The next major trip for me is at the end of January 2009 when I travel to Crescent City CA to photograph the giant redwoods and do some coastal imagery as well.  I plan on using the RS in the redwoods and probably switch to the Phase One AFD III for the coastal shots.

In moving to the Cambo RS1000 I also had to make a move from the digital back I had previously used, a Phase One P30+.  The P30+ had served me well during the time I had it allowing me to capture stunning landscapes throughout the Southwest as well as our recent trip to Alaska however it just wasn’t suited to be mated to a technical camera.  I had originally looked at and almost brought a Phase One P45 when I was researching my first digital back but for whatever the reason had decided to purchase the P30+, a move I never looked back on nor regretted.  Now with making the move to a technical camera I knew from my research I would be faced with either keeping the P30+ and buying another digital back – a move that just wasn’t financially smart or using the P30+ as a trade-up for the P45+ which I did.  Speaking of digital backs, yes the P65 looks great and yes I’d take one in a heart beat if given one (okay there’s a big hint Phase One) however there’s that financial thing again.

One last comment about the Phase One P30+ back as I don’t want to give the impression that it failed me in any way.  This back allowed me to produce a 2-shot image later merged into one panorama at 30×60 which is stunningly clear in ever aspect.  The image is so well regarded that it only hung on display at our gallery for one week before it sold.  And yes I see the same level of detail in the images taken with the P45+.  So here’s the end of this part – if anyone is thinking of buying a P30 or P45 my suggestion and recommendation is do it!  And to be completely honest and aboveboard you need to contact Capture Integration and no I don’t work for them nor do I own any stock in the company.

It’s All About the Nodal Point

There’s been a heck of a lot written about the Cambo Company and just about all of it is very good.  Cambo has a body, the WDS that has been around for quite awhile.  The WDS allows one to shoot both digitally or with film.  While in the early stages of my research I had contemplated the WDS and in fact was on the verge of ordering one.  The WDS has one drawback that affects my workflow; I like taking multiple images then using Photoshop CS4 to produce large, in your face panoramas.  It’s all about movements and the lens nodal point in producing the type of an image I take and that was the Achilles heel of the WDS – the movements.  While the WDS offers movements it does it at a sacrifice of moving the lens.  The back of the WDS offers left and right movements while the rise and fall are on the lens itself thus introducing the possibility of error.  This still would be a better solution to what I have been using with my Phase One 645; I normally use a Really Right Stuff Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Panorama kit to accomplish this.  Please don’t take this the wrong way as RRS makes some incredibly great photographic gear (just look at my bank account).  I’ve used the Omni-Pivot to capture great images with both my 35mm and medium format however it can’t compete to what a good technical camera offers.

Cambo made a decision to design a camera body similar to the WDS but to make it strictly for digital.  What they came up with was the Cambo RS 1000, a body that has a smaller footprint than the WDS with all the movements at the rear.

Here’s an exercise anyone can do who isn’t clear on the concept; take your left hand and make a circle with your fingers; that’s the lens.  Now with your right hand held open place it next to your left hand and move only your right hand.  If you did it the way I hope you did that demonstrates the digital back (your right hand) making all the movements (left, right, up and down) while the lens (your left hand) stayed in one place.  You wind up using what is called the lens circle to its fullest while keeping the lens stationary; achieving a rock solid nodal point on your lens eliminating distortion of your images.

Multiple images taken with the Cambo RS 1000 then later processed into one panorama gives you a workable image file that is well over 99% usable.  I’ve actually achieved image files using both a single row two image as well as two rows, two columns that once Photoshop had completed the merge that at least one side and more that likely two were perfect while the other two sides had a partial row of less than ½ pixel missing. This is drastically different from stitching panoramas when you rotate the (a la the RRS panoramic heads) where large swaths of the corners have to be sacrificed in post production in order. With in-image-circle stitching there is less post production, no loss of quality at the edges, and at the time of capture you know exactly what the final composition will be.

Before anyone starts, this image is an example only prior to any LCC being done; I want you to see the amount of white showing on the top, left, and bottom so please don’t be put off by the color shift which is quickly and easily removed using Capture One’s built-in LCC.

Close-up crop of the corner, showing what amount of the image is lost after stitching:

What’s next?

I’m still in the process of obtaining large panoramas of the southwest and am also testing the waters regarding layering multiple images each with a slightly different focus to achieve an image that is crystal sharp from my toes to the horizon, all the while using the Cambo RS 1000.

Recommendations:

If I were asked my recommendation I would offer the following based on my experience:  If you want to take stunning images of landscapes think very hard about the Cambo RS 1000 – it won’t let you down.  If you want a backup camera (I refer to this as my point and shoot) get either a Mamiya or Phase One 645 AFD III.  If you want the very best digital back money can buy – Phase One.

In closing here’s a rundown of my landscape kit:

Cambo RS 1000 with:

• 35mm lens
• 72mm lens

Phase One 645 AFD III with:

• 80mm lens
• 28mm lens
• 75-150 mm lens
• 300 mm lens

Phase One P45+

Here’s a quick plug for Capture Integration.  Call them and talk to them, after about two minutes you’ll see why they are the best.  They care about not only selling the best equipment there is they care more about the person they sell to.  Finding a good camera dealer (especially medium format) is much like a marriage – you both need to be in it for the long haul.  I’m proud to call Capture Integration a friend.

Thanks for listening or in this case reading…

Don

Don Libby
Iron Creek Photography
Tucson AZ
520-603-7862
www.IronCreekPhotography.com

www.michaelschultzphotography.com/publication.html

It takes a lot for me to take an image.  In some cultures it was once thought that you capture the soul of a person when you take their photograph; in some ways I feel the same way when I do my landscape images.  Standing at the edge of a canyon or in a meadow seeing what very few people have the privilege to see and experience is to me very moving experience.  What I attempt to do when I capture the image is not only take a decent photograph but know what I want to do with it once I have it.  Bottom line for me is that I want to pass on the feeling that I experienced standing there.  I want the viewer to feel the soul of image not just see yet another landscape.  I want the image to speak out and in some cases shout out to them to the point where the viewer wants to see the location for themselves and experience it first hand.   I have a small blog connected to our website and have had many visitors comment that while they may never been in the position to visit the Southwest or for that matter anywhere we photograph, they nevertheless thank us for sharing the beauty and experience.  I’ve had people see finished work that hangs in a local gallery at home state that our landscape images invoke emotions and memories that they had long lost.  That’s what it’s all about.  I consider myself an artist first and photographer a close second.

More images and workflow after the jump.

I was privileged to be interviewed by Walter Borchenko for the Phase One January/February 2008 news article.  The image above was one that was included.  I’d like to discuss what I did to get that finished image.

While the image above is the completed one here’s what it looked like shortly after coming from photomerge in CS3.

While it was close to what I wanted it nevertheless was what I felt or “saw”; in other words it wasn’t what make me what to capture the image.

One of the very first things I normally do when I begin working on an image is to make a duplicate of it and then work on that.  I then immediately make a copy of the background and at 100% look for any dust or blemishes to correct. Then I make yet another copy.

It would take much more space and time to fully explain what I did to complete this image however I worked on this for close to 3 days to come this far.

By now I had used the healing and clone tools to clean up any dust or blemishes, worked on levels, brightness, selective color and curves.  Along the way I also used masks to either hide or enhance the colors.  At this point while I was pleased there still was something missing.  After printing it  and just staring at it I figured it was the sky; I just didn’t like it.

Trying an experiment I took the image to black & white.

I found that when you do something like this you really need to train your mind and eyes to just look at that portion of the image you want to work on and ignore the rest; in this case I was only looking for an effect on the sky.  I wanted a richer, darker sky and whiter clouds.  Coming up with this image.  The sky was right where I wanted it but I needed to correct the foreground.

The fix was simple, just add a lay mask and now had the image that I was very pleased with.

This image has been printed and sold on canvas at a size of 30×60.  I’m pleased with it and more importantly my client was pleased.

Here’s another example of what you can do if you just listen to the image, open more than your eyes and aren’t afraid to experiment.

Before:

This is what I saw and felt that made me capture this image.

All the images were taken with a Mamiya 645 AFD II and a wonderful Phase One P30+ back.  A Mamiya 35mm lens was used in the Desert View panorama (2 shot) while the Mamiya 28mm lens was used for the meadow scene.

I’ll be the very first to admit that I don’t know what I’m doing and in that case I can get away with a heck of a lot.  I enjoy experimenting with my images to see just how much it takes to show the image’s soul.

Thank you for allowing me to share.

Don Libby
Iron Creek Photography
Tucson Arizona

www.ironcreekphotography.com
www.ironcreekphotography.blogspot.com

A Seamless Film to Digital Transition

In mid-summer of 2005 I made a proposal to my primary publisher, Chronicle Books in San Francisco, for a fine art photography book of black and white landscapes of the gulf coast. I’d been photographing the gulf coast since 1991 and had built up a sizable body of work on the region. Though Chronicle was enthusiastic about the images in this series, they had doubts about the viability of the subject as one of national interest and appeal. However, they were willing to at least consider it. Then in August and September, hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the gulf coast. Suddenly there was unrelenting national interest in this region of the country. Whereas the national focus was primarily on the devastation to the city of New Orleans, there was an underlying interest in the geography of the region and particularly how increased storm activity and global warming were impacting the gulf coast. Not only was the climate changing as it pertained to weather, but the book publishing climate was changing as a result of Katrina. Chronicle agreed in the fall of 2005 to publish Terra Incognita. However, the project was only about two-thirds complete in terms of principal photography. There would need to be new photography, particularly post-Katrina imagery, to complete the photo essay.

More from Richard Sexton after the jump.

This project began in 1991, long before any of us had any notion of digital capture. These early images had been made with two camera systems—a square format Mamiya 6 and a 6×12 panoramic back on my 4×5 view camera. I liked photographing with the Mamiya 6 because it was like a big square format Leica. The square format was important for compositional reasons, because many of my images featured a single primary subject and the square frame worked beautifully in these situations. But, since early 2003, I’d been shooting all commercial projects digitally. First with a Canon 1Ds and then a 1DsII. Given that I needed to create a substantial amount of new imagery in the relatively short timeframe of a year, I wanted the new images in the series to be captured digitally. It would save film costs and of equal importance, scanning time. I didn’t want to shoot DIN proportion with a DSLR and then crop the photos square. I wanted a system that would allow me to frame the image in the viewfinder as a square and that would yield a final image at full sensor resolution. I decided to purchase a Phase One P20 back to use on a Mamiya 645 AFD camera platform. This would be the closest digital capture system to my Mamiya 6.

In the fall of 2005, Phase One had just announced a new series of backs—the P45, P30, etc. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to pick up a used or demo P20 back at a good price. Through Capture Integration I was able to purchase a P20 demo back that had less than 200 actuations. So, for the final six months of the project I shot with the P20 back, producing some of the most successful images in the series, including the front and back covers of the book. Though a 645 AFD is heavier and bulkier than a Mamiya 6 rangefinder, for this project it was a more effective camera system with a wider range of lenses and more precise framing. Once I started using Capture One DB as my raw converter I decided to upgrade to Capture One Pro so that all raw conversions for DSLR captures, as well as the P20 captures, could be converted in C1Pro. I liked the fact that C1Pro handled tethered shooting, image editing and tagging, and raw conversion within a single, intuitive software application. I also performed several comparisons between C1Pro and ACR. I found that C1Pro’s white balance tool worked more effectively than ACR’s yielding a more neutral gray value and more accurate color across the spectrum. Also, C1Pro did a better job with shadow transitions. There was less noise in the shadows and smoother transitions between areas holding shadow detail and black. ACR tended to have splotchy transitional areas in the shadows where there was no photographed detail, but the pixel values weren’t black either. C1Pro also did better with the highlights. There was less posterization between blown out areas and those highlights holding some tonality. And as with the shadows, there was a smoother transition in these areas. In the last couple of years, of course, ACR has seen significant upgrades and with the introduction of Lightroom, Adobe now has an image editing and raw conversion tool that’s more like Capture One.

For about a year preceding my purchase of a P20 back I’d been shooting with a Canon 1DsII. This was the highest resolution DSLR at that time and it had a pixel count that was for all practical purposes identical to the P20. I noticed right away, however, that the P20 was capable of higher resolution. I’m not an expert on all the reasons why this is. But, I can relay the empirical evidence observed from side by side comparisons. A number of factors probably contribute to the resolution and image quality difference. The fact that the 1DsII sensor is a full frame sensor for its platform and the P20 back is a reduced frame sensor for its platform, gives the same lens advantage to the P20 that crop sensors do for the lenses of DSLR platforms. Another factor is the lack of an anti-aliasing filter on the P20 back. Though it helps prevent moiré, an anti-aliasing filter smudges detail that can’t always be recovered through sharpening. Finally, there’s bit-depth, one of the most overlooked and misunderstood of the technical specifications of digital capture. A P20 back captures at 16-bit and the Canon 1DsII captures at 12-bit in RAW format. (Canon has since upgraded its processors to 14-bit.) Essentially, bit-depth represents the range of mathematical possibilities for the value at each photosite and 16-bit capture offers the potential for an exponential increase in the range of values the digital RAW file archives. If pixel count describes the quantity of information, then bit-depth describes the quality of information. So, I would postulate that the combination of a sensor that’s sized within the sweet spot of MF lenses, with no anti-aliasing filter, and 16-bit RAW capture translates to higher image quality than a DSLR even though pixel count is comparable.

My favorite feature of an MF digital back platform, however, is modularity. The camera body, lenses, film, and digital back can all be interchanged and upgraded independently of each other. I no longer shoot with a Canon 1 series DSLR, but use a 5D instead. Not only is the 5D smaller, quieter, and offers superior image quality at high ISO settings, but it’s a cheaper more logical camera considering its probable lifespan. I fully expect that when the 5D successor comes out in the next 12 months or so, I’ll upgrade and the cost of this transition will be far less than with a 1 series Canon. With an MF system it makes more sense to invest in a rugged, pro grade camera body because if you upgrade the back, you don’t have to simultaneously upgrade the camera body. I also believe that Phase One’s open-platform philosophy fully supports this modularity and is the only logical approach to medium format digital capture.

But, there are aesthetic considerations to MF digital capture that are equally as important as image quality and modularity. During the film-only era of photography, photographer’s chose between a wide range of film formats—DIN proportion, square, the so-called “ideal” format of 645, 4×5, and 8×10, and then there were a wide variety of panoramic formats that offered aspect ratios from 1:2 to 1:4 and even greater. The pervasive DSLR format that has defined the beginning of the digital era, offers photographers DIN format capture only. I know, you can always crop the image, but in the process you throw away precious pixels and can severely limit the size of print reproduction when you make extreme crops. My philosophy, which has been guided by over 3 decades of shooting experience, is that it’s always best to compose and print using the format that works best for a given subject. I work methodically, compose in camera, and crop the image after the fact only when I have to. One of the classic formats of film photography was the square and

photographers tended to love it or hate it. Medium format photography, whether with a Hasselblad or a Rollei twin lens, or any number of other MF systems, tended to be defined by square format. For certain subjects and certain shooting situations, this format offers unique compositional opportunities and when I first started shooting digitally, one of the things I missed was the ability to shoot in a wide variety of formats, a luxury I had always enjoyed when shooting film. The P20 back, with its square format sensor, gave me the option to continue to shoot in a style that I’d adopted years earlier. It’s about choice and this is almost always a good thing.

What was most beneficial for me as a photographer was the way that Phase One equipment allowed me to transition to digital capture and yet maintain a style and photographic approach for a project with which I had a 15 year history. It’s not apparent to anyone who peruses Terra Incognita which shots were made on film and which were captured digitally. The release of the book was accompanied by an exhibit of the same name at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. The images captured with the P20 back were enlarged to as much as 22” square for the exhibit and they held up beautifully. Even at this scale distinguishing between film and digital captures was virtually impossible. But, more importantly it wasn’t something the viewer even thought about. The work was consistent technically and thematically from beginning to end. No one really thought about all the technological changes in photography over the course of the project. This is the way it should be for photographers and their audience. New equipment and new technology should allow us to do what we’ve always done, but do it better and easier.

Richard Sexton is a noted fine art and media photographer whose work has been published and exhibited worldwide. Terra Incognita is his eighth title with Chronicle Books. Sexton’s work is included in the Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and numerous private collections. His multidisciplinary studio is based in New Orleans. Additional information is available on his web site: www.richardsextonstudio.com

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Digital photography provides many excellent solutions to photographic challenges. But coming from 4×5 film I missed one previously film-only technique: multiple strobe pops while shooting interiors. I have developed a unique switch-box that brings the multiple pop method to Phase One digital backs. The device is built by Kapture Group, and available for purchase from Capture Integration. The device can also be used for other long-exposure and multiple exposure techniques.

I began my career in architectural and interior photography shooting 4×5 film. Film had many challenges technically including balancing color temperature, controlling contrast, and getting everything right ‘in-camera’. All of these challenges are now more easily addressed with digital photography.

One technique in using film that is still useful is being able to build-up exposure on the chip by doing multiple strobe pops. Studio shooters may be puzzled at the need for this. In the studio you could darken the studio, open the shutter on bulb and pop your strobes as many times as need to get the exposure and depth of field required. Shooting interiors requires that the strobe exposure be blended with ambient daylight light coming into the space. In this case we may need a shutter duration of only 1 second to hold detail in the windows or control the intensity of direct sun. This is further complicated by the fact that our strobes may not produce enough power to light a large space with a single pop. With the multi-exposure device I can now divide my total 1 second exposure into four exposures of ¼ second, firing the strobes with each exposure. Now I get the ambient exposure I need plus 4x the strobe power in a single raw file.

Some may ask why this is required when Schneider’s Digitar lenses are optimized at between f8 and f11. Surely I can get the exposure I need with one pop at f11. Yes that’s true. However when shooting with the 24XL or the 35XL, both of which benefit from Center Filters (2 stops), it’s like shooting at f22. One pop becomes four.

The device is easy to use. Simply plug it into the multi-port on the Phase One digital back and attach your strobe’s remote to the lens. Press the wake-up button on the box, then press the ‘start’ rocker switch and now you can fire your lens as many times as needed, then press the ‘stop’ rocker switch and the capture will be finished. You are basically fooling the Phase One back into thinking it’s doing just one long exposure. Four ¼ second pops may take you a total of 10 seconds exposure time on the back depending on how quickly your packs recharge. The back sees it as one long exposure. Since the Phase One backs are so good at controlling noise there is no negative effect with the increased exposure time.

Using this technique has the added benefit of increased bracketing accuracy. Shooting a single pop exposure leaves little room for accurate bracketing without scaling down the power on your packs. You’ll want to leave your f-stop setting alone so that you can combine exposure in post production, so you can only vary your shutter which leaves the strobe exposure constant. With multi-pops you can start with 4 and bracket up and down easily with more or fewer pops.

The International Association of Architectural Photographers was first launched by founder and “emerging” architectural photographer Thomas Bliss on January 1st, 2003 as NAAPA. The name was changed in mid 2003 to the IAAP to reflect a growing international membership.

The driving forces behind the development of the IAAP was grown out the founders own observation of two specific and frustrating needs that at the time were being largely ignored by the larger associations. One in particular was that the new or emerging photographer (as the founder was at the time) had no real outlet to seek the advice of his successful peers to educate himself about the business of “architectural photography”. There were so many questions and so few answers, from equipment needs, techniques, workflow, pricing, marketing, and more importantly the fellowship of a group of photographers that is indeed highly skilled and uniquely specialized able to understand what challenges the “emerging” photographer might and will face during the start-up of his business.

Since the IAAP’s humble beginnings as a small Forum and Photographers Directory in 2003, the site and membership has grown to a membership of 280 architectural photographers participating in the forums, 180 full member sponsors, and a community outreach newsletter that reaches over 1000 photographers from all over the world. The membership fee structure is still the best value in the industry at only $87.50 US for a full membership, and only $2.99 per month for forum only access, specially designed for the “emerging photographer”.

The IAAP Mission:

1) Provide strong and valuable resources for the development of the Architectural Photographer.
2) To define our community as a valuable resource for those seeking to engage the services of an Architectural Photographer.
3) Provide a solid professional forum for peer-to-peer dialogue, fostering an interactive community to promote the exchange of ideas and resources.

The IAAP can be found at www.iaap.us | www.iaap.co.uk | www.architecturalphotographers.org