Why Auto-Exposure Bracketing with Digital? Announcing the RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos. When You Can Do This Consistently, You Will Know That You Have Exposure Down Pat! And Billy Joel, Elton John, and the Citrus Bowl.

Please Note

This blog post was published early on Saturday 30 January 2021. Then, for the first time ever, it un-published … I have no idea why, but I re-published it on Saturday afternoon. So if you are confused, so am I.

What’s Up?

I enjoyed a short session on Friday morning at ILE with a gentle north wind with just a bit of west in it. My best images were head and shoulder portraits of a Turkey Vulture sitting on a chainlink fence (unseen in the images) with a nice blue water/lake background. You do not need as much of a look-back head turn with north winds as you do with northwest winds (as below). I hustled to get packed up for the drive over to Titusville and even skipped my swim 🙁 I arrived at my AirBnB in Titusville just before 3:00pm, got settled in, and headed to Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island NWR before four. The drive around the back roads and the Tour Loop drive proper brought back many memories. When my late-wife Elaine and I moved to Florida in the summer of 1994 we lived in Deltona (near her late-folks, Dave and Dora Goldstein). Dave lived to 86 and Dora to 91. Ironically, Elaine was gone before they were at age 50. From Deltona it was just about an hour to the refuge via SR 46 going through Mims.

Merritt is always a tough place to shoot in part because you are almost always well above the birds. And in part because the road is very winding so getting on sun angle is pure luck. My afternoon drive-around began looking hopeless with a strong north-east wind. But as I was on the long straight road leading to the Cruickshank Trail, there were a few nice spots with still blue water and lots of Blue-winged Teal. Out of the car, I worked them hard, along with some Pied-Billed Grebes, Reddish Egrets, a few Greater Yellowlegs, and a single Tricolored Heron. I am looking forward to sunrise and my morning session.

If you wish to join me this afternoon or any time on Sunday, call my on my cell today at 863-221-2372 and leave a message if I do not pick up.

Today is Saturday 30 January 2021. The forecast for Titusville is for partly cloudy skies with a very gentle breeze from the NW turning NE and then east before ten am.

This post took about three hours to prepare and makes forty-one days in a row with a new one. Please remember …

Please Remember

With income from IPTs now at zero, please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes can always help out by clicking here if they see fit.

The Status of My Canon Gear

I will try my very best to finish setting up my new R5 this afternoon. I have been using the R5/R6 AF e-Guide and what I have written on the BAA EOS R5 Camera user’s Guide as — you guessed it — a guide. While doing so, I made a few changes to each of those documents. I hope to do some flight photography with the R5/RF 100-500 this weekend. The R5/R6 AF e-Guide will be updated some time during February. All those who have it will receive the free update. The AF guide will then be incorporated into the R5 Camera User’s Guide (in progress). This guide will be the most-expensive-ever BAA Camera User’s Guide. Except for those who have used my affiliate links to purchase their Canon mirrorless gear.

Billy Joel

As regular readers know, I have been a long-time (measured in many decades) fan of Billy Joel. With my new SUV I got a year’s worth of Serius Radio and recently found the Billy Joel channel (105). I listened to hit on the way to Titusville on Friday afternoon. I just love listening to Billy talk about his youth, the music that influenced him back then, and about his own music. Along of course with tons of great music.

I saw Billy in concert (with Elton John) with my beloved late wife Elaine for the first time in Orlando on August 21, 1994. That was one day short of three months before she would die of breast cancer). I remember the doctor telling us that she should not attend the concert “because there would be too many people there and she might get sick.” That was minutes after we learned from that same doctor that she was toast. She looked him in the eye and said, “I’m going.”

The concert — at the Citrus Bowl, was postponed several hours by the most violent the most violent thunderstorm I have ever seen in Florida. “Do you want to go home?” I asked a drenched Elaine as we milled about the Stadium. “I’m staying.” Elton John was the star of the first half of the concert (as Billy Joel barely was on stage). But Billy Joel dominated the second half in all ways, at one time climbing atop his piano. By 1:00am, even the staunchest Elton John fans agreed that Billy had won the night by miles.

The encore took place just after 2:00am. Apparently I was not the only one moved by this concert. I found an article by Hillary Geronemus that appeared in the Orlando Sun-Sentinel on 26 AUGUST 1994. She wrote: To bring the concert to a close, John made his final entrance and joined Joel at the pianos where they played Bitch is Back, You May Be Right, A Hard Day’s Night, Candle in the Wind, and finally, what else, Piano Man.

Because of the thunderstorm and the long delay, about half of the original 65,000 folks had long-departed by the time the concert drew to a close. Anyhoo, there we are with Bill Joel and Elton John doing Piano Man a cappella. Until the audience took over. The sound was so sweet that I remember sitting there with tears streaming down my face thinking, This is what it will be like when Elaine gets to heaven. The concert was one of the top ten days of what has been a rich and rewarding life.

While working on finishing this blog post early on Saturday morning, I came across this on YouTube:

Billy Joel & Guests – Piano Man (Gershwin Prize – November 19, 2014)

Billy Joel performs “Piano Man” with Kevin Spacey, Boyz II Men, Natalie Maines, Josh Groban, Gavin DeGraw, Tony Bennett, LeAnn Rimes and Michael Feinstein during the ceremony where he was honored with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on November 19, 2014 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

You can enjoy this amazing video here.

Airbnb

For the past three years I have been staying extensively at AirBnBs from coast to coast. Join Airbnb and become part of a community that connects global travelers with local hosts across the world. Find a place to stay and discover things to do. Airbnb lists more than 4.5 million homes across 200 countries; you’ll find spacious, affordable options for every occasion. With Airbnb you will travel with confidence as reviews from past guests help you find the right fit. Once you do, their secure messaging makes it easy to coordinate with your host. And Airbnb support teams are available 24/7.

Yikes. I almost forgot the best part: Airbnb rates average as much as half of even the least expensive chain hotels and motels.I always opt for a place for myself with easy parking, a kitchen, and great WiFi. If you would like to save $40 on your first booking sign up by using this link: Airbnb. Airbnb does charge clean-up and service fees that make short stays less attractive bargains than longer stays.

Those who prefer to stay in a motel or hotel are invited to use the Booking.com link below to save $25.00.

Booking.Com

Several folks on the UK IPT used the Booking.Com link below for their Edinburgh hotels, got great rates, and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. Of course, it also works great for US travel. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

$51.00 via Electronic Download. You can order yours here. The RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos

The RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos

by Arthur Morris with Patrick Sparkman

The RawDigger e-Guide was created only for serious photographers who wish to get the absolute most out of their raw files.

Patrick and I began work on the guide some time in July 2020. At first we struggled. We asked questions. We learned about Max-G values. We puzzled as to why the Max G values for different cameras were different. IPT veteran Bart Deamer asked lots of questions that we could not answer. We got help from RawDigger creator Iliah Borg. We learned. In December, Patrick came up with an Adapted Histogram that allows us to evaluate the exposures and raw file brightness for all images created with all digital camera bodies from the last two decades. What we learned each time prompted three head-to-toe re-writes of the guide.

The point of the guide is to teach you to truly expose to the mega-Expose-to-the-Right so that you will minimize noise, maximize image quality, best utilize your camera’s dynamic range, and attain the highest possible level of shadow detail in your RAW files in every situation. In addition, your properly exposed RAW files will contain more tonal information and feature the smoothest possible transitions between tones. And your optimized images will feature rich, accurate color.

We teach you why the GREEN channel is almost always the first to over-expose. We save you money by advising you which version of RawDigger you need. We teach you how to interpret the Max G values for your Canon, Nikon, and SONY camera bodies. It is very likely that the Shock-your-World section will shock you. And lastly — thanks to the technical and practical brilliance of Patrick Sparkman — we teach you a simple way to quickly and easily evaluate your exposures and raw file brightness using an Adapted RawDigger histogram.

The flower video takes you through a session where artie edits a folder of images in Capture One while checking the exposures and Max-G values in RawDigger. The Adapted Histogram video examines a series of recent images with the pink histograms and covers lots of fine points including and especially how to deal with specular highlights. The directions for setting up the Adapted Histogram are in the text.

If we priced this guide based on how much effort we put into it, it would sell it for $999.00. But as this guide will be purchased only by a limited number of serious photographers, we have priced it at $51.00. You can order yours here in the BAA Online Store.

This image was created on 28 January 2021 at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the Induro GIT 204/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter, and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. The exposure was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. AWB at 9:02am on sunny morning. Tracking Expand Flexible Spot AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed to perfection. Click the image to see a larger version. Image #1: Adult Osprey on the North Field

The Look-back Head Turn

With the wind from the northwest and the sun in the southeast, the bird was pretty much facing away. Fortunately, this bird was quite tame and a bit curious. Had he not turned his head toward me to check out the vehicle, I would never have pressed the shutter button. In the trade, we call this the look-back head turn. Without it, perched wind-against sun images would rarely work (as the bird would be looking directly away from you …) . The combination of the NW wind and the head turn fluffed up the head feathers rather nicely.

Perspective Question

Why did I pull the car up slightly past sun-angle?

ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. This one is Auto-bracketed at zero:: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. The exposure was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. Click on the screen capture view a larger version. Image #1A: Adult Osprey on the North Field

Auto-bracketing with Digital

When using film, I was always opposed to using auto-bracketing, mainly because it was too expensive. In addition, when you did AEB (auto exposure bracket), it seemed that the best action always matched up with the worst of the three exposures. And with digital, I long felt the same way. But once I began evaluating my exposures with RawDigger, I often turned to auto-bracketing when photographing static subjects both to speed up the learning curve and to test my progress. With the incredibly fast frame-rates, it is relatively easy to create three near-identical images of a subject that is not moving.

Today’s featured image was auto-bracketed around 1/3 stop. Note: I always set up my cameras to bracket in third-stops and set the bracketing order to 0, -1/3, +1/3, so that the exposure that I think will be best is always the first one in the sequence. As your exposures get better and better, two of the three in an AEB sequence will often be fine. And at times, times all three will be useable (with one of the three save-able).

In the RawDigger e-Guide you will learn how to set up the Adapted “pink” Histogram and why Image #1A is the perfect exposure.

When You Can Do This Consistently, You Will Know That You Have Exposure Down Pat!

Once you begin using RawDigger you may wish to try some AEB yourself. When you get to the point where the first image in an AEB sequence is the best exposure, you will know that you have exposure down pat. And you can give yourself a pat on the back as I did after evaluating today’s AEB sequence in RawDigger.

ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. This one is Auto-bracketed -1/3-stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. The exposure was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. Click on the screen capture view a larger version. Image #1B: Adult Osprey on the North Field (1/3-stop darker and slightly under-exposed)

One-third stop Too Dark

In the RawDigger e-Guide you will learn how to set up the Adapted “pink” Histogram. And you will learn why Image #1B is 1/3-stop too dark. (Most will be able to figure that out simply by enlarging the screen capture and comparing the G channel histograms.)

ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. This one is Auto-bracketed +1/3-stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. The exposure was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. Click on the screen capture view a larger version. Image #1C: Adult Osprey on the North Field (1/3-stop lighter and slightly over-exposed)

One-third-stop Too Light

Again, in the RawDigger e-Guide, you will learn how to set up the Adapted “pink” Histogram. And you will learn why Image #1C is 1/3-stop too light. The small patch of rosy-red exposure warning on the Osprey’s neck show areas of true over-exposure. Note also the right end of the G channel histogram. In the guide we suggest several ways to save images that feature small areas of over-exposure.

Everyone who purchased a pre-publication copy of the RawDigger e-Guide should have received the final version along with links to the Flower Exposure video and the Adapted “pink” Histogram video yesterday. If you did not receive that mail, please LMK via e-mail.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.