Histograms! Sounds like a medical procedure or, worse yet, mathematics.
Well, if you’re a photographer, histograms are your friends. Don’t be intimidated by them. Learn how to use a histogram and your images will dramatically improve.
What Is a Histogram?
In digital photography a histogram is an electronic display of all the pixels, light-to-dark, recorded on the sensor when you press the shutter release. It appears as a graph on the rear LCD screen in DSLR cameras and even on many point-and-shoots, such as the Canon G12.
There is really no such thing as …

In Search Of the perfect ISO for your photographic efforts? So many amateur photographers I meet are confused about what the ISO means and how to best tune it to their imaging needs. I thought I’d give a brief primer here on the topic.
Just What Is ISO?
ISO is equivalent to what we called ASA during film days. ISO is a measure of how sensitive a sensor is to light. The higher the ISO, the better its ability to record light, but the ‘grainier’ the image looks. There’s always a trade-off, …

I’m all wet. I admit it. Part of my job sometimes involves getting into water up to my waist to capture a scene. But when I notice that someone with a camera is watching me, I shudder with angst that by following my example s/he might get into trouble… which prompts this blog.
Summertime invites water images, but taking an image while standing in water is fraught with difficulty and danger. I never, ever take such shots casually. I take prudent precautions and preparations. I always weigh the risks carefully before …

I have to run this one by you all. I recently tried to make reservations at a pricey B&B in Brookline, Massachusetts. It seems like a very nice, comfortable B&B, judging by their website. I’ll be visiting my stepson, daughter-in-law and newest grandson and the B&B looked pretty convenient. After giving the very pleasant woman my credit card info, I was ready to hang up, when she asked if I knew their cancellation policy. Well, no, I guess I didn’t.
“We have a 14-day cancellation policy, for any reason,” she tells …

I get asked this question frequently at workshops and from you readers online. People wonder what software I regularly use and what websites I regularly visit. So, here goes.
Please, No PhotoShop!
I came into digital photography kicking and screaming in my fifties. I started by trying to climb the learning curve with Photoshop on my PC. Now for those of you who use Photoshop regularly and expertly, my hats are off to you. But after a few months of diligently studying and experimenting, I found I was taking way too much …

As the summer travel season heats up, there has recently been a lot of discussion on safety issues when traveling abroad. Some commentary focuses on personal (bodily) safety and other on property safety. I recently pointed my readers to an article (http://www.consumertraveler.com/columns/traveling-to-europe-this-summer-keep-your-camera-equipment-and-valuables-safe/) by one of my colleagues at Nikonians.org concerning keeping your equipment safe while traveling.

As it turns out, I was asked to do a companion piece on equipment travel safety from my own personal experiences as a travel photojournalist for the blog site of Darwin Wiggett. For those of you …

It’s probably the oldest truism in photography. “If I only had THAT piece of equipment- that newest pro digital camera, that newest $6,000 lens, that newest gizmo- then I could take pictures like that!” Sigh. How many times have you heard that during your lifetime? Oh, what’s that? You haven’t actually said that yourself, have you?
Well, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that said to me, I’d be able to open my own (part-time) bar in Tahiti and not have to work at making photographs. We’ve …

For the final blog in this travel series on Albuquerque, I’ll look at some restaurants that I recently sampled, along with two hotels I experienced. A third motel I stayed in, about 45 minutes outside of ABQ, I will not mention here, even though they left me a wonderful surprise in my bed… a bedbug! Needless to say I darted out of there as quickly as I could. I did post a (negative) review of the hotel on Trip Advisor.
RESTAURANTS
ABQ is a great city, blessed with a wide variety of …

I frequently get questions from readers concerning the safety of their photo equipment when they travel. This is no small concern. As cameras have shrunk and price tags have swollen, so has the tendency of light fingers to pick your pockets, so to speak, increased. Not a pretty picture.
So I was pleased to come across an article written by a photographer colleague, Ned Levi, who is one of the expert commentators and forum supervisors at the Nikonians website (www.nikonians.org). Ned is one of those incredibly knowledgeable resources who tirelessly imparts …