by Lisa Pell
With its, “Sizzling Desert" landscape, Palm Springs offers an opportunity for photo enthusiasts to capture a variety of native low desert plants and expansive desert vistas. Shooting in the Sonoran Desert offers some challenges such as the heat which reaches an average high temperature of 108.1 degrees in July and a record high of 123 in July and August. One way to beat the heat is to schedule time in the early morning or the evenings to take your photos. The advantages of taking photos at these time is in the light. Finding out what time the sun rises and sets will make it possible to take advantage, not only of cooler temperatures, but also making the most of the lighting conditions. Also keep in mind that the quality of natural light varies not only during the day but also throughout year which can add variety to your work.
With its, “Sizzling Desert" landscape, Palm Springs offers an opportunity for photo enthusiasts to capture a variety of native low desert plants and expansive desert vistas. Shooting in the Sonoran Desert offers some challenges such as the heat which reaches an average high temperature of 108.1 degrees in July and a record high of 123 in July and August. One way to beat the heat is to schedule time in the early morning or the evenings to take your photos. The advantages of taking photos at these time is in the light. Finding out what time the sun rises and sets will make it possible to take advantage, not only of cooler temperatures, but also making the most of the lighting conditions. Also keep in mind that the quality of natural light varies not only during the day but also throughout year which can add variety to your work.
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Evening doesn't come until 7 pm |
Temperature and Color: The Basics of Setting Your White Balance
The temperature of color has a wide range between the early morning and late evening. The average noon
daylight temperature is 5000-6500k although a clear cloudless sky can
reach temperatures of 10,000k. Morning and evening light can vary
between 3000-4000k. It is important to understand that that the color
temperature varies because getting the white balance right can be a challenge when working with a digital camera. Setting the white balance correctly on your camera will make your colors look the most realistic, allowing you to capture the nature
beauty of the sometimes subtle other times dramatic variations that
natural lighting can present. Color temperature is often referred to as
warm and cool and if it isn't adjusted for properly can result in
unnatural blue, orange and sometimes green hues in photos. Whereas a
5000k temperature creates a neutral light, a 9000k temperature will
result in more blue wavelengths, while a 3000-4000k
temperature will produce an orange hue. A good way to remember this is
that as the temperature rises, the color hues tend towards the blue end
of the spectrum. Think for instance of a fire, where the hottest part of
the flame is the blue at the center. Most digital camera
have a white balance preset which makes the selection of an appropriate
color temperature easy. What you may not know is that using the auto
white balance offers a limited range between 3000/4000 to 7000k. Using
the Kelvin option will allow you to select the temperature you need
manually over a much broader range. The other setting available, such as
tungsten, fluorescent, daylight, cloudy etc., offer an approximate
value for the lighting conditions under which they will produce the best
images.
Advanced Techniques – Capturing the Best Color and Insuring your Work Against Loss
Another
option is to set a custom balance on your camera. This setting provides
you with the most control while insuring the best results for your
photos. You will need to invest in a 50% grey reference card which is available at most camera supply stores. Using this card you simply take a picture of the grey
reference under the particular lighting conditions. This way the camera
can set the white balance using this information. The first few times
you might need to keep your camera manual on site as there are a few
steps involved in programming the camera to use the data. Although a bit
more involved this is the best way to ensure you get just the right
balance of color in your shot.
While
there is also an option to adjust the color balance afterwards using
Photoshop, you want to avoid this if at all possible as it can reduce
the number of colors in your image. This is known as bit depth.
Bit depth is a term that describes the number of 0's and 1's otherwise
known as “bits” that hold information about the colors in your image.
The selection of standard file formats can will impact the number of
bits available in your image. For example, a jpeg file uses
8-bits, while a TIFF file can capture 16-bits per channel and RAW give
24. Setting your camera for 24 bits per pixel (bpp) will give you the
best possible color results. The JPEG setting produces 16 million
possible tones, which is 6 million more than the human eye can detect,
so it is perfectly suitable for most shots. However, it is when you
start adjusting your photos on Photoshop that you will be
thankful that you've used a higher setting. Even it you are simply
adjusting for brightness and contrast, you may find that the colors
begin to separate. This can be seen for instance in a blue sky which can
begin to show patterns of uneven gradation, known as posterization. Shooting in a RAW format will give you way more room to work once you've brought your
image home. Once you've made your adjustments you will need to consider
whether to save your image as a 16 bit or an 8 bit file. If you are
sure that you've made all the edits your going to make
then go ahead and save as a smaller file. If there is any chance
however, that you might need to go back in the future then you will want
to select the higher format to protect your work and ensure the highest
possible quality. Now that you've got all the information you need to
secure the quality of your images you may also want to make sure you
have the most up to date protection for your equipment.
For many photographers, protecting their equipment from damage or theft
is just as important as protecting the quality of their images when it come to long-term planning.
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