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You are here: home → archives → columns → Slightly Out of Focus
Gene Rodman is a local photographer with a gallery called Montana Photographic Arts a few miles north of Red Lodge. His columns explore photographic tips and techniques, ranging from the basics to advanced techniques. He's always open to comments, questions, and ideas for future columns.
by Gene Rodman
Recently I was given three old copies of Popular Photography from 1940. Film back then was becoming readily available in rolls, and 35mm cameras called "miniatures," were all the rage because of their ease of operation. Sure you had to carry a separate light meter to measure the brightness of the light of the scene you wanted to photograph.
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by Gene Rodman
It's getting to that time of year when we we'll have the time to organize our images and also do what we really needed to do all along; back up our photos. Organizing and backing up our images is not part of anyone's creative process. It's like brushing your teeth; you know you need to do it every day but unless you develop a routine you can easily overlook doing it and pay for it later.
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by Gene Rodman
I always enjoy fall. Even though we may have gotten a snowstorm in September, we are usually guaranteed nice weather until the trees have dropped their leaves and the Halloween candy has been eaten. Fall is the most colorful time of year for photographing. Last year we got cheated on fall colors when there was a hard freeze just as the trees were starting to change.
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by Gene Rodman
Getting a really good photograph involves many factors: proper lighting, exposure, focal length of the lens, knowledge of depth of field, and the idiosyncrasies of your camera. But the most important thing for a good photograph is being there. There are images everywhere and knowing where and when to take them is the crux of photography.
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by Gene Rodman
For photography there is no bad month in Montana. Although the heat of August has never appealed to me, it gives me an excuse to head into the mountains. Bringing a camera with me has always been my standard procedure. My pack is usually the heaviest of the group because I insist on bringing a tripod. If you have read any other of my articles you know I recommend having and using one. Getting a good image has always been more important than my comfort.
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by Gene Rodman
Sometimes I get tired of color photographs. Many photographs don't even seem real anymore. Magazines photos are all overdone; skin is flawless and the colors are all oversaturated. We may wonder how anything can look so good and perfect. Welcome to the world of Photoshop, where reality is relative.
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by Gene Rodman
Have you ever wondered why your camera produces really good photos sometimes and really awful ones other times? Do you ever wonder why the landscape you're looking at doesn't translate the same to the photo?
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by Gene Rodman
Remember when we put film in our cameras and our images were recorded on that film? Photography was a chemical process. There was no image preview after the shutter was snapped. Many times it was weeks later when we got to see how we did. If we wanted to make sure there was going to be an image on our film we had make sure ALL the settings on the camera were correct and that exposing film properly was rather important. If we let too much light in there would be way too many light areas. If we didn't let in enough light, our negatives barely had any image on them.
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by Gene Rodman
I believe I've made every mistake in photography you can make. Many times it's just not paying attention to what I'm doing. Certainly automatic digital cameras have improved the film mistakes of the past but they have brought with them more complexity and a whole new set of problems. This month, I've put together some common photography mistakes. I'd like to say I've never made any of these mistakes but, in truth, I've made them all and some, several times over.
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by Gene Rodman
Ever since we have been able to express ourselves in art--from cave drawings to painting, sculpture, and photography--we have been obsessed with who we are. If we are shown a photograph of a group of people that includes us, our eye is drawn to our own image first, before it wanders to the others in the photograph. Although we like to record our environment and that which interests us we, more often, are drawn to record ourselves and those most important to us. We record our own humanity more than any other subject. To record ourselves is to record God in his own image.
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by Gene Rodman
Maybe you got a new camera for Christmas, or you have always wanted to get better photographs from your camera. I'll bet anyone would say that their camera keeps giving them the same kind of photographs. They would also say that they seldom, if ever, take their camera off of automatic. A fallacy of photography is that the camera is what controls the quality of the photography. Modern cameras do produce better-quality images but whether you get a good photograph has more to do with the operator than the camera. As long as you let the camera do all the thinking for you it will continue to do what it is designed to do, produce average photographs.
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by Gene Rodman
Photographers are a lot like drug addicts. They start off with a simple point and shoot automatic camera and, if the bug bites them, they start hiding spare change from their spouse to buy film or the next greatest fix--I mean toy. From then on only a twelve-step program has a chance of curbing the addiction. The moment I started clicking a cameras shutter I was hooked and there is still no redemption in sight.
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by Gene Rodman
I often have people coming into the gallery wanting to get back into photography. They wonder if their film camera, which gave them many years of great service, is worth dusting off and loading with film again. As with most photography questions the answer is usually "it depends."
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by Gene Rodman
I'm always window shopping on eBay, looking for some great deals on lenses. If I had unlimited funds I know what lenses I'd like to have; they are written on a board over my desk. I've researched what I need for the kind of photography I do, but I find most people don't know what to look for when looking for a lens for their camera. What do all the numbers and letters mean on the description of the lens?
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by Gene Rodman
Sometimes it's hard to be inspired with my photography, I go through moods. I'm sure everybody does. There are definite favorite subjects of mine, but sometimes it's good to have something for guidance. One of the ways I do this is to give myself an assignment.
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by Gene Rodman
This summer we've been lucky to have a high school student intern with us. Along with helping us with the mundane parts of a business, we have been helping her understand all that's involved in running a gallery, and the craft of photography in general.
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by Gene Rodman
In a couple of days, the evening skies will light up with fireworks. It's not very often we are able to get a good photograph of the kids swirling sparklers around, or the grand finale of the fireworks show on the East bench on the 4th of July.
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by Gene Rodman
As the weather becomes more comfortable to venture outdoors in, the grass is green, and the flowers are blossoming everywhere, some of us are starting to get the photo bug. If our current camera is not quite up to our expectations or we lag behind in the technology it might be time to think of upgrading. With so many different types of cameras, features, and prices how can one know that they are getting what they want and need?
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by Gene Rodman
Photoshop is synonymous with photo processing software for image enhancement and manipulation. Any photographer that uses it will sing its praises. Even though I work with it every day and have four or five thick books on how it works I know just a small portion of the program. Trying to sift through the mass of information and learn some important basics is frustrating to anyone who is first exposed to it. What are the important basics? Where do I begin?
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by Gene Rodman
Last week on my way into Billings, traveling at 70 mph, I saw what I thought was a photograph. I was even compelled enough to turn around to get another look to see if it was indeed something worth recording. Someone had plowed their field and the snow had not melted in the bottoms of the rows. These created dark and light patterns in the field that I thought were interesting.
It made me think of all the times I see an image and, even though I may even have my camera with me, I keep driving. Photography helps us see. Diane Arbus said, "I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them."
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by Gene Rodman
There are SO many international symbols and acronyms used in photography. In the last couple of articles, I've tried to explain what some of those letters and symbols are on your camera dial. If you missed those articles, just go to LocalRag.com. On the right side of the front page is a list of columns. Click on "Slightly Out of Focus" and you'll see everything I've written for the Rag.
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by Gene Rodman
Gene tells us about the symbols on your digital camera's dial that set different modes to use when shooting pictures. This is a continuation of his previous column, which covered the letters on the dial.
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by Gene Rodman
Ever wondered about that dial on top of your digital camera that's labeled P,S,A,M? Gene explains all!
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by Gene Rodman
Every morning when we open our eyes we create our reality. We awake with all the possibilities of a world we can create anew. Consider the story of Chuang Tsu who awoke from a dream of being a butterfly. He was not sure if he was Chuang Tsu dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly now dreaming he was Chuang Tsu.
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by Gene Rodman
Now that we have all been into our photography for much of the summer, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the filters photographers use to help improve photos, and deal with some of the problems taking certain pictures. I'm not one of those that has to have every accessory in the back of a photography magazine but I do have a few trusty filters that I always have handy. Some I keep on my camera all the time because they are useful so frequently.
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by Gene Rodman
Now that summer is upon us and everyone is out taking pictures, I thought I'd give everyone a few things to think about when you put your camera up to your eye and are about to squeeze the shutter. Most of us see something pretty and without much thought start snapping away. I am always looking for pictures but knowing when there's a image that's unique takes a little practice. This month's photo is one I saw immediately but had to use different lenses until I got the right shot. Even so, the shot I chose was one in the middle of the twelve shots I took while studying my subject. Here are a few tips to help you to hone your photography:
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by Gene Rodman
A couple of months ago I stopped in Gary's bookstore and he asked me to do an article on photographing animals. He was having a particularly hard time getting his cat to co-operate for one of his ad shots. Now there is something to be said about shooting trained animals that can sit when asked, look attentive when needed, and just be cute on cue.
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by Gene Rodman
Macro Photography is on Gene's mind this month. He explains it all here.
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by Gene Rodman
Gene goes tries to answer the age-old question "Is Photography Art?"
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by Gene Rodman
After reading Tom's photography article in the Rag last month, I got a thought from something he touched on. Sometimes I need to hear the same thing five times or more from different people before it sinks in. I remember having a difficult time understanding how the color photography thing ever happened. This is a perfect example of not knowing the technology but still being able to use it.
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by Gene Rodman
Recently Tracy and I were out taking pictures and, once again, I tried to outsmart my camera by guessing what the exposure would be for the light we were shooting. Remember I mentioned in December's article how the whiteness of snow can throw off the camera's meter, resulting in an underexposed picture? Well, we were shooting in snow so I gave the picture a little extra exposure by slowing down the shutter speed. My guess was close but my picture was still a little underexposed. How did I know it was underexposed? My camera?like most digital cameras?has a little viewing screen on the back so I can see the picture I just took. My camera is only a few years old but not up to the quality of the latest models, so my preview screen is smaller than newer ones. It's also pretty scratched up, making it hard to see my picture in the bright snow. That's okay, because I didn't use my preview to really know if my picture was underexposed; I used the histogram. So what is a histogram?
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by Gene Rodman
One difficulty with being a hobbyist photographer is finding the time to take pictures. We all hear that the best times for photography are in the morning and evening hours when the light is warmer & softer, and the shadows are longer. In the cold morning hours of winter I'm definitely not a morning person.
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by Gene Rodman
Now that another glorious fall has passed and the trees are bare we look forward to--hopefully--much snow this winter. Snow offers some challenges to photographers, mainly because it's white. Anyone who has ever tried to paint a room or two in their house knows that there are many, many whites to choose from.
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by Gene Rodman
Everyone in Red Lodge is a photographer--or at least they should be. After another glorious fall and our first snowstorm I'm again reminded that we live in a unique place.
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