Camera and autofocus

We all like to have right objects sharply in focus on our photos. There is nothing easier than let the camera autofocus to do the job for us. However, the camera autofocus is not a “God almighty”. For best results we have to know, how camera autofocus works and when necessary, make our own decisions. Fortunately, there are some general principles, we can benefit from.

Autofocus selects the nearest contrasty object

When we look through the viewfinder, we usually see a certain number of squares - these mark the placement of autofocus sensors. Depending on camera, there may be from some to several dozen sensors. When we half-press the shutter release button, these sensors start to seek a contrasty subject.

What happens, when there are several contrasty subjects over the autofocus sensors? If all these subjects are in the same distance from the camera, we have no problems - the camera focuses exactly as we need.

Photo1. [Tasapind.jpg] Information board in forest classroom. Many red-blinking squares tell us, that camera could focus at these spots. When photographing a flat surfaces, the camera-suggested focus is ideal. 105 mm; f/8; 1/250 s; ISO 800.

What happens, when several contrasty subjects are in different distances from the camera? Now the camera picks the nearest contrasty subject. The principle is simple, but is the nearest subject always the right one to focus our camera?

Photo 2.  Winter coppice. The camera has decided to use only one focussing sensor locating over the nearest branch. Is this the best point to focus our camera? 105 mm; f/11; 1/60 s; ISO 800.

The rule of thumb tells us, that depth of field covers 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the focussing plane. When we focus just to the closest subject, we will waste 1/3 of the depth of field.

Focussing the right subject

In complex situations we want to focus to the subject other than nearest one? When we let the camera automatically to choose the focus point, that subject usually gets blurred - most likely autofocus picks the nearest contrasty subject. If we photograph an animal hiding behind some grass or branches, we get sharp grass or sharp branches but the animal remains out of focus.

The solution here is to use only a single focussing point. Usually a camera enables user to select and use a single autofocus sensor.

Photo 3.  Bear. When focussing to the bear walking on forest path, we have to use only one focussing sensor. I we let the camera to use all focussing sensors, most likely we will get a sharp tree closest to the camera but unsharp bear. 100-400@400 mm; f/5.6; 1/100 s; ISO 800.

When using single autofocus point, considering another issue is advisable - all focussing points are not equal. Usually the middle or some middle focussing points are the more sensitive and precise than others. Because of that often the photographers use only the central focussing point.

Manual focussing is the most precise

Autofocus is handy in situations when there is no time or no possibility to focus manually. Like in case of moving subjects. When we have the camera placed on the tripod and the subject stays still, it is always best to focus manually. Only manual focus enables us to set precisely focus plane we need it and to use entire depth of field available.

Photo 4. Alder bracket fungus. I used Live View to set the focus precisely to the spot where whole fungus is covered by the depth of field. Autofocus is not able to do that. 100 mm; f/16; 1/4 s; ISO 400, tripod, Live View.

Always read your camera manual carefully. The manual explains how your camera autofocus works and how the user can adjust it. Come to Mooste and we will tell many more tips how to focus your camera in many different conditions.

Story of Harilaid

Harilaid is a sacred place for nature photographers. The nature’s force and fragility with some human disturbance combine here. Each storm changes the shoreline. Nature takes back once built by humans and now abandoned artifacts.

I waited for proper light to take the photo. I walked to Kiipsaare few hours before sunset. Occasionally clouds shaded the Sun but there were some moments of golden light during evening.

How that photo was made?

The story of attention

I placed the camera quite low above the ground. Water-washed sandy cliff with bare roots and beach with human footprints are in foreground. Man-made lighthouse and remnants of a wooden ship are in middle ground. The blue sky with some clouds is in background. The Sun fills the landscape with cosy golden light. We have all four elements - Earth, Water, Air and Fire on the photo.

The story of settings

Lens: 17-40@25mm – wide-angle lens has the feeling of being there and enables to frame all necessary elements into the photo.

Body: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ISO: 800 – Although the camera was on tripod, I needed relatively short exposure time to capture waves.

Aperture: 16 – I wanted to be sure to get whole landscape in focus.

Exposure time: 1/60 s – I wanted the sea waves as sharp as possible.

Exposure compensation: +1 – bright sand and sky needed more exposure than a camera meter suggests.

I placed the tripod low. I focussed manually using Live View function. I timed taking shot when waves rushed through the shipwreck.

The story of a digital darkroom

I used Adobe Camera RAW (v. 6.4.1) to develop the raw file. Camera profile „Camera standard". I added contrast to the photo using “Exposure” and “Blacks” tools. I corrected lens errors (vignetting, distortions) using automatic profile.

Adobe RGB and sRGB

RGB - a century old colour model

Eventually each photographer meets with different colour models and spaces. All digital photographers have used colour models like RGB, CMYK, HSB and Lab. The first colour model, we meet, is RGB model, because all digital cameras use that model.

The RGB colour model was described already in the middle of 19-th century, when photography was in its initial stages and we could only dream about computers. However, the method to describe colours using red, green and blue primary colours was so good, that all modern digital cameras and monitors use it.

When displaying colour picture on the monitor was and achievement by itself, nobody cared about colour accuracy. When computers with colour monitors became common, a problem became evident - different monitors showed same colours differently. Not to talk about displaying all visible colours, something to dream about even today.

To show the same colours with same RGB values accurately, here the need for standardized colour space aroused.

sRGB – the first colour space

Microsoft and Hewlett Packard joined hands to propose first colour space in 1996. It was sRGB. The ability of an average computer monitor to display colours was used as a basis. sRGB became a default colour space for internet and operation systems. The problem with sRGB is that it is the narrowest colour space - it is capable to display only 35% of the visible spectrum. Despite that, it is still probably the most used colour space. To be honest, most common computer monitors still cannot display sRGB gamut.

sRGB colour space (wireframe) covers approximately 35% if the visible spectra. An average office monitor is still unable to display its gamut (solid middle area).

Adobe RGB – standard for printing offices

To overcome the sRGB limits, Adobe Systems worked out a new, wider colour space in 1998. They called it Adobe RGB. The main reason for that was, that sRGB does not cover many colours used in printing process. (Do not think, that printing is capable to produce all Adobe RGB colours!) Adobe RGB covers about 50% of the visible spectra and has biggest advantages over the sRGB in greens and cyans.

Foto 2: [Adobe RGB.jpg] Adobe RGB (wireframe) covers about 50% of the visible spectra. When comparing it with the sRGB, the biggest differences are in greens, but advantages are also in reds and yellows. Only blues are almost the same.

8-bit limits

It is completely reasonable to ask: why the single RGB colour space, covering all the visible spectra, was not created? The answer is practical. Both, sRGB and Adobe RGB are colour spaces capable to provide seamless tonal gradient using 8-bit colour depth. To cover larger colour space, one would need to use a 16-bit space to get smooth tonal gradations. 16-bit file is 2-times larger then 8-bit file. In the middle of 1990-s an average personal computer had 640 kb RAM and a hard disk of 10-20 Mb (it could save only one RAW file from modern DSLR) and a processor worked at 100 MHz. It is understandable, that there was a need to keep bitmap file size small. Even now most software and hardware is capable to process only 8-bit bitmap files and only few are capable to process 16-bit files.

sRGB or Adobe RGB?

What is the point for photographers from previous chapters? Compact cameras saving its files only as jpg files always use sRGB colour space. Here the user cannot do anything. DSLR and advanced compact camera users however have a choice: either sRGB or Adobe RGB. Both these colour spaces are available in RAW converters as well.

When we use sRGB colour space, we may loose some colours, specially in green areas. There is nothing to do with it. When we have a file in sRGB colour space, there is nothing to gain in converting sRGB colours into a larger colour space.

However, there is no bad without good. When photographing subjects with moderate colours, sRGB colour space would provide more smooth tonal gradations than Adobe RGB. At the moment, the sRGB is safe to use in internet as well, but this advantage is about to become obsolete - more web browsers support colour management.

When we want to print our photos on photographic labs, here sRGB is safer again.

The fungus Sarcosoma globosum has no right colours (dots) and everything fits into sRGB colour space well. With that photo using sRGB space would provide better result that using Adobe RGB.

Adobe RGB colour space keeps more colours. Specially, when photographing nature where greens are dominant, using Adobe RGB is a good idea. Also, it is good to use Adobe RGB when preparing photos for printing office or photo printer. New web browsers are able to show Adobe RGB files correctly, although the statistics is sad: ins May 2011 the most used web browser is Internet Explorer 8 and the most used operation system is Windows XP. Both are quite meagre in colour management. However, there is a light at the end of a tunnel Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 9 and Windows 7 are rising in standings. Also, there are many reasonably priced monitors capable to show Adobe RGB gamut.

Chlorociboria aeruginascens	The colours (dots) of green stain fungus (Chlorociboria aeruginascens) is well out of sRGB gamut (wireframe).	Adobe RGB (wireframe) is able to present all colorus of the green stain fungud (dots). Here using Adobe RGB prodices better results than sRGB.

Using advantages of both colour spaces is wise. Therefore, the best solution is to use RAW files. All DSLR and advanced compact camera users can benefit from using RAW files because, depending on our image and on our needs, we can save the file using either sRGB or Adobe RGB colour space.

Besides sRGB and Adobe RGB there are some other useful colour spaces. Come to Mooste and we will talk about colous spaces and colour management in our courses.

The colour space plots were made using Chromix ColorThinkPro.

Story of Brimstone

Brimstones often stay on ground and angle their wings perpendicular to sunrays. Probably they warm themselves that way. To increase wing surface they shift forewings so that it looks like they have an extra tip on their wing.

I used a classic stealth hunt method to take that photo - laid down in safe distance and approached the butterfly crawling slowly. One needs to avoid rapid movements and take care, a sudden shadow wouldn’t fall over the butterfly.

How that photo was made?

The story of attention

The main subject on the photo is a butterfly. I placed him (yes, the male!) right of the centre to leave some space for dry grass to get a spring element to the photo.

The story of settings

Lens: 180mm – used longest macro lens to remain in safe distance and not to disturb the insect.

Body: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ISO: 800 – I handhold the camera. Even I could support mu elbows to the ground, I had to consider a probable camera shake and by increasing the ISO.

Aperture: 10 – depth of field is always critical in close-up shots.

Exposure time: 1/500 s – Thanks to higher ISO I could use short enough exposure time critical to get sharp shots with a handheld camera.

Exposure compensation: +1 – I had no time to look at the histogram but my experience told me, that bright butterfly on light grass needs more exposure than a camera meter suggests.

I tried to set my camera parallel to nearest butterfly wing and focused to the eye using camera autofocus. Because butterfly other wings were angled, the nearest wing and the eye were the least I could have in focus. However, slightly blurred forewings show angled wing position during basking.

The story of a digital darkroom

I used Adobe Camera RAW-ga (v. 6.3) to develop the raw file. Camera profile „Camera standard". Although I used exposure compensation in camera, the photo had still slight underexposure. I corrected underexposure with the tool „Exposure". To make fine adjustments for the highlights and contrast in light areas I used “Curves” tool. To lighten shadow areas a bit I used the tool „Fill light".

Histogram – photographer’s good friend

As much as we would like, there is now automatic formula to measure compositional qualities of the photo. However, we have a very good tool to estimate technical quality of the photo. We may have well-calibrated monitor or the camera with the best light meter. Without understanding and using the histogram, we will get into trouble both when photographing and when developing our photos in digital darkroom.

How the histogram is calculated?

The calculation behind the histogram is simple. All pixels of the image are counted, analysed and distributed between 256 levels of brightness from black (brightness 0) to white (brightness 255). The result is plotted as histogram where horizontal axis is brightness from 0 (left in histogram) to 255 (right in histogram). Vertical axis shows the number of pixels in corresponding brightness level. Because the number of pixels may vary in different images, the scale of the vertical axis is relative. Usually the brightness level with most pixels is set highest and others are set relative to it. To be true, the actual number of pixels in different brightness levels is not that important. In practice we are interested to analyse the tonality of the whole image. Different brightness levels of the histogram are called highlights, midtones and shadows. These names should be self-explanatory or reveal themselves in the example photos.

A common digital image consists of three colour channels - red, green and blue. We can usually plot and analyse histogram for each colour channels separately. If we want to estimate overall brightness of the image, we can use luminosity histogram. The calculation of luminosity histogram takes into account human perception of colours and luminosity. Human eye is most sensitive to the green colour and least sensitive to the blue. Because of that the luminosity histogram values are calculated: L(Luminosity)=0.3R+0.59G+0.11B.

(L – luminosity; brightness of the R – Red; G – Green; B – Blue channels). In simple cameras we can use only brightness histogram.

What can we read from the histogram?

Let us look and analyse different photos and their histograms. I used Adobe Photoshop CS5 to calculate histograms of the full resolution images in Adobe RGB colour space. To present photos in the web, I converted them into sRGB colour space.

		The histogram of well exposed and edited photo is smooth, there are no interruptions. The white  (value 255) and black pixels (value 0) are almost absent. Such histogram tells us, that we have good details in shadows and highlights and tonal gradation is smooth. Having the greatest number of pixels in midtones shows, that the image has medium contrast. The shapes of the colour histograms are similar to the luminosity histogram.
Trees felled by beavers on Pähni hiking trail.  30 mm; f/16; 2.5 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation +2/3; tripod; Live view.

Having greater number of pixels at the edges of the histogram shows us, that the image is contrasty. Higher spikes at the edges of the histogram show us, that the image has many pixels of value 0 and 255. It means, that we are losing details both in highlights and shadows. The histograms of colour channels are intermittent. It shows us, that tonal gradation is not smooth. This photo does not represent the view naturally. However, it still has certain feeling.
	Trees felled by beavers on Pähni hiking trail. Special computer manipulation.

		The heaps of pixels in highlights and shadows sow us, that the photo is contrasty. We still have good details in highlights because there are only some pixels of value 255. High column at the left edge shows that there are many black pixels with value 0 denoting lost details in shadows. The histogram shows, that light contrast in nature exceeds the capability of the camera sensor to record all brightness levels.
Vilbaste springs.  24 mm; f/13; 1/100 s; ISO 100; tripod; Live view.

The photo is dark and the histogram shows, that most pixels reside in shadows and midtones. Hight column at the left edge shows, that there are multiple black pixels with value 0 and correspondingly lost details in shadows. We know, that sunlit snow is white instead of gray, but histogram shows no pixels in highlights. Such histogram suggests exposure error - underexposure.
	Vilbaste springs.  24 mm; f/13; 1/400 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation -2; tripod; Live view.

		The photo is very bright and we see not details on snow. High spike at the right edge of the histogram shows, that there are too many pixels of value 255 in the photo. At the same time, there are no pixels in darkest areas of the photo, what is not correct for the dark water surface. Such histogram indicates exposure error - overexposure.
Vilbaste springs.  24 mm; f/13; 1/25 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation +2; tripod; Live view.

Now we can see details both in the dark bottom of the spring and on the bright details of the snow. The histogram has no too high columns at the edges. Such histogram shows, that the photo has details in all tonalities.
	Vilbaste springs. HDR made from three previous photos.

		Some photos may not have all tonality levels. When we photograph birch trees covered with frost, naturally most of the pixels reside in highlights and details are absent in the shadows.
Frost on birches. 180 mm; f/8; 1/25 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation +2; tripod; Live view.

Night photos has most of its details in shadows. The histogram, where majority of the pixels are in the left, confirms that. Only glowing tip of the abdomen brings some brighter pixels to the image. The photo also tests your monitor capability. If the shape of the beetle is not visible, start thinking of recalibrating or replacing your monitor.
	Glow-worm.  180 mm; f/13; 2 s; ISO 800; tripod; pocket torch.

		White snow covers large area on that photo and naturally, most of the pixels are in the highlights. There is always some light glare from the snowflakes where human eye does not see details. Lost details in such glittering areas are not a problem. Because of that we can live with larger than usual column at the right edge of the histogram. The insect is dark-coloured and brings some pixels into the shadows. Completely black areas are absent.
Grasshopper on snow.  65 mm; f/16; 1/200 s; ISO 400; flash.

The sun is already behind the horizon and lights the sky but stones on the coast are in the shadow. Because of that the photo is very contrasty. The histogram confirms that - most pixels reside either in highlights or in the shadows.
	Naissaare sunset.  400 mm; f/10; 1/45 s; ISO 400; tripod, Live view.

		When the photo has only pastel colours, the luminosity histogram is all we need to look at. Even the yellow leaves bring some vividness to the photo, the luminosity and colour channel histograms are very similar.
Julma Ölkky canyon lake in autumn.  25 mm; f/16; 1/30 s; ISO 800.

If the photo has large areas of saturated colour, we have to look at the colour channel histograms. The luminiosity histogram is excellent. However, red channel histogram shows lost details in highlights and blue channel histogram shows lost details in shadows. This yellow is out of 8-bit Adobe RGB colour space gamut.
	Dandelion.  65 mm; f/14; 1/200 s; ISO 100; flash.

		The beetle landed on the car. Here the luminosity histogram shows no problems, but red channel histogram shows lost details.
Pine sawyer on the car.  30,5 mm; f/4.5; 1/500 s; ISO 80.

The test chart has many small coloured squares. Because of that there are no continuous tones in the photo and the histogram is spiky.  There are less spikes in the histogram than the number of colour squares - some different colours have the same luminosity value.
	X-Rite test chart. 100 mm; f/5.6; 1/125 s; ISO 100, flashes.

The story of the Viiralti oak

Chance hunt has a simple rule – take always a camera with you. However, carrying a large camera bag is sometimes inappropriate. Because of that, I usually have a small pocket camera with me.

I took that photo in February 2009. I had to go to Viljandi. Light morning overcast cleared by midday. Still weather kept frost on trees. When driving back home my eyes stopped (a bit intentionally) on one of the most beautiful Estonian trees - Viiralti oak. I liked the view. I stopped the car and walked to the tree. Actually, this time the photo came to me.

How that photo was made?

The story of attention

There is one main subject on the photo - the oak tree. I nearly centered it in the frame. I made sure, that top of the oak would mostly be against the sky and horizon would not intercept branches. Frost-covered branches stand out nicely against the blue sky. Estonian national hues add a pleasant extra motif.

The story of settings

Lens: 6,0-30,5@7,4mm, image stabilizer

Body: Canon Powershot G10

ISO: 80 - the best quality

Aperture: 4 – because of short focal length the depth of field is sufficient

Exposure compensation: 0 – the histogram showed, that details, both from highlights and shadows were captured

Exposure time: 1/640 s – there was enough light for short exposure time while shooting handheld.

The story of a digital darkroom

I handled the raw file from the camera in Adobe Camera RAW (v. 6.3). The camera profile was set to “Camera standard.” I used automatic lens correction. I lowered midtones using “Brightness” tool and after that recovered highlights with the “Exposure” tool. “Fill light” enabled to get better tree details and again I used “Blacks” tool to recover dark areas.

Using Live view function

When Live view function was added to SLR cameras, many were in doubt - why one would need that compact camera feature? We can already see live action through the viewfinder! Despite initial hesitation, Live view actually delivered a small revolution giving photographers many useful possibilities. I was myself a little cautious initially but after discovering all Live view features, I cannot imagine myself using a camera without it. I will now take you to little excursion around essential uses of Live view.

Full frame preview. Only professional SLR users so far were able to see the full frame through the viewfinder. The viewfinders of other cameras simply did not show the edges of the frame. However, Live view shows 100% preview on the screen. Now we can make sure, frame edges are free of unpleasant surprises. Who wants to train his/her eye in subject placement           can get help from optional gridline display.
	Live view helps to see precisely, what will be in the frame.	Foto [090825ut017]: Näärikivid erratic boulders. 50 mm; f/11; 1/50 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation +1; tripod; Live view.

The best exposure meter. Setting correct exposure has been one of the most important and sometimes difficult tasks from the first days of photography. The photographer had to rely on a camera or handheld exposure meter. However, in Live view mode we can see the histogram of the planned photo on the screen.

		The histogram shows precisely where highlights will start to burn out and where shadows would get pure black. Thus, we can see how much exposure compensation we need. Better cameras enable to see even more precise histogram by separate RGB channels. Just one precaution - even when you shoot RAW - the camera uses its jpg settings for histogram calculation!
We can set precise exposure in Live view mode by reading the histogram of the future photo.	Shaggy Pholiota. 32 mm; 12 mm extension ring; f/14; 0.3 s; tripod; Live view.

Precise manual focusing. You can have the best focusing screen, but precise manual focusing is always a challenge.

Live view enables us to enlarge whatever part of the frame and hence to focus precisely to any detail. Consequently, Live view mode is of great help when judging depth of the field or setting tilt when using tilt-shift lenses. Both, my macro and landscape photos got better sharpness after using Live view mode.
	In animal photos it is good to eye in focus. Live view helps to set it precisely. 252 mm; f/10; 0.4 s; ISO 100; exposure compensation +1; tripod; Live View.	100% of the eye pixels.

Avoiding vibrations. All SLR-s have a common problem - moving mirror and shutter cause vibrations resulting less sharp photos. Especially close-up and long lens shooters know the problem. Already film cameras had the mirror lock-up function enabling to rise the mirror up before releasing the shutter. However, with the mirror up you cannot see what is going on in the frame. Has the wind breeze stopped? Is the tripod steady? Is the animal in place?

Live view saves us from three problems:

1) we will always see what is going on in the frame and we can press the shutter release button at the right moment;

2) the mirror is up already and does not cause any vibrations;

3) newer cameras use an electronic shutter in Live view mode and here eliminate even small vibrations caused by the shutter movements.

As a result Live view mode enables to shoot with least mechanical movements possible. In practice we can eliminate all vibrations caused by the mechanical movements of the camera parts. That is the best option the close-up shooters can ever imagine.
	Eight seconds exposure time is not a problem even when the tripod rests on soft moss and litter. Slime molds in 5:1 scale. 65mm; f/16; 8 s, ISO 800; tripod; Live view.	Live view enables to enlarge the part of the image we want sharply in focus. When looking at an enlarged image we can detect the smallest vibrations caused either by wind, subject movements or touching camera and press the remote controller shutter release when everything is still.

Video. After Live view was added to the SLR, the engineers discovered, that it can be used to capture a video. Sure, there are subjects suited to still photos and there are subjects for moving images. Simply pressing few buttons and you can have either or both of them.

Are there any shortcomings of using Live view mode? Yes, there are some. For fast-moving subjects it is still better to use a “good old” viewfinder. Also, auto focusing in Live view mode has room for development. Keeping a mirror up, shutter open and display on drains batteries and they last less. Even new batteries have good capacity, is good idea to have 1-2 fully charged backup batteries ready. On the other hand all benefits outweigh the cost of extra batteries by a large margin. A serious photographer has a good tripod and remote control already in their equipment list.

Like with any new feature, the Live view features are not standardized between camera manufactures and models. Different cameras might have some differences from the features described above. Read your camera manual, what Live view features it has. When you are considering to purchase a new camera, consider it’s Live view capabilities seriously. Sure, in future camera models we will see many improvements of a Live view feature.

The story of a drinker moth

Nature photographer

I have photographed insects on snow for several years, but when I go out in winter, I still find new intriguing moments adding new dramatic fragments to the whole story. The photo of a drinker moth caterpillar is one of those.

I visited the Vilbaste springs (Estonia) again in February, a year ago. The day and night before, there was a thaw. When I reached the springs, temperature quickly dropped. I found a drinker moth caterpillar. It was laying sidewise on freezing snow. Snowflakes, falling from the sky started to bury it. My first response was sad - the caterpillar had not enough time to hide itself under the snow from the cold...

However, when I asked our grand old butterfly specialist, Dr. Jaan Viidalepp, to confirm the species, he reacted winsomely: the caterpillar likes it! In spring, a nice butterfly would emerge. So my own feelings arouse - the sad story became a joy story.

How this photo was made?

The story of attention (composition)

I placed the caterpillar near to the lower edge of the photo - the caterpillar wouldn’t fall from the photo and snowflakes, covering the caterpillar, have room to fall.

The story of settings

Lens: MP-E 66, attached via tripod collar and Novoflex focusing rack.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II

Scale: 1:1 - the longest edge of the frame is 36 mm

ISO: 100 - the best quality

Aperture: 16 - the smallest aperture the lens enables. I would liked to have a little more depth of the field, but equipment set its limits here.

Exposure compensation: +1 2/3 - most of the frame is white snow “fooling” the camera meter. I used the histogram in Live View mode as a reference to set required compensation.

Exposure time: 0.3 s - as much as it was set by the camera in Av mode after the exposure compensation was set. Actually, I did not care of the exposure time since the caterpillar and snowflakes were static.

I made sure, that the camera (sensor) and the caterpillar would be parallel - otherwise either caterpillar’s head or “tail” would be blurred. To avoid a camera shake I pressed the shutter release on the remote control in Live View mode. To find firm support for the tripod in soft snow was hardest part in taking the photo. Holding breath during exposure made the job.

The story of a digital darkroom

I handled the raw file from the camera in Adobe Camera RAW (v. 6.3). The camera profile was set to “Camera standard.” To get a good result here, the key is to set more contrast both, to the caterpillar and snowflakes using “Curves” tool. There are virtually no important midtones on the photo to take care of and contrast curve can be lower there.