All My Blogs

Black-billed magpie, Yoho National Park, BC - backlit and underexposed. A backlit field often renders a subject significantly underexposed, in this case by about three stops (see bottom left inset).  There are few details in the shadows, which renders the bird as a silhouette in this case.  There are about eight stops of latitude in a JPEG (HEIF formats are better at around 10), while raw images carry much more, often surpassing 12 stops.   Although HEIF images are superior to JPEGs in almost every way, few apps allow you to edit an HEIF without converting it to a JPEG first.  So, either way, if you're not shooting in raw file mode, you are making JPEG images (if you plan on editing them at all outside of the camera that took them). This may be the point at which one could argue that you have to convert the raw image into a JPEG for it to be of much use.  While that is true (most web platforms won't work with raw images), they also don't work with HEIF imag...

Ring-billed gull (left) and Foster's tern (right) photographed using my Z6iii camera I am not well-versed in electronics and do not have a good understanding of the word "gain" as it applies to digital photo sensors.  So I have had to do some research on this to understand what exactly gain is and what a dual-gain sensor is.   The voltage produced by electronic sensors that convert light into electricity is very low, and that's at a sensor's native ISO.  As ISO increases, those voltages become even lower.  The problem with high ISOs is that the background electronic noise that exists starts to interfere with the generated values produced, especially in shadows, which results in this thing we call noise.  I have written about this before ( click here to see good examples on noise). Gain is related to noise - the higher the ISO, the greater the need to boost the signal.  Boosting the signal (gain) results in brighter images (underexposed images from nat...

Alberta Jewel Spider photographed with my iPhone 15 Pro I discovered that my 3x lens on my iPhone defaults to using the ultrawide lens (0.5x) for close-ups.  The problem with this is that the ultrawide does not have the resolution of the main camera (1x), and getting really close physically blocks light.  The solution requires a few steps. The first step is to switch the camera to ProRAW & Resolution control (Settings > Camera > Formats) from the lower-resolution mode.  In your iPhone's Camera app, you can choose whether to use RAW or HEIF format.  I use RAW, but the HEIF format is also a good choice, especially if you can't deal with raw images.  Since I use Photoshop, it is not a problem for me. Then you have to turn off the automatic switching between cameras when doing macros.  You can find the Macro Control slider under the Camera app in Settings (Settings > Camera, then scroll way down).  Turn it off (slide the "slider" control to th...

Killdeer photographed in Red Deer, Leva Avenue Natural Area.  July 16, 2026. I have been shooting with my new lens and camera for two months now.  I have taken over 1600 photos with it on a variety of settings, although mostly in manual exposure mode.  The camera has performed well, and the 180-600 lens is reasonably sharp. On the upside, the 24 mp full-frame sensor produces low noise at modest ISO settings (an ISO of 800 produces images with little noise).  Although it lacks the resolution of the Z7, Z8, and Z9 series, I find the reach of the zoom at 600 mm adequate.  In the event that more magnification is needed, I can use a1.4x teleconverter.  Image quality takes a bit of a hit, and my minimum aperture turns to f/9 when using the TC.  Using a higher ISO to compensate for the light loss does not seem to affect the images. The downside of the Z6iii's sensor is that it lacks the dynamic range of other Nikon cameras.  Having said that, it has not ...

Top:  Yellow-headed blackbird, Clay-coloured sparrow, Yellow warbler, Hairy woodpecker. Middle:  Bonaparte's gull, American goldfinch, Song sparrow, Double-crested courmarant. Bottom:  Red-winged blackbird, Foster's tern, Franklin's gull, Spotted sandpiper. There are about 270 species of bird regularly present in Alberta at some point during the year, and another 150 or so that are accidental, and another 30 or so that are migratory but not present for breeding or are residents.  There are a few more species not included in the above shot that I have photographed or just seen (including corvids, hawks, grebes, and gulls).  If I go back into my files from previous years, I am sure I could come up with about 100 species or so. The great thing about birding in Alberta is that there is such diverse habitat.  Mountains, large lakes, small lakes, ponds, potholes, prairie, woodlands, and more.  There are also very large parks dedicated as habitat for wildlife...

1. My friend, Charles, in an enclosed mobility aid.  2. Walker with 2 wheels.  3.  4-wheeled walker with seat/wheelchair.  4.  Electric mobility aid.  5.  All-terrain mobility aid. Mobility aids.  They can be anything from a simple stick to a complicated, enclosed electric scooter complete with signal, head, and tail lights.  All of them have one purpose - to help those with mobility challenges get around.  So, why are some of them banned? It depends on the jurisdiction.  The main item drawing attention is the enclosed mobility aid, such as a weather-proofed personal cart that gives extra protection to the user, seen in the above photo (1).  They may be deemed too powerful, too large, or too fast.   A scooter/mobility aid does not require insurance to operate.  They are not legal on roadways, in the same way that pedestrians are not.  Yet, as they get larger, enclosed, or more powerful, their place on the si...