All My Blogs

Smart phones usually don't have variable apertures.  They employ something called an artificial aperture. By far the majority (some Samsung phones excluded) of cell phone cameras use what is called a fixed aperture.  The small size of the camera's sensor produces quite a bit of depth of field, even when aperture values are at low values such as f/1.4.  By choosing portrait mode, you can artificially alter the aperture value.  This is done in-camera and actually has nothing to do with the aperture of the lens. A very small camera in the front camera array is a ToF (time of flight) camera with a sensor designed to determine distances of the scene in front of you.  In portrait mode, there is an aperture bar that appears underneath the image.  By sliding the bar to the left or right you can emulate aperture values.  Apple uses actual f/numbers while Android uses the numbers one through seven.  What is interesting about this is that the actual aperture...

  Two of the 17 illustrations I have in Chapter 1 of my book on Cell Phone Photography. I finished my revision of my intro to digital photography book (3rd edition) and now find myself working on my next project, Cell Phone Photography.  Smartphone cameras have become very popular to the point that compacts have pretty much died.  DSLR and mirrorless cameras still hold a lot of market share, given their enormous flexibility and quality.   I have been learning quite a bit as I put the book together.  For example, did you know that Apple iOS and Android represent about 99.4% of the operating systems in today's market?  Blackberry's peak was in 2010 and by 2014 they were dead.  The remaining 0.6% involves Microsoft's OS and Samsung's OS.  Although Apple has about a third of the market, they produce some of the best cameras and software and are well-established. I have been reading up about cell phone sensors and how hybrid zooming works.  V...

Tony McCullough has left us, far too soon.  Rest in peace, my friend. What is the measure of a person?  How is it that we remember one person so clearly while another disappears in the thin mists of elapsed time?  I believe the answer lies in the difference that individual makes in the lives of others. There are many ways that someone can impact other people.  They can bring joy, a sense of trust, help, and be a role model for the way forward.  And not just on an occasional basis; every single day while they are with us, these people offer themselves up and in doing so make a difference in the lives of those around them. Tony McCullough was such a character.  He was a man of passion, and although not big in stature, he was a giant in the impact he made on others.  He was a leader at heart.  Not afraid to say what was needed to be said and wise enough to say it well.  Tony, Mr. McCullough to his students, was a paragon of knowledge.  He l...

Three Gap Lake, British Columbia.  There are a number of ways to make a panorama.  My preferred way has been to shoot numerous DSLR images, rotating a bit with each shot, and then stitching them together later on in Photoshop.  For most people, this would not be an acceptable method as viable software may not be available or too intimidating.  With a course that I am teaching in cell phone photography coming up, I have been playing with iPhones. The iPhone 11 I purchased has a panorama function.  While on a trip to Alberta, I decided to put that utility to the test.  An attractive scene put the opportunity in my lap and so I brought out my newly acquired device.  It was a simple matter of pressing a few buttons, following the instructions, and performing a slow-motion pirouette. The result was impressive.  A nice panorama without any post-editing massaging.  Furthermore, it was huge.  Its pixel dimension was 11,178 x 3694.  To put i...

iPhone 11 was used to create the above images. I will be writing a learning guide on cell phone photography.  In order to do that, I thought it prudent to purchase an iPhone, and so, for $400, I bought my very first Apple phone.  I have been playing with it a bit and today did some photos comparing the images it provides.  There are three lenses, the first three images above and the resulting crops (follow the arrow) were made with the 0.5x, the 1.0x, and the 2.0x lenses.  These are called optical zooms or images because the image produced is exactly as the sensor sees it. The last image was magnified by the camera's software using a process called interpolation.  The same lens that created the 2.0 times image (3rd from left) created the far right shot, which then was cropped to produce the relative enlargement.    The first two images are relatively clear but the third one is a bit off.  I think that the focus point was in the wrong place which r...

Melee at the dachshund get-together. My dog, Murphy, is a dachshund, and we bring him to the occasional dachshund club get-together.  He is normally a very shy dog.  He avoids other dogs by giving them a wide berth whenever possible.  However, he doesn't seem to mind meeting up with other dachshunds.   I was walking him yesterday and a lady walking her own dachshund was coming from the opposite direction.  Murphy's reaction to other dogs is usually very predictable; not so with other members of his own breed.  They touched noses and actually shared a moment of canine closeness that rarely involves himself in. Today we went to a birthday party for a 9-year-old wiener dog that had, via her owner, invited a host of other doxies.  There were about 12 of the little dears there and they scampered about playfully.  I took a few shots with my camera and long lens as I had it with me at the time.  The above shot was one of the better ones; I woul...

There is a pair of mourning doves that seem to be taking up residence in my backyard.  I have seen them a few times now, and this morning I thought they were involved in some hanky-panky.  They like to nest in a secure place, likely a tree or bush, that has a simple platform structure.  You can build one out of hardware cloth. OK, I had to look that up.  What is hardware cloth?  It is a fine mesh steel "fabric", really being something like chicken-wire with a very tight woven form that will prevent eggs or chicks from falling through.  According to a Home guides website (click here ), you construct it in a conical nature, probably something akin to a shallow bowl.   Mourning doves spend a lot of time on the ground, as suggested by the photo I took yesterday.  They are fond of smaller seeds, such as millet, and have been foraging around my empty garden and very dead-looking lawn.  I have yet to determine if they will, in fact, nest in the...

Male Barrow's goldeneye (center) and while preening (inset) Last week I chanced upon a couple of goldeneye ducks at a local pond bud didn't have my camera.  Today I returned more prepared and was not disappointed.  There was only a single male, but he was spectacular nonetheless.   Goldeneyes are well deserving of their names; the bright yellow iris is hard to miss.  Their eclipse plumage is quite different, especially for the males, and do not show the large white patch near the bill.  Common goldeneyes have a larger, more circular white patch. Goldeneyes will nest in a variety of places.  They will readily take tree cavities or nest boxes built for ducks, but also build nests in human structures or in rocky crags.  The birds favour aquatic vegetation and invertebrates and can be seen diving under the water to search for such. I have seen goldeneye ducks in both BC and Alberta, but have never gotten a decent photo of one until today.  I am h...

Costco had an amazing deal on bird feeders.  A stand that holds 4 feeders and a suet cage with a squirrel baffle was a very good price. It included 2 bird feeders in the package.  Since I had two other feeders I hadn't put up yet, it seemed like a good way to start attracting birds. I have had problems with cats and squirrels in the past.  The steel pole meant cats and squirrels could not climb it and the baffle reduced the chances even more.  I hung all four feeders, filled with black sunflower seeds, and one suet pack. I have had song sparrows, house finches, juncos, and house sparrows attend it so far, that I have seen.  I got a good shot today of a house finch (above); very colourful in its reddish-purple suit.  These are year-round residents and are welcome additions to my feeders.   I have a millet mix that I will use for one of the feeders.  I find that birds will toss seeds that are not desirable in order to get to the sunflower seeds...

Knox mountain pond, behind my house. I live just east of Knox Mountain in Kelowna.  I only have to walk a block or two to access a trail that leads to a maze of paths crisscrossing the landmark.  A couple of days ago I walked up the incline and discovered something unexpected; a pond. The water body is not large, maybe the size of a football field.  Nonetheless, its existence was a pleasant surprise as it has given me a new goal in my striving to be active.  Not only do I now have a destination in my exercise regimen that excites me, but I also have a place where I can bring my camera and get a few inspiring photos.  Birds, scenery, insects, and who knows what else? That's the great thing about getting outside, even if it is just in the neighbourhood.  There are things out there that you may not be aware of.  Besides, being active is important, especially as you get older.  I have always hated exercise just for its own sake; I would much rather ha...

  One of the reasons I encourage photographers to travel is because there is a myriad of new things and experiences to enjoy.  You don't have to go far, but the benefit of greater distance is an increased chance something unfamiliar will appear.  Birding is a good example of this.  Around my house, there are maybe fifty species of birds, but on any one day, I may see only five or six.  Most of those are the same ones I see each day.  Robins, towhees, crows, juncos, chickadees and song sparrows are the most frequent.  If I travel a few miles from home I stand a better chance of seeing something slightly different.  Herons, blackbirds, eagles, kingfishers, ravens, and pigeons are all frequent sightings. Out of the city towards the more rural areas, less familiar birds start to appear.  Yellow-rumped warblers, green herons, golden-crowned kinglets, varied thrushes, and red-breasted sapsuckers start to show up.  I have seen some of these aro...