Your life’s work exists on drives. Most of us don’t have a room full of negatives anymore, or filing cabinets full of information. It’s all on drives.
Backups aren’t a particularly exciting topic for many, but they are critical. I see people treat backups as an afterthought with disturbing regularity. “Yea, I got an external drive I copied to last year around here somewhere…”
I hope that’s not you. If we don’t do better than that, there’s going to be a day where we regret it. So to make sure we’re not missing the boat, lets talk about backing up and I’ll share a few tips to help you stay safe.
P.S. Here are a few links to products I mentioned today. You can also follow Seim on Facebook to join events live.
by Seim: When I was starting our over a decade ago out I struggled with how the best images makers made such pristine sharp work. I set myself to the task; HOW ARE THEY SO SHARP and along the way I discovered the foundations of what makes a crisp beautiful image. I want to share some of that today.
There’s not one magic formula, but there are important rules that all have to work together. This is not about how much digital sharpening you use. Whether you’re Ansel Adams or Joe Digital Smith, razor sharp images are not an accident. Clear images are married to the artistic vision itself, starting in camera, not in post.
The Bottomless Pit. Taken on an A7R II, this image represents the most dynamic range I’ve been able to capture in a single RAW file. Correctly processed it resulted in a smooth single frame image with abounding detail. The slightest movement during exposure would have ruined it.
#5 The Depths.
Depth of field not looked at deep enough. The wider the aperture (smaller number) the more light you get and the more fallout on focus you get. That background blur can be stunning, but let’s say you focus on a person 5 feet away who is slowly moving towards you, those eyes will be soft in the time it takes you to press the shutter. Those wide open apertures are fickle things.
We can raise that aperture setting higher (smaller opening and more depth of field) 5.6, 8.0, etc. That will help give more focus depth, but will also require a slower shutter speed which could introduce motion blur. Even if you are stable, too high an aperture number (smaller opening) can bring you loss of detail on the far end because of the limits of your lens. Don’t assume that because you’re doing a landscape you should use the smallest aperture available. I close the aperture down only to get the depth I need.
When you can, use a tripod help keep that camera still. For static shots it’s about finding the balance. Not too small, not too wide. I use the depth of field preview and I use the concepts of hyperfocal focusing to get the near and far in focus at a balances aperture that won’t lose detail on my current lens. There’s formulas for this but I find it’s as much art as science. For portraits try setting the focus point right on their eye to get your focus dead on. Practice makes perfect. Without focus and good depth of field control you’ll never be razor sharp.
Midnight Seattle – Seattle WA from Kerry Park, 2009. This is a bracket mounted firmly on a tripod and very carefully process to prevent artifacts and detail loss. The result paid off and was admitted into the International Loan Collection.
#4. Speed of Light:
Another factor is light and shutter speed. The common rule of thumb is that your shutter speed is less than the focal length of your lens, then it’s too slow. So a 100mm lens needs 1/100 sec or faster. Faster is good, and slower is possible. You have to know your camera, and get a feel for what you can do. I’ve gotten clear images of moving race cars at 100mm and 1/30 sec by panning with the movement. But most of my work is on a tripod regardless of shutter speed. Just know that even micro motion effects detail at a deep level.
If you want tack sharp you generally want faster shutter speeds, unless you’re solid on a tripod. Even then make sure you don’t have camera or wind shake. I use a solid tripod with a timer and or cable release when using very slow speeds to eliminate any shake. Watch that shutter speed. if you must shoot handheld, press the camera firm against your cheek. Amazing results can come from creative shutters speeds, but get comfortable with norms so you can always get the shot. We talk about the deep aspects if light in my EXposed workshop series so check that out it you crave a deeper understanding of exposure.
Ghostlands – Eastern OR, 2012 — Gavin Seim
#3. Sensor Settings.
We speak of aperture and shutter speed, but pristine images vary from every image and every camera. Higher ISO’s will give you more light sensativity but will result in more noise and artifacts which will cost you detail. I like to shoot at my camera’s native ISO when I can. Usually that means 100-400, but it varies by camera. Nearly every choice is a trade off off and we need to understand the Six Keys of Image Quality to bring all of that together; read those if you have not yet done so.
Mechanical settings like shutters speed are key, but consider the settings in your camera. Is stabilization on or off? how does you camera handle IS when on a tripod? Usually IS should be turned off when mounted, but there can be exceptions like in panning. Some in-body IS can help stabilize even on a tripod if you have a long exposure and are fighting wind. Try things and learn you own gear. Cameras don’t make images, people do.
Stability and clear focus on the subject is all that was needed here. Cutting the clutter is also a part of maintaining a clear image because clutter distracts the focus of the end viewer.
#2. The Cameras Eye:
There is truth to the saying “You get what you pay for” That 18-55 lens that came in your kit might get you some great shots, but when it comes to lenses you usually lose image quality by saving $. This is especially true at longer focal lengths. I’m not saying you should automatically buy the most expensive lens. Read reviews and see what others are saying before you buy. You may find a great value. Just remember that it’s not really the body, it’s the eye in front of it.
Early in my career I discovered the true value of great glass. People kept telling me “it’s was all in the glass” and I don’t think I really believed it until I tested for myself. I had a Tokina 24-200 zoom lens that I really liked. It served me well, and I got some great photos from it. But I kept thinking… “Why aren’t my images RAZOR SHARP?” I finally broke down and spent some real money on serious lenses. Below are the results from the sample shots I took with each lens.
A top of the line lens is worth every penny if you want the best image you can get. For many lenses sound as exciting as that new camera body, but it will give you much more. In the end it’s always more about experience than gear, but great lenses just may be your key to getting that tack sharp image your looking for. Get good glass even if you only have one great lens.
#1. Post Production!
Last but not least is the post production work. Sharp images happen in camera, but the RAW file is like a negative and the final touch is in post. Sharpening can really transform the image. When you see a shot that makes you say. “WOW THAT’S SO CLEAR”, balanced sharpening had a hand in it.
The thing to remember is that sharpening is not an excuse to be lazy. While it might make a poor picture acceptable, it will never make it great. A great image starts out great, and is made better by post. Try taking your photo into Photoshop or Lightroom just start playing with the sharpen tools. You can play with “high pass” as well along with blending modes. My Alchemist action set also has some sharpening tools that do just that. Too much sharpening will ruin an image. You have to get sharp in camera, then finish with detail work, sharpening, grain etc to get that pristine organic feel you crave.
That’s all there is to it. You control each element, but as always it’s easier said than done. When in the field ask yourself questions about the image you are making before you press the shutter. Think about what your settings are, what you are seeing in your minds eye and see the finished image before you press the shutter. This final tactic will raise your standard in quality and detail so that when to get to post, you have the very best to work with.
Good luck and keep it sharp. — Gavin Seim
140 Minutes of Night – Near Grand Canyon NP. With a 2 hour+ exposure I had to make sure I was rock solid and had my settings exact. I only got one chance. You can read about making this one here.
I was out working on the road recently in this Amazing location at the foothills of the North Cascades. I thought, I should share the secrets of how we become great photographers. Not just people who take nice photos, but masters.
The answer is not a collection of software (no not even mine) or a more super duper camera. It’s here in plain sight and I hope that this video brings that perspective. Learning this way, it’s refreshing and rewarding and once you start everything begins to change.
You CAN take your work further. What separates the men from the boys (ladies too) is the key elements. Once you tie them all together you produce images that are sharper, more creative and more compelling in every way.
Watch and let me know what you think — Gav
PS: We also have some amazing workshops that deal with these aspects of study. Watch EXposed to understand the magic of light and Photo School to help you master the art.
I recently switched to the Sony A7R II and I’m finding it an amazing body. There’s countless YouTube reviews on this camera, so I don’t feel I need to make another. It’s a great system, with great ISO and great resolution that it makes amazing prints. Sony is leading the market, simple as that. But what about the viewfinder?
What I found lacking when I was considering this was details on what the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) was like. Coming from years of traditional viewfinders on cameras like my Canon 5D series, I was unsure. I require a good viewfinder on my main camera. I could find no inside video of the EVF. I took the risk, but you don’t have to.
As it turns out the EVF has come into it’s own. At least with Sony. This fast digital view gives real time images and information with virtually no lag, it makes photographing easier, especially in low light. I love it. Here’s a quick video I made to show what the EVF looks like inside.
There’s a lot to be learned from the master painters; my wife Sondra and I go to classical galleries whenever we can. This beautiful 84 inch painting in the Seattle Art Museum exemplifies early American quality. If the painters made wall decor, so should we. — Albert Bierstadt’s Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast.
I’ve spent many years studying how to make large wall prints. Appropriately sized wall decor would be a better term. But for today let’s talk about how big we can go. This is pretty short, but if you really want to cut to the chase and get printing, you can skip to the bottom.
There’s a lot of confusion about resolution and print size. I’m going to clear it up with real world experience. I make mostly wall prints and I’ve studied them for years with masters like Ken Whitmire and photographers at the annual International Wall Portrait Conference (yes you should go if you’re serious about wall art).
I’m passionate about quality in my prints and have learned what matters. What effects real wall prints that pay real bills. Today’s cameras are amazing, but just for perspective, Ansel Adams often used 8×10 sheet film. While it’s hard to compare film to digital, Adams could have had a rough equivalent of around 400 mega pixels. This makes our digital cameras look paltry at times and it’s one of the reasons I started using 4×5 film for some of my own work as it can give me 150+ effective megapixels when wet scanned (more about that here.)
OK but lets be realistic today and say we have an 18MP file with resolution of 5184×3456 pixels. Our file comes in at just over 11 x 17 at 300 PPI. Note that PPI and DPI refers to Pixels Per Inch or Dots Per Inch (a printing term). For today’s purpose I’ll just use PPI as it’s the more common term in digital.
PPI and REAL file resolution (actual pixels) are not always clear. For example I could take our file in Photoshop and set it’s size to 30×20. Unless I told PS to Resample (or increase the resolution) of that file, the computer would now see this file as a 20×30, but actual resolution would not have changed, so now it would show as being just over 172 PPI instead of 300. There will be less pixel per inch when printed at the larger size.
I’ve just told the computer our image is larger in physical size, but what really matters is our real resolution. Here is a screen capture to show how the computer sees the print size, even though pixel quantity is the same.
Say I printed our file as a 4×6. While I usually would not want a print that small, see the wall portrait article, at 4×6 our 18MP file would print out at over 860 PPI if I left it at full resolution. That’s a lot since most human eyes can’t see much above 200-300dpi (think Retina display on your iPad). So my file has more than enough pixels. Printing with that extra PPI won’t hurt anything however.
(Click for larger view) – A smaller 30 inch canvas, Bull of the Mist. This a medium sized print. Taken in early morning at ISO 3200 made the detail on this slightly less, but it was needed for shutter speed. As you can see, the detail is good, but not flawless. The canvas helps give it an organic art feel. This was made from a file about 20mp. It was up converted to 9000px wide before print. More about this image here.
Resolution VS Large prints.
This is where things get subjective. I’ll speak experience as I regularly produce prints 40 inches and beyond. With our 18MP file we know we have plenty of information for a little print. What about a serious print meant for the wall. Let’s look at that 20×30 again. Go into the “Image Size” box of Photoshop and change the file dimensions to 20×30, without altering the resolution as I did above. I left Resample un-checked, which means I changed the print size but not the amount of pixels in the file. We now have 172PPI at a print size of 30×20. Are you getting it? This is telling us how many dots we have to lay on paper in terms of real life printed pixels. 172PPI is not bad. But our eyes can usually resolve 200-300.
So How Large Gavin?
If you make small prints, say under 24 inches. Resolution should not be much of an issue. But say we want a 50 inch print. If I set our 18MP file to 50 inches wide without increasing the resolution; the result is that the file is now only 103 PPI. Not so great. We could print this, but we’re likely to see some pixels when we look very close.
To get an idea of how it will look, I turn on my rulers in PS (View/Rulers) then zoom up till an inch is a real world inch (I check it with an actual ruler if in doubt). This is not a perfect representation, as print and screen are different mediums, but it will give me a good idea of how pixelated it will look – In practice I’ve found that I start to see detail loss when I go 36 inches or above on files this size. That does not mean I won’t print them however.
A 70 in on canvas I sold in a family portrait. I used a 21MP file but I had to work for this with careful post processing and even healing artifacts to get a great print.
How Low is Too Low?
How many PPI do we really need. Again this is subjective. It depends on what you like, how close it will be viewed etc. That said I personally want great detail in my prints. Even close up. I’ve experimented with it and asked labs about it. In general I’ve determined that if an image falls below 150PPI, I’d better do something about it. I like to print at at least 220 PPI.
What Can We Do About It?
The native resolution of our file is 5124×3456. We can’t change that.
What we CAN do as interpolate or “Resample”. Essentially this means that rather than simply printing with too little resolution, we tell the computer the resolution we want the file to be and the software does it’s best to fill in the gaps. Let me be clear. This is NOT the same as having native resolution, not by a mile. The computer is trying to add pixels that were not captured by the camera. It helps, but you always want to have the max native resolution possible.
The Resample option inside the “Image Size” window of Photoshop you saw above works well. I often take it a step further and use the Perfect Resize plugin from OnOne software. In my tests Perfect Resize seems slightly better than what’s built into Photoshop.
MORE Than Resolution!
Here’s the kicker. It starts in Camera. A perfect exposure means less fixing later and better detail. See my EXposed workshop. Get a great image in camera and make it sing with great post processing. This means using RAW files, have less file generations and always stay in 16 bit when you go to edit details on Photoshop. Edit with a plan, sharpen and Resample at the end.
I usually do all my edits first, keeping my original file at native resolution. I Resample last, just before sending to my printer. I generally Resample to 240-300 PPI at whatever physical size I plan to print. In the case of our 50 inch print, that means I want a file that’s 15,000 pixels wide. Almost triple what we started with. This Resample is not as good as if we truly had those pixels from the camera. When looked at close, a large Resampled image can look a bit painterly and it gets more pixelated the more you expand it. But resampling is still a useful tool for larger print sizes.
A new landscape captures on my 17R II at ISO 12,800. The detail is still great in this 42MP file and even with that ISO I should be able to print 40 or more on canvas.
Cutting to the CHASE!
THIS is what you came for. — Assuming good post processing I will print our 18MP file at 40-50 inches all day long. On canvas at least. On glossy paper or metal with no texture, I may stop at around 36-40. Yet even on canvas, I’ll start to see detail loss above 36 inches. That does not mean it’s a bad image or that others will see it, I just want to be aware of it.
With my Sony A7R II at 42MP, a good file, good processing. I can pull off 60-70 inch prints all day. A stitched pano, I’ll be printing 100+ inches without a problem, similarly on my 5d MK2 when switching. A single frame that I composed poorly and have to crop heavily. I lose a lot and it won’t print so well.
But it’s not just pixels. Learn the Six Keys to Image Quality and know what really effects your file. Do it right. I use a tripod, I know my light, I understand exposure. Every one of the keys matter, from your optic to your post processing.
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Short story: Recently I made a great Fall image on the A7R, it was stunning and I was excited. I used a tripod, I planned my light. But when I looked at my best shot I realized only on very close inspection that I had a bit of motion blur in the foliage. Very subtle, but with 42MP to work with the blur was there.
I had the pixels, but I used my finger to release the shutter on a slower exposure, instead of a timer or cable. I got sloppy and my 42MP gave me no more than 18mp would have because the detail was flawed. I was able to return the next day and do it right in similar light. But often we don’t have that luxury. It’s a lesson I won’t forget.
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So ask yourself. How far it will be viewed from (a billboard is a huge print, but seen from much further away than a bathroom wall). What is the medium (a glossy print shows more pixel artifacts than the texture of a canvas print). And of course, what is your quality standard. How much detail do you want?
I’ve made smaller files go larger by refining the file, hours healing away artifacts, adding a subtle grain and the like. In the end we can only work with what we have. Cameras are getting better and they do amazing things. But as high as we think megapixels are, we still need more. Seeing what film can do makes you think. Go to a gallery of a photographer that uses large format film to see what I mean.
We’ve talked about resolution, but as I said in my story; no matter what your resolution, you won’t get a good print from a poor image. Making really amazing prints demands that every step of your process be top notch. Read more on this site and subscribe to my newsletter as I’m always speaking on this stuff. Also listen to PPS podcast #74 – Crazy Awesome Image Quality where I go more in depth on quality.
Good luck… Gav
A senior portrait done using my Canon 4D MK2 at 21MP. I sold a 24 inch and had more than enough resolution. It could have easily printed 40 because it was sharp and clean.A pristine IR filtered image taken on my a7R II. With 42 clean MP and virtually no noise, this will easily print 80 inches or more.
