Fishing for Pictures

I had to go to the doctor this morning to get my head examined. Er, ears. He told me cheerfully that I have "eustachian tube dysfunction," and that there are lots of treatments for it but that none of them work. That information cost me a $45 copay, but I got this nice picture afterwards.

(larger version)

One of the fellows told me they get lake trout and northern pike. I go fishing a lot too, but always for pictures.

One of my favorite essays of my own is "Key Thoughts and the Zen of Fishing," although I don't think that one is any more or less popular with readers than many others. Here's a quote:

Oh, and there’s one more nice correspondence between photography and fishing: the more time you spend, the more inevitable success becomes. You can’t catch a fish without having your line in the water, and you won’t take good pictures without your camera in your hand. Photography is comforting that way. Spend the time, and you’ll get results.

Color filters and white balance
I'm now fascinated by the color filter issue. I can't imagine that white balance (WB) matters with a stripped sensor, but maybe it does. I just don't know enough about it. I've ordered a few more filters, including a stronger yellow filter (more $$$ out the door) and I'll run some experiments with the WB when I continue to investigate the color filters. The picture above was taken with no filter.

You know what else costs a lot when photographing up here? Gas! At least this morning I had to drive to Geneva anyway, so it didn't cost anything extra to get this shot. 

The picture was taken out at the end of the appropriately named Long Pier, in Geneva, New York.

Mike

Comments

[MATT KALLIO]

It occurs to me that monochrome photographs look especially good on a computer screen. Having a glowing light behind them really makes them come alive. They make color photos look boring.

[Kirk]

Swimmers are forever having eustachian tube issues. The remedy most often turned to is over the counter antihistamines. A couple days of Zyrtec seem to help reduce the inflammation that causes most discomfort. Worth a try. Better than living with it.

[Thanks Kirk I'll try that. --Mike]

[Thomas Rink]

Gas prices have definitely become a consideration, even if one photographs close to home. My current projects require a 40km round-trip drive to reach the location. At about €2 per liter, even with my small Honda Fit this adds up to about €5 per excursion! But this is still cheaper than tickets for public transport, and the time saved by using the car is an important factor, too. Using public transport, I would have to change two times - bus, S-Bahn train, and bus again. This would take about 90min. each way, compared to 35min. by car.

I've been following your reports about the Sigma fp(m) and I'm glad to hear that you've got your mojo back! Time to reactivate your printer?

Best, Thomas

[Dan Khong]

My B&W photography is now "filterless". I spent a lot of $$$ in the past chasing filters that I eventually used little or not at all (I cannot believe the waste!)

I'm looking forward to what your fp can do with filters attached.

[Rob de Loe]

Unless you're shooting JPEG, the white balance you set in the camera makes no difference in a RAW workflow.

[John Abee]

Tell me the size of filters you use and I'll send you more examples than you really want. I'm tired of looking at them.

[David Saxe]

Very well said Mike. By the way, I always favored an orange filter—especially for blue skies.

[Dean Johnston]

Hi.

"...there are lots of treatments for it but that none of them work."

Hmm, my doctor would have told me they all work, but only in conjunction with each other.

That's not a slur against doctors, who generally do wonderful things like save lives and / or make them better. Just one of mine is a little tad greedy. He tags selfies on his instagram feed with #narcissist like that's a good thing...

Peace & stuff,
Dean

[SA]

I had Eustachian tube dysfunction for several years and doctors tried various things including surgical interventions that didn't help. A wonderful acupuncture specialist cured it over a half dozen treatments. But the quality of acupuncture depends a lot on the practitioner so I can't say if this is going to help you.

[Robert]

I think the filters make no difference because you are not making a negative in camera. The way the filter works conventionally in film is that by absorbing its opposite ie; yellow filter absorbs blue, that means on the negative the blue is underexposed relative to the increased exposure of the other colors (the filter factor). So you are effectively underexposing blue which makes less density on the neg which means darker skies. You couldn't say the same on a positive film because you are not reversing the result. Is that right?

[Chris Kern]

Ahhh, a classic two-fishermen-at-the-corner-of-the-frame shot.

[Chuck Albertson]

The sensor in the original Leica Monochrom has a spectral response very similar to panchromatic film (they published the chart somewhere), so I generally have a K2 filter on mine when I'm shooting in daylight, and I like the tones with it. Worth checking out.

[Gordon Lewis]

FWIW, I've found the various explanations for why color filters have no apparent effect on your monochrome sensor (other than reducing exposure) both logical and insightful. This may not be what you expected, but it certainly does simplify your workflow. "Filters? I don'need no stinkin' filters!" (Homage to "Treasure of Sierra Madre")

[Rob Campbell]

Filters. The only filters I ever used regularly were skylight filters, one on every lens. Their function in my life? Sacrificial.

(I suspect that the use of other filters in black/white photography of people is something called indoctrination, the result of reading too many photographic magazines over the years, where filter manufacturers always had an advertising presence.)

With colour, that filter only came off when I wanted to use a polariser, but again, with people shots, I quickly learned that its main effect, other than to make tropical seas and skies more so, was to remove the lovely three-dimensional shine off skin, and turn girls into terracotta figurines. Not a lovely look. Much the same resulted on trying to fake sunshine on cloudy day skin via Nikon’s A filters.

By chance, I happened to retune today to one of Sean Tucker’s (the photographer, not the flyer) videos where he talks about getting small and honest, a reference, if I can remember straight as far back as lunchtime, to John Mayer.

Today, with all the advantages of digital workflow, we may reach a stage where we hardly even need cameras anymore, never mind filters.

I guess we really do need to embrace the present and let the past remain as happy wistful memory, however good we might have been at the old techniques.

[Torsten Walter]

45 bucks - this is still within the limits of the bearable - for the well off, of course. American health care needs a radical reform.

[fred fowler]

I'm really curious to see what you conclude regarding the use of filters on a monochrome sensor. I have a Leica Q2 monochrome and as part of the available accessories Leica offers a set of color filters, which I purchased. I think they indeed make a difference that is generally
analogous to the same use with B&W films.

[Roger Bradbury]

The term used on English building sites for things that are not straight and square, at least by electricians, is "p1$$ed". Also a term here for being drunk, it caused confusion when we had a Canadian boss on a job here. "You mean it's really angry?" he asked me. : )

[Mike plews]

In cinematography pre exposure of film is called "flashing".
It is used to tame contrast and give a distinctive look.
The great Vilmos Zsigmond used it extensively on Robert Altman's film The Long Goodbye.
Zsigmonds photography is only one of many reasons to enjoy this fine film.

[John Krumm]

I imagine a polarizer still has an effect? Would be easy enough to check, just spin it and look through the viewfinder.