August 2006 Archives

This is what I do when I want a quick diffuser for a pop-up flash. I use a 4ply piece of 100% cotton rag mat board cut to size and put it in the spot the flash itself collapses into when not in use, fits perfectly and stays there snugly.

This is a series of test exposures made on a Nikon D50 with a Sigma f/1.8 lens. Every file was shot as a Nikon RAW file and edited in Adobe Camera Raw.

The tests were done to learn just how far editing a RAW file can go in terms of digging up exposure information from the sensor. And hopefully allowing photography in low light.

The camera itself lets me choose between ISO 200, 400, 800 and 1600. Nothing in between..

Adobe Camera Raw has an 'exposure' slider, which is calibrated in 1 stop increments.. it goes up to +4 stops. With this in mind and a handheld ambient light meter in hand I decided to check how well this exposure slider worked.

I metered at and shot at ISO 25,000 and fiddled with the exposure slider and got an actual photo.. Tested in daytime bright light to dark with barely any light.

These photos were done in a 14x17x7 foot room with one household 75watt incandescent bulb in a desklamp shining off a white ceiling.