When Megapixels Matter, Part 1...

Wondering which camera you should buy? Here's a hint: the number of megapixels doesn't matter...anymore. Most point and shoots on the market today will have at least 6.0 megapixels and that is all you need. There are many other features you should base your selection on. On the other hand, if you shoot portraits and like to print big, you need pixels! Let's take a look at the image below.

This image was taken with an older digital camera, Nikon's D1H, which was the first professional digital camera marketed by the company. The D1H has a resolution of 2.74 MP and was meant for photojournalists and sports photographers. Like all pro cameras, this one can record images in lossless compression RAW format. So what happens when you fix this fast sports body with a portrait lens and point it at your cute niece? At first inspection, the results are great! If you take a closer look using a popular noise reduction tool , we see more of the story.

Above is the RGB view of the image after JPG compression and noise removal. There is something not quite right about it. To see what is going on we can take a look at seprate color and luminance channels. the most revealing is the blue channel.

Click on the above image to view it at full size in your browser. You can see pixels!! This what looked a little off...what should have been smooth skin tones were actually visibly divided into HUGE square blocks! Since that pixel has to have the same value over the whole thing, it is impossible to "smooth" this out.

So while this camera is still one of the best values for photojournalists who want small images destined for the printed page, it is not a studio portrait -making machine. In fact, when you see one of those really big images hanging up at Gap or Abercrombie, you can bet it was taken with a $30,000 50 MP (or film) medium format camera.

Home at Night...

Cityscape
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

There is nothing better than seeing the familiar outline of your hometown after a trip away. Minneapolis may not have the biggest downtown zone but it is beautiful lit up at night. There are a few strategic positions around the city that a photographer can grab an unobstructed view of the whole skyline. This was my first attempt at capturing the view from Groveland Ave. and Nicollet Ave. It's not bad but you can bet I will be hunting for just the right cloud and light combination to get "the Shot"!

Fire Line
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

An EF0 tornado hit a section of South Minneapolis Wednesday evening and caused considerable damage to property. The damage was targeted between 42nd and 35th Streets and between Park and Portland Avenues. One resident told me that his two daughters also had houses damaged in the storm. Although the tornado was rated as in the least severe category by the National Weather Service, it managed to rip part of the roof off the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Summer in the City...

Slick Streets
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

Ha! Some people think photography is done on a sunny day in the country! Not me, give me the slick shine of the neon-lit streets of the city.

Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

Morning Moments...

Morning Stretch
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

Photography is most effective when it captures less familiar visual images. The best time for photography is early and late, not just becuase of the quality of light, but becuase few people are seriously looking around at 4:30 am. The other technique to improve your images is to avoid the so-called "normal" lenses. These have focal lengths in the 30-60 mm range. Focal lengths around 50 mm are similar to what the human eye experiences and thus it is normal. To create more visually stimulating images use lenses less than 28 mm or greater than 70 mm. Wide angle lenses create the impression of being drawn into a scene because the light entering the lens moves faster at the edges similar to the effect driving down a tree-lined street. Long (telephoto) lenses tend to condense perspective so that foreground and background appear more similar in scale. Both of these optical properties let the viewer of your photographs experience something out of their ordinary visual experience!

Ancient Ruins?...

Minneapolis Heritage
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

I have to thank fellow travel photographer Andy Mork for the tip that allows this photo to be possible. You might think this is somewhere in Greece or Italy, but this my own beloved Minneapolis! When I was an undergrad at the U of MN, all of this was just a plan on the city's and the Historical Society's to-do list. Now we can appreciate why our city was the capital of milling for the fifty years surrounding the turn of the twentieth century.

Seat of Power...

Dom

Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

The cathedral in Aachen, Germany, is one of the most distinct in the world with its mix of architectural styles and its densely-packed interior. The church stands across the plaza from the Rathaus where Charlemagne reigned and is entombed to this day. During his reign over the Holy Roman Empire, Aachen stood as the capital of the western world. Today the cathedral is a must-see for tourists, a UNESCO World Heritage site and still a venue for weddings.

Composition...

Big Sky, Big Lake
Copyright 2009 Matt Mortensen

This is the type of photograph I can remember seeing on the walls of diners in Minnesota as a kid. I was always completed mesmerized by the big sky that seemed to be moving out of the frame enveloping the viewer. How such works of art were available for every Cracker Barrel and mom-and-pop roadside cafe was a complete mystery to me!
Twenty years later, as a trained scientist and self-taught photographer, I am still awed but can now create these scenes! The shot above is beautiful and compelling because of the principles of optics, geometry, symmetry and contrast. The same principles have been incorporated into art for thousands of years, whether the artist or patron knew it or not!