Bob Crum

The menace COVID-19 is taking a toll on my psyche. Others must feel likewise. It's frustrating that there isn't a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. It's as if the virus is lurking everywhere, ready to ravage any human within striking distance. It's hoped that a resolution is found sooner than later.

Thank you writers! So many emails bombarded me that I need shields like those of the Nebulon-B Frigate! Twelve percent (I did the math) of my 2,692,585 readers appear to be incorrigible. So many to reform but try I must. By the way, phonetographers, you might find reading the legals more interesting. Just a thought.

One issue in particular (SOOC), has raged since the dawn of the digital photography age. Petapixel penned that many photographers seem to get some sort of “pure as the driven snow” feeling from posting the acronym “SOOC” (Straight Out Of the Camera) next to their digital pics. Yep, the same-old same-old "SOOC" is back! Ugh!

Why do I protest? I don't object to the principal. I object to the ignorance of the majority who don't know what "get it right in the camera" really means! They tout that their photo is special because they got it right in the camera, meaning that they didn't have to post-process. That sounds reasonably innocuous so, what's my problem? Well, let's see.

Any photographer, with any digital camera in "Auto" mode, can usually get it right (exposure) in the camera. And post the photo on social media with the acronym "SOOC" insinuating: "Look, people, NO post-processing!" Get the smelling salts; I'm getting nauseous.

When a photographer creates a photo by programming ISO, aperture and shutter speed for the desired effect, 'properly' composes the image, and captures the photo in focus and didn't require any post-processing, I'll respect his declaration: SOOC. But, not even that photographer can legitimately proclaim that his photo wasn't processed. Oh how I love to nitpick.

The photo straight out of the camera was processed by the camera's internal computer according to algorithms programmed by the camera's engineers. The photo is a jpeg that has been compressed considerably, meaning half the original pixels were discarded. So, pure as the driven snow it is not. More importantly, just because a jpeg SOOC of the camera wasn't post-processed doesn't mean that it's a photo that's as good as it could be! It's not!

Getting off "auto" mode and shooting manual mode is often intimidating for many photography neophytes. To help you understand the ISO, shutter speed and aperture relationships, I found the following perfect analogy from "cambridgeincolour.com".

"Achieving the correct exposure is a lot like collecting rain in a bucket. While the rate of rainfall is uncontrollable, three factors remain under your control: the bucket's width, the duration you leave it in the rain, and the quantity of rain you want to collect. You just need to ensure you don't collect too little ("underexposed"), but that you also don't collect too much ("overexposed"). The key is that there are many different combinations of width, time and quantity that will achieve this. For example, for the same quantity of water, you can get away with less time in the rain if you pick a bucket that's really wide. Alternatively, for the same duration left in the rain, a really narrow bucket can be used as long as you plan on getting by with less water.

In photography, the exposure settings of aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed are analogous to the width, time and quantity discussed above. Furthermore, just as the rate of rainfall was beyond your control above, so too is natural light for a photographer." Now, grab your 'bucket' and go photoing!

Photo of the week is from my archives: Canyonlands National Park as seen from a Dead Horse State Park vista, Utah.

Send comments, suggestions or questions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net