|
Getting Physical
|
Has this ever happened to you? You meet someone for the first time, they tell you what they do, then you mention that you're a photographer, and they say,
"Being a photographer must be wonderful!" Or some variation on this theme. We'll enthusiastically agree that being able to pursue photography as a profession brings with it tremendous rewards. After all, there's a thrill to photographing a pro sports event for a magazine, or covering the local political race for a newspaper. But regardless of the benefits of being behind the camera, most of us work long, grueling hours - from composing a painstakingly perfect product shot for an ad company to taking endless portraits of a bride and groom on their wedding day - and most of us inevitably struggle with physical aches, pains, and even ailments as a direct consequence of our occupation. We know a photographer who, after years of lugging a bag of camera equipment to her wedding shoots, is now a candidate for shoulder replacement surgery. Another photographer has had skin problems, a direct result of chemicals he uses in the darkroom. And the new digital darkroom carries its own potential for health complications, most obviously in the form of carpal tunnel syndrome, though there are other hidden complications that come with working at a computer for extended periods of time. Our new series, "Getting Physical," will address the needs of professional photographers who are concerned about the physical effects of their job. We feel that these are issues that have been totally ignored by the tonier photo lifestyle magazines, and we hope to fill the gap. After all, it may be wonderful to be a photographer, but it shouldn't have to hurt! Our discussions will cover the effects of photography on overall health and explore possible solutions for dealing with some of the specific strains that come with being a photographer. We'll begin with one of the most common concerns: vision problems. Eye-ing the Problem © Sony 
Our eyes are essential tools and we work them harder and for longer hours than most people. We use them to squint through viewfinders and loupes, to examine things up-close, to retouch prints and review our work. Meaning, of course, that it's almost impossible to avoid situations that cause eye strain. How many photographers do you know, after all, who don't wear glasses?
Eye strain coupled with the aging process means we have to watch out for the kind of vision deterioration that could affect our image-making process. If you lose the facility for taking sharply-focused images - unless you're shooting with a pinhole camera! - that could mean a loss of clients and income, too. What can we do, then, to meet the challenges of imperfect eyesight? Camera manufacturers have developed a number of features over the years to meet the needs of photographers with less than 20/20 vision. Lindsay Silverman of Nikon told us that, in his opinion, autofocusing has been the greatest development in this field. "My experience working with amateurs and professionals has shown me that focusing is always extremely difficult," said Silverman. "Twenty years ago, photographers were buying fast, bright-aperture lenses. With more light, it was easier to focus. But now photographers are buying zoom lenses, which are usually not as fast or bright, and autofocusing is really helpful to these photographers." Silverman noted that autofocusing benefits not just the photographer with vision problems, but any photographer having trouble focusing through the viewfinder, which is never easy, even with 20/20 eyesight. Some photographers, however, might disagree with Silverman's unreserved enthusiasm for the autofocusing technology of many SLRs. While autofocusing has become a standard feature - and in many cases, a great benefit - of the newer cameras, it has its drawbacks. Some photographers develop an unconditional and uncritical reliance on autofocusing. Their unreserved enthusiasm for the technology assists them in making more focusing mistakes "automatically." We've seen a number of photos published in prominent newspapers that are noticeably (and clearly unintentionally) out-of-focus - unmistakable results of the misuse of autofocus. Here's why: The camera doesn't know what you intend to be the subject of your photograph, and the autofocus system in virtually every model is set to focus on whatever is in the center of the camera's frame. If your subject is off-center, this means you have to use focus lock and take a few seconds to focus, then re-compose the image. If you've been practicing for a long time, you may be able to do this as though it were second nature. In some cases, however, you may find that the process slows you down, and despite your best intentions, the autofocus feature may not give you the photos you had wanted or intended. A lot of photojournalists have converted to autofocus models, which enable them to get photos they never would have been able to get with manual cameras - but in the hustle and bustle of the press pool, it's easy to occasionally miss the proper spot for autofocus. For more on the use of focus lock (and making sharp photos), click here. On the other hand, autofocusing technology is incontrovertibly helpful in certain situations. Let's say you're photographing wildlife on a safari. In the old days, if you wanted to take a photo of an animal in the wild charging in your direction, you might pre-focus on a tree that the animal was approaching, wait until the animal was near it, then hit the motor drive. This approach would give you maybe one or two great frames in which the animal was best in focus. However, now with predictive autofocus, which can be used to great advantage by anyone photographing moving subjects (like players in a football game, models on a runway, or wildlife), photographers can track a subject and get a series of in-focus images, rather than just the one or two frames. This is especially useful when photographing a fast-moving subject approaching the lens, either directly or at an angle. But beyond developments in autofocusing technology, camera manufacturers are also marketing diopters to photographers who have less than 20/20 vision and who would prefer to photograph without wearing glasses. The word diopter in optics refers to the unit of magnifying power of a lens. In the field of camera products, however, it is commonly used to refer to the physical snap-on attachment that allows you to adjust the magnifying power of the viewfinder. It won't actually influence the magnification of the lens you are working with, just your ability to view the object as it would appear to an individual with 20/20 vision looking through that lens. There is usually a switch or a rotating attachment that allows the user to adapt the vision spectrum to suit your eyes. In this way, the photographer can leave his or her glasses on the bedside table and shoot with greater physical freedom. Silverman noted that Nikon's F5, F100, N80 and N65 all have built-in dioptic correction. The photographer activates the light meter, then looks through the viewfinder. At the bottom of the screen is illuminated information about the camera settings. The user simply moves a switch until the numbers and letters on this screen appear sharp. "I wear glasses, so I have to use that correction feature," said Silverman. Mary Resnick, a spokesperson for Canon U.S.A., noted that "diopters will not help someone who is quite visually impaired - for example someone who is almost legally blind. They will, however, help someone with moderate to severe eye problems, and they are ideal for individuals dealing with vision impairments associated with the aging process." 
Diopters generally sell for about $20-30 as optional accessories and are available for many mid-range and high-end film and digital cameras.
So, with diopters and built-in vision correction features, plus the autofocusing options available on most new-model cameras, those of us with less-than-perfect vision or simply less-than-sharp shots should be able to find some means for taking photos that are in focus and that satisfy us and our clients. Check back with this series in the coming months for explorations of aches and ailments related to our craft, and tips and techniques for preventing and alleviating painful problems. |
|
| Click here if you would like to receive a brief monthly announcement of the new tips, topics, and features that will appear on this website. FREE. |
|
| Receive the latest Photocourses.com's full-color catalog describing our brand-new Digital Photography: The Complete Course. - FREE! View it on-line or we'll send it to you by first-class mail. Either way, there's no obligation. |
|
|
|