Photo Help
Printing Service-- Most professional photographers use an established host to sell their photos. We use SmugMug.com which stores copies of our photos and videos, processes orders, handles secure credit card charges, and prints and ships the photos through Bay Photo lab in Santa Cruz, California. Our highest priority is working with only reputable partners so you (and we) won't get ripped off. SmugMug and Bay Photo are the best of the best, but don't hesitate to contact us if you have any problems.
Printing V. Downloading-- Spitfirephoto is a convenient and reliable source of high quality prints. If you prefer, you can download the original digital file and have the image processed by another service or print it at home.
When Are Photos Posted?-- Because these are large files, it takes several hours to upload them to the host. We generally upload in the evening so all the photos from a session should be available the following morning.
Image Size and Resolution-- Photo resolution is often expressed in dots per inch (dpi) although pixels per inch (ppi) is technically the correct scale for digital. What’s confusing to some people is that pixels per inch varies with the size of prints made from the same camera. Our 12 megapixel Canon 40D creates JPEG images which are 3-to-4 megabytes in size and 72 ppi which is roughly the resolution of a computer monitor. But the images are 3888 X 2597 pixels or 54 inches by 36 inches in the camera. Imagine your photo displayed on a computer display which is about 4.5 ft. wide and 3 ft. tall; that’s what we start with.
Now if you take that low res image and shrink it to 4 by 6 (no re-sampling) the same number of pixels are compressed into the a smaller area, and the print is 648 ppi. A big 16 X 24 print would be about 160 ppi. Most pros consider 200 ppi as film quality but a lot depends on the subject matter.
Aspect Ratio-- When you add an image to your shopping cart, you’ll see that you can choose a variety of different dimensions. The preview also shows you how the image will be cropped and allows you to make adjustments. Many digital cameras (including ours) result in an aspect ratio of 2:3. Less cropping will be needed if you choose print sizes with a 2:3 aspect ratio. This includes 4 X 6, 6 X 9, 8 X 12, etc. However, since many frames come in common sizes like 8 X 10 or 11 X 14 these dimensions may be more convenient. As described previously, the larger the print, the lower the resolution.
All Photos Are Not Created Equal-- Surfing photography in Northern California is often frustrating. We are resigned to clear summer days with no surf and epic swells on foggy, dreary days. And distance from the subject is an important factor. Photos from Mavericks or big Ocean Beach are seldom as crisp as those taken from the cliff at Steamer Lane. One is simply trying to shoot through more mist and particulates in the air. We delete photos that are clearly out of focus, poorly lit, or uncomplimentary (except for really interesting wipeouts). But if you’ve never had a photo of yourself on a big wave, even an imperfect image can be pretty exciting. When in doubt we upload the photo and let you decide.
If You Download an Image, Back it Up-- While JPEG images are the most common file format they have one major drawback-- they lose resolution every time they are modified and saved. If you plan to work with the image using Microsoft Photo Editor, Photoshop, Picasa or another program be sure back up the original. Another solution is to convert the file to a “non-decaying” format such as TIFF. If your file is lost or corrupted, email us and we’ll send you a new one. Most are saved in our archive for a year or two. The date and sequence number in the file name is very helpful.
Editing the Image-- If you look critically at a lot of surfing photos it’s pretty easy to tell the ones that have been heavily edited. Typically, the colors are a little too vivid, there are no shadows where one would expect, and the shot is a bit too “crisp.” We’ve been at the beach on gray days and seen photos from the same day that look like they were taken in Miami. “Less is more” seems like a good rule of thumb.
That said, there are a few adjustments that can really improve photos taken in Norcal, where fog and mist often prevail. Try increasing the overall contrast of the photo a few notches. Then slightly increase the color saturation to make the wave look a little more green than gray. Some photos benefit by slightly increasing the sharpness, and a little fill flash can bring out the features of the surfer if the photo was taken in the afternoon and is backlit.
Using the Image With Other Applications-- When you work with downloaded images it’s easy to forget how big they are. Insert one of these into a website and you may only see the bottom corner of the shot. Some programs like Microsoft Word will automatically adjust the size of the photo to fit your page, but remember your one-page document is now 3.5Mb in size. Attach a few of these files to an email and it will probably be rejected by the host. In most Microsoft applications you can click once on the photo and choose the edit picture option from the format menu (or right-click your mouse). Most programs have an option to compress the photo which will dramatically reduce its size.
About the Camera Gear-- We get a lot of questions from people interested in digital photography. For what it’s worth, here’s our two cents. In choosing a camera, you might consider (a) what you plan to shoot, (b) how the images will be used (e.g., website, snapshots, large prints), (c) whether you think you might want to upgrade in the future, and (d) your credit card limit.
The compact point-and-shoot cameras are fun, simple to use, easy to carry around, and good for most prints. Keep in mind that most of the images you see on the internet on 72ppi so it’s not like you need an expensive camera for your family website. A costlier SLR (single lens reflex) camera allows you to use different lenses and continue to use them if you upgrade the camera body. As such, an SLR provides maximum flexibility and the ability to expand your toolkit. You can buy a pretty good SLR body with a lens for under $1K. A 10 megapixel camera shooting JPEG images will usually result in high quality prints unless you’re going very large.
We use Canon gear and have owned the 10D, 20D, Rebel XTi, and 40D. Most of the “D” series cameras sell for about $1,300 when they are released and $900 a year later. It’s easy to find yourself chasing the latest model; sometimes a little patience pays off. The Rebel models are fine, just lighter duty. Especially for sports photography, the real money is in telephoto lenses. You can choose lenses from the original manufacturer (Canon, Nikon, etc.) or compatible products from another manufacturer at a lower cost. You should know that most of our photog friends started out with these second tier products and ended up buying the expensive stuff. Unfortunately, there is a big difference.
Most of our photos were taken with a Canon 40D with a 500 f/4.0 lens and a 1.4 extender. The extender reduces the lens by one f-stop so the pictures aren’t as crisp in lower light. So we recently broke down (“broke” is the operative word) and purchased the Canon 600 f/4.0. The 1.4 extender is handy but we can’t recommend the 2.0; might be OK if you plan to photograph birds. Bottom line? A fixed lens camera is great for most people, but we wouldn’t spend a lot of money on one. If you think you’ll be shooting a lot of photos and getting more accessories, purchase an SLR which has been on the market for a year or so.
Contact Us
Inquiries regarding NorcalSurfPhotos.com or to contact the photographer (Bruce): Email: btopp@ pacbell.net Phone: 415.269.2378
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