Shooting in the Desert??

[KillRoy]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and photography in general. I have been working in Iraq for the past 2 1/2 years and just recently purchased a Canon 20D. I will be shooting outside in bright sunshine. I will mostly be taking shots of the Apache and Blackhawk Helicopters that happen to land right next to my office. The picture below is a still shot I took from a video I shot. You can see how close they really are.

Anyway, I need help with the camera set up. How should I set the camera up to shoot outside in bright sun light?? ISO Speeds, Aperature, etc....

I didn't purchase any fancy lenses due to the conditions I live in. I am not goint to buy a 1500 lens and ruin it in the first dust storm. I want to learn first and then upgrade to nicer equipment when I return home in 9 months. So, I bought the 20D Kit that comes with 3 cheap lenses:

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Lens
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4 HIGH SPEED lens

It also came with a titanium .45x Wide Angle Lens 58mm, Flash, Battery Grip, 6 Lens filters and a nice carrying case.

Now that you know the equipment I have at my disposal, can you give me some suggestions on how to shoot in these conditions? I would really appreciate the help and will post some pics.

Here is the video still of an Apache taking off right by my office. It is taken with a SOny Cybershot 5.1 megapixel camera. Now you can see why I wanted a better camera LOL

[Lava Lamp]

The good news is that it's pretty easy. I've never taken pictures in the Middle Eastern desert, but I have shot on sunny beaches in Florida and the Bahamas and in deserts in CA and AZ. Your camera will take care of most of it for you. The light is strong enough that you'll be able to use a low ISO setting (like ISO 100 or 200) and still stop action.

I can foresee a few potential problems: 1) the midday sun will be overpowering and potential create lots of highlights with blown our details -- so shoot ion the morning or towards later afternoon 2) you may have some trouble getting good detail in the blacks and shadows because of the strong light -- just pay attention and adjust you exposure compensation up a half or a full stop if need.

A polarizig filter would also be nice to have if you can get one. It acts like sunglasses on your lens and cuts glare and gives you bluer skies -- perfect for the desert.

Good luck

[another view]

First off, thanks for all your hard work over there - come home safe, OK?

I haven't shot in conditions like that but read an interview with a photojournalist that was working over there. He never changed lenses unless he was inside a building - this avoided dust on the sensor which could be a problem. I use one of these blower bulbs to blow the dust off the sensor, following the instructions for how to clean in the manual. Keep the camera covered when you're not using it, and lens caps on between shots if you can. I agree about the polarizer filter, but I understand that it's tough to get stuff over there including the bulb that I linked to.

I guess we finally got this handled, but a group of bass guitar players (on another forum) pitched in to buy a nice bass amp for some guys over there - that was quite an experience getting it shipped, and I don't think it's even there yet!

[Chunk]

Hello All,

Here is the video still of an Apache taking off right by my office. It is taken with a SOny Cybershot 5.1 megapixel camera. Now you can see why I wanted a better camera LOL

AFAIK, the video taken by digital still cameras will all be low resolution (in order to have a usable frame rate). Take individual shots instead with the camera set for high resolution and you will probably get some good shots.

[JSPhoto]

Hey Kilroy,

My personal feeling on helicopter shots is, that if the chopper is landing or taking off you want to show the rotors moving. You can do this by using a higher ISO (800) and slower shutter speed (try different speeds from 400 down to 160 or slower if you are real steady) and then adjust your aperature so you are metered correctly starting at say 14 and go towards 22 as you need to for proper exposure. You would need to be in Manual mode to do this.

A buddy of mine is headed back to Iraq for tour #4, he was home three months and got bored... I guess chasing cows off Indiana country roads as a deputy is boring.
All of you take care over there!
JS

[KillRoy]

Thanks for all the help! I will give it all a try when the equipment gets here next week. I will post some pictures and then you can tell me what corrections need to be made. Thanks again.

[Phil_USN]

Roy,
As you saw, I recently got back. When you get your 20d, follow these rules:
Only change lenses indoors.
When you do change lenses, use a brush like a maybelline# or #5 makeup brush to get the dust away from the lens mount. Get like 5 to 10 makeup "blush brushes" & keep them handy.
Never use a lens cloth, it will scratch your optics, you know how that sand is out there. It's not sand, it's baby powder.
Get at least 2 suction bulbs, one for your bag, one for your office. These are the light blue things that come in earwash kits and are also known as "snot suckers" to little kids. the one with the largest bulb you can get. Dont waste your time on blower brushes. They don't do anything productive and for the price of the blower brush you can get a makeup brush and a suction bulb which work much better.
As for camera settings, if you intend on taking photos of the helos in flight and want a little rotor blur, you need to have the camera set on it's lowest ISO and stop down until you can get to 1/60 second. 1/125 is the fastest shutter speed you can get rotor blur at. you're going to have a hard time doing that though because out in the sun there, the light at 125 ISO is typically f/16 at 1/1000 second. I was maxing out the capabilities of my lenses & my Leica's speeds when I was there, but I still got the shots. A good thing to have is not a polarizer, but a neutral density filter. the highest quality you can afford. B+W are the best. The brass rings will not bind to your lenses like the aluminum of other brands, but the other brands are decent too.
If you have a zoom that expands, don't work the action outdoors. zoom it in a protected environment & then shoot out in the dust. I killed an $800 lens that the Navy owns because of doing this, but I had to... I was in a battle, there was not shelter for my camera.
When it gets above 120 degrees, just put your camera away & forget about it. Here's where it's a good thing to have a nice old film camera with a simple 35 or 50mm lens on it. I used sunny 16 for almost all of my shots in Iraq that I took with my Leicas & they came out great. If all you have is the digital, then even better, you don't have to worry about the metering. it's built in. HOWEVER, if you use the sunny 16 rule, you'll find yourself better able to call & catch shots on the fly out of instinct. The camera is just a recording instrument, it's not smarter than you are. When it gets hot out there, your plastic covering will melt off if out in the sun too much. My D2h just plain didn't want to turn on in the 140 degree heat of Kuwait. I know it's not that hot there now, but you know how it will get there. Also, get a GOOD quality portable harddrive. Everything fails catastropically in the desert & having your images backed up on a good drive like a LaCie 300MB mini desktop drive is good insurance. I have that little drive. It's tiny, it's sealed and built like a tank out of metal. All good for the desert.
I hope I helped. Let us know how it goes! post some photos of a military 4 hole burnout! ewww! That's a statement only the military vets here who've had time in the field would understand. Yourself probably too if you've ever had any plumbing problems...
I'll never forget that sickening sweet smell.