FAQ and Equipment Info

FAQ

I'm always happy to answer any questions about equipment, particular pictures, and techniques via email when I have the chance. But sometimes my schedule and my trips don't allow me to reply right away. So, to save time here are some of the more common questions I get:

1. How do you get those colors in your pictures?
2. Do you use filters to get those colors?
3. What kind of camera do you use?
4. What kind of film do you use? Where can I buy it?
5. Do you have any calendars/postcards/prints available? Prints on display anywhere?

1. There are a couple of factors that produce the colors you see. First and foremost is the time of day I shoot. The majority of my best shots are taken during sunrise and sunset. There is just no substitute for the kind of light that can be witnessed during those "magic hours." By no means are you guaranteed to get a great shot if you wake up early for sunrise or sacrifice dinner to a sunset shoot. However, you do give yourself a better chance for something special if you consistently try to shoot during those times. Keep in mind that the best colors often occur in the 20-30 minutes before sunrise and and shortly after sunset. It's worth it to get up just a little bit earlier or stay a little bit later than everyone else.

Another contributing factor is my choice of film. Velvia (see my answer in #4 below for more details) is a fine grained and very saturated slide film that truly captures great color.

2. Aside from the skylight filters I keep on my lens for protection, I only use two other filters; a polarizer and a Singh-Ray two-stop graduated neutral density filter. Most commonly a polarizer is used to cut glare or darken blue skies. The neutral density filter has absolutely no effect on the color of a landscape. Instead the top half of the filter is darkened and the bottom half is clear. When placed in front of the lens the dark part of the filter will cut down, by two stops, the amount of light it lets through. So, for a typical sunset/sunrise situation in which the sky is several stops brighter than the foreground I'll use the filter to "even out" the exposure. That way I can get a more evenly exposed picture instead of settling for say, great sunset clouds and a black foreground. I don't suggest purchasing the widely available Cokin graduated filters since those aren't "true" graduated filters and they actually affect the color of the scene.

[Sing-Ray actually markets a whole line of "Galen Rowell" ND filters, which is essentially what I have. I just happened to buy mine long before they were marketed under this name. If you have trouble finding ND filters you can always order the Singh-Ray ones directly from the Mountain Light website.]

3. I've always used Nikon equipment and my current camera is a F5. I've listed all of my equipment below.

4. I shoot Fuji Velvia film exclusively. It's a professional film (ISO 50) that is very saturated. That explains why a lot of my pictures have such intense colors. Also note that it is slide film. I still strongly believe slides are much better than negatives when it comes to color and sharpness. Print film is good in that it provides more exposure latitude and you can salvage a print from a poorly exposed shot. However, I just have not seen prints from negatives that can match prints from slides.

Velvia is not cheap, though; about $9/roll in local stores (or $5.25/roll if you get it through mail order). I order all of my film (and equipment) from B&H Photo in New York. They are a very reputable and professional mail order business.

5. Currently I have original prints for sale. Sorry, no books or calendars are available at this time. You are more likely to run across my pictures on a CD cover or in a CD-ROM.

Equipment Info

Many of the pictures on this site were taken with the "original equipment" listed below. However, I have been shooting with the F5 for many years now and as I update the site the number of pictures taken with the older equipment will soon be eclipsed by pictures taken with the newer pieces, if that makes any sense. The change in cameras didn't affect the quality of pictures in any significant manner but the move to a professional zoom lens certainly did. Nicer glass is often worth the added cost (within reason, of course).

Last Updated 6/13/05
All images © Kim Steinbacher.
Images may not be reproduced without permission.