Photography

Boulder

2010-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

They don't actually have shame about this.

1st gen iPhone in rough shape

2010-06-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

Bear Peak

2010-06-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

Pacing for distance determination in the field

2010-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Mountain Club Denver had their map and compass field trip yesterday. One of the things that I liked was at the very beginning they had a 1/2 mile flat course marked off that they had the students count paces and time themselves. A pace is two steps or count every time that the same foot hits the ground. The knowledge of pacing was then used through out the rest of the day to measure various distances.

A standard pace count for a 1/2 mile is around 500, a mile is then 1,000. If one does a half mile pace it becomes very easy to measure multiples of 0.1 mile. To find how many paces a 0.1 mile is, simply take the students pace count and drop the last digit. For example my pace count for a mile is 1076, a 0.1 mile for me would be 107 paces. Sure you lose some precision, but the act of pacing over uneven ground is just an approximation.

To travel some number of feet a quick approximation of a pace is 5 ft. So what one would do is divide the distance in feet by 5. Except that is hard to do for some people and becomes hard for most when tired, cold and tracking a lot of information. So a very simple approximation is to take the distance you want to go (say 300 ft), multiply by 2 ( 600) then drop the last digit (60 paces).

These are approximations which turn out to be pretty good on flat ground. When going uphill ones paces get shorter, downhill they get longer. This was explicitly illustrated once, and accounts for a locating error one another point we found. The first I was supposed to do 216 paces, the "leaders" commented that if I get to water I have gone too far. At 168 paces I hit a T in the trail that had water next to it. The trail had been down hill and made my paces 20% longer. For the next point I was a leader. We measured the map and computed the number of paces and sent our pacer off... up hill. We got to the point were we were to go off trail and moved in at the angle that we should have. Something very interesting then happened. 80% of the group headed down hill to search for the marking tape. The point was found further up hill then we were. It was found further up hill because the pacers step length had shortened. The group didn't have an answer for why they headed down hill for the initial search. They should have simply spread out evenly.

After thinking about some of the distances that we were asked to pace into the brush, there was obviously some error in the plotting of points. I actually had a problem with that. My point was in the wrong nose of a ridge, about 100-150' too far south (solved with a quick replot), and was only caught because we had two people who had different answers.

Shelter Building

2010-04-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

View from one of the shelters.

This is why we don't use survival saws. The saw broke in the middle.

The start of a classic debris shelter

Blue Sky Snow Storm

2010-04-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is from a recent blue sky snow storm. What happened is snow was being generated in the mountains and blowen into the city. It first came down the canyon. This is a ejection from the canyon.

2010-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

2010-02-02T18:39:00.001-08:00

2010-02-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T18:34:00.001-08:00

2010-02-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

Simulated open fracture

Impromptu shelter for our broken leg patient.

2010-02-02T18:30:00.001-08:00

2010-02-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

2009-11-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

Alite Monarch chair with Lamb's Slide in the background.

2009-11-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

Devil's Backbone, Laimer County Open Space

From the top of NCAR

2009-11-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Silver American Eagle

2009-10-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

2009-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Put a cap in trade

2009-10-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

UPS and USPS working together

2009-08-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have never seen UPS hand off a package to USPS

CRKT 2020

2009-08-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the knife. It feels well made. It is one solid piece, is solid and has a bit of heft to it.

CRKT 2020 sheath

2009-08-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

I received a CRKT2020 in the mail today. I very much like the sheath. It is made to be attached to an arm. It is made with high quality nylon webbing and velcro.

The straps can be removed so...

that it can be horizontally belt mounted

2009-08-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Mmmm

Making room to put in 3 more racks of BG /L

2009-08-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

That would be 5 racks of ribs from Costco. Mmm.

My peppermint is coming up.

A very nice Polish beer.

A John Deer bike.

A desert at the local Italian restaurant. Probably the best I have ever had.

On the farm

2009-08-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

I got to visit a local farm recently.

If you have seen the movie "Up" you will know Doug. Above is the real life version of Doug.

By the end of the night I had made a lot of friends.

Alpine Lakes

2009-07-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Glass lake. It was very windy here. I was wet up to my knees, but was dry and warm in about 3 minutes because of the synthetic paths that I was wearing.

This chunk of snow looked pink because of the dirt that had blown on it.

The final goal. Sky Pond. 28 images 16,016x4859 pixels = 4.5 feet long by 16" high

Sky pond

2009-07-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the waterfall

Mountineering boots are the way to go. They are waterproof and have high connected tongues. I am standing in at least 3 inches of running water here, and my feet stayed dry.

We climbed up the right hand water fall.

The view down the valley while standing in the waterfall.

Snow field

2009-07-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

At the base of the snow field while it is raining.

Top of the snow field and start of the waterfalls.

This is the snow field that we traversed. Where the snow is melted away underneath is where the path comes out. I was concerned if the snow would support our weight for this very reason, so I stuck it hard with my ice axe. It felt like I hit rock, so I think it is actually an ice shelf.

Speaking of my ice axe, here it is. Featured here because it saved my hind end and sure was handy to have along as a walking pole.

Summer day

2009-07-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

Found in the trunk

At a local park

I missed my knees with the sun screen.

2009-06-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Two waterfalls on the left. If you look closely on the right you will see a small waterfall poking through the snow.

That is a ground squirrel. A chipmonk is much smaller.

Emerald Lake

2009-06-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

On the way to another lake we ran into this and were turned back because only two people had equipment to help the walk across snow. Just to the right is a fairly steep cliff. Not a far fall, but enough that we didn't feel safe.

This is a blurry picture of a marmot. It is here because this is the first marmot that I have seen.

There are many waterfalls on the hikes to alpine lakes.

Emerald Lake from a bit higher. I am going to try to fix the patch in the upper left and then make a print of this one.

Emerald Lake

2009-06-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

On the way to Emerald Lake.

We sat a this point for a couple of minutes and figured out that the view is toward Sky Pond and what the various mountain names are. A very nice informational use of a map.

Emerald Lake

Green Mtn Trail head

2009-06-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Green Mountain

2009-06-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Green Mountain Point 11

View from point 13

Denver

Green Mountain 83 Benchmark defaced with coordinates.

2009-06-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is the other type of cactus I have seen out here.

Red rocks

This guy came fly by us as we were walking back to the car.

Green Mtn.

2009-06-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

On the way

Storm over NCAR single frames

2009-06-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Storm over NCAR

2009-06-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Alan's pictures from Bear Peak Summit

2009-06-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

Benchmark!

That is the top of Bear Peak. Thankfully Alan didn't feel a need to jump out and stand on top of it.

Just shy of Sky Pond

2009-06-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Alpine lakes are awesome

2009-06-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sky Pond Panos

2009-06-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Bear peak

2009-06-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

One of the many flowers seen on the way.

The cactus started flowering recently. If you look at the "leaf" you can see many small insects. I have no idea what they are.

Sunrise before the hike

View of NCAR with some good morning lighting.

Bear Peak before work

2009-06-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Alan's first time at the peak.

The final scrable.

View from the top

Some of the company we had at the top. To also include chipmonks and flys. Lots and lots of flys. We can't figure out what the heck they were doing way up there.

New toy

2009-06-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am going to need one of these for the berm.

Hiking equipment

2009-06-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

This details the standard load that I take on a day hike around here. The snow/cold weather equipment is required as there are still many places where there are 5ft snow packs and it can get very cold very quickly in the mountains.

Clothing:
Mounterneering boots $300
Wicking socks $10/3
Gaiters $30
Nylon pants $30
Wicking underware $10
Dry fit like shirt $10
Dry fit like sweat shirt $25
Rain jacket $110
Rain Pants $50
Leather belt $50
Dry fit like winter hat $20
Dry fit like gloves $15
Wide brim hat $20

Equipment:
GoLite internal frame pack $150
3L water blatter $20
1L Nalgene bottle $10
Ice axe (w/ teather, cover) $80
Helmet $50
Whistle $10
Compass $50
Map $10
Water filter $ 50
Sun screen $4
Flash light $10
GPS (w/ software) $200
Micro spikes $50
Medical Kit $50

Optional equipment so far is a head lamp for starting very early in the morning.

The clothing total is $680, equipment is $744.

Sky Pond

2009-06-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Some very nice ladies helped us out.

That is the trail. Yes it is covered in about 5 feet of snow and this was taken mid-June.

The view down the valley that we climbed up. This is just shy of Sky Pond.

Sky Pond

2009-06-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

2009-06-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

At a local park

Boulder Map Gallery address
A very neat store

4 Wheel

2009-05-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Fast Fire

2009-05-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Review to be forth coming.

Look at what I found!

2009-05-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

I was walking from work to the parking lot and I saw the local red fox running around in the distance. I stopped to take a couple of pictures, but they were too far away. I stood around and watched for a bit. I was rewarded, as the fox came within about 30 feet from me.

This one needs a LOL caption.

Basic snow traversal

2009-05-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

We went to St. Mary's glacier today. I got altitude sick so took everything out of my pack that wasn't essential. Thus the only image I have of is of the parking lot. It is very much worth the trip. We experienced blizzard conditions, then like a light switch the wind would stop blowing. We even got a bit of sun shine.

When I was returning my plastic boots (which kept my feet warm and dry) I picked up a helmet and ice axe.

I now also very much apperaciate gaiters. They keep snow out of your boots. I don't know anyone in MN who owns a pair, and all of the outdoor types should.

Equipment

2009-05-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

This started out with both ends inside the duct tape. This one failed within about a block of the start of the walk. The reason to do this is to give you a solid mount point, carry some extra rope, and carry some duct tape.

This is a good deal more paracord braided and it held the entire trip.

I have been having problems with the clip coming off of my knife, so I duct taped it.

By the end of the day the tape had started to rip. Next time I am going to put it a bit higher and go twice around instead of once.

Deer Vertebrae

2009-05-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

There was a *lot* of deer poop around, and I found this.

Shelter

2009-05-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

It might not look like much but if we were to tear down some pines it would have been a very nice place to spend the night we we were stuck out without a tent.

We blocked the windward side by wrapping some of the poles around. See the little pine tree? That is our air freshener!

We didn't have enough long branches for the ribs so we resorted to using the abundent shorter branches to space out the ribs and then span.

2009-05-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

In the Clouds

2009-05-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

2009-05-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

CSU CS building

A walk up the hill

2009-05-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

As I was walking up I was able to watch a red fox hunt. For some reason as I was passing by it just sat neat the road with what it caught.

Rain and clouds

2009-04-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

GoLite

2009-04-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

GoLite Pursuit pack (50L / 3,000 cu in). This is a polyurethane-coated nylon with DWR applied. As near as I can tell it was bone dry inside. I want to do further testing to see how much water it will really hold up to. It has a hydration sleeve with two openings to get the tube out, with the openings being well constructed. It has an internal framesheet to provide support. Being that it is made to be a alpine/backcountry skiing/snowboarding/snowshoeing pack it has lots of straps for attaching those sorts of things directly to the pack. I liked the reflective tape on the front and wish it had some on the rear, which I may do something about. Also the waist strap has two mesh pouches, which I think I will come to like.

Plain jane waterproof jacket. Two pockets, hood. What more do you want for $20?

Ah and to the beast of a sleeping bag. This is the GoLite Venture 0F bag. Baffles at the top of the chest to keep the warm air in the bag, as well as a baffle that runs the length of the zipper. The zipper runs most of the way down the bag, probably longer then it should for warmth, but it does make it easier to get in and out of. The orange middle section is DWR which means you still have to be careful to not get the bag wet, but gives up a bit more margin for error. The head and foot of the bag (gray) are made of waterproof fabric. This is because tents tend to drip moisture in those areas. Light weight and packs well.

GoLite

2009-04-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

GoLite is having their warehouse sale. I was able to go on Friday and pick up some neat things
GoLite Wind jacket. It only weights 3 oz and packs to a little bit larger then a cigarette pack.

GoLite Gauntlet Jacket. This is labeled as both waterproof and DWR(Durable Weather Resistant). The grey parts of the jacket are waterproof the blue parts are DWR (water resistance only). They do this because the jacket is less expensive, breaths better in the DWR area and hey it even looks good. Seams are taped, the hood is zip off and has a very easy to use draw cord. It also has a hem draw cord, but I have not tried that yet. Also you will notice the pit zips, a must have feature. I took it out for an hour and a half walk in the rain today (light and constant), and it kept me dry but the DWR was starting to have water seep in. A 20 minute car ride later and the jacket was dry on the outside, still a bit damp on the inside. I should mention that the pockets are lined and very nice. Over all I like the jacket, but it good to know its limitations.

Rabbit mountain

2009-04-12T16:31:00.001-07:00

Rabbit mountain

2009-04-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

It is more like a hill then a mountain.

Lunch

2009-04-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

98.8F

2009-04-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

This post will be a combination book review and random things I learned from CMC Hiking I course. I just got done with a book called "98.6 Degrees: The art of keeping your ass alive" by Cody Lundin. As you can tell one would probably not share it with younger children. Other then some of the language it is very good. It covers a wide range of material in a good amount of depth, tells you what parts you really should practice and which you should get further training to be able to do.

The critical point that I took away is that there are two things that you really need to do. One is regulate body temperature this includes staying dry and warm in the cold and cool (possibly wet) in the heat. A couple of things that help with this is dressing properly for the weather. This usually involves layers and none of your clothing involving cotton. For example I got a very good deal on dry fit shirts from Target and Sports Authority. They are of the "Champion" and "Under Armor" brand. Also got a polyester jacket for insulation. The last item to be used on the outside is the previously posted rain jacket. For pants I only have a thin pair of nylon pants and rain pants. This is good enough as one doesn't loose very much heat through the legs.

For hot weather you are looking at the dry fit shirts and are now worried about sun burn. Some clothing is SPF rated and you should be able to trust it. Others are not rated and might be just as good (it costs about $5,000 per fabric/color combination to have tested). If you want to take an educated guess that the fabric, hold it up to the light and then start lightly pulling on it. If you can see through it, you can be burned through it. It was mentioned in this book as well as the speaker from GoLite that in dry hot climates cotten might be your best friend during the day as it does pipe off heat very well. Granted because deserts are so dry they tend to get very cold at night so one really needs to have another plan for when the sun starts to go down.

He goes into a *lot* of detail of how to regulate tempature in the first few chapters of the book, which turns out to be very informative.

Considering your emergency packs you really want to have things that can keep you warm/cold. A space blanket is great for this because it reflects heat. That means wrap it around yourself to keep your heat in, or put it between you and the Sun to keep heat off of you.

Also consider that when wandering around when you are hot (say in 100F weather) or cold you rapidly lose intelligence. To the tune of about 25% for moderate heat.

Another thing mentioned in the book repeatadly is to stay hydrated. A very nice feature of water is that it helps to regulate temperature because it doesn't heat or cool very quickly (high specific heat). The other reason is that when you have lost just 2% of your body weight in water you are bout 25% less intelligent. This effect combines with the above mentioned heat loss, so if you are hot and thirsty you are about 50% dummber then when you are sitting on your couch well hydrated.

In short regulate your tempature and drink lots of water.

2009-03-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

I got a Marmot breathable waterproof jacket. At CMC tonight we learned that one basically trades off amount of water protection for amount of breathability. Once you hit about 10,000mm of water protection it is waterproof. Gor-tex is just this side of "doesn't breathe at all" and it basically worse then useless unless you are in submerged in water.

2009-03-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

After the snow storm I decided to head to a trail head in Boulder. It was melting and thus this happened to the car.

There was a trail cut as far as I went. At some points it got waist deep with the trail being just wide enough to fit down. Also the micro spikes enabled me to do this hike. They held of *very* well.

2009-03-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

This is right at the entrance. People come to climb it or watch others climb.

Eldorado Canyon

2009-03-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

Eldorado Canyon

2009-03-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Snow on the background mtns.

Eldorado Canyon

2009-03-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

I beleive that is Denver.

2009-03-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Dry Fit

2009-03-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

I got a couple of dry fit shirts from Target for something like $8 each. I tried the bottom one out today and it was amazing. Ya I know my belly is showing, working on that. :)
The only long sleve one that I could find was at Dick's for $50. Going to check Target again before I rip the tag off of that.

Mallory Cave Cliff

2009-03-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

I was trying to go to Mallory Cave today. Ended up stopping because of this feature. If I ended up hurting myself on that I was alone so without helpf. There had not been anyone up that way yet that day and I didn't see anyone on the way down either. It could have been a long wait. There is a reason that I carry the loudest whistle that I could buy.

Just love the extra little note.

Microspikes

2009-03-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Just got these in the mail. They look pretty awesome for walking across snow and ice.
@$50 for a pair
Still need to find some poles for a resonable price.
http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.html

Mesa

2009-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

From a hike down Table mesa

2009-03-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

This was a blue chesse shallot bread. One of the best breads I have had. Still need to do some work to get the bread to hold together better.

2009-03-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

The sparrow was just hanging around like that. I was amazed that it could hang on.

Bad printer

2009-03-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

In the first image you can see what is displayed on the screen and in the bottom half you can see what came out of the printer.

Reseating one of the cartridges and we get the print on the right. On the left is the orginal "pink" print.

2009-02-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

2009-02-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

Sorrel sprouting

Apartment,

Breakfast, egg and peanut butter sandwich

Morning walk

Small Shakers

2009-02-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

2009-02-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

They did some *very* stupid things in building my apartment. One of which is bulding the furnace in a hallway such that it sticks out a good inch. Just like the bathroom that has little room to get into the shower without banging your knee on the *sharp* edge of the bathroom counter.

And let us forget for the moment the lightswitchs that are at different levels and different distances from the doorways. And of course ignore the floor that isn't flat, but has obvious lumps and gaps.

2009-02-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Click to see the snow capped mountains

Bear Peak Attempt

2009-02-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

Bear Peak is the tallest one in the above image.

2009-02-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

2009-02-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

Crossing the road

15 deer

Low clouds

2009-02-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

Online Photo Shops

2009-02-09T19:07:00.001-08:00

This post is simply a collection of data freely available from the web. It is current as of yesterday. One of the things that I am going to take a look at in the later post is does it make sense to print some small proofs.

I am going to start printing images again, so I decided to do some research on online photo printers. I am only interested in certain sizes, 4x6, 8x10, 16x20, 20x30 and roll printing where one is charged by the square foot. Given the camera sensor size, that prints are made at 300 dpi (one can also do 200dpi) the normal size for my setup is about an 8x10. There are several problems that are being solved with printing. The first is that monitors don't have enough pixels to display any more then say 25 or 33% of the pixels of an image. When dealing with panoramics it is closer to 8% or less. By putting the image on paper you can pull the details out.

I am using Picasa to store many of my images so I decided to start there.

Photoworks
Can be used from Picasa website
Respects copyright (cites law)
50 free 3.5x5 or 4x6 – “welcome50”
Size Price
4x6 $0.09 -$0.15 ($0.15 when I tried to order)
8x10 $2.99
16x20 $17.95
20x30 $23.95

Shutterfly
Can be used from Picasa website
Size Print prices
4x6 $0.15
8x10 $3.99
16x20 $17.99
20x30 $22.99

W photo – Walgreens
Can be used from Picasa website
Mail Delivery
4x6 print $0.12
8x10 print $2.99

Snap fish
Can be used from Picasa website
50 free images
4x6 print(s) 9¢
8x10 print(s) $2.99

It looks like Snapfish is the cheapest for 4x6 and 8x10. They are run by HP who appears to be selling the equipment to most of the manufactures so that makes sense. This is a good start. Lets branch out and see what else one can get from major retailers.

Walmart
Don’t like the website
4x6 $0.09
8x10 $2.84

Ritz
Don’t like the website
4x6 $0.15
8x10 $3.99
20x30 $29.99

King Sooper
Free 4x6s by shopping there
4 x 6 Glossy Or Matte 1-49 Prints $0.20 each.
8 x 10 Glossy $1.99

Walmart is pretty cheap on the 4x6s also. King Sooper is crazy high on 4x6, but they give those to me free for shopping there... so free is pretty good, and they have the best price on 8x10s. I know that the ritz shop in Roseville used to be nationally one of the better places to have prints made. I had a few 8x10s done there and they were very good. Now for a place that I know of their quality. This also is the only professional print house that I know of. If any of my few readers know of any others please comment on the thread.

White House Custom Color (WHCC)
Professional print house
Pricing for Lustre/Glossy, Metallic is about 20% more
4x6 $0.73
8x10 $2.20
16x20 $14.50
20x30 $27.50
larger $5.75/sq ft

Woah! Look at that 4x6 price. You don't go to this place to get 4x6s. They are doing professional prints where 8x10 is considered small. When one starts getting to the bigger sizes WHCC is doing very well on price (significantly lower) and I know that their quality is *very* good.

Image Display

2009-02-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

This is related to an upcoming blog post. I wanted to make a single technical statement that I "knew" was true but didn't have the proof. Here is the proof which I think turned out to be an interesting exercise in itself. Let me apologize now for the formatting of the tables. I have tried to format them, but blogger decides that it wants to trash them.

The question is something along the lines of "How much of my image is displayed on X" where X is a monitor or physical print. Let us also introduce the variable Y, different camera models.

Why this situation is the least bit interesting is that one measure of a camera is how many mega-pixels it has. That isn't what one really cares about anyway you slices it. Quality of the image is mostly subjective, granted dynamic range can be measured to some extent. What one wants to do at the end of the day is display the beautiful image that you took somehow. This is measured in area (length x width) with some number of dots per inch (DPI) on a print or some resoultion on a monitor. The numbers on your camera are not directly related to the numbers on the print. Very quickly a modern camera sensor will have some pixel height and width as will a monitor. A print will have a height and width measure in inches and DPI. A very simple way to compare the two is to look at the number of total pixels each contains. This may be a problem in some cases where one dimension of the image is larger then the corresponding dimension on the print. This case is left as an exercise to the reader. To find the total number of pixels of the camera sensor or monitor simply multiply the resolution out (height x width). For the print one does the same thing but needs to multiply the both the height and he width by the dpi (typically 300 but also possible 200). That is length x dpi x width x dpi. This gives the physical print a large scaling factor, which shortly we will see is important.

First let us look at a couple of camera sensors.

Camera px px Total Pixels
------------ ----- ------ -----------------------
Nikon D70 3008 2000 6016000 (6MP)
Nikon D80 3872 2592 10036224 (10MP)
Nikon D90 4288 2848 12212224 (12.2MP)
Nikon S550 3648 2736 9980928 (9.98MP)

I own a D70 and S550. It just so happens that the S550 sensor produces just about the same number of pixels as the D80, not making any statements about image quality. We will take the D70, D90 and S550 as test cases as they offer different numbers of total pixels.

Let us first look at how many pixels can be displayed on a monitor. I have one that is 1900x1200. Something that always happens is that you can't display the full resolution because the image has too many pixels and the monitor doesn't have enough. Photoshop often reports that it is only able to display 33% or 25% of the total image. In this data I will use the percentage of display as it is close to the real answer, still makes the point and camera independent.

Height Width Total Pixels
------ ------ -----------
1900 1200 2280000 (2.3MP)
33% 752400 (0.75MP)
25% 570000 (0.57MP)

That total number of pixels sure does shrink fast! What does that mean in terms of how much of the image can be displayed at any given time on a monitor? Below we take the three above discussed resolutions and the previous mentioned cameras and show what % of the total number of pixels can be displayed.

Resolution %of D70 % of S550 % of D90
------------ --------- --------- --------
1900 37.89 22.84 18.67
33% 12.50 7.53 6.16
25% 9.47 5.71 4.67

In the realistic cases only a very small part of the image can be displayed, typically between 5-10%. This doesn't give a one a very good idea of what is happening with the details of the image. If we look at what happens when we print the images we might find a solution.

Height (in) Width (in) pixels @ 300 dpi
4 6 2160000 (2.1MP)
8 10 7200000 (7.2MP)
16 20 28800000 (28.8MP)

These images get big very quickly. How does the print size relate to how much of the image can be fit on it?

Height (in) Width (in) %of D70 % of S550 % of D90
4 6 35.90 21.64 17.69
8 10 119.68 72.13 58.96
16 20 478.72 288.55 235.83

The 4x6 can fit about 36% of the D70 image on it, which is very close to what the monitor can do in the unrealistic situation where we assume that all of the pixels can be used. What this shows us is that even a lowly 4x6 print can display 3-4x more information then can a monitor. There is interest in the print size range between the 8x10 and 16x20 print if you have a D90 and want to print entire images. Not presented here, but an entire D90 image fits very nicely on a 16x20" print at 200dpi.

Printing technology has come a long ways. It has a very good dynamic range and from this analysis we can see has great density of information.

Nothing new here, but as it is very cheap to change the image on a monitor it makes for a good way to scan through images to find which to print. For detail work it is less expensive to change the size of your print then to change the number of pixels your monitor can display. In the next part of this series I will take a look at the cost trade off of proofs and full prints.

In a related note, all of those years writing physics lab reports, posters and papers helped in writing this greatly. The major limiting factor was how fast I could type.

Winter Mountian

2009-01-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Sunset

2009-01-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

Bread!

2009-01-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

I made bread. It was the best bread I have ever had. Hot out of the oven with a bit of real butter. Mmm. It is amazing how easy, inexpensive, filling and tasty it is.

Snow Around These Parts

2009-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

One of the surprising things about Colorado is that there usually is no snow on the ground. That changed yesterday.
There was some in snow on the foothills too.