Dental photography

[JonB]

I've been a Mac guy since my first 512ke. (800k floppy discs - no HD)
The first few versions of Aperture didn't go over very well - but they've hit it out of the park on version 3 - you'll like it. I have version 1.2.x something and hated it. But i'm not a big fan of Lightroom either - I've had it since it was in beta. The newest version of LR is really good though and if I hadn't spent so much time in Photoshop - I'd probably use it more. In any case, we'll be using the same adjustments and changes to our images no matter what app we use - the only difference will be where to find the menu commands and buttons.
I strongly recommend for everyone - Scott Kelby's "7 Point System for XXXXXXXXX" (insert Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture if its available for the Xs) It is worth its weight in gold to simplify post production editing. Also if you get the chance, go see Scott present at one of his traveling seminars. He basically shows you a bunch of cool tricks and works through the 7 steps. All info you can apply to all of your shooting.

John Wilson and I were talking last night and a point worth repeating is this - shoot a lot! (every really good pro photographer i know usually has a camera somewhere within reach). You never know when something worth shooting happens in front of you. If you don't have your camera with you - you won't get the shot, someone else will.
Why shoot a lot?
Because every image you shoot - you should learn something about your camera, your technique or what you have to do in post to get the image you saw in your head. Every shot makes you a better photographer and that will spill over into your dental photography as well. It's not likely you will wear your camera out - so even if all you do is sit in the garden and shoot bumble bees with your macro lens and ring light - its going to make you more steady when you shoot intra-orally! I did that when i first got my first digital - a Canon 10D...

Hey - if i can shoot 15,000 images on average at a typical weekend airshow - you guys can shoot 150!
Here is one of the first exercises i was given when i started getting serious about shooting.
Take your camera and a lens - any lens... just leave the film out (digital card now days)
Go outside and find a subject to shoot. Take 20 images of that same thing. By the 9th or 10th, you're going to get bored with it. Stay with it, shoot some more of that subject. By the 17th or 18th - you will be forcing yourself to see the subject in a new way. By the 20th you will begin to really see it. THEN go put film in the camera and shoot it for real! See what you get.

 

[JonB]

I was shooting the Georgia Dental Lab Association meeting last Saturday and as usual the lecture was given in almost total darkness. (The first pict looks like a lot of light - but it wasn't as much as it looks like.)

There was a guy there - not shooting officially, as i was - but still he was trying out his new Nikon D3x to see how it performed. He was shooting it at 12,800 ISO and getting what looked like daylight images. While we were talking, he showed me the screen and blew it up so I could see and it was very impressive!

So - i knew i was going to have to boost the 5DmII up to some silly crazy number to get anything usable for the Lab Association magazine. Would it hold up? Would the grain size be as large as boulders on Pikes Peak? You tell me.

First shot is the room with the main lights turned down and the rest at maybe 1/8 to 1/4 power and the projector screen shedding most of the light. Canon 5DmII ~ 24-105 ƒ4.0 Shutter= 1/15th, Aperture ƒ4.0 @ 24mm using 800 ISO



The second image is Dr. Jack Turbyfill during his lecture with no additional lights than in the first pict. Canon 5DmII ~ 70-200 ƒ2.8 Shutter= 1/50th, Aperture ƒ2.8 @ 160mm using 6400 ISO (both shots hand held)

 

[dmonwaxa]

Sweet,,,looks like you were successful....now what da heck are all those lerrers and numbers.....all gibberish to me...
JonB.....ju haf sum splaneing to doo....

 

[JonB]

Easy as pie my friend...
Canon 5DmII ~ 24-105 ƒ4.0 Shutter= 1/15th, Aperture ƒ4.0 @ 24mm using 800 ISO

Canon 5DmII < model and brand of camera - the Canon 5D Mark II

24-105 ƒ4.0 < the focal length of the zoom lens i was using with a widest maximum aperture of 4. This particular zoom lens range is from 24mm out to 105 mm - or from a "wide angle to a short telephoto".

Shutter= 1/15th, < how fast the shutter opened and closed was 1/15th of a second (really slow)

Aperture ƒ4.0 < how wide open the small leaf like fins were set. On this lens, it goes from ƒ4.0 up to ƒ22 with 4.0 being as open as it gets with the largest hole in the lens to ƒ22 being the smallest it gets. Seems backwards but that is the way it is.

@ 24mm < the actual focal length at the time the photo was taken

using 800 ISO < ISO is the measurement of light sensitivity that is set for the camera at the time the photo is taken. It can range from 50 ISO up to 128,000 on some pro camera bodies. The lower the number - the finer the "grain" -the higher the number the more noticeable the grain. Low grain size is desirable.

Three other things i did not mention that it would be good to define...
The lens is actually a "24-105 ƒ4.0 L IS USM"
We've already defined 24-105 and ƒ4.0... now -

L < signifies this as a "Professional" level lens which means a higher quality of glass and coatings to reduce aberrations and flare.

IS < Image Stabilization - which is a tiny gyroscope like mechanism that senses movement and shifts the glass to compensate - thus giving a sharper image and allowing slower shutter speeds in low light situations - as much as 3 stops.

USM < Ultra Sonic Motor - the type of motor drive used to focus the lens when you press the shutter button on auto-focus lenses.

Hope this helps!

 

[dmonwaxa]

Clear as mud

Seriously, thanks for explaining. This is the thing that bugs me. Why does the smaller # = larger lens opening and vice versa? Maybe an explantion of setting shutter speeds. Very thorough explanation you gave though, thanks for breaking it down in laymans terms.

 

[Gdentallab]

nice john,
i wish i knew you before, to shoot my wedding ceremony.

 

[JonB]

@ Gdentallab C.D.T.... I'll take that as a curse!

Wedding photographers deserve the utmost in respect - they have the worst job on the planet. Bridezillas, mothers, mother-in-laws, step mothers... sometimes jealous grooms who don't want you in their fiance's dressing room while they are naked, fathers of the bride who are paying you and they want real "value" whatever that means - not to mention a situation where absolutely no mistakes are allowed. Thanks but no thanks - wedding photography has a reputation among shooters as being the armpit of the business. I have a motto that I've stuck to for years... "I'll start shooting weddings when they start holding them on Wednesdays!" I'm really glad I don't live in Vegas!

I've shot 3 weddings in the last few years, one in Peru which was a very nice nearly all expense paid working vacation, and two here - one on a Friday which is almost a Wednesday and the other on a Saturday. Someone says wedding and I run the other way!

 

[JonB]

@dmonwaxa - its easy, the aperture and shutter is like a faucet - it has an on/off handle and an opening, right? The aperture controls how much water gets through the faucet opening and the shutter controls how long the faucet handle is turned on and off.

Now -how does that affect your pictures. The shutter speed determines how much ambient light is allowed into the scene and depending on its speed either eliminates motion blur or shows it in varying degrees. The aperture controls how much light goes through the glass by the size of the opening. To a point, the less glass the light has to pass through, the sharper the image, with more contrast and depth of field. The more glass you use through a bigger opening allows very shallow depth of field and determines the "bokeh" or background blur. A lens with a 2.8 or less aperture setting usually is said to give a beautiful bokeh - or creamy soft background. This helps to isolate the subject and make it stand out. Like this image of my doberman:

Shot with my Canon 20D, 300mm ƒ.28 L IS lens, settins are: 1/200 shutter speed, ƒ2.8 aperture with an ISO of 400 from about 10 feet away. You can hardly make out the grass and fence behind him.

 

[JonB]

A good description of aperture can be found here: Aperture

There is an old saying that is attributed to Ansel Adams "ƒ8 and be there" which means you have to be present to win and set the camera to ƒ8 because it is usually in the sharpest range of just about every lens out there.

For anyone saying that using photoshop on dental images (or any images) is cheating or wrong - if Adams was alive today - he'd use it just like all the rest of us. He spent a lot more time in his darkroom dodging and burning his images than most people realize. You don't get his level of images straight out of a camera.
It used to be said that cameras don't lie and that may be true - but all photographers do and always have!

 

[dmonwaxa]

JonB, your analogies and examples are truly helping, it providing me with a better understanding. So now I have to play and read some more and play some more,,,,thanks for all the great advice. I'l have to look up photography terms I see, things like dodge and burn etc..
Thanks again

 

[DeVreugd]

JonB, your analogies and examples are truly helping, it providing me with a better understanding. So now I have to play and read some more and play some more,,,,thanks for all the great advice. I'l have to look up photography terms I see, things like dodge and burn etc..
Thanks again

Jon, I agree with dmonwaxa!!
If you are ever in the Chapel Hill, NC area, let me know. I would love to pick your brain !!! Great stuff!!
Thanks for all of your time & talent!
Russ

 

[TheLabGuy]

I'd like to echo many here...Thank goodness there is people this talented and devoted to learning photography and MOST of all, taking the time to share it with noobs like us (especially me). VERY MUCH APPRECIATED JON!!!!!!!! You're a Mensch.

 

[JonB]

Thanks guys... but I'm a simple kid from Kansas... i need a definition on mensch!

Feel free to pick my brain all you want to Russ - I've got a million questions for you too!

One thing - i've learned a few things about photography and i have a ton of opinions - so if i come off as too over the top, trust me - i'm just a matter of fact straight to the point kinda guy. That's just the salty Kansan in me coming out. I have absolutely no animosity toward anyone and whether they use a point and shoot, a Nikon, or a Canon it doesn't make that much difference to me.

If you're new to photography - that's OK too. We all start somewhere and most advance beyond me very quickly. My comments are always to encourage and be helpful - the last thing i want to do is squelch someones love for a hobby they can take to work with them. If i think a particular camera is better than another - its because i believe in making good use of your time and not struggling over it.

I chose Canon cameras for that reason when i went digital for dental work. It was a tough switch for me as i was so strongly entrenched in the Nikon camp, i couldn't live with myself for a while - just ask anyone who knew me in the days of Nikon F3s and Canon AE-1s!.

When I made the switch, at the time Canon was known for having a more accurate color sensor and their ETTL flash was way advanced over what Nikon had. Nikon has caught up on that regard and as always they switch leads almost daily. I'm familiar with the controls on the Canon and find whenever i use someone's Nikon that they suffer from the kinds of button combinations that Canon used to with their older pro bodies. So if your questions deal with Nikons - be patient, i don't have one and you will need to be familiar with your own camera methods to change settings.

Ask away and if i don't know the answer... i know at least 100 pros who do, i can find out from them and get an answer for you.

I guess its time to request a dedicated topic header so I'm not running all over the place answering questions though...

 

[johngimpelcdt]

Thanks Jon for all the sugggestions/tips you've provided here. I too am learning more and more. I have a Canon EOS Rebel XT with Sigma 105mm macro lens & ring/point flash. Is it better to utilize manual settings or set to automatic?

Also, I notice that there isn't an aperature setting capability on the lens itself like on my Nikon lens. The camera must account for that then?

Thanks.

 

[TomZ]

Jon-
Just revisited your photo site, great stuff.

Tom

 

[JonB]

Hi John - sorry i'm just getting back to the thread today - putting out fires on Friday is not my way of starting a weekend - but i've got some time now.

I was confused about the aperture ring being missing too when i started with my first digital. The camera handles all that through the electronics and is more precise that way.

If you are on Aperture priority, you set it through your control dial and the lens stops down the leaves at the moment the shutter clicks. In old manual film cameras, if you stopped down to ƒ8, you could hardly see anything in the viewfinder. Having the camera stop it down quickly solved that problem. Set the camera on shutter priority and the camera decides how far to close the aperture to meet the requirements of the through the lens metering and whatever exposure compensation you may have dialed in.

As to manual vs auto - wow that is a tough one. ... at least for me. I grew up shooting Exacta film cameras. These are both of mine from the late 50s.


The Exacta camera company always boasted they were the first SLR on the market. They were an East German company based in Dresden and used Zeis lenses. It was totally manual and learning to use it with no built in light meter made everything hard. You set the shutter, aperture and remembered the film speed, looked at the sky and tried to remember the "Sunny 16" rule and applied all that before you twisted the lens focus ring till it looked focused on the split screen viewfinder. Now that's photography!

I used to argue with my boss back in Kansas over whether the images captured by a photographer who had to think through every shot were better than the images he got by pushing the shutter on his AE-1 set on aperture priority. We'd go round and round over it. Of course i was right - but that didn't matter!

All that changed when a former Art Student's League graduate from NYC came to work at the lab and laughed at both of us and said if you threw the camera at the wall and it tripped the shutter and made "art", it was just as good as either side's argument.

Nowadays - i think we should learn how to set the camera manually but take advantage of the technology where its beneficial. That said - you asked me what time it is and I've started telling you how to build a watch. Lets just say 90% no 99% of my dental shooting is done on Aperture priority with and ISO of 200 just letting the camera decide the shutter speed. When the flash is attached to the camera (at least a Canon flash) it tells the camera that it is there and the camera then sets itself to whatever shutter sync speed it is designed for. Almost entirely automatic with the exception of bouncing between ƒ22 for inside the mouth and ƒ 4.0 for a head and shoulders.

Hope this helps!

--

And thank you TomZ for the kind comments. I really need to go back to that website and weed out a lot of stuff - there is so much on the hard drives that I want to use to replce some of that older stuff - but time gets away. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[NicelyMKV]

Thanks for all the info Jon! I received my Canon Rebel EOS T2i a few days ago and have not sat it down I would post some of my extremely amateur attempts but I am using the stock flash and have a dual flash on the way. I feel like it would be a waste to post those. What I have shot so far has been clear with nice color. I am slowly trying out your recommendations and once I half way figure out what I am doing I will post some of what you have helped me achieve. This is really exciting stuff!

Thanks,
Jason

 

[NicelyMKV]

I am currently using the stock iPhoto 11 app on my Mac air. imports Raw files and actually has several basic effects and adjustments. I will look more into Aperture 3 when I get some miles under my belt.

Jason

 

[JonB]

Very cool, Jason! I can't wait to see what you are shooting.

 

[JonB]

Jon-
Just revisited your photo site, great stuff.

Tom

Tom, I just saw the notice from smugmug - thanks! I hope you enjoy it, the F22 is my favorite subject to shoot!