Depth of Field on Windy Day

[Willie]

Are you steadying your tripod by hanging something heavy (like your camera bag or backpack or bag of rocks) from the center column?

Leaning the camera bag against one leg of the tripod works better for me. Tried it compared to the hanging bag with a cup of water on the tripod head and the damping one leg worked better. Fewer vibrations in the water when I would tap or bump the tripod.

I will second with David Lobato says about timing wind gusts and shooting during short lulls. Constant wind - you can't do it. But gusty wind you can often work around. Some I have photographed with set up and spend a bit of effort timing wind gusts and seem to be able to find the 'in-between' quiet few seconds to shoot the 8x10.

On the other hand, use small apertures and a Neutral Density filter and make the wind work for you with deliberate motion blur as an element of your composition.

[Drew Wiley]

I've gotten tack sharp 8x10 shots in wind so severe that it would have actually lifted up the whole thing - bit wooden tripod and all - and tossed it like a kite, if I
were not actually laying on the ground holding the legs down, having a very long cable release. Yes, that kind of gamble might cost you an expensive sheet of film from time to time. I repeated one such shot, a remarkable "snow flower" out on a frozen early-season high country lake, and had them both come out perfectly. It wasn't luck. Intense steady wind, but no brief gusts when I tripped the shutter. Far more often, I deliberately want a tad of motion in the scene, like a bit of grass making a subtle soft blur, while the rocks remain hard-sharp. It's all a big, fun, creative, cat-and-mouse game. You'll soon get accustomed to it. When the wind or rain is apt to be hopeless, then I admittedly default to something like a Pentax 6x7. You can't win every time.

[Doremus Scudder]

I assume you are trying to stop subject movement and that the aperture needed to get your desired DoF just won't allow a shutter speed fast enough to stop the moving trees from blurring.

If that's the case, you have a few options. First, wait... Often there will be a calm spot in the wind that will allow you to get the shot. I spend a fair amount of time doing this myself. Sometimes I'm lucky, other times I have to just abandon the shot or rethink what to do with the subject motion. As others have mentioned, blurred moving subjects are not always objectionable; they just have to be part of your visualization.

If you have a really long exposure (several seconds), you can use multiple exposures to build up to the total needed during still periods. Add 10-15% more exposure than you would use in a single long exposure to compensate for the intermittency effect. I've had good luck with this technique as well, especially for situations where people are walking by or the wind starts and stops a lot.

Using movements to help optimize aperture will often get you an extra stop of shutter speed. Of course, this only works in certain situations; sometimes you may have to rethink your composition in order to take advantage of this.

As Drew mentions, you can try to stop motion at the strongest point of a gust where all the moving objects have reached a point of maximum stretch before springing back the other direction. With lots of trees, this is really difficult, but it can be useful for single branches, etc.

Of course, if this is something that happens regularly, you can try to use a faster film (if you aren't already). I simply couldn't deal with an ISO-100-speed film; I need to stop movement to often.

If you're within a stop or so, try a shot at your desired shutter speed and aperture even if it results in underexposure; the neg might be printable anyway, especially if you have a bit of a safety factor built into your metering/film-speed rating. Remember, AA's Hernandez, NM was severely underexposed...

And, if you need to stabilize your tripod, weight it. I routinely hang my filmholder bag from my tripod when setting up. I also carry a nylon stuffable bucket, like backpackers use to carry water. It folds into a small pouch, but expands to hold a gallon of water or several pounds of rocks. I can hang it from the center column or a tripod leg by the handle.

Best,

Doremus

[jmontague]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I have a lot of excellent techniques to try. This is a great forum - so many experienced photographers willing to share. Thanks, again.


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[Kirk Gittings]

Around here the wind never seems to stop except between Nov and Jan, though not this year! The heavier the tripod, the better, preferably a wooden one. Throw away a ballhead if you have one. Otherwise, HP5 should make it easy. It's all in the timing. You just have to learn through experience the difference between a gust
and a steady wind push, and how to catch that mere second or so when it stops. Name of the game. No need to underexpose and "push" film and waste the whole tonality that large format gives. If anything, you should rate HP5 a tad slower. So if you don't like the answer of "waiting", guess my own experience of it working day-in/day-out for decades now won't help you much. Large format isn't for snapshooting.

In addition I always carry a smallish Lightdisk with me that I hold upwind of the camera at an angle so the wind skates over the camera. I have been successful at shooting at a few seconds in strong winds. Of course while the image is sharp trees and such will be moving. BUT I consider that aesthetically before ever making an exposure. I have been doing this for decades and never fear a wind in terms of camera movement. And I shoot FP4+ at ISO 64.

[Drew Wiley]

That's a good idea, Kirk. Sometimes I'll pull out my big Goretex parka, which is always in my pack for emergencies, put it on, and spread-eagle my arms as a
windbreak when tripping the shutter. But my darkcloth itself is a big slice of heavy-duty Goretex, and I'll sometimes remove it from and camera and use it instead.

[Kirk Gittings]

That's a good idea, Kirk. Sometimes I'll pull out my big Goretex parka, which is always in my pack for emergencies, put it on, and spread-eagle my arms as a
windbreak when tripping the shutter. But my darkcloth itself is a big slice of heavy-duty Goretex, and I'll sometimes remove it from and camera and use it instead.

For a 4x5 I use about an 18" light disk which is very light and compact. It also comes in handy occasionally for other purposes as well, so it justifies being carried always.

[Drew Wiley]

Hmmm. Come to think of that, I often carry one of those fold-up discs myself, which I don't generally use as a fill-reflector, but as a flashing aid to correct for
excessive blue in Ektar shadows. I use it in combination with a warming gel and diffuser sheet in a gel holder over the lens, prior to the main exposure. My disc
has gray on one side, a rather accurate metering gray in fact, and white on the other.

[Eric Woodbury]

Jim, I'm with Kent from SD on this. Life is too short to fight the wind. Instead, photograph the wind.

If the wind in sporadic and still problematic with long exposure, a friend of mine opens the shutter, but covers the lens with the darkslide. As he'd get moments of stillness, he'd uncover the lens, counting the seconds, then cover for a little gust, then uncover for a moment of stillness, etc., until enough exposure has accumulated. He has a photograph of a plant that had a minute exposure and sharp as a tack.

Happy shooting. EW

[Drew Wiley]

Movement is just another creative tool which can either make or break a photo. Sometimes I'll set up a time exposure with the 8x10 behind a tree of big rock
acting as a windbreak and just let the grass blur, while the rocks stay crisp. It's just a matter of how much is right, and how much is not. More often, I want everthing tack sharp. But even if that is routinely impossible, and a few leaves or blades of grass do move, it's nowhere near as distracting as enlarging the scene
and having a soda can itself acutely in focus somewhere in the background, that you didn't notice at the time. Sometimes those last minutes surprises can come
out positive, however, like afterwards discovering interesting wildlife hidden in the scene.