Photofocus

Education and inspiration for visual storytellers

Steve Eilenberg

Steve Eilenberg is a San Diego-based photographic artist, one half of Aperture Photo Arts, along with his wife, Marie Tartar. Steve’s photographic explorations extend from above (drone landscape photography) to below (underwater), and he has an affinity for street and X- ray photography.His images have been displayed at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, Birch Aquarium,Smithsonian National Museum, Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) and Mingei International Museum. See more work at www.aperturephotoarts.com.

Latest posts by Steve Eilenberg (see all)

My used lens was a lemon; here’s how I made lemonade

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I recently retired (sold) my much-loved Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 IF-ED lens and replaced it with the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD. The specs for the Tamron were great and it has image stabilization (IS). My old lens was a bit long in the tooth and I often find myself shooting off tripod on boats. The Tamron is heavy and has a huge, curved front element, necessitating a new filter system. Even so, I thought it would be a great match for my Nikon D850. B&H sells the Tamron for $1299 but they had a used one for $989.95 with a … [Read more...] about My used lens was a lemon; here’s how I made lemonade

Giclée by any other name: Printmaking today

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As a budding young photographer, I cut my teeth with gelatin silver printing. It would be some years before I became aware of daguerreotypes (c. 1839), heliographs, photogenic drawings, wet collodion, tintypes, calotypes, cyanotypes, platinum/palladium prints and Cibachrome. This is just a partial list of historical photographic techniques. Just as vinyl records are still coveted and collected by a few, most of these old techniques have been rediscovered as new techniques continue to emerge. Takashi Arai is a very thoughtful contemporary … [Read more...] about Giclée by any other name: Printmaking today

Tension relief: Pay attention to the edges of your image

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Paying attention to the corners and edges of a photograph can relieve distracting visual tension. Visual tension can be good or bad. The tension I’m referring to is the nagging and irresistible pull on your eyeball away from the subject to undesirable and distracting features. Not invariably, but often, these reside in the corners and edges. This response is hardwired and not learned, so we all experience it. Here are some on-location tricks I use to mitigate visual tension: I use a tripod. It slows me down and allows me to really look, … [Read more...] about Tension relief: Pay attention to the edges of your image

Quick Tip: What happened to “Camera Calibration” in Lightroom Classic Creative Cloud?

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I develop images in Adobe Lightroom Creative Cloud (LR CC) using a top-down approach, starting with "Basic". The one rule breaker was "Camera Calibration", the very last menu item. When working with RAW image files, I find starting with Camera Calibration can save time and energy. I shoot Nikon and Fuji and find that camera specific settings often outperform the generic Adobe presets in LR. I recently updated the LR Classic CC app (formerly called LR CC) to the latest 7.3 release and could not find "Camera Calibration". It seemed like a big … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: What happened to “Camera Calibration” in Lightroom Classic Creative Cloud?

The Vello BG-N19 Battery Grip for Nikon D850

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I recently added a Nikon D850 to my arsenal, and more recently, had the opportunity to test it out with the addition of a Vello BG-N19 battery grip.  The battery grip was provided to me by B&H for the purposes of this review. What is a battery grip? There are generally two different types of battery grips, one built-in (e.g. Nikon D5) and the other an add-on accessory. A battery grip allows for near seamless transition from landscape to portrait orientation, with a redundant set of camera controls and more battery power. The battery grip … [Read more...] about The Vello BG-N19 Battery Grip for Nikon D850

Rediscovering a lens that I already owned

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When packing for trips, I find myself seesawing between my Fuji X system and Nikon DSLRs. We do underwater, street, nature and landscape photography. Do I pack the Fuji X-Pro2, the crop sensor Nikon D500 and my old D800 or complicate things and buy the new Nikon D850? Earlier this winter, we were packing for street and winter nature and landscape photography in Japan. My wife and partner in Aperture Photo Arts is a die-hard Fuji shooter and between us, we have most of the Fuji X lenses and spare camera bodies. This was the logical … [Read more...] about Rediscovering a lens that I already owned

How to safely destroy your old internal hard drives

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(Editor's note: Please observe safety precautions before using power tools mentioned in this article. Author Eilenberg explains ways of making certain no one can access data on discarded hard drives using various methods to physically disable them.) This is the year I get rid of my household hazardous and E-waste. I have fluorescent bulbs, too many dead rechargeable batteries to count and 7 abandoned internal hard drives. These are the SATA 3.5” drives that many of us own and have accumulated. They may have had head crashes, corruption or … [Read more...] about How to safely destroy your old internal hard drives

Flash Memory Card Hygiene

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It’s September 28th, 2007, around 1:00 am. My wife was gently sighing in her sleep in our luxurious Masai Mara safari camp tent. I was in charge of downloading and backing up the compact flash cards from our Nikon D200s. Even at 10.2 Megapixels per image, those old CF cards were full and painfully slow. The tent’s multilayered closure flap was being breached by the hairy leg of a resident vervet monkey. I rebuffed the assault, secured the tent and returned to the laptop for a second shock. One of the CF cards was corrupt... and it was … [Read more...] about Flash Memory Card Hygiene

Your First Phantom Drone: Part 3 – Settings and beginner drone photography

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You have flown in beginner mode using GPS a few times and are getting comfortable with the controls. You can launch it yourself and bring it back home. You should be able to fly forward, backward and sideways. It is time to spread your wings and break out from the beginner mode. Using the DJI Go App, set the maximal altitude to no more than 120 meters or 400’ as required by the FAA. Micro SD cards It’s also time to take some photos. Make sure you have a micro SD card installed in the drone (hint: it goes in upside down). Through the DJI Go … [Read more...] about Your First Phantom Drone: Part 3 – Settings and beginner drone photography

Your First Phantom Drone – Part 2: Unboxing and Preparation

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In Part 1, I wrote about buying a new or used drone and getting it registered. Now it’s time to unbox it and prepare for its maiden voyage. Here is an excellent YouTube tutorial from DetroitBORG called “DJI Phantom 4 Unboxing and Review”. I highly recommend watching this if you purchased a later model DJI Phantom. Hopefully, you have the sturdy Styrofoam box with carrying handle that it came in along with a set of 4 propeller blades and an extra set. Propellers, similar yet different In each set of propellers, there are two subtly different … [Read more...] about Your First Phantom Drone – Part 2: Unboxing and Preparation

Your First Phantom Drone: Part 1 – Getting Started

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(Editor's note: Welcome Steve Eilenberg to Photofocus as a brand new author! In this series of articles, Steve covers what it takes to begin flying drones.) You’re starting to get bored putting your tripod down in the exact same spot as everyone else. Different equipment, light, time of day and season will make big differences, but with a drone, you’ve just broken out of that rut. Here’s how to get started. First, decide how much drone you can afford (and afford to lose). The DJI lineup is a good place to start your search. The DJI … [Read more...] about Your First Phantom Drone: Part 1 – Getting Started