Im a blind photographer!

[invisible]

mickimac, I think you'll be inspired by this article about a local award-winning photographer: Blind photographer sees beauty in life - Winnipeg Free Press. She's legally blind, that should tell you all you need to know.

Her website: Home. You could get in touch and ask her for tips and gadgets.

 

[mickimac]

Thanks Invisible! That was very inspirational. If she can do it, I know I can do it. Great story!

 

[joylyn]

I too struggle with my eyesight I am nearsighted and it proves to be very difficult when focusing at times. I sometimes switch to live view. I bought contact lenses thinking that would help if I only I could get the darn things in my eyes I also use back focus and rely on the little beep lol Thanks for all the information in this thread and thanks mickimac for posting !

 

[Patriot]

Also here is a copy of one of the pictures I took. Im totally embarrassed but youre right I have to put it out there in order to get help!

View attachment 31439

I had the auto focus on
The image settings
1/60th sec
f4
ISO 1600
flash fired
focal length 24mm

Are you public affairs in the military?

 

[sm4him]

Hi SM4HIM, Thank you sooooo much for taking the time out to respond. Whats so funny is I HAVE THE SHAKES TOO!!!!! hahahahahaha. my troops tease me and say....MSgt Alexander, so youre a blind photographer that have the shakes?!?!?!?! But I love taking pictures. I was telling Rick,It is sooooo embarrassing and to tell you the truth I was hiding it for the last 2 months but now people are starting to look at me funny. Your post almost made me cry cuz now I know that there are people out there that will take the time to respond. This is a great site with great people and thanks so much for your help!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!

I often have that effect on people...

Also here is a copy of one of the pictures I took. Im totally embarrassed but youre right I have to put it out there in order to get help!

View attachment 31439

I had the auto focus on
The image settings
1/60th sec
f4
ISO 1600
flash fired
focal length 24mm

I'm not the best one to be making suggestions here, but:
Was the flash bounced? Seems like the flash and/or the high ISO kind of overexposed the certificate and the face of the guy photo right. Plus you got a pretty harsh shadow behind him.

f4 makes me wonder what lens you're using? Sounds like you might have been very nearly wide open--close the aperture up some, maybe to f/8 or 9 (which would have helped with the overexposure too)--then aim at the eyes, and depending on your focal length and how far away you were, you should have a better chance at getting both people and the certificate in focus.

Were you using a tripod? For a photo like this, a tripod would be immensely helpful!

 

[ph0enix]

How bad is your eyesight exactly? Can you see the focus points and the focus confirmation dot in the viewfinder? If so, you should be able to use AF and get reasonably sharp photos.
Do you wear glasses and take them off when taking photos? If you do, perhaps something like this would help:
Amazon.com: Hoodman Glasses Model Hoodeye Eyecup for Canon 7D, 1D, and 1DS Mark III Cameras: Electronics

I don't wear corrective glasses but I use a similar eyecup anyway. Not that that's recommended but it allows me to look through the viewfinder even when I'm wearing sunglasses which was rather difficult with the original eyecup. The one trade off is that it obstructs the view of the top portion of the LCD screen (at least on my camera) and I need to tilt the camera in order to see it.

Sorry if I'm way off - just throwing ideas out there.

 

[mickimac]

How bad is your eyesight exactly? Can you see the focus points and the focus confirmation dot in the viewfinder? If so, you should be able to use AF and get reasonably sharp photos.
Do you wear glasses and take them off when taking photos? If you do, perhaps something like this would help:
Amazon.com: Hoodman Glasses Model Hoodeye Eyecup for Canon 7D, 1D, and 1DS Mark III Cameras: Electronics

I don't wear corrective glasses but I use a similar eyecup anyway. Not that that's recommended but it allows me to look through the viewfinder even when I'm wearing sunglasses which was rather difficult with the original eyecup. The one trade off is that it obstructs the view of the top portion of the LCD screen (at least on my camera) and I need to tilt the camera in order to see it.

Sorry if I'm way off - just throwing ideas out there.

Hi ph0nix,
Thanks for your response. I wear contacts but have to put on reading glasses. I can see the focus points and the focus confirmation dots in the viewfinder and most of the time it looks clear until I download it to my computer. The weird thing is when it's on auto focus it still comes out blurry!!! Someone on the site said it could be the camera SRO I'm taking it in for a check up. Also someone mentioned using the live view. Today I had to take so headshots of some some students and I used the live view. The pics came out a lot better.

 

[mickimac]

Also here is a copy of one of the pictures I took. Im totally embarrassed but youre right I have to put it out there in order to get help!

View attachment 31439

I had the auto focus on
The image settings
1/60th sec
f4
ISO 1600
flash fired
focal length 24mm

Are you public affairs in the military?

Hi patriot, not public affairs although people mistake me to be. Probably cuz I always have a camera!

 

[mickimac]

Hello all,
Once again I want to thank everyone for responding to my post. I got back a lot of good info. I actually used the live view today to take headshots of 20 of our students. The pictures came out great. Weird because when I put the camera on auto focus and look through the view finder, the pictures comes out soft, and the color is yellow (and that's on AUTO FOCUS!!!! But when I change it to live view (keeping it on AUTO FOCUS and not changing anything) the picture is clear (still not as crisp but clear) and the color is great! This lead me to believe maybe my camera do need a checkup like a few of the people suggested.

Your comments came just in time. I have been tasked to do 2 huge Change of Commands (that's the changing of our commanders) on 18 Jan and 22 Feb. I am actually kind of nervous about it! There will be guest speakers, high ranking individuals, People will be in formation, they will do the changing of the squadron flag, and a pluthera of other stuff! YIKEs I think I'm freaking myself out now!!! Hahahahaha.

 

[Mully]

I have always liked this quote as it is so true! Thank you for your service to our country, be Blessed!


“Living is Easy with Eyes Closed.”
John Lennon