In a recent post about silly extreme macro photography, I commented that some of the small-aperture f/22 shots weren't good for much except illustrating that I need to clean my image sensor. Just as a small light source like a flashlight casts a sharper shadow than, say, a large light source like a picture window, a small aperture lens setting highlights any dust on the camera's sensor by allowing it to cast a sharper shadow on the sensor's photosites, yielding noticeable spots in the resulting picture. Some of my silly macro shots had blotchy dust spots on them.

I clean my D200 sensor about twice a year. There are many methods one might use to clean a sensor, and for some reason debates about them can become quite lively. I happen to use this popular method, but whatever method you choose, you need a concrete way to determine just how dirty or clean your sensor is. This is useful both to know when it's time to clean it, and to ascertain the results of a cleaning you just performed.

The best way to test your sensor is to take an out-of-focus picture of a smooth field of brightness, with a very small aperture (high “f” number) lens. Common methods are to take a picture of a clear sky, or of a brightly-lit white wall. I generally have neither handy, so make my computer screen white, and use that.

As a joke for something I no longer remember, I once made a dust reference page that was totally white, except it had a few instructions on how to take a test shot. Well, it turns out that I return to that joke page twice a year when I clean my sensor, as sort of a checklist of things to do to ensure a reasonable test:

Set camera to lowest ISO and aperture-priority to highest-numbered f-stop (e.g. f/16, f/22, ...). Set lens to its highest zoom and manual focus to infinity. From close enough so that only white fills the viewfinder, aim at white of screen and take a metered exposure.

The first time I cleaned my sensor, it was a hair-raising event full of stress and uncertainty that entailed perhaps a dozen cleanings over the course of half an hour before I felt it was much better than when I started. A little experience goes a long way, and when I cleaned my sensor today, it took about 10 seconds. I took a reference shot (using my test reference page, of course 🙂 ) and was satisfied to find more or less a perfectly clean sensor.

As silly as a white page with a few common-sense instructions is, it's actually useful, so I thought I'd post about it.

As I mentioned yesterday, five-year-old Anthony's first present unwrapping set a pattern that we saw a number of times throughout the morning....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 50mm — ¹/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Opening the Present from Obaachan (Fumie's Mom)
Some books he really likes, and some silly socks.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Opening the Present from Mommy and Daddy
Some accessories for the train set he got on his last birthday.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 20mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Opening the Present from Grandma and Grandpa

For whatever reason, the present from Grandma and Grandpa generated a powerful pose instead. I don't think he really knew what it was, but the picture of a helicopter was likely sufficient to trigger the celebration.

The helicopter thing has a central hub with the helicopter connected by a rod, so that the helicopter can go around and around, and up and down in conjunction with how much power is applied. It actually takes a fair amount of skill to control the thing, but it was perfect for him....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/20 sec, f/3.5, ISO 1000 — full exif
Tentative but Thrilled

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/40 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
Getting the Hang of It

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/40 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
It Can Land, Too!

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 35mm — ¹/40 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
Working the Angles

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/25 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
Concentration

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 28mm — ¹/40 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
Successful Landing!

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 19mm — ¹/50 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1000 — full exif
Check It Out.... Perfect!

Yesterday during our Christmas, the first present Anthony opened set a pattern that we saw repeated fairly often, one quite different than the wide-eyed wonder of a year ago...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 22mm — ¹/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — full exif
Wrapping Off, but Still Unsure

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 31mm — ¹/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — full exif
Recognition Starting to Set In

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 20mm — ¹/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — full exif
“Houston, We Have a Toy!”
(of some sort — at this point he still doesn't actually know what it is)

He brought it to Mommy, asked what it was, and was thrilled to find out that his Aunt Marci and Uncle Marty had sent him two uniforms, one for a policeman and another for a chef....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 45mm — ¹/80 sec, f/3.2, ISO 640 — full exif
Trying on the Policeman's Hat

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 45mm — ¹/80 sec, f/3.2, ISO 640 — full exif
Lokin' Spiffy

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Checking Out the Accessories

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/45 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — full exif
Dressed For Crime-Busting Success

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — full exif
(By the way, Marci and Marty, that drum set for little Josh is in the mail)

Later, Anthony and I were playing, and we pretended that I did something bad so that he could be a policeman and “get” me....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 20mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — full exif
His “Crime Doesn't Pay” Look

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 38mm — ¹/45 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — full exif
But It Sure Can Be Fun

Thanks Marci and Marty! The Chef outfit will have to be another post, as will the package that arrived from Aunt Natalie and Uncle Alan today, the big box from Grandma and Grandpa, the presents from Obaachan and Mommy and Daddy, and, of course, the big-daddy present from Santa.....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Yeah!
“ Thank You! This is what I always wanted; I love it, I love it............ what is it? ”

The picture above of Anthony ripping the packaging from a present pretty much sums up the day, but our Christmas started a month ago when we set up our Christmas tree.

Helping with the Tree

When I was growing up in Ohio, we had a real, perfectly-shaped, wonderfully-smelling, live evergreen tree every Christmas. We always got scratched up when decorating it, and the needles would eventually get shed to the floor only to eventually find their way in a most painful manner to our feet. It was absolutely wonderful.

It's been 20+ years since I moved out on my own, and 20+ years since I had any kind of Christmas tree, much less a live one. I'm not sure whether a live one is even possible here in Kyoto, but after having been weaned on the indulgence of a live Christmas tree, the thought of a fake one seemed pathetic.

But Fumie got one, and much to my delight, I find that even a fake tree is a heck of a lot nicer than nothing: it really did warm up the place with its very presence.

Setting Up the Fake Tree

Due to my ouchy back at the time, setting up the fake tree was probably more traumatic than trekking out to cut down a real one, but once it was done and dressed, it looked pretty reasonable.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 28mm — ¹/10 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 — full exif
Dressed for the Holidays

D200 + 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 2 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800	D200 + 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 3.9 sec, f/5, ISO 100
A Touch of Class on a Fake Tree

After our Christmas-Eve events, Anthony went down for bed too excited to change into his pajamas, opting to stay “dressed and ready”, I guess. Then, of course, Santa-related activities ensued. The results look much better than we achieved last year, and are what a kid should wake up to on Christmas morning...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 32mm — 12 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — full exif
After Santa's Visit

I'm really happy Fumie got the tree.

I've carried over the tradition my folks had when we were growing up, in that the presents aren't opened until everyone is up and going in the morning. This “everyone” really means “Mom”, since us kids were always up long before first light. There were big stockings that we were allowed to have right away to bide our time, filled with candy, a few small toys, and always a huge apple, a huge orange, and a dollar bill. The waiting was both excruciatingly painful, yet wonderful to savor. Once Mom had her coffee, we'd all gather around the tree, and Dad would pass out a present to its named recipient, continuing to the next only after the previous was opened among appropriate Oooos and Aaaahs from all.

Back to today, we don't have a stocking for Anthony yet, so we told him that if he found a present on the small stool in front of the tree, he could open it right away.

Shockingly, I got up before him. I expected to find him deep in play when I got up at 6:15 for 7:00 mass, but the tree was just as we'd left it. I was sitting on the couch in the dark, stretching my back, when he walked in. He stopped in his tracks, and his eyes quietly grew twice their size as he took in the sight. He noticed me, and exclaimed “Santa came!”

Indeed, he did. Getting to see him walk in was something I'd never expected, and was my present for the day.

It was a while still before he got to open them, with things getting in the way like mass, and a trip to the post office to mail our Christmas cards. Yes, I mailed our Christmas cards on Christmas day, which is amazing in at least two respects: that I could procrastinate so long, and in the novelty that the post office is actually open on Christmas day (because Christmas is not an official holiday in Japan).

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 20mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Hang Time for Joy
( Look at that vertical distance... he can jump higher than I can! )

The “hang time” photo reminds me of the sequence of him splashing in a rain puddle years ago.

Also, it's interesting to compare his more physical reactions this year to the wide-eyed wonder of a year ago.