I find the grid screen is helpful in a number of ways. First, the horizontal lines etched into the screen make it much easier to photograph lakes, ponds, and oceans.

By watching one of the lines on the screen where it overlaps your main subject, any subject motion is easily detected since the subject moves relative to the grid lines that don't move

Doing double exposure moon photos are much easier to accomplish with the grid screen. My double exposures involve shooting the scene and then adding a moon or vice versa.

Viewing Through A Grid

by John Gerlach

The viewing screens that come with 35mm camera bodies have been a source of irritation to me for many years. In the old days, back in the early eighties and before, most standard viewing screens were very coarse-grained, making it difficult to see when your subject was in focus. So focusing aids were put right in the middle of the screen to help you focus. The focusing aid often had a split-image device that helped you to focus on objects with straight lines. Usually this was surrounded by another aid, called a microprism collar, that helped you focus subjects that didn't have straight lines.

While focusing aids were supposed to help you sharply focus the lens, I, along with many other photographers, found that they made focusing even more difficult. Most of the screens were not very bright and to make matters worse, the focusing aids often went black in dim light, with slow lenses, or if a lot of extension was used in close-up photography. If you were able to use the focusing aid, since the aid was in the middle of the frame, photographers had a tendency to put their main subject in the middle of the frame that often is not compositionally strong.

Fortunately, over the past ten years, developments in photography have improved this situation greatly. First, the wide acceptance of autofocus lenses forced camera manufacturers to improve viewing screens so autofocus would work. This led to the development of brighter, fine-grained screens that were easier to manually focus when you didn't want to use the autofocus feature. Most of these modern screens left off the focusing aids since they expected you to use autofocus. Now, most standard focusing screens that come with new cameras are much improved so manual focusing is easier, but they are still far from perfect.

I prefer to use what are called architectural grid screens that were designed to help people who photograph buildings keep walls straight. These screens are fine-grained, usually bright, and feature a series of vertical and horizontal lines etched into the screen's surface. Nikon called these "E" screens while Canon calls them "D" screens for their system. Sometimes designations for the various screens change, so be sure to check before you buy one.

I find the grid screen is helpful in a number of ways. First, the horizontal lines etched into the screen make it much easier to photograph lakes, ponds, and oceans. All too often the flat body of water in the final photograph is sloping downhill because the camera wasn't level when the photo was taken. With the grid screen it's easy to line up a horizontal line etched into the screen with the far horizon so everything stays nice and level. Even if you don't have a horizon, the horizontal lines are handy. Suppose you're photographing a swimming canvasback duck that is isolated against the water. The horizontal lines make it possible to keep that duck swimming flat on the water rather than swimming uphill, a rather unnatural position unless the duck is swimming in waves.

This was the original reason I started using grid screens more than twenty years ago. But over the years, I have found other uses for these screens. A second important use is composition. By having the screen divided up into several boxes, my compositions improved because it was easier to analyze how my subject was occupying the frame. With the grid lines, it's pretty easy to avoid dead center compositions since the center of the screen is so easy to see. If you want the prairie dog to occupy the right one-third of the screen, again you know exactly where to place the subject and your grid lines show you the way.

Doing double exposure moon photos are much easier to accomplish with the grid screen. My double exposures involve shooting the scene and then adding a moon or vice versa. Naturally, you don't want the moon superimposed on your foreground subject so you have to know what part of the frame is empty. The grid lines divide the screen into boxes. When I am shooting a vertical composition, I call the full rectangular box on the top left box number one, and the other full box on the top right box number two. Within the box, I call the top left quarter A, the top right quarter B, the bottom left quarter is called C, the bottom right quarter is called D and right in the middle of the box I call area E. Since the moon takes up about one-fourth of a box with my 200mm lens, this is a useful way to keep track of the moon. When I shoot my scene, perhaps a dead tree in silhouette, I note the position I want my moon to be in so it won't overlap the tree. Perhaps I want my moon in vertical box number two at the C position (lower left hand corner). Then I shoot my moon and put it at that position before advancing the film with my finished in-camera double exposure.

Third, grid lines help me shoot a much higher percentage of razor-sharp photographs. Here's how it helps. I use a Nikon 200mm macro lens a great deal to photograph spider webs, flower portraits, butterflies, and other fragile things that blow in the slightest breeze. In the past, I used to lock up the camera mirror, sit behind the camera, and watch my subject carefully to see that it wasn't being moved by the wind. When everything looked perfectly still, I fired off my shot. In time, I learned that I was often shooting pictures when I thought my subject was not moving, but it really was moving slightly. The 200mm lens gives you such a large amount of working distance that small subject movement caused by gentle wind currents is difficult to detect with the unaided eye from behind the camera. I found that I could shoot a higher percentage of sharp photos if I didn't lock up the mirror. Instead, I peered through the camera to watch my subject while using the magnification power of the lens. I am careful not to touch the camera and use a cable release so my quivering body doesn't cause the camera to vibrate. The grid lines are important because they don't move as long as the camera isn't moving. They are etched into the screen. By watching one of the lines on the screen where it overlaps your main subject, any subject motion is easily detected since the subject moves relative to the grid lines that don't move.

I really like the architectural grid screens and have them in all of my cameras. When buying a new camera, it's important to make sure your camera's manufacturer makes a grid screen. Then make sure you can change the screen in your new camera. Most newer cameras are designed so the screen can easily be changed by the user. Other cameras can be changed by camera repair people. But, the screens in some cameras can't be changed at all, so be careful.

The grid screens are not perfect, however. I wish the screens had twice as many lines as they do. Often, my lake horizon will fall in between two lines so it's difficult to determine if your photo is level all the way across the frame or not. Perhaps a bubble level attached to your camera's hot shoe might help. I have tried it and it does work. Also, I wish they would make a grid focusing screen featuring a tiny built-in bubble level so I could easily monitor being level, composing, and focusing all at the same time.

Some people have told me the grid lines distract them while trying to shoot photos. So using a grid screen may not be a solution for everyone. I have grown so accustomed to the grid lines that I don't even notice them until I need one for reasons just covered. While not for everyone, perhaps using a grid screen will solve some of the problems you encounter when taking photos. Give 'em a try!

John and Barbara Gerlach travel extensively to photograph new stock images for their network of photo agencies. Travel destinations include such exotic locations as Antarctica, the Arctic, the Galapagos, and Africa. John's photographs have been published in every major nature magazine, including National Wildlife, Sierra, Natural History, Audubon, Backpacker, Popular Photography, Petersen's PHOTOgraphic, Shutterbug's Outdoor & Nature Photography, and Outdoor Photographer. Barbara's credits include International Wildlife, Birder's World, Outdoor Photographer, and Nature Photographer, among others. Both of their images have appeared in calendars, including Sierra calendars and Audubon calendars. Their images are also frequently used by book publishers.

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