Category: Contest

And then there were three…

Jason5 Comments

First off, some software news that we all may want to stay abreast of – Adobe has released the latest updates for Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom.

The ACR update applies to CS4 users, Elements 7.0 users, and Premiere Elements 7.0 users, and includes raw conversion algorithms for the Canon 500D, the Powershot XS1 IS, the Nikon D5000 and several Hasselblads, as well as some other camera updates for Olympus, Sony, and Pentax.  It’s version 5.4 and is now out of beta and available for download.  The updates for Windows and Mac are available here:

Camera Raw

For Lightroom users, the update takes you to the latest stable release of version 2.4.  So, if you are running version 2.3 or earlier, this update is a recommended one for you.  It basically is the same as the ACR update for Photoshop and other programs, but since there’s no secondary GUI for the converter portion, it’s just built into the program update.  You should be able to over-install it on top of your current installation, but as with everything else, I always recommend backing up your system and important files prior to updating things like this that can have an impact on your entire library.   The downloads for Windows and Macintosh are available here:

Lightroom

Now, onto the more exciting news…speaking of Adobe and all, as you may recall, there was a contest held here at Canon Blogger on the Learning Digital Photography podcast a while back and the winner is slated to get their very own copy of Lightroom from the folks over at Adobe.  Well, I am happy to announce here today that The Adobe Lightroom Contest has entered it’s final phase here at Canon Blogger/Learning Digital Photography!.

As you  may recall, as alluded to above,  a few podcasts back, I had the honor of sitting down with Tom Hogarty and talking shop about Lightroom, it’s purpose, development, and lots of fun stuff about photography in general.  At the end of the show, Mr. Hogarty generously donated a copy of Lightroom to some lucky listener of the podcast.  We started a photography Flickr thread, and the entries started pouring in.

After 58 entries came in that met the criteria we were looking for, the contestants were narrwoed down to 10 finalists, which were then compiled and put on display here at the blog (and you can see all of them here).  We now have narrowed the field down to three possible contenders for the grand prize of the Lightroom software.  We’ll talk a little more amongst myself and Mr. Hogarty to see which is the “best of the best”, but the three that we are now in our final phase of considering are:

Blooming Orchid


Black-and-white Magnolia Blossom


The Foggy Lighthouse

Once we have the grand prize winner determined, one of these three people will have a copy of Photoshop Lightroom arriving on their doorstep soon.  Thanks again to all the entries – we’ve actually worked quite diligently on this to really get a sense of which image captures the essence of both photography, what Lightroom processing can do for your creativity, and also purely on the artistic merit.

Again, thanks to all the entries for the contest – the latest one is still going on for another week – the winner will get a 33% discount code to FotoQuote Pro – and to enter that all you have to do is make an entry here on the blog!  (Limit one entry per person per day).  Keep on shooting and sharing – happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Super Sigmas, photo walks and seminars!

Jason3 Comments

Lame teaser alert, but that’s the title for the podcast over at Learning Digital Photography.  Make sure to stop over to the podcast and download the show today!  Here’s the show notes (I may add to these as I remember link references – if any are missing, let me know in the comments so I can be sure to add them…)

  • The last day to enter your photos for the Lightroom giveaway is super close – so get your shots in the Flickr thread here pretty soon!
  • Adobe updated the ACR to 5.4 (still in beta), and is downloadable here
  • Canon announced some firmware updates and break/fix news on some of its SLR lines.  Tune into the podcast for details.
  • My Pick of the Week:  Photoshop Insider
  • Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk
  • Chuck Conder’s Flickr Thread (listen to find out why…)
  • Wireless USB Dongle from Engadget

Seriously folks, don’t miss out on your chance for a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom!  Get your photos in today!  A $30o retail value and free from the folks over at Adobe – in this economy we could all use a little help and Adobe is being very generous here.

Well, that’s about all for this week.  Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here on Monday – as we head out for the weekend, don’t forget to have fun out there.  With that in mind, here’s my favorite WTD from this past week – so fitting for my job in IT!

denial

Happy Shooting!

ETA:  Thanks to reader Don for reminding me about the link to the PhotographyBB magazine article.  You can download the full magazine here

Grab the feed

Hardware Review: The 70-200L f4.0

Jason7 Comments

In keeping with the last few weeks of hardware reviews, I am taking a look in my own bag one more time to bring you this weeks’ hardware review: the 70-200mm L lens from Canon.  Canon has several variants on this lens, with different minimal apertures both with and without Image Stabilization (IS).  So, in the interests of full disclosure, this is a non-IS lens, and the aperture range is the standard one, 4.0 to 5.6.  So, with that distinction being made, we’re off and running:

Canons 70-200mm f4.0 lens
Canon's 70-200mm f4.0 lens

The “L” distinction is one that bears discussion right off – Canon only gives this out to lenses that it deems have superior optics – which means a wider range for it’s sweet spot, tack sharp focus, and better sealing against the elements.  This naturally means that this lens will, by definition and categorization, be sharper than a comparable “non-L” lens.  However, for this particular range of zoom, Canon doesn’t make a non-L lens, so one would have to make a comparison with a 3rd party brand such as Sigma or Tamron.  Even there though, comparisons are tricky primarily because vendors are moving toward faster glass (in the 2.8 category) and IS features.

In that regard, the 70-200 f4.0 really is in a class by itself.  As a result of its unique status in the field of available lenses, comparisons are rather arbitrary as no other lens out there has the same specs.  Rather than making those comparisons though, I’ll just say that this lens does deliver superior performance for its’ category.

So, how is this a review?  Well, it’s not just a question of performance, it’s also a question of price.  Anything can be stellar, but whether it’s worth the price is another story.  I know of luxury cars that exceed 6 figures for their cost, however, most cannot justify the expense, either because of their financial situation or the expected need.  So, how does the 70-200 fit when it comes to cost?  Pretty well actually.

The cost for this lens at B&H Photo is $600 right now (technically $599.95) after a $50 rebate.  Considering the next step up is twice the price for either an f2.8 or an IS lens, this is actually a steal!  I was able to find mine second hand from a fellow photographer when I lived in SC, so got it for considerably less.  Included in my package was a lens hood, and a collar for mounting to a tripod (which I definitely would recommend given the weight).  The previous owner was also nice enough to leave the Tiffen filter on it that provided protection for the lens.  All told, the lens and accessories would run around $700 for the lens, lens hood, UV filter, and tripod collar.

When looking at comparable other lenses from Canon, this is where you really see the bang for the buck.  Take a look at the most recent prices from B&H for similar lenses:

  • 70-200L f2.8  = $1250
  • 70-200L f2.8 IS = $1600
  • 70-200L f4.0 IS = $1025

So, you can save at least $425 if IS isn’t important to you, or $650 for the next fastest version of this lens

At a smidge over 1.5 lbs, the weight does balance the mid-grade SLR’s quite nicely, although on the Rebel line I recall it being a tad heavy.  As a general rule of thumb, with larger and heavier lenses, you’ll want to carry this by the lens itself rather than the camera as you don’t want to put undue tension on the mount.

Overall though, for the price and range, I would highly recommend this lens.  It’s tack sharp at both 70 and at 200 with a sweet spot ranging from f5.6 to f16.  Kind of hard to say no to that kind of quality when it’s offered at such an affordable price.  Here’s some sample shots to show what I’m talking about:

Here’s a sample from 70mm at f9.0

The Rocky Mountainsfrom a distance
The Rocky Mountainsfrom a distance

And the same scene from 200mm at the same aperture:

The Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains

Then, just to give you an idea of the sharpness, here’s some shots at f4.0 (a little noiser because I was at ISO 3200)…first the 70mm shot:

What time is it?
What time is it?

And now at 200mm:

What time is it?
What time is it?

And the 200mm shot:

Okay, so that’s about it for the day.  Hope you found it useful and informative (as always).  Don’t forget the Lightroom Contest going on over at the Flickr Thread – only about 12 more days left and still not a lot of entries.  Great chance to win a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (retails for $300)!  If you have ideas, suggestions, comments, feedback or other insights on future gear you’d like reviewed, feel free to share those in the comments below or with me via email.

One last little nugget to share today…Scott Kelby announced his 2nd Annual Photowalk early this morning, so be sure to register in your city.  I’m already registered in the Denver group and that’s rolling early (7:45ish am) in the Lodo area.  More details to come on route, eating place, etc. , but mark your calendars now for July 18th!  Here’s the link for more info if you’re not in Denver:  Worldwide Photowalk Have a great day, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Say Cheese?

Jason4 Comments

Ever wonder why we’ve heard photographers say that when taking your picture?  Think about what happens when you do – your facial features open up, your mouth opens slightly, and you get a little upward curvature in the corners of your lips.  (Unless of course you concentrate on specifically not doing that.)  Whoever thought this up eons ago was well ahead of the curve, because knowing how to take good portraiture encompasses entire volumes of books on the subject.

Volumes exist on what lenses to use, how to light, depth of fieldand much much more, but perhaps the most valuable information on how to take great portraits comes not just from technical awareness, but from personal interactions, and how to get people to act natural yet emotive and to let that come through in your work.  While no blog post could entirely exhaust the subject, here are ten quick tips on taking better portraits:

  1. Establish a connection – portraiture is about connecting with someone through the image.  If you don’t connect with them through the camera, then there will be no connection in the print.  Make sure you connect with your subjects in some way.  Get to know about them, because that knowledge can transform your vision into really beautiful works of art.
  2. Relax the subject – Connecting with your subject means they feel comfortable around you – now the key is to get them to feel comfortable in front of the camera.  Many times this is much easier said than done, but when you do get them to relax, the poses will come more fluidly, and you’ll get better results.  One way I do this is to just start taking pictures of things around us as we talk and connect.  The whole idea of hearing the shutter can be scary to some people, so by hearing it almost to excess and know it’s not on them can mitigate the “scary” factor.
  3. Choose a background – if you are in a studio environment, this is fairly easy, but if you are on location, keep your eyes out for backgrounds that provide contrast to the subject.  Are they wearing light clothes?  Look for a dark background.  What about props to give a little more meaning.  Are they sports fans?  Have them hold a football, or stand by a basketball hoop.  Backgrounds can help give more definition to your subject.
  4. Have a purpose – try to think of reasons why you are taking the picture.  Is it to record an event, or is it for a model?  What about a head shot for a business executive?  If you think of why you are taking the picture in the first place, that can help give you ideas for how to compose it.  For the event, it’s about the moment, while the portrait it’s about just the person, so give some thought to how to enhance their best qualities and minimize flaws.
  5. Create separation – this is crucial to giving definition to your subject while minimizing distractions.  In the on-location areas, look out for things like power lines, nearby light sources and other objects that may detract from the subject.  Here it also helps to keep a wider aperture so that any distractions can be effectively blurred out of focus to minimize their impact.
  6. All about the angles – Some people have great profiles.  Striking features can be accented from certain angles and can give greater impact and meaning.  Shooting from below can suggest power and strength (for the business executive), while shooting from above can minimize a body style that is more robust.  Even profile shots can be stunning if done right (hint:  try shadows there).
  7. Lights, lights, lights – photography is all about painting with light, so portraiture is no exception.  Whether it be modifying existing light with reflectors, diffusers and shoot throughs, or creating your own light with strobes and flashes positioned off to the side or from above, lighting can create a wide variety of moods and bring images to life, especially in portraiture!
  8. Watch the eyes – for any subject, whether human or animals, we like to have the eyes in focus.  It’s just the nature of people to look at the eyes in a subject, so make sure the eyes of yours are tack sharp.  Seeing a persons eyes have often been said to be a mirror to their soul.  You can get playful eyes, soulful eyes, sad eyes, sparkling eyes, weepy eyes, tear-stained eyes, angry eyes, hungry eyes, passionate eyes… (you get the eye-dea!)
  9. Clean that skin tone – this means make sure that you are keeping the tones in check.  If the skin is too orange or too blue, add or remove some flash or ambient light.  Here the key is in white balancing your images.  Take along a grey card (even something as small as a 3×5 card can work) and you can set your white balance off that – your skin tones will be spot on if you do – and save you tons of post processing time.
  10. Less is not always more – let’s all just admit it, it’s a digital world.  Those pictures are really just data packets and with data being as cheap as it is, we can afford to take more shots.  This can help with blinkers, and if you want to try several poses or wardrobe changes, or lighting changes, or location changes, or group changes (think weddings). or weather changes (think sunlight versus rain, versus cloudy), or….I think the gist is clear again here.

So, there’s ten nuggets.  I tried to be brief yet have some detail, but you can never have enough time or space to really cover something with so much to talk about in a short blog post.  With that in mind, what about your thoughts on portraiture?  Add to the pool!  Got any ideas, DIY tricks or nuggets that work for you?  Share them in the comments or via email.

Before signing out for the day, I’d like to give some special thanks to a few people.  First to Derrick Story for the helpful link from his blog post today about the tethered shooting write-up.  It’s always nice to get what I like to call “a nod from the Gods”, but not only did he write a post about my write-up, he also submitted it to the Imaging Insider, who subsequently included the write up on their site.    Second up, I’d also like to throw some NAPP-Love back to Karen from “Pursuing Photoshop” (a.k.a. Mitzs in the blogosphere, also a member of NAPP) for her link back to the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom contest currently running here on the blog – thanks Mitzs!

Oh yeah, and finally, don’t forget the Photoshop Lightroom contest I announced in last week’s podcast – it’s running over in a thread on Flickr, and the images are starting to come in.  Some really nice ones so far, but there’s plenty of time left in May to enter!  Good luck to everyone!  Well, enough content for one day, so happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

The Sigma 70mm Macro

Jason6 Comments

Next up in my gear bag is the Sigma 70mm Macro lens.  This is one sweet lens.  With an aperture that goes down to f2.8 this is legally classified as “fast glass”.  It’s got some super nice bokeh, and has an impressive range for it’s sweet spot – ranging from roughly f2.0 – f11.  Seriously, it’s tack sharp through that entire range.  It’s got the characteristic touch and handling of all Sigma lenses with its brushed matte black coating.

Other features include the manual on/off switch for auto-focus, which is typical for most lenses these days, but one thing I particularly enjoy is the limiter.  While this is also characteristic for macro lenses, it helps to keep you within a certain range of focus so it doesn’t have to search as long before finding that tack sharp point.  This toggle can be turned on or off any time, so it really helps when you are in Macro mode or shooting portraits.  Oh yeah, did I mention this does a nice job at portrait work?  The 70mm fixed focal length means I don’t have to get too up close and personal like you would with a 50mm lens, but I also don’t have to be as far away from the subject so it’s still fairly easy to interact with subjects.

If I had to list downsides, they would be that without the limiter on, it can take a while to focus, and that it is somewhat noisy when it is searching.  I am very spoiled by the USM features of Canon bodies, and wish I had the Sigma equivalent (HSM – Hypersonic Moter), but that was just not available in this lens at the time (and don’t think it is to date…).  Lastly, I don’t like how the lens shade prevents you from capping the lens when out in the field.  If the lens hood is on, the cap simply cannot be in place.

As with any fixed focal length lens, it forces you to compose with your feet (if you want a tighter shot, step forward a few paces, and if you want to go wider, step back).  But it does give you tack sharp results each and every time.

Here are a few sample shots I took with this lens, both in normal mode and in macro mode over the weekend for this post.  My in-laws were in town so we did the tourist-y thing.  First off, we visited the Hammonds Candy Factory where pictures are not only welcomed, but encouraged – so, my camera in ahd with 70mm attached (intentionally only went out with one lens each day…), I got some good samples of each category, except Macro (you need a tripod most times when shooting Macro work – at least I do in anything but the brightest light!):

Still Life

Candy Form Press
Candy Form Press

Some of the wonderful candies at Hammonds

Candy Swirl
Candy Swirl

Weights and Measures

Weights and Measures
Weights and Measures

Portrait

Cute as a teddy bear!
Cute as a teddy bear!

There you have it – the 70mm Macro f2.8 from Sigma – the third lens in my bag.  Coming up next week, the 70-200L f4.0.  it’s an oldie but a goodie!  What do you think?  How does the Sigma 70 Macro stack up based on what you’ve read here?  Like it?  Love it?  Hate it?  What other macro lenses do you have experience with?  Share your thoughts in the comments!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Don’t forget about the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Contest announced over on Learning Digital Photography!  Win your own copy of LR by sharing images in the Flickr thread here!

Photo Contest – Win Adobe Lightroom

Jason2 Comments

Happy Saturday all.  It’s a rare weekend post here – since Friday was silent.  Two things – first off, Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there!  Second, as the podcast on Tuesday announced, don’t forget the first ever Learning Digital Photography Contest is under way – all during the month of May, submit your shots to the Flickr group (2 entries per person) for your chance to win a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0!  Not only is it a great chance to win this wonderful program, but a great way to get increased visibility of your work and to network with others.

Information is available in the podcast, but you are welcome to just submit your entries directly to the Flickr group.  This is a prize package worth $300 retail, so definitely one worth entering!  Good luck and happy shooting!

Podcast

Flickr Pool

News and Nuggets

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Hey all, just a couple notes and bits of maintenance for everyone this Thursday. The first ever contest for the Learning Digital Photography podcast is now underway, so be sure to post your images in the thread over at Flickr in order to participate.Some lucky listener will win a copy of Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom 2.0. You do have to have a Flickr account to post images there, but registration is free (and if you have a Yahoo account, you already can get into Flickr). A couple links to make note of:

In some other maintenance notes, the podcast has gotten a few more reviews at iTunes and Diggs over at Personal Life Media – thanks to those that have shared their thoughts and feedback, your support means a lot and every little bit helps. Here’s the links for those that would like to add to the support:

Last but not least, it became official the other day that I will be in attendance at the Lightroom workshop here in Denver coming up on May 20th Being led by none other than Scott Kelby, of NAPP fame, I’ll be getting even more up to speed on how to use Lightroom as the primary means for my photography work flow. I’ll likely have a few posts worth of material to share with the readership shortly thereafter. (Who knows – I might be able to snag a pic or two out of it too!

So, that’s it for today – sorry for the lateness of the post.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Win a copy of Adobe Lightroom 2.0!

Jason6 Comments

box_lightroom2_150x150

Just last week, I had the distinct honor of interviewing Tom Hogarty, Senior Product Manager for Adobe Lightroom.  Needless to say, I postponed the podcast for a few more days so I could include the interview.  He really gave a good breakdown of the function of Lightroom, what to expect from it, how to incorporate it into your work flow, and what (in general) we can likely expect to see in the future of image processing development.    We spent a good deal of time going over the nuts and bolts, so under the general heading of Software discussions today, I’d like to introduce you to Adobe’s Lightroom.

Lightroom is a very different way of handling your images.  Rather than taking a single image at a time through something like Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom allows you to not only address single image edits, but also manage an entire library of images.  The key here is management, because that’s what Lightroom really does – it takes the idea of asset management and incorporates it into a program so that you don’t even have to think about it!  Rather than belabour the point here though, it would probably be best to encourage everyone to just download the podcast and give it a listen.  Not only do we discuss Lightroom, but we also take a lot of listener questions, both specific to Lightroom and general photography questions too – and, oh yeah, a contest!

That’s right – Adobe was kind enough to donate a copy of Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 to some lucky listener.  At an estimated retail value of almost $300 ($299), this is by and large, the best contest I’ve could ever come up with!   It’s very exciting!  I’d love to share the details here, but if I did that, you wouldn’t listen to the podcast.  So… want to know the details?  Listen to the podcast! In the meantime, here’s the show notes on the things we discussed and where to get the latest and greatest info on the product:

Be sure to stop over at Twitter and start following these folks, because they are the ones who you can really learn a lot from!  Then don’t forget to listen to the podcast for your chance to win a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0!  Happy Shooting and good luck one and all!

Oh yeah, here’s the teaser link for the contest:  Learning Digital Photography Flickr Group