Tag: gear

Five Key Elements of Tripod Leg Purchasing

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Mac Madness (Mac Systems)

It doesn’t matter whether you are a seasoned veteran or new to the field, the purchase of a tripod  is something that we all consider and eventually make the plunge with in the field of photography.  Let’s face it, we get sharper shots, are forced to plan composition more carefully, and in general, a tripod will improve your photography ten-fold over not using one.  Having said that, there are degrees of effectiveness in a tripod, and as in most things – you typically get what you pay for. Continue reading “Five Key Elements of Tripod Leg Purchasing” →

Practice What You Preach

Jason2 Comments

It’s one thing to come out every day with good solid advice for how to do anything, whether it’s manage your finances, run a business, or (as is the case here), how to take better pictures.  It’s another thing entirely to follow ones’ own advice.  There are countless instructors out there that offer great learning resources, and have an online presence that illustrates how to do things correctly, yet many would have to fall back on the axiom of “Do as I do, not as I say.”  We’re all guilty of this occasionally, but I try to stay more to the side of practicing what I preach. Continue reading “Practice What You Preach” →

It's not the body, it's the glass! (New Canon gear…)

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Okay, while everyone is salivating (or slamming) on the new 60D Canon just announced, let’s not forget that it’s not really about the body upgrades – it’s the glass we want to invest in.  And, true to form, there are also a significant number of additions and upgrades to the Canon lens line-up that bear some discussion, so here we go:

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens – Touted as the worlds widest fisheye zoom, it’s an impressive feat, but not many shooters really need such a lens.  At $1400 price point, the price point will likely be too high for many to justify.  Cool factor – high, Use factor –  low.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens – I believe this is the first L lens in this zoom range, and for that reason, the optical quality will likely see a market improvement.  At a price point of $1500, the reach will appeal to many, but the price compared to the 70-200L f2.8 IS will deter more.  You may lose a little reach, but you gain a stop of light.  Not a lot of reach loss for IS gain!

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens – The 6th in the continuing series indicates that this is the go-to lens for the serious shooters…i.e. the pros of the sports circuit. The appeal? Drop in overall weight will reduce arm fatigue. The burden? $7 large! (Call your boss to see if accounting will approve it and best of luck!)

Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lensThe best of the best – a fixed focal length prime and the bees knees of the profession, SI shooters, NFL, MBL, NHL, etc – if you are looking here for advice on whether to drop the $11,000 on this lens, I want to know why! Buyers of this grade of optics are the companies with budgets larger than my annual salary my many multipliers!

Canon Extender EF 1.4x III & Canon Extender EF 2x III At $500 a piece it’s really just improved optics. For each it also represents light loss – one stop versus two. if optics are important and light isn’t, the 2X is your choice. Add reach and minimize light loss – the 1.4X. A more cost effective approach – neither at this price!

*****

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49 Photo Tips – The Sequel

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About eight months ago, I cobbled together a laundry list of almost 50 photo tips and tricks to help with everything from gear to composition, photoshop, and more.  Given the penchant for sharing these things online, I decided to launch it as an eBook – but in the interests of keeping it simple, didn’t add much of anything.  It was basically a spreadsheet with a category on the left and the tip or trick on the right.  Given the minimal overhead I had put into the design, decided on a bargain basement price – $1.99.  Half a cup of coffee, and easily digestible!

After a few months of feedback and suggestions, it seemed the idea was pretty good, but people wanted examples, or at least something to liven things up a bit – the “spreadsheet style” was a little tedious on the eyes.  So began the latest project for me (as if I don’t have enough projects, according to Tracy)!  Well, after 6 months of blood, sweat and tears, it’s finally here – 49 Tips, The Sequel!

49 Photo Tips - The SequelAll the tips are new, just as useful, and even more in-depth, but here’s the best part – it’s really an eBook now!  With a cover page, a prologue, epilogue and, as you can see, there’s a photo for every tip! Okay, so some are screen captures so technically not photos, but each one gets the point across quite well (I think anyway).  A few of these tips have been shared out via Twitter and Facebook in recent weeks to give everyone a sneak peek of sorts, but it’s “out there” now, and very excited to see what people think.

So, let me know what you think of the new style and layout!  It’s only $4.99 , which is less than a grande white mocha at Starbucks (at least that’s what I’ve heard…b/c I don’t drink Starbucks…right?)!  And for the time being (through the end of July, anyway), there’s an additional discount code for $1 off if you use it in your shopping cart:  “Sequel“

Since it was 6 months between Part One and The Sequel, my guess is it will be another 6 months before I come up with a third installment, so feedback, thoughts and input are always welcome!  There’s a link in the feature product are on the blog, or you can go to the full store here to see all three product downloads! 🙂

Apparently the WordPress eCommerce does not work as advertised as several people have gone through the process and not received their digital download email.  So, to hopefully make things easier for everyone, I’ve signed up with a company friends have used called eJunkie, and after a little configuration and setup, it’s available for purchase through their system (still using Paypal).  My apologies for the hassles initially, here’s the new download location:

49 Photo Tips - The Sequel

Add to Cart

Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here again next week!

The Photographer’s Workout

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You’d think with toting camera bags chock full of bodies, lenses, field drives, lighting equipment, filters, tripods, monopods, and batteries would be enough to give anyone a workout who carries it all day.  It is a lot of stuff to carry, and you can certainly accredit some cardio to this activity, but there’s other ways to work out as a photographer.  Today, I give you:

5 Photography Exercises Continue reading “The Photographer’s Workout” →

The Droid Hath Come

Jason6 Comments

That’s right folks – the time has come for an upgrade to my rinky dinky 1990’s flip phone.  I’ve gotten with the decade and upgraded to a Droid from Motorola (yes, I am on Verizon).  The upgrade was pretty smooth, although the “tech” at Best Buy had trouble migrating my contacts over.  Since I use Gmail for most of my contact info anyway, I figured it would migrate in pretty seamlessly once I got online and sure enough, everything pulled down no problem.

So, how is this related to photography?  Well, I can now take and share 5 MP photos with much more ease.  The Droid also has an app for Audioboo, so I can go back to creating audio shorts regularly on all things photography too.  Plus, as photographers, let’s face it, we are gadget-hounds, and this is definitely a gadget worth considering.  Here’s a couple pics I took of the Droid the other day:

Droid Main Screen

There’s the Main screen of the Droid, with my own wallpaper already selected as the background.  The audio port is the 3.5mm standard, and another neat feature I like is the micro-USB port for charging and tethering to a computer (that’s right, tethering to a computer!)  Check it out:

Droid Main Screen

And, the headphone jack which is right next to the on/off button – makes it easy to find and access:

Headphone jack

And, last but not least – the 5 MP camera!  This is probably what I am most excited about!

Droid Camera

If you’d like to see some actual pics from the camera… check out the new blog I set up just for that purpose.  I’ll try to post a shot or two every day over at:  www.mydroidpics.com

That’s it for today, but more photo goodness coming tomorrow, but I can’t tell you yet (it’s a surprise!)…happy shooting and we’ll see you then!

Cameras at Ten Paces…

Jason4 Comments

If you think about it, cameras often share terminology with them…we go out to “shoot”.  We aim, we fire, and our shutter release is often analogous to a trigger not only in what it does, but in the proper technique (slow and steady as you exhale).  So, when I read recently about a camera holster, it kind of made sense.  The entire system seems kind of cool, and they claim it’s designed for “even the heaviest of professional grade camera gear”.  In a line of work where gear is often just off-the-charts expensive, I was surprised to find the Spider Holster system in its entirety happily priced at just a tad bit over $100 ($109.99 plus shipping).

They’ve got some interesting videos and product shots on YouTube and their website, so it might be something worth considering if you are interested in eschewing the traditional camera bags, shoulder straps, neck straps, and other more typical carrying scenarios.  What I liked is that it takes the pin that attaches it to your belt and moves it off center so you can easily and comfortably rotate between shooting in portrait or landscape mode.  It also looks cool that the setup allows for use of just a regular belt that you would normally already have (although they do recommend that you use their belt for the heavier gear…)  Here’s a few of their product demos embedded here…

It does have almost a cowboy look and feel to it, and for the street photographer or serious photo walker it could be very useful, regardless of whether you feel like John Wayne or Dirty Harry.  Consider it a lightweight approach also if you are out scouting new locations to shoot.  Another feature that I like is that it also seems pretty able to keep your gear from falling from looking at the other videos of people running with the belt, going up and down stairs, and even snowboarding with it.

All in all, it seems kinda cool, and I’d say it’d be something to look into  as the summer months approach if you want to be “light and mobile”.  (This would have been very handy when in White Pocket, AZ).  Their company website is at www.spiderholster.com if you are interested in learning more about them.  The only question that really remains to be asked on this gear is:

Do ya feel lucky?

(Okay, lame, but it just had to be said!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!)

An interva-what?

Jason2 Comments

A friend of mine asked me if I had any recommendations the other day about time lapse…specifically software for post production.  It’s a great question and brings up a subject that I am actually quite interested in, although I have no hands-on experience with as of yet.   He’s got a Nikon D300, which apparently has the feature built in, so lucky him, because I need to go find an intervalometer now! 

An interva-what?  You heard me – an intervalometer!  It’s just a fancy name for a remote  control timer.  I like the former though as it’s cool sounding word!  Sounds kind of like the little ray gun that the martian was going to use to destroy planet earth in the classic Bugs Bunny Cartoon.  Or was that a modulator?  Well, anyway, much closer to reality, I have found myself recently considering adding another gadget to my toolkit!  Regardless of what you call it, these devices are considered  the tool to have when creating time lapse videos!  Some vendors include a timer setting on certain models, so be sure you check your owners manual before running out and buying one.  (More point-and-shoots have them than SLR’s – go figure!)  Nevertheless, it’s something I am looking at.  Here’s a few models that I am thinking about:

The Canon Specific Branded TC-80N3 (at B&H)

Opteka Timer Remote Control (on Amazon)

If anyone has other suggestions for remote timers, I am all ears! Of course with the time lapse, there is also the post production concern – although I am using Camtasia for video on my Windows box and iMovie or Quicktime on my Macbook Pro, so am pretty sure one if not more can handle time lapse.  Nevertheless, that is always a concern too, so feel free t sound off in the comments with your suggestions there too.   Interested in seeing time lapse photography in action?  Check out these cool links I’ve found:

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDfqCFFvfag
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ifTCa97G6Q
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxCUlvEkQDg

Audio aside, there are some really creative approaches out there to time lapse.  Most I’ve seen are sunrise/sunset, moonrise, etc.  But the above three really captured my eye.  So, there you have it, something to inspire some creative juices going into the weekend!  Got your own ideas or links to time lapse?  Sound off in the comments!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here on Monday!