It's almost 2 am and I'm sick as a dog (again)! My sides are killing me from all the coughing. Ughh, I can't wait for the warm weather. Thank God for the Deadliest Catch marathon! These guys are crazy! :)
Just a bit of news, the Transportation Safety Authority has put new rules into play for January 1, 2008. Starting the 1st of the year, lithium batteries will no longer be allowed in checked baggage. We'll have to pack them in carry-on and make sure the terminals are covered. Now where did I put those battery covers?!?!?
Later today, I hope to put up some new images from a recent trip to Longwood Gardens. It's a botanical garden south of Philadelphia. I went down with Van3-mate JustBob and SunnyJen and had a good time. In fact, I bought a yearly pass for more trips.
Stay tuned...
This next stuffer is something I'd love to have show up in my stocking! If you're in to shooting waterfalls, it's a must!
Singh-Ray Vari-ND Filter ($340 - $390)
I should start by saying I'm not a filter-guy. It's not that I don't want to be, but besides a nice circular polarizer I simply haven't purchased any. I know the good names - Nikon, B&W, Singh-Ray, etc. While on the Yellowstone trip I had the opportunity to use the Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter. This is a screw-on filter (77mm or 82mm) that turns to provide 2 - 8 stops of density.
How is this used? Well, a neutral density filter cuts down on the amount of light entering the camera. They're extremely useful when there's too much light to get the aperture setting you need. For instance, if I'm taking a portrait outside in the bright sunlight, I may not be able to shoot at f2.8 to get the separation between model and background I want. There's too much light. An ND filter will cut down on the amount of light allowing you to select smaller apertures.
The Vari-ND is extremely cool! It's like carrying a bag full of ND filters in one. Simply turn the filter and the amount of density changes cutting the amount of light and allowing you to shoot at the aperture you need creatively.
If you're in to waterfalls, this filter is a must! It's the difference between this:
and this:
Okay, these aren't the greatest waterfall images, but I think they illustrate my point.
Singh-Ray makes an excellent product and, in my opinion, this is one of the most useful. It's not an easy decision at almost $400, but it's an excellent tool and one I hope to add to my collection soon.
It started with van-mate John. Then Cheeky-Bob and Eric. Ugh, if one more of these guys tells me about their D300! Friday night the emails were flying back and forth talking about upgrading or not to Nikon's latest and greatest D300. Not that I blame these guys for ordering, but I simply didn't need a new camera. I absolutely love my D200.
Saturday morning, with my first cup of coffee in hand, I sat down to read my email. There it was. An email from my camera club buddy, Paul. "Can't wait to show you my D300!" That was it. I went to the Best Buy website where I saw it in stock and placed my order. Yesterday, it showed up at the office. Peer pressure is tough, but I think I love this new camera!
I won't go into all the new features of this camera. You can find many reviews and discussions on the web. What I like and what will make a difference in my photography is the new auto focus system and low-noise ability.
The D300 has a new, 51-area auto focus system. In my limited exposure to the camera, I immediately noticed the difference with the auto focus speed. Simply put - it's fast! With some practice (all new auto focus systems take some getting used to), I think I'm going to get a lot more keepers with this new system. It's nice!
While people are raving online about the performance at ISO 1600 in low light (it's supposed to be excellent!), I'm looking to ISO 400-800. If this range shows little to no noise it can only help with getting better keepers. Why? Faster shutter speed. Using auto-ISO, set the minimum shutter speed to something fast like 1/125 or faster. The camera will bump up the ISO to keep the speed fast. This is going to reduce the effect of camera shake and poor hand holding techniques by keeping the speed fast. Now, if you're looking for slow shutter speeds... You get the picture.
I'll take some pictures and post them over the next few days. In the meantime, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
It's been too long, but I'll make a few posts over the next few days to catch up with this.
Delkin SensorScope ($89.99 sensor only, $149 for sensor with cleaning kit)
While on my trip to Yellowstone, I was introduced to some interesting equipment. One such piece is the Delkin SensorScope.
As a digital photographer, dust is simply something you need to deal with. While not experiencing, many dust problems, when you get them a cleaning is something I obsess over. First, I have to go outside (assuming there's a nice blue sky) and shooting multiple f-stops to see the dust on the sensor. Then I have to process the images and look for the dust at 100%. Clean. I do this over and over again until all of the dust is removed. Needless to say, that takes a bit of time.
The SensorScope makes checking for dust and dirt easy. Simply take off your lens, lock up the mirror, put the scope on the camera and light it up! You'll see the dirt and dust shine like a star. It works extremely well.
The scope comes two ways - scope alone and scope with cleaning kit. I opted for the sensor alone as I have other cleaning supplies.
If dust is an issue for you (it will be at some point), take a look at this product. More information can be found here.
A great way to end the day...
This weekend was spent in the Tampa area with SunnyJen (yes, I'm a lucky guy!). She's turning into a hell of a photographer!
This morning was overcast and extremely foggy. Time for a macro! I saw this plumeria just outside the pool...
The interesting thing is this plumeria was not there the next morning! All of the flowers were completely gone. Just goes to show you, take the shot, it may not be there in the morning.
We took a quick trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom where a caught this beautiful macaw...
Later, we took a trip through "Africa" and saw this meerkat...
I was browsing through some old pictures last evening when I ran across this image of Danica Patrick's Indy car at Carb Day during last years Indianapolis 500. While I'm not a race fan, a buddy got a bunch of guys together to experience the 500. What an amazing event!
This was shot during Carb Day a couple days before the race. This is where the drivers get to test their car at full speed to see what needs adjusting. Here, Danica is about 200+ MPH on the track. I literally took hundreds of shots to get a few keepers. This one I really liked...
I've been down and out these last few weeks. Just a lot of stress in my job and personal life. I thought this picture, from the Reading Terminal Market in Philly, was representative of my mood. Of course, I wasn't someone's dinner...
It's been too long since I've updated this blog! To get me posting again, I thought I'd share a few items I use in photography and provide estimated pricing. Many of these can be used as stocking stuffers for the photographer in your life (yourself included!). I should mention that I don't have any ties to these companies, nor do I profit in any way for you purchasing any of them. This is all about information. So here we go...
Flash Shoe Bubble Level ($5 - $35 estimated)
On my recent Yellowstone trip, a bunch of my van-mates pulled out these handy little bubble levels. They attach to the flash shoe of the camera and allow you to level the camera front-to-back and side to side. What a great (and simple) idea and they work great. A word of caution, though - they're easy to lose.
The "mainstream" online retailers are selling these for $25 - $35! Here's a tip - search on eBay and you can find them for as low as $5 (plus shipping and handling). I purchased a few from Hong Kong and they work great. Use them often and eliminate one step from your post-processing!
I was browsing some of my old photos as I'm looking to make changes to how I display, print and, potentially, sell images. I do some work in stock images on the side with specific clients and wanted to get them online as well. Anyway, I ran across this image and liked it. It seemed fitting for this time of year...
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