It's April... it's spring!
It's Camera-walkaround season!
Happening soon will be Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias. Be sure to charge up the batteries and clear out your memory cards!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
CIAS 2011
I'll make this quick...
before doing a photo shoot, one must always
a) check their batteries
b) offload photos/format memory cards
c) give their lenses and sensor a quick cleaning and;
d) be prepared to shoot like a fiend, with the intention of weeding out or culling photos out of the final collection.
I failed to check the battery on my Rebel when I was getting ready for the autoshow. As a result, I didn't have it as a back-up. Mind you, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing as the crop factor doesn't help in a realm requiring wide-angle shots. However, it is nice to have it ready to go for when you don't want to switch lenses.
Nevertheless, I had a good time and met up with 2 fellow photographer friends - one of which is well known for his club photos, as he freelances for Nocturne in Toronto.
All in all, I shot something on the order of just south of 300 pictures, and via culling, thought 190 were good enough to post. If i was a super-picky professional, that number would be more like 19-20, as the sensor was not clean and a hair decided to muck up some of my better pictures. [and wouldn't you know it... i can't find my damn rocketblower...]
Anyhow, having said that... here's a few personal favourites. All of the following were shot with my Canon 5D, and a 3 different lenses... 70-200, 50 1.8, Yashica 28.
While I love german cars for the most part, BMW has the biggest soft spot in my heart. Sadly, because BMW's space was rather tight and full of other showgoers, I found it a bit difficult to snap pics the way I wanted to shoot them. I even found it somewhat difficult to get decent pics of the Mini's, but that was mostly because of how close they were to each other and other objects. Gotta love that weird art-car though...
Not sure what it was supposed to all be about, but it was interesting. My guess is that it was supposed to be a generic city scape scene, but Toronto-influenced (there's a CN Tower looking thing on the passenger side of the car.
I think it's worth mentioning that I have never ridden a motorcycle. But more to the point, I've sat on only 3 in my life... all of them BMWs.
At the end of it all, I must say Kudos to BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Infiniti and GM, for lighting their cars very well. Some manufacturers, had their sets lit-up in rather weird ways, with some cars 3-4 feet to the side of where a spot was falling (i'm looking at you Nissan!).
Only personal disappointment here was, completely missing Kia. But that was because they were next to Saab and Volvo - two manufacturers that have consistently failed to catch my eye.
Oh well... there's always next year! But I should mention here now... I *really* need to get myself a wide-angle lens for my 5D.
before doing a photo shoot, one must always
a) check their batteries
b) offload photos/format memory cards
c) give their lenses and sensor a quick cleaning and;
d) be prepared to shoot like a fiend, with the intention of weeding out or culling photos out of the final collection.
I failed to check the battery on my Rebel when I was getting ready for the autoshow. As a result, I didn't have it as a back-up. Mind you, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing as the crop factor doesn't help in a realm requiring wide-angle shots. However, it is nice to have it ready to go for when you don't want to switch lenses.
Nevertheless, I had a good time and met up with 2 fellow photographer friends - one of which is well known for his club photos, as he freelances for Nocturne in Toronto.
All in all, I shot something on the order of just south of 300 pictures, and via culling, thought 190 were good enough to post. If i was a super-picky professional, that number would be more like 19-20, as the sensor was not clean and a hair decided to muck up some of my better pictures. [and wouldn't you know it... i can't find my damn rocketblower...]
Anyhow, having said that... here's a few personal favourites. All of the following were shot with my Canon 5D, and a 3 different lenses... 70-200, 50 1.8, Yashica 28.
While I love german cars for the most part, BMW has the biggest soft spot in my heart. Sadly, because BMW's space was rather tight and full of other showgoers, I found it a bit difficult to snap pics the way I wanted to shoot them. I even found it somewhat difficult to get decent pics of the Mini's, but that was mostly because of how close they were to each other and other objects. Gotta love that weird art-car though...
Not sure what it was supposed to all be about, but it was interesting. My guess is that it was supposed to be a generic city scape scene, but Toronto-influenced (there's a CN Tower looking thing on the passenger side of the car.
I think it's worth mentioning that I have never ridden a motorcycle. But more to the point, I've sat on only 3 in my life... all of them BMWs.
At the end of it all, I must say Kudos to BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Infiniti and GM, for lighting their cars very well. Some manufacturers, had their sets lit-up in rather weird ways, with some cars 3-4 feet to the side of where a spot was falling (i'm looking at you Nissan!).
Only personal disappointment here was, completely missing Kia. But that was because they were next to Saab and Volvo - two manufacturers that have consistently failed to catch my eye.
Oh well... there's always next year! But I should mention here now... I *really* need to get myself a wide-angle lens for my 5D.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Kaput!
I was running a fan page on Facebook for photography. But it seems that Facebook has decided to kill that page.
After doing a quick bit of reading, I think I'm going to opt for a Facebook Group, as a way to revive my personal space for the photography
There are definite advantages and disadvantages to either. Allfacebook.com has this nifty graph outlining them. Problem is, deciding which is better for my photography.
I think i'm gonna give the Facebook group thing a whirl. See where that goes.
After doing a quick bit of reading, I think I'm going to opt for a Facebook Group, as a way to revive my personal space for the photography
There are definite advantages and disadvantages to either. Allfacebook.com has this nifty graph outlining them. Problem is, deciding which is better for my photography.
I think i'm gonna give the Facebook group thing a whirl. See where that goes.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Xmas
Merry Xmas from Bringing the Light.
In this case, the camera was brought (out) and the light was available. ;)
The following was taken with my Dad's X-700 Minolta with a Dimension 135mm 2.5 lens. The residence is my folks last house. Each year, since 1992, we have done floodlighting, and then mini-bulb lighting (starting 1999).
In this case, the camera was brought (out) and the light was available. ;)
The following was taken with my Dad's X-700 Minolta with a Dimension 135mm 2.5 lens. The residence is my folks last house. Each year, since 1992, we have done floodlighting, and then mini-bulb lighting (starting 1999).
Friday, December 10, 2010
Canon success and fail
I've been shooting with my trusty little Canon rebel for 3 years now. It has served me well for the most part, however, at some point in the summer the focus point illuminators got mucked up.
I stupidly put off getting the camera looked at and only got to it 2 weeks ago. Suffice to say, thanks to extended warranty and quick service - the camera is back in my hands.
Canon replaced the focus screen, however that didn't take care of the problem. The rebel has 7 AF points in it. Five of them are fixed. I am NOT impressed. I took it in for the AF points to get fixed and they didn't fix all of them. I really don't know how the AF points work, but apparently the issue isn't with the focus screen. So, I can either go back tomorrow (ugh) or go back on Monday after work.
In other realms, some friends run a local rave promotion crew and it was their 3rd year this past weekend. I rented a 16-35L to take shots. Unfortunately, the 2.8 wasn't much good to me as it was really dark in there - and I suck at using flash now... far too long have I gone without using, that I've kind of lost my touch a little bit. Plus, aiming was never a forte of mine.
Anyhow... the 16-35 is a nice lens and all... but I'll reserve judgment on it's brother till I get the chance to try him out (the 16-35L ii). I have used the 17-40L and found it to be a great sundowner lens. The 15mm fisheye is a great indoor and festival/landscape lens. The 16-35 is... something else. Not sure what yet.
I stupidly put off getting the camera looked at and only got to it 2 weeks ago. Suffice to say, thanks to extended warranty and quick service - the camera is back in my hands.
Canon replaced the focus screen, however that didn't take care of the problem. The rebel has 7 AF points in it. Five of them are fixed. I am NOT impressed. I took it in for the AF points to get fixed and they didn't fix all of them. I really don't know how the AF points work, but apparently the issue isn't with the focus screen. So, I can either go back tomorrow (ugh) or go back on Monday after work.
In other realms, some friends run a local rave promotion crew and it was their 3rd year this past weekend. I rented a 16-35L to take shots. Unfortunately, the 2.8 wasn't much good to me as it was really dark in there - and I suck at using flash now... far too long have I gone without using, that I've kind of lost my touch a little bit. Plus, aiming was never a forte of mine.
Anyhow... the 16-35 is a nice lens and all... but I'll reserve judgment on it's brother till I get the chance to try him out (the 16-35L ii). I have used the 17-40L and found it to be a great sundowner lens. The 15mm fisheye is a great indoor and festival/landscape lens. The 16-35 is... something else. Not sure what yet.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Lenses...
Been thinking about getting yet another lens. My travels and experience have shown me that I am in a great need for a focal length towards the wide end of things.
I've been reading reviews for stuff under $700 and, sadly, not many are coming up with good reviews.
Sigma 20mm 1.8 = crud
Sigma 24mm 1.8 = crud
Canon 20mm 2.8 = meh
Canon 24mm 2.8 = meh
Sigma 30mm 1.8 = not FF compatible
From what I'm gathering, for the most part at least, is that if I want a good wide angle, I'm best off to go with a 17-40mm. I've used that lens and I have to say, it's a fun lens... but it's slow.
Why don't I get the 16-35? cause I'm not made of money!
*sigh*
I've been reading reviews for stuff under $700 and, sadly, not many are coming up with good reviews.
Sigma 20mm 1.8 = crud
Sigma 24mm 1.8 = crud
Canon 20mm 2.8 = meh
Canon 24mm 2.8 = meh
Sigma 30mm 1.8 = not FF compatible
From what I'm gathering, for the most part at least, is that if I want a good wide angle, I'm best off to go with a 17-40mm. I've used that lens and I have to say, it's a fun lens... but it's slow.
Why don't I get the 16-35? cause I'm not made of money!
*sigh*
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Optical Slave...
I got myself a few items off Ebay recently. One of which, I'm rather displeased with, which technically speaking is due to my not doing the research that I needed to. But also at fault are the ebay sellers that sell this particular item because none of them can do something as simple as use a spellchecker and maybe find a friend that knows english.
The Brits controlled Hong Kong for HOW LONG? And you mean to tell me none of them over there learned proper english? Before you start thinking I'm being a racist arsehole... please read on. You'll see that my ire is bases upon stupidity/ignorance.
Anyhow... I'm angry because I gave benefit of doubt to a product because it's a stupidly simple device. It was only after I received the item and tested it that I discovered that to go optical on Canon, you need a slightly different product which works with the pre-flashing system of Canon's E-TTL.
However... I stumbled upon a rather hilarious discovery. I can use my Yongnuo RF-602's in conjuction with the SYK-3 optical slave hotshoe. It works with Cactus/GadgetInfinity/CowboyStudio triggers as well, if in case you were wondering.
Sorry... no pics.
Anyhow... This is done very simply
Step one: attach flash to camera
Step two: attach second flash to RF-602 receiver
Step three: attach RF-602 transmitter to SYK-3 optical flash
Step Four: place 2nd flash where need and place RF/SYK-3 combination somewhere conveniently out of the shot, but within the range of the camera on-board flash.
Step Five: Flash away!
Keep in mind that you should be shooting manually when doing this, because Auto settings will make the camera overexpose with that 2nd flash involves.
Outside of this, I'd like to once again iterate how much I appreciate how Yongnuo has been making themselves a bigger player in the market. They're doing it right by providing properly translated specs (for the most part) for their equipment. The manual that came with my RF-602's, while unfortunately very spartan, is easy to read. Very little instruction, well written, is going to always beat more information, poorly written, any day.
Now... closing remarks about the optical slave
Pros: cheap [$5], works with Nikon, small
Cons: Doesn't work with Canon, poorly described, no english instructions come with.
FYI: They do make a Canon-friendly version, but it's $15-20. At that amount of coin, it'd be wiser to spend a few more and get another transmitter if you're using PT-04s or RF-602s. Just sayin!
The Brits controlled Hong Kong for HOW LONG? And you mean to tell me none of them over there learned proper english? Before you start thinking I'm being a racist arsehole... please read on. You'll see that my ire is bases upon stupidity/ignorance.
Anyhow... I'm angry because I gave benefit of doubt to a product because it's a stupidly simple device. It was only after I received the item and tested it that I discovered that to go optical on Canon, you need a slightly different product which works with the pre-flashing system of Canon's E-TTL.
However... I stumbled upon a rather hilarious discovery. I can use my Yongnuo RF-602's in conjuction with the SYK-3 optical slave hotshoe. It works with Cactus/GadgetInfinity/CowboyStudio triggers as well, if in case you were wondering.
Sorry... no pics.
Anyhow... This is done very simply
Step one: attach flash to camera
Step two: attach second flash to RF-602 receiver
Step three: attach RF-602 transmitter to SYK-3 optical flash
Step Four: place 2nd flash where need and place RF/SYK-3 combination somewhere conveniently out of the shot, but within the range of the camera on-board flash.
Step Five: Flash away!
Keep in mind that you should be shooting manually when doing this, because Auto settings will make the camera overexpose with that 2nd flash involves.
Outside of this, I'd like to once again iterate how much I appreciate how Yongnuo has been making themselves a bigger player in the market. They're doing it right by providing properly translated specs (for the most part) for their equipment. The manual that came with my RF-602's, while unfortunately very spartan, is easy to read. Very little instruction, well written, is going to always beat more information, poorly written, any day.
Now... closing remarks about the optical slave
Pros: cheap [$5], works with Nikon, small
Cons: Doesn't work with Canon, poorly described, no english instructions come with.
FYI: They do make a Canon-friendly version, but it's $15-20. At that amount of coin, it'd be wiser to spend a few more and get another transmitter if you're using PT-04s or RF-602s. Just sayin!
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