I figured it couldn't hurt to try and enter the contest for a new camera. So here goes!
Image courtesy of: SnapKnot - Local Wedding Photographers
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Wide Angle Lenses
Just recently I made the switch from a 17-40mm F/4 L lens to the 24-105mm F/4 L IS lens and I thought I would share my reasoning and decision making process in hopes that perhaps they may aide some other poor soul faced with the same issue.
Background
As I have mentioned here before, I primarily shoot sports. Since I don't have a 300 or 400mm, I am almost always shooting with my 70-200mm on my 7D and then my wide angle lens on my 40D. Not the greatest setup, but it has served me well thus far. I bought the 17-40mm for those times when the play comes towards the end zone and the 70-200 is just too tight or to get a really nice wide angle shot of the crowd or a candid on the bench/sidelines. I bought my 17-40 off the Internet and almost as soon as I started shooting with it, I was unhappy with it.
I tried many things to resolve it, shooting with a higher f-stop for better depth of field, switching bodies, and ultimately using the micro adjustment on the 7D and a focus chart to get it dialed in. Nothing seemed to work. In the end I just wasn't getting the results I was hoping for from an L lens. Ultimately, my displeasure was due to two factors, situational/need and lens performance.
Situational
Shooting sports, I wanted a wide angle lens to handle the action that came in tighter than the 70-200 could handle. What I found was that for my tastes, the 17-40 was just TOO WIDE for me. I would shoot something and then have to crop in more times than not to really get the shot I wanted and that was when I was already shooting at the far end of the lens. This resulted in less than stellar sharpness and lower quality photos. When I began looking at other options, that was why the 24-105 appealed to me because it had more reach and I found that I was rarely shooting at 17mm anyway. Another issue was the F stop. Being stuck at F/4 was a pain in the butt. There were so many times in a dark lit gymnasium that I was hoping for that little bit extra but that wasn't really the lenses fault. By that I mean, I knew going in that it was only an F/4 lens.
Performance
This is where the real anger started. I will start by making these two conditional statements.
1) I know the person behind the camera can be responsible for camera shake and other factors resulting in soft images.
2) This could have just been a bad lens, I did get it used online so who knows what it went through before I got it.
To that I say, I was shooting studio shots with this lens and using a tripod for some and just wasn't seeing the sharpness so while yes I may have blown shots, I wasn't blowing them all. I also don't think I had unrealistic expectations given that I use my 50mm f/1.8 quite a bit and I get some really fantastic images using a lens with a plastic body that cost $100 bucks. What was truly frustrating is that almost like my golf game, there would be that one shot every once in a while that would be tack sharp and exactly what I was hoping for from the lens, and the very next image would be back to the same old story.
Decisions Decisions
After shooting a number of Senior Portrait sessions this summer and fall, I had hit my breaking point. I was ready to make a change but I wasn't sure which direction to head. Should I get a used 24-70mm or a 24-105mm. Right off the bat, price was going to be a contributing factor. The 24-70 was just so much more expensive and I wasn't sure if it would be worth the extra money, given one of my situational complaints. So I started reading articles on the web, watching reviews on YouTube and was really ready to make a decision. To really put an end to the discussion, I went into the local camera store and talked to the guys there. I have a pretty good rapport with a couple of the sales guys and I brought in my 7D with the 17-40 and they let me take test shots with that lens and then the 24-105. I was really like the results I was getting so I was definitely leaning towards that lens.
Next we talked about buying new or used. They didn't have used copies there so the only USED route would be the web and they made a good point. Even if I saved quite a bit of money getting a used one online, it could be a major inconvenience to get any sort of refund and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't get a bad copy just like the previous lens. If I bought it from them, yes I would pay more for a brand new lens, but at least this way I knew I was the only owner and I had a physical location to bring the lens should I have any complaints. Even though it was only an F/4 lens, it is an IS lens so that would help in low light. I also hedged my bets that at some point I will upgrade my camera bodies and the High ISO performance will continue to get better and better, rendering that issue less of a concern.
In the end, I decided to make the switch to the 24-105mm and then I placed the 17-40 on the Internet and within less than a week, I had sold that for a decent amount which means I got my new lens for a monster deal anyway. After a little over a month I have to say, I am really, really happy with the lens and now my only gripe is that it isn't an f/2.8 and I am not able to attach it to a 7D or a 1DX
I hope this break down of why I made the switch is helpful. Any questions feel free to shoot me an email.
Thanks
Background
As I have mentioned here before, I primarily shoot sports. Since I don't have a 300 or 400mm, I am almost always shooting with my 70-200mm on my 7D and then my wide angle lens on my 40D. Not the greatest setup, but it has served me well thus far. I bought the 17-40mm for those times when the play comes towards the end zone and the 70-200 is just too tight or to get a really nice wide angle shot of the crowd or a candid on the bench/sidelines. I bought my 17-40 off the Internet and almost as soon as I started shooting with it, I was unhappy with it.
I tried many things to resolve it, shooting with a higher f-stop for better depth of field, switching bodies, and ultimately using the micro adjustment on the 7D and a focus chart to get it dialed in. Nothing seemed to work. In the end I just wasn't getting the results I was hoping for from an L lens. Ultimately, my displeasure was due to two factors, situational/need and lens performance.
Situational
Shooting sports, I wanted a wide angle lens to handle the action that came in tighter than the 70-200 could handle. What I found was that for my tastes, the 17-40 was just TOO WIDE for me. I would shoot something and then have to crop in more times than not to really get the shot I wanted and that was when I was already shooting at the far end of the lens. This resulted in less than stellar sharpness and lower quality photos. When I began looking at other options, that was why the 24-105 appealed to me because it had more reach and I found that I was rarely shooting at 17mm anyway. Another issue was the F stop. Being stuck at F/4 was a pain in the butt. There were so many times in a dark lit gymnasium that I was hoping for that little bit extra but that wasn't really the lenses fault. By that I mean, I knew going in that it was only an F/4 lens.
Performance
This is where the real anger started. I will start by making these two conditional statements.
1) I know the person behind the camera can be responsible for camera shake and other factors resulting in soft images.
2) This could have just been a bad lens, I did get it used online so who knows what it went through before I got it.
To that I say, I was shooting studio shots with this lens and using a tripod for some and just wasn't seeing the sharpness so while yes I may have blown shots, I wasn't blowing them all. I also don't think I had unrealistic expectations given that I use my 50mm f/1.8 quite a bit and I get some really fantastic images using a lens with a plastic body that cost $100 bucks. What was truly frustrating is that almost like my golf game, there would be that one shot every once in a while that would be tack sharp and exactly what I was hoping for from the lens, and the very next image would be back to the same old story.
Decisions Decisions
After shooting a number of Senior Portrait sessions this summer and fall, I had hit my breaking point. I was ready to make a change but I wasn't sure which direction to head. Should I get a used 24-70mm or a 24-105mm. Right off the bat, price was going to be a contributing factor. The 24-70 was just so much more expensive and I wasn't sure if it would be worth the extra money, given one of my situational complaints. So I started reading articles on the web, watching reviews on YouTube and was really ready to make a decision. To really put an end to the discussion, I went into the local camera store and talked to the guys there. I have a pretty good rapport with a couple of the sales guys and I brought in my 7D with the 17-40 and they let me take test shots with that lens and then the 24-105. I was really like the results I was getting so I was definitely leaning towards that lens.
Next we talked about buying new or used. They didn't have used copies there so the only USED route would be the web and they made a good point. Even if I saved quite a bit of money getting a used one online, it could be a major inconvenience to get any sort of refund and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't get a bad copy just like the previous lens. If I bought it from them, yes I would pay more for a brand new lens, but at least this way I knew I was the only owner and I had a physical location to bring the lens should I have any complaints. Even though it was only an F/4 lens, it is an IS lens so that would help in low light. I also hedged my bets that at some point I will upgrade my camera bodies and the High ISO performance will continue to get better and better, rendering that issue less of a concern.
In the end, I decided to make the switch to the 24-105mm and then I placed the 17-40 on the Internet and within less than a week, I had sold that for a decent amount which means I got my new lens for a monster deal anyway. After a little over a month I have to say, I am really, really happy with the lens and now my only gripe is that it isn't an f/2.8 and I am not able to attach it to a 7D or a 1DX
I hope this break down of why I made the switch is helpful. Any questions feel free to shoot me an email.
Thanks
Monday, January 20, 2014
Long time no talk...new toys and experiences to come.
So it has been quite a while since I posted anything on here and perhaps the largest contributing factor to that was that there was really nothing to report. I am happy to say that there are several new things to report and so I will be addressing them in the coming days and weeks. The biggest piece of news is that my wife and I will be welcoming our second child in a few weeks and while that may not be all that interesting to any fellow photographers, counting new gear or shooting assignments as the biggest piece of news might upset my wife and that just isn't a good idea if you ever want to get new gear in the future. But I digress...
In the near future I will be talking about a number of topics...most are about new pieces of equipment but also some are about techniques and advice and opportunities such as...
1) Getting a new tripod
2) Switching wide angle lenses
3) Macro Focusing rails
4) Shooting Senior Portraits
5) Shooting for a fashion blog
6) Tips for photographing the athlete in your house.
Please check back and if you have any questions or comments, let me know. I want to hear them.
In the near future I will be talking about a number of topics...most are about new pieces of equipment but also some are about techniques and advice and opportunities such as...
1) Getting a new tripod
2) Switching wide angle lenses
3) Macro Focusing rails
4) Shooting Senior Portraits
5) Shooting for a fashion blog
6) Tips for photographing the athlete in your house.
Please check back and if you have any questions or comments, let me know. I want to hear them.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
My time with the Canon 1DX
So I may have mentioned before that I am a member of CPS, Canon Professional Services. I highly recommend it to Canon shooters and I am assuming that Nikon has a similar program. Anyway I recently had the chance to "evaluate" a Canon 1DX for a period of 10 days. In that time I was able to use it for two football games and a soccer game. A lot of people will have a love fest over this camera or the D4 from Nikon but this is a practical review and coming from my perspective so take it for what you will.
Right off the bat, it is a heavy beast. I thought that I would be prepared for the size and weight since I have a battery grip on my 7D but I can tell you that this is something all together different. It is the materials used to build it, the larger battery etc. etc. But what I really got spoiled by was the ergonomics of it. The continuity of having the battery grip built in was just awesome. The weight wasn't unappealing, but just something to get used to. Now I shot with this on a monopod so my shoulders didn't have to bear the brunt of carrying the camera but I can imagine that having two of these on rapid straps or regular straps all day would be tiresome.
Next up, I looked at the menus to try and get familiarized with them so I wouldn't be caught off guard while shooting when it mattered. Just like the weight, the menus surprised me, there are about 4 times as many options and bells and whistles as there are with the 7D. I love my 7D, I think it takes great pictures and has a ton of functionality but I was swimming in menus.
Now for actual shooting. The first practical difference is the layout of the buttons. With the 7D pretty much all your controls are on the right hand side of the camera near the shutter button, leaving the shooting mode dial on the left. With the 1DX there is no shooting mode button so control buttons are distributed on the left and ride side of the hot shoe. Learning where they were was a fairly fast process but a learning curve nonetheless. If you are considering making the jump then I would buy the camera well before you need it for an assignment just so you can get acclimated to the new controls.
Along those lines, is the playback functionality. I chimp a lot during football because there is so much down time. When trying to do that on the 1Dx, I got frustrated very easily and here's why. On the 7D, you hit playback and then zoom in or out using the AF buttons located up by the shutter. On the 1DX however there is a specific button located just below the LCD to initiate the zoom and then the aperture wheel by the shutter button controls the zooming in and out. More than once, I went to zoom and using the method I was used to, only to see the LCD go black because the camera thought I was ready to start shooting again. A minor issue, but still one that stuck with me.
As far as images and performance, HOLY HELL this thing is awesome. The AF is fast and has numerous settings to help navigate the type of action you will be shooting. The frame rate was crazy fast and awesome to have for sports. There is just something awesome about a quarterback throwing the ball and being able to fire off several frames to get THE shot.
So here comes my negative review, and it has nothing to do with the camera itself and everything to do with being honest with myself. The high frame rate becomes a crutch, simply laying on the shutter because you can doesn't make me a better photographer. It may save my bacon because I missed the shot, or should have based on my timing, but I need to get better before I buy a camera like this. Along with that is the sensitive shutter button. When shooting a game if I wanted just one candid frame, I found that my heavy touch was firing off three or four frames instead of just one. Overall, not a huge issue, but just a pain when reviewing my images. Next is the file size and format. The raw format of the files from the 1DX are not compatible with Lightroom 3. Yes Yes I know I am on Lightroom 3 still but given the level that I shoot at, I am still a Lightroom 3 guy and it took a while for me to find a way to convert the raw files from the camera. I ended up with a workflow of using Adobe DNG Converter and then importing them into Lightroom. A pain in the butt so this would mean I need to upgrade Lightroom in addition to buying the camera.
Overall, I would love to own this camera. It just looks, feels, and sounds awesome. That being said, I just couldn't justify paying the amount of money for a 1DX given my skill level. Do I think I am better than the parents on the sideline? Absolutely, do I think spending $7,000 for a camera will make me that much better. NOPE. So if you are thinking of upgrading from a 7D or a 60D or something, maybe look at getting a used 1D Mark IV if you can find one, that price point might be a little better.
Right off the bat, it is a heavy beast. I thought that I would be prepared for the size and weight since I have a battery grip on my 7D but I can tell you that this is something all together different. It is the materials used to build it, the larger battery etc. etc. But what I really got spoiled by was the ergonomics of it. The continuity of having the battery grip built in was just awesome. The weight wasn't unappealing, but just something to get used to. Now I shot with this on a monopod so my shoulders didn't have to bear the brunt of carrying the camera but I can imagine that having two of these on rapid straps or regular straps all day would be tiresome.
Next up, I looked at the menus to try and get familiarized with them so I wouldn't be caught off guard while shooting when it mattered. Just like the weight, the menus surprised me, there are about 4 times as many options and bells and whistles as there are with the 7D. I love my 7D, I think it takes great pictures and has a ton of functionality but I was swimming in menus.
Now for actual shooting. The first practical difference is the layout of the buttons. With the 7D pretty much all your controls are on the right hand side of the camera near the shutter button, leaving the shooting mode dial on the left. With the 1DX there is no shooting mode button so control buttons are distributed on the left and ride side of the hot shoe. Learning where they were was a fairly fast process but a learning curve nonetheless. If you are considering making the jump then I would buy the camera well before you need it for an assignment just so you can get acclimated to the new controls.
Along those lines, is the playback functionality. I chimp a lot during football because there is so much down time. When trying to do that on the 1Dx, I got frustrated very easily and here's why. On the 7D, you hit playback and then zoom in or out using the AF buttons located up by the shutter. On the 1DX however there is a specific button located just below the LCD to initiate the zoom and then the aperture wheel by the shutter button controls the zooming in and out. More than once, I went to zoom and using the method I was used to, only to see the LCD go black because the camera thought I was ready to start shooting again. A minor issue, but still one that stuck with me.
As far as images and performance, HOLY HELL this thing is awesome. The AF is fast and has numerous settings to help navigate the type of action you will be shooting. The frame rate was crazy fast and awesome to have for sports. There is just something awesome about a quarterback throwing the ball and being able to fire off several frames to get THE shot.
So here comes my negative review, and it has nothing to do with the camera itself and everything to do with being honest with myself. The high frame rate becomes a crutch, simply laying on the shutter because you can doesn't make me a better photographer. It may save my bacon because I missed the shot, or should have based on my timing, but I need to get better before I buy a camera like this. Along with that is the sensitive shutter button. When shooting a game if I wanted just one candid frame, I found that my heavy touch was firing off three or four frames instead of just one. Overall, not a huge issue, but just a pain when reviewing my images. Next is the file size and format. The raw format of the files from the 1DX are not compatible with Lightroom 3. Yes Yes I know I am on Lightroom 3 still but given the level that I shoot at, I am still a Lightroom 3 guy and it took a while for me to find a way to convert the raw files from the camera. I ended up with a workflow of using Adobe DNG Converter and then importing them into Lightroom. A pain in the butt so this would mean I need to upgrade Lightroom in addition to buying the camera.
Overall, I would love to own this camera. It just looks, feels, and sounds awesome. That being said, I just couldn't justify paying the amount of money for a 1DX given my skill level. Do I think I am better than the parents on the sideline? Absolutely, do I think spending $7,000 for a camera will make me that much better. NOPE. So if you are thinking of upgrading from a 7D or a 60D or something, maybe look at getting a used 1D Mark IV if you can find one, that price point might be a little better.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
How it all got started
I thought I would share how I found photography, how I became interested in it and then what I use today.
So it all began back in 2002. I was on a trip with my oldest brother and two of our friends on Cape Cod. I had purchased a 4 megapixel Olympus X200 camera for the trip and general use. One day, we went over to Martha's Vineyard and headed out to these scenic cliffs. The sun was setting and I wanted to take a picture of the intense bronze reflection of the sun on the water. I tried several times and just couldn't capture it the way I was seeing with my own eyes. It finally occurred to me that I was wearing sunglasses. On a whim I took the sunglasses off and placed them in front of the lens. Low and behold it got pretty close and when I saw the image on the back of the camera I was hooked.
From the Olympus I bought a Sony but I was less than pleased with it's overall performance and by 2006 I had purchased a Canon Rebel XT for a trip to Ireland for my sister's wedding. We spent a week in Ireland and it rained for 5 of those days. The last full day I had in the country I had gorgeous weather to drive down along the Dingle Peninsula. If you ever think of going to Ireland, be sure to see the Cliffs of Moher and Dingle Peninsula, you won't be disappointed. After returning from Ireland though I tried shooting an ice hockey game with my Rebel and just wasn't satisfied so from there I bought a Canon 40D for a higher frame rate. This was great until the 7D came out and had much better high ISO performance, so I bought a 7D.
As it stands today my kit consists of the following:
Canon 7D
Canon 40D
100mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
17-40mm f/4 L
70-200mm f/2.8 L
My two favorites out of the bunch are the 70-200 and the 50mm. For the price (@ $100), the 50mm gives me just great results. Some of my favorite photos of my son, I used the 50mm and it is tack sharp. As for the 70-200, since I knew I was going to be shooting sports with the lens and would be employing a high shutter speed to freeze action, I elected to skip out on the IS version of the lens.
I use Adobe Lightroom on a MacBook Pro for importing and basic editing of images. Shooting sports though I have found the import speed to be extremely slow for my needs and I am seriously considering buying a copy of Photo Mechanic. A lot of sports shooters use it, and I have seen it in action and it absolutely flies and it is only $100 which is cheap for a solid application.
As for lighting, I have 3 speedlights that I trigger with Ebay triggers and then I also have a set of 3 AlienBee strobes.
2 - AB400
1 - AB800
1 - Octabank
2 - strip lights
I really enjoy them and for the money they have been great. If I could get one more accessory it would be a battery pack for the strobes so I am not reliant on wall outlets for the strobes.
Anyway, that is what I use currently. Not so much an informational post this week but maybe this will spark a discussion or some questions. Enjoy and have a great Mother's Day Weekend.
So it all began back in 2002. I was on a trip with my oldest brother and two of our friends on Cape Cod. I had purchased a 4 megapixel Olympus X200 camera for the trip and general use. One day, we went over to Martha's Vineyard and headed out to these scenic cliffs. The sun was setting and I wanted to take a picture of the intense bronze reflection of the sun on the water. I tried several times and just couldn't capture it the way I was seeing with my own eyes. It finally occurred to me that I was wearing sunglasses. On a whim I took the sunglasses off and placed them in front of the lens. Low and behold it got pretty close and when I saw the image on the back of the camera I was hooked.From the Olympus I bought a Sony but I was less than pleased with it's overall performance and by 2006 I had purchased a Canon Rebel XT for a trip to Ireland for my sister's wedding. We spent a week in Ireland and it rained for 5 of those days. The last full day I had in the country I had gorgeous weather to drive down along the Dingle Peninsula. If you ever think of going to Ireland, be sure to see the Cliffs of Moher and Dingle Peninsula, you won't be disappointed. After returning from Ireland though I tried shooting an ice hockey game with my Rebel and just wasn't satisfied so from there I bought a Canon 40D for a higher frame rate. This was great until the 7D came out and had much better high ISO performance, so I bought a 7D.
As it stands today my kit consists of the following:
Canon 7D
Canon 40D
100mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
17-40mm f/4 L
70-200mm f/2.8 L
My two favorites out of the bunch are the 70-200 and the 50mm. For the price (@ $100), the 50mm gives me just great results. Some of my favorite photos of my son, I used the 50mm and it is tack sharp. As for the 70-200, since I knew I was going to be shooting sports with the lens and would be employing a high shutter speed to freeze action, I elected to skip out on the IS version of the lens.
I use Adobe Lightroom on a MacBook Pro for importing and basic editing of images. Shooting sports though I have found the import speed to be extremely slow for my needs and I am seriously considering buying a copy of Photo Mechanic. A lot of sports shooters use it, and I have seen it in action and it absolutely flies and it is only $100 which is cheap for a solid application.
As for lighting, I have 3 speedlights that I trigger with Ebay triggers and then I also have a set of 3 AlienBee strobes.
2 - AB400
1 - AB800
1 - Octabank
2 - strip lights
I really enjoy them and for the money they have been great. If I could get one more accessory it would be a battery pack for the strobes so I am not reliant on wall outlets for the strobes.
Anyway, that is what I use currently. Not so much an informational post this week but maybe this will spark a discussion or some questions. Enjoy and have a great Mother's Day Weekend.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Just get out and shoot
So I have decided that Thursdays will be my posting days. Not going to happen every week but I shall do my best. Hopefully people begin to follow the blog, and they can expect a regular stream of articles.
With that piece of administrative business out of the way, my advice for this installment kind of echoes the theme of the previous post, and that is just get out and shoot. I know I feel like there are so many barriers to getting out and making neat images but the truth is, the biggest barrier might just be behind the camera.
We all have friends that have interesting hobbies or jobs. Ask them to do a shoot and plan something. Sometimes if you are really lucky, you have friends that have really cool jobs. I am one of those people. I went to high school with a member of the band Ludo. If you haven't listened to them, I strongly urge you to check them out on Spotify or visit the Ludo website.
Anyway, a few years back I kept asking him when he would be back in town from touring and if they had anything going on. Finally it paid off, he said he was heading into a local studio to help another artist Hector Anchondo start recording his album. He asked if I would be interested in coming down to the studio for a couple hours and hanging out and getting some pictures. I jumped at the chance without even knowing anything else. So I spent several hours in the studio with the guys just soaking it all in.
Musicians are like photographers, they sat around and talked about their craft using lingo that only they understood and they could pick out chords and riffs after hearing a piece of music one time. The lighting in the studio and the control room were less than ideal and when I looked at the back of my camera, instead of lamenting the fact, it got the creative juices flowing. In the studio atmosphere and with the camera in my hand I suddenly felt like I was shooting for Rolling Stone or Billboard and was in the studio with U2 or The Rolling Stones. So I switched to black and white and just had fun with it. Is the lighting perfect? Not by a long shot, but to me I think the shots give kind of a cool glimpse into the afternoon.
We started shooting as guys were recording their own individual pieces for the track. As they got deeper and deeper into the track I had to leave the studio so that my shutter clicks wouldn't be picked up on the mics.
With that piece of administrative business out of the way, my advice for this installment kind of echoes the theme of the previous post, and that is just get out and shoot. I know I feel like there are so many barriers to getting out and making neat images but the truth is, the biggest barrier might just be behind the camera.
We all have friends that have interesting hobbies or jobs. Ask them to do a shoot and plan something. Sometimes if you are really lucky, you have friends that have really cool jobs. I am one of those people. I went to high school with a member of the band Ludo. If you haven't listened to them, I strongly urge you to check them out on Spotify or visit the Ludo website.
Anyway, a few years back I kept asking him when he would be back in town from touring and if they had anything going on. Finally it paid off, he said he was heading into a local studio to help another artist Hector Anchondo start recording his album. He asked if I would be interested in coming down to the studio for a couple hours and hanging out and getting some pictures. I jumped at the chance without even knowing anything else. So I spent several hours in the studio with the guys just soaking it all in.
Musicians are like photographers, they sat around and talked about their craft using lingo that only they understood and they could pick out chords and riffs after hearing a piece of music one time. The lighting in the studio and the control room were less than ideal and when I looked at the back of my camera, instead of lamenting the fact, it got the creative juices flowing. In the studio atmosphere and with the camera in my hand I suddenly felt like I was shooting for Rolling Stone or Billboard and was in the studio with U2 or The Rolling Stones. So I switched to black and white and just had fun with it. Is the lighting perfect? Not by a long shot, but to me I think the shots give kind of a cool glimpse into the afternoon.
We started shooting as guys were recording their own individual pieces for the track. As they got deeper and deeper into the track I had to leave the studio so that my shutter clicks wouldn't be picked up on the mics.
Musicians huh. Playing drums barefoot with a stuffed cow on his kit. Had to get a shot of this.
Once I moved into the control room, there were just too many knobs and buttons to comprehend what they did, but they looked cool. Don't know why this one reminds me of the opening of Star Wars. A long time ago in a studio far far away...
Once the guys all came into the control room to listen to the tracks, Hector sat down in this chair and just kept stroking his goatee and nodding in time to the music. I thought it just looked cool. In my mind I have a similar idea for the cover of an album. Who knows maybe they will call me!
Anyway, the moral or the story/post is that there are opportunities to shoot, you just have to take advantage of them and be creative. I struggle with this myself as I progress through my evolution as a photographer. But until you "make it" people aren't going to come knocking with photo jobs, so you have to make your own luck and give them reason to come knocking.
Enjoy and keep shooting!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Car Photos
So for me, one of the biggest obstacles with photography is myself. I have neat ideas for shots, things I really want to photograph but always come up with an excuse for why they don't come to pass. The reason can be anything as complex as I don't have a large studio, I don't have strobes or I don't have models. The truth is, that if it is important enough to you, you will make it happen. No one is going to just call out of the blue and ask you if you like photography and want to shoot for them. So recently I tackled this obstacle and did a car shoot.
A friend I work with owns a 2012 Camaro ZL1. Now I don't know a ton about cars but I know what looks cool and what sounds impressive and this thing looks cool and has over 600 hp. So we agreed to do a shoot and we met up in downtown St. Louis near the Riverfront. There were a couple of challenges for this shoot. 1) We started shooting around 10:30 in the morning which made for almost overhead sunshine. 2) Shooting a car meant a lot of reflective surfaces and also meant I would be getting a portrait of myself in the car's paint. In the end, I opted for a lot of multiple exposures and HDR type shots.
We started under an overpass where a friend of the car owner had previously taken some shots and he liked the background. We tried a couple of different looks and angles but the wide range of light made it tough. Even this was HDR.
In post I decided to get kind of creative and make a hyper-real image.
After the overpass we moved on to an empty lot near some old abandoned warehouses and a powerplant I started to also look at taking some detail shots as well. This guy has put a lot of time an money into upgrading and modifying his car so I figured why not showcase it.
I also climbed onto the roof of my SUV to get this one, it helped take care of the glare.
We then moved to another abandoned area that had some cargo bays and some good shade. This was near a casino downtown and several times the security guard drove by. We were by no means on their property but apparently they saw us on their security cameras. Finally he got out of the car to check out what we were doing. Once he saw the engine on the car he had to go and get some of the other guys from the security office and bring them by for a look.
To wrap up, we went back to the overpass and wanted to get a shot of the custom designed trunk. The limited edition badge was pretty cool. This is a compilation image and you can see where I will need to make sure the specular highlights continuous and clean.
All in all, I am pretty happy with my first car shoot, especially considering it was outdoors at mid-day. I am hoping to get some more shots of the car on an infinity wall but we will have to see how that pans outs. The important thing is that I made the connection and got the motivation to make it happen. Here's hoping that this leads to more motivation and adding more to the portfolio.
A friend I work with owns a 2012 Camaro ZL1. Now I don't know a ton about cars but I know what looks cool and what sounds impressive and this thing looks cool and has over 600 hp. So we agreed to do a shoot and we met up in downtown St. Louis near the Riverfront. There were a couple of challenges for this shoot. 1) We started shooting around 10:30 in the morning which made for almost overhead sunshine. 2) Shooting a car meant a lot of reflective surfaces and also meant I would be getting a portrait of myself in the car's paint. In the end, I opted for a lot of multiple exposures and HDR type shots.
We started under an overpass where a friend of the car owner had previously taken some shots and he liked the background. We tried a couple of different looks and angles but the wide range of light made it tough. Even this was HDR.
After the overpass we moved on to an empty lot near some old abandoned warehouses and a powerplant I started to also look at taking some detail shots as well. This guy has put a lot of time an money into upgrading and modifying his car so I figured why not showcase it.
The same pic just some more touches added in photoshop.
I also climbed onto the roof of my SUV to get this one, it helped take care of the glare.
All in all, I am pretty happy with my first car shoot, especially considering it was outdoors at mid-day. I am hoping to get some more shots of the car on an infinity wall but we will have to see how that pans outs. The important thing is that I made the connection and got the motivation to make it happen. Here's hoping that this leads to more motivation and adding more to the portfolio.
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