Monthly Archives: December 2009

This is what I like

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But instead, this is what I get:

Snow and local blowing snow changing to rain showers in the morning then to flurries late in the day. Snowfall amount 5 cm. Wind southeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming southwest 30 gusting to 50 late in the morning then increasing to 50 gusting to 70 late in the day.

Grrr.  Why am I here again?

Good thing my cameras are waterproof. Except the “Toe Cap” for my Canon 1Ds MkIII is missing – fell off. Canon “is unable to” (meaning: refuses to. How I hate euphemisms!) sell me one; I have to go to a third party. No doubt $100 for a tiny piece of plastic. But a necessary one.

ADDED:

(It is the “Extension System Terminal” cover.

One tip for you this morning. When you go from a cold area into a warm one (airconditioned hotel to tropical outside – or Ontario day to warm indoors!) wrap your camera into a tightly wrapped plastic bag before going through that transition.  Take it out after 15 minuts when it has warmed up. Else, you get condensation.

Filter tips

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A quick tip, today. All about filters.

  • Yes you need them. When it starts raining, or in the snow, or in a sandstorm, you want your filter to be ruined, not your lens.
  • But they cause flare, so you do not need them on all the time. I never use my filters except in rain etc. That’s right –  normally, I use no filters.
  • And polarizing filter (“Circular Polarizers”) are great to darken the sky: so you need them. But do not leave them on. They cut the light by a couple of stops! Only put them on when using them, then remove. This is a very common error: I see it all the time.

Oh and do use your lens hoods all the time.

Here’s a polariser picture:

In other words, I slightly darkened the sky by using a polarizer. This brings back the scene to the impressive one that I felt I saw.

Have fun!

What did I use?

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So on my trip to Arizona, what was I using?

  • Canon 1Ds MkIII with the wide lens (16-35 2.8L, though on day one, 24-70)
  • Canon 7D with the 70-200 2.8L
  • Flash: 580EX
  • Honl Bounce card
  • Hoodman Hood Loup
  • Tripod
  • Small Brush (dust that is not on your camera will generally not get into your camera)

That’s what I carried all day, every time I exited my rental car. The rest stayed in the bag.

Here’s a wide sample from yesterday:

And a long sample:

And 9am I fly back to Toronto via Calgary.

Glass

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When photographing glass, please make sure that reflections of flash or window light are either absent or neutral.

With giant wine glasses, this is not easy:

But as you see in this studio picture, it is not impossible either. Although it took me a while, just being attentive to the reflections helps move them out of the way.

 

Off to Sedona

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I taught a workshop on “Flash” yesterday in Phoenix, AZ.

So yes, they do actually have these wonderful cactuses.

And they also have wonderful photographers. 20 people in a great studio (Studio Moirae, run by Jasen and Christy), and four hours of learning the ins and outs of flash – which once you know it, is great light. That was fun!

As will today’s drive to Sedona be. Better get in the car! Lenses, cameras, polarizing filter… check!