Week 4 Photos
Mon, 2007-11-05 08:34 — tkpowell
All of my 'models' flaked out on me so I had to find something else to shoot this past week. Sunday was one of the bright/cloudy days which is perfect for plants, bugs, skin tones, flowers etc.
Here's what I came up with....
http://www.tkpowell.com/wetphoto/gecko.htm
--Terry
Beautiful work Terry!
Beautiful work Terry!
I should have some photos to submit later, possibly tonight or tomorrow depending on when I have time to swing by the developer. Do I lose points for late homework?
BTW, g3.jpg (the gecko behind the leaf) is my current desktop. It works quite nicely there!
G3
Thanks Keith. I printed that one at 13X19 and it turned out pretty good. But... I really need the Canon 300mm F4 IS lens to sneak in closer and not have to crop so much. Also I suspect the newer 30 and 40Ds focus better which is a problem with my old clunker.
I think the rules here are pretty loose which is fine with me so if you come up with deer butchering photos on your kitchen table, we'll enjoy those too.
--Terry
Loose rules
Good! Because I wasn't real happy with the portraits I took this week. I had problems owing to the low-light shooting situation in which I played around Friday night:
Here's one of my favorite indoor portraits from the archives:
At first glance this image may seem dark, but I like it the way it is. It reflects how I remember the scene.
RE:Loose Rules
I like the twirling dancers and yes, the kitchen photo of your son is nicely exposed. You're lucky to have a couple 'models' hanging around who apparently don't mind posing.
--Terry
Diggin' the Retro look
i really like the retro look of the drummer and the pair of dancers. Both images look like they were taken 40 or more years ago. A nice change of pace from the uber-crisp and perfectly exposed shots we usually see.
The shot of your son in the kitchen has a near magical look, the reflection of his hand and shirt in the countertop is a plus in my book.
The only change I'd make to the kitchen shot is to crop the overhead lamp out and tighten up the amount of room behind him. Look-space is a plus, the negative space behind him doesn't contribute much to the composition.
Take a look at the difference:
All in all, very nice work Keith.
Michael
> i really like the retro
> i really like the retro look
That's the look you get with retro equipment, as I've been using. Speaking of, I added another '70s-vintage Rangefinder to my arsenal this week. It's a Yashica Electro 35 GSN with a lovely 1:1.7 45mm lens which I got for just $15. Three cheers for ebay
Thank you for the compliments! And I think you are right, my son in the kitchen benefits from the cropping.
lenses
Terry -
You talking about the fixed 300?
That runs about $1200.
For a little more you can get the 100-400
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/162616-GREY/Canon_2577A002_100_400mm_f_4_5_5_6L_IS_USM.html
I have it and I am _pretty_ happy with it.
I have 2 gripes with it:
1. the aperature is not fixed. 4.5/5.6. That is occaisionally a problem
2. it is a push pull lens. Which means it sucks a lot of dust onto my sensor. I have gotten good at cleaning the sensor.
If you already have a lens thatcovers this range, then the 300 looks like a nice lens.
I *really* want the fixed 600mm lens.. But that is the cost of a new SV650.
300 f4 vs. 100-400
Still mulling over which lens to get. Have to sell one of my junk cars first. I do tend to like fixed lens though. What's your basic technique for cleaning the sensor? I've got a couple dust spots that have been there for over a year. :-)
--Terry
My models: My kids are good
My models: My kids are good sports most of the time, although I try to get candid shots rather than posed. One of the things I really like about this old Canon rangefinder is that it's relatively stealth... it's compact, unimposing, and nearly silent without the clack of a SLR mirror or the beeping and flashing of a digital P&S. This helps me remain somewhat inconspicuous and allows me to get those candid shots.
I have been reading that some newer digital SLRs (such as the Canon D40) have an automatic dust removal system for the sensor. IIRC they use high-frequency vibration or some ultra-sonic method. Does anyone know if these systems are effective?
New cameras with cleaning system
I "bought kaddee" a rebel XTi when we were back in the states this past summer.
It has the ultra sonic cleaning sensor.
I haven't had to clean her camera yet. We will see.
That doesn't mean anything really but if I were in the market for a new body, I would definitely be looking at the 40d because of the cleaning sensor.
sensor cleaning technique
I purchased a cleaning kit from
www.visibledust.com
(not a great name for a company that sells CLEANING products)
They have various kits and standalone items.
I bought the kit. In reality the only things I have used
so far are
The Hurricane blower. You can use any bellows kind of thing. I use this first to try to dislodge any dust.
If that doesn't dislodge it, i move on to:
The Arctic Butterfly (sounds like a sex aid for polar bears..)
It is a fancy brush. It is powered by AAA batteries. You turn it on an d it spins the brushes to induce an electrostatic charge.
you then TURN OFF the spinning, and brush it across the sensor.
If that doesn't work, I move on to:
The Sensor Cleaning Swab
with either the sensor clean fluid or the smear away.
I have to admit, I was pretty queasy about cleaning my sensor.
I had a smear along the right hand side (as viewing the image) of the sensor for a couple of months.
I decided to live with it, cause I was too chicken to touch my sensor.
Then a friend was visiting here in Cairo and he has the same camera (30D). They were on a 8 week vacation and he had picked up a big smudge dead center in his sensor and asked if I had anything to clean the sensor with.
I said "sure, but I have never had the courage to do it"
So we sat down and went through the process. I gave him the instructions and all the tools and he cleaned his sensor.
Worked great. After that I decided to do mine, Worked fine.
Though I stil admit I set up near clean-room conditions and take several deep breaths to calm myself before doing it.
My recommendation:
get the swabs and fluid and maybe the unpowered brush.
I assume you have a blower of some sort you can use to clean out loose dust.
The arctic butterfly (they also sell a non-powered version) hasn't really helped me much.
It has removed some spots, but every time it was bad enough to use the butterfly, a proper cleaning required the swabs.
[note: they have different sized swabs for the different sized sensors]
Their stuff aint cheap, but I am a satisfied customer.
I just cleaned my sensor the other day. All my beirut pictures had spots and a smear (again!) on the right hand side of the sensor.
the smear on the side is livable, just crop it out. But there were 2 spots clearly visible (to me anyway) almost dead center on the sensor.
Oh, I notice most of my spots in "sky" shots.
When I clean my camera, I shoot a couple of photos out my window at blue (well as blue as it gets in Cairo) sky.
That seems to show up nicely.
I tried a white sheet of paper, but that didn't seem to work for me.
Thanks Jack
....for all the good info. I'll order some of those recommended bits and give a go.
--Terry
The important thing is
don't forget to breathe.
Some summer theater
Been off healing from some surgery, so it was nice to get back and see what you folks have been up to! I'll toss the following shot into the indoor-portrait discussion. My daughter was involved in an all school district production of Aida this summer, so I had a chance to play with photos in theater lighting. This is not her (she's a 2nd grader). The young lady who played Aida did an amazing job:
The shot is a bit soft as I was hand holding and also manually focusing due to the really low light level. The F/stop was 2.8, I don't remember the shutter speed and the image stabilizer made it all work :-)
Very nice work!
Gorgeous bit of work
The lighting and exposure make that shot work. Image stabilization rocks!
Now, I'm on the 'tempted' side of the IS conundrum.
Did you do any other post processing? Cropping I assume, but any tweaks for exposure or saturation?
Michael
No post processing on that shot...
other than re-sizing it to be a bit more web-friendly. The exposure, color balance, composition and cropping are right out of the camera. I was very pleased with how well it performed under some pretty adverse conditions. What you can't see is the 30 or so poor shots of this same scene over a three day period. Sometimes you need a little (a lot of?) luck mixed in with the technique :-)
Thanks for the compliments, folks.
A late submissions for Week 4
This isn't an indoor portrait - but it's one that I like very much.
The lighting works, diffused by tree branches with a soft fill from reflected light off an adjacent awning. Blown out background emphasises her skin tone. The reflections in her sunglasses are just 'fun'.
I have NO idea who this young woman is. But, I'm captivated by her image.
I do apologize for the compression, the original is nice and crisp, the jpg - not so much.
Saturday Market Shopper. Eugene, Oregon '07
Here's another one that 'works' for me. Again, diffuse light,
I love the play of color in the background vs. her dark clothing.
I also find her 'pose' to be very natural and mysterious. Of course,
that could just be me.
Saturday Market Shopper #2, Eugene, Oregon '07
I really like Shopper #2
Keith and Michael's Pics
I second the comments on Keith's Aida. Very cool lighting. Michael's second pic of the blond is my favorite. Really like the backlight.
And Michael's pics posted to WL http://picasaweb.google.com/pro.cameraman/SunsetsAndCenterlines
Damn....some really cool shots.
Ripped Sunset....the 'window' effect is really nice
Kansas Windpower - really like the clean background sky along with the side lit wind generators. I might crop out the foreground to see what that looks like.
Boot Hill - Dodge City Just a really neat photo
Colorado Sunset #2 - very nice - The power pole adds as nice touch
Speed Limit 65 (B&W) Definitely one of my favorites - I like the way the road curves around the hill in the distance
Reflections of places traveled - neato
Well done Michael
--Terry