Senior Portrait Session: but first a rant

Long time no post...sorry. I have let this blog slip away. Hopefully this can be the start of more regular postings.
I want to talk about senior photos, rant a bit, give some tips for photographers, and tips for those seeking senior photos:

Rant:
  I just shot a senior session at a local garden. I arrived at 2:30 for a 3:00 session so that I could scout a bit. I had been there before but wanted to check the light and make sure that nothing had changed drastically from the last visit.
  From 2:30 until I finished my session at 5pm, six other "photographers" had come through with clients. I couldn't believe some of the stuff that they were doing. It was obvious that they had zero control over their camera. Two of them I got close enough to them so that I could see that they were shooting on auto mode (you  know, that wonderful green button on the dial [please don't miss my sarcasm there] that does everything for you). I didn't need to see the results to know that the photos were going to be snapshots. I define a snapshot as what anyone could do with a camera set to the auto mode. That is fine for anyone...except for someone taking money from a person and representing themself as a photographer. It drives me nuts. If I put a hose in my hand, am I magically a firefighter? If I get a hammer, am I a carpenter? Why is it that our society accepts this as a standard for photographers?

Rant done. Now some advice for those seeking photographers. Ask them a couple of pointed questions.
1. Do you shoot RAW or JPEG? Ask them why. The answer doesn't matter as much as that they know what you are asking and have a justification for their choice. Personally if they don't shoot RAW...I would move on but that is another story.
2. Do you shoot Aperture priority, Shutter priority, or Manual mode? Just check to see if they know those terms and are comfortable answering them. Again, the answer is less important than their ability to give a thoughtful answer.
3. What software do you use for post processing? If they don't use any, walk away. Dont fall for the "you don't need it if you shoot it right in camera" line. Ask any professional photographer (I mean a real professional photographer) and they all use software.

Just three questions will give you a good feel of how much the potential photographer truly knows about his tool.

Now onto my shoot that I did yesterday. It went from 3-5pm and she had two outfits. Her mother came along to be my assistant which was a huge help and I love it when someone is willing to be there to help. So in two hours, we had two outfits and as you will see we got several very different looks out of the same location by simply understanding how to use the camera to control the light. In fact, all but one of these images was purely natural light (and a cheap $20 reflector...this isn't about money). I did use a softbox for one shot.

Images: This was 100% natural light. The model is heavily backlit by the setting sun as you can see by the rimlight around her hair and her left arm. The color is coming from a bush that is filtering the sun. I basically had her crawl under the bush. I said "I know that this is going to sound odd but just trust me on this one". The light on her face is from her mother holding a reflector to bounce the sun back at her. I had her use the gold side of it to try to match the warm setting sun. Shot in Av priority

Next one:
Again totally natural light. Mom was aiming a bit of light back at her face with a reflector. The backlit sun highlights the right side of her body beautifully. This was a playful moment that came about as we were moving locations and she started dancing with the scarf. Having a client be comfortable is crucial. This model was amazing. On a side note: try taking this shot with a camera on the green auto mode and you would have a client basically in total shadow. I shot this in Av priority with a plus 1-2 stop and also in Manual mode.

Next:
Natural light from two sources. 1. the setting sun directly on her. The sun was low enough that it was a warm light and not harsh mid day sun. 2. the sun is reflecting off of the water in front of her and filling in the shadows beautifully. This was shot either Av or M mode

Next: This was a different look for sure but I liked it, showed it to Mom and the model and they did too so we went with it. This is sunlight directly from behind to outline her and a gold reflector feathered just to her face to create a real moody look. Once again, all natural light. Av or M mode

next:
This is shot in a very shady spot and I couldn't get the reflector into position to fill so I used a sofbox for this shot. It is a medium softbox from Paul Buff, a vagabond portable battery from Buff, and a syc cord to trigger it. Nothing fancy but another look for the session. Shot in M mode

Next:
Position was crucial for this one. This was the first shot we did. Full body, playful, and a great way to loosen up for the rest. The light was still pretty harsh at 3pm so I placed her in the shadow of the tree. We used the reflector to get some light back on her and I also had to push this a bit in post to bring the exposure up on the model. This, as all of my work, was shot in RAW which allows me that freedom to make changes like that. JPEG is much less forgiving.

So there were more images and looks but this should give you a good idea of what you should expect a relatively competent photographer to accomplish at a photo session. I am just moving into senior work so I am filling out my portfolio now. This type of shoot would start in the $250 range and up. You should expect to pay for good photos. If someone is doing them for free or $50 or some other ridiculous fee, expect to get that type of a result. Best of luck! Send any questions you may have and also visit my website at My photo website or check out my mostly sports images at My Flickr site

Canon EOS 5D Mark III part 2

Click to see larger image

I have now had some time to shoot with the 5DIII along side my 1D Mark IV for several different events. I am still acquainting myself with the AF cases, etc but I feel like I can make a decent assessment of the camera.Virtually all of my shooting has been fall sports. Soccer, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Football, etc. at both the High School and Collegiate levels.
I don't do scientific testing or prepared studio shots, etc. I simply get out and shoot the things that I normally shoot and then check the results..simple and tells me what I need to know as a photographer.

I will compare this camera to the 1D Mark IV where applicable.

ergonomics:
I have been shooting 1D bodies for over five years..there is no comparison. The 5D III feels cheap in comparison. I don't think that it is but comparing to the mark IV, it is small, out of balance, and feels cheap.
I added the battery grip and it made a huge difference. It balances the camera on my big lenses, gives vertical controls, and makes the camera more comfortable to use. One thing that I don't like about the grip is that the controls are not exactly in the same place as the camera body. I think with bit more use, it will be a non-issue but I still fumble a bit to get my thumb on the focus instantly.

Shooting:
The 5DIII is nice to shoot but again lacks in responsiveness in comparison to the markIV. It is slower to wake up, has a bit more lag, the shutter isn't as snappy, etc. Coming from anything but a 1D body and I am sure people will be more than happy with it. The bright full frame viewfinder is fantastic.

AF:
My camera evolution has been: 20D, 40D, 1D mark III, ID mark IV, and the 5D III. I honestly think that the 5D III AF is the best yet. The cases are a bit confusing and the zones and points complex but once you figure it out...it is a great system. If I could get this AF into my mark IV I would be happy to do so.

Files and high ISO:
I think that there is maybe 1/2 stop or so of high ISO improvement over my mark IV. Sometimes I don't see much difference and then at other venues it seems to be closer to a stop of improvement.
As far as the files, the camera produces beautiful images that can handle cropping and post-processing (I shoot 100% RAW) with ease.

I got this camera for a great price with the thought that I could easily sell it without a loss if I didn't like it. Well, I am keeping it. My guess is that the 1Dx is the camera that I am looking for...a combo of the ruggedness and responsiveness of the 1D mark IV and the AF and new features of the 5D III. I could sell both my bodies to fund the 1Dx but in reality, I can do my job better when I have two cameras working. My combo has been the 1DIV with a 300 2.8 lens with a 1.4x converter and then the 5DIII with a 135 F2.0 to cover closer action. My next purchase (there always seems to be a next one) will likely be the 70-200 2.8 II.
I sold my 70-200 2.8 IS about a year ago. I was never thrilled with the AF, etc on it in comparison to prime lenses.

Click to see larger image.

New weapon in the arsenal coming...

I have been laboring over what if any piece of equipment would allow me to do better work or give my clients better images. On the short list is a 400mm 2.8 lens, the 70-200 2.8 IS II lens, and the forthcoming 24-70 2.8 II lens. Each of these are amazing lenses by all reports and would allow me to capture measurably better images than right now (I have the focal distances covered but with older lenses or teleconverters,etc.).
The thing is, I can still capture those images now so with those lenses ranging from $2300.00 to $11,000 (for a new 400 2.8) is it worth it?
As primarily a sports shooter, the one thing I cannot handle is when action comes at me so quickly that I don't have time to change lenses. I shoot with a 1D Mark IV...no second body.
With that little epiphany, I realize that a second body can in fact get me images that I cannot even capture now at all. I also am asking for trouble when shooting weddings (even though I always shoot with a partner).

That is a long-winded rationalization for what is coming in the mail tomorrow. A brand spanking new 5D Mark III from Adorama. This camera with its new AF will serve well as a second sports body. With its full frame 21mp sensor it can be my ideal portrait body. With its great high ISO performance it can be my ideal event body...Woot Woot.
Here is a link to a review below. I will post my impressions after a week or two of using it.


http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-III-DSLR-Camera-Review.aspx

The digital picture is a great source for all things Canon and beyond. Great in depth reviews, news, etc. check it out. www.the-digital-picture.com

Another Poster image

                       -Click the image to see it larger-


For the past year, I have been shooting images that Orono High School uses for posters that are displayed around the school. They get printed at about 24x36 (maybe a bit bigger). Each image has a theme attached to it and words are added to the image. Last year some of the words were; determination, drive, focus...you get the idea. The problem was, and is, is that I was bringing out my full lighting kit to shoot these images and the shoots were taking a long time. Since I also work for the school, I am not being paid my usual rates (I don't want to hear it).
This year, I am back at it but I am trying to go with minimalist gear and am trying to get the shots done quickly...but still get usable images.
So for this one I showed up at practice with my camera and one speedlight. It was 2pm so it was intense daylight and no cloud cover. The Athletic Director told me the shot he wanted: Jack out front pulling for Norton with both guys in frame but focus on Jack as he is the student chosen to be featured.
I tried several angles but ended up shooting from the ground and I had another player holding my speedlight and tracking Jack as they ran just past my right shoulder. The flash was bare, and he aimed it at his face with 1/8 power and I triggered it with skyports. It took about 20 minutes to shoot from getting out there to walking off the field.
The image isn't really natural looking with so much light hitting Jack's face so in post, I tweaked the settings in ACR to give it an HDR effect and actually enhanced the unnatural look of the photo. Sometimes it is easier to go with something rather than fight it.
Happy shooting,
Peter

Field Hockey Season

Sunday afternoon field hockey game at the beautiful UMaine field. Unfortunately it was a noon game with blazing sun which challenges any sensors dynamic range. To deal with this, I do one of two things. I either use 1. exposure compensation in camera to expose for the players faces or 2. I will leave not worry about shadows on faces and pull up the shadows in post production. How do I decide which approach to use? A few things. If I am exposing for the faces in camera, I must accept that highlights will be blown out and unrecoverable so if the final usage is print, I need to decide if I can get away with that. On the other hand, if I am pulling up the shadows in post, I need to be ready for some unwanted noise in those areas. So... if I can get the ISO down to 100 while keeping the shutter speed I need AND I don't mind the post processing work, I have more latitude by using a regular exposure and protecting the highlights. If I am not shooting at ISO 100 or I don't want to mess around with post processing, I am better off exposing for the faces in camera and calling it good.
Here are some shots from today, All at ISO 100, shutter speed of 1/800 and an F stop of 3.2. The ISO of 100 is very forgiving when you start recovering shadows. The F stop of 3.2 isolates the subjects well and keeps my shutter speed up. The shutter of 1/800 is just enough to get sharp images. You can see the motion blur in the stick and ball of the second shot...which I like. So with those parameters, I went with letting the shadows get heavy on their faces (the team was a bit backlit) and I fixed it in post. Each image takes less than a minute to process when you have done it a lot but even that adds up if you do a lot of them.

      Click on the Images to see them Larger Please
This one had minimal tweaking in ACR. The new interface with PS CS6 is great. Highlight and Whites slider down about 25 each to save the highlights, then push the shadows in PS with a curves layer.

Lifted in post. A quick job using ACR and then curves

Another shot with shadows recovered in ACR and curves in Photoshop

Freezing the ball

-Click on the image to see it larger-
 People really like this shot and I have had quite a few ask how to do it? Truth is that it is quite easy:
 1. Shoot from behind the fence and get a good position. This will depend on your access and the batters stance in the box. The more straight on the better.

 2. Set your aperture to wide open. This shot was at F3.2 so almost wide open. The goal is to throw everything but the ball out of focus.

 3. Make sure that your shutter speed is as fast as possible. I shot this at 1/3200..Ideally you want 1/4000 but you can get away with less if the pitch is slower.

4. shoot when the light is right. A low angled sun is great and it needs to hit the ball as it travels to the plate.

5. Manually focus about 2/3 of the way to the plate. You can also AF on the pitcher and then drag focus closer to you manually

 6. Wait for the pitch and try to time your shot. I captured this one on my first try with a three shot burst. I got lucky. It may take several tries. My camera shoots at 10fps so I get a an advantage but even at 10fps only one frame will be in focus.

 7. In post you can add some contrast and sharpening to the ball to make it pop more... That's all there is to it. Good Luck!

Another Poster Image

CLICK TO SEE A LARGER IMAGE . Above is the latest image I shot for a series of motivational posters being used at the local high school. This one was tough because the team practices at the University but I have been unable to secure track time to set up a shot. What I ended up doing was shooting in the gym of the high school and then getting rid of the background and adding some tweaks in post. The image was shot with a Paul Buff Einstein in a gridded softbox in front of the runner, aimed directly at him. I used another Einstein in a giant softbox behind him to create the cross lighting that you see. I didn't use any diffusers for the shot because I wanted the bare bulb look. Using the softboxes allowed me to control the light spill enough that I could eliminate the background quite easily in post. The strobes were triggered with Elinchrom Skyports and I used a Canon 1D Mark IV with a 50mm 1.4 lens. The runner started right in front of the rear softbox from a sprinter's start and had room for about two steps before he had to veer to avoid the front light. I had the front light about a stop higher than the rear one due to the distance difference from each to the subject. Post Processing: Two curve layers to darken the background and to lighten some areas of the runner. Another layer used in overlay to add some yellow to the floor. Last layer was used to add in some motion blur and then I selectively masked it out to taste. That's it!

Sometimes it really is the gear...

One of my pet peeves used to be when someone would say' "Wow! Your camera takes great pictures!" My canned reply was, "gee, your mouth says interesting things." Obviously the camera is a part of the puzzle, but most often those comments come from a person sitting next to me at a game and they have their camera set to the "green arrow". When I ask what ISO they are using, they look at me like I asked for the solution to Fermat's theorem. That being said, there are times when the gear really does make the difference. I just shot a game in the "Pit" of UMaine. This is a great venue for the audience with lots of history (and it is about to undergo a multi-million dollar renovation) but it stinks for a photographer. There were three photographers covering the game. One was shooting with a Canon 40D (school newspaper issue) with a 70-200 2.8 lens and the other had a Nikon entry level camera with a normal length zoom..maybe a 24-70 equivalent. Her longer zoom was slow (F5.6 at the long end) I was shooting with the Mark IV and the lenses I brought were the 85 F1.8, 135 F2, 70-200 F2.8, and the 300 F2.8 My settings ended up being ISO 10,000 F2.8 and 1/640 or a variation of that. I used to own the 40D and ISO 3200 was really ugly. Without the mark IV and some fast glass, I think I would have left the venue. If I was on assignment, I guess I would have stayed but I would not have been happy. Here are a couple of shots: This one is ISO 10,000 (click on the image to see it larger)

Another: Still ISO 10,000 (click on the image to see it larger)

and the last is ISO 6400 1/400 and F2.5 (click on the image to see it larger)

So now when someone says, "Man, your camera takes nice pictures!" I nod and say, "yeah, it does." Keep shooting. Peter

Quick Family Portrait in a 8x12 space

Click on image to see it larger.


So a friend of mine asks me to take a shot of him and his two kids as a surprise for Mom...whose birthday is the next day. I didn't have a lot of time so I told him that I would meet him in his gym at 3pm (he is a phys. ed. teacher). Now the gym is huge but due to the size of my background fabric (6'x8') I couldn't use much of it.
There aren't any decent backgrounds in there and I wanted a clean and simple image for him to present. The small background that I used is really designed for individual portraits but that was what I had in my car. A little photoshop fixed the problem after (see the post processing section later).
I set an Einstein 640 into a 63" umbrella on axis with the camera for the main light. I then added another Einstein 640 into a softbox to camera left and 1 stop higher than the main for a key light.
I put two speedlights on stands to camera left and right aimed at the background to blow out the background (I didn't have enough power in them but again...easy fix in PS. One speedlight had a barndoor on it and the other a simple flag to avoid spill onto the subjects. The background material was so small that I didn't have much room to work with. If I had a larger BG, then I could simply have created more space from the subject to the background and not had to worry about spill.
Everything was triggered with skyports. The lens was a 50 1.4 and the camera a 1D mark IV.
another image here (Click to see larger)

Post Processing:
First I had to clone in some background on the edges as it was a bit too narrow for the frame. Simple to do: create another layer, select the clone stamp, alt click an adjacent section of background, then click and drag the stamp along the border..takes about 5 seconds.
Second, the background was a dull gray rather than white. Again,very simple solution. Create another layer, in the blending drop down menu, select screen. The result was close enough to white on the background to suit me. Then I add a mask to the layer, select a black brush and go over the subjects quickly to bring them back to proper exposure...takes about 30 seconds once you know how.

set up shot

To the left you can see the umbrella that was the main light that metered at F5.6 and the softbox next to it which metered at F8 (I later upped that to F9 for more DOF). To the right you can see the two speedlights on stands used to blow out the background.
The clients were standing just to the background side of the white line on the floor. As you can see, not a lot of room. And finally the small backdrop that I rarely use...but when I do use it..I love it.


Cheers,

Strobist sports shooting

Click the image to see it larger

The above shot is from a series I am doing for the high school which will become motivational posters. For this shot, I used an Einstein 640 into a large softbox just to the camera left. I was using a sync cord to fire that. Another 640 was back and camera right of the subject to add a rim light.
The location is important for this shot. The sun you see in the background was intense. We had to find a shady spot so that I could control the light. We found a little trail that had decent shade. To set the actual shot up, I simply took a reading of the ambient using my in camera meter. I wanted to be around F5.6-8 to get decent DOF and still blur the distant background. I also had to keep it within the sync speed of my camera (about 1/250). I then adjusted the main light to match the ambient by having the runner stand in place as I shot and chimped. Once that was set, I dialed the rim light in two stops under that softbox setting (still a bit too high as you can see). The rim light was triggered with a skyport radio trigger. After that it was simply try a few different angles with the subject running at me. I think that they came out nicely.

Seth Campbell and Kristin Schild Wedding

Jon Reece Link to Jon's site and I Link to my site shot a wedding this weekend at the beautiful Ducktrap Resort in Maine. Seth and Kristin brought two amazing families together and we were honored to document the day.

It was an incredibly difficult wedding to shoot. Most challenging was intense midday sunlight. Here is one shot of the Groom and his groomsmen after the wedding. Fun stuff but the light was difficult. It was about 4:30 but the contrast was still too much for the camera. The shadows and highlights were blowing out simultaneously which means that the dynamic range of the scene was beyond the capabilities of the sensor. In that case all I could do was split the difference and hope to recover most of it in post processing. Thankfully the important details of this series was salvageable. As you can see, the shadow's on Seth's (groom in front) have gone to black. In print this will not have detail. A minor nitpick but one that you need to be aware of as you shoot.

click the image to see it larger

And a stunning image taken by Jon while I held a reflector. The sun was incredibly intense that day (F11 1/250 at ISO 100).

Back to Sports Shooting!

Back at UMaine for the year. First off was some field hockey. Maine lost in a tough game 3-2.

A couple of the images break some sports shooting rules but for me they still work

Rule 1: shoot tight-crop tighter.
You hear this a lot from sports shooters but sometimes a wider angle holds up. With the following image I like that it is backlit. The water drops around her feet add to the image. I like the dead space around her. The out of focus player in the foreground gives the image some context.

Rule 2: get the ball in the shot
You can't see the ball in this shot but the two women together create some tension and the sun setting made for some great light.

Finally one a bit more typical. Good action, the ball is there and you have some context for the shot too. I could crop it a bit tighter but I have left it so that my client can have more options with it.

Frustration Station: low light action in changing light

I shot a performance by the Robinson Ballet last week and it was challenging to say the least. I was at ISO 6400 for most of the performance and at times as slow as 1/60 sec and F2.8.
When the focus hits and the exposure is good, I am blown away by the Mark IV. I know the D3s is the king of low light but the Mark IV is so much better than anything I have used prior.
Here are a couple of shots from the night


Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM
Focal Length: 300.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 1/500
ISO equiv: 6400
Metering Mode: Spot
Exposure: aperture priority
White Balance: Auto

click on image to go to flickr and see it bigger


and another at ISO 6400 1/60


Now with that being said, I missed a lot of images. I could blame the camera but...we all know better. There are two main issues with event shooting in low and constantly changing light that I struggle with:
focus
proper exposure

Focus is tricky even with the top of the line body and high end lens in front of it. What I do to maximize my keeper is:

1. put the focus point control on the joystick on the rear of the camera. Either that or get very good at quickly changing focus points without taking your eye off the viewfinder. This is crucial for number 2

2. If you are shooting with enough DOF this works: While maintaining the composition that you want for the image, move the focal point around to match up with the part of the image that has the highest contrast. It may be a sequined belt or a headband with bright material. If you simply focus on the face because that is what you want in focus, even if it is shadowed or lacking any contrast, the lens will likely start hunting and you will miss shots.

3. If you are shooting really wide apertures and are so close that your DOF is really thin, then number 2 may not work as well and you need to keep your focus point on your desired area. If you are lucky enough to have a high contrast item in the same focal plane of the face, then you can still use number 2. For example if a belt buckle is a great target to acquire focus and the person is relatively upright, then the face will be in nearly the same focal plane.

You really need to figure out how well your camera's focus works. My 1D III was fantastic at locking focus in low light..perhaps a bit better than the mark IV. My 40D was horrible in comparison. Remember that the lens in front of the camera is a big part of the equation. A fast aperture, high end lens has a better motor and bigger aperture to focus through.

Some cameras are also much better with the center point focus in comparison to outer rings. My Mark IV can focus as well with the outer rings if I use a 2.8 or faster lens. Make sure you read your manual to find out how your body lens combo performs.

Exposure:

I still am not sure what the best approach is for rapidly changing and highly focused light. It is either AV or Manual and at times I swear one is better than the other.

Stay tuned...it is late and I will finish up in a couple of days.

Tokina 16-28 2.8 for Canon- part 2

I took the lens out for a bouldering session this past weekend. This is one of the primary motivations for me to get this lens. I don't have any F22 off a tripod landscape shots simply because that is not my thing but this will give you a bit more insight into the lens anyway.
Pros:
-very sharp at 2.8 in the center. I have not evaluated the corners, edges, distortion, yet but I can tell you that it is tack sharp in the center.

-Very well built and feels solid and balances beautifully with my Mark IV

Cons:
The zoom action is opposite of every Canon Zoom. Virtually every time I went to zoom as I was shooting, I went the wrong way then had to correct it. Seems minor but if you are shooting action, it can mean a missed shot. I think with time this will be a non-issue but it bugged me on day one for sure.

The focus is noisy and buzzing. It seems to work fine but it certainly isn't a silent action like Canon.

These are minor nit picks for what I think is going to be a very good lens for me. Other wide angles that I have owned and can compare to are the Canon 17-40L F4 and Tokina 11-16 2.8
I think the sharpness and IQ are on a par with either lens after only a little bit of use. Having another stop of light compared to the 17-40 is a must for me and the 11-16 only fits an APS_C sensor. The only other option out there is the Canon 16-35 2.8 and for the price difference, The Tokina so far is the hands down winner.

Here is a shot from the weekend
Camera Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 400

and another wide open
Camera Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 28 mm
ISO Speed 200

Shooting through the fence....

Today was the first day of Umaine Softball and also the first day that we had a sunny day with temps in the 50's! Not much to say other than I am happy for spring's arrival.
Many photographers struggle with shooting through a fence for field sports or glass if you are shooting hockey. There are a few tips to help:

1. Get the lens on the fence/glass (make sure you have a lens hood on though!). It also helps to keep the lens parallel to it. glass especially will really screw up focus if it is out of parallel.

2. Shoot as wide open as possible. You want to throw everything but the subject out of focus. The images below were shot at F4 because I wanted more of the pitcher in focus. If your camera lens combo is struggling, try shooting wider aperture.

3. If you have a focus limiter on your lens, use it. This will prevent focus hunting due to the camera being fooled by the fence.

4. Sometimes it is necessary to add some contrast back into the image in post production. A fence can sometimes wash out an image a bit depending on the conditions.

Here is what I got today with a 300 2.8 lens shooting through a thick chain link fence.

Click the images to see larger.

New Tokina 16-28 2.8 initial impressions

I Just took possession of a new Tokina 16-28 2.8 lens. When I owned a 40D, I used their 11-16 lens and thought that it was very good. Now that I shoot with a 1.3x crop factor camera (1D mark IV)I have been looking for a good UWA lens. I really only had three choices:
Canon 17-40L F4
Canon 16-36 2.8II
Tokina 16-28 2.8

My gear is currently at CPS for a clean and check so I cannot do any test until the end of the week. My first impressions of the build is this:
Big, heavy, and solid build. It feels well put together and the focus ring is smooth. The Zoom ring is nicely damped and smooth as well.
There have been complaints about the lens cap. I think that they have lengthened it since mine is snug and unlikely to "fall off" as others have reported.

okay. Got my gear back. People have criticized this lens as being huge and heavy. I find it nicely balanced on a 1D mark IV and honestly don't notice the weight. Then again, much of my day is hand-holding a 300 32.8 so take it for what it is worth. Below are two heavy crops of shots taken at 16mm and wide open 2.8 These crops are from the center. I will post the originals in a bit.
The weather here has been terrible. Cold, snowy, and not conducive to getting me out to test this lens...

Team photo for Women's hockey

Today I was scheduled to shoot the UMaine women's hockey team. This photo is similar to the basketball shoot I had to do last year. Once again, time was minimal. I had the assistant to the athletic director help me set up so it went smoothly. I arrived at six pm to set up for a 6:30 shoot. The team had practice at 6:30 so once we were set up I was only going to have a few minutes to get the shot (so I had better be prepared...as always)
Since my basketball team photo (in a previous blog), I have made things a bit easier on myself. If you read my last blog entry, you know that I was pushed for power using only speedlights to do a big team portrait. I have since purchased two Paul Buff Einstein 640 lights http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/einstein.html. These are great units, consistent white balance and reliable performance. I can whole-heartedly recommend these lights.
My setup was simple. Two Einsteins on the right and front left. They were in Buff softboxes http://www.alienbees.com/foldable_detail.html(large on camera left and medium on camera right). These were both set at full power. From the rear on camera left and camera right were two speedlights (Vivitar 285 HV) both set to 1/16 power. the softboxes were aimed at the far side to feather the light away from the closer chairs and to balance the light more. the Vivitars were shot bare but I had a flag on each to avoid flare. They were aimed to cover all the rows but the flags blocked any light from going past the front row. I used home-made flags made of two layers of cheap fun foam that can be found at any art supply store or WalMart for about two dollars.
I used a Sekonic L358 meter http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/221078-REG/Sekonic_401_358_L_358_Flash_Master_Meter.html to check the exposure at the corners and was getting from F8-F11 from the back to the front seat. I feathered the lights a bit more to the far side to balance the light a bit more and was good to go.

Mark IV thoughts

Tonight I got a chance to shoot with a Mark IV camera side by side with my Mark III. Monty Rand http://www.montyrand.com/ was extremely generous in lending it to me for a UMaine Basketball game.
The first image was shot with the following settings:
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 6400

The second image was taken with a Mark III and with the same exact settings.

In the next day or so I will be posting my thoughts about the new Mark IV
STAY TUNED!!



UPDATE 3/5/2011
I never followed up on this blog. Oh well. So I have owned a Mark IV for over a year now and it is an improvement over the mark III in every respect. The AF is better, the IQ is better. The high ISO is about a 2/3 stop improvement despite having a greater than 50% increase in Megapixels (10mp to 16mp)
best upgrades:
orientation sensitive AF point- a must have for a sports shooter
AF performance is more reliable in good to relatively low light (ISO 6400 1/640 2.8)

Least impressive upgrade:
poorly implemented auto ISO. Until you can dial in exposure comp in M mode, it is basically useless to me.

What to do when shooting is impossible?

One of my jobs is working as the photographer for the University of Maine athletic department. It is fun, challenging and has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about sports photography. One thing that never gets talked about is when getting a good shot is really not feasible.
One such location is the Memorial Gymnasium at the University. The light in there is absolutely horrible. I was shooting a track meet and as you can imagine, these athletes move fast! In the past I have brought in strobes to light certain events but many of the events don't allow flash use because of the distraction. The high jump is one such example.
So the choice is give up or simply work with what you have. This high jumper was doing the rather archaic Fosbury flop which I haven't seen very often and I really wanted to get a shot of her but here is the kicker:

Camera:	Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Exposure:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture:	f/2.8
Focal Length:	135 mm
ISO Speed:	6400

those are my setting from this shot. Now as you can see I am at ISO 6400...the camera won't go higher than that. the shutter speed is at 1/250 which to freeze action is already too slow and at F2.8 I am not getting a lot in focus. I could have gone to F2 since I was shooting with Canon's amazing 135mmL F2 lens (worth every penny if you can use the focal length) http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/112539-USA/Canon_2520A004_Telephoto_EF_135mm_f_2_0L.html
but then my DOF would have been really razor thin..not that there is much in sharp focus in this image : )
It is always nice to nail the sharp image of an athlete in the perfect moment. That challenge keeps sports shooters doing what they do. However, there is something really nice about an image that conveys the movement, speed, and action. That is what I had to try to get with this series because getting a sharp image was simply out of the question.
When I was shooting the high jumpers the above settings were used and I panned the camera at times and then prefocused on the bar at other times.

In post, I knew I couldn't save the image in terms of clarity so instead I enhanced what it did have..movement.
I added another layer in photoshop and put in some motion blur to exagerate the movement a lot. Then I added a layer filter to bring back some definition to her face. I liked the result and it also gave me something rather than walking away saying it was impossible.

Quick portrait shoot with strobist gear

this image is from a quick shoot I did with my dearest friend Mary. she was off to Georgia and we wanted some shots of us together.
Setup:
the background is a black velvety material that I got from Walmart. The nice thing about this fabric is that unless you really put light on it, it won't show the light. It makes it very easy to get a black background. It is supported by an Impact background support system that I got from B&H for about $100
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/437786-REG/Impact_3046_Background_Support_System_.html

I set up one umbrella to camera left with a canon 58oexII set at 1/2 power. The umbrella was slightly higher than head level and off at about a 45 degree angle. To fill in on the right side, I put a sunpak 383 set at 1/16 on a stand and fired it into a homemade bookend. The bookend is simply two large pieces of white foamcore board taped together with white duct tape. You can buy the board at a staples for about $15.

I shot with a 70-200 2.8 on a tripod and shot at F8 to get everything in focus.

Post processing was very simple. I use photoshop CS4
One layer to use the spot healing brush, patch tool, and clone stamp to fix blemishes or hot spots
One layer to Add a touch of gaussian blur to the perimeter
An adjustment layer to reduce the saturation a touch for a different feel.

That's it. The shoot including setup and clean up was less than 45 minutes and we got a bunch of nice shots.

visit David Hobby's brilliant site for a ton of info for strobist work
http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/