I was packing up a lot of photo stuff, including various 4×6 prints when I came across this.  It’s a poorly lit photo, I know (dreaded on-camera flash), and is totally not something I would include in any portfolio ever, but – this is you-know-who!  So, here’s a fun diversion for those of you that have wondered if dogs can wink!  Happy shooting!

I remember when I first got her – a dozen years ago.  I was a single guy in St. Louis, and many family and friends suggested I get a dog for companionship.  This bundle of energy snuggled into my arms from the litter almost immediately:

When I met Tracy, the two quickly connected – each becoming almost as attached as I am with our beloved dog now of a dozen years. It was Tracy that started affectionately referring to her as “Maggie-Moo”, or now the more common “Moo” which everyone seems to know her by…

Over the years, she grew, and enjoyed many many happy days.  Some of my favorite moments include particular events.  Here she is expressing her curiosity the year I got a 10-22mm lens, checking out the new gear in my bag:

Us humans can take a page from our dogs, because they always seem to be smiling, happy to just be there, and both giving and receiving companionship, even just enjoying something as simple as a warm sunny day:

Being the Lab that she is, Maggie also enjoyed every moment she could in water, swimming, chasing sticks, and of course, giving me a dousing whenever I needed one:

Maggie is such a good dog – and acutely aware of people and their emotions  This dog never left my side when I was bedridden with pneumonia.  When something is missing or unfamiliar, she is always on the alert, checking things out to make sure all is in order:

Not to say that she was always good – as sometimes Maggie would get into something either with our consent, or just from her own search and explore sessions:

Her signature mark is a “happy wiggle” where she would literally throw herself down on the floor, and wiggle around on her back.  This was always a sign that we knew she was in a happy place:

One of our favorite shots of her is one where she is obliging us with a pose over Haloween, so I feel compelled to share it here as well – so prim and proper…

So, we made the painful decision to let her go with some dignity.  It was SO HARD to make this decision.  We cried and reconsidered countless times whether we were doing the right thing or not.  With no human children, Maggie really is our only child, and letting her go even today is something we feel physically ill about.  She just can’t handle another move though – there are literally weeks, possibly only days left, so we opted to let her go gracefully.

It’s an inevitable part of the circle of life, and while the logical part of me knows and understands this, the emotional side of me will never be the same person again. It hurts so bad to let her go, even though I know she is going to a better place.  Thanks for the lifetime of memories “Moo”…we love you! You were larger than life itself!

Postings on the blog here slowed to a crawl.  Then they stopped for a short time.  Something had to change.  I started poking around – not exactly wanting to leave my job because the appeal of teaching, travel and technology continued to hold my interest.  It told me something though – I had literally found my calling.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed being in the classroom.  Whether I was teaching high school, college, or even photography classes, teaching has always been a passion for me – and the ability to teach technology struck a chord for me.  So, what went wrong?  The work-life balance.

My job had grown to encompass the travel, the teaching, the lesson plans, conducting webinars, online training, Quality Assurance testing, new product development, technical support (both via telephone and email), and even short trips to replace hardware.  I’d even spent time running network cable for my employer.  Yet as new duties were added, so too was the time I had to spend in the office, and less time was available for my personal life (including the blog).

So, I started searching slowly but surely.  The age-old adage is that it is always easier to find a new job while you have a job strong in mind, I maintained my vigil at my position – working diligently, but then also burning the candle at both ends, reading through countless job descriptions and opportunities that met various degrees of the criteria I was looking for:  teaching, technology, and a bit of travel.

In my first wave of possible positions, a few met all, so I submitted an application to each.  Most never made it past the first wave of their review process.  No worries – I didn’t just want a job, I wanted the RIGHT JOB!

Another round of research and another few – with one or two emailing and doing a basic phone interview, but then nothing further.  No worries – I didn’t just want a new job, I wanted the RIGHT JOB!

Then, about a month ago, another couple resumes and cover letters went out, and three of them scheduled a phone interview.  Then a second round, and one broke through and invited me out to interview at their office (i.o.w. – not in Colorado)!  Suffice to say, 30 days later, I accepted the position offered as what I would describe as a perfect match of training, technology, and travel.

What this means is that I am getting back to a work-life balance!  A new career opportunity has presented itself, and I am excited for the challenge.  A few frenzied weeks are ahead of me, but in the end, I believe I can return more of my attention to sharing thoughts, insights, and articles all about photography here on the blog!

That means the teachable moment today is not about photography, it’s about holding out for what you really want in life!  Never settle if you are not completely happy with what you are doing, and always stay true to yourself!

Now, back onto the photo-realm of things, I’d like to thank the loyal readers who have maintained their interest in my and my sporadic postings – with the promise of more to come, but right now I am on the lookout for some cardboard boxes! To that end, here’s a challenge for the week – can you take an interesting picture of a cardboard box?  Here’s my first attempt!

cardboard boxes

Your initial hints are:

1.  It’s in Texas

2.  It’s near the Gulf of Mexico

3.  The food is delicious!

Let the guessing begin…

That axoim has held true here on the blog too.  Time and time again, people have told me not to worry about how often I publish posts, but rather to make sure that when I do post – the article provides good quality.  You don’t want to view lame photos and read articles that don’t have a lot of thought put into them.  So, when I get busy at work, or am otherwise unable to give this site the attention it needs, readership tends to understand that while I may be gone periodically – I always come back, and it’s almost always good content.

Today, I’d like to share two stores:

Story # 1 – Basil’s Italian Restaurant in Corbin, KY

Our first story is the result of a recent training trip to that neck of the woods.  The clients I was training asked where I’ve been staying and where I’ve been eating.  When I first started this gig, I was hesitant to share that info – until I realized that they were politely suggesting that they had good ideas for where to eat and visit.  I started tuning in and have been getting recommendations across the country. Sometimes, in fact, I’ve attended a restaurant blindly.

This night was no exception.  I arrived at the place at 7:20, palette readily salivating for some good pasta.  I go in and the place, while nice, appears deserted.  I must admit I was disappointed because it came so highly recommended.  The place is a one-man shop, and he prides himself on his food from what they say.  The next thing I know this “one guy” – Chef Richard – comes out and apologizes but says they are closed.

I acknowledge my oversight at not arriving sooner or checking their hours (they close at 7 because it’s in a residential neighborhood).  I start to head out when he rattles off a few items (7 total) that he could whip up quick for me if interested.  I don’t want to be a bother because this guy must be tired after a long day.  We exchange a little dialogue, and the next thing I know, he is pulling me into the restaurant because he WANTS me to try their lasagne.

Only after being repeatedly assured that it’s not a problem, I take a seat in the otherwise almost empty place (there were a few people lingering at the bar).  I order a merlot, and nosh on some garlic bread until the lasagne arrives.  Oh.  My. God.  My mouth had died and gone to heaven!  You know that taste of Italian – when it’s good but almost instantly when the acidic nature of the tomatoes hits your throat?  It burns a little, right?  This had the taste without the acid.  It was amazing!

On top of that, Chef Richard and I ended up hugging briefly as I left 90 minutes later.  I felt like I had made a true new friend.  He genuinely wanted me to experience a wonderful and delicious meal, which I did!

The place was obviously closed, yet they went out of their way to provide both wonderful good food and stupendous service.  And one man basically did it all!

*****

Story #2 – The Pink Slip, hotel restaurant in Nashville, TN

The Pink Slip

Our second story was at the Pink Slip in the well-esteemed Hotel Preston in Nashville.  I hear from the shuttle driver that their in house restaurant is available, so I decide to try it.  The velvet walls, female lounge lizard singer and guitarist try to evoke “jazz” but really only brings to mind “porn”.  Yet it’s been mentioned, so I ask for a menu… The bar-maid (ironically, named “Bar”bara), takes a beer or something out to another table, gets another pair of gals a drink and a menu, then finally comes back to me 5 minutes later with a menu.  I hear her rattle off some off-menu items to the gals and make a mental note to ask about the burger.  Another 5 minutes go by and she finally gets back to me.  Yeah, I can get the burger.

Do I want a beer?  Fat Tire draft please – been a long week.  A cursory nod, a beer is drawn and brought over.  She tunes into Modern Family on the TV (a repeat by the way) as it starts up.  Meanwhile the over-amped lounge lizard belts out some 90′s Madonna tunage.  Oddly, (during a commercial) she asks if I am ready – uh, yeah, I ordered the burger?  She nods and goes back to put the order in that I’d requested about ten minutes ago.  I sip the brew, and about half way through, while sipping and reviewing email, ask for a glass of water, figuring the food is just about ready.

The water empties, and the beer disappears.  Finally, the food comes, and while it’s not great, it’s not inedible.  I scarf it down because the atmosphere is starting to give me a headache. Within 10 minutes I am done, and wait to get a check.  Modern Family is almost over though, so I wait some more – I don’t want to interrupt, but will definitely make a note if she looks over.  Finally, she looks over and I quickly ask for the receipt.  She walks over and asks if I want some dessert – no thanks just a check please.

The bar was clearly open for business, had the grill on, yet I never felt less welcome in an establishment.  The burger was on par with McDonalds – you could tell it was pre-made then heated and slapped on a bun before being tossed out to the side of the customer.

This place was almost like they were going out of their way to send the message that they had something more important to attend to than a customer – a repeat TV show.

*****

Which would you rather visit?  Now granted, the food at the latter was not worth writing about, but the service sure was!  Where content is king online, service is king in restaurants!

How does this relate to photography?  Simple.  You are only as good as you make your clients feel.  There is so much competition out there these days – I can get good photographs from anyone.  If you make me feel special though, you will stand out above the crowd.  If you seem genuinely interested in me, it makes me feel special (even though I know I’m just another Joe…), and that can make you stand out.  It takes dedication, passion and a lot of work, but the amount of passion you put into your work is directly proportional to your success.

But when you deliver just average photos, and seem bothered that the person is preventing you from working a larger gig (or table) and otherwise just not interested in even getting to know you, that can be bad for business.  You may get a reputation as an ass.  Which will kill the business first – your average photos or your poor attitude?  While content may be king online, attitude is everything in small business.

Most photo gigs are small business.  Remember the moral of the story here when you get a customer.  Big or small, single or simple order, treat everyone special and you will succeed.  Otherwise, you are doomed to fail.

With that in mind, here’s a few Gems from the Archives for your weekly enjoyment:

 Shooting Tethered with Canon Gear

Ten Most Iconic Photographs of All Time

49 Tips Photo Cheat Sheet

Hardware Review – Sigma 18-250

Adobe’s DNG Converter

Best of the Blog

It may surprise a lot of people to know that sports photography is not among the categories of reporting for which Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.

This seems an oversight. The drama, significance and visual power of all kinds of sports, amateur and professional, consume not just the American public but that of the world at large. Our impressions of the world’s greatest athletes and most exciting contests likely include an image of a moment in time (think for a moment about Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Brandi Chastain, Michael Jordan, Vince Lombardi and the triumphal 1980 U.S. hockey team). We know from archeological finds that artists were compelled to record the imagery of the original Olympic games (776 BC). And we know from doping scandals, serious worries about permanent damage from concussions, and transgressions of the athletes outside of sports, that athletics has a way of being interwoven with the broader human condition. The Pulitzers seem to overlook this, unfortunately.

Sports photography has its own awards competitions, of course (although, few if any are in the consciousness of the general public). And, there certainly is a commercial market for still and moving images taken from athletic competition the world over, every day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in sports photography are on a growth path due to the prevalence and popularity of sports news websites, and that the average sports photographer earns $41,900.

Interest in sports photography remains keen among photojournalism students, in all likelihood due to the popularity of the subject itself. The New York Film Academy (NYFA) photography school sponsors an exceptionally popular one-year sports photography program that includes a semester of working onsite with the New York Jets. Depending the semester in which this class takes place, students hone their craft at practices, media events, training camp, draft events, Official Team Activities (OTAs) and live games. It’s a learning lab that few schools of photography offer.

Runners out of the starting block
The story might be about who won, but the visual drama might come long before (or after) the end of the race. A slower shutter speed in action shots allows a still photo to convey movement.

The NYFA photography school structures its program to accommodate this real world learning for several reasons that relate to the craft and professionalism of sports photography. They include:

• Deal with the pressure – The high-stakes, high-pressure, adrenalin-driven world of sports is no territory for shrinking violets. Photographers are by nature observers, and they must remain so even at the highest level of the profession. But they have to develop an awareness of their role in the enterprise and how to provide what they are called upon to deliver. They not only jostle for position around working coaches and players, they have to compete with other photographers as well.
• Capture the physical achievement – Sports thrill us because accomplished athletes push the envelope of human strength, speed, power and skill. The sports photographer will excel when he or she finds unforgettable images of such human achievement on a grand scale, and gets the image that conveys it to those who weren’t there.
• Timing is everything – Tactics for being at the right place at the right time, anticipating what’s about to happen, are a big part of the developed skill set of the sports photographer. To do this, the photographer has to be a type of athlete as well.
• Call an audible – The sports photographer has to be technically prepared to get an iconic shot under wildly unpredictable conditions. For that reason, there may be moments – whether covering football, baseball, tennis, decathlon or luge – when making split-second decisions about what to do, where and how, will make the difference between post-event headshots (yawn) and mid-event, spectacular competition. When the shot shows the receiver catching the pigskin in the end zone, a smile inside the helmet while both feet are airborne, the photographer’s day was a success.

For shots such as this, the photographer probably has to be able to at least swim and ride a board out from shore. In general, sports photography is a physical endeavor and requires above average fitness levels from photographers.

Not every sports photographer gets a dream job working for Sports Illustrated, ESPN or USA Today. And a Pulitzer Prize, even if the photographer grabs the photo that tells the most moving story, may be beyond her grasp. But if they love what they do, if they get the image that captures why people love the game, they should have as much fun covering a minor baseball league team in Peoria as they would the Super Bowl.

*****

Brian Dilg is Chair of Photography at the Photography School at the New York Film Academy. In addition to 25 years of professional teaching experience around the world, his work has been published in The New York Times, Time Out, Village Voice and covers of books published by Simon and Schuster, Random House and Hyperion. He has also worked in post-production for major fashion houses, consumer products manufacturers and media organizations. He also has won awards as a filmmaker and worked as a director, cinematographer and editor of narrative, documentary, music video and commercial films.

I clicked the “Publish” button with trepidation.  It basically warns photographers looking to learn to watch out for the guy who purports to teach workshops in lieu of actually being a photographer.  This would not fly well in the face of the photo establishment – the powers that be if you will.  Additionally, if I were to ever launch a workshop, class or seminar, I would run the risk of being called out as having a double-standard.

Then, I got some email – not a lot, but some.  Several folks replied asking if I was going to offer any tour dates or classes on Lightroom (I ran a workshop with my good friend Kerry Garrison in 2010).  I had replied no, that it probably wasn’t going to happen again, just because the overhead of getting classroom space, the insurance, food service, internet, etc. is just not worth it, especially considering a traveling workshop!

Then I fell into some classroom space (not the one pictured here though) – relatively low cost per month, and no food service required.  I am teaching some other classes there in another capacity, but it dawned on me that I could theoretically offer some Lightroom, Photoshop, or general photography classes here without much of an additional expense.  The question is – would anybody attend?  It’s like throwing a party and no one shows up.  So, on this first Friday of March, let me post a question to the reading audience:

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For arguments sake, let’s say the class would be $25 and would run for approximately 4 hours.  So, we wouldn’t be going too in-depth into the subject matter.  Enough time to advance your understanding of Lightroom, Photoshop, or even just photography in general.  It would naturally have to be here in Denver, as I can’t move the classroom around the country (my pockets aren’t as deep as Kelby, Ziser, or any of the big names out there).  And, I’ll get to the subject matter in a minute – but for now, just a simple yes/no poll:

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at subject matter now.  I’ve been shooting as an enthusiast in South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado for nearly a decade now.  I’ve touched a lot of gear.  I know several applications inside and out.  I’ve been running this blog now for nearly 6 years now too, so we could talk about photography and blogging!  There’s several topics I could touch on in four hours!  Nothing would be an exhaustive beginning to end scenario, but there’s a lot to learn out there.  So, on to question #2

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Now granted, I have not really carved out the time to photo sessions like I have in the past primarily because I have been involved a lot with my full time job as a Software Trainer, and in a new business initiative that I am starting here locally, as well as the forthcoming eBooks which (I know) are woefully overdue.

But, when I sat down to think about it, I really have needed my SLR less and less.  Most of the time, I can get just as good a quality image from my G12, iPhone, or even the GoPro lately, and each has the added advantage of video capabilities!  In fact, one thing I had been meaning to do was to capture some video footage of snow falling.  This was to serve as a backdrop for a photo montage of my own favorite snow scenes from my portfolio for the last few years.

This is not to say that I am losing interest in photography – I will always love photography!  The power and story-telling capability of a single still frame is always one that will fascinate me, and I am always seeking to become better at the craft.

But, when I look at the SLR cameras that are out there, both the one I have, and others in the market – I don’t think I really need another SLR.  It just doesn’t make sense to me anymore.  About the only advantage to SLR is that in studio and when on a professional assignment, they do have just that extra nudge of image quality.  But, with that being said, I just don’t see the need for a new SLR.  Here’s my current collection:

Canon 40D – Accepts EFS lenses due to its crop sensor and does an amazing job at even up to 800 ISO levels for still work.

The Wreck of the Peter Iredale

G12 – Records 1280×720 video, and has a higher MP count than my 40D for stills.  Great for on-the-go footage and the SD card makes things super easy to save to my laptop (which has an SD slot, but not a CF slot).

iPhone – Super easy on the go for both quick snaps to share things via social media, and 1920x1080p HD video!  The apps that have been developed to assist in this niche have been incredible!

GoPro Hero2 – Amazing wide angle video quality, which I really am only beginning to explore, but when I see the weekly publications from their site, am continually inspired for new project ideas!

The soft lines of the snow against the hard edges of the numbers, plus the added black and white element of the snow and the background made this scene for me.  What about you?

For some reason, snow capped branches of anything always catch my eye.  A tweak of exposure adjustments, and a little contrast slider makes this strike a chord for my eyes.  What do you think?

The light dusting of snow, the dark green stairs, and the maroon brick background made for some nice contrast.  Added bonus that the angled lines of the railings and the squared lines of the bricks just added some more visual appeal for me.  Would you have taken the shot?

This is probably one of my favorite “almost never happened” shots.  It was taken on a photo walk a year or so ago, and it’s been sitting quietly in my portfolio for a while.  The dusting of snow, the black of the coal in the freight trains, then the slight hint of red just begged my camera to take the shot.  I almost didn’t because it was getting cold, but something told me to take it and I’m glad I did.  Are you?

The dusting of snow across a car window is something that I’ve always found appealing.  It’s almost peaceful, seeing the outlines that a dusting of snow takes when adhering to a window.  It may be boring to others, but the contrast of the white snow and the black of the window peeking through made it work for me!

Photography, like anything else, is about telling a story.  If you like photographs, then you like stories.  So, with that in mind, and a bow or nod to the gods – enjoy this montage of these photos.  With the accompanying storyline from the memoirs of Paul Harvey, this not only was one of the best commercials I’ve seen in Super Bowl advertising history – the story it tells takes this one up there very quickly on my all-time list.

For those photographers that took these stills, I applaud you all:

William Albert Allard

Kurt Markus

The dialog from Paul Harvey:

And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say,’Maybe next year,’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from an ash tree, shoe a horse with hunk of car tire, who can make a harness out hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. Who, during planting time and harvest season will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back, put in another 72 hours.” So God made the farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, yet gentle enough to yean lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-comb pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the leg of a meadowlark.”

It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and brake, and disk, and plow, and plant, and tie the fleece and strain the milk, . Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what Dad does. “So God made a farmer.”

Touched a nerve – people either loved it or hated it.  I personally loved it.  Some are saying Ram commercialized the image of an American farmer, others are saying the homage was touching.  No matter how you feel about commercials, farmers, Dodge, Paul Harvey, or any other trumped up political agenda-riddled gobbeldy-gook, what I’d be most interested in is finding out more about the collective set of photographers.  Their imagery was awesome!

Kudos to the two that ABC mentioned in their post, but I want to give my own nod to the photographers.  In fact, I’ll send out a $25 B&H Gift card to the first person who can get me a list of all ten photographers that took the powerful images for Ram in the making of this commercial.

Last week I shared out a video on how to handle noise and sharpening in Lightroom 4. On the heels of that, I also shared a video hardware review on what a Justin Clamp is and how it can be used in a lighting your photography. Since these videos seem to be fairly popular. here’s another one on how to use the Graduated Filter in Lightroom 4.

Are you enjoying these video tutorials?  Judging from the analytics, they do seem to be pretty popular, so there’s likely more coming down the pike.  The next eBook announcement having been delayed, and now this rather unfortunate chest cold have left me a little behind the 8-ball so to speak, but more tutorials and educational content is coming.  But, if you keep following, you may find a neat little photo lesson coming up soon (hint, hint…eBook topic!) Thanks to all who have helped spread the word via social media – keep at it!

1.  Focal Length – I’ve talked at length on the blog before about fixed focal length versus variable length zooms.  Their differences, both pros and cons of each are duly noted, and for the most part, I think we can skip the formalities of the technical explanations.  It’s an 85mm lens.  This means you are not going to be able to zoom with the lens, rather with your feet.  It also means that you will gain pros in IQ (See #8 below).  Normally I am shooting with either a 10-22 for wide angle landscapes or a 70-200 for portrait work, so this took a bit of adjusting.

When I did shoot portrait work, I kept on having to step further back to bring more of the subjects face into the scene, and with landscapes, I found myself rotating into portrait position (vertical) and instead of trying to get everything in one shot, rather capturing several shots, with the acceptance that I would have to stitch together in post production.

It’s not perfect for either, but a good compromise in focal length to try and meet the needs of both ends as much as possible.  If I had to choose my favorite focal length, it probably would not be an 85mm, but there are very subjective reasons for that, which probably aren’t as relevant here, so I will defer that for another post.  The focal length is what it is.  You either like the length or you do not.  I was middle of the road on it – sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn’t.

In the end, I think the focal length was fine for most purposes.  Even

2.  F-Stop Range – This is the reason I want this lens.  Stopping all the way open to an f1.4 gives you amazing results from two key perspectives:

• Depth of Field – When you shoot with a low depth of field, the subject is very easily separated from the background.  This also brings up the subject of bokeh quality, and here I was quite impressed as I didn’t see any evidence of jagged lines or aperture opening sizes, which is often characteristic of cheaper lens builds.
• Low Light photography – Low light photography to me means shooting at or near dusk, or in an incandescent environment where you don’t want to introduce flash.  You don’t want to be a part of the scene.  The photographer wants to blend into the background and be as unobtrusive as possible.  Lenses with low f-stop ranges allow you to do this, and the Sigma 85mm f1.4 is no exception!

3.  Noise – The motor on this lens is as quiet as one would expect for current technology – whisper!  I never heard anything that would cause a distraction, and at this point I am actually considering upgrading the Sigma Macro for this reason – the quieter the operation, the easier it is to concentrate on what you are shooting!

4.  Size/weight – About what would would expect for this focal length and aperture.  Remember, the lower the aperture (f1.4) the beefier a lens will have to be, because elements will need to be thicker in order to have any sort of stability.  It made for near perfect balance in conjunction with the 40D.  On a larger camera like the 5D or 1Ds Mark IV, I could see where you might not have as much a balance, but for my purposes, it works!

5.  Build – Patented and as expected, the water resistant housing, and non-slip grip that is now almost a trademark feature of Sigma was present so no surprises there.  I always enjoy shooting with Sigma gear because the heft of it just feels solid in my hands.

6.  OS/IS/VR – There is no built in motion correction here, which is what I collectively use to refer to the proprietary features of Sigma, Canon’s and Nikon’s camera shake correction technologies.  ALthough I should probably share that OS = Optical Stabilization (Sigma), IS = Image Stabilization (Canon), and VR = Vibration Reduction (Nikon).  Since this lens doesn’t have this motion correction feature, there’s really not much to discuss here.

The one note I would have is that when shooting with this lens, the benefit is primarily in that you can shoot at f1.4 which lets in a lot of light.  To that end, the need for motion correction is probably not as needed, except for the most exceeding low light scenarios, but you’ll see in a minute, that’d have to be pretty darn low!

7.  Cost – For the benefit of shooting at f1.4, the price of admission is hefty indeed.  B&H Photo prices it out at $969.  Since this is a new lens in their lineup, you likely will not find it for much less than this, as there is no aftermarket yet to speak of.

8.  Image Quality – Here, as always, I like to let the images speak for themselves.  I’ve tried to include a few samples that demonstrate both the depth of field capabilities and the low light performance.  Keep in mind – every image here was shot hand held!

*Editor Note*  This review was done back in 2011, but still holds today after another rental session with this lens.  My review still stands!

Don’t ask me why it’s called a Justin Clamp.  I guess some guy named Justin came up with the idea, but regardless, it’s a pretty cool idea!  “What is a Justin Clamp?”, you ask?  So glad you did, because I’ve got a video that I uploaded the other day to help show, explain, and walk you through the features.  It’s pretty straightforward (hopefully), and really adds to your lighting options when you consider the versatility of where you can position lights with this clever device.  Take a look:

It seems you are all enjoying the presence of multimedia on the site, from videos to photos, and eBooks, given traffic reports lately,!  The last Lightroom video seemed particularly enjoyable, so thanks for all that have enjoyed it thus far! So, with that in mind, there’s more of that coming on a regular basis.  I’ll try to get a video tutorial or gear review up more regularly.  Some interesting changes may be coming down the pike though, so I will have to just wait and see.  In the meantime, keep enjoying the videos.

Hello to those of you still tuning in for the photo tips tricks and updates from here on the blog.  It’s been a while, and I promise, some kick-butt stuff is coming up (hint -hint – eBooks!), but because of all my attention there, the post schedule has suffered accordingly.  And, I know I’ve covered this before (check out a post from WAY long ago here), but as we know – in tech, the rule of the game is things change! Well, good netizens (that’s internet citizens btw)…fear not, for today, I bring forth another video to demonstrate how I handle noise inside of Lightroom 4 for my own photo editing.  The audio is a bit low as I was recording this one night when the wifey was asleep, but, plug some headphones in, crank up the volume and enjoy!  Here’s the latest and greatest!

There’s more to it than that of course.  External editors, plugins, and extras galore exist to help you really clean things up.  Everything from Noise Ninja to Neat Image, and a whole bunch of others are available but these always come at an added cost. Got your own techniques?  What money saving tips do you have for editing noise out of images in LR4?  Sound off in the comments and be sure to subscribe here and on YouTube for more photo goodness.  As always, keep on shooting!

Sooner or later, your photography is going to involve lights.  Whether you are talking about speedlights, strobes, or even generic work lights, all of these can be used with varying degrees of control and accuracy.  The problem that comes into play when dealing with multiple styles of lights is that of white balance. Your speedlights will have a different setting for white balance than strobes, incandescent, and halogens.  Then there’s the compact fluorescent bulbs.  These are the trickiest ones to wrangle in because they can really vary a lot, even within the same vendor.  This is why I always buy CFL bulbs in sets.  It was never more evident to me than recently when I was using the remnants of a bunch of sets in our upstairs vanity:

This is why it’s always better to light scenes with identical sources.  This means using all strobes, or all speedlights – or even all halogens.  Likewise, if you use a series of CFL bulbs to light anything – there’s nothing wrong with that, just make sure you use lights from the same set, because if you don’t, the above can happen, and that can make controlling white balance nearly impossible.  Here’s another example – take a look at the shot below, shot with one of those LED lights and a cheap workshop light from Home Depot.  Nothing inherently wrong with either as a light source, but look at the different colors of light from these.

So, the word of warning today is to shoot with similar light sources.  And even when shooting with similar light sources, to make sure you keep things as consistent as possible.  Because once you introduce variation in light sources, there will inevitably be variances in the color of light. And variation in light sources just makes a good white balance more difficult to obtain in post production.

If using typical CFL light bulbs, there are ways to do this.  Look for lights called “daylight balanced” bulbs.  These are manufactured to certain specifications that allows for the most uniformity.  Even here though, there can be variance from one batch to another, which is why it’s always a good idea to buy your CFL’s in sets.  They are a tad more expensive, but not grossly so (although you can get some that are custom made for photography purposes like the ones here).  Here’s a great CFL from Amazon that you could buy in sets for only a third of the Tabletop Studio lights:

FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT BULB DAYLIGHT BALANCED 50 WATT 2800 LUMENS PURE WHITE PHOTO VIDEO by PBL

Just another tip to consider when setting up your shoot space.  For me, I tend to stick to speedlights and strobes with photography, but I can see where using work lights and other options may be something worth considering for others.  What about you though?  What do you use to light your working space?  Are you like me and use just speedlights and strobes, or do you opt for other lighting choices?  Sound off in the comments and share your own post production tips for accurate white balancing.

As you may recall, last month, we announced a comment contest for December where a lucky participant had a chance to win a Tech Table from Savage Paper. To enter in the giveaway, all you had to do was make a comment in the post to be entered.  Now that December has gone into the record books, the much awaited drawing for the Tech Table Contest Winner happened last week, and I am pleased to announce that the winner is – Peter M.!

After getting a total of 13 entries, we went to www.random.org and it kicked out lucky #7 – which was the entry for Peter M., so Peter, congratulations on winning the Tech Table!  Please contact me via email (jason <AT> canonblogger.com so we can coordinate shipping!  Thanks to everyone for participating, and special thanks to the folks at Savage Paper for their generous contribution.

For those of you that didn’t get a chance to participate, please do take a minute to look at this really cool table – it’s probably one of the best tables available for everything from product demonstrations to tethered shooting, and much more!  Here’s the video again in case you missed the review the first time!

In other news, I have a new eBook coming out in another week or so.  The final touches are in progress, but this is still tightly under wraps.  About the only thing that I can share right now is that it is coming.  Some more news should be coming out shortly, announcing the topic, and giving a little sneak peak on what you can look forward to in this latest eBook.  For now, if you’d like to browse through my current offerings, check out the library here.

The New Years Special that’s going on right now is a promo where you can get both of the 49 Photo Tips – (Vols I and II), for a discounted price of $10.  You can also use this special Buy Now button below if you want to just check out from here:

Until tomorrow – Happy New Year and happy shooting!

Total Visitors for the Year:

170,000 visitors (that’s more than 3x the population of Liechtenstein apparently)

Total Posts for the Year:

155 (bringing the grand total to 847 posts and articles)

Who viewed the blog?:

Most of you are U.S. folks, but a substantial reader base hails from Canada, UK, and Australia

Reader support:

The readers who contributed the most by virtue of their comments are Michael Petersheim, Bryan Farrell, Miguel Palaviccini, Walter Lustig, and Rich.  (Got some website link love comin’ back at y’all…also, if you don’t own a copy of the DIY tips eBooks, drop a comment here or send me an email and a copy will be sent gratis as my own way of saying thanks for all your support over the year!)

Most Popular Posts:

The moment, you’ve all been waiting for – the most popular posts from 2012.

1. Shooting Tethered with Canon Gear

2. 49 Photo Tips Cheat Sheet

3. LDP Podcast 66:  Third Generation Cameras

4. The Ten Most Iconic Photographs of All Time

5. Five Tips For Shooting Off-Camera Flash

What’s coming in 2013?

So, the final question is what people can be looking forward to in the new year.  While nothing is set in stone, I am hoping to put together content that is more portable that you can take with you anywhere.  Specifically, eBooks!  Downloadable, readable, viewable, and useful eBooks chock full of information, ranging in topic from gear to creativity, technique, and a host of other subject matter.  The ideal goal is one per month, but don’t hold me to that, as we never know what the future may bring.  But, you can bet that at least the first few months will be geared toward those ends.

The 49 Tips books are all well and good, but they are more reference guides than substantial reading material that you can sink your teeth into.  My hope is to generate content that you can take with you, read at your leisure, and gain a valuable education, learning experience, or meaningful insights into this art form of photography!  The first should be coming out in the next week or so here, so be sure to stay tuned!  That’s just one of several resolutions I’ve set for 2013…

As so many of us do, there are others as well.  I’ll keep those in reserve though, and open the comments for you to share your own resolutions!  Feel free to share your own thoughts and hope for 2013, but most importantly, in the meantime, enjoy 2013, and keep on shooting!

So, the presents have been opened, the lunch has been gobbled down, and the kids over-stimulation has sent them into a frenzy of running around outside.  Now what?  Well, if you’re here, it’s likely because you got some new gear for Christmas.  So, first off, congratulations on the new gear – I am sure that on some level, I’ll be green with envy.

The good news is that learning all about your new gear is all right here!  Because regardless of gear, some techniques work across platforms and are part of the “timeless technique” of the field.  One of the most basic of these is learning how to hold your gear properly.  This is one of those things that often isn’t covered in manuals, but if you stopped in here, you’re just in time to check out the videos I’ve prepared just for this purpose.  Check out how to hold a Point and Shoot, iPhone, or SLR camera below:

Point and Shoot Technique:

iPhone (or any smart phone):

SLR:

How to Hold Your SLR

As you can tell from the videos and articles, this is not just about Canon gear.  Anyone with any gear can improve their craft with sound technique and practice.  So, as we move toward 2013, keep this in mind.  More tk, and enjoy the holiday!

So, one year (I think I was 10, my siblings 12 and 14) the kids were all starting to really doubt whether this big fat guy in a red suit climbed down our fireplace with a bag of gifts.  I’d stuck my head inside the fireplace that summer to see how big the opening really was and I was afraid I’d get stuck, let alone a fat guy!  Uh huh….sure mom and dad, whatever!  Apparently my dad got wind of that.  On Christmas Eve, he dragged out his old cold weather boots from his Army days (he called them Mickey Mouse boots), dipped them into the ash bucket (cooled ashes), and then clomped around the tree and the fireplace in them.  He then got some carrots and gnawed off enough to leave the ends all chewed and tossed them out into the snow.

The next morning all of us woke up to my dad loudly grousing around and threatening to call the authorities at the mess.  All three of us went downstairs, saw the huge footprints of soot, presents around a tree and a lump of coal in my Dad’s stocking!  Even my brother was fooled for another couple years!

I love telling this story, but what’s missing?  (The one above is from the website http://www.santasoles.net – seems others have had the idea since then…)  Anyway, the problem is I have nothing but memories of that day – no photos!  The moral?  If you’ve got your own stories and memories for Christmas, be the annoying one to take photos of them!  Never forget to take photos – it’s a special time of year and photography can keep the child alive in all of us!  Merry Christmas!  Share your photos of how you would capture that story!

Another neat feature of this product is how accessories mount to the entire setup, which I go into in more detail in the video review below.  It’s a modular setup, so you need the table for the accessories to mount, which is fine, because I can’t imagine shooting without the table.  I like how there are no screws, nuts and bolts or anything else needed to attach everything together.  (Except the wing nut for mounting your ball head to the setup.  Make sure to watch the entire video as the instructions for how to enter, and what info is needed in your comment in order to be eligible.

Additionally, a fellow photographer, author, and blogger is running a companion giveaway – Mr. Kerry Garrison over at Camera Dojo.  Check out his forthcoming review as well, and make sure you enter at both sites to double your chances of winning!

There are a couple links you should bookmark, including this one (because this is where I’ll announce the winner in 2013!)  The companion post over at Kerry’s Camera Dojo site (linked above), and the folks over at Savage paper.

Shooting in low light is often a time when we find ourselves compromising our sharpness by trying to hold our camera slower than what we are capable of in order to capture an image.  Another example would be where you want to smooth the water of an ocean view, a waterfall, or some other water scene.  You may also want to introduce blur in one area of an image (say a race car), while keeping everything else sharp to convey the sense of speed and motion.  In these scenarios, you can do one of a several things to increase the stability of your camera.  One of the most popular is:

Add a monopod or tripod to the equation. 

The reason why the tripod route is popular is because it is also one of the best ways to stabilize a camera, because let’s face it… a stationary object is better at holding our camera steady than we ever will.  If you can’t use a tripod though, monopods are excellent secondary devices at minimizing the movement that may happen when shooting at slow shutter speeds.  Choosing a tripod is a matter of personal preference and there are many things that can tie into your decision including budget, weight, and portability. Let’s consider each of these independently.

1. Budget: When it comes to budget, a tripod can be as cheap as $20, and can run upwards of $2000! Factors that will come into play include the weight element – carbon fiber is very sturdy, and very lightweight, but very expensive too.  Aluminum counterparts are heavier, and while equally sturdy, you can save money by going with an aluminum equivalent.

2. Weight: As just mentioned, weight can have both upsides and downsides.  If you are a landscape shooter, lightweight tripods can easily be blown over by even a slight breeze.  You can ensure stability by going with a heavier tripod, or by weighing it down (some folks use sandbags, camera bags, or other gear to help stabilize a tripod even further), but nothing is 100%.  As you get heavier weights, it also can be a detractor, because now that’s additional weight that you have to carry with you (or maybe it’s your photo assistant, but someone is carrying it!)

3. Another factor that comes into play is size.  If you want something small and lightweight, then a tripod that has only 3 collapsing legs might not fit with an on-the-go lifestyle.  You can opt for something smaller and more compact, but stability will be compromised.  For instance, take a look at the popular Gorilla-pods  (I own one and love it).  These are super small, the legs can wrap around anything, but they are not the most stable tripod in the world.  The legs can be contorted, but it also means that striking that perfect balance can be trickier.

It’s all about trade-offs when you go to choose a tripod.  Invariably, people will consider budget first and foremost in their decision (I know I did)… for which tripod to purchase, but I can tell you from experience, that you will quickly migrate from the $20 Wal-Mart one to a $100 one from elsewhere, and ultimately upgrade to a $300-$500 one from one of the big guns out there (i.e. Bogen, Gitzo, Vanguard, etc.).  My one recommendation would be to just go in to the more expensive class first, because you will save yourself a lot of frustration and money in the end.  Ultimately, your photos will be sharper and you’ll get much more gratifiying results because you got the right tool for the job – a tripod!

As we’ve seen so many improvements in technology, with higher and higher resolution images, decreasing costs of storage, and faster  burst rates with every new generation of gear, I know a lot of photographers tend to move toward the attitude of “it’s just digital, so why not just shoot in burst rate?”  To some this may make sense.  If there is a best shot in a particular scenario, shooting rapid style in that scenario means youwill get the shot.  One of those 200 frames will be the right moment when say, for instance, you are doing a portrait session and the model has a perfect smile or laugh, right?  Fast-moving scenarios like sporting events, running kids, a burst rate will give you a much better chance of getting the shot you need as well.

On the flip side of this, I also know many other photographers who argue that using the burst rate is a crutch.  It’s fine to start out with it while you are learning, but that a true professional should not be “spraying and praying”, because a professional should know how to get good results through timing, knowledge, experience, and all the rest. Arguments against using the burst mechanism also include other considerations like post production and undue wear and tear.

The first of these holds that if there’s only 1 shot in those 200 that is the “keeper” – you have to find it, right?  That could be time consuming, and extra post production where it’s not needed is a waste of time. The “Wear and Tear” point notes that shutters are built for limited actuations, and over-shooting can result in going through the mechanism prematurely.  Replacing a shutter mechanism could be costly, and spending money when you don’t need to is a bad idea.

Moving back to the original position in favor of burst rates, the response usually is “why does that matter, if I am okay with it, why should anyone else pass judgement on me for how I shoot and spend my time”.  After all, it’s digital, the cost of replacement is low enough, and I enjoy spending the time looking through all the shots – it gives me a certain degree of comfort and security in knowing that the best shot is in there somewhere for me to find!

For me, I do think that using the burst mode on your camera can be very beneficial, especially in the beginning of your photographic development.  But, as you advance, and start to find that your keepers are occurring earlier and earlier in your shot sequences, that perhaps there might be a time to move away from burst mode.  There may be times and places for it like fast moving scenarios, HDR capture times (when you have several bracketed shots), and others.

Imagine this though – what if you could get a semi-burst of shots to handle these scenarios?  On most cameras, you have the single and burst rate modes as shown and discussed earlier, but you also have a 3-shot or 5-shot burst mode.  This might be a good compromise scenario for those of you that can see the merits of each.  This is what gets my vote in the “To Burst or Not to Burst” debate.  What about you?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Since this is all about education, I’d hate for people to not be customizing Lightroom to their own personality simply because they don’t know how.  So, with that pretense, here are three ways you can customize Lightroom 4 (in no particular order)…

#1 – Customize your end panels – this is as simple as porting a small PNG or GIF file into your Lightroom Panel Endmarks Folder.  I created a small PNG file (roughly 150x90px), and made sure my background was transparent using Photoshop CS5, then saved it to the Panel End Marks Folder.  Keep in mind, that when you change this, the panel end mark will show up in two places:  at the end of both the left and right hand panels.  The file location will vary depending on your system

Mac users:  Library | Application Support | Adobe | Lightroom | Panel End Marks

Windows Users:  C:\Users\<Your Name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Panel End Marks

#2 – Customize your identity plate – This is where the Adobe logo resides in the upper left hand corner.  I found that a PNG file 180×50 seems to work well.  I’ve inset my text and graphic 15 px from the left edge so it doesn’t go all the way out to the edge of Lightroom.  The 50px height also allows a logo of 40px with a 5px space at the top and bottom a little room to breathe…

#3 – Watermarks – This is a point of contention for a lot of people as some tend to think that watermarks can “ruin” an otherwise good photograph.  Others like to add a watermark big and bold to prevent image theft when they post their work online.  Others still, will put something more subdued that is less interfering with the image, but can still indicate ownership.  (Just make sure you register your work with the Copyright office, otherwise it doesn’t really matter!)

I’ve gotten the best results by creating custom PNG files using the full instance of Photoshop (you don’t need CS6 – it can be any version of PS going all the way back as far as I can remember, which includes PS 7!).