I've come a long way...

After making the two previous posts, I just went back to read what I wrote in my first few posts of this blog. I realize today that I've come a long way since first getting my DSLR. Or as the blog title goes, my first dSLR! I chuckled when I read some of my own remarks - like opening up the aperture to 5.6 so that it lets the most light in. Of course, back then, I did not know about primes that can do f0.95. But like everybody else, I had to start somewhere. And where I am today? Well its a long way from where I started. But there's still soooooo much more to learn. In any case, I feel good about documenting what I know in this blog. It will be a reference of sorts for me, and I hope there will be a few people that might benefit from it as well.

Moving forward, I've just gotten myself a full frame camera in the form of a 5D Mark II! I'll tell you that in a future post, after I give it a few hundred clicks. For now, I should say that getting to the 5D2 was a fairly strenuous affair, which I shall also detail as part of my post on the 5D2.

How to take spectacular travel photos

Many people who have seen my photos from New Zealand say how impressed they are with the images. Many of them also say that I manage to get such great photographs because of the expensive DSLRs I use. Well, that's only partly true. The other part of it is knowing a few simple guidelines.

As always, my disclaimer is that I am not a pro. I'm just like the average tourist with a DSLR. If you read the tips I have below and you already know this, then you're already well on your way to capturing good photos. If you're still learning, like me, then some of this may come in handy.

I'm assuming that you own a DSLR. Some of the functions and features I explain below will not be found on a point and shoot camera.

1. Good Composition.

If you read any photography 101 type books you'll read about the rule of thirds. A simple rule. All it says is, split your picture in three sections. Place the object that you are photographing 2/3rds into the picture. Let the rest of the photo capture the scenery around the object that you are photographing. This works especially well when you're photographing people. Here is an example.

See how the object I'm photographing, in this case the lady, is about two thirds into the picture? This is a classic photo taken according to the rule of thirds. Also, as would already be obvious, you can apply this rule even using a point and shoot.

2. Take photos of scenery that are sharp

If you have a DSLR, you can set your DSLR to Aperture mode (on a Canon, you would turn the dial to Av), and set your aperture to between F8 or F13. What this does allow everything you see in the picture to be in focus. Do note that it is best to shoot with this setting when there is plenty of light. Also, remember to set your camera back to the settings prior to changing to aperture mode after you have snapped the photo. Below is an example of a landscape I shot at f7.1. I used a Sigma 30mm lens on my EOS 50D.

3. Isolate your subjects with large apertures

Another type of shot you can use to make your photos more impactful is to again shoot in Av mode and set your aperture to a fairly small f number, such as f1.8. A smaller f number will get the lens to focus only on your target whilst everything else in the picture will become a beautiful blur. In the example below, I set my f number to 1.8 and it isolates the target, which is my wife. Notice how everything else in front or behind my wife becomes slightly blurred? Also note that I've again followed the rule of thirds.

Of course, the prerequisite for this is to have a lens that is capable of shooting at small f numbers or large apertures.

4. Use reflections

Anytime you're around water, say a lake or river, you can compose your picture to make the reflections in the water the main part of the photograph. Here's my example below.

5. Don't be afraid to get up close

A lot of people tend to take photos from a distance. Get up close to the subject. Especially if the subjects are inanimate objects and make up some kind of pattern. How close? How about the minimum focusing distance your lens allows you? Of course, you don't want to take a picture of a person from 18 inches away. All you'll achieve is getting a picture full of nose and an angry subject, if you're doing street photography. Here's my example of a close up.

6. Get an ultra wide angle (UWA) lens

This one might be a bit expensive. Good UWA lenses can cost a couple hundred dollars. With a UWA, you can get very interesting shots as the lens will distort the picture and give you a sense of vastness (for lack of a better word). Here is my example below.

Do note that you need to be careful when choosing a UWA lens as the 'wideness' of the lens depends on what type of body you use. There are crop bodies and full frame bodies. In general, a UWA on a crop body will be anywhere between 10 to 24 mm, whilst a UWA on a full frame body can be anywhere from 16 to 40 mm. In my photo above, I used a Canon EOS 450D with a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.

I hope the tips I shared here will be useful in getting you some vacation photos with oomph!

My trip to New Zealand

I was in New Zealand for 2 weeks, with my wife and kids. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places on the face of this earth! Plus, the people there are very friendly. I'm fortunate that I took my holiday in New Zealand after I became interested in photography. I brought my gear and managed to capture beautiful images.

Here are some of them as a preview. The rest can be found here.

1. First glimpse

2. Kaikoura

3. Gore Bay

4. Avon River

5. Hokitika

Traveling and Photography

     Very soon, as in in two weeks time, I'll be leaving on a jet plane - but I know when I'll be back.  I'm actually headed to New Zealand's South Island for 15 days with the wife and kids in tow.  The main reason I wanted to go for the trip is the photography.  Of course, the wife likes to travel and shop, and the kids want in on the action too - and there's going to be lots of it for them like getting on the Shotover Jetbot and luge at Queenstown, sledging and skiing at Coronet Peak, whale watching at Kaikoura, plus a whole bunch of other stuff we have planned for.

     So, back to the real reason I want to go for the trip.  Yup, its to take photos.  I figure I'd share some of the preparations I'm making for this trip to let me get the best images from this trip.  I'm preparing to take photos in various kinds of situations.

1. Whale watching on a ship out in the open ocean

2. Hiking, perhaps under canopy of some trees, as well as in open land scapes

3. Sunsets and sunrises

4. Night shots in towns that we visit.

5. Street photography

     In preparation for this, I'll be bringing the following:

1. Two camera bodies - my 50D and 450D.

I'll primarily use my 50D for most of the trip while the 450D is intended as a backup, in case anything happens to the 50D.

2. Lenses.

- Canon EF 50 mm 1.8 Mk2.  (if things go as planned, this will be replaced with a 50mm f1.4 just before we depart :) ).  This will be for low light and general shots.

- Tokina 11-16 2.8 for landscapes, architecture and wide shots

- Canon EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM + Tamron 2x TC for whale watching.

- I'm still undecided about bringing my 18-55 IS kit lens and the 55-250IS.  They are mostly redundant and will just add to the weight and space.  I'll decide on it later.

3. Tripod

4. Flash and remote triggers.

5. Protection

- Silica gels to protect against exposure to moisture and fungus spread - yes, NZ is a humid place, especially on the west coast, and in southern locations.

- Optec rain sleeves

6. Lowepro Flipside 300

7. MacBook

     So, going through this list, it seems like a lot of weight and bulk to carry for a hiking trip across New Zealand's South Island.  It actually is.  But, our travel plans involve renting a campervan, which means that I have the option of leaving some of the gear in the camper when we go out on foot.  So generally, for each hiking excursion we go on, I'll only bring what I need and leave the rest behind.

Anyway, I'll be off on the morning of May 29th and will only be back some time in mid June.  It'll probably take me 2 or 3 weeks to process the images but do look out for them on my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/meandmycanon.

How to build a DIY studio for product shoots

It's been nearly six months since I got my first DSLR, the Canon EOS 450D with its kit lens.  I've taken pictures almost every day now.  Recently, I started experimenting with studio type shooting.  First thing is, being fairly new to serious shooting, I do not have a studio.  Nor do I have the props, strobes, et al.  So what I did here was to set up my own DIY studio for this shoot.  It is a very small setup, meant for small product shoots.  The outcome is quite impressive, as you can see from the pictures below.

Pic 1.  My two workhorse lenses.  The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM with its hood extended is mounted on my month old Canon EOS 50D whilst my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens with hood sits beside it.

Pic 2.  Canon EOS 50D wearing the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens with hood.

Pic 3.  Canon EOS 50D.  I've had this camera for about a month and I've already shot over 2000 photos with it.

Pic 4.  Here's the camera I used to take those pictures

How to do it

So how do you go about producing this kind of pictures on the cheap?  Well, let me start by saying that there are 4 parts to this. Knowing to operate the camera, having the props, having off camera lighting, and knowing how to do post processing.

Knowing to operate the camera

You must know how to get good, clear shots with your camera, in Manual mode.  Reason is that you want all the pictures to be sharp, properly exposed, and in focus.  This means, among other things, proficiency with aperture settings to get the correct depth of field, and knowing how to meter the scene so that you can set the correct shutter speed to get the correct exposure.

Props

You'll need a large, white piece of paper or cloth.  I just went out and bought some paper from the local bookstore. 

Off camera lighting

What I've done is to use an off camera flash, with a secondary light source coming from a cheap LED flash light and a reflector.  To use an off camera flash, I would need a wireless flash trigger which is the inexpensive Phottix Tetra PT04 I purchased from shahinki.com.  The reflector was DIY'ed out of standard aluminum foil wrapped around a magazine.

Post Processing (PP)

For PP, I used only Canon's Digital Photo Processing software to make adjustments to exposure, crop, eliminate noise, as well as to clone out unwanted blemishes.

This is how the DIY studio looks

Pic 5.  DIY studio set up.  With the large white paper as the backdrop, I used (from left to right) the home made reflector, the LED flash light with the head strap, a stofen diffuser in front of the LED flash light to soften the light, a 430EX mounted on a Phottix Tetra wireless flash receiver.  The Phottix Tetra wireless flash transmitter was mounted on my camera's hot shoe, which for this shot, was the 50D.

There it is, a DIY studio on the cheap.

Preview of things to come...

     Wow!  Its been some time since my last post.  Back in early January I made the leap into semi-professional photography and picked up the Canon EF 70-200 2.8L IS.  Now, before you say, 'Right!  Having an L lens doesn't make you a semi pro', I would like to add that I am now a freelance, paid photographer.  The main reason I got the 70-200 2.8L IS was to shoot for clients.  And since getting the lens, I have started shooting for some clients and got paid for my work.  This story, I shall keep for a later post.  What I want to mention in this post is a preview of sorts.

     So, since the 70-200, I added few other new members of the family, including:

1. a Tokina 11-16 2.8

2. a used Canon 430 EX

3. a Canon BG-E5 battery grip for my 450D

4. a Hoya CPL and ND8 filter

5. a Gary Fong Lightsphere Lambency diffuser

6. a Sto-Fen diffuser

7. and Digi-Cabi DB-036 30 liter dry box.

8. Photomatix Pro 3.1

Know that I did not suddenly have this uncontrollable desire to spend money.  It was common sense spending after I closed a deal to shoot long term for a client.  The gear I sought and eventually bought was meant for a purpose.  As a matter of fact, there are a few more things that are either on the way to me or that I will soon buy, and they are:

On the way:

1. Lenspen SensorKlear

2. Phottix Wireless Flash Remote Trigger

Will be ordered in March

1. Canon EOS 50D (body only)

And beyond that:

1. Canon EF-s 17-55  F2.8 IS OR EF 24-105 F4 L IS

2. Canon 580 EX II

So, since the theme of this blog is to share how I grow as a photographer, as well as the new equipment that I get, it looks like I'll be having a lot to write about.  I hope to start soon, although I'm not quite sure what to write about first.

Look for my next post as I start to share some details on the new additions!

My very first L: Canon's EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM

After months of coveting, and after an entire agonizing week of waiting for its arrival, I finally, finally, got my hands on my own copy of the 70-200 2.8L IS USM.

The Canon EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM

I have to say that I am absolutely awed just by the sight of it and how it looks with the camera mounted on it.  Yes, I said the 'camera mounted on it'.  The lens is big!  I am awed even more by the quality of the images it produces.  Of course, I am also awed by how much I paid for it.  RM 6,385.  That is a lot of money.  That's actually more than twice the money I paid for my 450D and 18-55 IS kit lens combined!  But hey, I got this lens for its low light capability, and after my first few tries with it, I'm thinking it's large aperture and USM makes it ideal for low light.  Lets take a closer look at the lens.

Uhh.. is that a bazooka?  No, its a Canon!

But before we go any further, I just want to say that I won't go into a detailed review of this lens.  If that is what you're looking for, you can find many of those on a number of sites on the Net.  Just google 70-200 2.8.  As per my other posts, and as is the underlying theme of this blog, this is a novice's point of view of this hobby.  I just wanted to share my excitement of finally getting my own copy of this top notch lens!

The very first thing I noticed when I held the package from Pos Laju was that it wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be.  I heard a lot of people on various forums discussing and complaining about the weight of this lens and how their backs ached after a few hours of use.  Well, it didn't feel that heavy.   I opened the packaging and held the lens in my hands and it felt good.  Solidly built.  The build quality is the best of any lens I have ever owned.  Of course, I have only owned entry level gear up until this point.

In the box, there was the lens, a petal shaped lens hood, a soft lens case, a user manual, warranty card/slip, and tripod ring.  Upon opening it, naturally, the first thing I did was look for any physical defects.  I was glad to have found none.  The second thing I did was to make a physical comparison with my current work horse telephoto zoom, which is the venerable EF-s 55-250 IS.  Take a look at the pic below and you will see that this 70-200 is huge compared to the 55-250.  And significantly heavier too.

The EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM along side the EF-s 55-250 IS

The next thing to do was, of course, mount the lens and see how it performs when taking pictures.  I must admit, I was initially a bit worried about things like back focus, and getting soft pictures with it.  I blame my past experiences with the EF 50 mm 1.8 MkII and the 55-250 IS for this expectation.  Both of those were not properly focus calibrated when I bought them.  So I was ready to see some of the same problems here.  But to my pleasant surprise, there was absolutely non of that.  The focus was dead on, exactly where I aimed it.  No back focus.  No front focus.

Another niggling thought in my head was focus accuracy.  Out of habit I developed with my 50 1.8 and 55-250, I'm accustomed to tapping the focus button twice or 5 times.  Each time, the focus will shift just a little bit, until it's focus is dead on.  And if I tap it again after that, it would be just slightly out of focus so that I would have to tap it once or twice more to get it back in focus. With the 70-200, I only need to tap the button once, and the camera locks focus, and it locks focus quickly. Subsequent taps on the focus button will not shift the focus one bit.  That means its accurate from the beginning.

The image quality?  Well, take a look below.  Most of my shots were wide open and I'll tell you now, I have never been so impressed at how sharp the images are, even when the aperture is wide open at 2.8 and the lens is on the longest end of the focal length, at 200 mm.   Here are some of the first few images that came out of the camera.

This was the very first picture I took with it.  Okay, okay, it was the third.  The first two, I screwed up because I was way too excited and eager to give it ago, I'd forgotten to set up the camera properly.  But in any event, the cherries above were shot handheld at 200 mm and wide open at f/2.8.   I did some minor post processing, namely changing to Landscape style, a bit of sharpening, reduced exposure by 1 stop, and added a touch of contrast.

Above are flowers from my wife's garden.  I had to take this shot and show it to my wife to justify (*sheepish grin*) the amount of money I spent on the lens.  Again, this was handheld at 200 mm and wide open at f/2.8.

Finally, this last shot below I took but a few minutes ago.  As I was wrapping up this blog entry, my daughter and wife called out to me and said that the sunset was really beautiful.  We have not had this type of sunset for about two months now, since it is the rainy season.  So I went out and took the pic with my 70-200.  This shot was also handheld at 200 mm, but at f/9.  And the shot was straight into the sun.  As you can see, there is no flare.

In conclusion, I'm thinking that this lens is really all that its hyped to be.  My only gripe is its price.  At RM 6,385, its the most expensive piece in my camera bag.  Also, the weight maybe a bit bothersome and as is the color but I think I can manage the weight after handling it for a while.  However, that white lens paint with the menacing black petal hood just screams of photog from a mile away.  I'm thinking its gonna be pretty difficult to get candids.   But all in all, I am extremely pleased with this lens.  This is my first L and I'm fairly certain that it will not be my last!