For a birthday gift at the end of last year, I bought the Canon 100-400 lens. It has been rather cheap lately, so I couldn’t resist getting a zoom longer than my 70-200 4L IS. Of course, my luck will be that they do wind up upgrading it later this year, but if that is the case I should be able to get a good price for mine since I bought it at a good price.
I also bought a Gitzo monopod together with the RRS tilt head. I will review these at a later time, but from experience I knew that if I wanted a sharp picture, I needed some kind of stabilization.
I’m not much for taking shots of teddy bears and diagrams in the house to test a lens. I prefer to take it in the field and give it a try.
The following are the shots I got. At the end I will give my impressions of the lens.
If you want to photograph insects, it is always a good idea to learn more about them. For that reason, I have tried to read a book on them whenever I read a photography book. For those who are curious what the life of an entomologist is truly like, this is the best book I have seen.
This is not a reference book, but is instead more of a collection of stories. Eisner goes through the major projects he has worked on during his career and how they came about various discoveries.
I cannot remember being more excited to read a photography book. As most of you know, macro photography is my passion. It is also a rather difficult field to get good tips about. Most of the top macro photographers are quite silent about their techniques.
Therefore, I was extremely excited to find a book by such a talented artist. Gilles Martin has photographed for the places I could only dream of and he has also dabbled in pretty much every type of macro and micro technique.
Unfortunately, this book was a huge let down. I could not have been more disappointed. Granted, the photographs are gorgeous and Gilles certainly has tremendous skills, but the text of the book (and in some ways the photos too) suffer from some huge flaws. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 1:46 pm. Add a comment
For some time, I have made use of a pair of Wimberley macro brackets. Now that I have used them in a number of different situations, I thought I would share my experiences with them.
I had looked at brackets for several months prior to buying these. In terms of macro brackets, the two main competitors are Really Right Stuff and Kirk Photo. After some consideration, I chose the Wimberley macro brackets, but for those interested the following are the reasons I did not buy the other choices.
Really Right Stuff - For awhile, this was my first choice. Only when I learned about the Wimberley brackets did I change my mind. In order for the bracket to work with the MT-24EX, I needed to buy another flash mount. Also, I needed at least one telescoping arm to get the flashes past the lens. Therefore, the price came out a bit higher than the Wimberley solution.
The main reason I chose the Wimberley was flexibility. The RRS solution is nice - but the Wimberley brackets can literally bend in almost any direction. The RRS brackets are limited by the flexibility of the arm - which can be rotated around the bracket and extended.
Kirk Photo - This solution looks a bit more flexible than the RRS, but looks a bit flimsy. I hesitated whether it would take a 580EX without issue or something heavier. It is also not as flexible as the Wimberley.
Iguana taken in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Canon 180mm macro with two Wimberley lights. 1/125 f/7.1.
I have read quite a few photography books and, while most are helpful, in truth most of them do not deserve a place on my book shelf. It would have been perfectly find to borrow them from the library, read them, and return them.
This book is one of the small handful that I intend to keep within a moment’s reach on my book shelf. It is loaded with helpful information and - even more important - serves as a ledge from which to access other material.
Some time ago I reviewed the book Take Your Photography to the Next Level. In general I liked the advice in the book but did not like the photographs. When I reviewed that book, someone recommended this one and there really is no comparison between them.
As I mentioned before, I have had the chance lately to get a bit of reading done. While wandering through a used bookstore some time ago, I picked up a copy of Life in the Undergrowth. When I finally received some time to get some reading done, I sat down and went through it.
This is a very entertaining book. If you like insects, and you enjoy watching shows typical of Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel, this book is for you.
It is intended to supplement the television show presented by the BBC of the same name. The book reads very much like one of those shows, which IMHO is good in some ways and bad in some ways.
Since I had some time off due to the snow here, I took the time to read several books. One book that I had been wanting to read for some time is Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson.
Since reading Understanding Exposure by the same author, I had been anxious to give Understanding Shutter Speed a read. For those who have not read Understanding Exposure first - I recommend that you read it before reading this book or at least have a solid understanding of exposure.
While waiting for my 5D Mark II to arrive, I have been reading a number of books. I have also been learning Turkish, but that is the subject of another conversation. In particular, I have been trying to learn how to better compose my pictures. I noticed this book in the library and decided to take a look.
In general, I found this to be an outstanding book for learning composition and how to inspire yourself to take better pictures. A lot of the advice here are things that make sense and should be intuitive, but still ring a bell when reading.
Recently I answered a question about the best camera for a young child, and since my kids have owned the two most popular models on the market today, I thought I would give our experiences with both of them for those who are interested.
The two primary cameras for young children today are the following. Please note that by ordering through these links you are helping to support this site.
Note that these are really just two cameras. Each camera comes in either pink or blue. Both cameras have been updated recently - but the update is strictly to add more megapixels to the existing cameras. Everything else about them hasn’t changed.
We gave the Fisher Price camera to our older son when he was three years old. He used that until losing it in Jerusalem, after which we replaced it with the VTech.
The Fisher Price is a more basic camera, but we felt that it took more high quality pictures. Here is a shot that Eitan took with it while in Thailand.
The pictures are of a decent quality and generally it exposes quite well. Here’s a shot he took indoors of his brother.
The camera is really no frills. It does not have a zoom, the flash cannot be turned off, and obviously the exposure cannot be overridden. However, for a young child it is extremely easy to use. It is also practically indestructible as it did go flying on several occasions.
Eitan absolutely loved the camera and was heartbroken when he lost it. Rather than buying the same camera, I decided to buy the VTech due to the higher megapixel count and the fact that it has video.
The VTech isn’t as good when it comes to pictures. Although it has more megapixels than the Fisher Price, the optical quality isn’t as good and the exposure is often wrong - particularly when the flash fires.
Here’s an example shot from the VTech. In general we have noticed far fewer ‘keepers’ from this camera.
You can see that the quality isn’t nearly as good as the Fisher Price, despite the fact that it has a higher number of megapixels.
The VTech does have the advantage that it supports video and has games on it. For awhile Eitan played these games a lot. In fact, I think he has used it more for the games than for pictures or video.
For video though, it can be quite funny seeing what happens when a hyperactive kid takes it out for a spin. He took this video when we weren’t watching. (Note: if for some reason the video does not appear here you can also view it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirispupis/2993531665/)
He played around with the video for a bit, but no longer uses it.
Recently, Eitan has stopped using the camera completely because it doesn’t zoom. Currently I help him take pictures with my camera, which he loves to do. I have been eyeing buying him the Olympus SW1030, which is rugged enough for his age but is a bit high for our budget right now.
However, between the Fisher Price and the VTech kids cameras, in my opinion (and Eitan’s) the Fisher Price is the clear winner. The VTech has more features and a higher resolution, but the Fisher Price is much easier to use and takes better quality shots.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 1:13 pm. 2 comments
Nelya often gets upset at me because I often prefer to buy books rather than get them from the library. With the exception of technical books for work - which go out of date quickly - I prefer to buy books and read them over long periods of time than have the books for only a few short weeks. In addition, I often refer to books in the future. Still, a number of times she does have a point.
However, Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting is not one of those books. This is a book that you will refer over and over to and is well worth the investment. In fact, in my opinion this book is required reading. It is not for beginners, but anyone who hopes to understand light at all should have it.
First, let me stress again that this book is not for beginners. It assumes that you already know the basics of photography and how to properly expose a picture. What it doesn’t assume, however, is that you know anything about light.
by the same author, I had been anxious to give Understanding Shutter Speed a read. For those who have not read Understanding Exposure first - I recommend that you read it before reading this book or at least have a solid understanding of exposure.
is not one of those books. This is a book that you will refer over and over to and is well worth the investment. In fact, in my opinion this book is required reading. It is not for beginners, but anyone who hopes to understand light at all should have it.