Branches

This scene caught my eye a few mornings ago. The bare branches in bright sunlight really stood out against the pattern and dark roof in shadow. I grabbed my G1X to record the scene before the light changed. A simple snapshot, right?

Unfortunately, from my only vantage point, the G1X did not quite have the zoom for the composition that I wanted. OK, I’ll just crop it. But what if I couldn’t crop or didn’t want to deal with editing? I then remembered the digital tele-converter feature of the G1X.

Changing to 1.5X digital tele-converter was all that was needed to get this composition. Of course, the image file is JPEG only. If I’d wanted to make a large print I would have shot in RAW then edited and cropped to taste but this snapshot is just what I wanted.

The Last Roll of Kodachrome

The story behind the shots taken on the last roll of Kodachrome film. http://youtu.be/DUL6MBVKVLI.

(My own experience was not quite as successful.)

YN565EX Returns!

In August, I reported that my Yongnuo 565EX had failed. Since this flash was purchased directly from China (ThePhotoGadget), I agonized over whether to return it, have it repaired or simply absorb the loss. Eventually, I decided to return the 565EX to The PhotoGadget and see what would happen.

The good news is that Yongnuo repaired my 565EX under warrantee at no cost. The repaired 565EX has the same serial number as the original.  It seems to work.

The bad news is that shipping to China cost $65 and that the ship/repair/return process took over three months!

Yongnuo did not include a report or notes on the failure or repair. The PhotoGadget noted that mine was an older version of the YN565EX and that the latest version is more reliable. I hope so!

My conclusion is that I’ll use the YN565EX with reduced confidence for a while. Also, I’ll be buying Yongnuo products from USA vendors in the future.

Best of 2012

Better late than never and it wouldn’t seem right to post my best images of 2012 in 2013 so, in no particular order, here goes:

 

 

 

 

 

Although none are masterpieces, these are my best and favorites of the past year.  Interestingly, only two are of my granddaughter and four are from my Canon 7D while only one is from my G1X.  None of these will replace any of my Top Ten.

… and now let’s see what I can do in 2013.

Canon 10-22mm Zoom

No, this isn’t an accessory for my G1X but for my 7D.  Having passed on both the EOS-M and G15, I felt OK about asking Santa for the Canon 10-22mm zoom.

Above is a scene that I routinely photograph using my latest toy equipment.  The 10-22mm was set for the widest angle, 10mm (16mm equivalent on the 7D sensor).  Wow!  That’s wide! 

In comparison, the 15-85mm zoom (my usual lens with the 7D) at 15mm seems more than a bit zoomed-in (above).

At 22mm, the above view is as tight as the 10-22mm will go.

I tried the above odd combination of wide angle and close-up with the front of the lens about 8 inches from the rose.

All shots taken from the in-camera JPEG using the “Faithful” color setting and not cropped but down-rezzed.

I walked around a bit and grabbed more shots while trying to get a feeling for the lens.  Of course, care must be taken to avoid severe perspective angles but the lens itself does not appear subject to noticeable distortion.  I think I’ll like the 10-22mm zoom.

White Pelicans at LSU

The White Pelicans have returned to LSU.  Without additional comment, here are some shots from today – all taken with the 7D and 100-400mm zoom.

Photography Books

After posting a list of my “Top Ten” novels in this, essentially, photo blog, I gave thought to my favorite books on photography and came up lacking. The problem is not that I don’t have books on photography – I have many – but that I’ve not cultivated my reading and collection in the same manner as I’ve done with novels (although some, perhaps many, may disagree with my tastes in fiction).

In photography, I obviously tend towards “how to do” books instead of philosophical, artistic or thematic subjects. OK, that’s just who I am.

Here are books that I’ve liked or otherwise found useful:

“The Time-Life Library of Photography” – especially “The Camera”, “Light and Film” and “The Print” but also for “The Art of Photography” and “The Great Themes”. This 1970’s series is out-of-print (in fact, I bought mine at a used book sale long ago) and it probably would be deemed obsolete by most current day photographers.

Several iterations of “The Leica Manual” by Morgan and Lester from the late ‘30s to the mid 50’s convinced me that photography was impossibly complex.

For learning flash photography, the best “book” has been the website and blog of the “Strobist”, David Hobby. He doesn’t offer a book and his DVDs, while instructive, are not exactly exciting. “Minimalist Lighting” by Kirk Turk is along the same lines as taken by the Strobist. “Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography” by N.K. Guy was very instructive as was “Speedliter’s Handbook” by Syl Arena. Of course, for lighting, the classic reference is “Light Science and Magic” by Hunter, Biver and Fugua.

I’ve actually read “High Dynamic Range Digital Photography” by Ferrell McCollough twice. Even so, I fiddle with HDR settings more than should be necessary.

“The Empirical Photographer” by Mike Johnston is an interesting, different and more philosophical approach to photography than my usual “how to” approach. Strangely, it is devoid of actual photographs except for the cover.

“The Moment it Clicks” by Joe McNally is an interesting and instructive read as is his “Hot Shoe Diaries”. Joe McNally’s blog is different and interesting – to say the least.

Aside from “how to” books, I liked these:

“The Story of Kodak” by Douglas Collins is a large and well-illustrated history of the company. Published in 1990, this history does not foresee the end of Kodak that is, apparently, rapidly approaching. Just out of college, I worked for the chemicals division of Kodak and began my photographic education in its camera club so the book and demise of Kodak is especially meaningful for me.

“Popular Photography” magazine was another important part of my photographic education. “The Best of Popular Photography” edited by Harvey Fondiller, published in 1979 and covering forty years of that magazine was both nostalgia and new information for me.

“The Tree Where Man was Born” by Peter Matthiessen combined with “The African Experience” (1972) by Eliot Porter was, most likely, the first photojournalism book I bought.

“Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, the Image and the World”, by Philippe Arbaizar and others, published by Thames and Hudson.

“Ansel Adams: An Autobiography” was an interesting read and, of course, included many photographs.

Mike Johnston’s “The Online Photographer” is one of my favorite blogs. Mike regularly includes book reviews and recommendations.