January 6, 2012. Saki Cat

January 6, 2012. Saki Cat - Always the whirling dervish. She loves to fetch and will retrieve over and over and over, returning whatever it is, dropping it nearby and trilling, until you throw it again. Shown here is a crinkly happy-face fuzzball, which is one of her favorites. And, she'll alternate who she brings it back to for the next throw. She'll dig it out from behind things, if it lands there, or out from the midst of other things - such as the basket of shoes we have by the back door. Over and Over and Over. Always a ball of energy.

The photo was taken with a Canon 5DmkII, a 50mm f/1.4 lens, and available light. Exposure: 1/4 second at f/1.4, ISO 200. The camera was handheld, which likely accounts for some of the lack of focus. The constant motion of the cat accounts for most of the rest. Using the wide aperture gives me a very short depth of field - this is one of my favorite go-to methods for cat photos and the like, focusing attention on piece of the greater whole. I was shooting from a low point of view - with the camera was basically sitting on the ground. This is another of my preferences for cat or pet photos. Shoot from their eye level, their point of view.

What could I have done better? I feel the photo is a bit flat, color-wise, and soft, focus-wise. I probably could have use a tripod or similar, though that can be tough if you're following a moving target like a cat. I could alternately have cranked the ISO a bit to give me a higher shutter-speed which would have been easier to handhold without completely sacrificing the motion blur. The 5D2 is good enough in low light that wouldn't have introduced my noise; that was one of the reasons I bought it in the first place.

Finally, looking at the picture, I think its likely time for a new cat toy - that one is looking a bit too well enjoyed.

January 5, 2012 - Cynthia K.

January 5, 2012 - Cynthia K.. My very patient wife, partner, roommate, and part time photo model.

Canon 5dII + Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8. Exposure, 1/60th @ f2.8 ISO 100. Lit with a Canon 550EX speedlight gelled with 1/4 CTO (never heard that before) to the left and slightly behind the camera, triggered with the ST-E2. There was also a floor lamp with 2 halogens bulbs, out of the left side of the frame, aimed at the wall. Flash was set at -1ev and had the built in diffusion screen pulled over the front. Retouched in Lightroom - light balance adjusted, contrast and highlights increased, saturation dropped slightly. There's a gradient shadow across the bottom right corner, plus and a slight post-crop vignette added.

This was a quick portrait after we got home from dinner this evening. I was enjoying how she looked in the scarf.

What could I have done better? Lots. Lights could/should have been more diffuse - note the hard shadows. Needed a bit different place to take the picture - the couch isn't very conducive to a good seating position to pose for a photo. And, we have the odd corner of the window sill in the background. I had to do a bunch of cropping in Lightroom, which indicates to me that I needed to spend a bit more time setting up the picture and then composing in camera.

January 4, 2012 - Killer Kale.

Canon 5dII, EF 24-70 f2.8 USM zoom @50mm. 1/60th @ f/5.6, iso 200. Lit with overhead incandescent floods, plus a Canon 550ex speedlite gelled 1/4 CTO held below the camera pointed up at the kale, and a 430ex speedlite set to 1/16th power, buried in the greenery and aimed straight at the vase. Used an ST-E2 to trigger them strobes. Retouched in Lightroom to adjust the white balance, contrast, crop and then added some post crop vignetting.

We get a "green grocer" box now and then - today they screwed up and we got part of ours and part of one that probably should have gone elsewhere. There were 3 bunches of kale included. Not really sure what to do with it, other than use it as a photo subject. Anyone want some kale? Speak up!

Improvements - probably could use a bit more context to say "kitchen" in the background. I actually cleared the decks a bit, moving appliances and trying to angle myself to cut the paper towel holder and the sink out. I do like the hard shadow, ala Ed Wood, in the back ground. If I had another light, I could have given it some contrasting color.

Sad note today - Penn Camera is filing for Bankruptcy.

January 3, 2012 - Commuting fun. Wasn't really ready for this today. I suppose that neither was anyone else.

Photo Notes: Another iPhone with iPro fish-eye lens. ISO 64, 1/320 second @ f /2.4. Had the phone mounted to a spring clip using the iPro case which has a screw mount adapter for standard 1/4-20 thread. You can see a bit of a clip in the upper right hand side of the photo. The clip was wedged under the passenger side visor. I was using the headphone "+" button as a remote trigger.

I was trying to be careful about adding distractions in the car. The phone was far enough away that it wasn't in my field of view, and I couldn't see the screen while I was driving. So, no temptation towards chimping - just shoot and hope.

What would I do better next time? I suppose the easy answer is "use a better rig" but, really, the iPhone is a nice size here - it was relatively unobtrusive and non-distracting. The remote trigger capabilities of the headset worked well. I could trade the fish-eye for the wide lens, something to try next time.

The clip probably needs a bit of tuning; I'd like to not see it in the frame, first, and second, I'd like to have everything a bit more secure, rather than just thrown together and wedged into the visor, as it was. This was a ten minute hack with available hardware. I did actually use a screwdriver at one point to assemble things, but only to tighten the 1/4-20 screw down enough that it didn't randomly fall out.

Also - guess I need to give the car a wash. Hmmm.

January 2, 2012 - This is the "product shot" for my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Telephoto/Macro lens that I used to post the lens for sale online. I've had this lens for a few years and it has, quite frankly, been a shelf queen. There really isn't anything wrong with it, but it isn't a lens I've ever used a whole lot. My biggest gripe, if there is one, is that the focus is a bit slow. This is actually fine if you're shooting macro shots of things which aren't moving very fast, but isn't very conducive to getting sharp pictures in any sort of dynamic situation. I've probably shot fewer than 50 frames with this lens in the time I've had it. I still have the Canon 1.2 extension tube, which can be used to shoot macro, which is something I find I don't do that much.

Hopefully, it goes to a good home and I get a few dollars for more gear.

The picture was taken using available light plus flash. There is a bare incandescent directly above and a "daylight" compact florescent at camera left and back. Neither of these lights contributed much. The flash was again my 430EX II gelled with 1/4 CTO and bounced off of a handheld reflector. This is a very similar shot to yesterday's bread photo. I will admit that this was a quick shot and probably could have used better focus, composition and lighting. For the intended use, it is probably better than average. Best of all, it didn't take too much time to pull off.

New year, new project.

I know - blogging isn't a particularly "new" activity. We'll see where this goes.

I've been a photographer for many years. For the now, its a hobby for me - something I do for fun, something which isn't "work."

I shoot mostly with Canon gear, currently a 5D Mark II. It, likely, is complete overkill for most of the photography I do, but does deliver some nice low-light capabilities. As so many other folks do these days, I tend to have my iPhone with me more than the DSLR. You'll see pictures from both here. I absolutely subscribe to the mantra that the best camera to use is the one you have with you.

I will be adding some notes about the photos, how they were taken and what gear I used. Please feel free to add comments. Please be civil. I reserve the right to delete comments as I see fit.

Be forewarned, there will likely be many food and cat pictures, possibly a few beer, motorcycle and ham radio shots as well.

If you like what you see, please click through the photos - I'm using SmugMug for hosting. See http://photos.brauhaus.org for more of my pictures.

January 1, 2012 - Home made bread from a recipe in the "Beard on Bread" cookbook. Didn't rise quite as much as I hoped, but turned out pretty well, none the less.

Photo was taken sitting on my stove - note the two parallel lines behind the bread. Photo was taken with a Canon 430EX speedlite mounted on the camera pointed to the right. I used the lid from the plastic bread box as a reflector, up and to the right. Flash was set to 1/16 power and gelled with 1/4 CTO. There is an under counter light just behind and to the left of the bread.

Couple things I'd adjust - first, the specular highlights off the stove in the background - either I need enough light to show what it is, or the reflections need to go. And, I'd adjust the DOF so that the whole face of the loaf was in focus.