Photography Minute » Reviews

Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography – Book Review

Eric D. Brown — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:07:59 +0000

I’m a huge Moose Peterson fan and recently found “Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography: Conventional and Digital Techniques (A Lark Photography Book)” at the local Half Price Books store.

I was a little hesitant to buy it since it was printed in 2003, which is a quite a long time ago in photography equipment years. I bought the book anyway (because I’m a huge fan, remember/) and I’m glad I did.

I love this book.

In this book, Moose provides a great deal of knowledge gained in the field by a working wildlife photographer. He provides great tips for choosing equipment, tips for working in the field and really provides a great deal of insight into what its like to do what he does.

There are 2 great tidbits of knowledge provided by Moose in this book. Both are clever, simple and different than most other wildlife photographers out there. These 2 nuggets of knowledge are provided below.

Lens Selection for wildlife and bird photography

I’ve read many blogs, magazine articles and books on wildlife and bird photography and most say the same thing: Buy the longest lens you can and get as close as you can. Not bad advice…and it’s pretty much true. If you want to get the best detail in the feathers of a bird, you’ve got to have a great super telephoto lens.

Moose’s advice? Pretty much the same except he changes ‘longest lens’ to ‘best lens for you’. What does he mean by this?

It’s simple. Buy the lenses that let you tell your story.

Perhaps the Canon 800mm L is the perfect bird lens. Scott Bourne. another photographer I admire a great deal says it is in a post titled “Wildlife Shooting Tips / Workflow“. Bourne also says that the 600mm (I love the Canon 600mm L) is the perfect wildlife lens. I’d love to have either of those lenses.

That said, are those the perfect lenses for everyone and every situation? Not at all.

Personally, I’m looking at the Canon 500mm L lens as my perfect Bird & Wildlife lens as it is super portable (when compared to the Canon 800mm L and Canon 600mm L), takes an extender extremely well and can be used quite easily for birding and wildlife photography.

Back to Moose’s equipment selection advice: Pick the lens that fits you and the situation.

Perhaps the best lens for your wildlife photography is a 14mm (Moose carries one with him all the time…at least at the time of the book publication). Perhaps your perfect lens is a 300mm (i drool when I see Canon’s 300mm f/2.8 L lens…it takes an extender wonderfully).

As Moose says, the perfect lens is the one that works for the situation you are in…and perhaps the one that you have with you at the time

Defining a Good Photo

Moose’s seconddsalla really insightful tip has to do with taking a ‘good’ photograph…and defining what ‘good’ is.

Moose’s advice?

A ‘good’ photo is one that you like and one that tells the story that you want to tell.

Amazingly simple isn’t it? Sure the technical details of taking a ‘good’ photo are important, but they aren’t THE important thing. THE important thing is that the photo tells the story that YOU want it to tell.

Conclusion

Did I mention that I love this book?

Moose Peterson is a great photographer and this book sheds some light on his techniques and approach to his craft. If you can find a copy, I’d highly recommend it.

Moose has a new book coming out later this year titled “Captured: Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer (Voices That Matter)” that I plan to pick up when released…look for it too as it looks like its going to be a good one.

Adorama 4-way Focusing Rails: A Review

Eric D. Brown — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:00:53 +0000

I picked up the Adorama’s 4-way Focusing Rails recently to try out with my wife’s Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro lens.

Adorama lists 2 versions of their 4-way Focusing Rails…one for ~$180 and a budget one for ~$80. I’m not sure what the difference is between the two but based on recommendations, I picked the $180 version.

What’s my thoughts on this piece of hardware? It’s OK…but not great.

Using the Focusing Rails

The Focusing Rails are well built and feel sturdy but the mechanism to move the lens/camera forward/backward and side/side are difficult to use and hard to move.

The dials that you’ve got to use to move the rails are hard to turn and, at times, hard to get your fingers on. I found it difficult to use the dials to move the camera/lens quickly….it too a lot of work to get any significant movement. In addition, because the dials are so difficult to turn, it made it difficult to perform any fine adjustments.

To me, it felt as if the focusing rails weren’t well manufactured…they feel like they don’t quite fit together well. The dials are difficult to turn and use and if you have large hands (like I do) they are difficult to get to.

To test out the focusing rails, I placed my Canon 7D and Tracie’s Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro lens on the rails sitting atop my Induro CT314 tripod. The setup was very sturdy….and I’m glad it was. Trying to move the camera/lens combo using the focusing rails required an extremely sturdy tripod.

I was able to get very few usable photos while using these rails. These rails aren’t to blame…my macro technique is terrible.

Conclusion

I’m not really that happy with these focusing rails. They are difficult to use and, for me, difficult to even reach the knobs required for moving the rails. For someone with smaller hands, this may not be a problem.

That said…these rails are OK. They do work. They are stable and you can move your macro lens around as needed to focus. Perhaps they are perfect for others but these rails just didn’t work for me.

Book Review: Inbound Marketing – How to get Found

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:14 +0000

Rather than giving you more tips and hints for SEO and marketing your photography services on the web, I thought I’d take some time to point you toward a book that will answer all your questions and give you all the background you need to start properly marketing yourself.

The book? Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.

Halligan and Shah are the founders of Hubspot…an extremely successful company helping organizations and people marketing themselves on the web.

If you are wanting/needing to be found on the web, this book will help you understand how to ‘be found’. This book doesn’t provide any specific recipes (do x and y will happen) but it provides the basics for understanding why things will work.

Do the things listed in this book and, over time, you will be found.

This book is an excellent book….go buy it today.

Canon 50mm f/1.2 L Lens Review

Eric D. Brown — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:24:25 +0000

I borrowed my wife’s Canon 50mm f/1.2 L lens today….and figured I’d do a review of this stunning lens. This thing is built like a tank but isn’t too heave…and it produces some excellent photographs.

Before I continue…I am NOT the target user for a 50mm lens but I thought I’d write this review up anyway. My strengths are birds, wildlife and landscapes…or at least that’s what I like to shoot. The 50mm lens is made for portraits, street photography and close up shooting.

While sitting at home today waiting for the carpet dude (long story), I grabbed Tracie’s 50mm 1.2 and started taking photos. It’s quite different using a 50mm compared to the 24-105mm L (is my primary Canon 5D lens)….the ‘feel’ of taking a photo with a 50mm prime is different than with a zoom lens. I actually had to move to get the proper composition…imagine that!

I was amazed at the ability to use available light in our dark house and get pretty decent shutter speeds at decent ISO’s. This lens is fast to focus and produces an amazing bokeh.

See for yourself below.

Photo Samples

Here are a few shots from around the house…both shot at f/1.2…notice the fast falloff of focus.

Flower Vase with Canon 50mm 1.2 L

Tiles with Canon 50mm 1.2 L

While neither of these photos are exciting, they show the value of the 1.2 aperture as they were both shot with available light indoors.

Like I said before, this lens isn’t really for me as I’m not that great at the type of photography that the Canon 50mm f/1.2 L is built for. But…I figured it’d still be worth sharing this review…at least to show that I can take photos of something besides birds and animals

If not for me, then who?

This lens IS perfect for any portrait photographer, wedding photographer or anyone else shooting intimate photos. My wife uses it a great deal in her wedding, senior and boudoir photography shoots and, in fact, it’s now the default lens on her Canon 5D Mark II.

To do this lens justice…let me share some of her photos taken with it:

This is a great lens. If you’ve got $1500 to spend and want the a 50mm prime that can get you an aperture of 1.2, run and get this one. I’m told that the Canon 50mm 1.4 is almost as good for a lot less money (~ $350 at Adorama).

UPDATE: I always forget about the Canon 50mm f/1.8 at an extremely low price of $99.95. This cheap lens is an a great value and has been well reviewed around the web.

For a comparison of the 50mm 1.2 L vs the 1.4, check out Thomas Hawk’s Review of the Canon 50mm 1.2.

Canon 400mm 5.6 L Lens Review

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:26:01 +0000

I’ve previously written up a short review of this lens (see my post titled “Canon 400mm 5.6 L USM- Mini review“) but wanted to follow it up with another, more in-depth review.

Although I recently fell in love with the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS USM lens after renting it from Borrowlenses.com, the Canon 400mm 5.6 L lens is my current workhorse. It stays on my Canon 7D constantly.

What I love about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

This is a great lens for birding and/or wildlife photography. It also makes a great lens for just about any type of photography…if you’re far enough away from the subject

You can pick it up for ~$1200 from Adorama (B&H and Amazon sell it for the same price), which is about one-fifth the price of both the Canon 500mm f/4 (~$6100) and Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS (~$5800) and about one-sixth the price of the Canon 400 f/2.8 (~$7200).

In addition to the great price, this sucker is light, weighing in at 2.8 pounds (1.25Kg) – compare that to the 8.5 pounds of the 500mm, 4.3 pounds of the 400mm f/4 DO and 11 pounds (!) of the 400mm 2.8.

Add focus speed to the price and weight and you’ve almost got a perfect lens (see below for why it isn’t perfect). Take this lens out on a bright day and hit your shutter to focus….you’ll probably be surprised at how fast it is. This lens is quick. Even on cloudy days you’ll be OK. Take this lens outside when its not quite daylight, and the AF system will hunt a bit. But that’s to be expected from a 5.6 lens in low light.

What I don’t like about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

There are only two things that I don’t like about this lens: No image stabilization and an aperture of 5.6.

The lack of image stabilization on this lens brings the value down tremendously for me. While I can use a tripod or monopod to help stabilize (and you should at that focal length anyway), I like to be able to handhold while out and about sometimes and it’s extremely hard for me to do that with this lens and keep it steady.

Prior to this lens, I had the Canon 100-400mm IS L USM lens. I didn’t realize how badly I tremor while holding a camera/lens until after I moved to the 400 5.6.

The only other issue of this lens is the 5.6 aperture. While that aperture is OK, it does keep me a stop or two away from getting some excellent low light shots using a decent ISO. That’s not as a big of an issue with my Canon 7D now (beautiful at higher ISO’s!) but it would be nice to see an f/4 on this lens.

That 5.6 aperture also takes away my auto-focus when i have an extender on. I’ve used the 400 5.6 with the Canon EF 1.4X II Extender but without AF, I’m stuck when trying to shoot birds in flight and other moving animals. I did try the “tape the pins” method and got AF to work, but I’m not thrilled with the performance of the combo (400 5.6 + 1.4X)…the AF is slow and hunts a lot. Now…if i were to throw this combo on a 1D body, I’m sure it’d be fine….but I don’t have a 1D body so it doesn’t work for me.

Wish List

Canon – Give me a 400mm f/4 with image stabilization that weighs less than the 500mm f/4 and I’ll be a happy. Make that 400mm f/4 work take an extender like the 500mm and I’ll be set.

Oh. Wait.

I guess they already did give me a 400mm f/4 with IS….the Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS has been out for quite some time and always gets excellent reviews. But I think that design (along with the 400 5.6) is getting a little old. Time for something new Canon. Please?

Or…perhaps I’ll just upgrade to the Canon 500mm and be done with it.

Conclusion

This is a great lens. If you can’t afford to jump up to the big lens listed above, try this one out.

To get consistently sharp images, you’ll need a tripod or monopod and/or excellent hand-holding techniques. Pair this lens up with the new Canon 7D and add in some photography skills, you’ll get some wonderful results.

Book Review: Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks

Eric D. Brown — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:33:01 +0000

One of the gifts I received this past Christmas was a book titled “National Audubon Society Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks” by Tim Fitzharris.

This book provides a great deal of value by providing 250 photographs sprinkled throughout 192 pages describing the US National Parks. While not a detailed review of each park, you do get a sense of what each park is and what the highlights of each park should be.

Tracie and I are planning a trip to Zion (with short trip to Bryce) later this year…mainly because of the short write-up and wonderful photos provided in this book. We had been thinking about going back to Yosemite or Yellowstone but the beautiful colors of Zion won us over (and the fact that neither of us has been there yet).

If you’re looking for a book that covers photographing all our great national parks, this is a good one to get. The book has some amazing photography and some great tips too.

Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM Review – An amazing lens

Eric D. Brown — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:42:40 +0000

What can I say about the Canon 500mm lens?

I love this lens!

I can’t really add much more to the great reviews that already exists on this lens. There are tons of good reviews on the Canon 500mm out there.

When you read those reviews, you see words like ‘superb’, ‘super lens’, ‘tack sharp’, ‘excellent’ and other words like ‘expensive’ and ‘heavy’.

All true.

This lens is amazing. Its big and heavy…at least in relation to my Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

Take a look at my tripod & camera/lens setup below…the first is with my Canon 400mm 5.6 L and the second is with the Canon 500mm. Big difference!

Canon 7D with Canon 400mm 5.6 L on Induro CT314

Canon 7d with Canon 500mm on Induro C314

While these images are taken at different angles, it should be easy to see the size difference between the 2 lenses.

The 400mm 5.6 is an awesome lens and a wonderful bargain for the price that you pay to get it (~$1400). The 500mm is quite expensive at ~$6100 but, to me, the price difference is extremely worth it. I get value out of the additional $4700 that you I would have to pay to get into the 500mm lens.

Is it worth the extra money?

For one, its 500mm and has IS. My 400 5.6 lags in both those departments. I’ve found that I tend to move around a lot (even when I try not to) and that movement is a killer at 400mm+. I can barely handhold the 400 and get sharp shots due to that tremor/movement…but the 500 is tack sharp and perfectly stable while handheld. The 500mm is bigger and heavier than the 400mm but for me, a powerlifting champ back in the day, the weight isn’t an issue. I wouldn’t want to handhold the 500mm all day long but i tend to use some type of support (tripod/monopod) when in the field for long periods.

When I put both lenses on a tripod, the lack of IS on the 400 5.6 is less of an issue…but I do still notice the tiniest bit of movement (From my hand/finger when depressing the shutter). The 500mm removes this movement with IS on. Of course I could make this a moot point if I used a shutter release.

Using a monopod is where the 500mm really outshines the 400 with regards to IS vs non-IS. With the 400mm, I’ve got to find something to lean against or hold the monopod against to stabilize the lens. Not so with the 500mm. I can stand normally (using my best monopod stance) and the 500mm IS helps dampen my muscle movements.

But what about the photos?

This lens provides a great platform for a good photographer with a good skill to capture some amazing images. Take a look at some of my recent photos taken with the 500mm and you’ll see the quality of this lens. Of course, the 400 5.6 takes some amazing photos too (take a look at the first photo on this page for an example: Great Blue Heron).

Conclusion

This lens IS superb and, to me, completely worth the money. I’m saving up right now to pick up this lens. Check out Adorama and pick up your own Canon 500mm lens…or buy one for me! If you can’t afford the lens or just want to try it out, do what I did and rent one from Borrowlenses.com.

I rented this lens last month from Borrowlenses.com (great company….see my review here) and almost cried when I had to send it back. I love this lens and am now saving my pennies to pick one up soon.

For a more in-depth review of the Canon 500mm, jump over to The Digital Picture…they do a wonderful job of looking at cameras and lenses.

Follow-up review of Freehands Gloves

Eric D. Brown — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:27:10 +0000

I’ve had the opportunity to get out into the field with my new pair of Freehands Gloves (see my initial review here).

Do I like these gloves? Nope. I love them!

These gloves have made my life so much nicer when out shooting in the cold. Throw the gloves on, pull the fingers back and go. No need to have one hand without a glove (which is what I used to do) or pull gloves off/on as needed.

I grabbed a few shots to show you what the gloves look like ‘in use’:

Freehands Glove with fingers on - palm of the hand

Freehands Glove with fingers off - back of the hand

Freehands Glove with fingers off - palm of the hand

The gloves are great. The ends of the opening of the fingers is strengthened with extra thread (notice the green-ish thread at the openings) and the thumb and fore-finger have small magnets in them to keep the thumb/finger covers out of the way.

Here’s a few shots of the gloves on while holding my Canon 7D.

Freehands Gloves holding Canon 7D

Freehands Gloves holding Canon 7D * Canon 400mm f/5.6

I’ve used the gloves three times now while in the field and can’t imagine ever going out again without them when its cold. If you’re looking for gloves that will allow you to stay warm yet keep your fingers available for buttons and focusing.

Check the Freehands Gloves website out for pricing and availability.

Gloves for Photographers – Freehands Gloves Product Review

Eric D. Brown — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:00:16 +0000

Been looking for a good pair of gloves to use while out in the cold chasing a good photograph? I have….and I think I found them!

I’ve been looking for some for a while. I have a good pair of fleece gloves that work OK but I always ended up taking them off one hand to be able to push the shutter or make some adjustments to the camera/lens.

A few weeks ago, I ran across Freehands Gloves and knew I’d found the answer to be glove problem. Freehands has solved the problem that most photographers have with gloves…they’ve cut wholes in the forefinger and thumb to allow you to keep the gloves on while keep both digits free to make adjustments on your camera.

As you can see from the image, when covered, the glove looks and feels like a regular glove…but but quickly pulling the tips of the finger and thumb back, you’ve got access to the controls of your camera while keep the rest of your hand warm.

A nice addition is the inclusion of magnetic strips in each flap and on the finger/thumb to hold that flap back…this is a great idea as it keeps the flap from getting in your way while trying to use your camera.

When I was looking for these gloves, I ran across the Aquatech Sensory Glove over on Outdoor Photo Gear and almost purchased that one…till I found Freehands. While the Aquatech gloves looked to be the ideal setup and were well reviewed by Theodore Stark on Outdoor Photo Gear’s Blog, they are also twice as expensive as the Freehands Gloves. I paid $18 for the XL Fleece Glove directly from Freehands website and the Aquatech Senroy Glove was $49.95 on Outdoor Photo Gear.

Now….the Aquatech glove looks a bit more protective than the Fleece glove I bought, but Freehands has a similar glove to the Aquatech for $23 (but were sold out of XL when I was shopping).

I think the Freehands Gloves are going to work fine for me. The are well made and aren’t too expensive. If you’re looking for a pair of gloves to use while out shooting, these just might be perfect for you.

Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide Book Review

Eric D. Brown — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:42 +0000

I’ve been reading through the Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide by Charlotte Lowrie and have to say that I’m impressed with the book. I’ve never bought a book like this before having always relied on the manual that came with the camera and other online guides. While I still like the camera manual and love scouring the interwebs for new information, this book provides a great deal of value to a photographer with a Canon 7D…especially when you’re out in the field shooting.

When you pick up a book like this, you know what you’re in for…a walk-through of all the settings of the camera and how to use those settings. But more than that, the author provides a great deal of insight into how she users her camera in different situations…which is extremely interesting for me. These types of personal touches allow me to see how other photographers think and use their gear.

The book is split into twelve chapters with a ton of information in each chapter. The chapters are:

Ch 1 – Roadmap to the 7D
Ch 2 – Camera Setup and Image Playback
Ch 3 – Controlling Exposure and Focus
Ch 4 – Getting Great Color
Ch 5 – Customizing the 7D
Ch 6 – Shooting Live View and Tethered
Ch 7 – Using Movie Mode
Ch 8 – Working with Flash and Studio Lights
Ch 9 – Lenses and Accessories
Ch 10 – Event and Action Photography
Ch 11 – Nature and Landscape Photography
Ch 12 – People Photography

The titles of the chapters are pretty self-explanatory.

Chapter’s 1 through 7 provided the most value for me as they explored camera functionality and usage. I spent the majority of my time with this book in these first seven chapters. Chapters 8 through 12 provide general information about photographing in particular situations and how to setup the Canon 7D for those situations…good chapters but not as ‘meaty’ as the first seven.

The real strength of this book is the ability to communicate camera settings and functions clearly and quickly. The manual that comes with the 7D is good, but is a technical manual…this book provides a bit more for the reader to soak in.

For those of you who might be beginners looking for a book on photography and using the 7D – this is not the book for you. A Few reviews I read on Amazon take a negative stance towards this book because it doesn’t “explain” photography as it relates to the 7D…that isn’t the purpose of this book. Its purpose is to explain the functionality and settings of the camera.

If you have a Canon 7D and can’t (or don’t want) to decipher the camera manual, this book is for you.