Photography Minute » Aperture

Photography Links for May 16 2010

Eric D. Brown — Sun, 16 May 2010 13:36:22 +0000

Three Reasons Why Every Photographer Should Care About Metadata And Three Metadata Tips « Photofocus
Quote: You have incredible power in your hands if you use any of the relatively new, DSLR cameras. All these cameras, even the inexpensive ones, record metadata. The post-processing software you use, whether it be Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop, iPhoto, etc., will allow you to to store all the data about your data (yeah I know that sounds weird) that you will ever need.
Landscape Photography – Ten Items of Equipment That Help – PictureCorrect
Quote:A good landscape photographer is always well prepared. Don’t leave home without these ten items.
How to Use Twitter as a Prospecting Tool-Going Pro 2010
Quote: You can use Twitter to get photography jobs. There – I said it. It’s that simple. You can. How do I know? I’ve done it. You can too. It’s just like panning for gold though. You might have to bend your knees and spend some time working at it. If you expect it to come easy, keep moving. There’s nothing for you to see here. But if you’re willing to do hard work, Twitter might just be a way that you can score lots of photography business. Here’s how.
Marketing Essentials International » Customer Service – Who Says You Can Never Go Back?
Quote: Be committed to your clients. Be committed to the quality of your work and your images. And most important of all remember: ”It’s never to late to do the right thing!” (Walk the Talk, www.walkthetalk.com)

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.

Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide – Book Review

Eric D. Brown — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:00:22 +0000

I received Bryan Peterson’s “Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera” for Christmas and haven’t been able to put it down since.

The book is split into 11 different sections:

Digital Basics – In this section, the author provides a basic intro to the world of digital photography.
Exposure – Peterson does a great job explaining exposure and how to find the ‘right’ exposure for any given photograph. While thorough, it doesn’t provide nearly as much information as Peterson’s “Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera” but it gets you the basics.
Aperture – In this section, Peterson provides an overview of what is meant by ‘aperture’ and why selecting one aperture over another is an important decision.
Shutter Speed & ISO – This section provides a great overview of how to select ISO and Shutter Speed for a particular situation. In addition to shutter speed & ISO, topics such as panning and tripod and/or monopod usage while panning are discussed.
Learning to See – This section covers the extremely important topic of lens selection, usage and tips for changing the perspective of your shot (shoot from above, below, etc).
Designing and Striking an Image – This section covers what I consider to be the most important aspect of photography – composition of a photograph. You can be a good photographer technically, but if you can’t create a creative photograph by composing it correctly, the technical abilities are for naught.
The Importance of Light -In this section, Peterson does a very good job of presenting options for using light when creating your photographs. Topics such as back-lighting, front lighting and the “sunny f/16″ Rule (I hadn’t heard of it before). Great section.
Close-up Photography – Macro photography is the focus of this section. Peterson provides tips and guidance on the necessary equipment and methods for shooting macro photography. Includes discussion of lighting and other tools needed.
Photographing People – This is a short section but it has some excellent tips for working with people.
Unconventional Techniques – One of the coolest sections of the book, this section provides some ideas and tips for doing some cool things with equipment, lighting, overexposure and more. Some really cool techniques in this section of the book.
Useful Tools - This last section provides tips and guidance on tripods, tripod heads, filters and other tools of the trade.

In addition to being an all around good book, it’s format is excellent. It’s small enough to fit into your backpack or bag while out shooting and sturdy enough to last forever.

This book will be a mainstay in by shooting pack. Its a great book to pick up while out shooting to get some inspiration and tips for taking better photographs.

Jump over to Amazon and pick up Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera.

Getting Great photographs of animals

Eric D. Brown — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:23:55 +0000

Stephen Oachs shares some excellent tips for getting great photographs of animals over on DPhoto Journal. The tips are:

Tip 1: Miss the eyes and you’ve missed the shot.

Tip 2: Use a telephoto lens.

Tip 3: Shoot with two eyes.

Tip 4: Adjust your shutter speed to stop/show the action.

Tip 5: Anticipate behavior.

Tip 6: Use a tripod.

Tip 7: Composition – Framing your shots.

Tip 8: Use a wide aperture.

Tip 9: Plan for the best light.

Tip 10: Use a flash to fill in shadows.

Bonus Tip: Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.

Now…i don’t think any of these tips are going to surprise anyone but they are great reminders that taking a picture is much more than just showing up and pushing a button.

Digital SLR Flash Fundamentals (digital-photography.suite101.com)
Get a Great Fire Photo (lifehacker.com)
Dark, lighter, lightest (debrabroughton.com)
Night Photography in a Nutshell (articlesbase.com)

Learn Aperture while Photographing Yellowstone

Eric D. Brown — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:10:38 +0000

I learned about an interesting contest this morning that I’ll definitely be entering.

The contest, put on by Aperture Nature Photography Workshops, is an great way to get people talking about your business (Aperture Nature Photography Workshops) and in learning Aperture.

To submit your photograph, go to their Flickr site. The contest rules are fairly simple and can be found here.

Submissions are accepted until March 15, at 2:00 PM PST so get yours in today!