Its Harvest time!

Harvest Jazz and Blues that is! An awesome festival that lasts almost a week here in Fredericton, and runs in early September. We have a few days left. It has been going on for years and is probably THE event of the year here. It is growing all the time and attracts many people from far and wide, and many talented performers.

Every year there is a fundraising breakfast to raise money for the High School band programs. The kids perform and so do a few major artists. All it requires is that you have a few dollars for breakfast and can get up early.

I don’t know the exact details but Matt Andersen (photo right) has been a long time supporter, and plays often. He played this morning, and so did Andy Brown (photo left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to get to work and could not stay for it all, but I liked what I heard! Great job!

Both photos were taken with: Canon 50D, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS, ISO 1250, around f/2.8, and about 1/250 sec.

Cheers!

-André

Horses at the Exhibition

A couple of weeks ago, my friend John suggested we go to the track to shoot some horses before heading to see the new Batman movie. You see, after much waiting and anticipation, he finally got his Canon 1DX. He also previously picked up a used 400mm 2.8 and was itching to try out the combination on some action. I happily agreed and got my meager Canon 50D + 70-200 2.8 ready to go.

The skies opened up before we left – my wife indicated that she thought our outing was obviously cancelled. I explained that a little rain would not stop John and his weather sealed pro kit. I grabbed a camera rain cover, hand towel and a rain coat for my self and we headed out.

I am glad we did – I made mistakes – but you know what? You really DO learn from your mistakes! I learned that 1/60 sec was too slow for panning – until I improve my technique. I learned that f/4 would probably have been better than f/2.8 to get sharper photos of the horses thundering towards me. I got to try out my new shorty-forty – which worked well for some of the wider angle panning. I also learned that the 1DX has a really bright viewfinder and is built like a tank!

Here are some of my favourites:

70mm

f/4

ISO 250

1/50 sec.

 

 

330mm

f/5.6

ISO 1600

1/500 sec.

 

140mm

f/5.6

ISO 1600

1/500 sec.

 

140mm

f/5.6

ISO 1600

1/250 sec.

 

40mm

f/2.8

ISO 250

1/125 sec.

 

Gear:

Camera: Canon 50D + Grip

Lenses: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS, Canon 40mm f/2.8, Canon 2x TC II

Manfrotto Monopod

Adobe Lightroom 3.6

1st Shot

I put the little lens on my 40D and swung the dial to the little green box. (it never goes there!)

Just fixed the minimal red-eye in Lightroom 3 and exported it with no sharpening, or anything else. I selected 1024 pixels as the max size. There were no other changes performed in the s/w.

EXIF:

Model - Canon EOS 40D
ExposureTime - 1/60 seconds
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/60 seconds
ApertureValue - F 4.00
SubjectDistance - 1.78 m
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 40 mm
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto

At those settings and distance, I have a depth of field of about 1 foot. About 6 inches in front and 6 inches behind.

It is a little tight for standard but more useful than the 50mm.

Happy so far!

The pancake has arrived!

Here are some quick shots from my phone of the new lens on my cameras and in comparison to some other lenses. It barely protrudes past the grip and built in flash.

		The pancake has arrived! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It is a cute lens – so small! Well built and the auto focus is neither slow and loud or quick and silent – somewhere in the middle – very acceptable for the price. Nice metal lens mount, and similar finish to the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS macro – pebbled solid black plastic. (not like the 50mm f/1.8 – cheap smooth black plastic)

I cannot wait to take it for a proper test drive!

Hooray! It’s on its way!

Can you say ‘pancake’? I took the (small) plunge an ordered a Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens – I should have it tomorrow!

The reviews are great – and it is relatively cheap ($229 CAD), I think it may replace my 50mm f/1.8. I have been looking for something a little more close to standard (about 31mm on an APS-C sensor) but either didn’t want to shell out the money, or questioned the quality and usefulness.

According the reviews, this gives me quality for a great price. Also it is a full frame lens, and is very small (1” thick) and closer to standard view for my camera (still a little long at ~ 64mm).

I think it will make a great addition to my Canon 40D (without the grip), it will be small(er) and light(er). Not really point and shoot, but smaller than the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS + a gripped body….  

Birds are at the feeders!

Cheating  -  I admit it.

This is shot from the comfort of the kitchen…

Canon 50D, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS + 12mm Kenko extension tube.

Settings: ISO 1250, 135mm, 1/250th sec., f/2.8, some RAW adjustments in post, in Lightroom.

Larissa would know what kind it is….

-André

A Hobby Again?

I got interested in photography around the time my daughter was born - about 11 years ago. I purchased my first digital camera, an Olympus D 490Z. It was a 2.1 MP point and shoot which carried a price tag of $679.99 (if I remember correctly, although my research showed that it listed for $499, that may have been USD at a much worse exchange than today)

Shortly after, I was given a couple of manual SLR cameras, and got into shooting film with a 'real' camera. That led to purchasing a Canon Elan 7N SLR, and then a Canon 20D DSLR. Fast forward a few years to where I am today, with much more equipment, and a long list of receipts in the hundreds of dollars - some more...ouch!

I decided along the way - maybe 7 years ago, to try my hand at making a little money from this hobby to try to pay for the gear - or at least subsidize it a bit.

The side business has continued to grow - which is great - but over the last few years I have struggled to find a balance between my day job, my hobby, spending time with my family, and taking care of myself. While I have never promoted myself or advertised, I have found I have been almost too busy over the last couple of years. I am starting to try to bring myself back on course and regain the balance in my life by limiting the work I accept.

I was extremely happy to go for numerous walks last weekend around Killarney Lake - and actually shoot some photos of the flora and fauna. It was great!

Technical: Canon 50D + 100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro. The woods can be quite dark, even in the middle of the day. I suggest a starting point of ISO 400, maybe higher. you will need this to get any sort of depth of field, or enough shutter speed to combat camera shake and wind. Another thing you can do is use some flash, for some of these I used the on camera flash with a flash exposure compensation (FEC) of -1.