Architectural Perspective

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Its not always necessary to include the entire subject in your photo, sometimes an image takes on a life of its own when you don't include the expected. 

I enjoy the ability to shoot both Seattle and San Francisco these days,  and its given me a new vision of city scenes. Finding the individual subject and the abstract meaning in those subjects.

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Ross

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City View

Image: 5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8 L II, 70mm, f/10, 20 sec.

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The Bay Bridge and San Francisco viewed from Treasure Island, probably one of the best, but also most obscure locations to view the city. Up off the beach on a crumbling hillside, on Treasure Island, not a very safe place to be putting a tripod down, especially after it gets dark and you need to traverse the hill with a headlamp.

Ross

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San Francisco Details

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5D MK III, EF 24-70 f2.8L II

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5D MK III, EF 24-70 f2.8L II

Ross

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Keen interest from Air New Zealand

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Air New Zealand is showing interest in using some of my 787 images. they have been passed to the marketing group, keeping my fingers crossed, I really like the images myself.

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Ross

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Jello

5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8L II, 44mm, f/5.6,1/60 sec, ISO 1600

Monterey Aquarium

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Ross

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Do we still need a tripod?

Image: Fuji X-T1, XF 18-55 f/2.8-4.0, 23mm at f/5.6, 1/5 sec,
hand held at ISO 6400.

The answer is a definitive maybe, it depends what your after, just fun images like the above one, then no, a large format print for your wall at home, that depends on the light. Hand holding a camera in low light takes a lot of practice to get sharp images and you still need high ISO's to get there, so we still have a ways to go.

Cameras like the X-T1 with image stabilized lenses are getting us close though, even with the slowdown in sensor technologies, its just a matter of time. However there are images that will always require a tripod, long exposure's just can't be reproduced in Photoshop and I'm a big fan of long exposure's, whether they are a few seconds or 20 minutes.

Image: 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8L II, 24mm, f/7.1, 8 sec.

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Ross

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New Zealand 787-9

5D Mk III, 70-200 f/4 L IS, 116mm, 1/500 sec at f/8 
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I like shooting Jets on this corner, the runway stripes make for an

 interesting reflection on the belly of the plane.  Here's another

 

5D Mk III, 70-200 f/4 L IS, 165mm, 1/640 sec at f/7
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5D Mk III, 70-200 f/4 L IS, 138mm, 1/500 sec at f/8
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Somehow this blog seems fitting as I move in to a new career on the professional side, going from an Aerospace Design Engineer at Boeing to a Camera Field Test Engineer with Amazon.

 I have to hand it to the marketing folks at Air New Zealand, this is one fine looking airplane.

My next blog should be coming from the Bay area, somewhere near Sunnyvale. Stay tuned.

Ross

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Canons new EF16-35 f/4L IS

 A new wide angle for Canon shooters:

 A direct response to the Nikon Version ? It will be nice to have IS in a wide angle lens but I would still like to have an f/2.8 lens in this focal range, lets see how it performs, its 25g lighter than the EF 16-35 f/2.8L II that's a plus.

 Specifications

Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 16–35mm 1:4.0
Lens Construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
Diagonal Angle of View: 108°10′ – 63°
Focus Adjustment: Inner focus system
Closest Focusing Distance: 0.92 ft. / 0.28m
Filter Size: 77mm diameter
Max Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.3 x 4.4 in., 21.7 oz. / 82.6 x 112.8mm, 615g

  

Ross

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In Camera Abstract

5D Mk III, EF100 f/2.8L IS Macro, f/11 at 1/6 sec

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Having fun with abstract images, shooting a grove of Alder on the way up to Bridal Veil Falls I have a whole series now on abstract trees, its a little different each time I shoot, because of light, but it can be a fun exercise trying to get the right amount of camera movement to make the image blur just the right amount.

Getting the shutter speed right is key to getting this type of abstract image, I shot at f/11 to slow the shutter speed down in to the range of 1/6 to 1/4 of a second.Then I moved the camera either up or down as I depressed the shutter button, trying to keep the motion of the camera as parallel to the trees as I could. The green just comes from the surrounding foliage.

 5D Mk III, EF100 f/2.8L IS Macro, f/11 at 1/4 sec

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Ross

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Lytro Illum

Lytro announce a new version of their Light field camera, with a 30-250mm f/2 lens, that's right f/2, the technology is very interesting, but their last camera and sensor proved only a gimmick from a photographic standpoint, this may change that, they look like they may have something on their hands this time around.

 

From the Lytro site:

Product Features

Sensor

Capture a deeper picture.

LYTRO ILLUM’s 40 Megaray customized sensor, with Lytro’s patented microlens array technology, unlocks the ability to capture the color, intensity and direction of the light rays flowing into the camera. This allows you to create imagery on a truly experiential canvas. By capturing and harnessing the power of light field, photographers can portray not just a cross-section of reality, but an authentic, interactive window into their world.

• Custom-designed 40-megaray light field sensor
• 8x optical zoom lens (30mm-250mm equivalent)
• Constant f/2.0 aperture across the entire zoom range
• 1/4000 of a second high-speed shutter
• Extreme close-focus macro capability
• Combination of tactile-controls and smartphone-class, articulating touchscreen
• Dimensions: 86mm x 145mm x 166mm; 940 grams
• Hot shoe supports all leading flashes

It needs to be ergonomic and fill a niche, or carve out a place of its own with something beyond mini video, which is what it appeared to be before.

I did not see a place that it would be useful before, lets see if they are bringing more of a game changer this time around.

Pre-order at Lytro for $1,500 20% off with Pre-order

Lytro's site


Ross

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New Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens

I never would have thought I would say this just a year ago, but Sigma has smartened up and now designs good lenses, with their new ART series.

DXO Test's show conclusively that it out performs most other lenses.

 So this only applies to the ART series of lenses, but its a good sign from a company known for producing marginal lenses, if I wanted to put a 50mm lens on my 5D today, it would be the Sigma.

Buy it here at B and H

Reviewed at The Digital Picture

Ross

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Shooting an Icon - Yosemite

Image: El Capitan and the Merced, 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, 16mm @ f/16.

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Image: The Merced River, 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, 16mm @ f/13.

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I have always wanted to go back to Yosemite, but I was kind of disappointed on this trip, perhaps I have seen to much of it in pictures ? at any rate the next time I return, it will be to the upper part that is less traveled, Tuolumne Meadows above Yosemite Valley, it has the beauty, less crowds and the wilderness feel that the lower valley lacks, a winter stop in the lower valley might be nice, if there was plenty of snow.

Upper Cathedral lake and the entire upper basin would make for a great trip on the way over to the Eastern Sierra and a trip up in to the Whitney Portal and Convict lake.

Ross

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Getting Exposure

 

Marketing, marketing, marketing, that's what is needed to get your photos published, I have put my work on a lot of web sites, from National Geographic to Facebook and dozens in between, including submitting the above shot to Yahoo weather. If you want to get your work noticed you have to work at it.

Your shot at National Geographic got me noticed by them and subsequently published by them, here.

I can't express it enough if you want to get noticed, work hard at getting your work out there. It will take a while, but if you have what it takes to stand out in a crowd and you market yourself, they will find you.

Ross 

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Adjusting White Balance

 Image: 5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8, 44mm at f/9, 30 sec
Global adjustment to 9107K

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Original White Balance of 5950K, camera set to auto white balance

Global adjustment to 9107K local adjustment in Lightroom to sky of -28

I'm always pushing the merits of shooting RAW and white balance is a another reason to do so, the temperature of color is basically a layman's description and it can really only be adjusted in RAW. Light varies in temperature from cool to warm , an example would be LED light, compared to tungsten or midday sun to sunset, some times a camera can get fooled and that happens a lot with mixed light, similar to the above images that have the remaining light from the sun and the light from the bulbs on the pier.

A lot of cameras don't do well with indoor lighting and often have to be adjusted for white balance, our homes and offices are a mix of different light types and cameras get fooled more often than not in these situations. Shooting RAW and adjusting in post is the best way to get the right color from your system.

Ross

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Announced: Fuji X-T1

Fuji is at it again, today they release the X-T1 a more SLR type of camera, rather than a range finder style. This one with weather sealing and the promise of weather sealed lenses (16-55mm f/2.8 and 50-140 f/2.8). So far I am hearing very good things about this camera, I'm looking forward to getting one in my hands and perhaps replace my x100s with it.

Same sensor as the X-E2 and X100S but with an improved EVF and faster operating speeds with a claimed worlds fastest AF speed (for this camera type)

Got to hand it to Fuji, in the last few years they have produced an entire system of cameras and lenses that are top quality.

 DPreview
"DPReview's Andy Westlake expressed his disappointment that there's no option to directly move the AF point using the four-way controller, as is possible with cameras like the Nikon D7100 and Olympus OM-D E-M1. Instead you're always required to press the 'down' arrow first, to enter AF point selection mode - a small point, but something that's fairly unusual at this level."

Key Specs:

16.3MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS II Sensor

EXR Image Processor II

up to 8 frames per second

2.36 million dot OLED viewfinder

Viewfinder magnification of 0.77x

1.04 million dot high-precision 3” tilting LCD monitor

ISO 200 – 6400

Extended ISO 100, 12800, 25600

Built in Intervalometer

Die-cast magnesium body

Dust and water-resistant body with freeze resistance to -14°F

Fuji site here
Reviews: ePhotozine, Photographyblog, Amateur Photog, PetaPixel,

Buy it here at B and H

Ross

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