Literature for Photographers (Johan)

"Christmas Cactus Flower"

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a great and creative new year. There is lots of great literature available for photographers, so I decided to give you a rundown of my favorites.

• First, of course, is NBP:Students.
  
• Nature's Best Photography Magazine is the "parent" publication of NBP:Students, and it shows. NBP isn't the cheapest magazine available, but it has page after page of the most stunning nature photos imaginable. This is the one case where the bad logic of "it's too expensive, but it's worth it" is valid. :-) This is my favorite publication.
  
• Another good magazine is Outdoor Photographer, featuring lots of how-to articles and gear guides. Of course, there is lots of great nature photography too.
  
• The Arthur Morris Birds as Art email bulletins are free and packed with good information and stunning photos. Click on the link above to sign up.
• Also free is the Ask Tim Grey (previously Digital Darkroom Questions/DDQ) e-newsletter.
  
• Last but not least, "The Digital Photography Book" (vol. 1-3) by Scott Kelby. Although they are not nature-specific, they are the books to have, covering everything from landscapes and wildlife to studio lighting and weddings.

Enjoy reading! :-)

Curing Photographer's Block (Johan)

Sorry that I haven't posted lately, but I've had photographer's block for a while. :-( It seems that many of us suffer from this at one point or another, but here is a great article at LensRentals.com on how to break photographers block. And here are a few other tips to solve this disease.

• Use the old trick of confining yourself to a 10x10 foot square for an hour.
• Choose a project and try to make 50, 100, or more (set a goal) good photos of the subject you choose. For example, you could choose lighthouses, elk, spiders, etc. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on your project.
• Some photographers start a "photo-a-day-for-a-year" blog. You can get started at Blogger.com

Anyway, have fun shooting!
--Johan

Veolia Environnement Wildlife POTY (Johan)

A few days ago, the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest results were announced. This is one of the largest nature photography contests in the world. In the past it's been known as the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and maybe also other names. I think it may have to do with who is sponsoring the competition. Anyway, the images are astounding. Click here to see the youth awards. I hope you'll be inspired to give winning it your best shot--no pun intended. :-)
Johan

Think Outside the Box! (Johan)

A few days ago, I was out taking pictures trying to make something interesting. So...

This was shot right after it quit raining; the out-of-focus highlights are raindrops on a plexiglas windshield I was shooting through. I used a Canon 50/1.8 lens. Compare to the following photo, taken shortly before with the same lens:

Also, I have a personal blog (www.ShutterbugJohan.blogspot.com) which I update more frequently than this one, and in addition to my nature photos, it also has some portraits and wedding photos. So feel free to stop by and let me know what you think!

Free Software (Johan)

In the world of photography, where everything seems to be expensive, it is always nice to find free software. Here are some that may be of interest to those of us who are on a budget. :-)

• GIMP (www.gimp.org) is a free photoshop-type program.
• Paint.net (www.paint.net) is another free photoshop-type program.
• Photomatix Pro (www.hdrsoft.com) is an advanced HDR program. The trial never expires and is fully functional, but puts watermarks on images made with certain options. (Note: It has several options. Not all put a watermark on the resulting HDR photo.) A freeware version (also with limited options) is also available.
  
• Picasa (www.picasa.google.com) is a free photo organizing program from Google.
• AndreaMosaic (www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/) is a free photo-mosaic program.
• VSO Resizer (www.vso-software.fr/products/image_resizer/) is a free photo resizer.
• Digital Image Mover (DIM) (www.alanlight.com/dim/Dim.htm) copies and renames photos from your memory card.
  
• Mozilla Firefox (www.mozilla.com/firefox) is a fast, free web browser.

Paint.NET

 

Photomatix Pro

 Picasa 3

I took the photo at the top of this post and the photos in the screenshots on Monday when I climbed the South Sister mountain in Oregon (11.5 mile round-trip hike, 5,000 foot elevation gain). I carried a Canon EOS 10D, Canon EF 16-35/2.8L USM, and Hoya Polarizing filter.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list of free software. Also, I have not used all of these programs. Use at your own risk.

Wildlife Safari (Johan)

Finally! My long-promised Wildlife Safari post! :-) Back in April, my family was able to go to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR. Kind of like a drive-through zoo, most of the herbivores are in pastures instead of cages. The carnivores are in a type of free-range cage. All the animals can be photographed easily from a car (you are only allowed out of the vehicle on special guided tours). I took about 600-700 pictures in 1.5 hours! Here are a few of them.

Macro Workshop & Updates (Johan)

Recently I attended a macro photography class at a tulip farm. Never in my life have I seen so many macro lenses--mostly the 100/105mm ones. Here are some macro photography tips I learned:

• When photographing flowers, it is good to use the RGB histogram (verses the luminance histogram) to ensure that you don't blow out important color channels. The RGB histogram shows a histogram for each color channel (red, green, and blue) so that you can properly expose that color. For example, when shooting a pink flower, the luminance histogram may show a correct exposure, but the RGB histogram may show that the red channel is drastically over- or under-exposed.

• Even if you have a macro lens, use extension tubes or diopters to get even closer to your subject. I used a macro lens and extension tubes for the picture below. The flower was backlit with a off-camera Canon 580EX II strobe.

To avoid getting your camera wet, use Op/Tech rainsleeves. When shooting in some rain recently my Canon 580EX (version 1) strobe quit working properly. Canon repaired it, but the cost of fixing it could have been fairy easily avoided. (Yes, the rainsleeves were in my bag) :-(

Updates (Johan)

Hi all--
Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I should post soon about some adventures I had recently:

• The Wildlife Safari
  
• A macro workshop I attended at a tulip farm
  

Also, I wanted to let you all know about the Wildlife Photography Competition being put on by the Burrard-Lucas brothers, Will and Matt. Matt was featured in the 2nd issue of NBP:Students. The contest deadline is April 30, 2009, so act quickly!

If you've never seen a 1200/5.6 lens, check out this review of Canon's discontinued EF 1200/5.6L USM. This is my dream lens--and it will probably always be my dream lens, as I can't imagine actually owning one, at $100,000+ used. :-)

More on Polarizing Filters (Johan)

My original idea was to post about polarizing filters, but Gabby beat me to it! :-) After some thought, I decided to post about polarizing filters anyway. One unusual aspect of these filters is that their effect changes as you rotate the filter. They work based on the angle of light in relation to the filter, so when you spin it or pan the camera, the effect changes. (See Gabby's post for more on polarizer effects.)

I have two example photos taken from the deck behind my house. The view is of my family's organic dairy farm (our milk is sold by Organic Valley). I used a polarizer for both, just rotated it for opposite effects (warm vs. cool). Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture without the polarizer. Both pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 10D and Canon EF 16-35/2.8L USM. The metadata for both is f5, 1/100sec., ISO 200, and 35mm.

The only problems with polarizers are that they take a few extra moments to put on your lens, and they decrease the amount of light reaching the sensor by about two stops. They are otherwise invaluable--everyone should have one in their bag.

Helpful Accessories (Johan)

For this post, I decided to share some of my favorite "low-cost" accessories. I use these items often.

• Spudz Microfiber Lens Cloth--Very useful, ~$5, clip it onto your camera bag and never lose your lens cloth again.
  
• Off-camera hot shoe cord--A great accessory for getting your flash off the camera's hot shoe for interesting effects.
  
• Sto-fen Omni-bounce--Great little diffuser for shoe-mount flashes such as my Canon 580EX II, retails for ~$20.
  
• Remote Shutter Release--Very useful. There are wireless and wired versions for many cameras. Use along with mirror lock-up and a tripod for long exposures.
  
• Reflector--These come in many sizes; I'd recommend a reversible one with gold and silver sides. Reflectors are especially useful for macro shots.
  
• Spare memory card(s)--Cards are so cheap now, there's no excuse for running out of memory while shooting. I recently purchased a SanDisk Ultra II 8GB CF card for $24 at Office Depot.
  

"Spider's Delicacy"
1/200sec. ~ f/16 ~ ISO 200
Equipment: Canon 10D + 100/2.8 Macro + 580EX II + Off-Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3 + Remote Switch RS-80N3 + Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce + Manfrotto 055XPROB
To my mother's horror, this photo was taken in the window jamb of my bedroom. :-)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions... (Johan)

Canon 10D, Canon 28-135 IS, f/6.3, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Based on my previous post, you could probably guess that I like expensive lenses. :-) The problem is, there are so many high-quality lenses on the market today, selecting one can be difficult. Choosing a new camera can be even harder. Even deciding which camera bag to buy is difficult. So I decided to share some links to helpful websites.

• www.bhphotovideo.com & www.adorama.com -- Big retailers with customer reviews of many products
• www.dpreview.com -- Excruciatingly detailed camera and lens reviews
• www.dcresource.com -- Detailed but “easy to digest” camera reviews
• www.luminous-landscape.com -- Camera and lens reviews; helpful tutorials
• www.popphoto.com -- Lots of photography information, including camera and lens reviews
• www.the-digital-picture.com -- My favorite; D-SLR and lens reviews (currently only Canon); also tripod, camera bag, and accessory reviews

Canon 10D, Tamron 70-300, f/22, 6 sec., ISO 100

The Need for Speed (Johan)

One day I received some startling (at least to me!) advice:

"Gear your equipment toward wedding photography. Buy fast lenses, such as the Canon 16-35/2.8L and 70-200/2.8L, and you will be able to use them in low light, as well as for wildlife. You can't use a slow 100-400/5.6L at a wedding even with the Image Stabilizer because of the low light, but you can add extenders to a fast lens and still achieve satisfactory results for wildlife"

Thus the owner of the local pro camera store I frequent told me when I stated that I wanted to eventually buy a 100-400mm. At first I thought he must be crazy; but the more I think about it, the more reasonable his advice seems to become. Therefore, my current plan is to buy a 70-200/2.8 next. It doesn’t need to be fancy; a used one will do, and then I can save up for extenders or a 100-400mm. Oh, and I just got my Canon 16-35/2.8L last week, and it is AMAZING!

If you haven’t tried out an f2.8 or faster lens, I’d encourage you to give them a try. The bright viewfinder image they provide is addicting, especially in low light. And the ability to open up the aperture in low light is great. I have a tough time using my 2 slow f5.6 zooms after using my fast 16-35/2.8L, 50/1.8, and 100/2.8 Macro.

Both photos taken with the Canon EOS 10D and EF 100/2.8 Macro USM.

Introduction and "A Throne of Gold" (Johan)

Hello! My name is Johan, and I am 16 years old. I am homeschooled, so my schedule is fairly flexible school-wise and I can shoot when the light is best. I got my first camera at the age of 7, but started photographing seriously when I bought my D-SLR in 2007. I enjoy nature photography--specifically macro. I live on a farm with my family, so most of my photos are taken on the farm acreage. I shoot with a Canon EOS 10D and a variety of Canon and Tamron lenses, including the Canon 100/2.8 Macro. I hope to share some of my best photos and tips with you here.

"A Throne of Gold"

1/320 ~ f/9 ~ ISO 100 ~ Canon 28-135 IS ~ +4 Close-up Diopter ~ Tripod

I discovered this goldenrod spider on a daisy on my family's farm last summer. I found it the day before I took this picture, and was able to watch it for the next couple of weeks while I went about my chores. One day there was an extremely small black spider walking around on its back, but it disappeared before I was finished setting up my tripod. It was obvious to me that the spider was growing since it was bigger every time I saw it. One day I saw it devouring a bee, but of course I had left my camera at the house.

--Johan