Category Archives: Equipment

My Apologies

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The National League Championship Baseball Series has had me preoccupied for the past week, so I have not posted as many blogs as usual. Those late night games had me distracted. I recall when the Phillies won the 1980 World Series and I am pulling for them again this year!

My new 24-70mm f/2.8 ED AF-S lens arrived and I have used it just a couple of times so far. But let me tell you, it seems to me already that the hype over this lens is well deserved. I am impressed!

I have come to enjoy the fast Nikon glass and this lens is in this category. The f/2.8 aperture throughout the entire zoom range is a feature that will help in those low-light situations. I took a few outdoor and indoor photos with a flash. Each one was crystal clear and the colors were brilliant.

Tomorrow I hope to post a few photos taken with this amazing lens. After the Yankees are playing and do not care to watch them play!

New Lens on the Way

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Late last night I ordered a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. This lens has been on back-order for quite a while and no one seemed to have any on hand. This allowed me to continue saving my pennies to have enough to purchase this lens. I also used the B&H Photo website feature to have them notify me when this lens was available.

Well, last night I received just such a message and I promptly placed my order. I am looking forward to receiving this much acclaimed lens. It is in the standard zoom range and has received many praises from amateur to pro photographers.

I will use it primarily for portraits, team photos, and some landscape shots. Since I shot sports and wildlife the zoom lens will still be attached to my camera body much of the time, but this new lens should give me some very good quality photographs for the closer subjects.

It is always exciting to receive a new piece of equipment. I am trying to wait patiently and will share a few photos and a personal review once I receive shipment of this lens and am able to take it through a few paces.

What piece of photo equipment is on your next to obtain list?

Uploading Photos to Your Hard Drive

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How do you upload photos taken with your camera to your computer?

Many cameras come with a cord that connects your camera to your computer, so many photographers use this option. Connecting your camera directly to your computer or laptop is certainly one option to transfer the photos, but this is an agonizingly slow process. This type of connection is simply going to take some time.

But there is a better and faster way. Remove your flash card from your camera and put it into a card reader, then connect it to your computer. This might not sound all that different but believe me it will be faster. This might not be so important when you are transferring 25 photographs, but it surely does when you are transferring 500 or more!

Years ago we stored our photographic prints in albums or worse yet, shoe boxes. Now our photos reside on hard drives rarely seeing the light of day. This will prevent our photos from fading but will also prevent anyone from seeing these great photos, too. Once your photos are on your hard drive, try to make sure you have a plan for them. Create a slide show, put them on a cd or dvd, or print them out. Photographs were meant to be seen so make sure that people get to see your photos!

The Right Tools

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I like tools. Ever since I was a kid watching my dad working with his tools I thought they were cool. Way cool! I like hand tools, and power tools; plumber’s tools and electrician’s tools. Oh, and by the way, I don’t believe one can ever have too many tools.

In photography “tools” can be taken in several ways. Tools can refer to those instruments used to fix or repair photography equipment in the field. For example, I always have a set of jewelers screwdrivers in my photo bag.

However, I often think of tools in photography in regards to using the right lens for the job. Are you photographing a wild animal or bird? Then you better have a telephoto lens on your camera. Are you photographing a flower? Then a macro lens can come in handy. See what I mean? Having the right tool for the job is essential in photography. And the photographer needs to have the right tools close at hand to adequately photograph the subject. Oh yeah, and the same rule applies: a photographer can have too many lenses, right?

Do you have the right tools in your photo bag?

Photo Gear

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Okay, I admit it–I am a full-blown techie who loves gear, gadgets, and electronics. I’ve torn computers completely apart and rebuilt them. I have a PDA and an iPod. I am on my third laptop and I love all the digital photography gear I can get my hands on.

Nikon doesn’t make it easy of us gear-heads. They have so many cameras and lenses available these days that I know I cannot possibly have it all. There are some items that are on my short list, however. I am currently saving for a fast mid-range zoom lens–the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S zoom lens. I currently use the 70-200mm f/2.8 for most all of my wildlife and sports photography. Some day I am hoping to save enough to buy my dream lens–the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 zoom lens. In the meantime, I recognize that I need a fast mid-range zoom lens for portraits, landscapes, and other general use applications. I thoroughly enjoy the fast f/2.8 on my 70-200mm so I am anxious to match this on a more general purpose lens.

I am still saving and the lens is currently out of stock at B&H, so patience will be key. Yeah, I like photo gear and I hope to be adding a new piece of gear to my camera bag shortly.

Fading Light

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What do you do when you are at a great location taking photos and the sun begins to go down? The decreasing amount of light that is lost in a situation like this happens almost exponentially. Working in such a situation requires quick thinking and some resourcefulness. You obviously cannot stop the sun from fading into the horizon, so what do you do?

I remember an old television commercial where a father and his son were sitting at a beautiful location watching the sun set. It was a gorgeous scene and just as the sun was fading into the horizon, the dad said, “Going… going… gone!” And with that the sun completely disappeared. The little boy looked up at his dad and said, “Do it again, daddy!”

No, we can keep the sun from fading into the western skyline, so what do we photographers do as the sunlight gives out?

I was in this situation this past Friday night at a baseball game. Baseball requires a pretty fast shutter speed and with my 1.4x teleconverter attached the fading light affected me rather quickly. I was able to keep shooting by adapting some settings on my camera both in the computer menu and physically.

First, I could change to a higher ISO. This is the equivalent to a faster ASA in the old film days. By using more sensitive film, the photographer could use the limited available light a little longer. The same can be accomplished by changing to a higher ISO. With today’s modern cameras like my Nikon D300, we can shoot at higher ISOs and still not experience much noise in our photos. This is a great option, but it does have some limits and eventually we are going to get into such high ISOs that the noise is noticeable.

Another option I had was to remove the 1.4x teleconverter and shoot without it. This provided one more stop of light for me and wasn’t a bad solution since I was right by the dugout. This location allowed me to continue shooting the infielders and batters without too much lose of distance. A simple thing like removing a piece of gear like this can sometimes be a very good option.

Another option for me was to use the exposure compensation option on my camera. This works pretty well in Aperture Priority and I use it often to get rid of those troublesome blinkies. This option can help in darkening situations, but again only to a limit.

Dealing with fading light is not easy, but it is definitely worth the struggle. This is, after all, labeled the “golden hour” for a reason!

One remaining option can sometimes be to keep shooting after sunset, depending on your subject. This is not possible for sports photographers, but the sky can reveal brilliant and fascinating colors that can captured well with your digital camera. Try with those big puffy clouds in the sky as the setting sun casts beautiful rays of light throughout the skyline.

There are ways to deal with fading light and having several options in your bag of tricks can keep you shooting longer.

Shooting Modes

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Which shooting mode do you use: Auto, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual?

Many people get a new camera and are a little overwhelmed by all the different settings and options. They want to get out there and start taking photographs instead of reading through a boring owners manual. So they set their camera on Auto and go out and capture some nice shots. The only problem is they never get around to learning about the other modes and forever shoot in the Auto mode.

Auto mode will certainly let you capture some nice photos, but I do not prefer to have my camera making all the choices for me. Call me a control freak if you want, but I want to make the critical decisions on exposure, shutter, iso, and so on. After all, this is where the creative side of photography really comes out. You can be much more creative in shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual modes than in auto mode.

Give it a try. For one week or at least one day, set your camera in shutter priority mode and make the commitment to keep it there. Don’t change it! This is not always easy, but the effort is worth it. Shutter priority allows you to predetermine the shutter speed. Let’s say you’re shooting a sporting event. A fast shutter speed is necessary to freeze the action or stop the ball in the frame. So set a fast shutter speed that still allows you to get enough light to take the photo. Or, let’s suppose you are taking photos of waterfalls and you want to create photos that feature a silky waterfall that exhibits the flow of water. Now you will need a much slower shutter speed and a tripod. Set your shutter speed on 1/30 of a second, compose the shot, and take the photo. A cable or remote release can be invaluable for these shots, too.

Aperture priority mode is the one I most often use. This shooting mode allows me to shoot with a wide open aperture and thereby use a shallow depth of field. I like using this mode particularly for wildlife and sports photography. Focusing can be tricky at times, but when it works the subject stands out from both the background and the foreground. Alternatively, let’s say you want to shoot landscapes all day. Now a small aperture is necessary. Set your camera on the appropriate setting, say f/16 or f/22. Now the depth of field will be much larger and keep much more of the scene in focus. Are you beginning to see why these modes might serve you better than the auto mode?

Manual mode is the one I learned on back in my film days. I had a Minolta x370 and used manual mode just about all the time. It might take some getting used to if you haven’t done it before, but the control you gain is definitely worth the effort. Let’s say you are photographing an animal toward the end of the day. Shadows are getting longer and the sunlight is beginning to fade. You can capture the available light more easily in manual mode because you can adjust either the shutter speed or the aperture setting as  you wish. If you are getting close to having too slow of a shutter speed, then you can instantly switch to adjust the aperture. Once you learn the controls of your camera and learn to watch the light meter in your viewfinder, it will become almost automatic for you to make the necessary adjustments.

Give it time and don’t give up. Learning a new way of doing things might take some time and effort, but once you do I seriously doubt you will use auto mode much anymore. And your creativity will be free to take you to new places!

Manual mode

Are Your Batteries Charged?

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Digital photography is great. It is relatively inexpensive since you don’t have to purchase and have film developed. Instant feedback is also possible. I made the switch to digital back in 2003. I confess that I still miss some of the film experience, but I am almost entirely digital now.

I have an assignment tomorrow so I have some preparation to do tonight. First, I have to be sure that my batteries are charged. I know I have one camera battery to charge and 4 flash batteries to charge as well. I just put them in their chargers now.

The second thing I try to remember to do is re-format my compact flash cards. The other day I was getting ready for a shoot and my main compact flash card had images on it. At first I wasn’t sure if I had uploaded the images to my computer. It didn’t take too long to realize that I had indeed accomplished this task, but I decided right then and there that I should reformat my compact flash cards before leaving for an event or, even better, right after I am finished up loading the images to my computer.

The main idea here is to always be prepared. Freshly charged batteries and empty flash cards are just some examples of this. Having everything with you is another example. Do you have your tripod or monopod? What about your flash?

Being ready is important. So, are your batteries charged?

Photography Equipment Suggestion

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We just had our first snow of the season here in the Poconos. Eight inches or more of snow fell today as the wind whipped through the mountains creating drifts of snow and making visibility difficult. Welcome to life in the mountains! Actually I thoroughly enjoy living in the mountains. While some think us absolutely crazy for living up here, I would have it no other way. There is no place in the world like the mountains!

Lydia, James, and I are planning to head up to the mountains of Elk County this coming weekend. Our main goal is photographing the elk again. The rut will now be over so the bulls should be hanging out together in what are referred to as bachelor groups. If at least some of the snow lasts through the week, it should make for some stunning backdrops for our photographs. The thrill of shooting the elk with our cameras is always an exciting adventure for us.

The planning stages for this trip are about to begin and figuring out what to take is not always an easy procedure. A one-and-a-half day trip demands at least a reasonable amount of caution to avoid taking everything including the kitchen sink! However, the weather change and the new snow require some forethought in figuring out what to pack to make the trip comfortable. There is nothing worse than getting up early in the morning to go out for a shoot and then realize that you have not packed enough layers of clothing. That old saying about “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” comes to mind when planning on what to pack. Planning ahead and even foreseeing the events unfold in one’s mind’s eye can be invaluable!

I recently purchased the Think Tank belt system. This system includes a belt that is worn around the waist to which modular cases are attached. These hold lenses or other photographic accessories right on the photographer’s person and makes for both portability and quick lens changes. While a photographer’s backpack is good in some situations, this belt system does not result in a sweaty back and yet keeps components within easy reach. I especially like this system’s portability for hiking up mountains in search of elk. I typically keep my camera on my tripod, which I carry on my shoulder with legs extended. One never knows when a wildlife subject may appear, so being prepared is critical. Then I use the Think Tank modular system to carry my lenses and other accessories, keeping everything within easy reach. This works well for me in my wildlife endeavors and I encourage you to give it a try, too. You can find the Think Tank products at www.thinktankphoto.com