Canon G11: new gear

I picked up a new tool (toy) today and can't wait to put it to work.

The Canon G11 is a pretty sweet pro quality compact that I've had my eye on for awhile.

I have a Lumix LX2 already, but haven't really been impressed with the image quality. What really drew me to the Canon is the hot shoe for off-camera flash possibilities and it's ability to focus at 1cm. I intend to use it as a small carry everywhere camera and for doing some cool macro stuff.

The key points for me are:
RAW files
Hot shoe
Manual controls
Compact enough
Low noise at high ISO
Close focusing

Burmese Nightlife: Star Trails Through History

Shooting at night is always a challenge. First off, the low light means long exposures and additional equipment. (tripod, cable release, flashlight etc.) I've always enjoyed shooting in low light, showing motion and in general the technical challenges of creating images in the dark.

In addition to my photography addiction, I also have an "Indiana Jones" complex at times. Those two coupled together led me to Bagan in Myanmar (aka Burma) to photograph the 1100 year-old temples by moonlight. It just sounded like an interesting trip. The complete story of that adventure will come in a future post, but for now I'll share one of the simplest shots from that expedition.

The above shot is a 40 minute exposure of some of the temple ruins just outside the town of Nyaung Oo. Shooting in the dark is always an experiment. In most shooting situations I'm pretty confident in the camera meter's ability to determine a proper exposure. However, in a night scene like this with virtually no light, I'm confident that the camera's meter has no clue. So what do you do? Go manual, guess and take notes.

The Black Cat-Halloween edition

In the spirit of Halloween, here's a shot I put together using the Nikon CLS system. I'm really getting to love the possibilities.

First off, the cat is one of my favorite animals and "Eddie" this black persian is a fine specimen. (He's named for the rock guitar icon Eddie Van Halen)

I first imagined the shot one morning when I saw Eddie sitting illuminated by the streaming light coming through a window. His long black hair was glowing in a halo of fire.

More pics and the lighting setup below.

Walking the docks in Antigua

Yachts are like birds, they go south for the winter too. I shot these two yachts last December in Antigua. Caribbean skies, underwater lighting and $100 million dollars worth of toys. The two yachts pictured are the 60 meter M/Y Amnesia (left) and the 90 meter M/Y Nero (right).

Gear: Nikon D2x / 17-55mm 2.8 / Manfrotto tripod and ballhead.

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

Mirrored Aviators

This is a fun shot for a lot of reasons. It's a simple recipe, if you can get the ingredients together:
-a beautiful woman.
-a white sand beach in the Caribbean.
-mirrored Aviator sunglasses.
-a little Photoshop masking.
Done.

Zoo Portraits: part two

In a follow up to my previous Zoo Portrait Post, I wanted to share this new shot from...the zoo. By shooting a tight frame, the lions could be anywhere. The late afternoon back light added some nice dimension and detail.

I followed up the RAW processing with black and white conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Gear: Nikon D300 / 80-200 2.8 lens

Exposure: ISO 400/ F5.6 / 1/640th

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

Borobudur Temple and the Moon

On the island of Java in Indonesia, is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. Borobudur Temple is just outside the city of Yogyakarta and a stone's throw from the active volcano of Mt. Merapi. A stone's throw, assuming it was the volcano doing the throwing.

At over 1100 years old, Borobudur is from the same time period as the other Buddhist sites of Angkor in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar. It had been one of my goals to visit them all. I had visited Angkor multiple times and spent nearly three weeks at Bagan in the last five years and finally in 2007, I made it to Borobudur.

On top of the world in Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand is famous for its ubiquitous food stalls. Thai food is world famous and the immense diversity of places to eat in Bangkok is ridiculous. You can spend $1 or $30, but the only real difference is usually the venue in which you choose to eat. The food is always good.

Here is a shot of the rooftop restaurant and bar called Sirocco. It's open air and perched on the 63rd Floor of a the State Tower building. This would be one of the more pricey options...

The shot is actually two shots merged to achieve the panoramic format.

Exposure: unrecorded. If memory serves, it was a 20mm lens, F11, ISO100 and maybe 5-10 second shutter.


As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

DAM!-cool buildings in Denver-part two

The Denver Art Museum...I could photograph this building all day. There are so many angles and different lighting possibilities and I didn't even go inside yet.

There's no message in the above shot, I just thought the red looked cool against the blue sky.

There was a little problem with this shot though. The stop sign was in shadow while the building was bathed in beautiful afternoon light. Nothing that a little pop-up flash and careful exposure control couldn't solve. more below.

Life on a Boat

I've mentioned this before, in my other life, I work on yachts. After my eight month break / slash photography session, I'm returning to work.

Yachts not only pay well, they are a fun job and afford a unique platform for seeing and photographing the world. If you can find the time....

Above is M/Y Tuscan Sun, a 145 foot private yacht. I grabbed this shot while I was on the foredeck preparing to enter a port in the Mediterranean.

Gear: Nikon D2x / 12-24mm F4 lens

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

DAM!-cool buildings in Denver

I've been back in Denver for about a month now. I grew up here and left as soon as I figured out how. Denver is a great city and a beautiful place and it's also where my family lives. I visit once a year or so but typically only stay for a week or less.

This time, I'm in town for a month and have taken the time to check out the city again and actually get out and shoot it. It's been well over ten years since I just wandered around downtown with a camera.

Firelit family portrait with a little flash

Group family shots don't have to be boring. Here's a fun example of my sis and family hanging out in their backyard on a summer evening.

Fire is always fun to shoot, so I jumped at the chance to get some shots when my sister lit up the fire pit and busted out the skewers. (I also enjoy marshmallows on occasion!)

Street Portraits-Fast and Simple

It’s never easy approaching complete strangers on the street, not for me anyway. I like to photograph people though and I’ve found that shooting with a long telephoto lens on the sly can yield interesting candid portraits, but it’s cowardly and some might say a little creepy. I think the word is paparazzi.

If you want to get nice intimate portraits of your fellow humans you just have to go up and ask. Cooperation is necesssary. But… You need to be prepared to get the shot you want. You have to have a strategy. I figure if you’re going to approach somebody and ask him or her for something you might as well get what you want.

I get prepared before the “approach”.

Update: SOLD-Macbook Pro and Lumedyne for sale on Ebay

I've just put some equipment up for sale on Ebay. It's all nice gear in excellent condition.
Check them out here:
Lumedyne 400 w/s strobe kit
15" MacBook Pro

Studio in the Garden

This praying mantis was hanging around the garden of my little bungalow in Bali. It was late evening so I decided to get out some flashes and get a few "portraits".

I had picked up a Nikon D300 a few months ago so I could start using the iTTL Creative Lighting System. (CLS). For the non-photo-geek, that means I can shoot with multiple wireless (infrared) Nikon flashes which I can control individually from the camera itself.

I've often used off camera flash but I have always used them manually, meaning that I physically set the power on each flash and make adjustments to eventually get it right. For each power adjustment, I had to walk over to the flash and make the change.

More shots and the lighting setup below.