Just a little heads-up, due to some critical electrical systems maintenance at our data center, CameraPorn.net will be down for a couple hours tonight starting at around 9:30PM Pacific time.
And as a side note, some of you may have noticed some scary viagra and cialis links in our blogroll this morning. Apparently the version of wordpress we are running was slightly out of date, and had a little security hole. This has been fixed and shouldn’t happen again.
Ryan has already written up some tips for taking concert shots. Over the second half of this year, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot at a bunch of shows so I thought I would also weigh in with some of the things that I’ve managed to figure out so far. I concur with him that it’s an interesting kind of challenge. You’re in very low light, and if you’re shooting rock shows as I have been, the subjects are typically moving pretty fast. So, without further delay, here are some pointers that you may find useful if you’re in a similar situation.
Happy Eel. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Canon EOS 30D + 24-70 f/2.8 L | 1/60 | f/2.8 | 70mm | ISO 800
In an effort to bring you guys more posts, this is the first of our new “Quick Tips” category, where we will briefly go through some tried and true methods for different types of photography and share some good old photo porn. Get the tips and photos after the jump…
Continue reading ‘6 Tips for Bulletproof Aquarium Photography’
Photo Credit: Kozumel(cc)
Tomorrow night I’ll be hoppin’ on a redeye to the beautiful but humid Cartagena, Colombia for a friends wedding. Cartagena is a beach-side resort town on the Caribbean, rich in history and architecture.
I expect to do a good amount of shooting, but I’ve decided to travel light for once, and I’m trying to get the biggest impact in the smallest footprint. Here’s what I’m bringing:
…and thats it! Pretty good considering I usually bring 4 to 5 lenses and a myriad of accessories. Wish me luck and hope I don’t get kidnapped!
If you are like me, and your camera comes with you nearly everywhere, and isn’t always in a soft cushy case, doing what you can to protect it is important. Though today’s DSLRs tend to be relatively rugged when it comes to build quality, with magnesium or aluminum alloy bodies coated with rubber, especially from the pro-sumer level up, The LCDs are the largest chink in the armor. LCDs are notoriously prone to scratches and dings, but can be protected very simply and inexpensively.
There are several options available for LCD protection, some cumbersome, some ridiculous and one that is ideal. Read about it after the jump…
If you’ve never played with any old-school manual focus lenses, specifically Nikons, you are missing out. Lenses like this are magic and they sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. This thing is small, unexpectedly heavy and ROCK SOLID. The focus ring is as smooth as butter, and the shots… well here a few quick samples.
Photo credit NikonUSA.com
If you’ve seen my flickr recently, you’ve probably seen some ultra-wide shots I’ve taken recently with a friends Sigma 10-22mm. I really enjoyed using it, so I was pumped to have this lens in the Nikon kit. Fisheyes are fun, and this one is especially nice being a prime with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Here are a couple samples:
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. What you see above is Nikon gear and a LOT of it, courtesy of a friend (thanks Scott!) who had the whole kit basically sitting in a closet collecting dust. Yes, I know, sacreligious to let this much gear to sit idle, so your friends at CameraPorn have come to the rescue! Kit breakdown after the jump…
Continue reading ‘Nikon Gear CameraPorn? Hell Must Have Frozen Over…’
Lonely Bird - Before^
Brian Auer of Epic Edits recently posted a new project challenging his readers to post-process one of his photos, shown without post-processing above. Though I generally tend to sit back and watch rather than participate in blog projects, I decided to jump headfirst into this one because of the enjoyment I get from post-processing images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and to support Brian and his excellent photographry blog. I used Lightroom exclusively for the processing, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Lonely Bird - ^After
For me, the big challenge to process this image was the washed-out colors and lack of contrast. To work with washed out colors, I originally tried to work with them, adjusting saturation and luminance, but I was not satisfied with the results I was getting. I decided to take another approach by using Lightroom’s grayscale conversion first. From there, the image was still seriously lacking in contrast. To work with that I used several adjustments including tweaks to Recovery, Fill Light and Blacks. At this point the image still wasn’t where i wanted it. I then used Lightroom’s targeted curves adjustment (ctrl+alt+shift+t on a pc or command+option+shift+t on a mac). I placed the target on the middle of the sky and dragged upwards, which increased the Lights within the Tone Curve Adjustment module to add contrast by brightening the sky.
At this point, I was fairly happy with the image’s overall contrast, but I felt it was still lacking a bit. I then used the Lens Correction tools within Lightroom to add a slight vignette to draw the eye into the picture, specifically where the bird is looking and there we were, basically done. I finished by straightening the horizon, applying mild sharpening and cloning out the buoys floating in the water.
Read Epic Edit’s “PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT: Edit My Photo”
So my first participation in a blog project on the books. I’d love to hear what you all think of the retouching job as well as your opinions on blog projects. Until next time…
As you all can tell from the previous post, I shot the moon last night, well not just the moon but a total lunar eclipse. It was a late night, and a long, tired day at work today, but it was worth the loss of sleep to shoot a rarely available subject, the eclipsed moon. The following explains the methods, settings and gear I used for the shoot and some general tips for moon and night sky photography.
Since there are probably hundreds of sites out there explaining moon photoography, I’ll keep this part as short as possible 
. The single most important thing to think about when ’shooting the moon’ is camera stability. Without a completely stable camera, your shots will come out blurry and unimpressive, but with a few simple tools that should already be in your kit, and a some basic methods, getting sharp moon images is actually quite simple. The tools you will need aside from Your DSLR:
) ))So you have the gear together, now comes the fun part…
It’s now official folks…Nikon has released its mid-range full-frame DSLR and its called the D700. Some brief specs:
I also must say to Nikon… WOW! After several years of getting a severe beat-down in DSLRs by Canon, they have really come back huge with the D300, D3, and now the D700. Nikon really brought it with this one… makes me wonder about my recent re-dedication to my Canon gear… If only they would release the 5D Mark II!! Lets see what you got Canon!!!
Gizmodo Coverage
Rob Galbraith Coverage
DPreview Coverage
Engadget Coverage
Rumors are going wild about the release of the supposed Nikon D700, a full-frame DSLR that shares the same sensor and autofocus system of the wonderful Nikon D3. All the talk comes from some images of leaked promotional material… I’ll be posting more info as I get it.
Photography Bay Coverage
Wired Coverage
Crunchgear Coverage
Gizmodo Coverage
Canon has let loose some info on the upcoming Rebel XS or 1000D for all the non-us markets. This will be Canon’s lowest price DSLR ranging from $600-$700 and will include the new 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens.
Upgrades include a 2.5-inch LCD (up from 1.8), 10 Megapixels, Live View, 7-point autofocus, 3fps and Digic III.
This entry-level offering is supposed to drop sometime in July…. but only GOD KNOWS when the 5D Mark II is going to be announced.
More Coverage from:
Crunchgear, Dpreview and PC mag
Of course you have! Just read an interesting post over at Thomas Hawk which references and original story at PhiloKing.com outlining some horrible local camera store experiences. I share these sentiments exactly. Currently, local camera shops for me are only used as an absolute last resort.
Although I generally refrain from posting posts bitching about anything, this subject should be addressed so local camera stores can get with the times.
Why is it that local camera stores can’t realize that to compete with online retailers they need to shine in customer service? So prices are a bit higher… I can deal with that IF customer service is great. Check out the posts here and here and if you have any experiences to share, let me know in the comments.
