Early Look at Peak Design’s new Clutch and Slide Camera Straps

With an Alaskan photography expedition planned for this coming August 2014, I’ve been collecting my gear and accessories and I realized that I wish there was a way to carry my camera at the ready while hiking. With a backpack you have to stop, unzip the bag, pull out your camera to get the shot, and then reverse this process to get going again. I’ve found camera neck straps and slings to be uncomfortable and a pain to remove if you want to switch to a tripod mounting plate.

In May of 2011, photographer and inventor Peter Dering launched a Kickstarter campaign that went on to successfully fund the creation of Capture. If you haven’t heard of it, Capture is a quick release plate and mount that lets you rigidly secure your camera to any backpack strap or belt. Peter went on to build a company called Peak Design to continue making and improving the Capture system as well as designing new photography related accessories. I remember seeing the Kickstarter campaign but never got the chance to try Capture until Peter’s company sent me one to try out two weeks ago.

Post Processing your Milky Way Photography

17mm, f/4, 30 sec

This is the second part of a post on How to Photograph Stars in the Night Sky.

About the Shot

This last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Elkhorn Campground in Southern Utah for a family reunion. Elkhorn is in the middle of nowhere. No cell service. No Walmart. You’re lucky if he nearest town has a gas station. It’s really remote and a perfect location for photographing the night sky. This year I lucked out with a new moon that didn’t rise until the early morning hours. By 11:00 pm the sky was dark enough to make out the Milky Way with your naked eye.

Add Interest to your Photography With a Fog Machine

Prop Portal Gun from the Video Game “Portal”

Fog can add a fun layer of mystery and atmosphere to a photo-shoot. We associate fog or smoke with heat, power, magic, danger, and intrigue. Careful use of fog in your photography can help your photographs take on these attributes and better tell a story.

Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens Review

Telephoto Zoom Alternative

From time to time I’ve rented Canon’s 70-200mm f/2.8 lens when I knew I’d need a solid telephoto lens for portraits, events, or wildlife photography. This is an exceptional piece of glass that features fast image stabilization and a wide aperture allowing you to shoot with it handheld indoors in many cases. At around $2,500 it also comes with an exceptional price tag that is hard to justify unless you are constantly shooting in situations where you need those features.

My current workload just doesn’t warrant spending that kind of money on a lens I wouldn’t use all that often, but I have been looking for a cheaper telephoto lens to add to my bag for a while now. My research led me to the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens which sells for a fraction of the cost of the 70-200mm at around $820.00. There are some trade-offs with this less expensive lens which I will outline below. Overall I’m really pleased with this lens so far and would recommend it for someone who wants a great telephoto lens but can’t justify the cost of Canon’s premium zoom glass.

Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part Four – Quality of Light

This is part four in a series of  posts about learning off-camera flash. Find the previous posts here:

• Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part One
• Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part Two – Studio Strobes
• Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part Three – Studio Headshots

Quality of Light

As you experiment with light placement, you’ll start to be able to anticipate the results certain light setups will produce. Professional photographers learn and practice their camera’s settings and features until it becomes second nature. They do the same with off-camera flash.

We do it for one main reason: As you develop these skills it will give you a tremendous amount of creative power. You are no longer just pressing a button and hoping to get a good shot. With enough practice and skill development you are able to construct the vision you have in your head. Your camera and lights are just tools you use to craft the final image.

Tutorial: The Brenizer Method

Shallow depth of field is a powerful tool that photographers use to help a subject stand out from the background of a scene. We love the creamy blurred background or bokeh effect that is achieved by shooting with your aperture wide open. You can increase this effect by shooting with a telephoto lens to further narrow the focus plane and increase the bokeh. 85mm-200mm is a common focal range for portrait photographers.

Gear Review: SMDV Speedbox Diffuser – 60 Softbox

 

The SMDV DIFF 60 Speedbox Diffuser is a 23″ quick folding portable hexagonal softbox for speedlight flashes. There is a 19″ and 15″ version as well. The unit has three main parts that come packed in the included bag. There is the rip stop style nylon softbox itself, with plastic rods that act like tent poles to keep the softbox extended. The softbox locks into a plastic speed ring that attaches to the speedlight and lightstand mount.

Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part Three – Studio Headshots

This is part three in a series of  posts about learning off-camera flash. Find part one and two here:

• Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part One
• Learning Off-Camera Flash: Part Two – Studio Strobes

Maybe the most basic use of off-camera flash is the classic studio headshot. When you are learning flash photography, setting up a simple headshot is a great way to quickly pick up on how the position of your lights effect the final image. Grab a friend or family member and find a white wall, screen, or hang up a poster board to use as a background. I suggest starting with one light and get the best image you can with that one light. Then, if you have more lights, add them one at a time and adjust as you go to get the desired results.

Tutorial: Photographing Stage Performances

I’ve spent the last week in Busan, South Korea photographing a corporate event with over 5,000 attendees and world class entertainment and stage performances. One of my favorite performances was by a Korean drummer, Choi Suri. In this tutorial I will go over how I shot and post processed this image for the above result. 

Tutorial: How to Create Basic Panoramas in Photoshop

In photography, some subjects lend themselves to a different aspect ratio than the standard photograph. Sometimes you just can’t convey what you want within the confines of the rectangle that you camera captures with one exposure. In panoramic photography, typically you take several exposure and combine them with software after the fact to end up with a photo that has an increased field of view that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Photoshop has made creating panoramas incredibly easy. Here’s how to do it: