Nikon D200 Vs. Fuji S5 - Overexposure Test

Control - Fuji S5 at 1/8 sec @ f 5.6

Nikon D200 (RAW) at 1/2 sec @ f 5.6 (2 EV overexposure)

Nikon D200 (RAW) at 1 sec @ f 5.6 (3 EV overexposure)

Nikon D200 (RAW) at 2 sec @ f 5.6 (4 EV overexposure)




Fuji S5 (JPG) at 1 sec @ f 5.6 (3 EV overexposure)

Fuji S5 (JPG) at 2 sec @ f 5.6 (4 EV overexposure)

Be sure to click on each image for a closer look. Sorry about the lack of paragraphs... the blog software won't cooperate today!

The original image is to the left and the "corrected" image is to the right. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom was used to correct the images.

These images compare the Nikon D200 and the Fuji S5 Pro camera's ability (or inability) to handle overexposure. Each camera was set at ISO 200 and exposures were taken manually except for the control image which was set for Aperture Priority. The Fuji camera was set for 400% dynamic range. Only ambient light from a nearby window illuminated the scene. The background is a "Studio Gray" background paper.

Both cameras recorded images in RAW + JPG Fine mode and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom was used for post processing. I processed all images, RAW and JPG and set the software's adjustment to come as close to the control image as possible. The best results are shown here.

I concluded that the JPG images from Fuji was very close to Fuji's RAW images in terms of quality and decided to show the JPG versions here. The Nikon RAW images gave more ability to fix the overexposures than the JPG versions so I included those here.

I found that the control image was taken at 1/8 second at f 5.6 at ISO 200 with the aperture priority setting of the S5. I then took shots in 1 EV increments until I reached 5 EV overexposure.

The images included here clearly show that the D200 RAW images could not bring back details after an overexposure of 2 EV. However, even with an overexposure of 4 EV, the JPG images of the S5 still show details.

Look closely at the face of the cat and you will see loss of detail on the D200 shots but detail is still visible on the S5 shots.

Even with an overexposure of 4 EV, the Fuji S5's images look better than the overexposure at 2 EV on the Nikon D200.

I conclude that the Fuji S5 is dramatically better than the Nikon D200 in working with overexposed images.

More Fuji S5 Tests To Come!

A LOT of photographers have been checking out my blog in the past couple of days and requests have been made for me to do some more side by side test shots with the Nikon D200 and the Fuji S5 Pro cameras.

So, today, I'll be taking some more test shots and will post my results here either later today or by tomorrow at the latest.

A suggestion has been made to test both the D200 and S5 cameras shot in both RAW and JPG formats... overexpose the shots by at least 2 EV and then post process the files in Lightroom and perhaps Photoshop CS2. I'll try to do shots in one EV increments until the image is fully blown out so we can all see what can be salvaged by each camera. I find the RAW shots of the S5 seem to convert better with Lightroom, so I'm just going to process these files in Lightroom. Should anyone want to take my test images and play with them in Photoshop, feel free to right click on the enlarged images to download them and play all you want with the files. You don't need my permission to do so. After all, they are just test shots and nothing that has a commercial value to it! :)

Stay Tuned!

Fuji's Overexposure Ability

The Fujifilm S5 Pro camera has been getting a lot of favorable reviews for its ability to handle overexposed images.

What does this mean to the average person?

Well take a look at the two images above. Be sure to click on the image to get a closer look. The one on the left is the original image taken with the S5 on manual exposure mode. The lens was a Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 DX set at f 5.6. The shutter speed was set at 1/125 sec. The ISO setting was ISO 200. The sun was shining bright, so this setting created an image that was way overexposed. This was purposely done to use as a test image. The correct exposure should have been 1/750 sec at f 5.6 according to my exposure meter. The camera was set to 400% (W2)Wide Dynamic Range (the largest setting.)

I imported the overexposed image into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Adobe's latest workflow software) and corrected the image to yield the image to the right. Not perfect, but not bad.

Most photographers know that if you blow out the highlights of most images, you can't get back any useful information. But as you can see by the image on the right, you can get back information on the Fuji image! These were shot in JPG too... not in RAW format.

With the Fuji S5, it's possible to fix overexposure mistakes if necessary. The image above was approximately 2.5 EV (exposure value) off. With a little help in software manipulation, it is not a real problem.

Because of this ability and the amazing low-light (high-ISO) capabilities of the S5, I've sold off my Nikon cameras and I'm now shooting exclusively with Fuji S5 cameras for this wedding season. Last year, I was using a combination of the Nikon D200's with a Fuji S3 Pro camera. The Fuji S5 is essentially a Nikon D200 camera with the Fuji image sensor built-in. Because of it's Nikon heritage, it accepts all Nikon lenses. That's good for me, since I have a bunch of Nikon lenses!

It's going to be a fun wedding season this year using these new cameras!

Crime Scene Photography and Wedding Photography

Public Domain Image borrowed from Wikipedia.com

When I first started out as a "professional" photographer, I didn't start out photographing weddings. I photographed crime scenes.

Everyone I meet always asks me, "How does someone who used to shoot crime scenes end up shooting weddings?" Well, I posted about this back on January 7, 2006, so check the archived posts on this blog. No need to retype all that here.

But what I'd like to discuss today is what we do at crime scenes and how I use the training I received for weddings.

First, everything needs to be photographed at a crime scene. Even if you don't think something is important, you photograph it. The reason is that you might not know that it is important now, but it could end up as the most crucial piece of evidence later!

Crime Scene photography is often the first thing that's done at the scene. Yes, we get to go into the scene before anyone else! If too many people have already trampled through the crime scene, evidence gets disturbed. But by taking some photos first, evidence gets preserved... at least photographically. Later, after items of evidence have been located and marked with an evidence number (you've seen these little yellow number markers on the TV show "CSI") then other photos are taken. By the way, Evidence Technicians "Locate, Collect & Preserve" physical evidence at crime scenes. (My instructors would be proud that I remembered that, although that might not necessarily be the actual words used...)

Everything I learned in school about crime scene photography directly related to my job later. Not many people can say that about their school training in their field. A lot of it is "book knowledge" and not related to the real world. But that was not the case for me. In fact, I still have all the lecture cassettes I made of those classes! I was so into my photography classes that I taped every lecture that the instructor gave!

I was one of two lucky students who were asked to join the internship program at The San Diego Police Department and so I got to use my skills learned in class immediately on the job. Later, while we were making "mock" crime scenes in our class to learn from, I approached the photography exactly as I learned it while actually on the job with SDPD.

My instructor for my Evidence Technology class was the lab supervisor for The San Diego Sheriff's Department's Crime Lab. And, my instructor for my Criminalistics class was one of the lead criminalists for The San Diego Police Department. I was glad to hear them both comment to the other students that they were impressed with how confident I was when I approached the mock crime scenes and knew exactly what kinds of photos to take. I can thank my internship for that.

Today, I still use what I learned from the years of work with forensic photography on my work in wedding photography. I document everything! That's why I'll usually take well over 1000 or more images from just one wedding. I shoot first and ask questions later... just like I did with crime scene photography.

A few years after I had graduated with a degree in Evidence Technology and a degree in Pre-Law/Court Management, I was asked to teach crime scene photography at my old school . My former photography instructor recommended me to be his replacement so he could retire. But after I went through the process of getting the school to accept me as the new instructor, my former teacher decided not to retire after all and he stayed on to teach a little while longer. Eventually, I left San Diego to move back to the Chicago area and so I never got to teach the class.

Still to this day, I have fond memories of those early years in my photography career because it is truly what has shaped me into the photographer I am today. I approach things with the same enthusiasm as I did back when I worked in law enforcement and I hope it shows on every assignment I get.

People Skills Not Needed for Photojournalistic Coverage?

Did you know that "true" photojournalistic coverage means that the photographer is not involved with your wedding at all?

To truly cover an event photojournalistically, the photographer should not be interacting with his subjects... he should just documenting what he sees with his camera. Because of this, people skills really isn't necessary because the photographer should not be positioning people or setting up his shot.

Now we all know that this is impossible at weddings. There are times where you do need to interact with people to get a good shot. And if nothing is happening at a wedding, a good photographer knows that he needs to set up situations where people need to respond and then he can take some good photos of what's happening.

So in a sense, is this true photojournalistic coverage?

It's very possible that there really is no such thing as true photojournalistic wedding coverage. To some extent, interaction must be done to move things along and to get the kinds of shots that client today now expect to see. So really, people skills are still needed even if a photographer claims to be a "photojournalist."

All too often, photographers today tend to hide behind their cameras and avoid their subjects. Perhaps this hides the inability to use proper "people skills." Who knows. But regardless, a good wedding photographer should know how to work both sides of the fence. The photographer should pose people when necessary to get good "formal" photos and then know enough to step back to let things happen to get good photojournalistic shots as well.

Being well rounded by offering both styles gives clients the best of both worlds.

"We"re Using Disposable Cameras"

I recently spoke with the the mother of a groom who told me that she intends on giving "disposable" cameras to the guests of her son's wedding to save money on photography.

I had been given her name by someone and was asked to follow up to see if she might need my services. So after talking to her on the phone, she told me that many of her guests had digital cameras and that those who didn't could use disposable cameras to document her son's wedding.

I listened to her reason that photography cost way too much and that anyone with a camera could do just as good a job as a professional because cameras had gotten so good over the years.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself because she just did not understand that a good photo doesn't come from the camera but rather from the photographer. In the hands of a pro, even a "disposable" camera can take some incredible photos. But in the hands of someone who knows nothing about composition, timing, steadiness, exposure, among other things... that same camera can produce some awful images!

There was no convincing her that she was putting her son's wedding photography in jeopardy by doing what she intended on doing. But a dollar saved is a dollar saved, right?

After I hung up the phone, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her son and future daugther-in-law. All too often, in the attempt to save a few dollars, something gets sacrificed. In this case, it will be the loss of good photos from her son's wedding.

Besides the individual photos from the wedding, a nice album design really makes the presentation so much better. Take the photo above from one of my recent client's wedding. In their album, this image is 10"x 20" in size. You can't do that with photos unless you've got good photos, a nice album and the design ability to produce panorama images like this.

It's too bad her son is going to be missing out...

People Skills

"You have to be a "people person" to be a wedding photographer!"

Plain and simple, if a wedding photographer cannot relate to the people he is photographing, he has no place being a wedding photographer. I don't care how much he knows about photography... there is no place for a grumpy wedding photographer.

Too often while attending weddings as a guest, I've seen some really poor examples of how NOT to deal with people by some wedding photographers. At my photography workshops, I am constantly emphasizing to attendees that it is really important to work on people skills. The success of the event depends on it.

Many of my photography friends have asked me how I have lasted so long photographing weddings. We all know of photographers who have started out in wedding photography only to move on to other areas of work simply because they have burnt out. My answer to them is simply that I LIKE photographing weddings. I enjoy the people I work with.

Now if I could not stand working with people or if the work I do simply became a "job" to me, I think that would be the time I would have to seriously consider going into another profession. But right now, I don't see that happening.

I've had plenty of years of working with people to know what to say, what not to say, what to do, and what not to do. To be good at photographing people you need to be able to get your subjects to loosen up. How you approach people makes all the difference in the world when you want someone to do something.

It's really a pity that many photographers do not understand this simple principle. I've seen photographers who simply bark instructions at people and expect them to respond with a good expression on their face for the photograph. If someone barked at me, I'd probably give them a very strange look... not quite what they wanted.

On the other hand, I have attended some weddings where I was thoroughly impressed with the photographer. There are some who really know how to work with people. Whenever I see that, I try to go up to the photographer to introduce myself and to compliment him or her on how well I think they are doing. That always seems to make their day and they always do even better for the rest of the shoot.

So, people skills are really a big part of wedding photography. If you are a bride or groom looking for a photographer, don't sign with any photographer you don't feel totally comfortable with. A good deal is not always a good deal if you aren't totally comfortable with your photographer. If you are a photographer, be sure to heed my advice and work on your people skills! Not only will your business thrive, but you'll get better looking photographs too!

Photoshop Training Workshop - April 29, 2007

The next training workshop that I will be teaching at my Schaumburg office will be on Sunday, April 29, 2007 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

This time, I'll be covering the basics of using Photoshop CS2 for digital photography shot in the RAW format.

Class size will be limited to up to 4 photographers. As has always been my policy on training workshops, I limit my training to only four people for more personalized attention. Additional classes may be added if there are more than 4 people interested.

In addition to training on Photoshop CS2, a basic introduction will be given on Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 as well. We'll cover how to deal with working with JPG images within the Lightroom program.

If you are a professional photographer or an advanced amateur photographer in need of learning how to use Photoshop as it pertains to photography, I highly encourage you to attend this workshop.

Cost for the 3 hour workshop is $150 per person. Please call me at 847-840-4082 for more details.

Although I will be using a projector system for training, feel free to bring your own laptop computer with Photoshop CS2 preloaded on it if you want to follow along on it.

Update as of 4-13-07: Time will be moved to 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM.

Getting Ready for Wedding Season

Another question I'm often asked (especially by other photographers) is, "What do you do to get ready for the wedding season?"

When I was photographing weddings in San Diego, this wasn't even something to consider. Weddings happened throughout the entire year. But here in the Chicago area, we definitely have a "Wedding Season" because very few people get married in the winter months. Besides, I often take the winter "off" to recoupe from the hard work of the rest of the year's photography assignments.

Because of this, I can go months without really doing a whole lot physically. Sure, I take some photography assignments to keep myself busy, but in no way are these assignments quite as rigorous as photographing a wedding all day long!

During the winter months, I often gain some weight due to the lack of activity. So I'll go on a diet several months before the first wedding to drop the added weight. I also start exercising to get myself ready to carry the added weight of all my cameras and lenses.

I usually wear a belt and shoulder harness system all day while working a wedding. In this, I literally carry all the photography gear I need to shoot a wedding for the entire day. Everything from lenses, batteries, memory cards and other accessories are on that belt system... including a water bottle to keep myself hydrated throughout the day! In addition to the belt system, I'll hand carry at least one camera and flash and sometimes will have a second camera and lens hanging from my shoulder. All of this added up makes for a very heavy rig. I recently weighed the belt with all the lenses in there and it was 15 lbs. The camera and flash weighed in at 7 lbs. So I actually carry on my body at least 22 lbs of equipment all day long!

Consider that I stand on my feet for anywhere from 8 to 12 hours per day, only getting to sit down while traveling from the ceremony site to the reception hall and also during dinner hour, you can imagine what kind of physical shape you need to be in to do this kind of work.

At the end of the day, I'm often very tired, but with the right physical preparation, I am often surprised at how much I can take. As the season goes on, I'm able to keep going... even for weekends where I have a Friday wedding and a Saturday wedding the next day. I try not to book two weddings in a row in the early months of the wedding season because that would be way too much to deal with physically. But as the season moves on, I can easily do two in a row. Sure, by the third day (Sunday) I'm usually very tired out. But I have the rest of the week to get the rest needed to prepare for the next weekend's work.

Anyone getting into this business will find out quickly that weddings aren't that easy to do. It takes preparation not only in your photography skills, but also in your physical conditioning too. And let's not forget people skills! That is equally as important as your photography skills! But that's another topic perhaps best left for another entry on another day!

Woodpecker

I spotted this little guy doing what he does best this morning and decided to take a shot at him.

Ok, it was with my camera, not a gun.

The image was taken with a Fuji S5 Pro camera set at ISO 100 with a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens mounted on it. The lens was set at 200mm at f 2.8.If you look at the tree, you can see that he's made some damage already. Wonder if he gets a headache from all that pecking!

Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

"How Much Do You Charge for a Wedding?"

It seems that this is one of the most commonly asked questions whenever I get an inquiry from a bride.

It's understandable. Weddings cost a lot of money. Budgets have to be considered. And, who wouldn't want a "good deal" if they can get one?

On the other hand, leading with a question like, "How much do you charge" can give you a false sense of value. Some new photographers charge very little for their services. Does that mean this is a good deal? Other more experienced photographers can charge exhorbitant fees for their services. Are they overpriced?

I think everyone has a different perception of what is considered a good deal. For some, a good deal is simply a low price. It doesn't really matter what kind of service it is or what products are received for the price. A low price, is a low price and that's a good deal. But for others, getting lots of services and lots of products like prints and albums are more important.

How do you judge value?

When I priced my services, I had to make some decisions on what to offer my clients. As one of the more experienced wedding photographers in my market area (this is my 17th year photographing weddings) I could easily charge a lot of money for my services and not offer a lot of services or products. There are some people who would simply pay me for that experience. On the other hand, I could offer better services and better products like "top of the line" albums. Or I could charge very little for my services and then book every potential client who inquires for my services.

I always feel a little funny answering email inquiries or phone inquiries that start off with, "How much do you charge for a wedding." If I give a low price, will that guarantee a booking? Or, if I give a higher price, will that scare someone away?

Often, brides who lead off with this question never decide to meet with me to see what I offer for the price I give to them. Sad, but true. I'm not sure why this is, but I can only guess. Now I will tell you that I am not the cheapest photographer out there. I do charge a little more than the guy who is just starting out photographing weddings. Experience does count for a higher fee... I think everyone knows this. And, I offer some of the best albums on the market today. That costs money, so it raises my prices.

But I think it's necessary for me to offer better quality products and a higher level of service than someone who is just starting out in this profession. It makes no sense to me to be one of the most experienced wedding photographers in a market area and offer a poor quality in both service and products. Sure, I could lower my prices and simply minimize my time with clients and give them albums that are cheaper to guarantee a booking. But I believe those who seek out my services prefer to get a higher quality all across the board.

When I was looking for new albums to offer my clients, I had to weigh the factor of high quality and higher costs versus average quality and lower cost. In the end, I felt it would not do my clients any justice to offer low priced, low quality albums. After all, they pay for quality when they hire me. How could I offer inferior albums? So I decided that my clients will only get the best of everything. Sure, it adds to the overall cost of hiring me. But that's just something my clients have to accept. Matching an experienced photographer with cheap products makes no sense. And the reverse is true too. Gettting a quality album with poorly shot images in it looks really bad and makes no sense either.

So when weighing value in wedding photography, you need to ask yourself, "What is most important to me?" If the answer is, "I have a low budget and need to get a low price regardless of what is offered in terms of serice and products," then I'm probably not going to be the best choice to photograph your wedding. But if you answer, "I want an experienced photographer and I want a nice album to go with that," then I might be your right choice.

Many of my past clients have told me that initially, they thought my prices were a little higher than the competition. But after they reviewed the cost of everything they needed and wanted before and after the wedding, I actually came out slightly less expensive than many of the other photographers! Since I am very "upfront" with my clients regarding pricing and do not charge a lot of money on things like reprints and other things you might want later, in the end, I'm very competitively priced. But you need to look at everything being offered to judge the value of what I offer.

Am I expensive? I don't think so. Do I charge more than the average photographer? Probably. Do I give more services and products than many photographers? Most likely. Am I more experienced than the average wedding photographer? Probably.

How do you value quality?

Kevin So - Musician Extraordinaire

Kevin So is a unique talent. Originally from the Boston area, Kevin is a Chinese-American musician whose music is just incredible.

For years, Kevin has been playing at various clubs throughout the US and I think his time has come to make it really big in the music industry. His music just gets better every year and his latest CD release, "A Brighter Day" is going to be the right ticket to make everyone take notice.

PLEASE go to his website at www.kevinso.com and turn up the volume on your computer's sound system to take a listen to this incredible musician! Kevin has many of his songs streaming on the site. And, don't miss Kevin's music videos! You can find some on www.YouTube.com if you do a search for Kevin So.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to play my guitar with Kevin at The House of Blues in Chicago. We were introduced through his brother Keith, who resides here in Chicago. Well, Kevin sent me a bunch of his CD's so that I could learn his original material and invited me to sit in on one of his gigs at The House of Blues. I played lead guitar that evening with Kevin and his band. I had a great time and became a Kevin So fan right there and then.

Today, Kevin's music has matured and you can hear the quality on his new CD. Kevin is going places and could very easily be the first Asian-American artist to make the big time in music! Check out his music today!

Where's George?

Years ago, I received a dollar bill which had been stamped with a “Where’s George” mark on it. I logged into http://www.wheresgeorge.com and entered the serial number of the bill and found that the bill had traveled across the country!

Recently, I received another bill and decided to enter it in as well. This bill hasn’t gone very far according to the site. But it’s always possible that it has exchanged hands many times but nobody bothered to enter it into the system.

I can’t give you the full serial number or the series number of this bill because if you logged in and tried to track my bill, it would throw off the log. But keep an eye out for your own bills that might be marked like this. Then log in and track your bill!

By the way, I only photographed half of the dollar bill. Don’t want to be blamed for counterfeiting! To do that, I’d have to photograph the bill in its entirety and at the same size. Did you know that you can photograph currency as long as it is above or below a certain percentage of the original size without being considered a counterfeiter? Regardless, I didn’t want to do that…

Batman - The 1966 Movie

Back in 1966, the original "Batman" movie hit the theaters.

Many of my friends told me that they were NOT going to go see the movie. Why? They didn't want to be known as kids who liked something as childish as BATMAN! Well guess what? When my brother and I went to the theater to go see the movie, guess who we saw at the movie theater too? Yes... there they were... the kids who said they wouldn't be going to the movie!

Adam West and Burt Ward were the first Batman and Robin. The TV series had a lot of great villans including the ones shown above: The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and The Joker. So when the movie came out and all of these villains were in the movie at the same time, it just HAD to be great!

I have seen the Batman movie many times on TV over the years. And of course when it was available on DVD, I just had to get it! Besides, I bought it for only $5.99, so how could I go wrong?

If you've never seen this Batman movie, I'd highly recommend it. It's so ridiculous that you can't help but laugh at it. The later versions of Batman are more close to how Batman is portrayed in the comic books. But this version of Batman is the one I like the most because that's what I grew up with.

Go buy it, rent it or borrow it!

___________

Note: Images shown here are promotional images from the movie - BATMAN: THE MOVIE © 1966 Greenlawn Productions Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Bruce Lee

Recognize this guy?

I was a huge Bruce Lee fan in the 60's and 70's (still am.) I recall when "The Green Hornet" came out on TV, I was totally mezmorized whenever Bruce Lee was on the screen. He played Kato on the show and he had an amazing fighting style that I had never seen before on TV. Too bad the series didn't last long...

Then, back in the mid-70's, I was introduced to Tae Kwon Do by a high school friend named Pete. Pete was really into Tae Kwon Do and a few months after he started taking lessons, I signed up at a local Tae Kwon Do school and took lessons too. During our lunch hour at school, Pete and I would sneak into the gym's wrestling area to practice. He attended a different Martial Arts school than I did, but that was ok because that gave us different things to share with each other. Later, other Martial Arts students joined us and we'd all sneak into the gym to practice. Luckily, the high school never found out because I'm sure they would have stopped us. Liability, you know...

I recall when the movie, "Enter The Dragon" came out, I went to see it on opening day with my dad and brother. We were among the first to see the movie and we even got movie posters because of that. After our first screening of the movie, I went to see the movie again with Pete, my brother and another friend named Steve. This was Steve's first time seeing a Bruce Lee movie but the rest of us had seen other Bruce Lee movies before and we were all huge fans. So before the movie started, Pete said to Steve, "Hey... do you want to stay and watch the movie twice through?" Steve just looked at him like he was crazy.

Well, after the movie finished, Pete turned to Steve and asked, "Hey, do you want to stay and watch the movie again?" To our surprise, Steve said, "Sure!" Apparently, he became a Bruce Lee fan too!

I've seen "Enter The Dragon" many times over the years. It's still my favorite movie. I've seen it so much that I think I can recite most of the lines in the movie!

I have an uncle on my mother's side who actually trained with Bruce Lee back in Hong Kong. Back then, Bruce was learning Wing Chun Gung Fu from Sifu Yip Man. My uncle remembers working out with Bruce and I thought it was really cool that I knew someone who actually practiced with him. By the way, KUNG FU is really pronouced "Gung Fu" in Chinese. I think the name got "westernized" and turned into Kung Fu... Also, Sifu means "teacher" in Chinese.

I'm still into Martial Arts. I think it's a great form of exercise and it has a practical application as well for self defense.

I think I'll go watch "Enter The Dragon" now... Let's see... how many times does that make it??

______________

Edit Note: Oh... had to mention... there was an episode of "Batman" on TV in which The Green Hornet and Kato appeared on the show. In one scene, Batman was fighting the Green Hornet (ok... perhaps evenly matched) and Robin was fighting Kato. NO WAY was Robin a match for Kato!!! But of course, since it was Batman's show, they made it look like Robin and Kato were evenly matched. I don't think ANYBODY could have believed that Robin was an even match against Kato! I'm still steamed over that to this day! LOL

White Balancing with the Expodisc

The Expodisc is a device that can be used to correct white balance for digital photography. When placed over the front of your camera lens, it allows you to create a "custom white balance" for your camera so that any image created on your camera in the same lighting condition set with the Expodisc will be perfectly white balanced.

Essentially, the Expodisc sets a reference for the camera as to what pure white light should be, based on the light that is traveling into the lens. This reference then is the new standard white as far as the camera is concerned. So as long as you take any photograph in the same lighting conditions, the light will be perfectly balanced. But the moment you move to another lighting condition, you need to re-balance your camera for the new light.

A very similar result can come from using three white coffee filters held in front of the lens to set the custom white balance in your DSLR camera (Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera.) The white coffee filters are not calibrated like the white surface of the Expodisc, but it's very close.

The Expodisc's front surface (seen on the left photo) also has a prism-like glass which spreads the light out evenly across the entire front surface of the disc. This helps get a good reading when taking a white balance reading while doing a custom white balance with your camera. You can't do that with the three white coffee filter trick.

This is just another way to correct the colors in digital photography. It takes some effort to get good photos, but it's worth it.

Another New Blog Name!

Ok, I'll admit I have one of the strangest Photography Blogs for a photographer.

I cover not only wedding photography, but also forensic science, music and other things that interest me.

Many other photographers check out my blog and I'm always asked, "What Does THAT Have To Do With Photography?" So I figured, that would be a good name for my blog!

Personally, I like blogs that have some variety to them. I think if all I ever did was post images of recent weddings I photographed, it would only interest new brides. I want more than just brides visiting my site. Besides, I have more interests than just wedding photography.

If you are a client or a potential client of mine, you'll get to know me better if you check out my blog. You'll find I enjoy other things besides photography although that is the topic most discussed on this blog.

Keep checking my blog weekly. I update it usually on Mondays and Thursdays, but when something interesting comes up, I'll do updates on other days as well.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Photography Lesson: White Balancing Ambient Light Photos

Unbalanced Lighting Vs. Balanced Lighting

Have you ever taken a photo with a digital camera without a flash and found the color of the image to be way off?

Sometimes the light creates a color cast that is too orange or perhaps too green or too blue. This is because the color temperature of each light source is different.

If you take a photo without a flash and your main lights in the room are from standard incandescent light bulbs, the photo could look all orange. If you adjust for the incandenscent lights and outside sun light comes in from a window, that light can look blue. And, if you take a photo where there are flourescent light fixtures, those photos may look green.

So how to you adjust for this?

One of the easiest way is to color correct your images in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom. By using a simple gray card or white card, you can adjust the color balance so that the images will look correct.

The two photos above show the use of a device called the WhiBal. With this gray/white/black card, you can quickly color-correct any image using Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom. A simple click on the card and the image will be color corrected. And, you can apply this corrected information to any other image shot under the same lighting condtions within that room.

What you do is take one shot with the WhilBal held out in front of you. By referencing all images taken with the same lighting conditions in the same room, you can make all images match the same reference standard.

There are other ways to color balance an image, but this is one of the fastest ways to do it. The WhiBal card shown above is one of their older models. Current WhiBal cards use a single card rather than three. But the concept of how to correct the color-shift is the same.

Is it worth the effort to do this? I think it is.

OK... Does he look like Homer Simpson?

For years, my family and I have been watching the NBC Show Crossing Jordan.

All these years, I have said that Miguel Ferrar looks exactly like Homer Simpson from the cartoon series The Simpsons. Ferrar plays Chief Medical Examiner, Garret Macy on the show.

Am I wrong? Check out a photo of him on www.NBC.com.

Miguel Ferrar is the son of actor Jose Ferrar and singer Rosemary Clooney.

Come on... check it out and then post a comment on my blog to let me know if I'm crazy or if I'm right. I don't think it takes much to agree with me here. He looks like Homer Simpson!! LOL

Zoom Effects

Michael Burks at Buddy Guy's Legends

You can tell I had a great time last Saturday taking photos of Michael Burks and his band. Why else would I post so many pictures of it here? LOL

This "Zoom" technique is quite simple. Take a long exposure shot at your zoom's longest focal length and then as you click the shutter, turn the zoom on your Zoom Lens towards your widest focal length and voila! Instant "cool" picture!

Try it yourself! Be sure to click on the image to get a closer look.

The Importance of Blogging

Recently, I received an email from my aunt who told me that she keeps up on what's happening in my life by reading my blog. Well, that's really cool!

I try to keep my blog interesting by posting about things like photography techniques, past forensic cases and other things that I think my audience would be interested in reading. But sometimes I do go a little deeper and give some insights on how I think. Kind of like this post! :)

Some photographers simply keep their blogs professional and only post about recent weddings or photo assignments they have done. That's ok. But I think a blog should be a little more than that. If a blog's audience is only intended for potential clients and clients, then perhaps that is the right thing to do. But for me, I have people from all over the world checking this out every week. Obviously, these people will never be my clients... they live too far away! But with my StatCounter, I can tell where people are in the world, how often they come to visit and how long they stay on-line. And with this information, I know that many people around the world come here often!

So, to keep it interesting to them, I post a little of everything... professional interests, personal interests, and the obscure as well.

If you read my blog often, I'm glad you are here. And for the new people who check my blog out, please bookmark it and come back again. I enjoy keeping up my blog and it does take a little effort to try to keep it fresh, especially during the "off season" when weddings aren't happening during the winter months. So for those of you who have stayed with me for so long, I give you my thanks!

One More Time...

I thought I'd post another image from this past Saturday's event at Buddy Guy's Legends.

This image was taken from the side of the stage and shows Michael Burk's band. I thought this was an interesting image as it shows the audience as well as the band. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Again, this image was taken on the Fuji S5 Pro camera and shot in RAW format.

Enjoy!

Opening Act - L.V. Banks & His Swinging Blues Band

L.V. Banks & His Swinging Blues Band performed at Buddy Guy's Legends just before Michael Burks last Saturday. Another excellent performer!

This image was shot in JPG rather than RAW on the Fuji S5 Pro. This was taken with a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens set at f 3.2. Shutter speed on the camera was 1/30 second and the ISO was 3200.

The Fuji S5 pro seems to do just as well in JPG as in RAW. Be sure to click on the image to get a closer look.

Michael Burks at Buddy Guy's Legends - Images taken at ISO 3200!

Saturday night, my good friends Jim and Alicia invited me to go with them to see their friend, Alligator Records' recording artist, Michael Burks perform at Buddy Guy's Legends club. I jumped at the chance to go since I had not seen Jim and Alicia since last June's guitar get-together (see the June 2006 archives on my blog) and also I figured it would give me a chance to try out my new Fuji S5 pro camera in an ambient light situation.

I set the Fuji in manual and shutter priority modes and set my shutter to 1/30 sec. with an aperture of f 2.8 on my Nikon 70-200mm f 2.8 VR lens. The camera was set at ISO 3200... the highest ISO setting available for high sensitivity shooting on the Fuji S5. Dynamic Range on the camera was set at 400%. Neat Image noise reduction was applied to the first image in the photos above but not to the other two.

Wow! I'm impressed. Although ISO 3200 gave some noise, it's a lot lower than I thought it would be. The full-resolution files look great! These images on the blog of course have been downsized for web viewing, but if you click on each image, you'll see that the images hold up quite well.

As for Saturday's performance by Michael Burks, well all I can say is that he has a new fan in me! Wow! He was absolutely incredible! His band is ultra tight and the sound was fantastic! I'm impressed with the versatility of this performer. As I was not familiar with him until Saturday, I did not know what to expect. But Michael's performances of his own material was riveting and when he broke into covers of songs like Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe" and a medley of Carlos Santana tunes which included "Oye Coma Va" and "Black Magic Woman," I was blown away. Inventive and fast is all I can say... this guy can play the guitar and sing!

Alligator Record's president was on hand that evening and since Jim and Alicia knows Michael and the band, we were given VIP seating in the area reserved for the performers. It was cool to hang out with the band and not have to stand to watch. The place was packed and that's how it should be for this performer. But even with VIP seating, I was all over the place taking shots... just like I do for a wedding!

If you ever get a chance to see Michael Burks perform, do it. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to Jim and Alicia for another great evening!

To see more images, CLICK HERE.

Flying Off Into The Sunset

Image Courtesy of Gina Formella

While vacationing in Florida, Gina Formella, one of my brides from 2005 photographed this incredible image of a flock of birds flying off into the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

Gina is an avid photographer and besides having been one of my clients from the 2005 wedding season, she has also taken one of my photography workshops as well. You can read the testimonial that she wrote for me on my website at http://www.russlowe.com/ regarding her wedding and also her experience of taking one of my workshops.

After her wedding, Gina kept in contact with me and we have exchanged numerous emails about photography. I’m always happy to be contacted by my clients both present and past and it is especially fun when they share a love of photography as well.

Gina has learned well and is applying the things she’s learned in her photography. It’s such a joy to see your students do well and I’m very proud of her. Looking at this photo, you can see how good she is getting at her craft!

Gina used a Nikon D70s camera which set the shutter speed at 1/500 sec to stop the action and a Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens set at 48mm with an aperture of f11. The smaller aperture gives a good depth of field and sharpness. The combination of a fast shutter speed and smaller aperture was enough to keep the sun from being too bright and helped create a nice orange glow. Be sure to click on the image to get a closer look at the birds.

Go Gina!

Fuji S5 Pro Camera has arrived

The Fujifilm S5 Pro 12.3 MP digital camera has finally arrived! I was among the first in the USA to receive this camera and it's great!

The camera is built on the Nikon D200 body with the firmware and image sensor from Fuji. Fuji is well known for its excellent image sensor's ability for great colors, high sensitivity and wide dynamic range. What this means is that the camera will be able to work in very low light and very bright light. This is critical for wedding photography work since photos are taken often in dark churches without flash and in bright sunlight. Not many cameras have this ability with low digital noise. But the new S5 does. And because the body is actually a Nikon body, all of my great Nikon lenses can be used on this Fuji camera.

Last year, I shot weddings with both the Fuji S3 Pro camera and two Nikon D200 cameras. What happened to the S4? Rumor has it that Fuji skipped the designation of the F4 camera because the Japanese word for FOUR sounds like the word for "death" and that's something they did not want to have associated with their cameras!

Well this new Fuji S5 is identical to the Nikon D200 in virtually all aspects of operation since it's really the identical body. Fuji buys the body from Nikon. But the image sensor is where it's all at. The camera has already shown that it can handle just about any situation I can give it. The noise levels from the camera at ISO 1600 is probably as low as what I can notice on ISO 400 on a D200. And, this camera can even go to ISO 3200! Although noiser than ISO 1600, it's still very acceptable if I'm required to use it.

I'm impressed with this camera. Even shot in JPG rather than RAW (formats of digital capture) the images are near perfect! This means my post production time to manipulate an image after photographing it will be reduced. I have found that the colors are almost spot on and need very little or no corrections right out of the camera. Exposure seems perfect too because the meter is very accurate.

This is going to be a fun year for weddings!

My First Crime Scene

It's been a while since the last "Forensics" post, so I thought I'd tell you all about the first crime scene I ever went out on.

I was working at the San Diego Police Department's Crime Lab and we got assigned to check out the scene of a recent rape in the Pacific Beach area. There had been a string of these rapes occuring and this was the latest victim.

I went out with one of our Sex Crimes detectives and one of the Evidence Technicians from our field services unit. I wasn't sure what to expect since I was so "green" at all of this. But I do know I was very excited to go out on my first crime scene.

Well, the victim was still there when we arrived. That was something I was a little surprised about. I knew I was not allowed to say anything to her as it was the job of the detective to do so. She was sitting in her living room with one of the female officers called to the scene.

While the detective was interviewing her, I worked with the evidence technician collecting evidence from the crime scene. We collected bedsheets and other objects from her room and also dusted the window area (the point of entry) and other items for fingerprints.

As we were working, one of the local TV news crews pulled up and started taping. As this was my first crime scene, I made sure to turn on my videotape recorder when I got home to record whatever broadcast about the incident I could find. It was interesting to see myself walking around the crime scene on TV.

Since I was only interning at the time, I still had classes to take at school when I wasn't working at the police department. I was one of only two students lucky enough to land an internship with the San Diego Police Department. We were both recommended for the jobs by the head of our school's Administration of Justice department. The other intern was assigned to the latent print unit. But I was lucky and got assigned to the evidence technician's unit. Because of that, I got to go on all the call outs while the other student was delegated to stay at the lab comparing fingerprints. Yeah, I had a much "cooler" job! At least in my opinion.

Any way, the next day, a bunch of my classmates came up to me to tell me they had seen me on TV. Everyone got a big kick out of it because it was so interesting to see one of us on TV. Well, after many crime scenes over the course of the year, I could be seen walking around crime scenes on TV or hanging around discussing strategy with the detectives. Yeah, I was the "celebrity" of our school... at least for our Adminstration of Justice department.

I still have a tape of the broadcasts of various crime scenes I worked. I made sure I turned on the VCR whenever I was out or I had my wife do it so I could watch the broadcast later. It's been a while since I've seen that tape, so perhaps I'll pull it out soon to watch it and get a good laugh. It is kind of funny to see me walking around these crime scenes.

As for the series of rapes in Pacific Beach, we eventually caught the guy. He had a habit of watching the women he intended to rape and then waiting for the cover of the night before breaking into their homes to rape them. In this particular case, the victim left her window open because it was a hot night. That's how he got in.

Lesson learned? NEVER leave your window open at night... especially if you live on the first floor of a building.

About a year and a half later, I graduated at the top of my class with Associates Degrees in both Evidence Technology and in Pre-Law / Court Management and worked for the Chula Vista Police Department and then subsequently was hired by the San Diego District Attorney's Office. (My Bachelor's degree is in Electronics Engineering... totally unrelated to crime scene work, but helpful in my job cleaning up audio evidence for court. More on that for another post...)

The interesting part was that the detective I had worked with on this particular case eventually retired from SDPD and was hired by the DA's office and he became one of our DA Investigators. It seems that many of the detectives became DA investigators after leaving the police department. So we got to work many more cases together at the DA's office. But I'll never forget my first case with him! Nobody ever forgets their first case.

Is It Film Or Is It Digital?

This is a page from one of my sample albums. Was this shot on film?

Actually, these are individual images that were shot digitally and then combined into "fake" filmstrips. Just goes to show you that not everything you see is what you think it is! Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

This is just a different way to show the wedding processional.

To see more cool album images, you'll have to check out my actual sample albums... make an appointment with me today to discuss your wedding!

Heroes - Are You Watching?

I don't watch a lot of television... at least not like some people. I can't say that when I was younger though. I used to watch a lot of television. But today, there's just too much to do and so I pick only certain shows to watch.

Among these is the NBC show, "Heroes." What an amazing show!

Are you watching? What do you think?

If you have missed a recent episode, you can see it on-line if you go to www.nbc.com and click on the Heroes link.

My family's favorite character on the show is Hiro, the Japanese guy who can stop time and teleport himself. I think this is one of the first times that a main character of a show actually does most of his dialogue in a language other than English. From an interview I saw of him, he said that he translates all of the dialogue himself. The writers of the show give him his lines in English and he translates it to Japanese. He is so funny on the show! My daughter says, "He's awesome!"

Which character do you like best? Which Hero's ability do you think is the best?

Personally, I like Hiro's character, but I like Peter Petrelli's ability because like the villian Syler, he can gather new powers everytime he is in contact with another Hero. But Claire's ability to regenerate after being mortally wounded is kind of cool too!

Among the other shows I watch is "Crossing Jordan." My family got hooked on watching this show because it was something to do on a Sunday night. Now they are moving it to Wednesdays, so we'll see if we can still keep watching. I love watching this show because I'm amazed at what they show on it. Not too long ago, it would be impossible to see something like an autopsy on network TV. Obviously, it's faked, but the amount of detail they show on this show is simply amazing. Because I've been to many real autopsies in the past, none of the things they show on TV really shock me, but it's still interesting to see it on TV.

I don't watch the autopsies on the show like most people. Sure, I say, "Look at that!" when I see some gruesome shots of the bodies they show. But what I really do that irritates my family is that I'll say, "Look... the body's breathing!" That's just the funniest thing to me! The bodies on the autopsy table are often seen breathing! Of course they take very shallow breaths, but if you look close, you can see it.

My wife says I take all the fun out of the show when I point that out. But come on... how can you not laugh when you see that?! :)

People ask me all the time if I watch CSI or one of its spin-offs. Actually, I don't. I have seen a couple of episodes lately, but I'm not a regular viewer. Although the show does try to keep real by doing some of the same things that I recall doing when I worked in a crime lab, but some of the things are just unbelievable. Because of that, I can't watch without saying, "That's fake... that can't be done." Takes all the fun out of the show for me and for anyone around me.

Of course, shows like Heroes is fake too. But at least I know that going into the show...

What are you watching?

"Uncle Bob's Shooting My Wedding"

Although I have not run across this in a while, I have heard from other photographers who have said that they lost potential clients because the bride found a relative or a friend to photograph their wedding.

I've posted about this topic before on my blog, but I thought it would be worth mentioning it again to any new visitors to this blog.

Here are the benefits for having "Uncle Bob" photograph your wedding:

1. It's a lot cheaper. You may even get Uncle Bob to do it for free.
2. You know your photographer. That is always helpful.
3. Everyone at the wedding knows Uncle Bob.
4. Uncle Bob just bought a digital camera so he's anxious to shoot your wedding.
5. Uncle Bob will give you the digital files of the wedding so you can make lots of reprints for a low cost.
5. Uncle Bob's been taking photos for many years. He's got to be pretty good by now.

These are all great reasons to let Uncle Bob photograph your wedding! But here's the drawbacks for having Uncle Bob do it and reasons to hire a professional photographer:

1. While it is true that getting something for free is cheaper than paying for it, there's a reason professional photographers get paid to photograph weddings. Style, experience and reliability.
2. Getting to know your photographer is easy. Just hire someone personable. A good wedding photographer always wants to meet his clients and get to know them. Avoid those who will not meet with you.
3. Sometimes you get more respect when you don't know someone. Will everyone take Uncle Bob seriously on the day of the wedding and will they cooperate with him?
4. Many wedding photographers will have the digital files available to you as well. Not all do, but many offer this now. So you can always make more reprints later.
5. Although Uncle Bob has been doing photography for a long time, how many weddings has he actually photographed? Was he the main photographer or just taking some snapshots at some weddings?
6. Professional wedding photographers go through lots of training and many have photographed hundreds of weddings. They know what to expect, what to prepare for and how to get the shot. They have top of the line photo gear able to get images with great sharpness, color and contrast. They know how to pose people, get stylistic photojournalistic shots and how to work with a variety of people.
7. Unlike other types of photography, in wedding photography there's often only once chance to capture the right image. There's no second chance to take a photo. An experienced wedding photographer can often anticipate when this moment happens and capture the shot easily.

Don't take a gamble on your wedding day. Hire a professional.

Roundtable Discussions - Another Huge Success

Last night, we held another "Roundtable Discussions" session at my office and it was a attended by eight local wedding photographers.

For nearly four hours we talked about a variety of topics only taking one break. Then, as we headed out into the parking lot to go home, several of the photographers were seen still hanging around "talking shop" in the cold!

We take our work very serious. It's great to see the enthusiasm in this group of photographers. And equally, it's nice to know that even with great looking sample albums (we all brought samples of our work to share with the group) we all still wanted to know how we can improve our services to our clients.

If you are a professional wedding photographer and would like to join in on one of these sessions, let me know. If you are a new photographer or would like to be a pro one day, perhaps taking one of my photography workshops could help you.

Thanks to all photographers who attended last night!

Photography Business Workshop - March 14, 2007 - 7 PM to 10 PM

Photo by Andy Schneider

Recently, I was asked when I would be holding some additional training workshops for photographers. Well, I only hold training classes when I have enough people interested in attending and I limit these classes to a maximum of five people.

Currently, there are a couple of people who are interested in some training in how to get started in the photography business. If you fall into this category and would like some ideas on how to start your business, what to consider to build your business and sales techniques as it relates to the photography business, please contact me no later than March 10.

You can email me at photos@russlowe.com or call me at 847-840-4082 if you would like some general information, cost information or to register for this training workshop.

This class will be best suited for the beginning professional photographer just getting into the photography business. Remember this is a group session for up to five people, so contact me soon if you would like to receive this training.

Update: As of 2/21/07, 9:30 AM - Two people have confirmed attendance for this workshop. Three more spots are still available if you would like to join us!

10x15 Vertical Albums

15x20 View

This is an image from one of my new 10x15 Deluxe Leather Albums. I like this panorama spread because it shows both color and B&W images together and it also shows the flexibility of the larger album format.


When the album is opened to a panorama spread like this, the total composite print is actually 20" wide by 15" high. That is one HUGE print! Consider that a large 16x20 print is generally made to be a wall print. This print is only one inch shorter in height, but just as wide! And it's inside a wedding album!


The "split" of where the album folds in half is just 1/2 inch to the left of the bride's left elbow. So part of the big image is actually on the left side of the album page where the remainder of the image is on the entire right side of the page. That adds some visual interest to the layout as well. By the way, the gap between the two halves of the print is only 1/16 inch... so it really looks good.


To see my sample albums in person, be sure to call and make an appointment with me! I'd be happy to show them to you!

Round Two... Roundtable Discussions This Wednesday

Well the second round of "Roundtable Discusssions" is happening this coming Wednesday. This time nine other wedding photographers will be coming to my office to talk about our businesses, get tips on photography and to share about their work with their clients.

I'm glad that so many other wedding professionals are taking an interest in improving what they offer to their clients. It just goes to show that this is truly a service-oriented industry.

Check out the January 26 post on my blog about the first Roundtable Discussion session.

Why Consider The Deluxe Leather Albums?

Deluxe Leather Album 10x10 sized

with optional Slipcase

Deluxe Leather Album with 5x5 Cameo Cover Print

Panorama Print - 10x20

Panorama 10x20 View

Several clients have asked me why they should consider the "Deluxe" Leather Flushmount Album option that I offer over the standard flush-style album. Here's what's available on those deluxe albums that you don't get on the standard album...

For a 10x10 sized wedding album, the largest print available on the standard flush-style album is 10x10 inches whereas the Deluxe Leather album can accomodate a panorama print as large as 10x20 inches. If you were to order the 10x15 sized Deluxe Leather wedding album, the largest print it can show is a 15x20 print. That is one HUGE print! You can see a sample of a Panorama Print above. I've inserted a smaller image on the left side of the image to add interest. A standard 10x10 print would only show the bridge and none of the view of the Golf Course you see to the left of the bridge.

The Deluxe Leather albums also offer Spray Protected prints. This means that the prints themselves are smudge-proof and protected against potential accidents should someone spill something onto the page.

Page edge gilding is available on the Deluxe Leather album whereas the standard album only comes in black. The gilding can be silver or gold. What is gilding? Think of the silver or gold edged pages you see on many Bibles... that's gilding.

Page corners are rounded and do not have borders. The lack of borders means the prints go right up to the edge of the page. Essentially, the print becomes the page since it is glued "flush" to the page itself.

The Standard albums are preset at 12, 16 or 20 page albums only. The Deluxe Leather Albums can be ordered with as little as 6 pages to as much as 45 pages in size.

The Deluxe Leather albums can be ordered with or without a 5x5 inch cover cameo print. This is not an option with the standard albums.

Custom leather wrapped slip cases are available as an option.

Lastly, the Deluxe Leather albums can be ordered in a variety of leather types and colors. Standard leather, glove leather, napa leather (suede) or "distressed" leather are all available. And, your choice of a variety of colors are available as well. The standard album is only available in Ivory or Black. By the way, the images above are of my sample album in Glove Leather Black. Where my company's name is located is where the Bride and Groom's name and wedding date is typically placed.

More Snow Sculptures!

www.snowvisions.com

Well the competition drew a lot of people to Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect, IL. As promised, here are some images of three of my favorites. Be sure to click on each image to get a closer look.

To see all of the sculptures, click here and go to the gallery called "Snow Sculptures."

I did not stay for the awards ceremony, but www.snowvisions.com

has posted the winners here: http://www.snowvisions.com/html/2007_entries.html

These sculptures are really nicely done. They will continue to be on display until they melt, so be sure to check them out in person!

Snow Sculpting Competition

Randhurst Shoppping Center

Mount Prospect, IL

www.snowvisions.com

I was driving by and saw this snow competition in progress so I pulled over and shot these quick images. It is happening at the Randhurst Mall on the corner of Rand Road and Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect, IL.

The competition is happening now and you can vote for your favorite sculptures on Saturday, February 10.

If you are in the area, be sure to watch these teams put together these huge snow sculptures! You can see in the middle image that many teams are out there making their sculptures. The image on the bottom is one of the sculptures that seemed to be closer to completion than the others, so I've included it here.

I'll go back later this weekend and photograph the final sculptures and post it here on Monday.These artists really must be dedicated to pull this off in such cold weather. Go to Mount Prospect and see the action for yourself! Be sure to click on each image to get a closer look at the work in progress.

Compact, but Heavy

This is the camera rig I used at weddings a couple of years ago. Although the camera has changed and the lens is different as well, today's camera rig is basically the same as this one.

The camera and lens above is the Nikon D100 and Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 lens. Last year I switched to the Nikon D200 and the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 DX lens. The D200 is a lot more heavy than the old D100, but the 17-55mm lens is lighter than the 28-70mm lens. Essentially, the camera combinations are still heavier than I'd like.

This coming year, I'll continue with the D200 but will also add the Fuji S5 pro camera. The S5 is essentially the D200 body with Fuji's image sensor built-in. It should be quite an impressive camera. The image quality should be amazing in low light.

I use a Newton camera bracket with my Nikon SB-800 flash. It's a very compact flash bracket and allows me to keep the flash directly above for both horizontal and vertical shots. It weighs a mere 8 ounces.

I also use a Gary Fong Lightsphere "Cloud" as a flash diffuser. This device makes the flash a lot less "harsh" by diffusing the light. I've used many different diffusers over the years but I like this one the best. It's one of the more expensive diffusers on the market and many complain that it loses a lot of light since the flash faces straight up to the ceiling. But used correctly, it's very effective.

At times, I've been known to carry three cameras at one time, and I usually wear a waistbelt system full of lenses and other accessories as well. Someone once said I looked like a Ninja since I often dress in all black at weddings. It seems that black is the preferred color for wedding photographers. It helps us blend into the background easier...

Will This Camera Ever Be Used Again?

Hasselblad 500CM / Zeiss 50mm Lens

This was THE wedding camera / studio camera for a long time. Now I wonder if it will ever be used again. I still have this camera and a couple of lenses and film backs in my equipment inventory.

Digital has taken over to the point where film is really only used in certain commercial applications. But today's weddings are all going digital. Clients expect it today.

So will the Hasselblad go to the wayside altogether?

Hasselblad introduced a 31 Megapixel camera recently. So although the company is still around doing amazing things, even they have gone digital.

Anyone want a good deal on a 500CM? :)

Superbowl XLI

Ok, we are all sad here in Chicago...

What started out looking like we were going to dominate the game right from the kickoff, turned out to be a disappointment in the end with the Bears losing to the Colts by 12 points with a score of 29 to 17.

In a historic 92 yards run for a touchdown straight from the kickoff by rookie Devin Hester, we were ready for an exciting game. But eventually things didn't pan out for the Bears. The rain didn't help either.

Even with HDTV, the visuals of the game was awful. The rain spots on the camera lenses just made for an overall blurry picture throughout the game. I had to wonder to myself how many "new TV" owners who went out to purchase large screens just for the game were thinking to themselves that HDTV just didn't look as good as they had hoped!

Our largescreen TV was purchased well before the Superbowl because our old set had finally stopped working. So ours was a purchase out of necessity. But I had heard that TV's were flying off the retailer's shelves because of this game. It seemed that everyone was looking for a good excuse to buy a new set!

We like to watch TV with only backlighting behind our speakers. It adds a little drama to the visuals. But not even special lighting effects could help us enjoy the game when we were losing in the rain!

Bears fans have waited a long time to get to the Superbowl. Not since the win in 1985 did we get to the big game. It's nice to know we are still the NFC champions even with this loss at the Superbowl, but it just doesn't feel the same as being the Superbowl champions.

There's always next year.

How many times have we heard that before?

Bouquet Tosses Really Work!

Last year, I shot the wedding of Sarah’s friend Julie. Sarah was Julie’s Maid of Honor.

At the bouquet toss, Sarah was the lucky person to catch the bouquet. Tradition has it that the person who catches the bouquet will be the next to get married. Well, keeping with the tradition, Sarah got engaged and is getting married this July!

I am especially pleased to photograph Sarah’s wedding because she is such a wonderful person. She helped her friend Julie find her wedding vendors because she lived in the Chicago area but Julie did not. So Sarah did all the research, conducted all of the interviews with the various wedding vendors and narrowed down the choices for Julie. Then Julie came into town and interviewed the best of the best. In the end, I was booked as Julie’s wedding photographer. After the wedding, Sarah and Julie’s mom worked with me to design Julie’s wedding album because Julie was not around to work on it because she lived out of state.

I guess it should be no real surprise that Sarah called to book me for her wedding. After all, she actually did all the work in looking for a photographer about a year in advance to even being engaged! Not many people can claim that! Thanks Sarah!