July 8, 2012 - Photography Field Trip Students

Another fine Photography Field Trip group from last Sunday!  Luckily our 100+ degree days had dropped to the mid-80's!

Fishing With Students from Balanced Exposure

Yesterday, 5 of my students and I went fishing out on the Lucky Dog.  We caught 16 fish and lost 4.  Overall, a great day!  Weather was in the high 70's... we couldn't have asked for better weather!

The bite was fast in the beginning, but then slowed towards the end of our 6 hour trip.  Still, we all got some nice fish.  My largest was a 9 lb King Salmon, but we also got one at 10 lbs and one at 14 lbs!  Besides Kings, we also caught Coho Salmon and Lake Trout.

I hope to get another charter booked perhaps in August if I can find 5 more students willing to go.

Check out Captain Jim at Lucky Dog Charters for a great fishing trip!

More HDR

Plenty of water at the Des Plaines River Dam #1, but not much by this bridge.  Both processed in HDR.

Hitchin' A Ride - The Grove - Glenview, IL

Why walk when someone else will do it for you...

Photography Field Trip At The Grove - May 20, 2012

Once again, my Balanced Exposure students and I headed out to The Grove in Glenview, IL.  While they were busy photographing the various things there, I was busy photographing them!

Sometimes, the things people do become more interesting than the various attractions at a venue!

All images shot with the Nikon D4 camera / Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.  Custom White balanced with the PhotoVision - 14" Pocket Digital Calibration Target.

Nikon D4 HDR Images from The Grove - Glenview, IL

I took my new Nikon D4 for a test spin at The Grove in Glenview, IL yesterday and shot these images for HDR.  Using Photomatix Pro, I was able to get the images dialed in so that they still looked like "photographs" rather than over-processed art.

Each image was shot with the Nikon D4 camera and the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.

Photography Field Trip at "The Grove" - Glenview, IL

A group of my Balanced Exposure students met today at The Grove in Glenview, IL to do a little shooting in the field.  I was very proud that all of the students seemed to know what they were doing with their cameras after having taken one of my introduction to photography courses!

I gave them some challenging things just to test them and they were all able to do it!  It really makes it worthwhile when you can see your efforts as an instructor being put in action.

While it was a bit chilly outside, we had plenty of things to shoot indoors as well.  We talked about lighting, composition, angles and other photography related things as we took our shots.

This is the first group of my students who have signed up for the Field Trip class.  More to come... every other Sunday until the end of September!

This image was taken with the Canon T2i with its kit lens.  See... I actually do have and use a Canon camera at times!  I bought it to help teach the DSLR Advanced class, but it comes in handy when I don't want to lug around that large and heavy Nikon D3 / Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens!

Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center

I spent the afternoon at The Illinois Holocaust Museum with my wife and had a "private tour" with a great volunteer named Roz. She explained the history of what had happened during those terrible years during the Holocaust.

I believe everyone needs to go to this museum to learn what happened, but also so that through education, something like the Holocaust will never happen again. Go visit: http://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/

Million Dollar Quartet - Apollo Theater - Chicago

I had a great time tonight at the show "Million Dollar Quartet" at the Apollo Theater in Chicago.

My wife, daughter and I sat in the front row, stage left.  We were literally within a couple of feet of the stage.  I think this may have been the closest I've been to the stage of a play.  The stage at the Apollo Theater isn't raised... it's floor level, so it almost felt like we were sitting on the stage!

The music was great!  Obviously, the songs were all "standards" that we all know from Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.  The actors did a great job imitating the legendary singers and they played their own instruments too.

The Apollo Theater is a very intimate setting. It is right next to the EL tracks so entering the theater, we were greeted by the noisy trains.  But surprisingly, inside the theater, we didn't notice the train noise.

It was fun to watch the show and spend time with my family.  Highly recommended!

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta Announced Today

Adobe has announced today the arrival of their new Photoshop CS6 Beta. This usually means the final version of CS6 is just around the corner. Not sure how many months this will be, but I doubt it will be within a month. They usually get feedback back from Beta users first and fix any bugs before the final release comes out. But be aware... it's coming.

If you have not yet purchased your copy of Photoshop CS5, you might want to wait. But how long is anybody's guess. Here are some highlights of what is being changed: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2601746315/photoshop-cs6-beta-new-features-for-photographers

Also, system requirements are tougher too. While it will still support XP for PC users, you need to be sure the video RAM on your video card has at least 512MB of RAM or better. Obviously, the faster your machine the better.

For Mac users, 32-Bit operating systems will not be supported. You'll need a 64-bit operating system to run this new version of Photoshop.

Fishing - Government Pier - Waukegan Harbor

 

 

After a year away from pier fishing off Government Pier at Waukegan Harbor in Waukegan, IL, I finally got a chance to head out this morning.

I arrived around 5:30 AM this morning and there wasn't a soul to be seen out there!  But later, others started showing up.  I fished for about 2 hours and decided to leave.  It was great just getting back outside after spending the whole winter indoors, even though I didn't catch anything.  Really, I was more interested in seeing how well my Lumix DMC-LX5 camera would do taking photos out there!

These images were taken in RAW on Manual shooting mode and then processed in Adobe Lightroom 4.0.  As expected the camera did well as long as no bright light source was aimed directly at the lens.  When the sun finally came out, I tried shooting directly towards the lighthouse, but the lens flare was just too great to get any good photos.  I find this to be the biggest drawback to this camera's lens.  Other than that, the camera does a great job for such a small and compact camera!

I always shoot this camera in RAW format because the images come out so much better.  I post process all my images in Lightroom anyway, so why not shoot it in RAW?

To see what I see when out there, check out the video... also taken with the Lumix DMC-LX5.

I look forward to getting back out again in the near future!

Lightroom 4 is Shipping!

Lightroom 4 is now shipping!

I received my copy yesterday and installed it.  It's easy to figure out if you are familiar with Lightroom 3 already.  A couple of new modules have been added: a Book module and a Map module.  This should make laying out Photobooks really easy.  The new map module works with Google Earth so that you can easily find where your photos were taken, provided you have implemented a GPS with your camera.

Overall, Lightroom 4 seems to add a more powerful processing engine.  Controls seem able to make wider swings when the sliders are moved.  This should allow for some heavy duty modifications to fix images.  But because the new processing engine is more capable, computer system requirements are now more stringent too.  For Windows users, XP is no longer supported.  You need either Windows Vista or Windows 7 on your computer.  And for MAC users, your OS must be 10.6.8 (64-bit) or higher.

The nicest part though is that Adobe has drastically reduced the price of this software!  It is now available for only $159.  The academic discount version is only $79!!  Because I want my students to learn how to fix their images, I've dropped my training on Lightroom to $125.  And for continuing education students, it's available for only $60 for a two hour session.  We'll concentrate only on the Library and Develop modules during that time... the two modules that will likely be the most used.  And, for a limited time, I have the training at an even lower price!  Contact me for that!

Peter Frampton Reunites with his Lost Gibson Les Paul Guitar After 32 Years!

After 32 years, guitarist Peter Frampton is reunited with his lost 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar!  Read the story here on his 2/12/12 post.



Frampton talks about his lost guitar.

 
How they found the guitar.

Shtuff People Say To Photographers

An Unfortunate Choice of Vehicle Number

On my way to the photography school, I found myself behind an Animal Welfare vehicle.

While I appreciate what our law enforcement officers do (since I also worked in law enforcement in the past), I just thought that the vehicle number for this truck was an unfortunate choice in at least two different ways.

Can you tell why?

Nikon Announces the new Nikon D800 and D800E Cameras!

 
Nikon has announced the new D800 and D800E cameras... 36.3 MP! The selling prices will be $2999.95 and $3299.95 respectively. This camera won't have the speed of a D4, but is much more suited to those who want the ultimate in high-res images. It clearly beats out the D3x (Nikon's former flagship 24.5 MP, $7999.95 camera) at a fraction of its price.

This camera is not for everyone. It's a large megapixel camera that will make files that are about 76.5MB in size and will only shoot at a maximum frame rate of 4 FPS. I can't see a typical wedding photographer really wanting this, but I'm sure some will go for it.

For me, it makes more sense today than the D4. Having a D3 and the D800 would be a great combination for me. Use the D3 when I need fast shooting in the field with relatively good image quality, but use the D800 when the ultimate image quality is desired without need for fast shooting speed. I see this as a great studio camera. The question is whether to get a D800 or a D800E!

The D800E removes the anti-aliasing filter (which usually is used to control moiré.) This means images might exhibit moiré  problems, but the removal of the filter also means a more detailed image quality too... something that will rival medium format digital cameras.

Time will tell which of these two cameras will eventually end up in my camera case, but I can already see myself buying one of these. I'll keep the D3 at this point and add to it with the D800 or D800E.

Release dates are March and April, but I'm in no real hurry to get one. I'm going to be watching and reading the reviews as others play with the camera first.

Images borrowed from the internet.

Fishing Charter and Photography Coming Soon!

I am planning on doing a couple of fishing trips combined with photography lessons soon for my students.

I was recently in contact with the captain of the Lucky Dog Charters to start setting up a trip or two for my students.  A maximum of six people can legally be onboard (besides the captain) for any given trip.  So I'll need five students besides myself to go on the six hour charter.

The cost will be $195 per student and will cover the cost of chartering the boat for a maximum of 6 hours (could be less if we catch our limit of fish) and covers the cost of tuition for the photography instruction.

Here's where I think this is really cool.  You'll have 6 hours to hang with me to discuss fishing and photography.  You'll come back with some great photos of our fishing trip out on Lake Michigan and hopefully a bunch of Salmon to take home as well!  Considering the cost of salmon today, this is actually a pretty sweet deal!  Plus, you'll get 6 hours to ask me questions on various photography topics!  Can't beat that!

If you are interested in joining in the fun, please contact me about it.  I hope to do the first trip in late April or early May 2012.  If all goes well, I will plan another for later in the summer too.  No fishing experience necessary.  Bring your own camera gear!  And don't forget to take either Dramamine or put a "patch" behind your ear for seasickness!  The boat rocks out there and without medication, you can easily get seasick.  All fishing tackle is included in the price.  A daily fishing license to fish out on Lake Michigan is also included.

Fish on!

Is HDR Appropriate For Documentary Photography?

The Washington Post ran a story and published an HDR image on its front page which prompted the president of the National Press Photographers Association to claim that "HDR is not appropriate for documentary photojournalism."

I disagree.

Used judiciously and correctly, HDR can be more close to what we really see than non-HDR photos.  But we have all seen images where HDR is processed way too much to the point where the image looks beyond what some may view as an acceptable photograph.  In this case, I'd agree with the NPPA president.

It's an interesting debate.  Click here to read a response from one of the HDR software companies' presidents regarding this.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! - Happy Chinese New Year - "Year of the Dragon"

Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year!

"Gung Hay Fat Choy!"

New Nikon D4 Just Announced!

Nikon has announced today the new Nikon D4 camera.  At nearly $6000, this is not a camera for the faint of heart!  Super fast burst speeds, high ISO, video... it's going to be pretty sweet!

Images borrowed from the internet.