Bird Photography – Flying Solo

Here’s a shot I took last December at the Brazos Bend State Park near Needville, Texas. It’s unusual to see a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck flying alone. There are usually hundreds of them on this pond and when one takes off, they all take off.

I have a small confession to make about this image. I cheated a little in post by using Alien Skin’s “Bokeh“ plug-in filter in Photoshop CS4 to blur the background. This has the intended effect to make the bird appear much sharper than it really is.

It’s a great little trick you can use on any image with a diffuse background but many wildlife photographers and most nature photography magazines frown on this practice since it’s not “natural”. Well, I’m no photojournalist and for me it beats having to spend $5000 on a fast super-telephoto lens.

Flying Solo
Copyright © 2008 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 300mm f/4 L IS USM + EF 1.4x Extender monopod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 420mm, f/5.6 for 1/500th of a second at ISO 100 on SanDisk digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 using Alien Skin’s “Bokeh” plug-in filter. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Bird Photography – Odd Man Out

So here’s a quick post from an image taken last December. I stood and watched these whistling ducks for over an hour before this White Ibis decided to crash the party. I never grow tired of watching nature tell a story. It’s very important to slow down while you’re out shooting and wait for the story to unfold. Trust me on this folks. You won’t be disappointed.

Odd Man Out
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 300mm f/4 L IS USM + EF 1.4x Extender monopod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 420mm, f/6.7 for 1/350th of a second at ISO 100 on Sandisk digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro plug-in filter. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Texas Landscape Safari Update

It’s finally raining here in Texas and that means the Texas Landscape Safari will be taking place as planned on October 19th – 21st, 2009. This not your usual photography workshop. It’s more like a bunch of friends getting together to share their love of landscape photography and help each other grow as serious amateur photographers. It’s a chance to visit and photograph some of the most beautiful spots in the Texas Hill Country and to learn some basic techniques to enhance your landscape photography behind the camera and in the digital darkroom. The price of this workshop is $250 per person (price includes instruction only). I charge just enough to cover my expenses and if you’re not completely exhausted (but satisfied) at the end of the workshop, I’ll gladly refund your money!

For more information or to register, please contact me via email using the “Contact Me” page located on this blog.

We will be shooting at the following state parks and key locations during the four day / three night workshop.

• Colorado Bend State Park – Bend, Texas
• Inks Lake State Park – Burnet, Texas
• Longhorn Cavern State Park – Burnet, Texas
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area – Fredericksburg, Texas
• Pedernales Falls State Park – Johnson City, Texas
• McKinney Falls State Park – Austin, Texas

We will be staying overnight at the following locations to be as close to the action as possible.

• Holiday Inn Express – Lampasas, Tx on Sunday October 18, 2009
• Best Western Marble Falls Inn – Marble Falls, Tx on Monday October 19, 2009
• Best Western Johnson City Inn – Johnson City, Tx on Tuesday October 20, 2009

Gorman Falls Morning – Colorado Bend State Park, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM tripod-mounted with a Singh-Ray Vari-ND neutral density filter attached. The exposure was taken at 40mm, f/16 for 0.8 seconds at ISO 100 on Sandisk digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Photographic Inspiration

An email came in yesterday from a reader asking where I found my photographic inspiration, especially now in the middle of a statewide drought. Under conditions like this it’s easy to become creatively lethargic since all the “low hanging fruit” of your creativity has been picked clean.

My inspiration comes from many sources including other blogs, books and magazines. Even though several portions of central Texas are under severe drought there are still some great photographic opportunities to be had. Texas is a big place and the upper lakes region of the Colorado river (Inks Lake, Lake LBJ) seem to be doing much better than other areas west of Austin. There are several really great spots for sunrise and sunset shots around Marble Falls / Kingsland as well Enchanted Rock, which is beautiful at almost any time of the year.

Last weekend I went to Goliad to shoot the two Missions and got back with some really nice exposures like the image below. Later this week I’m headed back to the western edge of the Hill Country (Garner State Park, Lost Maples State Natural Area, Hill Country State Natural Area and the Guadalupe River State Park) to scout alternate locations for my fall workshop.

Mission Espiritu Santo in Goliad, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/16 for 1/50th of a second using a Singh-Ray 2-stop, graduated neutral density filter at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro filter. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Check out some of Wyman Meinzer‘s books on Amazon. He’s the best known Texas photographer and has travelled the state for years in all sorts of conditions. His images continue to inspire me daily. Pick up a copy of Texas Highways or Texas Parks & Wildlife magazines while you’re at it. There’s always two or three great spots featured in each issue.

If you really get stuck, try the local arboretums or even a nursery on a cloudy day. You can always get some great shots of flowers and plants in places like this. Even in the most bone-dry, barren areas, there are always photographic opportunities if you have an open and relaxed outlook. If you get really (Really) stuck, just send me an email. I’m more than happy to share any of my favorite spots in this great state of Texas!

Using Canon’s Tilt & Shift Lenses for Distortion Correction

In a post last week I discussed using Tom Neimann’s PTLens program to correct for barrel, pincushion and perspective distortions in your architectural images. Tom’s program and Photoshop plug-in filter are nothing lens than amazing at correcting distortions that are easy to overlook with the naked eye. For most of us, using PTLens is definitely the way to go.

There is another way to correct for perspective distortions however, using a “Tilt & Shift” lens such as Canon’s brand new TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II. Since I’m a newbie at using a Tilt & Shift lens I’ll leave the complete explanation and demonstration of this unique lens’ features to Bryan Carnathan at The-Digital-Picture.com. Bryan does a much better job of explaining the technical aspects of this unique lens than I ever could.

I was fortunate enough to be able to try out this lens last Saturday during a shoot in Goliad, Texas. I started by setting up my tripod and taking a few quick shots of Goliad’s historic courthouse using my EF 24-105mm zoom at 28mm.

As you can see in this image, the top of the courthouse seems to lean away from you and the vertical lines tend to converge. This is typical perspective distortion caused by the wide-angle lens being tilted up to capture the entire building in the frame.

Correcting this using a Tilt & Shift lens is very simple. You first level your camera on the tripod (which cuts off the top of the building in the frame) and then simply turn the shift knob until the building “shifts” down and into the frame as shown in the final image below. I finished this image very simply using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro plug-in filter. I find that most architectural images look best in black & white.

Historic Courthouse in Goliad, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/16 for 1/20th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro filter. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Shooting with Canon’s TS-E 24mm Tilt & Shift Lens

Happy Saturday Morning Folks!

I trust everyone is enjoying the start of the weekend and looking forward to getting out and taking some great shots. I know I am, and this weekend I’ll be trying out one of Canon’s newest L Series lenses, the TS-E 24mm f/3.5 II.

I’ve been waiting several weeks to get my hands on this little beauty and I’ve got a perfect location picked out to run this baby through it’s paces. I’ll be heading back to Goliad, Texas the birth place of the republic to shoot some 18th century architecture.

Having never used a tilt & shift lens before I’m looking forward to seeing how well this technology works in correcting perspective distortion in architectural photography. I’m sure I’ll have lots to report on in next week’s posts.

Have a great weekend!

Comparing the Canon 5D Mark II, 7D and 50D

Unless you’ve been living off world for the past few days, you know that Canon has introduced a new DSLR camera, the EOS 7D. In the coming days there will be reviews galore posted on the various industry watching blogs with in depth discussions of this new model’s features and benefits. Folks that recently purchased the 50D or 5D Mark II may start to feel “buyers remorse” and “upgraders envy” over the perceived differences between their camera and the new 7D. The amount of forum traffic on DPReview.com will jump as folks begin to post their rants and raves about this new camera.

To help cut through some of the rhetoric I thought I’d post a quick and dirty comparison of the 5D Mark II, the 7D and the 50D cameras based upon the information currently available. Basically, the same comparison I recently posted on the new G11 and G10 cameras. Let me state for the record that this comparison is from a still photographer’s perspective only. The video capabilities of these cameras are cool but not where my interests lay.

List Price:
5D2 – $2700 (USD)
7D – $1700 (USD)
50D – $1200 (USD)

Sensor:
5D2 – FF (5616 x 3744) (21 MP)
7D – APS-C (5184 x 3456) (18 MP)
50D – APS-C (4752 x 3168) (15 MP)

Processor:
5D2 – DIGIC 4
7d – Dual DIGIC 4
50D – DIGIC 4

ISO:
5D2 – 50, 100 – 6400, 12800, 25600
7D – Auto, 100 – 6400, 12800(H)
50D – Auto, 100 – 1600, 3200(H), 6400(H), 12800(H)

Metering:
5D2 – 35 Area Eval, Center Weighted, Partial, Spot
7D – 63 Area Eval, Center Weighted, Partial, Spot
50D – 35 Area Eval, Center Weighted, Partial, Spot

Auto Focus:
5D2 – 9 Point / 6 Assist
7D – 19 Point (new technology)
50D – 9 Point

Exposure Compensation:
5D2 – -2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps
7D – -5 to +5 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps (really???)
50D – -2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps

Continuous Shooting:
5D2 – 3.9 fps
7D – 8 fps
50D – 6.3 fps

Raw Formats:
5D2 – RAW, sRAW1, sRAW2
7D – RAW, sRAW, mRAW
50D – RAW, sRAW1, sRAW2

Viewfinder:
5D2 – Pentaprism, 98% Coverage, 0.71x Mag
7D – Pentaprism, 100% Coverage, 1.00x Mag
50D – Pentaprism, 95% Coverage, 0.95x Mag

Battery:
5D2 – LP-E6 ($66 USD)
7D – LP-E6 ($66 USD)
50D – BP-511A ($46 USD)

Weight:
5D2 – 850g
7D – 860g
50D – 822g

Conclusions:
The flame wars have already started on the new EOS 7D as they do anytime Canon releases a new DSLR camera. The comparison between the 50D and the 7D is very easy to judge in most respects with the 7D offering some very compelling new features such as the increased resolution, the dual DIGIC 4 processors, the very high 8 fps continuous frame rate, the 100% viewfinder, the new metering system and the brand new auto focus system. If the high ISO performance of this new 18 MP sensor is at least as good as the 50D’s, then the new 7D is a sure fire winner for anyone looking for 1.6x crop body.

The comparison to the 5D Mark II is much more difficult, which is generally the case when comparing a full frame sensor to an ASP-C sensor. The single biggest difference between these two cameras is the huge difference in the size of the sensors and should not be underestimated. Having said that, the new 7D does have a much more modern auto focus and metering system, both of which would be very welcome on a future full frame model.

Final Thoughts:
In the words of David duChemin, “Gear is Good, Vision is Better”. It’s not the camera that makes the photograph, it’s the person behind the camera. Don’t get all caught up in the hype over a new camera. A new camera will NOT make you a better photographer. Only YOU can do that. And it’s not done by reading the rants and raves on every new piece of gear that comes out each week. So shut down that MacBook, grab your camera and get out there and make some magic happen!

Canon’s New EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens

Last month Canon quietly announced a new technology they called Hybrid Image Stabilizer, an optical image stabilization technology that compensates for both angle camera shake and shift camera shake. Yesterday morning they announced the first new lens which uses this technology, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macros IS USM.

This is Canon’s first image stabilized macro lens and they state that it features a 4-stop correction during normal shooting. According to their press release the lens includes low friction ceramic balls which support the moving elements when compensating for camera shake during macro shooting.

The Hybrid IS technology is supposed to correct shift movement and angular movement during macros shooting with 2 stops of image stabilization at 1.0x magnification. If these claims are true this will be a significant advantage for macro shooters and they may not need to lug around a tripod all day long.

The new lens also features ultra low dispersion (UD) elements that should correct chromatic aberration for high resolution, high contrast images and a nine blade circular aperture for really nice bokeh. The lens also includes a three position focus limiter to tailor the focus system range to the desired subject and dust and water resistant seals.

Given the fact that this new lens runs about $1050 (USD) and is over $400 (USD) more than the existing EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM costs, I would have at least expected Canon to throw in their customary lens pouch and hood, both of which must be purchased separately.

My friends at Adorama  have this lens available for preorder today if you’re interested. I’ll probably wait a few months and rent this lens to see if it lives up to the hype surrounding it’s launch. It’s the only L Series prime under 200mm to offer image stabilization and might make a very nice portrait lens with a fairly fast aperture (f/2.8) and good bokeh.