Circle of Life?

Another landscape self portrait in a long series of shots from the great state of Texas!

Circle of Life – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 19mm, f/14 for 1/15th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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Shooting Canon’s 70-200mm f/4L USM Lens

As most of you know, I shoot regularly with Canon’s EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens and have always found it to be an incredibly sharp and versatile little lens. Sometimes however, you just need a little more “reach” than this lens provides so I turn to another of my all-time favorite telephoto zooms, the EF 70-200mm f/4L USM and it’s younger brother the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM.

I’ve always loved Canon’s telephoto zoom lenses in the “70-200mm” range and shot extensively with an old FD 70-210mm on my F-1N body in the days before digital. The EF 70-200mm lenses are both extremely sharp throughout their zoom range as you can see below in the MTF charts. I’d love to shoot the f/2.8L version of this lens but the price, size and weight convinced me to stick with the f/4 version. I also settled on the newer, image stabilized lens so I could use it for landscape and commercial (hand-held) work.

I’ve got to say that this is one impressive lens. The size and weight are just about perfect for my 5D2 body and using the “Tripod Mounting Ring A II” the combination balances effortlessly on my Gitzo tripod. This is probably the sharpest Canon zoom I’ve ever shot with and the extra “reach” really helps cover those shots I was missing before.

Lower McKinney Falls – Austin, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on manual (M) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 85mm, f/20 for 0.4 seconds at ISO 100. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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No lens is perfect but this little beauty is close. My only gripes are that the image stabilization system is somewhat loud compared to my EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and my EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lenses and that the ET-74 lens hood is very narrow and deep. This makes adjusting a CP filter a bit of a pain when shooting.

And finally, the price difference between the “IS” version and “non-IS” version is just plain wrong ($1135 versus $589). The two lenses are optically very similar and I just can’t imagine that adding image stabilization could double the price. I suspect that Canon has been selling the “non-IS” version at too low a price for many years now and is trying to make up some of the profit on the “IS” version.

Other than that, Canon’s EF 70-200mm f4L lenses are absolutely superb in terms of sharpness, size/weight and value (especially the non-IS version at less than $600 USD) and I highly recommend either of these two lenses for landscape, portrait or commercial photography. You won’t be disappointed.

Trucking Along – Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas

The human body is not the only thing that the desert is rough on!

Trucking Along – Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 28mm, f/14 for 1/80th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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Basin Storm – Big Bend National Park

Some photographs take months of planning, hours of preparation and minutes of execution. Others happen at the drop of a hat and it’s only through luck that the image was captured at all. Most, however, fall somewhere in between these two extremes and the luckiest photographers seem to be those that prepare the hardest.

Take this image for example. Jack and I had been following a line of small storm clouds running along the US / Mexico border for several hours hoping to catch a developing thunderstorm or at least some rainfall. These clouds had led us on a merry little chase along the “River Road” (FM 170) when they turned sharply east and headed toward the “Basin” in Big Bend National Park.

We drove through the park hoping to get ahead of the storm as it built up along the Chisos Mountains but it outpaced our best efforts. Knowing that we couldn’t catch the storm, we drove along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and decided to head for some higher ground we had scouted the day before. I quickly setup my camera and tripod on a small rise facing the mountains and followed the storm as it swept across the Chisos basin and headed southeast towards Mexico. If we hadn’t have scouted this area the day before as a potential location we would never have had the time to get these shots before the storm moved off. Our few hours of preparation and planning paid off in spades!

Basin Storm – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 47mm, f/15 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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Evening Lookout

Evening Lookout at Sotol Vista – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 21mm, f/16 for 1/30th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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Canon’s Auto Exposure Bracketing Explained

Canon has made serious improvements in the Auto Exposure Bracketing in the EOS 50D / 60D / 7D and 5D2 although they still lack the ability to take more than three bracketed exposures at a time. Today, only the much more expensive EOS 1D Series cameras allow for more than three bracketed exposures. In these newer EOS models, Canon has combined Auto Exposure Bracketing with Exposure Compensation in a way that should make photographers working with HDR (high dynamic range) techniques very happy.

As you can see in this image, photographers can now use this feature to easily shoot a series of bracketed exposures covering the histogram from -4 EV to +4 EV in increments as fine as 1/3rd stop. For my own architectural HDR work I generally use the following series of nine exposures to provide the maximum dynamic range. I can take four continuous bursts of three bracketed exposures (I generally delete the three duplicate exposures) in less than 10 seconds.

Many of the latest EOS models have a new “function” button that can be set to display the EC/AEB settings as shown above. Once the EC/AEB settings are displayed I take the first set of three bracketed exposures with the camera set on continuous burst (high) with EC set at +2 EV. The three bracketed exposures take less than 1 second.

I then change the exposure compensation to +1 EV using the Quick Control Dial, hit the set button and take the next set of 3 bracketed exposures. Again, this takes less than 1 second. I continue this process two more times at -1 EV and -2 EV and end up with 12 exposures taken in less than 10 seconds. Its not as automated as using a Nikon D3 or D300 but it works fine for me.

EC Value  |  AEB Amount
+2 EV  |  +/- 2 EV = +4 EV, +2 EV, 0 EV
+1 EV  |  +/- 2 EV = +3 EV, +1 EV, -1 EV
-2 EV  |  +/- 2 EV = -4 EV, -2 EV, 0 EV
-1 EV  |   +/- 2 EV = -3 EV, -1 Ev, +1 EV

Results
-4 EV, -3 EV, -2 Ev, -1 EV, 0 EV, +1 EV, +2 EV, +3 EV, +4 EV

Do I really need nine exposures for my HDR work? Probably not, but I’ve yet to find an architectural situation where nine exposures didn’t adequately cover the entire dynamic range,  so for me this technique works perfectly. Its one more reason why the newer EOS cameras are a welcome upgrade from the previous models.

My basic HDR setup is fairly standard.
1) Camera on tripod, lens with AF on, IS off.
2) Set the AF point to ONE point, not “auto”.
3) Focus on the subject and set the lens’ AF to off (manual focus)
4) Take the bracketed exposures.
5) Review the histograms to make sure the entire dynamic range is covered.
6) Process in Photomatix Pro.

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The Deep Desert

Folks visiting Big Bend National Park for the first time are often confounded by the “scale” of the deep desert. Distances are tough to judge without a map or GPS. Gradual hills that look like a simple climb from the road become significant challenges to your hiking and climbing abilities. Your pack seems ten times as heavy in the desert and that “extra” water that you packed becomes a life saving necessity.

The deep desert in Big Bend National Park looks pristine and inviting from the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive but up-close it’s whole different adventure; one that tests your skill, endurance and stamina. But for me (and my guide Jack) the reward is well worth the effort.

Where else can you stand alone in a world of 7 billion people?

Deep Desert – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 65mm, f/14 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5.
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Terlingua Thunder Clouds

Thunder Clouds Approaching – Terlingua, Texas
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 40mm, f/14 for 2 seconds at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
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