Cloudscape – Kinglsand, Texas

Here’s a simple shot that illustrates a key concept in landscape photography; patience!

Cloudscape – Kingsland, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105m f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 40mm, f/13 for 1/4th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

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A few years ago a friend told me about a great spot for landscape photography hiding in plain sight in the Texas Hill Country. Kingsland is a quiet bedroom community stretching along the shores of the Colorado and Llano Rivers at the point where they merge to form Lake LBJ. It’s a short drive west from Marble Falls on Ranch Road 1431 to a wonderful spot overlooking Packsaddle Mountain to the west.

It takes perseverance to find a good location and a great deal of patience to wait until the light is just right. I find that on almost every photographic outing I’ll waste 20% to 30% of my shots way too early in the evening before the light has had time to saturate and the evening clouds to form.

If you’re anything like me, you want to setup as quickly as possible and start shooting that wonderful location you’ve driven so far to find. Patience you see, does not come naturally to most of us and learning to wait is just not in my Irish nature. But I’m learning and these days I’ll usually pack a light-weight folding chair and a good paperback so that I can sit comfortably while waiting for the light.

Sunsets take time. They begin with a little warmth and glow and slowly evolve into deeply saturated reds, yellows and blues. After 30 – 40 minutes more they deepen to ambers, indigos and violets and sometimes when the atmosphere is just right they sky may begin to glow a rich, deep purple before turning to true black.

So the next time you’re out looking for some great sunset shots, remember to be patient. Take one or two shots every tens minutes or so and plan to stay put for at least two hours. Let nature take it’s course and enjoy the wonderful show.

Life is too short!

Waiting for the Light

Nature and landscape photography are not for everyone. It takes perseverance to find a good location and a great deal of patience to wait until the light is just right. I find that on almost every outing I’ll waste 20% to 30% of my shots taken way too early in the evening before the light has that golden warmth to it.

If you’re anything like me, you want to setup as quickly as possible and start shooting that wonderful location or subject you’ve driven so far to find. Patience you see, does not come naturally to most of us and learning to wait is just not in my Irish nature. But I’m learning and these days I’ll usually pack a light-weight folding chair and a good paperback so that I can sit comfortably while waiting for the light.

Sunsets take time. They begin with a little warmth and glow and slowly evolve into deeply saturated reds, yellows and blues. After 30 – 40 minutes more they deepen to ambers, indigos and violets and sometimes when the atmosphere is just right they sky may begin to glow a rich, deep purple before turning to true black.

So the next time you’re out looking for some great sunset shots, remember to be patient. Take one or two shots every tens minutes or so and plan to stay put for at least two hours. Let nature take it’s course and enjoy the wonderful show. Life is too short!

Late Afternoon Overlook – Kingsland, 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. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/13 for 1/8th of a second at ISO 100 on Sandisk digital film. Post capture processing was done entirely in Lightroom 2.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

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Understanding the Differences Between Canon’s EF and EF-S Lenses

It’s been a while since I posted this article the first time so I thought it time to clear up a little misinformation I’ve seen floating around the web lately.

What is this Field of View Crop Factor (1.6x FOVCF) everyone keeps talking about and how does this affect my lens choices for the Canon DSLR cameras?

As you know the sensor in the new Rebels, EOS 60D and EOS 7D are much smaller than the full frame sensor found in Canon’s high-end DSLRs like the EOS 5D Mark II and 1D Mark IV. The physical focal length is a optical measurement of a lens and does not change just because you mount it on a 1.6x FOVCF camera like the 60D or 7D, but the field of view the lens exhibits certainly does.

For example, if you are looking for a field of view that a 50mm lens provides on a full-frame DSLR body like the 5D Mark II, you’ll probably want a 35mm lens on your 60D since 1.6 x 35mm = 56mm. The lens is still a 35mm lens, but the final image captured by your 60D will only include a crop of the lens’ complete image.

Wildlife photographers really love the benefit of using high crop factor (1.6x) DSLRs like the 60D or 7D since they can achieve tight subject framing from a greater distance or from the same distance with a shorter, less expensive lens. Using an EF 500mm f/4 L IS USM telephoto lens on a 60D yields the same field of view as an 800mm f/4 IS USM lens would on a 5D Mark II.

So where does the EF-S lens fit in this?

Canon developed the EF-S series lenses (the “S” stands for short back focus) with the rear element of the lens closer to the image sensor than on the EF series lenses. They also matched the image circle of these lenses to the APS-C sensor size. This design enables EF-S lenses to be made smaller, lighter and less expensive. A perfect match for their consumer and prosumer grade DSLR cameras.

Canon EF-S lenses are designed specifically for the 1.6x FOVCF DSLR bodies but still require the same 1.6x crop factor to be applied as the standard Canon EF Lenses to get the equivalent field of view comparison. Again, this is because the physical focal length of the lens is the same, regardless of which camera it’s mounted on.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is a great example of a well designed EF-S series lens. It provides a field of view similar to what Canon’s popular EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM and EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM do on a full frame camera like the 5D Mark II.

Combining Work and Pleasure

It’s not often you get to combine work and pleasure, even for a photographer that loves his work. This is especially true for most landscape photographers that would much rather be hiking and photographing in Big Bend National Park or Palo Duro Canyon State Park rather than shooting commercial assignments on location or in a studio. Sometimes however, you get the chance to photograph the great outdoors without having to drive 500 miles to find a suitable location. Yes, even a blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn!

Sugar Creek Country Club Jones #1 – Sugar Land, 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 50mm, f/16 for 1/15th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

Sugar Creek Country Club Jones #3 – Sugar Land, 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/16 for 1/13th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

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Canon’s Back Button Focus Explained

Canon DSLR cameras like the EOS 50D, 60D, 7D and 5D Mark II have an option to change the way auto focus is activated. This setting lets you customize the camera so that auto focusing is initiated by pressing the rear “AF-ON”  button with your right thumb instead of by half pressing the shutter button. “Back-Button Focus” as its called, offers several advantages such as making it easier to lock focus, making it easier to override auto focus with lenses that provide full-time manual focus and making it possible to switch between focus lock and focus tracking when in AI Servo mode.

Activating “Back-Button Focus” is done on the EOS 5D Mark II by changing C.Fn IV-1 to one of the settings shown below. I’ll attempt to explain what each of these mean since they definitely seem a little confusing at first.

0: Metering + AF start
This is the default setting where you activate the camera’s meter and AF by pressing the shutter button half-way down OR by pressing the rear “AF-ON” button.

1: Metering + AF start / AF stop:
Again, you activate the camera’s meter and AF by pressing the shutter button half-way down but now, pressing the rear “AF-ON” button locks the focus. Focus is unlocked by removing your thumb from the “AF-ON” button. This is very useful when shooting in “AI Servo” mode when you need to switch from “AI Servo” to “One Shot” mode back and forth. (Hint: This is the setting I use most often for birds in flight)

2: Metering start / Meter + AF start:
The shutter button no longer activates auto focus, but still fires the shutter. Auto focus is activated solely by pressing the “AF-ON” button. There’s no locking of exposure, unless you separately press the “AE Lock” button.

3: AE Lock / Metering + AF start:
Auto focus is activated solely by pressing the “AF-ON” button. The difference between this setting and option 2 is that when you press the shutter button half-way, your exposure is locked and won’t change until you pull your finger off the button entirely. If you shoot a burst of pictures in any auto exposure mode, the exposure setting used for the first shot is used for each subsequent shot.

4: Metering + AF start / Disable
This is the same as the first option except the rear “AF-ON” button is completely disabled. I suppose this protects you from accidentally pressing the “AF-ON” button (Hint: Dumb setting since this rarely happens).

East Texas Beauty – Angelina National Forest

Not all of Texas is desert and canyons and in fact, much of East Texas is filled with tall pine forests such as the Angelina National Forest, the Davy Crockett National Forest, the Sabine National Forest and the Sam Houston National Forest. These four national forests cover over 500,000 acres spread over ten different Texas counties and include some of the beautiful hiking trails you can imagine.

My favorite is the Angelina National Forest near Jasper, Texas which includes the beautiful Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Angelina National Forest Lakeshore – Jasper, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 28mm, f/9 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray LB warming polarizing filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

Angelina National Forest Lakeshore – Jasper, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 32mm, f/20 for 6 seconds at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray Vari-ND-Duo filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5.
Click on the image above for a larger version.

More Adventures in Palo Duro Canyon

Another great thing about hiking in Palo Duro Canyon State Park is the freedom you have to explore to your heart’s content. Trails run throughout the park with miles and miles of some of the most interesting geology in the state. During the spring and fall, you can spot groups of geology students wandering through the park with their Brunton Geo’s recording the “strike and dip” of the rock formations in their Moleskin notebooks.

For photographers the canyon trails offer wonderful vistas to capture around every bend. Hiking with a photographer has it’s drawbacks however, since we’re prone to sudden stops and long periods of waiting for the light or clouds to become “just right” during our quest for the perfect exposure. Most avid bikers will avoid a photographer like the plague, since these periods of waiting are contrary to their very nature.

Whatever your reason for visiting the canyons, encountering a scene like this makes the trip to the Texas panhandle worth every dime you’ve spent on gas!

Hiking to Fortress Cliff – Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using a TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/18 for 1/10th of a second at ISO 100 with a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.

Click on the image above for a larger version.

First Sign of Spring (Cheating)

I’ve driven out to Brenham in search of the wildflowers for the past three weekends and we’ve had the most pitiful weather for landscape and nature photography. It’s been either completely overcast or not a cloud in the sky. Both ends of the spectrum are not the best for shooting wildflowers. So until I can complete my mission, here a couple of shots taken last year near the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in Eagle Lake, Texas.

First Sign of Spring – Eagle Lake, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens hand-held. The exposure was taken at 200mm, f/4 for 1/200th of a second at ISO 100 using a circular polarizer. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Another Sign of Spring – Eagle Lake, Texas
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens hand-held. The exposure was taken at 200mm, f/4 for 1/500th of a second at ISO 100 using a circular polarizer. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.