Photography
First wedding shoot, pretty pleased
On the weekend just passed I had the pleasure/ challenge of shooting my first wedding for some friends of mine, although it was only the reception and some family portraits beforehand.
Given the constraints I had from time for shooting, the large amount of people and combinations that they wanted, and dealing with weather conditions (quite windy and late afternoon sun) I’m relatively happy with the raw results from the camera.
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Throw some light on the subject..
I’ve been gearing up to purchase myself a Speedlite for quite some time by reading a few reviews and getting some advice from others in the industy, so this week I shelled out for Canon’s 43EXII.
Preview at www.Dpreview.com CLICK HERE
Luckily I got in before the coming price rise and also managed to bargan a substantial discount from the salesman at the time too.
Sigma 10-20mm First Shots
These shots were taken at lunch today, around Hobart’s waterfront.
Obviously not the best lighting at midday, but i wanted to see how the wide angle coped with some upward shots with overhead sun.
I must say, I can see this lens getting a lot of use. I love it’s width, and it doesn’t seem to suffer from any “softness” that is reported with some Sigma lenses. (Only out of correct focus, which was my fault for usinf a larger than intended aperture setting)
More New Gear On The Way
Since I began the journey into SLR land i’ve always been keen to get my hands on a good wide-angle lens, as my current, main lens is only as wide as 28mm, which may be fine on a 35mm or Full-frame DSLR, but on a Cropped-Sensor DSLR such as the 400D i have, it’s really only 44mm wide. which gives relatively poor results for taking great landscapes of shooting indoors.
So I set about hunting out a great deal on a good quality lens. I read countless reviews and lens lens tests on all the major players, such as
Canon’s EF-s10-22mm USM
Sigma’s 10-20mm EX-DC HSM
Tamron’s 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di-II
Tokina’s 12-24mm AT-X PRO DX
and also a number of different Canon EF Prime lenses.
Wedding Shots
I had the pleasure of attending one of my best friends’ wedding a few weeks ago.
Although they had their own photographer for the day, I did take it upon myself to try and get around some of the other guests for some candid shots of them enjoying the evening.
I will say that I have a new found respect for professionsal wedding/ function photographers as you have to try and deal with so many location and human difficulties when composing a shot in 1/50th of a second.
Such as distracting backgrounds, un-level surfaces/ walls, optical illusions, light sources (or lack thereof), the suitability of your own gear for the task (28mm on a 1.6 crop body is waay to narrow for indoor group shots, and F3.5 is waay to slow for a dimly lit room!!).
Anyway, after a decent amount of processing and culling of a LOT of terrible shots, here’s a few i’m happy to share.
See, distracting background, damn coffee machine!!
9 Mile Sunset
This one was taken on Saturday evening from Swanwick on the Freycinet Peninsula, looking west towards Swansea and 9 Mile Beach/ Dolphin Sands.
Shot with Canon 400D, Canon EF28-135mm, Tripod
Step Back in Time: The World of Film
I have recently picked myself up a bargain-priced, Canon EOS 30V 35mm film SLR. Which was released by Canon approximately at teh same time that my 400D Digital SLR was, and the added benefit is that all my lenses and future accessories will be compatible with both bodies. (With the exception of EF-S lenses).
The 30V also has a system called Eye Control Focusing. It works simply by “knowing” which part of the viefinder you are looking at, and it will focus on the nearest AutoFocus Zone to where you are looking.
Generally a point and shoot camera will focus at the centre of the image all the time. SLR cameras have multiple focus points that are usually selected manually by the user by pressing buttons, or the camera can automatically select the “best” point. But the Eye Control Focus lets the user slect the point manually by simply looking at the desired point of the frame.
For example if you’re shooting a group of people standing in a line, you would compose the image so as to fit everyone in the frame as desired, but if you want to highlight the focus on one particular individual, you would simply look at that person through the viewfinder and press the shutter release to take the image. Very neat system when used in the right places.
I have always loved the “suprise” of opening a pack of freshly printed photo’s that were shot with film, and there is something just plain fun about shooting film.
I also love black and white, especially for portraits or groups of people, which I feel digital lacks the character that B&W film can deliver. It also adds a little elegance to portraits, and also highlights the technical attributes of a picture. Rather than being reliant on bright/ saturated colours to grab your attention, your composition, lighting and perspective must do the attention grabbing instead.
Thanks to Nige Honey for suggesting I see Alan at PhotoForce in Hobart (free plug) to discuss what options for film would best suit my needs.
So hopefully I have somthing worthwhile to share in the near future.
The Eyes of EOS, reccomended reading
Yesterday i was loaned a book by a family friend,
“EF Lens Work III, The Eyes of EOS”
it’s a publication by Canon, which details the entire EF lens range as well as a world of information including -Choices of lenses for different types of photography
-Full Technical specifications on the EF and EF-S lenses
-Theory of light including, reflection, refraction, optics and lens theory
-Construction and technical operation of the IS (Image Stabalisation) and AF (AutoFocus) systems.
There is also a downloadable version (in parts) available for those unaware of books!!
It can be found HERE
From what i’ve read so far, it’s a brilliant learning resource combined with an array of Canons marketing material. It is even very beneficial for the non-Canon users out there who would like a little more depth into the how and why’s of lens operation and science.
Falling Apart
While on a lunchbreak at work i thought i’d take a leisurely walk around the local area with the camera and see if i could spot anything interesting worth shooting. I’m trying to expand my skills and process into architecture and after being inspired by some of Alex Wise’s, Balck and Whites (free plug!! you can find his blog on the sidebar over there >>>)
I saw some relatively interesting stuff, but the older buildings usually have a lot more character, and lend themselves to black and white a little more, due to the natural contrasts produced by their varying colours and textures. None moreso than Hobarts, Holy Trinity Church, which has recently fallen into disrepair with the sandstone begining to deteriorate, and evensome of the small spires falling to the ground below.
Shot with Canon 400D, EF28-135mm
Shot with Canon 400D, Ef28-135mm
Feel free to leave a comment or any advice you may have
Night Shoots
Every now and then I have some free time after the sun has gone down, simply to wander around and see what looks good under moonlight or streetlights.
Tonight I was on my way to a mates place and saw the Tasman bridge against a wonderful dark-blue sky.
There was another person who arrived a minute after i’d setup the tripod and taken a couple of shots, who decided to try and take some photo’s of the same scene with a point and shoot and with the flash on.
I wonder how his turned out??
Shot with Canon 400D, Canon EF28-135mm at 28mm, 13 second exposure
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