Category: software & equipment

2009-03-12

Next Lens After the Cheap Kit Lens

This is an e-mail from a friend of mine and I could not help but put a couple of my comments to it here online so that more people could benefit from it.

[My wife] got the D40, it was an eBay buy. I wish that we had a better lens, it came with a lower end model. We are saving up and hoping to get a better one soon, they are all just so stinking expensive. It has been great, though, being able to catch those moments with [our kid] that you normally wouldn’t because of the slow shutter speed on the point and shoot digital. I know there are some ways to tweaking the camera so you can get a little better shot out of it, but I haven’t had the chance to play with it enough.

What new lens should my friend buy? Are there some not so expensive lenses out there for amateur photographers on a limited budget? I have just the answer.

keep readingNext Lens After the Cheap Kit Lens
2009-01-31

RawStudio is the New Way to Go

I have only begun to use it, but RawStudio has become my new “go-to” program for photo workflow. “Workflow?,” you may ask. Well, let me explain briefly.

The digital age has made workflow an even bigger problem than before. Now, even my mother comes home from a family reunion with a few hundred photos. What happens to so many photos then? For most of us, we put them on our computer, the hundreds become thousands, and by the time we actually want or need to use some of those photos, we cannot build up the motivation to dig through them. Workflow seeks to solve this problem.

RAWstudio raw photo workflow software

Now, RAWstudio (as you can see by the name) is for folks who shoot in RAW format instead of JPG. It is also available for Linux or Mac OS X. So, if you use a PC, I guess you will have to dish out a chunk of cash to get a program that does the same thing. So, anyway, if all you shoot is JPG, you might just tune out now. No worries…catch you next time.

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2009-01-29

Flash Took a Dive Underwater

I have had too few chances to use my umbrella flash set up. Most of my shooting is still natural light (everyday life and such), but this past week, I have had two chances to take photos for a friend of mine who is graduating with his Master’s degree, and I figured that was the perfect opportunity to put my set up to the test in the field. And out comes the umbrella!

The first day, about a week ago, things went ok…not great, but lessons learned. I also wanted to field test a pair of Cactus triggers. “What are those,” you might ask? With those, I can remote trigger my flash via radio (i.e. no cords). Those ended up incredibly frustrating, to be honest. They did not fire very consistently. When you read through discussions about these on Flickr, some folks love them and some hate them. They are consistent for some folks and inconsistent for others. For me, when they are needed, the break. When I am goofing around, they work flawlessly.

Wait, this was about the flash. I will get back to the story.

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2009-01-05

Event Photography Tips

Do you need to shoot an event? A conference? Meetings? Even if you are not a paid photographer for some event, are you just the one folks turn to for that spur of the moment shot of a guest speaker that nobody guessed would be as good as he was?

Here are some tips, gleaned both from experience and a podcast which inspired me to write this stuff down. It has been so long since I have listened to the show, I cannot remember what from my notes was the guest’s idea and what was mine.

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2008-12-30

What Camera Has the Brightest Viewfinder?

The viewfinder is probably the most undervalued component of our cameras. It is the primary interface of the camera, yet most of us put up with a shrunken and dim viewfinder. The rest of the buttons and adjustments are secondary.

Recently, I was reading up a little on “bright” viewfinders to try to figure out what that was all about. I initially thought it had something to do with the percentage of coverage or the viewpoint, which spec sheets (sometimes) state, but I found out it does not. Once I figured things out a little, I decided to go and do some brightness tests on my own with some of the full-frame digital cameras out there (5D, a900, D700, 5DmII). Here is what I found.

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2008-12-12

How To Choose a Compact Camera

I went through a process just recently that I see as one of the most common questions asked: “What camera do I buy?” In the last entry, I happened to have answered the same question, but for people looking at entry-level SLRs. This time, I am talking only of compact or point-and-shoot cameras. Of course, we all want something a little different, but I will try to keep this to what I would consider the essentials.

So, that is the first question. What is essential in a compact camera? Honestly, all we wanted was something small to do videos of our children since I am already carrying around my camera for the photographs. I think we can safely put the video issue aside, though, because almost all compact cameras take the same quality of video. What is the most important part of any camera? Image quality.

My search was to find the best compact camera possible, but not to pay a huge price for it. My research labors where not in vain.

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2008-12-10

Photo Gear Give Away

Are you interested in free stuff like me? See, I love to give my services away to folks who just need photography, and not shooting under somebody else’s pay means I can shoot whatever I want. It really is a great way to do photography; I can strive to be professional, but am not creatively cramped by an employer’s constraints. The downside, though, is I never have money to buy new equipment. So, I unashamedly look for free stuff. Contests? You bet…I am all over So, I found out Cameratown was having a 5th anniversary celebration and has some great giveaways. The Pentax camera would be nice, but I like my camera more, to be honest. I could really use some of those camera bags, though. So, not only am I entering for some prizes myself, but letting you all know so you can do so. Free: best price in…

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2008-11-22

Which Nice Digital Camera Should I Buy, D40 or D60?

I just answered this question from a friend of mine, and figured it might be helpful to more of you out there. She writes:

I am looking at getting a nice digital camera. I am looking at the Nikon D40 and the Nikon D60. I really like the price of the D40, but I want something that is going to be good and that I will enjoy for a while. I am not necessarily sold on Nikon, it just what I know. So, any thoughts on my purchase would be greatly appreciated.

You are looking at the D40 and D60, but are not even brand particular. What should you buy? Here is my simple answer: if the question is which of those two, I would go for the D40, any day (or maybe a Pentax…they have great, cheap cameras). I have shot the D40 myself and love it for just shooting around. You will probably never use all the features of the D40, so paying more for more features in the newer D60 really would not make much sense, unless there was one feature in particular which was important to you which only the D60 had. And as for the megapixel size, it does not really matter that much. The D40’s six megapixels are more than enough for your needs…my camera is only 6MP!

There is my simple answer. Maybe that answers your question. If you want to know more, here is my slightly longer answer.

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2008-07-01

New Wedding Photography Gallery Up

I took a slightly different approach to this wedding, in my ever evolving approach to photography gigs. With each wedding, I have been trying to add services to what I can provide for a wedding shoot. This time, the big thing I did was to provide the photography online so that guests of the wedding—well, of course, for the couple themselves too—could view the wedding photos without needing to wait weeks just to see an album in person with the couple.

That is why the photos, though taken way back in February, are just now hitting the gallery. I had them online for the guests, and waited to give them more than enough time to browse through those, before I took them down and created the gallery. Just between you and me: it was taking up a good bit of space for the website, and I had to take them down sometime. 🙂

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2008-06-21

To Regain My Perspective