Douglas Barnes
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I use the stuff on two bodies. Love it! Keeps the sand and dirt to a minimum plus adds grip and comfort to a long day of shooting. Great for using a couple cameras at a time as it helps keep ’em protected while clanging around.
Eric, I like the fourth one the best also. Good stuff. All I can recommend is perhaps softening your strobe a little and adding a rim light off your left shoulder.
JayMorr, you’re too nice. Thank you my friend!
Matt beat me to it but yes, you can set the camera mounted ‘master’ to ‘off’ (—). You can also leave it on and set it way low to fill some shadows a titch. BTW, you can increase the commander mode range by using two SB800’s w/ a G. Fong type diffuser on the camera mounted 800 ‘master’, and keeping the window of the remote 800 (or 600) facing you. The 800 gives you lots more punch than the built in and you can aim it.
Here are a few samples of wireless flash rescuing the day and making people happy:
With the food shot, I simply had someone hold the diffused unit above and behind the plate and let the rest splash on the background w/ good results.
The night shot is obvious with a wizarded strobe (or three) illuminating the tent, fire and moonlight doing the rest. (With wizards, you can hit the button as many times as you like on night shots).
And finally on the third shot of the tent and dog, the tent (although white) was a black hole photographically with nowhere to put a stand/ strobe and still pull off a natural feel. And World Cast Anglers really wanted it to look more inviting to help sell their overnight trips etc. My ‘eureka moment’ was deciding to simply put the speedlight w/’fong’ right on the far wall nightstand, gel it really warm, and ‘voila,—> instant lantern. 😀
db
What a let down….it’s not even white! I guess it lacks the “L” factor.
This is the consumer grade 5200mm. The pro lens has a faster aperture and adds image stabilization for hand holding.
Plus the good coatings and a hood mount. lol
I’d be all over that thing but it’s Canon 😎
Good for waterfowl if there nesting. $hit, you could reach either coast from home with that thing!
Thanks Doug .. I didn’t think that Pictureline rented any film/video equipment (off camera audio, steady cam, and glidetrack type dolly), but I will be sure to check with them.
Ohh, for that stuff it’s Redman or MPL:
I use these guys a lot for big production shoots where I need extra gear. They’re primarily cinematic production oriented but offer still stuff like cameras,
Thanks for the great ideas and the conversation! Sounds like I have a lot to research over the next year 🙂 I’ll have to see if there is anywhere to rent this stuff local to try-before-you-buy…..
Have you tried Pictureline?
They rent cameras, lenses, you name it. Ask for Ken.
Great thread Cor!
Here is a good option for the price:
http://store.pictureline.com/manfrotto-7322yb-compact-tripod-w-ball-head.html
Err on the side of heavy (solid) with tripods. A lousy support does more harm than good.
Now that we have big sensor video capture with an assortment of lenses we already own, it looks like a fun thing
There’s something about blue-green tropical water (in Dec.) that really gets my motor running. Great stuff Zach!
On the Nikon front, the Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G AF-S VR is a serious steal – I had heard it was very good for the money, and I have to say that I am blown away by what it does. OK, so there are times when the 70-200 f2.8 is the one to use, but as a “go anywhere, travel light” kind of lens, the 70-300 is just awesome……
I tend to use it as a 70-200 if that makes sense – it seems to go pretty soft after about the 200mm point, but this is fine by me. Razor sharp, great colour and contrast.
Couldn’t agree more on the new 70-300VR. Super sharp and crispy while being light and inexpensive. I use it mainly on my D300 as it vignettes a little on the D700. Impresses me more me every time I use it and VR works great too. That lens was put through the paces yesterday shooting these images. Not much time to check focus and histograms while I hung my a$$ out of a helicopter. Faith baby, faith!
Great stuff Neal. I agree, just having a camera handy makes all the difference and P&S’s fit the bill nicely because they’re hopefully “right here in yer’ vest pocket”.
Mike, the best trick I’ve learned for these situations (and works w/ any camera) is to set the camera (tripod or not) on “continuous”, “burst”, or “auto bracket” mode. Hold the shutter button down for three-six frames in a row, then pick the sharpest image in post. By doing this you can minimize the “shutter punch” that plagues single shot, low-light, slow shutter speed images. If the shots are identical and focus is hard to judge, then go by file size. Your largest file is usually the sharpest (sharpness=information=data).
Hope this helps.
db
Dusty, yes I believe so.
However, I’m sure it wouldn’t happen at all if you took it off and used a proper hood (which is difficult with any lens while trying to use a polarizer). Save the CP for when you’re on the water. For example on a bonefish flat in the tropics where you want to cut through the glare, deepen the sky, and there’s tons of light to make up for the two stop loss.
Better yet bring me along and we’ll do an on site demo…. 😀
Loose the filters. Use your hood.
db
Dusty, were you using a wide angle lens? These can cause issues with polarizing filters >> lots ‘o’ sky. I would suggest to always view the effect through the lens, the 90deg. thing is just a guidline. Watch your subject for changes as they may be different depending on what you’re trying to achieve. If you want to kill a reflection, look right at the water/window/whatnot and rotate till you can see through it. Ya want the sky more blue, compose and watch your sky (through the vf) till its darkest, (or use Photoshop). Hit the DOF button and look again. Remember that it may be impossible to cut water reflection and deepen the sky in the same capture.
I would ultimately endorse not using a filter of any kind unless required. Especially with digital and of action.
Hope this helps.
Great stuff Corey! That top B&W shot of twin is awesome. For some reason it reminds me of something from an old movie. … 🙂
Tim
Me too. ‘A Touch of Evil’, opening shot.
Good stuff Cor!
