Larsonpics Blog

Always Go Back Through Old Photos

2010-08-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Like many photographers after spending a day in the field, I'm always anxious to see my photos when I get home. I do find, however, waiting for a period of time and then going back to old photo shoots give me an entirely fresh perspective. I can't tell you how many really good photos I have passed over on my first look. I took the following photo two months ago while shooting near Yosemite.

Before

After

At first glance the "Before" photo has a number of issues. The dynamic range is ridiculous. Because of this the foreground is under exposed and the background is over exposed. It's flat. My friend Jimmy is in the frame shooting in the background. There are telephone poles silhouetted on the horizon. There is a distracting nail on the top of the fence post. I certainly understand why this photo never stood out to me as a great photo. A second glance and experience has taught me that all of these issues are correctable in post processing. This is also a perfect example of why I always shoot RAW.

The "After" photo reveals the true potential of this photo. First of all, it tells a great story. Geometrically speaking it has a classic "S" curve emanating from the corner. The fence post is an absolutely wonderful foreground subject. Both the "S" curve and fence give the photo a great sense of depth and perspective.

Before I show how I turned this frog into a prince I would like to make a few comments about workflow and post processing. I'm not a strong advocate of a one-size-fits all workflow because every photo has unique problems and these problems might require you to adapt your workflow because of it. I think if you are too rigid with your workflow your photos will reflect this. Post processing, after all, is a creative process in which you are trying to convey a story as you perceived it. Ansel Adams forever changed the landscape of photography when he introduced the concept of "creative license" into his work. He showed the technical and artistic process does not end with the click of the shutter. This was, after all, his true genius. He was a pioneer in the true sense of the word. Photography purists will debate the historical merits of this, but I really think they are fooling themselves and others. I find that photos seldom reflect the scene as it was actually seen through a photographers eye. Take the photo above for instance. I can tell you for a fact that the camera in this instance did not capture what the actual scene looked like. If you don't believe me, try this exercise. Take a photo of a static scene and bring it up on your viewfinder. Now step back and look at the scene you just shot. Does it depict the scene exactly as your eyes see it? Unless you're working under very controlled lighting situations the photo will never 100% reflect the scene as your eyes perceive it and shooting a landscape photo is never a controlled lighting situation. This is not the fault of your camera or your technical abilities; although, I must say, they will both aid you in getting a photo with the most potential to capture the original scene. This is because your brain can automatically correct problems in the scene that your camera isn't capable of correcting. Because of this I use a very loose generalized approach to my workflow and adapt it to fit each situation.

I will show the steps I took in the transformation in my next post. Stay Tuned...

To Bee or not to Bee

2010-08-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around with the idea of getting some studio strobes. The finally shipping Alien Bee Einstein's are making that decision a little easier.

Take time and read this review from Rob Galbraith. The Einstein is a well-engineered strobe that uses IGBT to freeze action at lower power when used in action mode at the expense of slight color consistency. There are a couple of really great photos taken with the Einsteins in that review. Check it out.

Nikon Comes Out with 4 New Lenses

2010-08-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f1.4G
AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR
AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

The notable inclusions are the two fixed aperture lenses. I can find very little difference in technical specs between the existing 85mm f/1.4 lens and the old one that was released in 1993. They have updated the lens body to the new style body added Nano Crystal Coat and removed the aperture ring which will affect you only if you are using an older manual focus film camera. I didn't know if those things warrant a $350 price increase. Since the glass is basically the same speed I think if I had the old one, I would just keep using it. But that's me.

The 24-120mm f/4G ED VR is a big improvement over previous model. I sports a fixed aperture and better glass, but at about twice the price. I guess you get what you pay for.

Farmers Market -- Sights and Smells

2010-08-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

The local farmers market provides a great opportunity to take photos. Go early while vendors are setting up and the sun is still relatively low in the sky before all of the best photography subjects get purchased. Many vendors have white canopies which make great light diffusers. The colors are incredible and you can enjoy the subjects for years instead of just eating them. And it doesn't cost anything.
See the rest of my farmers market photos here.

Yosemite Trip Photos

2010-07-28T14:38:00.001-07:00

Yosemite is one of my favorite places to shoot. No matter how many times I've been there there is still something else new and exciting to shoot.

Consider Using Flash as Primary Light Source Instead of Fill

2010-07-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

How many times have you decided to leave the field because all the good light was gone. Here's a tip I learned on a recent trip to Yosemite from an experienced professional photographer named Joel Zwink. Joel showed me that you can use flash to shoot when you would have otherwise passed up the oppotunity because you thought lighting was poor. It was a great addition to my bag of tools.

The simple idea of using flash as your primary light source instead of ambient light during daylight shooting situations can serve to add depth and dimension to otherwise flat photos. You can use flash techniques to create separation between your foreground and background in the scene in otherwise difficult lighting situations. Of course, this only works when the foreground subject is within flash range. Dragging the shutter, or using rear sync, are both methods for bringing up an otherwise dark background, but how do you bring down a blown out background like the sky.

Joel pointed out to me that you can use your flash as the primary light source and create an incredible background by dialing in your shutter speed to get the exposure you like. The sunny 16 rule gives us a good starting point.

The sunny 16 rules simply states that on a sunny day at aperture f/16 you need to set your shutter speed to reciprocal of the ISO to get a proper exposure.

Set your ISO as low as it will go. Change your camera to manual mode and set your aperture to f/16. Start with a shutter speed of 1/100 and continue increase your shutter speed looking at exposure/histogram in between changes. Notice what the effect of changing your shutter speed has on the background. Since the flash will properly illuminate the foreground subject you need to dial in the background. Make sure your shutter speed is somewhere below your camera sync speed which is usually around 1/250. If you notice part of the image going black this is because your shutter speed has exceeded your cameras maximum sync speed. The Nikon SB-800 sports an Auto-FP mode that allows you to shoot extended shutter speeds, but I recommend trying to stay within the cameras default 1/250 Max Flash Sync setting. You can experiment with f/22 if your background is still too light. This technique is great when the foreground is very dark relative to the background. For instance, when your subject is in the shade but the background sky is blown out. In technical terms this technique effectively compresses the tonal range of foreground and background into a more manageable range for the camera.

Here are a couple examples of photos taken using my SB-800 flash during the middle of the day.

Flash Illuminated Pine Cone

Flash Illuminated Tufa F/16, ISO200, 1/250

Flash Illuminated Shady Log

My Camera Bag

2010-07-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Nikon D300
Nikon D700
Zeikos BATTERY GRIP f/NIKON D300/D700 - ZENBG300
AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR
SB-800 Flash
Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer II
AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II
Slik Pro 814 CF II Carbon Fiber Tripod
Manfrotto 468MG HYDROSTATIC BALL HEAD w/RC2
Tamarac 5584 Expedition Series Backpack
Remote Shutter Release w/timer (Hong Kong)
Assorted Cokin ND Grad Filters and 77MM holder
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3
Photomatix
Imagenomic Noiseware

Professional Photo Mounting

2010-07-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

I am offering professionally mounted signed prints for $300.

This is a museum quality mount that includes the following:

24 x 16 professional Bay Labs printed Lustre/Matte print using Kodak Supra Indura paper
Black wood frame with silver lip
Pure white museum 4 ply cotton rag mat border
Photo professionally dry mounted on same mat board
U/V Acrylic Glass

If you are interested in ordering prints Email me at mike.larson@gmail.com

Yosemite Photography Trip - Research

2010-02-20T15:54:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to Yosemite Valley. I wanted to visit Yosemite during the winter because the crowds are down and there are many photographic opportunities that are not available during other seasons. I am also planning a trip to Yosemite in the spring and would like to eventually capture Yosemite during all four seasons. I went with a photography friend Terry Lamar and my son Alex. As a result of poor planning, we were presented with the prospect of driving through Los Angeles during peak drive time - 5:00PM. We decided to take the 15 through Cajon Pass. That wasn't much better. It took almost ten hours to get to the valley floor. We were stuck in traffic for about 3 hours at Cajon Pass. The drive from San Diego to the valley floor typically takes about 7 hours. Needless to say, every photographer should make a trip to Yosemite. Yosemite is the equivalent of Mecca for photographers.
I did much research before leaving for Yosemite which was instrumental in formulating a plan. I ordered 3 photography books about Yosemite from Amazon. The photographer's guide to Yosemite and the High Sierra written by Harold Davis, The Photographers Guide to Yosemite by Michael Frye, and PhotoSecrets - Yosemite: The Best Sights and How Photograph Them by Andrew Hudson.

I think I paid $28 for all three books. They were all very good books and useful in developing a plan for a weekend of shooting. Ironically, the photos in the PhotoSecrets book didn't seem reflect advice given the book. The photos are horrible, but, none-the-less, the book is very good.

Yosemite - Shooting from Cook's Meadow

2010-02-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

After some discussion we decided to start our adventure on Saturday morning at twilight in Cook's Meadow. It was around 32 degrees at 6:30 AM when we started shooting. Half Dome can be seen clearly from Cook's meadow and the light is good in the morning. Yosemite Falls can also be seen from Cook's Meadow and yellow sunlight strikes the tip of the falls at a slightly oblique angle at about 9:00 AM.

Yosemite - Shooting from El Capitan Vista along Merced River

2010-02-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

After shooting at Cook's Meadow in the morning, we drove around the valley. It is very easy to find subjects to photograph in the valley, the light illuminating these subjects changes throughout the day. There are subjects and incredible vantage points literally everywhere in the valley. There are certain times during the day that light is conducive to photographing certain locations. I think we were "spot-on" in determining the best time of day to be at certain locations. Research and planning made good use of our limited schedule.

I spotted some great reflections of El Capitan along the Merced River while I was driving on Southside Drive. Around noon the reflections along the Merced river of El Capitan are nothing short of stunning. There are places along the river where the current is very calm and massive mirror quality reflections can be seen. The sheer size of the reflections are awe-inspiring. It was at this point I wished I had a wide-angle lens on a full-frame camera. My friend Terry shoots the 5D Mark II and had the 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. I was shooting my 18-200mm on my cropped D300. I started to shoot panoramas to compensate for my lack of lens width and camera crop. Shown below is a picture of Terry shooting at this spot. This photo below will give you some perspective of the size of these reflections.

Yosemite - Shooting from Tunnel View

2010-02-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

Tunnel View is the most photographed view in Yosemite Valley. Ansel Adams made this view famous with his photo titled Clearing Winter Storm. Even thought it is heavily photographed view and their are literally busloads of people that visit this site everyday, it is still a "must get" photo.

We got to tunnel view about two hours before sunset. We had read that this is the best time to shoot this spot. I wished we had gotten this this location an hour earlier. There was a dark shadow already covering Bridalveil Fall. Terry was upset with me because I pulled over to shoot a shot of this coyote (below) a lady was feeding by the side of the road at the expense of getting to Tunnel View sooner. He might be right, but I'm so happy I got this photo. He might not admit it, but I think Terry likes the photos he got of this coyote, too. Yosemite is not as well known for wildlife photos as Yellowstone, but there are still great opportunities to shoot wildlife in Yosemite. I learned on my trips to Yellowstone to always have your camera handy and your longest lens on while driving.

Western United States Trip

2009-07-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

Trip Map

3,620 Miles

Day 1 - Grand Canyon, Hoershoe Bend, Antelope Canyon

2009-07-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Grand Canyon
We stayed the evening in Flagstaff, AZ and got up early and took HWY 64 loop through the Grand Canyon. What can you say about the Grand Canyon. It is an awesome place. My preference for photography, after having been to both the North and South Rim of the Grand Canyon, is still the North Rim. There are more trees in the North Rim and the green provides more interesting contrast in photos.

Photography Tips: Go panoramic, use graduated neutral density filter, wide-angle lens.

Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend is about 2 miles on the left right on HWY 89 north just before you get into Page, AZ. There is a fairly small parking lot and and it requires about a 3/4 mile hike.

Photography Tips: use wide-angle lens. My 18-200mm on my D300 fell a little short. I would recommend using a 14mm.

Antelope Canyon
This is one of my favorite places to photograph. I made a reservation the week before with a small tour company in Page, AZ called Overland Canyon Tours. I was really happy I did. As is turned out, my son and I were the only two on the tour - and it was a Saturday. Our tour guide was awesome, and it was a one-on-one experience. Our tour guide worked us in between the big 30+ people tours. Their website is www.overlandcanyon.com.

Photography Tips: use wide-angle lens. Bracket to find the right exposure. Check all of your camera settings before going in - twice. You will only get a couple of chances to get that photo without someone walking into the frame.

Cedar City
We drove to and lodged in Cedar City. The drive through the mountains near Brian's Head mountain was breathtaking! Sorry no photos.

Day 2 - Yellowstone National Park

2009-07-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

We got up early, a common theme on this trip, and drove to West Yellowstone. We arrived at 4:00PM and headed into the park. We were glad we did. We saw a Grizzly Bear from about 30 yards after it swam the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley. I was watching it through my lens and didn't realize how close it was. You should have seen how fast the people scattered. Not a great photographic shot, but none-the-less a fun one - below.

Photography Tips: use telephoto lens. Don't look through your lens when a grizzly is running right at you. It's pretty difficult to judge distance.

Day 3 - Yellowstone National Park

2009-07-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Alex and I got up at 4:30 and headed into the park. There is major construction between Norris and Madison and the road is closed from 10PM to 8AM. This required us to drive all the way around the southern half of Yellowstone. This set us back at least an hour and a half. Alex and I spent the day driving around, and all wildlife seemed to be rather far away. We saw two distant Grizzly Bears and a Black Bear. Despite this challenge, I managed to get a photo of an Elk right next to the road resting himself in the early morning sun in a meadow near Hayden Valley. I also spotted a Bald Eagle circling over some trees near Lamar Valley and managed to snap a few shots of him.

Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park

2009-07-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

We got up Early and decided to start heading north to Glacier National Park by driving through Yellowstone to the north entrance near Gartiner, MT. We spotted a car pullover party and saw there was a black bear with two cubs in a meadow right off the road.

Photography Tips: Continually check your settings. If your camera supports this revert back to a saved profile setting. Scott Kelby uses and acronym called W.H.I.M.S to help him remember to check critical camera settings.

W: White balance check
H: Highlight warning turned on (to tell if portions of your shots are blown out, or overexposed)
I: ISO check (correct ISO for your surroundings)
M: Mode check (whether aperture priority, program, or manual mode)
S: Size (image size and quality settings)

I would like to add couple of settings because I always seem to forget these. I can usually figure these out quickly, but many time it is to late - The moment has already passed.

B: Bracket settings
E: EV compensation settings

Now I always use the acronym "BE WHIMS."

Day 5 - Drove to Glaier National Park

2009-07-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

We spent most of this day driving, but Montana's "Big Sky" made for some great photos. One of the lessons that I have learned is that simple photos often are best. Reduce the scene to tell a simple story. I had a computer science project in college where the students were asked to write a computer program in as few lines of code as possible. There is a very subtle elegance to this process. It forces you to think and at the same time be creative. I try and approach photography the same way. Reduce a scene down into one or two simple elements and try leading one into the other. This photo tells the story of contrast. A small sharp subject (the shed) juxtaposed the soft rolling hills against the big sky of Montana. The photo's deep contrast further strengthens this relationship. This photo was cropped to emphasize the sky. This photo has become one of my all-time favorite photos, not because it is necessarily a great technical photo, but because it tells a really good story.

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II Sharpness Debate

2009-06-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

I went to the zoo over fathers day weekend with my son Alex and I took a couple of good photos. I went at the worst possible time of day for photography and the zoo was, well, a "zoo." It still beats doing yard work. This turned out to be a good picture (see tiger below) despite how far the tiger was from me.

I shot both photos below with the 70-200 f/2.8G IF-ED and the Nikon 1.7 AF-S teleconverter TC-17E II.

You do lose 1.5 stops of light using the 1.7 teleconverter. Despite that fact, I find it a great teleconverter/lens combination. Using this combination I can get an effective zoom of 510mm = 200mm x 1.7. 1.5 with my D300. I have heard some remark about the 1.7 teleconverter being somewhat soft, but my feeling is that many of the remarks levied are the result of the reduced shutter speeds caused by the loss of 1.5 stops as well as additional camera shake sensitivity that the additional zoom length introduces. I have found that when I take all the precautions to reduce camera shake (sturdy tripod and mount, mirror lockup and wait 2 seconds, cable release) photos are tack sharp.

Most of the cats shots in this gallery were taken with this lens teleconverter combination.

Sharp Cats

As far as using it for sports, it seems to focus a tad slower, but, again, that is because lower f-stops are almost always going to focus faster. I use is for shooting football in daylight and it focuses quite acceptably fast. Don't get lazy with the teleconverter. Whenever I can get close enough to my subject I almost always remove the teleconverter to get the extra shutter speed. Click the photo to see a larger image.

What can I say about this shot, except what a gorgeous mug.

I'm Back

2009-04-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

After a rather long blog sabbatical, I'm back. My son and I have been very busy learning new photographic techniques at numerous locations. I have ordered some photos from SmugMug from both bayphoto.com and ezprints and plan to describe my experience with both services in an upcoming blog. I think you will find that very informative. I have also sold my old camera on Ebay and have an interesting story related to that experience.

Photo of the Day - Shooting the Zoo

2009-02-28T10:47:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite places to take photos is the San Diego Zoo. There are endless good subjects there. Whenever I feel like I've run out of ideas for subjects to photograph I will always go there.

Tips for Visiting the Zoo

Use a tripod
Plan out your shoot ahead of time
Go during off-peak times
Get to the zoo when it opens

In San Diego, weekdays during the winter months is a good time to photograph at the zoo. The reason I say this is that animals are at the zoo all the time 365 days a year, but people are not. Don't get me wrong, I actually love crowds, but if you go to the zoo to photograph animals crowds get in the way. And, honestly, you get in their way. Another thing I do is get there as soon as it opens and make a beeline for the subject I want to photo most. I almost always get at least 30 minutes almost completely alone with the subject.

Shooting Tips for Cages

Zoom in
Shoot wide open
Get close to cage or fence
Shoot 90 degrees to the cage
Increase ISO if necessary

Cages can present a problem unless you know how to deal with them. Believe it of not there has been a lot of thought put into zoo design, at least the San Diego Zoo, relating to photography and taking good pictures. You need to know a few tricks to take advantage of this.

I almost always use my AFS 70-200 mm f/2.8 G ED-IF VR lens, and sometimes I add my 1.7x teleconverter. Shoot fully zoomed in and get close to the cage. You want to shoot when the subject is far away from the cage relative to the distance the lens is to the cage. Increasing that ratio is key to making the cage completely disappear.

Shoot Aperture Priority and use the lowest aperture setting for your lens. I'm certain there is a fairly complicated optics formula that explains all this. Here's the thing, I don't really care about all that except to the extent that it makes this work.

Even though you use a tripod keep in mind that subjects move and lighting conditions can be a challenge. Work your ISO so that you are shooting the reciprocal of your shutter speed. For instance, a focal length of 200mm would require a 1/200 shutter speed. You can push this by lowering your ISO as far as possible as longs as you're still get sharp photos. Only your own experiences will tell you how much you can push it. Remember higher ISOs will introduce noise into a photo. That is a subject for another post.

Make sure you spot focus on the subjects eyes. Getting sharp focus on your subjects eyes is critical to getting good photos. Remember, you're shooting wide open and your depth-of-field is very narrow.

One parting tip I have for photographing at the zoo is to photograph birds. Many zoos, like the San Diego Zoo, have walk-in aviaries so cages are not a problem. Since the conception of photography, birds have always been popular subjects to photograph. Vic Murayama has a great collection of Bird Photos from the San Diego Zoo.

Photo of the Day - 2/27/09

2009-02-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

I took this photo in my garage using my DIY Spiderlight-like softboxes. In this photo you can easily see how effective the softbox is at wrapping and diffusing light. This is also the lens I picked up on Ebay for about $380. It is a very good lens. You can read that story here. A review on this lens by Bjørn Rørslet can be found here. I find Bjørn Rørslet reviews of Nikon lenses to be fairly accurate and subjective. Another person that has reviews on Nikon/Canon lenses is Ken Rockwell. I think Ken has a tendency to inject his own opinions, which I don't always agree with. None-the-less, his website is still a very good source of technical information and he reviews everything and everybody including Canon.

My DIY Softboxes

2009-02-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of two Spiderlight-like softbox boxes I built in my garage. It is based on this design
by Alexandre Campagna. There is not much I can add about the building of these softboxes because you can read all the details about it's construction on Alexandre's blog. I'll be the first to admit this project is not for everyone. For me, it was an enjoyable project and I got my son and his friend involved with it. I really like them and they are very good at creating beautiful light just like a real Spiderlight. They are, however, heavy and required very beefy light stands. They have a tendency to want to tip over without additional weight. They also don't fold up for compact storage. I will make a note in "My Photo of the Day" series which photos were taken using this softbox.

Using Ebay to Purchase Used Lenses

2009-02-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

Ebay, or even craigslist,can be a good place to get used camera's or lenses. Of course, each of these services come with their own cautionary tales. I bought my 35-70mm f/2.8 lens on Ebay for a bargain and I'm very happy with it.

One piece of advice about using Ebay. Use Paypal. Paypal gives you insurance in the form of buyer protection. Items for sale will indicate how much buyer protection is provided indicated by a dollar amount when purchased through Paypal. Make sure that amount is enough to cover your purchase. Ebay sellers, for the most part, don't want bad feedback and are compelled to give you good service because of it.

Another caveat to purchasing lenses on on Ebay is that you need to understand the concept of sniping. You will find out, like I did, you will need to use a sniper service or application to actually win any bids for lenses. I found a 30 day trial for a sniper program that had no limitations. Naive to the online auction process, I laugh now about how long it took me to figure out why I was always losing bids in the last 15 seconds. I would wait days for auctions to get down to the last 30 minutes. I was certain I was going to get that $400 lens for $29.95 only to be be outbid by 50 bids in the last few seconds of the auction.

Keep in mind there is a very strong secondary market for used high-end/fast lenses and there are a lot of people that have found out they can purchase them and resell them at a small profit. For this reason, don't expect to walk away from Ebay with a $400 lens for $29.95. I watched auctions for a month on a very specific model of lens (hundreds of them sold) and I think the lowest one sold for $300 and it had some condition issues. Almost all lenses of similar condition sold within 10%-15% of what I inevitably purchased my lens for.

You also have to be schooled up on what you are bidding on. Nikon has all kinds of designations in lens models like AF and D. You need to know exactly what those mean and be certain that's what you are bidding on. Some of the older lenses can have limitations with newer DSLR cameras, or may not even work.

There are many sites with this information available to you. Nikon lens Nomenclature can be found here. Canon lens Nomenclature can be found here.

Skateboard photo published

2009-02-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

This photo turned up in the December issue of Discourse. One of many photos taken at a local skateboard park one afternoon.

Do Your Homework and Create a Budget

2009-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

DSLR Photography can be a big investment over time. Do your research. I came across a couple of fairly inexpensive books written by Scott Kelby that really explain the basics of photography and costs associated with photography in very simple terms. They are the titled The Digital Photography Book and The Digital Photography Book Vol 2. Scott has a way of explaining fairly technical topics in an non-threatening altruistic way. You will also find out that he is quite the jokester.

Have a budget that is realistic with your goals. If you're just beginning with photography you're probably not going to go out and buy a Nikon D3X or Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III for $8,000 and a couple of $5,000 lenses. And if you're crazy enough to do that, don't assume you will be making money on photography or taking fantastic photos right away just because you had purchased the best equipment. Photography doesn't work that way, and you will immediately be very disappointed with your investment.

When pricing equipment for budget purposes use reputable camera websites like B&H or Adorama. Whatever you do, don't google your camera model and select the retailer with lowest price. Now you can't say I didn't warn you. A friend of mine did just that and bought, or thought he bought, a Nikon D300 on his credit card. The company called him back and used multiple high pressure sales tactics to get him to purchase very expensive accessories. They will baffle you with techno babble because people are generally familiar with the cost of camera and have already compared prices on those, but people are not familiar with the costs, and haven't shopped around, for the wizbang accessories. They went on to tell him that the D300 is a high performance camera that required high speed memory. Memory that they were asking astronomical prices for. When they couldn't sell him on any of their overpriced accessories, they told him that the D300 he had purchased was indefinitely out of stock. This was a one-time promotion and they wouldn't be getting any more of these discounted models back in stock. They were willing to sell him a non-US Warranty D300 they did have in stock at the same price B & H was selling it for.

Camera manufacturers, especially Nikon or Canon, DO NOT sell cameras at deep discounted prices to certain retailers. And if you still refuse to believe me, I will ask you to go back and read that last sentence again. If it sounds too good to be true...

Before I actually purchased any camera gear, I went on the B&H website and created a wish list and started adding items to it. I added and subtracted things from that list for months before actually buying anything. Wish lists, at least when I used them, didn't add up the total purchase amount so I would add everything in my wish list to a shopping cart to get total pricing to make sure I was within budget. There is no cost to do this and B & H has literally everything camera related. Once I had my wish list looking just the way I wanted it, I started shopping around to price-compare at reputable camera sites or even brick-and-mortar camera shops. After shopping around, I ended up getting everything at B & H anyway. No one could beat their price when you considered all of the items collectively. At least, not where it made enough sense for me to break up the order.

The Nikon vs. Canon debate

2009-02-26T00:20:00.000-08:00

I have spent endless hours pouring over reviews and debates over Canon vs. Nikon. Here's the deal. Many of my favorite photos were taken with an Olympus Evolt e-500. Whatever camera you decide to pick, that decision, in and of itself, won't make you a better photographer. I will admit, however, most of the people providing advice use Canon or Nikon cameras and it can make it easier to learn the general craft of photography from their advice by choosing one of those two products. For instance, one of the best techniques I learned for getting sharper photos, a problem all beginning DSLR photographers struggle with, I learned in a book called: Nature Photography: The Art and the Science written by John and Barbara Gerlac. John calls this technique back button focus. The technique explained in this book single-handedly revolutionized the quality of my photography and I use it religiously. This is a gem of a book, and my only criticism is that they gave it a poor title, because it is so much more than a "nature photography" book. To get back to my point, John explains in his book how the technique is accomplished using Nikon Camera settings. Now, I'm sure there are other cameras capable of accomplishing the same functionality, but I have a Nikon D300 and I could easily follow his instructions on how to configure the camera to use techniques as he explains them in his book. Although I will make an attempt to be camera agnostic, keep in mind that most of my explanations will be drawn from my experience as a Nikon camera user. One of my best friends shoots with a canon 5D and exactly half of the time I wish I had a Canon and he wishes he had a Nikon. The moral of the story is that once you make that decision, get over it and focus on all the other good things photography offers because that decision has nothing to do with you becoming a great photographer.