For all the stuff that doesn’t fit elsewhere!
It’s been a while dear blog reader, and life has certainly been busy. The addition of a new miniature human to our familial brood has helped evaporate most every spare moment of late, but that hasn’t stopped me from taking pictures, merely from writing about them.
Okay, much like the “effective focal length” discussions, there seem to be many “effective aperture” discussions going around as many of these mirrorless interchangeable lens compact system cameras begin to really round out their lens offerings. Well, I guess the micro 4/3 system has while the Samsung NX is getting there and Sony NEX system users still have a small handful of options, but not really here nor there. The fact that so many lenses can be adapted across various formats can complicate the discussion. Along with those who shoot with APS-C DSLR cameras, all references for focal length and depth of field seem to fall back to a full frame/35mm sized sensor as the benchmark. There are some misconceptions as to how the aperture, or focal length affects the exposure or depth of field in these varying formats.
C’mon in, we’ll straighten this all out.
Hello everyone. If you’ve followed me over the last couple years, you may have seen me post about Photovision, an instructional series that aims to help all photographers with insight into shooting, setting up a business, marketing and technique as well as offers discounts for many photographic goods and services.
I’ve subscribed for the last 3 years and have continued to glean tons of great information and would highly recommend anyone interested in getting a detailed behind the scenes look at many working professional photographers to do so as well.
This is my link which enables a substantial discount ($49 for six DVDs, normally $199, or access to instant content for a monthly price) and with signups enters me in a drawing, so if you do plan to subscribe, any subscriptions done through my link would be greatly appreciated 🙂
USE THE CODE “PVFAN” to gain the 75% discount via this link:
http://www.photovisionvideo.com?afid=65508
Thanks and happy shooting,
Tyson
Like many other camera geeks and micro 4/3 system fans out there lately, I’ve been reading up on anything that I can find on Oly’s new flagship micro 4/3 camera. It touts some pretty impressive specs, but how does it come across in function? I pulled the trigger, and while happy that I did, I do find that there are some things about the camera that seem to have been overlooked or neglected. There are many articles outlining the spec sheet and testing the features, this is my own personal feel coming from someone who uses this camera as a daily tool and has been doing so for the last couple weeks.
So, how’s everyone been? The day after my last post, we ended up welcoming our second son into this world. He’s doing well as is mom. As anyone with kids may know, they can take a little out of you, and the collective circling of the wagons to get them adjusted all while taking care of mama can certainly absorb a bit of your leisure time. Unfortunately for me, this leisure time is where I find hidden moments with which to blog normally and as they’ve been few and far between, I figured I’d focus more on the family whenever the opportunity arose. Hence the blog falloff.
Anyhoo, Little Baby What’s His Face is now a big brother to little A’la Mode. They already have partnered up to create an amazing duo of chaos and unadulterated love. Sleep has increasingly gone the way of film and is becoming harder to come by as well as demanding a much higher premium. One kid is a good challenge. Two is straight up work. Work that I absolutely love though, I’ll just try to find time to finish off some of the articles I’ve got started and waiting in the wings.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring, I know I am.
Cheers and happy shooting,
Tyson
For any of you out there that may have been on the fence, both Alien Skin and Kubota Image Tools happen to be offering a substantial discount off of their software and actions respectively. I’ve personally reviewed a variety of the Alien Skin Software (Bokeh, Exposure 3 and 4, Snap Art) and had played around a bit with some of the actions available through Kubota Image Tools via the Lensbaby Action Pak and most recently reviewed Kevin’s Lighting Notebook.
Kubota Image Tools is having a sale with as much as 50% off their action paks through the end of April, see more HERE.
Alien Skin has a 30%-40% off sale through Tuesday, April 17th and for any existing users of Alien Skin products, they offer an extra 10% off by using the code “FAN1204” 🙂 Find the Alien Skin Sale HERE.
Wedding season is coming up and for those who use Photoshop or Lightroom (or even Aperture), you may know how valuable good software and quality photoshop actions can be to workflow, or for anyone that likes to add efficiency to their post processing, I’d certainly suggest checking these guys out.
I’ve reviewed these products because I love them and use them all the time in my own personal workflow, and would fully endorse them to anyone that was interested. Just thought I’d pass this along just in case you’re thinking of buying any of these!
Happy Spring and happy shooting,
Tyson
spread your wings and fly... away from the computer.
It’s inevitable. If you look to stay artistically motivated, at some point you’ll come up against some type of creative vacuum. Writer’s block, a rut, incoherent mumbling to yourself at your desk as you curse uncontrollably at the screen about the online article lauding some Kardashian-like attention hound for “doing” something completely insignificant all while realizing it wouldn’t exist if you weren’t guilty of reading it… Basically having a hard time motivating yourself creatively all while wasting time with things that won’t really help. You catch my drift, and if you’ve been at something with any creative license long enough, you’ll be able to relate. Sometimes going backward can help push you into new territory. Here’s one thing I do that helps…
There are a few seemingly predictable benchmarks that photographers reach during their personal photographic journeys. After grasping exposure basics we may gravitate toward gear to replicate a particular style which may then be further embellished when we discover bokeh, selective focus, light painting, or start to really understand aspects of a post processing workflow enabling us to literally develop our own look, or replicate popular or interesting “looks” from our fellow photographers. Inevitably, at some point, photographers start to contemplate integrating added light or modifying and controlling existing light in their compositions. Wether that be for portraiture, action, event, product photography, et al, understanding the use of added light or manipulation and control of existing light is a huge tool available to those who choose to use it. Mr Kubota, popular for his seamless, post production streamlining photoshop actions has invited us into his mind with his recent book “Kevin Kubota’s Lighting Notebook, 101 Lighting Styles and Setups for Digital Photographers” C’mon in for a closer look and a few thoughts as I try to play the role of book reviewer 🙂
UPDATE!!! – The companion App is now out. More than a companion per se, I’d say it’s a great way to get this book, it’s content and diagrams on your tablet. You can view both the book and app, as well as purchase them directly through Kubota Imaging Tools HERE.
Many of us may be aware of Joseph Kony. Many, like myself, have just found out who he is. What started as a documentary film project in 2003 has grown into a worldwide information campaign to educate anyone who will listen about the atrocities carried out by Joseph Kony and others like him. Being a citizen of the United States, I’ve found my allegiances to my country challenged over my lifetime, largely due to foreign policy and the pure protection of personal wealth at the cost of a greater good, I feel in many cases. That I exist in a country that affords me the right to disagree and dissent has become all the more important to me as I grow older. No matter my opinions or convictions, I am able to lead a free life. I’ve always had the desire to do something with that freedom beyond personal benefit but have been lazy as I’ve settled into being centered on my own life and that of the lives of my family.
I’d seen mentions of Kony 2012, but until today, just minutes ago, I didn’t know what they were about. When I saw that the video below lasted 30 minutes, my first reaction was that there’s no way I could take that kind of time out of my seemingly busy day, until I started it.
Maybe it’s because I’d like to think of myself as a decent person, or that I’ve recently become a father, but those thirty minutes have changed me fundamentally. It’s not from guilt, nor the desire to be seen as someone who ‘cares’ but merely because I feel that I have the responsibility as one tiny voice, and am afforded the ability, to share this with anyone who chooses to take the time to see if it will have a similar effect on you. That we exist in a time where the privileged among us can in fact help change the world for those less fortunate with a couple clicks on a keyboard, is amazing. That a project like this can help mobilize a huge number of people willing to do more than that is astounding. As the video states, sharing this information with your friends and loved ones is free. How much further any individual chooses to take it is a choice, and one that we are very lucky to have the ability to make.
Visit the site for more information on how to contact your representatives and further contribute to the Invisible Children Movement here: Kony2012.com
Sorry for the break in the regularly scheduled photo-centric programing, but this is something that we all should be more aware of.
Thanks for the read,
Tyson
Most of us have heard of the Sunny 16 rule by where the rule of thumb for “proper” exposure on a sunny day would be setting your aperture to f/16 and your shutter speed to 1 / x, where X = your ISO setting. Basically, at f/16 and shooting at ISO 100, we would set our shutter speed to 1/100 and you’d be set (1/200 at ISO 200, etc). Of course there are other variables to take into consideration depending on your desired outcome or subject, but it gets you close enough. Well, after some trial and error (emphasis on the latter) I came to realize that when shooting the moon, I was having a very hard time properly exposing it. Wanting to eliminate as much noise as possible, I was shooting at lower ISOs and after some more trial I found that I was coming in at about f/5.6- f/8 when spot metering and compensating for the extra brightness (I figured I should account for about 2 full stops over midtone) with the same one over rule as the Sunny 16… This got me wondering if there was in fact a night shooters rule of thumb, and there in fact is…
Tyson Robichaud Photo-blography 