Category : The Learning Center

Today has been a day of details, one thing after another to work out for the BCS game, thankfully everything is rolling along fine!  Sneaky way to bring up the subject, but let’s talk about cameras. As I have shared before I’m working on what I hope to be the near perfect system for the next bunch of years of shooting.  I truly believe that we have entered the best age of digital technology yet.  Well of course, since things keep getting better but we are hitting the really sweet spot, and I think this is the time to build a system for the future.

 

Here are a few of my thoughts;

 

1. If you ever owned a 4X5 or 8X10 view camera and you want to get that kind of amazing detail, the D800 or D800e is the ticket in today’s DSLRs.  I think of my D800 (o.k. Nikon’s D8700!!!) as the go to camera when the ultimate in detail and resolution is the goal.  When used just like a view camera, on a solid tripod with a cable release and very careful technique the results can be utterly amazing.  The shot above was made on our Red Rock Workshops in Lower Antelope Canyon with the D800 and the 24-120 AF-S VR.  This kind of file could be made into a print of just about any size you needed!  So camera number one in my future system, the D800.

 

2.  The everyday shoot almost anything camera, should be a little more compact, have plenty of resolution and shoot great in extremely low light.  Sticking with the system I use, Nikon,  the D600 is a perfect fit!  It’s 24.3 mega pixels is a lot and still allows great low light shooting.  The feel and operation of the D600 has become one of my two favorite cameras for ergonomics.  When I ho out the door for normal shooting the D600 has become a constant companion!  So number two on my list will be a D600.    

 

3.  I believe that it is a great idea to have a DX body just to stretch your lenses and for travel when weight is really important.  For years I’ve loved the D7000 and I can’t see any reason not to go that route, assuming nothing comes along to change my mind it is number three, the D7000!

 

 4.  Finally I think everyone needs a camera for when they just don’t feel like carrying around a DSLR and some lenses, but still want to be able to make really wonderful images.  This is a tough one because so many great choices exist and more than any other kinds of cameras, how you work and what  you want in the feel and weight of a compact camera will be a great influence on your choice here.  Because I get to use a lot of different compact cameras, I’m stilling trying to decide on this one, but the leading candidates are the Nikon Coolpix P7700, Coolpix P7100 and the Fuji X10.  Each has it’s own charms, and any of them can make wonderful images!!!!

 

So there it is, what I think will be my shooting partners for years to come!  * Of Course I reserve the right to change anything as new cameras appear, but they will be hard pressed to beat these list above.

 

Tomorrow will be Media Day at the stadium and we may finally make images that relate to football!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most valuable things we do at our His Light Workshops is the critiques sessions!  I’ve noticed that Thye have critiques days on The Grid, and the popularity is sell founded.  The best way to make better images is to know what keeps your images from being as successful as possible!  I just recently posted a series of images I shot at a couple of antique shops.  After looking at them carefully, I realized I would have had a number of suggestions on how they could have been better!  So since we hold no punches here, even it they land on my chin.  Here is a golden suggestion,do as I say not as I did!!!

 

One of the most important thing you can do to improve any image is get rid of distractions, things that draws the viewers eye away from the subject.  I am going to repost the images as they appeared the other day, and under each image will be the improved image.  Look close and see if you can see how each images was improved!!??  Every fix was done simply in Photoshop with either the burn tool, the clone stamp, or the healing brush tool.  No image took more than a minute to fix, I think you will agree that the little things matter.  See how much more focused the images are after a little cleaning up!

 

 

I know these are subtle differences, but you have to admit that getting bright areas out the frame, or darkening areas focuses the eye more in the subject.  Less is always more!  Below a front porch shot and then the image within the image!   Hope this gives you some food for thought!

 

 

 

Will be flying to Florida for BCS tomorrow, will keep you posted with my entries!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

As we come down to the end of 2012 I have a bunch of unrelated things I wanted to share, so let’s just call this “a little of this…a little of that…Friday!”

 

A big thanks….  I want to thank “Snake” Barrett for doing so much to help the His Light Workshops this year!  He built our new website, you need to check it out, he is doing as great job as it continues to grow!    http://hislightworkshops.com/   He also led the way in teaching night photography and time lapse.  He is always there when we need to know what phase the moon will be in, or what angle the sun will be on the arches, if it’s technical, he is our man!  Snake is a pleasure to work with, a joy to fellowship with and always is laughing about something, Jim and I are thrilled to have him on our team!

 

The dream continues to come true…..  When Jim and I met in my office, and talked about this idea of making His Light become a reality, and then prayed that it would be what God wanted it to be, we never dreamed He would do such fantastic things.  Not that we didn’t know that God can do anything He pleases, it’s just as humans we seldom see just how magnificant His plan is, until we find ourselves standing in the middle of them!  Now, a couple of years later we see everyday how He is changing lives, and we get to be there to see it happen!  Not a day goes by that I don’t receive emails and calls from someone telling me  just how much what happens there and on the blog is changing their lives!  Listen, seriously, please listen carefully, I’m just a guy who lives in rural Kentucky,  there is nothing whatsoever special about me, except that I love the Lord with all my heart and I really and truly try to be obedient to Him.  All this that is happening is because of Him!  ….and Him alone.  It was my dream, a dream I dared to dream, but He has made it a reality….

 

Another thanks……  Jim Begely has been a great partner in the workshops, a wonderful friend, and a rock in our spiritual growth. I can’t tell you how many times we wrestle with big decisions about what direction we are to take our little company, and Jim always takes it back to where it belongs, at the foot of the cross!  His life is an example of taking God’s word, and living it. As a man I can’t think of a more valuable asset in life than this kind of friend and brother!

 

The last big thank you, and it’s a big one…..  Over the holidays as I got to love on all my family, I couldn’t help but think about a simple little wooden sign our kids got us several years ago.  it sits is in the middle of our countless family photographs, it simply says  “all of this, because two people fell in love…” Did I ever, and 44 years later I’m still madly in love!  I love you Sherelene.

 

Camera wars……….    I work for Nikon and I love my job, but I’m mad at Nikon!  They have made it way to hard for me to decide what camera or cameras I want!  In the last 40 years I’ve always owned the F camera or in the digital age the D single digit pro body!  I’ve owned F’s, F2s, F3s, F4s, F5.s and a F6 (O.K. I never owned the F6 but I had one of Nikon’s for  a while)  I’ve had D1s. D2s, D3s and now I have a D4 (in my consignment)  All have been state of the art for their period, but now it’s not so easy, with the monster resolving D800 and 800e, and now the very reasonably priced D600 which is the second highest resolving camera on the market in a 35mm body size form factor,what is a man to do???!!!  I’ve been doing a ton of tests, which is part of my job, but also a labor of love, and I’ve come up with a simple answer…you can’t go wrong with any of them.  It all comes down to your budget, your needs, how much weight you are willing to carry, and what you need to do with the resulting files.  Once you figure that out, if you can keep your emotions out of the decision, you will know what is the camera for you.  Only one factor remains, what is coming next!!!!!!

 

A lazy man’s HDR formula!  I greatly admire Jim Begley’s HDR images, and R.C.’s, Raymond Jabola’s, and a number of others that do very protracted things to get just the right image!  I’m not that guy, I work fast and don’t have the patience to work through layers, masks, and such, but for those that are  like me, I’ve got something you should try!  I am giving an example below, take a shot you would like to appear as an HDR, a straight one frame image.  Then go into NIK Color Efex Pro 4 and apply Tonal Contrast filter, use the sliders on the top right to  get the level of HDR effect you want.  It should look a little gritty.  Now apply Glamour Glow in the same Nik program, Wow, pretty good for something that takes less than a minute!

 

 

I did Tonal Contrast twice, yes you can layer them to increase the affect!  One more thing the original shot was made with a  point and shoot camera!  What did I say about testing and worrying about which camera!!  Yes, the image at the top was done the same way!

 

Breaking His Light news…….  We are in the process of finalizing plans for a great workshop in October of 2013.  We will be bringing Dave Black to His Light   http://www.daveblackphotography.com/ 

Dave is one of America’s premier sports photogprahers and also a master of light painting, his class in Shaker Village will be a light painting workshop, and until you’ve studied with Dave, you haven’t seen great light painting technique.  This will be a very hands on workshop with both outdoor large scale light painting, and small scale studio type light painting.  Strictly limited to 14 participants!  It will be late October when the Kentucky fall foliage should be spectacular in Shaker Village.  The workshop is expected to be $899.  Contact us as soon as possible if you want to join us, I expect this one to fill up very fast!  Yes, Dave Black is an amazing brother too!

 

 

 

 

A new Point and shoot I love!  Nikon’s new P7700 is a great point and shoot!  It has a very well made with a good heft, but still small enough to stash away in a coat pocket.  It is a 12.2 mega pixel sensor compact with a great zoom lens, 28-200 f 2.8 to f4 lens that is very sharp!  It has a fold out  LCD panel which makes shooting from low and high much easier, it does not have  a viewfinder, which I miss, but the LCD panel works great and is very contrasty and sharp. It shoots RAW and has a usable ISO range from 80 to 1600.  It also shoots Full HD,  1080p movies with stereo sound!  I took it down to the local antique shop the other day and made a few image handheld, (it has great vibration reduction built in!)  I was impressed, take a peak!

 

Pretty nice work from a camera you can put in your pocket!!!!

 

Haver a great New Years weekend, I will be spending it with my grandchildren, Cade and Cassidy, see you Monday, God Bless!

 

In Him,

 

the pilgrim

I had to get out of the house and get my mind off of yesterday!  I took the D600 and tried to find a few images, it always help me to lose my self in the viewfinder.  One of the things I remembered about shooting with a 50mm lens, well I never forgot it, but it has been some time since I confined myself to one, was that your zoom is your feet!!!  Back up and it’s a wide angle, move in, and it’s a telephoto, pretty cool concept!  The examples below can give you a feel for just how different you can make the image appear, by your position.

 

 

Next stop down a country road was an old barn I’ve enjoyed shooting, it’s just so grey.  Below is the two images, one was with the D600 and 50mm f 1.4 lens, the other is with an iPhone, can you figure out which is which??

 

 

I’ll reveal the answer at the bottom, but first an interesting painting of the Corbin High School mascot the Redhound!

 

It has been refreshing to go back to just shooting what I see and not worry about;  “Which Lens!”  I think this little experiment is going to be a a lot of fun, and today I was needing some fun.

 

Oh yes, the warmer shot is the D600, pretty scary how close  they look, except for white balance.  The cool thing is that while the iPhone image could never be a sterling 40″x60″  it sure works well when it’s the only camera you have with you!

 

While these are not very impressive images, making them helped pull me back from the edge of real despair.  Photography has always been one of  the ways God has renewed my spirit.  Today’s shooting was therputic for me, I hope it wasn’t agony for  you!!

 

blessings,

 

the pilgrim