Professional Resources for Photographers

Hello fellow inLIGHTin’ed Ones,

Man, I never expected my workshops to go so well last year. The feedback has been so great and I got to meet a ton of amazing up and coming photographers. It is always great being able to share knowledge with others and I know that I have learned so much since 2009 and how I can better “inLIGHTin” future students of mine.

The only downside is that these workshops have really had me booked solid without any breathing room. My workshops and my photo business (www.ParamourPhoto.com) made it so that I really had no free time with my wife and child. I still love doing what I do but the photo business is my main priority. The only way to really make things work is for me to raise my workshop prices for 2010. Prices last year were VERY affordable and you got years of knowledge in a 6 hour seminar. Now, prices will remain on the affordable side, unlike other workshops, with only a $100 price increase for my one-on-one workshops.

I would really like to do more group workshops. This will be another way for me to get you all the most bang for your buck. I can keep prices lower when multiple people attend and I can reach more people in one day as opposed to individual sessions so it is a big win-win situation.

I also want to branch out past Buffalo, NY so if you aren’t a Buffalo native and would like to host a workshop in your town then be sure to get in touch with me and to set something up. Those who host a workshop get a lot of perks such as a free admission, complimentary phone consultation and other special goodies.

Thank you all for such a great 2009. I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2010 and hope to see you all very soon at one of my workshops.
~Michael

Hello everyone.
So much for my daily posts huh? Man it has been a busy couple months but I cannot complain. I feel like I am coming down with a cold of some sort which is going to be some good times.

Anyways, I have been receiving a bunch of emails asking where I have been so I just wanted to update you all on what is going on. I do have a lot of posts ready to go and be released. Hopefully this winter will slow down enough for me to get back into the game and post more tips and tricks over here on a more regular basis. The primary slowdown is from me wanting to shoot more videos and less text but that eats up a lot of time to push up to the site.

So I hope everyone is well and that you are having yourselves a prosperous year.

Keep checking back for more content to be added… eventually.

I have been really working my you know what off on my www.MichaelAlanFineArt.com site. It has turned into a really big project and I am trying to get that site off the ground. One of the features on that website is a gear review section. So why should you care???

One such review was on the Really Right Stuff camera support products. They make amazing tripods, ballheads and other accessories to lock down your camera system. All in all, steady camera is a happy camera (and an even more happy photographer!)

Here is where you can check out the review:
http://www.michaelalanfineart.com/review-really-right-stuff/

For now on I will just be linking to my Tech Review Tuesday articles to my fine art site instead of copying and pasting them across the board.

Thanks for stopping by!

Man this has been a busy year! The best part is that it isn’t even over yet… Can you tell I am being sarcastic with that last remark? haha.

Long story short, I have been doing a lot; Aside from being a new father, I have been doing so much with my photography business and then top it all off with my inLIGHTin Workshops. So how can I make more time for myself and my family while still doing what I love to do? The only way to do this was either to outsource some of my work or change the world so I can add a couple hours to the day. Outsourcing seemed like the only logical thing so I started investigating. Now, I’ve been outsourcing my wedding album designs for about a year now and that really works wonders. But how can I save even more time? Should I outsource my post processing too?

But how can a control freak like me turn over such an integral part of my work? I couldn’t come up with an answer so I decided to give things one more chance… Instead of searching for a place to outsource my stuff, I decided to search for hardware and software options that could at least speed up my time behind the computer. Enter DQ Studio’s QuiKeys. Quikeys is the brainchild of Dave and Quin Cheung of DQ Studios. They are a husband and wife photography team over in Canada and they created the QuiKeys to do everything that I have been looking for to speed up my workflow.

OVERVIEW:
So you may be asking yourself “what the heck is this QuiKeys thing?” I’m glad you asked…
Dave and Quin state on their website that the QuiKeys is a “Workflow Empowerment System” and they couldn’t be any more correct! The QuiKeys is a 58 key programmable keyboard that Dave and Quin have customized to interact with Photoshop and Lightroom to speed up your workflow. Simple as that.

Now I am a self-proclaimed computer geek so anything that has to do with gadgets and technology is cool with me. I received the QuiKeys a couple weeks ago and it took no time at all to get installed and accustomed to.

ORDERING:
You have to specify certain things when ordering your QuiKeys. The site does a great job of holding your hand throughout the process. The two biggies that you need to inform them about are what operating system you are using and if you want the right or left hand version of the QuiKeys. I selected Mac OS X and left handed. Now, one can get away with using the QuiKeys and a mouse but it is REALLY stressed that you pick yourself up a Wacom Pen Tablet of really any flavor. So you will want to purchase the correct setup based upon what hand you use to draw/write with. I have the Wacom Intuous4 (medium sized) pen tablet and if you see in the pics below, the tablet is off to my left while my right hand operates the QuiKeys. This means that the LEFT hand version, should be used with your RIGHT hand… Got it? Good.

Excuse the messy desk BTW ;)

CHECKOUT:
You have to purchase the QuiKeys hardware base (the keyboard) and all the modules (Retouching Module, Freeform Album Design Module and RAW module) separately. I chose to go with the Retouching Module and RAW Module myself since I outsource my album designs. I believe that the Retouching Module and RAW Module are necessities so get both! Upon purchasing the QuiKeys, you receive a nice set of emails from the DQ crew that gives you a rundown on everything. They also give you links to about two dozen instructional videos to watch while you are awaiting for your QuiKey’s Hardware base to arrive. I watched those videos, did my homework and it paid off. I felt like a pro with QuiKeys before it even arrived. I actually found myself learning where the very important keys were just by watching Dave and Quin demonstrating the QuiKeys in those videos which was stellar. All in all, the QuiKeys Hardware Base is a keyboard therefore it is just like learning to type. Before you know it, you will be hitting the correct keys without even looking!

INSTALLATION:
There is no one click installer for all of the QuiKey’s setup simply because of how the QuiKeys taps into Photoshop and Lightroom. Installing the QuiKeys hardware was a snap but it took me about an hour to set the intricate stuff up. It should have been quicker but I was a jamoke and didn’t use my noodle. So I spent like 20 minutes trying to find Photoshop script files that I just installed when they wouldn’t appear. A simple restart of Photoshop did the trick which I should have known immediately. I told you it was dumb stuff like that which made it take longer than necessary…

WORKFLOW:
Within minutes I was soaring through my files with the QuiKeys. Dave and Quin have put a lot of TLC into ensuring that the QuiKeys has all the important stuff available at the press of a button. I don’t have their Freeform Album Design Module so I cannot comment on that. I can say that if it is anything remotely like their other two modules then it rocks!

LAYOUT:
The basic layout for the QuiKeys is as follows:

The Top Row (18 keys) mostly handles Actions (Photoshop) and Develop Presets (Lightroom). There are a couple other important buttons like one that toggles the keyboard layout for whatever app you are using. Each app (Photoshop, Lightroom Library Workspace and Lightroom Develop Workspace) has their own color LED associated to it so you know what one your are on. The Toggle button changes the QuiKeys so your keyboard layout applies to the correct app. You can totally swap out their canned Actions with your favorite ones. I have re-assigned maybe four of the actions buttons to ones that I use.

The Left / Right Columns (20 total / 10 on each side) are vice versa for Left and Right hand users. The basic gist of this is that the buttons you have available to the blade edge of your hand are the ones you will be using the most. These 10 keys are therefore assigned to zoom in and out of your image, shrink or enlarge your brush and arrow keys to control a variety of things; From moving around the image, to controling the height of each curve point in Photoshop. Did I mention how cleaver this is yet? The other side contains stuff like clone tool opacity, quick cropping and stuff like that. Things you will use, just not all the time. For Lightroom users, this section (and a couple of the top keys) controls your Exposure, Contrast, Brightness, White Balance/Tint and other important sliders like that to make RAW editing a snap… Press the RIGHT key there and you will increase the Exposure (or whatever else) and vice versa will decrease it.

The Center area (20 keys) handles the meat and potatoes of your Photoshop and Lightroom app. This section stays the same for both right and left hand users. For Lightroom, you have all your picking and flagging options here and there are more of those RAW editing slider adjusters here too (Clarity, Vibrance, etc…)
Photoshop has a lot more important stuff here! This section is dedicated to brush inverting and pallete color swapping (great for showing and hiding your layer masks with the brush tool), and even a great combo for the liquify tool. I can make my subjects look better than ever now with a couple clicks! This combo is all laid out in order too to make the speed even faster.

USAGE:
I shoot in RAW so the first step is to use Lightroom to import and catalog all my images from a shoot. Let’s go with a wedding for example. Now I take about 1,200 images at a wedding and have more to work with if I have a second shooter present. I did a high end wedding a couple weeks ago, which had three shooters all together, and I had 2500 images from that wedding alone! This was also the first wedding that I used the QuiKeys on. So once the images are imported, I go about picking my favorites and getting rid of the crummy shots. Within one hour, I had all those images down to about 950… I was in Lightroom’s Library module and used the Grid View to work very quickly and pick my faves. From there, I did simple adjustments for exposure and white balance where needed. The Grid View is great because you can select X images and it batch edits each one for you. So I press the + exposure button on the QuiKeys twice and all 20 underexposed images that I selected get the boost and look great. Cool huh? That took maybe 45 minutes…

From there, I exported my RAW images into high quality JPEGs and went to bed. When I woke up, I had all 950 of my final images in a folder. Now is the time for me to use the QuiKeys in Photoshop… THIS is where the QuiKeys REALLY shines!

The first step here is to open the AutoLoader script and assign a working folder and a destination folder. Why do you need to do this? Glad you asked. To answer your question, I will have to first tell you about the part of the QuiKeys that I absolutely love. The little RED button!
This little red button is the AutoLoader button. Pressing the AutoLoader button will open up image #1 in your working folder (the one that you selected in the AutoLoader script as the working folder). You do your edits and when you are happy, press the AutoLoader button again. Look here, image #1 gets saved for you (in the format and size that you specified in the AutoLoader script) to the destination folder and image #2 then pops up for you to work on… Press the AutoLoader button again, #2 gets saved to the destination folder and image #3 opens…. No more File > Save As > Blah blah blah followed by File > Open > blah blah blah. One button click and it does about 6-8 button clicks for you. Let me tell you, THAT adds up! Say one of your favorite images isn’t a favorite image anymore and you don’t want it to make the second round of cuts. Just X out of the image and then hit the AutoLoader button to open the next image for you.

Another cool perk about the AutoLoader script is that you have the option to load the images in REVERSE ORDER… Why would you need that? Glad you asked haha.
This is a perk for those who work and who do parallel editing with another photographer. One photographer starts from the top down and the other starts from the bottom up. No one is stepping on the others toes overwriting files. Instead, you just meet half way and the entire photo shoot is finished and edited.

I found myself actually “finishing” every single file for my client. That means, clone tool to get rid of distracting stuff, retouch tools to make the bride and groom look awesome and flawless and even the liquify tool to modestly remove a couple bingo arms here and there. I also got to give every photo a certain “pop” to them which I didn’t do before. I find myself using the 4 Actions buttons that I re-assigned (I use Totally Rad Actions Re-Touch action and a couple Kuboda actions religiously) and have been using the QuiKey’s Dodge and Burn buttons along with their Auto Vignette action and stuff like that. A cool thing to note is that each and every button press that makes an adjustment to your image is all done on a layer mask. This makes it easy for you to adjust the opacity of the layer and it even allows you to paint in the effect to only the areas that you want it to. Much nicer than the effect adjusting the entire image on you… When I end up with a file, I have maybe 5-6 layers so I just press their “Merge Layers” button and then I am back to one layer before saving and closing the image with the AutoLoader button.

All in all, my first time using the QuiKeys with Photoshop was about 6 hours and I went from those 950 images down to 850 AND finished every image to look awesome! That means that I edited an entire wedding containing over 2500 images down to 850 and FINISHED the files within 8 short hours! One day to shoot the wedding, one day to edit the wedding and you are literally DONE!

Now when I post the pics to Pictage, I know that every guest who purchases an image will have an amazing file to use as the basis so they will truly be happy with the print, I also know that I don’t have to touch any files no matter which images the bride and groom choose for their wedding album. I just send the files off as is to get thrown into a wedding album design.

I didn’t even get a chance to talk about how beneficial having a Pen Tablet is! Here’s a quick cliff notes version: Having a pen tablet is very intuitive since it is like you are drawing on your computer screen. I have never worked so fast as I have with my pen tablet. I am now even using it for my everyday mouse. The Wacom Intuous4 tablets have about 8 buttons on the tablet itself that you can assign features to. Furthermore, it knows what app you have open so it can dynamically adjust your 8 buttons to ones that you associated for each application you have open, Firefox can have 8 buttons while Photoshop can have another 8 and so on. The pen itself have a variety of nibs that you can use. I prefer the soft, felt feeling one since it slides over the tablet the best. The pen also has two button on it. I have both set to the Alt/Option button to make picking out my Clone and Healing brush targets that much easier.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Is this product a necessity for budding and amateur photographers? No… Is it an amazing tool for those who are professional photographers and who are looking to get their life back and away from the computer? Yes Yes Yes! All in all, the QuiKeys is an investment but how much is your time worth to you? To me it was well worth the price. The QuiKeys hardware base runs $250 while each module runs $350 to $500. All in all, it ran me $1100 for the QuiKeys and it was worth EVERY penny! If you want the QuiKeys but are on a budget then maybe ditch the RAW Module and do the Lightroom stuff with your traditional QWERTY keyboard. The Retouch Module is worth it’s weight in gold and is a MUST for Photoshop users! Nuff’ said.

The pen tablet can run $99 for a Wacom Bamboo (never tried it but it seems like a cheaper version of the Wacom tablet- expect it to have less features and won’t be as touch sensitive) up to $2000 for a tablet screen. I have the $450 Wacom Intuous4 but would recommend at least the size smaller which is $250. Don’t forget, you can always get one of these used and save cash!!!!

Now that brings me to around $1600 for a complete workflow setup. I spent that much on stupid photography gadgets that are collecting dust and I am sure many of you have as well. Therefore the $1600 to save myself a crap ton of time AND to get me more time to spend with my wife and child was well worth it!

I have been using the QuiKeys for just under a month now. I have become fluent in the usage of the QuiKeys and know where every key is without even looking. I am now killing off wedding jobs in under 5 hours (with the longest part being the Exporting of RAW to JPEGS!) and am killing off portrait jobs in under 2 hours. Given these numbers, I have knocked down my time per job by roughly 66% !!! What? You mean to say that I cut my time behind the computer AND am giving my clients better files.

As a matter of fact, that is EXACTLY what i am saying. Props to Dave and Quin for making an amazingly awesome product!

Here is some information for further reading:
DQ Studios Website: http://www.dqstudios.com
QuiKeys Website: http://www.quikeys.com
About the QuiKeys: HERE
QuiKeys Examples: HERE
QuiKeys Tutorials: HERE
QuiKeys Products: HERE

I let my close friend and amazing photographer, Chris Zak, borrow my 600mm f/4 lens that I got on loan from NPS and he has put together an awesome review for today’s Tech Review Tuesday article. He will be more of a familiar face around the inLIGHTin’ed Workshops so be sure to comment and make him feel at home! His review is very in-depth and informative.

BTW I love the format that he created for the review… Very clean and organized. Don’t you think?

Nikkor AF-S 600mm f/4D IF-ED II Review
By Christopher Zak
August 25, 2009

Introduction:

This past weekend my family and I headed out to Cape Cod for some relaxation.   While my wife’s idea of relaxation is to settle down with a good book, I tend to enjoy a good hike or drive in quest of a great photo opportunity.   I especially was looking forward to this trip since I was able to get my hands on a Nikkor 600mm lens for the journey.  Visions of close-up wildlife ran through my head the entire drive down to the cape.  I must confess that my primary objective was to simply get some hands-on time with this lens – actually capturing wildlife images would be a secondary consideration.  With an Alaskan trip planned for next summer, I really wanted to evaluate the 600mm lens to see if rental or purchase would make sense.  I must say, what I learned will definitely affect how I approach next summer’s Alaskan journey.  Hopefully my comments will help you in your gear selection as well.

Before we move on, it is important to note that this lens is not the newer ($10,000) 600mm VR lens currently being sold by Nikon.  It is the prior generation lens that can be found on eBay for half the price of the VR version. 

Image 1 – Nikkor 600mm lens and case

Features & Specifications:

No equipment review would be complete without the requisite technical specifications.  Since the specs for this lens can be found elsewhere, I will simply outline some of the major features that I found important. 

• f/4 (the largest fixed aperture you will find on a lens with this focal length)
• Silent wave motor for quiet high-speed autofocus
• Ability to focus down to 5.6m (5.4m in manual focus)
• 9 rounded diaphragm blades that provide blur for out-of-focus elements
• M/A mode to quickly switch between autofocus and manual focus operation
• Auto-focus range limiting switch to improve auto-focusing speed
• 4,750 grams – (think heavy!)
• 430.5mm long – (think long!)
• Rotatable tripod collar (the only acceptable way to tripod mount this lens/camera combination)
• Rear slip-in filter housing (for circular polarizer filter sold separately)

A more complete list of specifications can be found at: http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/af/telephoto/af-s_600mmf_4d_if_2/index.htm

First Impressions:

Before I even laid my eyes (and hands) on the lens, I was impressed with the moderately-sized Anvil-style case that housed the lens (see Image 1 above).  Even before opening the case I got an inkling that the lens was going to be impressive.  And impressive it was.  As soon as I opened the case, I blurted out a “wow” when my eyes saw this big boy.  This is one big lens, clearly not for the casual photographer.  As I lifted the lens out of the case, it immediately became apparent that this is one heavy lens.  I knew immediately that a tripod was in order.  The sheer size of the front glass element was quite impressive.  I felt as if I had a small telescope in my hands.

As quickly as I could, I connected the lens to my Nikon D700 and snapped a few photos.  Here’s what I immediately noticed:

1)      The minimum focusing distance of approximately 16 feet means you need separation between you and your subject.

2)      The bokeh, or quality of the blurred image, was incredible.  Out-of-focus background elements were rendered smoothly.

3)      Very sharp edge-to-edge images.

4)      My TC-17E teleconverter worked and looked good (providing 1020mm of focal length).

5)      Auto-focusing wasn’t the fastest, but use of the AF distance limiting switch helped.

6)      I preferred to manually focus the lens most of the time.

7)      I immediately wanted Vibration Reduction (VR).

So with my quick first impressions out of the way, it was time to take the lens out into the field to see how it performed (or should I say how I handled it).

 

Image 2 – Illustration of  bokeh
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 800, f/6.7, 1/1600 sec. 

Hands-on Experience:

First and foremost, I cannot imagine using this lens handheld.  Its weight and size make it difficult to hand hold effectively.  So I decided to lock it down on my tripod.  Problem number one arose – my carbon fiber tripod uses a ball head equipped with a Really Right Stuff clamp.  Although the 600mm lens included a rotatable lens collar mounting foot, it didn’t fit my RRS clamp.  So for me to use this on my tripod, I had to pull out an older style clamp and swap it out on my tripod head.  While this wasn’t the end of the world, it was a pain every time I wanted to change lenses because I needed to swap tripod clamps.  Lesson learned – remember to purchase the necessary RRS lens collar foot replacement if you buy or rent one of these lenses.  I’m glad I figured this out now rather than on my upcoming Alaska trip.

My next issue arose as soon as I locked the lens down on the tripod.  Lens movement.  As I mentioned, I have a light-weight carbon fiber tripod that I carry with me when I travel.  Simply stated, this tripod failed to provide the support that this lens requires.  Even when this lens was mounted on a more beefy tripod, there was still some movement/vibration.  This is where I found myself wishing for vibration reduction technology.  Had this lens been equipped with VR, my problem would have been solved.  Since it wasn’t, I found that I needed to wait for the lens to stop vibrating and use a high shutter speed to get crisp images.  Since even the slightest amount of wind caused some lens movement, I probably never really got this lens to stop moving.  The problem I have with using really high shutter speeds is that I like to keep my ISO settings as low as possible.  Once I put a teleconverter on the lens and sucked up two more stops of light, I pretty much was ensured of having to raise my ISO settings to be able to shoot with high shutter speeds.  While this wasn’t the end of the world (since the D700 has great high ISO capabilities), it wasn’t ideal for me.  Yes, a more stable tripod would have helped to a degree, but to me the real answer was vibration reduction.  So, needless to say, I will only consider long focal length lenses that have VR from this point forward.  And, if I’m using a lens of this size, I will bite the bullet and carry a heavier sturdier tripod with me.  Hey, if I’m going to lug this beast around, what’s another 4 pounds in tripod weight?  Oh, one last thing here, to keep the camera stead when triggering the shutter, I always used a wired remote trigger.  Whenever possible, I also engaged mirror lockup.

Image 3 – Night photo of the moon
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 3200, f/6.7, 1/6400 sec.

 

 

Image 5 – Same image as Image 3 above but cropped to 200%.  Notice the crater visibility.

Now I don’t want to sound too critical of the lens (it’s sweet), but I do want to share my issues.  My next problem came with locating subjects in the lens.  This of course is strictly a user operator issue and not a fault of the lens.  But, I did find myself having to search around to get the lens targeted on my subject.  The lens is so powerful (especially when coupled with a teleconverter), that it sometimes took me a few seconds to find the object I was planning on shooting.  This became problematic when I was trying to take photos of a bird that kept moving (to purposely evade my photo taking efforts).  Unfortunately, the bird’s movements were quicker than my ability to relocate and track the bird in the viewfinder.  So, ultimately, the bird won – I gave up – he didn’t get photographed.  So what lesson did I learn?  Well two.  First, more work with the lens would make me better at using it.  Second, that I would typically use this lens for photographing less robust creatures.  For example, I can see locking this lens down on a tripod aimed at a bird house.  Then, I could simply click the shutter when a bird entered the frame.  Similarly, it would work well for photographing slow-moving or stationary bears eating salmon out of a river.  I can’t envision me using this to shoot Nascar races or football games.  At least not without some serious practice time.  Oh, by the way, it takes some time to un-box the lens, attach the lens hood, mount it to your camera and tripod, and find and focus on your shooting subject.  So consider this if you are planning on doing some run-and-gun photography.  You might be better served with a 70-200mm or 200-400mm lens that is more suitable to handholding or monopod mounting.  

Image 6 – Shot from a distance of approx. 3700 feet away.
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/4000 sec. 

 
Because this lens is an AF-S style lens, it accepts any of the Nikon teleconverters (1.4x, 1.7x and 2.0x).  Only the 1.4x will preserve the ability to autofocus the lens since the 1.7x and 2.0x suck up too much light and exceed the f/5.6 aperture required for the autofocus to be effective.  This didn’t turn out to be much of a problem for me since I preferred to manually focus any way.  But, the autofocus did work well when given adequate light and time.  I guess I can’t really call the autofocus slow, but the range limiting focus switch did improve focusing speed when used.  Hey, it’s 600mm – I’m not expecting lighting fast focusing.  
 

Image 7  – Image of an osprey atop a utility pole shot from ground level approx. 100 ft. away.
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 800, f/11, 1/500 sec.

 

Image 8  – Cropped Image of an osprey atop a utility pole shot from ground level approx. 100 ft. away.
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 800, f/11, 1/500 sec. 

If you plan to travel with this lens, you really need to consider its size and weight.  Most airlines will probably nail you with an additional bag charge if you send it through with the baggage.  This lens simply won’t fit in most camera bags/back packs.  The lens and case weighed in at 24 lbs.  I personally would consider shipping it to my destination via UPS or FedEx.  Also, once on location, you need to remember that you need to transport the lens out to your shooting location.  If you’re alone, it’s probably going to be an issue on long hikes.  Personally, I found carrying all my gear and this lens to be acceptable for short distances, but  not too desirable when I had to hike a distance.  Keep this in mind before setting out on a hike through the desert!  Working out of the back of your car shouldn’t be an issue.

Things I liked.  Well, the lens is really sharp.  Especially for a 600mm.  In optics, you get what you pay for, and with this lens you’re getting top-notch clarity.  The build quality of the lens was also substantial.  The lens felt solid and not cheap.  Even the case it comes in is well built.  Autofocus switches were large, well marked, and conveniently located.  The lens hood was easy to secure with a single screw and flipped around nicely for packaging.    The way out-of-focus backgrounds were rendered was outstanding.  It is easy to get object-to-background separation with this lens.  Aside from the addition of VR, there’s not much more I would want from this lens. 

 

Image 9  – Image of a water lilly
Shot with Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with Nikon TC-17E teleconverter.  ISO 800, f/6.7, 1/1250 sec.
 

 

Image 10  – Same as image 9 above but cropped to 100%

 

Image 11  – Same as image 9 above but cropped to 200%
 

Summary:

So, would I buy this lens? No.  I wouldn’t consider this (or any other super telephoto) lens without integrated vibration reduction (VR) now that it exists.  That said, if cash wasn’t a consideration, I would absolutely buy the newer VR version of this lens for those once-in-a-while shots.  The one problem that I continued to notice while using this lens was that even the slightest movements (caused by the wind) required me to use high shutter speeds to get the sharpness I wanted.  VR would certainly have helped in this area.  Since VR technology exists, and works well, I absolutely would spend the money to purchase a lens so equipped. 

Now, since cash is obviously a consideration for me, and since I am not a professional nature (or bird) photographer, I would probably opt for a VR-equipped high power zoom lens (that I can occasionally handhold) instead.  I think the versatility of variable focal length, combined with reasonable long reach capability would serve me better.  Couple this with the fact that a lens like the Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 VR is 1475 grams lighter than the 600mm, it would probably make a better traveling companion for me and would work better on a monopod.  While I would sacrifice some focal distance, I feel that the other gains in flexibility and cost savings will be beneficial for my shooting style (think my kids sporting events and nature photography).  Since I plan to use my Nikon teleconverters, I will of course need to stay with an AF-S lens (since they don’t work with other lenses).  For those few times where I will really need the reach of the 600mm, I will rent a lens.  I can’t imagine this happening too often.

So in summary a great lens (especially if VR equipped), sharp with great bokeh, big and heavy, expensive, and tripod-dependent.

Hello fellow inLIGHTin’ed Ones!

Long time no see. How has everyone been lately?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am always thinking and brainstorming… For example, I should be editing a wedding right now. Instead, I have finally came up with where I want to direct my inLIGHTin Workshops. Before I get going, these are all good things! I am in no way, shape or form stopping these workshops so you can let out that sigh of relief now haha ;P

Now in my head I always seen a ‘loop-hole’ in my workshops so to speak… I basically held up a sign that said, “come to me if you want to know anything and everything about photography…” That was ideally what my one-on-one workshops did. You came to me with what you wanted to learn and I taught it. However, in my 5 year plan, I planned on doing more speaking engagements, group workshops and team learning (both locally and on a national level)… How can I get to that point when I only affect one photographer at a time? Also, do I want to be known as the guy who is like the Bob Villa of photography or do I want to be known for being an expert in my strengths and passions? Why give you an overall general knowledge base of things when I can hone into the nitty gritty and provide you with more concentrated content. These are the questions that I have been racking my brain on and here is my answer!

I have a new direction for the inLIGHTin Workshops which will be effective immediately:
All future inLIGHTin Workshops will be conducted in a group environment and the topics of these workshops are now divided into four categories: Lighting, Post-Processing/Workflow, Photography 101 and Nature/Landscape Photography. These are the disciplines that I am most passionate about and love to teach. My lighting workshops cater to my passion for portrait photography. The nature/landscape workshops combine my love for traveling, sight seeing and fine art landscapes. Post-processing and workflow lets out the inner geek in myself and the photography 101 courses will be my way of giving back to the industry. We all started off somewhere so these Photography 101 workshops will get my students more comfortable with their cameras and hopefully help them to acquire a new found love and passion for photography.

Take a look at the following link for more information on what these workshops entail: http://www.inlightinworkshop.com/about/

I will most definitely still offer one-on-one workshops but they will come at a premium and on a more limited basis. Please contact me at Mike(at)inLIGHTinWorkshop dot com for more information.

I also hope to start taping these workshops and am looking to partner up with a videographer to help this vision become a reality. If you miss the workshop then you can always have access to it via these videos.

All in all, I have big, big plans for The inLIGHTin Workshop and I thank you for being on-board! If you are interested in hosting an inLIGHTin Workshop in your neck of the woods then please email me at Mike(at)inLIGHTinWorkshop dot com .

These workshops have always and will still be 110% about YOU. Therefore, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments so please comment on the blog below and let me know your feedback.

Thanks for reading and for all your support!
Michael

What better time to review the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR when a new one has been announced right?

Basically, I just wanted to let you know that this lens is still going to be used by myself and I do not have immediate plans to upgrade to the new 70-200mm with VRII…

Here are the differences real quick between the old model and the new one:
1.) Price! I paid around $1,800 last year from my 70-200mm while the new one appears that it will be going for around $2,400.
2.)VR vs. VR II: You basically get an extra stop of light with this newer version VR. The old one states that you can handhold the lens and get an additional three stops out of it while the new one is rated for four stops.
3.) Lens Coating & Design: The new VRII lens has the nano-crystal coating and sports a new design to boot.
4.) Minimum focusing distance has been dropped from 5 feet to 4.5 feet or so.
5.) The VRII lens is about a quarter inch shorter than its predecessor. However, it is approx. 2.5 oz. heavier.
6.) Sharpness: The new VRII is supposed to have better edge to edge sharpness on the new VRII lens.
7.) AF: Faster focusing with the A/M, M/A and M options.

So if you think that the extra $600 will help out your photography then put an order in for one of the new VRII versions… Otherwise, wait it out and continue to rock it’s predecessor.

I personally love my current lens. The important things are that it is fast to acquire focus, it is sharp (even at f/2.8) and it is comfortable in the hands. Need I say more? This lens has some amazing bokeh (that is the term given to the aesthetic quality of the blurred out background in your image when using a shallow depth of field)

I chose to do this review actually because I have been using this lens for more and more of my work as the days go on. My full frame D700 rocks with this lens. I did find that DX crop cameras give me a little too much zoom (approx. 105-300mm focal lengths after considering the crop factor) for my wedding and portrait needs. This lens coupled with a 2x teleconverter on my D300 DX camera gives me an effective 600mm f/5.6 (you lose a stop of light with each x in the teleconverter so my f/2.8 bumps up to f/5.6) Not too shabby! So all in all, I can use this lens with either a DX or FX body and for various photography assignments.

The image quality of this lens really excels when shooting wide open. Here are some sample pics from a job that I just did where the 70-200mm was used at f/2.8:

 

This lens is a staple for Nikon shooters. There are a couple other “necessary” lenses in Nikon’s lineup that you should have with you. The 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 would have to be the other two that I can come up with. Enjoy and check back tomorrow for some awesome workflow techniques!

Thanks for stopping by.

The inner wildlife photographer in me loves the work of Moose Peterson. Moose is an amazing nature and wildlife photographer and I will definitely be attending one of his DLWS worshops one of these days.

So where was I… Oh yeah, Lens Coat. So one of the products Moose uses are Lens Coats. They are basically neoprene covers for your lenses that help prevent them from dings, bumps, scratches and even against the elements, like rain and cold temperatures. So I am very hard on my gear and decided to pick a couple up. I grabbed one for my Nikon 70-200mm and my 24-70mm. I chose plain black over the various camouflage colors because I am shooting weddings more than wildlife (sometimes it would be nice to switch that around though).

The inner 5 year old in me needs stuff asap so I had the Lens Coats come with expedited shipping. The packaging was very simple yet professional. I opened them up and started going to town. The instructions were very clear cut and the neoprene sleeves fit around the lenses both accurately and snugly. So far so good!

There are plastic “windows” that display the important lens information and switches. That can be good and bad. I can say that these covers are crafted to accurately fit over each lens perfectly!

My only gripe is that the neoprene sleeve that covers the lens hoods could have some sort of adhesive to it. I found the lens hood covers to fit over the hood okay. It was easy for the sleeve to slide back and flower away from the plastic hood. Some adhesive like double sided tape will have to get put on there.

So the lens coat is comfy in the hands and offers you with added security while looking very nice and professional. I wouldn’t recommend getting these for your smaller lenses. Stick to getting these for your 70-200mm and up lenses because there is a lot more to those lenses than on say the 24-70. That arrived with a lens hood cover and two small bracelet sized neoprene circles for it. So what really would get protected and how well will it do it you know?

All in all I would give them an 8 out of 10. I would rate it higher if only I shot more nature and wildlife and less weddings and portraits. I am not in need of the lens coat for those kinds of shoots so it can get in the way. However, if you are all about being outdoors and want that extra protection when your expensive lenses are out of the bag then these are right up you alley!

So check out www.LensCoat.com and see if they may be right for you.

The Nikon 105mm VR macro lens is a relatively new addition to my camera bag. It is a very sharp specialty lens that really deserves to be recognized. The 105mm is a macro lens and the way to use it is really different from how we work with conventional lenses. I have to admit, when I put this lens on I thought it was broken. See, I put the lens on and tried stopping down to f/2.8 but couldn’t. Instead, I had a very odd aperture that it was stuck at. I put two and two together and started working the manual focus ring and then figured it out and that it is just how the lens works. Being a macro lens, it is used because it provides you with a close focusing distance as well as the ability to produce 1:1, 1:2 (and so on) reproductions of your subject. This is great for flower photography, insects and stuff of that nature because you can do your cropping in camera and have the subject take up the entire frame if you so choose.

This lens can also be used as a portrait lens since it is very sharp and it is at a focal length that is flattering to your subject without any real lens distortion occurring.

There are two cons to this lens that pose a problem. The first is sort of the nature of the beast and deals with a shallow DOF (depth of field) even at higher apertures. I noticed it when I first got the lens. I started off at like f/5.6 or f/8 with flowers but noticed that the foreground leaves were still out of focus. Sure the part of the flower I focused on was 100% sharp but the DOF fell off way too soon IMHO. To combat this and get the photo that I wanted (i.e. ALL petals in focus) I had to set the aperture to f/11 or f/16… That is great and all but you need a boat load of light at times in order to get these shots. I worked my way around that by using my speedlight to compensate for the loss of light. f/11 is totally doable with a speedlight if it is very, very close to your subject. This is also where the VR (vibration reduction) comes in handy to achieve sharp images even at slower shutter speeds.

The second issue I had with the lens is that it is slow to auto focus. This lens works best when you set your focusing distance and physically move yourself and the camera back and forward until you achieve the sharpest focus. I noticed that this was a pain with a tripod!

Now imagine the trouble I had to go through to get this photo:

These bats were all huddled up and hanging on the wood rafter in a historical building in the Smokey Mountains. There was no light whatsoever. I had to have my associate hold up my iPhone to give me something, anything to illuminate these little critters. That gave my camera enough light to detect the contrast necessary to acquire focus. I had my SB-900 speedlight mounted on my camera and it was pointed directly behind me so it would hit the wall behind me and lit up the little guys… I got a couple good snaps off before I looked down and checked out that bat guano that I was stepping in. lol. Anything for the shot right?

So back to the reivew. The 105mm VR is a very nice (and ridiculously sharp) lens. Remember that photo above? Well here is a 100% crop of the little bat off to the bottom right of the frame.

Yeah THAT’S sharp!

Is is necessary for 99% of the work people do? No… Well unless you photograph flowers and bugs for a living then consider yourself in the 1% range. I personally do not use this lens for portraits often. I bring it out for weddings and baby portraits to capture details. Wedding ring shots work great with the 105mm and I can get those little baby details with this lens as well. Little ears, hands and feet. The other times this lens comes out is when I do the flowers and bug photography.

It is a great lens and I would definitely recommend it.

I recently picked up a Hasselblad H3DII-31 Medium Format Digital SLR.

Here is a YouTube video review of it:

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I will post some sample pics and resolution examples in a bit so check back shortly.

I picked up my Hasselblad over at www.hotwire-digital.com. Be sure to check them out if you are in the market for a Hasselblad and want a support staff to help you out with the camera anytime! They are a great group of people and I would highly recommend them.