Rob and Nicole

My wedding photography partner and I had the pleasure to shoot a wonderful wedding in Andover, MA recently.  The day provided for a fresh look at a wedding.  The couple had a wonderful ceremony.  When they exited the church (to the bride’s surprise), the groom had arranged for a bunch of Monarch butterflies to be released.  They came in these little paper triangles, which you will see below.  Unfortunately they were not too photogenic, as they all didn’t take off like we were hoping for.  It sure would have made for a nice photo, but things don’t always work out the way you hope, especially at weddings!  We then went over to a local cemetery which we had scouted out before hand for the formals.  This was the biggest wedding party I have ever seen!  A reception followed at the groom’s parents’ house.  They had tents set up in the backyard, and a wonderful barbecue chicken dinner was served.  The coolest thing was there was a pool and a bunch of kids swimming and running around.  Kids always make for interesting photos!  At one point the groom almost threw his beloved bride into the pool!  Below are some of the highlights from the day.  All shots taken with a Canon EOS40D and a gazillion lenses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I love, but hate Canon right now!

Let me first start by saying, that I am not one to usually get involved with the rant about what is going to be the latest and greatest camera to come out on the market.  I must confess however, I do read these rants because I find them quite amusing.  The thing really pisses me off is how much these camera companies are ripping off consumers.  

 

It all started a few days ago when Canon announced their upgrade to the popular advanced compact camera the G10.  I, myself have not even had my camera for a year and all of a sudden…G11!?  I could post a photo here on my blog, but I refuse to give into the advertising of this camera!  I don’t want to sound piggheaded, it sounds like a great camera.  Basically, Canon decided to keep the same camera body, and simply lower the megapixel count.  By keeping the same Digic 4 processor, the new G11, promises better low light, low noise, functionality at higher ISO’s.  That’s the other thing that pisses me off!  I love the G10, but honestly, I don’t use this camera above ISO400.  This is fine by me, because the reason why I bought the camera in the first place was to have  a small, compact camera to take snapshots and for creative “on the go” oppurtunities.  So in my opinion, the camera serves me just fine.  But, why the the hell put these ridiculous ISO 1600’s and 3200’s on a compact, when they are absolutely unusable?  It’s almost as if they put it in there for the spec value only.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Canon has an excellent idea about the megpixel count.  In fact, I have never been impressed my megapixels, and would take a camera that has better low light quality over resolution any day!  In the case of the G10, I want the megapixels though.  I find myself constantly using this camera as a macro camera and always cropping in on certain things.  The 15 megpixels that is has allows me to do that.  That being said, I would not trade in my G10 for a G11 anyday of the week.  Where the frustration comes from my part, is the feeling that Canon is releasing these camera’s, knowing that their performance might be suffering because of higher megapixel count, with full intention of replacing them within the same year!  Again, I might be satisfied with my camera, but I can tell you that a lot of consumers are not going to be happy about this.  The G10 is a $500.00 compact camera.  Now comes the G11 with features some consumers might be attracted to for get this…the same fricken price as the G10 is selling for:  $500.00.  And all within a year’s time.  I don’t want for this rant to sound like I am switching from Canon.  They make an unbelievable product.  I am completely satisfied with my G10, 40D, and Rebel.  In fact, I wish Canon didn’t take the 40D off the market, because with all the portrait and wedding work I have coming up, I want another 40D.  But come on guys?  Put your money into a good product and leave it there.  Don’t try and fix what isn’t broken!  With the way the economy is, hard working people are forking over hard earned $$ and they don’t want to be hearing of their camera being obsolete 6 months after they walk out of the store with it.  It just isn’t a good feeling for any consumer.  Slow down, keep the camera’s you have, and here’s an idea…Maybe put it into some lenses which haven’t been upgrade in the last 10 years?  Now there’s a thought!  

Canon G10 in the studio.

The Bogen “Magic Arm”, it’s better than buying that new expensive camera!

We all dream of getting that camera which we think will completely revolutionize the way we take pictures.  You know the one.  It might be a full frame for some of us.  For others, it might be that 10 frame a sec machine that would enable us to capture that bird we have been after for months now.  I must thank some of the photographers out there who made me think differently about accessories.  Guys like Joe Mcnally use these things daily and the fact of the matter is, these accessories will allow you to create not only better photos, but different photos.  Show me a camera that out of the box, you can fasten to the side of a moving car!  That $8,000 DSRL might be nice, but you need something else to put that $8,000 DSLR in a place that will give you a truely different perspective.  I am talking about GRIP EQUIPMENT! 

I like to shoot a lot of creative type stock images for both my portfolio and hopefully for someone to pickup on the “micro stock market”.  It might pay pennies, but the reason why I shoot this stuff is for the pure fun and creativity that is involved.  One of the many aspects I love using in my images is motion.  Conveying motion is not a difficult aspect, but is one that can easily be captured in camera, without engineering it in photoshop.  Below is an image concept I borrowed and expanded on.  I wanted to make an image conveying the extreme sense of waste that americans have nowadays with money.  By taking a Bogen Magic Arm, fitted with a super clamp, I was able to mount my DSLR, a canon 40d, onto a corn broom handle. 

This stock image of a broom sweeping cash, couldn't have been possible to pull off in camera without the magic arm.

The bogen magic arm features multiple ball bearing joints that allow you to adjust and position anything from a flash to a camera.  The unit is rated to hold the weight of a DSLR.  There are 2 types.  One has a friction arm so that you can fine tune the position of your camera or flash, similar to the friction balheads used on tripods.  The one I use, locks into place solid.  I prefer this one, because I know it will not vibrate loose and move on me.   Since the end plate is equipped with 1/4″ or 3/8″ lighting studs, attaching a tripod plate is easy!  If you want to mount a flash, simply screw on one of the hotshoe mounts that come with your standard umbrella lightstand mounts.

 

This is how I attached my camera to the broom handle.

Sometimes you need to put a speedlight in a place that is just not feasible for a lightstand.  How about a shower?!  Below is the setup image for an image I made in a shower.

This shows the super clamp and how easily it can be fastened to a shower head!

 

Why would I want to put a speedlight in a shower you ask?

How else do you back light a subject while taking a shower?

The image below shows the mounting system of a speedlight to the magic arm.  The amazing thing is, all three joints are locked by 1 lever.

A simple hotshoe mount from an umbrella mount is all you need to mount a speedlight to the magic arm.

Off To Ossipee!

Friday, I decided to take a day off for a change and head up to our friends Kelley and Dave’s camp.  It was in north Ossipee.  Ossipee is part of the Lakes region of New Hampshire, a popular destination for summer vacations.  Their RV was located on a nice seasonal lot at Danforth Bay.  Danforth Bay has both RV’s and small cottages (they are actually fully furnished houses).  I have been traveling fairly lightly lately as far as camera gear goes when we travel.  Between shooting portraits, weddings, and working on the never ending commercial portfolio, the last thing I have been wanting to do is lug around a heavy DSLR and lens.  I have been lucky to find everything I need in the G10.  I can make simple snapshots into decent images with extreme ease.  I can shoot RAW when I want, and with the 14 megapixels, I know that if I have to crop in later, so be it!  Well, I promised myself and Courtney that I wouldn’t be shooting photos the entire weekend, so I stuck to toying around when she was enjoying a book on the porch.  I wanted to make some motion abstracts, which I haven’t had the oppurtunity to do in a while.  Just when I though my little compact would give me a hard time, it spit out exactly what I was looking for:

here’s another giving her a little twist:

 

Being the sucker for a good closeup, I couldn’t resist:

 

 

 

The next day we decided to drive up to North Conway, home to the outlets, and Cathedral Ledge, a popular rock climbing spot.  We took the lazy way up (car to the top), and were greated by a breath taking view. 

 

Looking over the edge gave me a little vertigo!  What was more impressive was seeing human beings climbing over the top of this shear verticle drop.  If I had to guess I would say that the drop was well over a hundred and fifty feet.

 

Not just one, but several climbers were beneath this guy.  What a big responsibility he has!  He tied off to the saftey fence post at the top and belayed the rest of the climbers that followed.

 

Finally, who could pass up this beautiful backdrop?  Portrait time!