loving my new camera

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a camera since I bought the 1D Mark III a few years back. At the time it was pretty revolutionary, 10FPS, dual processors, the whole works. Up to that point the 1Ds Mark II’s and III’s were way out of my price range. At about $6,000.00 to $8,000.00 (for the 1DsIII) it was way out of my price range.
Finally about 2 years ago, the 1DsII’s price dropped to the point where mere mortals like myself could afford one, so I’ve been shooting with dual combo of 1DIII for speed and high ISO, and 1DsII for slower, more portrait type shots.

The big problem with the 1DsII was the battery system. It still used NiMH and battery accuracy was pretty weak, so I would always carry 3 or more expensive battery packs to a shoot. That gets old pretty fast if you’re doing larger events and have to lug around more heavy equipment.

Also, the safe ISO range I would feel comfortable shooting with the 1DsII was about 800-1000, and if I felt lucky..I would go 1200.

With the 1DsIII, I can now go higher without much fear, and the battery systems are now in sync. I know, at the cost of a 1DsIII, one could easily pick up a 5Dii or even a 5DIII. But I think I’m accustomed to the size, build, and quality of the EOS bodies. I used to own two 5D classics, and they were good, but it wasn’t the same. Yes, the newer 5D’s now can have ridiculous ISO’s and do video, and have faster UDMA card speeds, but I think the 1Ds was just still always the dream camera that I had always wanted but was never able to afford. Now that I have one, I guess one could say I somewhat feel accomplished. I’m glad I’m in a position to even be able to afford it now, despite being 5 year old tech. It’s still ground breaking tech. Heck, even my old 8.2MP 1DII can hang with the best of them today, so I have no problem using older tech. It’s not the tools, it’s the carpenter =)

Shooting Adults again! yaay

Been awhile since I got out and did a photoshoot with adults. Figured I’d get back into the game, and make sure I still can pull it off. It’s a slightly different ballgame, and I think I need to work on working in groups of 2 and three people. They’re still a bit difficult coming up with poses, etc. I still am not a big fan of strobe lighting, so all these were done with natural light. I brought a flash to mitigate shadows, but ended up getting flustered and it hindered me more than it helped, so I ditched it pretty quickly.

Vitamix Cauliflower How To guide

Wife made me cook so I thought it would be fun to make a video on using the Vitamix to make fried Cauliflower Tater Tots. Yes, I was a skeptic too, but once the rich, creamy fried goodness entered my mouth (Sprinkled with salt of course), I have been converted. Do not get me wrong, nothing can replace the yummy original tater tots, but I never really liked cauliflower to begin with, so this was a good opportunity to try something new!

The video was done with a slider, a 35mm lens, and a tripod, but I found hand held gave me more versatility. It was just a pain to mitigate shake. It was also good practice for me because I think for close up subjects, I’m getting a little better at pulling focus. It also took about 5hrs to go from trimming, editing, and the final product, which is waay too long. (Most of the time was finding a suitable creative commons video track), but if I am to make this a viable hobby that tries to make a little cash here and there, I need to be more efficient at it.

New Found appreciation for Videographers

It’s been a long while since I posted here. Figured I now have something worthy to post.

Behind the scene footage of a photoshoot I did today. warning slightly NSFW.

This took an obscene amount of time to post process. I’ve decided the two most overlooked, complicated, and under-appreciated tasks when making any short movie (or real film for that matter) are: color grading, and text/credits. They took a long while to do and to sync up. Don’t even get me started on syncing up the music! All in all, it was a great learning experience. Next time, I will try to avoid hand held if at all possible. It just ruins a lot of shots for me being so shaky. As for color grading, depending on the lighting and scene, it was hard to get everything uniform. Which makes it difficult so I had to adjust exposure during post process. Now I know why there are giant budgets to shield against light during shoots. As far as the camera is concerned, I’m allowed to only shoot at 1/30 of a second for a 30fps video. At 60FPS, I can go 1/60. If anyone one is familiar with photography, you’ll know during the daylight, that’s pretty much instant overexposure, so I shoot with a lot of ND filters (sunglasses for my lenses) to make things darker.

That limits my post processing options. I don’t have the skills to do all that movie magic and edit/composite things, so all I have during post are color grading and cropping. Which makes it essentially to nail real exposure and focus during the shoot. Since everything is so compressed, you don’t have much latitude in terms of exposure. Don’t even get me started on focusing. I still have a hard time determining which direction to move the focus when the subject is near or far. Though I’d reckon over time it will become second nature. But that’s why I like it. It’s new, and I find it a bit more challenging than photography.

Another thing I need to improve is during sliding sequences, I need to go much slower if possible. And this is the easy stuff! There was no actual speaking/audio parts in this behind the scenes short! i can only imagine how painful that is to sync up. But I’m glad I went out and did it. Got to meet talented local people around my area who love what they do, and do it for the joy of it.

I have a few future video projects I have in mind. But all in all, I’m still a complete beginner at this. Making things up as I go along basically. There was no planning to any of these shots. It was all rather spontaneous, and I just looked through all the footage to see what was usable, and slowly chiseled it down to it’s current form. Even that took a ridiculous amount of time, and after the first cut I made one more edit to tighten it up and clean it some. I think it was a good attempt, since it’s been so long since I’ve done any video work.

So far, I think I should stick to what I do best, which is photography! But I shall not be deterred, video is merely an extension of photography.

Memory Lane

The bank finally sent me papers, so I’m looking at approximately 100 days left at my current residence.  I think it was a wake up call, so I started to purge, throwing away non essentials.  I discovered a loot of interesting things, fossils by today’s standards.  Old Iomega zip drives, floppy and 3.5 inch disks.  cassette tapes!  It was awesome, and I went through boxes of letters from people that used to be really important in my life.  I wasn’t able to let go then, but I realize now, there are things that I hold so dear to me, I simply can’t let go…refuse to let go.  I ran across my dad’s signature, photos of high school friends, tons of letters and notes.  They all made me smile.  And After I sifted through the items, I packed them carefully back into a box, and hope to take my journey again in another 10 years.  

It’s just so interesting that things that used to hurt, and tear me up inside not don’t even hurt at all.  I guess it is true, time does heal all wounds.  I’m still waiting for it to heal the big hole in me when my dad passed, as I did sob like a little boy in my office during his birthday.  Maybe in 5 to 10 years, I’ll be all better.

KFC memories

My wife got me KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) today for dinner, and I was munching on it alone in the kitchen and just had a random thought of my dad that totally brought a smile to my face. We grew up pretty poor, and I remember I liked KFC back as a kid, so as treats sometimes, my dad would drive me there, and we would share a three piece dinner meal. We’d just sit in the car, and he would watch me much away on my cole slaw, mashed potatoes, and yummy three pieces of chicken (This was back in the day when a three piece meal was actually large vs the pitiful portions they give now). But I just realized now as an adult, he didn’t share it with my brother, we didn’t bring any home….he used what money he had and got me the KFC. And that brought a smile to my face.

As you rocket towards life, you sometimes don’t spot the little details along the way that shape and build up the character, and the person you are now.

Day at the Beach!

I had the honer this weekend of photographing a family portrait session at the beach. With the hustle and bustle of work, it’s been a long while since I just sat down and smelled the ocean breeze. It’s a shame really, because the Ocean is really so close by from all of us in socal, yet we’re too busy to just sometimes marvel at it’s simplistic beauty.

I really enjoyed jumping in the ocean and rolling around in the sand, taking pics while the kids were playing. There were some sad moments for me though. During the session, I thought about my brother and I, and how their Dad reminded me a lot of my own dad in his youth. The jeans and the dress shirt, was just exactly what my dad would of worn. As cliche as it sounds, it really felt like I was in a flashback reel, where I’m essentially on automatic pilot taking photos, while simultaneously reliving my youth, thinking of my dad, and my own family.

I wish I had pics like this when I was growing up. Funny, people don’t appreciate things until they’re gone. Now any picture I have of my dad, however out of focus or blurry is like finding gold. But when he was alive, those photos were were just sitting there, piled or stuffed in the corners like faded memories amassing dust. Ahh, life is just a matter of perspective I guess.

My brother and I used to be close. We rode bikes together and hung out a lot as children. I don’t quite know what happened that caused a deep schism between us. It’s not that we’re estranged, we’re pretty convivial towards each other, but there’s not much of a connection, other than the fact that he’s my brother.

Often times, I’ll document relationships with family and see how other brothers treat one another, and I must admit I do get somewhat jealous. I think I feel deeply rewarded doing these brief stints and moments with families because I’m thinking 10 to 20 years from now, regardless of all the hardships these two will endure growing up, they’ll be able to look back on these photos, and relive their “day at the beach”. Where life was simple, and dad was holding them in his arms.

But here’s to you dad. I love you, and miss you a lot. Thanks to the Sosa family for allowing me to share few moments of their lives.

Thanksgiving

carry speed dual camera strap review

Well, I bit the bullet and purchased a carry speed dual camera strap system from Amazon.com, and it finally arrived! I was looking forward to using it for my shoot tomorrow, but after playing with it for about 40 minutes at home, adjusting and putting my cameras and lenses on it, I decided it doesn’t fit the shooting style that I’m accustomed to, and it would most likely hinder me rather than help me.

Before I being the review, I’d like to preface it with the fact that I’ve been shooting with dual bodies for a number of years now. Ever since going to prime lenses, I’ve gone with a 1DsMarkII and 1DMarkIII combo, typically with an 35mm and an 85mm lens, with a 70-200 for longer shots in the bag. This coupled with my favorite straps made from a company called Optech. I’ve been using them because they absorb weight pretty well. I usually couple that with a vest, that I strap my straps into so in the event of slippage, they don’t entirely fall to the floor.

Enter the carry speed dual straps that I decided to try. When it arrived, it reminded me of giant rock climbing harnesses or parachute harnesses. It’s well made in terms of construction and materials. The only down side to them is the way they attach to the camera, which is using the 1/4th inch tripod mounting screws. Which means the cameras are generally upside down when they are to the side. This is a bit disorienting as I’d have to reach over and flip them up before shooting. That and when I’m done, I feel like if I just drop them, they’ll fall. The camera on the left hand side is a bit worse, since the orientation is reverse and they are essentially screw mounts, I feel that sometimes as the cameras go up and down, the torque from this motion loosens the connections.

In addition, I typically have a backpack on me, and with a strap that goes around your neck to some extend and some of it is on your back, it feels a bit more cumbersome. For me, the thing that made it unacceptable for my shooting styles, is there isn’t a rapid release system. If I need to put one camera down, or hand it to my assistant or second shooter, it would be impossible. I’d have to flip it right side up, unscrew it, then hand it over. Also for some reason, I’ve tried a few lens changes, and it just doesn’t feel natural to me when doing so.

I think this system may work for some people, but it definitely didn’t fit my shooting style, so I’m going to return this and stick to my old system. I guess the old adage applies, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Though it was definitely worth a try!

last party

I attended my grandma in law’s funeral the other day. It was a celebration of her life and family, and I just thought that life was just so fleeting, and I’ve been humbled and reminded that life is beautiful.

It was beautiful. There was supposed to be rain that day, but the sky cleared up. There was a mariachi band, and there was a lot of sadness, but I was very pleased that soo many people showed up. She at one point touched each of their lives, if they took the time out of their Fridays, to travel and to fly from a far, to pay their respects.

I know how it feels like to lose a father, and as much as Dad’s rock. I don’t even want to know how it would feel like to lose a mother. You hear stories of war, where wounded and dying men cry out for their mommies. There is just an indescribable bond that is attached to mom’s. I think I would be completely devastated. But such is the circle of life, and I know none of us can escape the journey. Here’s to you grandma Solis. I’m sorry, I promised you photos the last time we met, and nearly 10 months have passed and I haven’t made good on that promise. That is the one thing I regret, and I guess I’ll carry that along with many other things until it is my turn to take that journey as well.