Candi & Sam - A Night at the Atrium

Been way too long since I last blogged. Like, way too long.


Last night I had the privilege to shoot with a great team of people (Jeff Franks, Steve Glass and Danah Hornbeck) at a wedding in Norcross, GA. I've been working for Jeff for almost a year now....he's awesome.


We had more light problems during the ceremony than you could shake a stick at.....it finally got started at around 8:15PM which meant it was pitch black outside (Yes, it was an outdoor ceremony). There were 12 candles lighting the whole thing....yeah, only 12. The 1D Mark IV worked it's magic with the crazy high ISO capability. I paired it with my 70-200 f2.8L IS which is a bit unlike me, especially in that light. I almost always would have used the 135L  because of it's f2 aperture, but I decided the 70-200 would be better for the focal range it provided.


Here's a few shots:

Thanks for scrolling through all of that! 


Gotta give a quick shoutout to my buddy Steve - we pranked him pretty badly after everything ended last night! Sorry man!


Congrats to Candi and Sam!

Canon EF 35mm f1.4L - Full Review

The Story
I'm lucky enough to have a loaner copy of the Canon EF 35mm f1.4L lens this week and next from Canon Professional Services. I've been interested in a moderately wide and fast prime lens for some time now, but I've never decided which one I really want. So, I've decided to loan both the 35L and the EF 24 f1.4L II from CPS over the next month to get a better idea of which one I like best. I have not decided to buy either one of them yet, and unless one totally wows me, I won't buy either of them. They're both fine lenses, so it's up to me to decide which focal length I like better and which one feels better in my hands. Oh yeah, keep in mind I'm writing this blog over several days as I have the lens and try new things with it, so bare with me here. I received the lens on May 17, 2010 (Monday) and I'll ship it back May 26, 2010 (Wednesday).

(I didn't take the below photo.....it's from Photozone.de)

First Impressions

The lens is built beautifully. I can't say enough nice things about how the lens is designed, how it feels in my hand, how quickly it focuses, and it's build/image quality. It's just incredible. No wonder this is one of the "Canon Holy Trinity" lenses....(35L, 85 f1.2L, 135 f2L).

What I can say though is, as of yet, the focal length isn't clicking with me much. Keep in mind it's equivalent to a 45.5mm lens on the 
1D's 1.3x crop sensor. That may have something to do with it.
I find that when I want to get close to something to make it the main subject and blur out the background, I have to get very, very close. Then I run into problems with the lens' 1 foot minimum focus distance, so I can't get as close as I want. I know it's just me and not the lens though.....I'm the one who is used to telephoto lenses and the way they work. Maybe after a few days of shooting with this thing I'll get used to it.  

Bottom line so far: INCREDIBLE lens but maybe just not for me....or not for what I shoot most of the time. If I was a full-time wedding or event photographer, I'd probably be all over this thing. BUT, that's not what I do and not exactly what I'm looking to do in the future. 




First Night Out
After shooting with it most of the day today (Tuesday) I've decided I like it a bit better than I originally did when I wrote my first impressions down for the blog. I'm not changing it though...you're going to read my exact thought process throughout the post. When I write something, I'm not going to change it. 

I did a bit of shooting at about 8:30 tonight. It was awesome. The lens focused quickly, was sharp, and was pretty versatile actually. Then I shot a bit of video. Wow. It's an excellent video lens because of it's somewhat standard FoV and it's large aperture. I walked the camera straight down my driveway during the video and got some interesting footage. It's something I've never seen before with any of my other lenses, even at the same focal length.

The 50D
When I go to buy a lens, I believe it must preform very well on all of my camera bodies, not just my primary body. Being that my primary body (1D Mark IV) and my main backup/2nd lens body (50D) have two different sensor sizes, I think it's especially important to fully understand and like the different FoV's. There will be times (provided I end up purchasing this lens) that it will be used on my 50D. So today, I took it out for a quick walk around my house and yard on the 50D to try it out.
It appears 30% longer on my 50D than it is on my 1D. In 35mm terms, it's about 56mm on the 50D.
Initially, I liked it quite a bit better than I did on the 1D but I soon found myself wishing it was a bit wider to get more in the frame. The exact opposite problem I had on the 1D. 
So maybe this range isn't for me at all. Maybe I should look at other lenses like the 85 f1.2L instead. 
Then I thought about the times where I've been in low-lit/dark places where I've wanted to get a few shots of people or whatever and not been able to because of my 17-40L's maximum aperture of f4. The 35L would be great for that. But do I really need to spend $1400 on a lens that I'll only use for low-light people photos? Nope. But if I can see myself using it for other stuff that I shoot all the time, it becomes pretty justifiable.

I still really, really like the lens. It's incredible. It's 35mm focal length just doesn't work with what I like to shoot most often though. I'm going to keep playing with it over the next week and see what I think. Opinions change.  
Here's a shot of some books taken with the 35L on my 50D. 

Atlanta Botanical Gardens
My good buddy Sean Morgan and I decided to take a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens on Saturday to see the new Canopy Walkway and to take some cool photos. It was awesome. Don't think I left the 35L at home. It was fun to have there, actually; even though I ended up using my 100 f2.8L IS Macro lens most of the time. I did use the 35L quite a bit. I wished it was a bit wider in some instances, and longer in others. Here are a few shots from the Gardens taken with the 35L.

Going Home
The 35L began it's two day journey in a FedEx box back to Canon Professional Services in Newport News, VA today. I'm glad I had the opportunity to use such a wonderful lens for the last ten days. Overall, I loved the lens. It was very well built, produced very sharp pictures and felt great in my hands. BUT, I don't think the 35mm focal length is for me. I've got the Canon 24 f2.4L II coming when I return from Europe in mid-June. We'll see what I think of that one! Have a safe journey, 35L! 

-A

NAHS Battle of the Bands 2010

My school's first annual Battle of the Bands was Friday night. I volunteered to take a few photos for them because a lot of the players are friends of mine and I thought it would be fun to test out my new 1D Mark IV.
Here's an Animoto video I put together for them. A band called "Red December" won and their final song was Thriller by Michael Jackson. I intend to get their performance recording soon and add it to the video.


By the way, the 1D Mark IV worked extremely well during this event....everything was shot at at least ISO 3200.

-Alex

New Member of the Family!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the newest member of the J. Alexander Smith Photography family, The Canon EOS 1D Mark IV. 

I finally bought it last week from Adorama Camera in New York. I rarely order from them, but when I do, they are always great to work with. I only chose them because B&H was out of the Mark IV though. :)

Where do I begin? There is so much to say about it. It's so much different than my trusty (and now backup body), 50D. Everything is better.

Let's start with the AF system...

It's amazing. Much, much more accurate than the 50D and it locks focus even in terrible shooting conditions, like outside at 9:30 at night. (Yes, that's without any kind of AF assist lights or anything!)

I won't lie - I could have gotten a shot like this one with the 50D. Not anywhere near as easily and as often as I can with the Mark IV. Remember, this thing shoots 10FPS. Also, with it's 45 AF points and 39 cross-type points, taking the picture above is a walk in the park for the camera. Canon's AI-Servo II algorithm seems to be very fine-tuned and very accurate. 

Like I said....a walk in the park for the Mark IV here too. It just reacts well, even with an almost entirely black moving subject. 

Let's take a quick look at it's ISO performance...

I can't say enough kind things about it, really. I was out late tonight shooting a bit after sunset. ISO 10,000. Yeah, 10,000. Check this one out....

Pretty crazy, huh? What about this one...(Ok, I know it's some pillows sitting on the couch. Stop your complaining!)

Guess what that one was at? 12,800 ISO. Clean!

Alright, Video....

I haven't had much of a chance to test out the video. I shot a test video of my dog barking at another dog across the street...the camera produced wonderful 1080p24 video....my editing skills were, well, not quite up to par. I used Apple's iMovie because it was late and I was in a hurry. I do have Adobe Premier Pro CS4 which I will use in the future. You can see the video here. I'll also be using Vimeo instead of Flickr for video from now on.

Oh yeah, and I'm going to try to create some kind of ~5 minute video with this thing that is actually interesting soon. :)

Other Stuff....

Still can't say enough positive things about this camera. It's just amazing. 

Here's a few more photos for you guys....a few of these have been posted on Flickr yet.

Other Events/News

Some other cool stuff is happening here too! I'll be testing this camera out in the field over the next few weeks. I'm shooting my school's "Battle of the Bands" tomorrow night, hopefully some baseball next week and a wedding on May 15th with Jeff Franks. Then we're leaving for Europe on May 29th for two weeks. 

- I'd like to thanks my good buddy Steve Glass for giving me the book "Light: Science & Magic" for my birthday last month! It's a great book! If you haven't read it, you better get on it. :)

- I'll be on and off over the next three weeks. I'm graduating May 25th but our last "academic" school day is May 14th, so finals and final projects are coming up soon. What fun. None of my teachers will let me use a 1D on the final I don't think. :)

Anyway, if you've read this far, sorry, er, congrats. Thanks for reading!

More later as I begin to really put the 1D through it's paces.

-Alex

AI Servo Trick

What's up guys? I've got a cool new trick for ya!

Ever been out shooting a flower or something in windy conditions when the standard "One-Shot" AF mode doesn't work? You know, that one where it focus and locks until you depress the AF button again? No idea what that's called in the Nikon world.

Shooting in the wind, this mode rarely works. No matter how fast you press the buttons, it won't work 99% of the time.

How do you fix that? Easy. Let the camera's AF system follow the wind blown flower for you. Use AI Servo focus. It's that one that never locks focus....it just keeps focusing on what the AF dots are on. The downside to this is that you have to keep the camera moving too, but depending on the AF system, you'll be able to use multiple AF dots to keep up with it. 

I'm shooting another wedding with Jeff Franks and Steve Glass this weekend. It's in Dahlonega, GA. Should be a lot of fun!

I'm also getting some new octoboxes for my Paul C. Buff lights Saturday courtesy of Jeff. Then some new stands and boom arms next week!

Then I've got something cool to announce. Might say something as early as Monday or Tuesday. We'll see. It'll be awesome. Can't wait!

Until then, later guys!

-A

Spring is Here!

Let the fun begin! Spring is finally here. I love this time of year.....the bugs come out, everything starts to bloom and we start to see green again. 

During this time though, everything goes through stages that you don't see any other time of the year.....some stages last only a day or two. Unfortunately, these can be the most beautiful stages too. So, while we've got the chance, get out and shoot some pictures of flowers growing in! Soon enough, we'll start to see insects come out again too! I can't wait.

Enjoy the spring!

More later when I'm not feeling sick.

-A

Back From Baltimore!

What a trip! It was amazing. My iPhone was stolen at the TSA security checkpoint here in Atlanta on the first day. What a mess. Using Apple's MobileMe Service and the TSA's incredible video surveillance systems, they were able to track down the thief and get my phone back before my flight left for Baltimore. So the TSA isn't Thousands Standing Around as much as I thought they were.

We visited some old friends both Friday and Saturday nights. I visited Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA Saturday afternoon too. I really liked the college.

It rained for most of the trip, but there was a break in the rain and some cool cloud formations Saturday afternoon when we got back from Carlisle, so I had to take a few pictures. I had literally fifteen minutes to do so, and I got some pretty cool stuff.

All is good now....I'm back in Atlanta and noticing some daffodils popping up and a few trees budding out a bit. I hate it. The freeze date is April 15th in Atlanta, so we're likely to get another freeze so it'll hinder or kill the stuff that's already started to grow.

Here's a picture of Baltimore's inner harbor....part of the Chesapeake bay.

Enough for now....more later this week!

-A

Sports Teams!

I did a shoot for my school today. I took pictures of all of the spring sports teams and the senior athlete's individual portraits. A lot of fun.

I had my good friend Cody Snipes helping me out today. He was awesome. I don't think he's ever done something like this before today, but he knew exactly what he was doing....he seemingly read my mind sometimes. I couldn't have done the shoot today without his help. So, thanks, Cody! For the record, Cody has lots of pride. (That one's an inside joke....the students in Ms. Tripp's 2B class (Including Cody) will get it.)

I brought in some of my studio lighting gear. Two Paul C. Buff Zeus lights and one Zeus power pack. Nothing too special with the group shot light. I could have done more with it, but for something that'll be seen in black and white in a yearbook, is it worth it?

I just placed the two lights on stands bouncing into umbrellas, on either side of the camera aimed at the ends of the group. It worked.

For the individuals (which had to be done right after the team photos before we shot the next team), I just moved one light nearer the other and did your basic clam shell lighting. With the background totally black, they turned out pretty nicely.

We took three photos of each team. A serious one, one with everybody smiling and a "Facebook" picture. The "Facebook" picture is the one where they can make crazy faces and stuff. It's a great incentive actually. The line "Stop messin' around dude....let me get what I need to, then y'all can do a fun shot" works really well. For those who still won't comply, baseball bats usually work pretty well.

I did the whole shoot with my Canon 50D and my 17-40 f4L lens.


Later guys.....
-A

The Infamous Canon 135 f2 L USM

The one, the only, the 135L. Yup. I'm going to write an entire post about a lens.

I wouldn't trade this lens for anything (well, maybe if somebody wanted to trade for a Ferrari). This is hands down one of my favorite lenses to use. I haven't found anything it doesn't do well. You name it, it'll do it, and do it well. Landscapes, portraits, sports, events, still-life, cars, lions, tigers and bears, oh my. 

Wait, hold up. Did this dude just suggest that you can use a 135mm lens for landscapes? Yup, I did. I rarely shoot landscapes anyway, but, when I do, I always consider using the 135L. I've got a friend, BoldPuppy, who uses his 135L quite a bit for landscape work. Take a look!


One of my favorite things about this lens is that it makes you think a bit harder about your composition. You simply can't fit as much in the frame as you could with, say, a 17mm lens. But, if you think hard enough, you'll be able to "represent" everything in the 17mm frame in a 135mm frame if that makes any sense.You won't need 17mm for every shot that should be "wide". Nope. You only need 18mm.:)
Try it sometime. Even if you don't have a 135mm lens, you can still try this if you have a 70-200 or some lens that hits the 135mm mark.
Go outside, take a picture (try to make it somewhat interesting) with the widest lens you have. For me, it's my Canon 17-40 f4 L. Now, try to shoot the same thing with a 135mm lens, or a zoom lens at the 135mm mark. 
Let's say you took a picture of a tree. With that wide lens, you'll probably be able to get the whole tree in the shot from (depending on the height of the tree) maybe 20' away. You'd have to be in the next city over to do that with a 135mm lens, right? Yep.
But, let's say you can make the picture you take with the 135mm lens mean just as much as the one you took with the wide lens.
Maybe you'll get a picture of a branch with some leaves on it, or maybe just one leaf, or maybe the bark is interesting. I'll bet you like the picture with the 135mm lens better.
Go on, try it. I want to see your results. Upload them to Flickr or something and drop me a link in the comments.


Keep in mind this doesn't just apply to Canon's 135mm lens. This stuff works with the Nikon version too...bit it'll cost you. :)


I'll do another post soon with some examples.


Later.
-A

Wedding Glasses

Short post today.
If you've never seen my glass series before, get your butt over to Flickr to check it out. It's one of the few things in photography that I think I can do really, really well.

These two shots, however, were created in less than a minute using one piece of Nikon crap SB-900. I can't believe I just admitted to using Nikin gear...even for a minute. The Canon police will be after me now.
In all seriousness, my gear (I still had a camera and one lens with me) was holding Steve's Nikon gear hostage locked in a trunk back at the church (long story). I was at the reception venue with Steve before guests arrived to take some detail shots. There was a risotto bar that had these martini glasses stacked in all kinds of cool ways. I thought "Dang...where's a bowling ball?" "All I need is one light" and I could make a really cool picture. I think I did just that with a speedlight I borrowed from Steve.
Thoughts? Comments? 

Later.
-A

Wedding Rings

I hardly ever shoot weddings. In fact, my first wedding was February 27th with Jeff Franks. I got some decent shots, but nothing was that great. Weddings are very hectic. They require a lot of concentration and planning both ahead of time and during the wedding itself. I admire anybody that can do that day in and day out....it's quite something. 
So, if you're married, or are going to get married, give your photographer a pat on the back....it takes a lot of skill to do what they do. It's just not as simple as pressing a button.


Jeff divides his other photographers into teams. I was on Steve Glass' team. He's awesome. I met him at a David Zeiser workshop back in November. Apparently Jeff was there but we never formally met. Steve then introduced me to Jeff who is one of the most generous and just plain nicest guys I've ever met.
Anyway, getting back to my drivel the original point of this paragraph, Steve has a lot of talent. He knows more about light than anybody I know. He's like a walking light dictionary. It's pretty cool some of the stuff he comes up with. Take a look at his blog (link in my "Favorite Blogs" section on the right).


I came up with an idea (well, I've seen it done so I suggested the idea to Steve) for this wedding. Ever seen wedding rings balanced between the pages of a Bible with a strong back light that creates a heart shaped shadow in the crease? It's very cliche, but very cool when done right.


Steve held his Lowell iD light for me while I shot it. Then we switched places. Mine turned out pretty well however I think his was a bit better because you can see the whole Bible in the shot....you can only see part of it in mine. But, it's interesting how two people can have the exact same scene, the exact same lighting and for the most part, the exact same camera capabilities but get two totally different pictures. 


Anyway, here's mine. I'd love to hear some feedback from all of you. Let me know what you think.

That's all for now, folks. More later.
-A

Walking in Memphis

Hey guys.

Back in January, renowned sports photographer and Andy Roddick's photographer, Ron Angle offered me a one week long internship at the Regions Morgan-Keegan Tennis Championships/Cellular South Cup in Memphis, TN. I've known Ron for a couple of years and have heard a lot about what he does each week when he travels the globe photographing tennis, but never have I really understood what all goes on. That week back in February gave me an idea of what it was like. It was hands down one of the coolest things I've ever done. I couldn't possibly describe everything.

I got to shoot almost every match that week, both men and women, right from the side of the court. I had the opportunity to meet other professional photographers, the ATP and WTA website directors, and many more interesting people. 

I shot almost everything with my Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS or my Canon 135 f2 L lenses and my 50D. (You'll get tired of me talking about that 135L at some point, I promise!)

I took close to ten thousand pictures. I've spent the last two weeks narrowing it down to just a handful of my favorites to put in a gallery to show on my website. It's taken a lot of time. I  have a lot of respect for Ron and all other sports photographers who shoot so many pictures each day and can narrow it down to just a few quickly after a match for a website or article. It's hard work....

Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ron again for everything he did for me that week. It was amazing.
I'd also like to thank my secretary mother for helping me plan the trip and make it happen. 

Here's a link to the gallery. Hope you guys enjoy it. Hit me up in the comments if you have any questions or comments about it.

-A

Welcome

Welcome guys. Today is a big first for me. I'm starting my new photography blog. Not sure exactly where it'll go, or what I'll talk about, but it'll always be photography related. Check out my list of "Favorite Blogs" on the right of this page to see some of the people I follow and who I've gotten inspiration from. 

I'll tell you a bit about myself. I'm 17 (for three more weeks!) and an avid tennis player and photographer. I picked up photography about four years ago. I consider my main photographic interest to be commercial followed by sports and nature. 

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland but I currently live in Atlanta. I'm a senior in high school. 

I plan to go to college in the fall and major in International Business then probably get my MBA after that. I'm strongly considering a career in photography, but I haven't made a decision yet. I won't make one for a while.

I use Canon cameras/lenses and Paul C. Buff Zeus lighting gear. I can't stand really like those Nikonians. Some of my really good friends shoot Nikon...it's good stuff.

I'm a member of WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International). I use Miller's Professional Imaging Lab exclusively for myself and my clients. 

Oh yeah, if you can't already tell, I have a big sense of humor. This is the internet and sarcasm doesn't always translate well, so I apologize if I say something that offends you. I don't intend to offend anybody. Promise.

I plan to create a new blog post at least three times a week, if not more.

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for my next post about my recent trip to Memphis with renowned sports photographer, Ron Angle and my Memphis Tennis Gallery.

-A