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