A Day of Sun and Fog in the Windy City

It was an unusual day last March 25, 2012.

Well... Unusual for me... to experience both a sunny and a foggy weather day...

Anyway, I had my Canon 7D with me and I really planned to make some photographs... However, I realized late that I had my Canon 70-300mm lens with me. So...

I decided to just shoot with my phone.

Here are the photographs that I made:

 

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Shots made with the iPhone4 and the hipstamatic app.

Benro A2691T Travel Angel Tripod Video Review

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Get yours here:




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Gadgets used to make this video:

Canon 5D Mark II - my blogpost
Canon Powershot SX230 HS - my review
Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens - my review
MacBook Pro and iMovie

St. Patrick Day in Chicago 2012

It starts off with a green river...

Some green hats, beads and sun dress...

Yes, it was a really gorgeous day to be out and about.

And one of the best ways to spend St. Patrick Day, of course, is with the wife and some old friends!

And, of course, the parade...

The rest of my photos of the day can be found in the slide show below.

For iOS users:

St. Patrick Day Chicago 2012

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Shots made with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 24-105  f/4L IS USM lens. Want the best backpack for your DSLR? Check out my review of my favorite, the Lowepro Versapack 200AW, here and here.

Rogue Honeycomb 3-in-1 Video Review

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Get yours here:






---------------------Gadgets used in this video podcast:
Photos of the wife made with a Canon 7D and a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens and a Canon 430 EX-II speedlite.
Photos of the Rogue 3-in-1 grid made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.
Video made with a Canon Powershot SX 230HS.
Edited with iMovie on a Macbook Pro.

Symmetry in UIUC - Fine Art Photography

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Shot made with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 24-105  f/4L IS USM lens. Want the best backpack for your DSLR? Check out my review of my favorite, the Lowepro Versapack 200AW, here and here.

Loving My Canon 5D Mark II

The Canon 5D Mark III has come out. It is a great camera I am sure and, with newer technology, a great improvement over the II.

But, given the choice, would I want to let go of my II for the III? If it will drop like manna from heaven, sure. But if I am gonna dig into my pocket to get one, I think I will pass.




See, there is a sentimental reason why I would want to keep the II. I won it from Scott Bourne, so, in a sense, it did drop like manna from heaven.

Also, I don't see anything wrong with the II anyway. It takes great photos and can handle high ISO shots; it shoots great videos - it did revolutionize video SLR after all; and it's rubber seal is still top notch. Well, I don't shoot in extreme situations anyway.

So, I see no reason why I should replace the II with the III.

Not yet anyway.

But, what really got me excited was the release of the Canon Powershot G1x, for, in my opinion, that is a revolutionary device - the big sensor alone is enough to lust after this device.

Oh, another thing that got me excited, and this is with the III, is that Canon decided not to increase the size of the photos. I really don't see why camera makers keep on pushing more and more pixels out. Not everyone will print pictures the size of billboards; heck, not everyone prints pictures anymore - a lot of people are just content with using their pictures for Facebook.

I actually don't see the point of people buying DSLRs just for posting pictures online...

But don't get me wrong! If I've unlimited gold lying around, I would want to have the III, or, even better, the Canon Eos 1Dx, but, even if I did, I would still keep the II. I just love it that much.

So, for now, I would stick to the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 7D. Both are great cameras and I think they would remain great for many more years to come.

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Shots made with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 24-105  f/4L IS USM lens. Want the best backpack for your DSLR? Check out my review of my favorite, the Lowepro Versapack 200AW, here and here.

Mixing Colors - Fine Art Photography

I've always been fond of shots where I change the focal length of my lens while the sensor is exposed, like these:

However, one time, I decided to take pictures where I moved the camera side to side. Of course, you can only make these kinds of shots with a long exposure time, so I was lucky enough that it was a drab, cloudy autumn day. Yes, it would have been a "blah" day, but at least I was able to have a long exposure time and still get a proper exposure.

Autumn is always beautiful in Princeton, NJ and I decided to make some wild shots of it. These are what I produced.

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Shots made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 24-105 IS USM f/4L lens. Want the best backpack for your DSLR? Check out my review of my favorite, the Lowepro Versapack 200AW, here and here.

Photography Book Review - Lighting the Nude

Nudity has always been a part of art from the cave man times through the Renaissance and into ours. Photography, of course, has had its share.

Lighting the Nude, the book, is a very good source for those who want to go into this kind of photography. It is especially essential if you are just starting out: each photo has the accompanying set up and, at times, the photographer even makes his own comments - a how-to book with illustrations on the set up used always rank high for me.

The book also gives recommendations on how to pose your subjects, the props that can be used, and the kinds of dresses your models can wear.

As of now, I have no plan of getting into nude photography, but, I find that this book will be a big help if ever I go into it. The lighting ideas in the book can also be used even if your subject is fully clothed. And of course, one step down, boudoir photography, will also benefit from whatever you will learn from this.

Lighting the Nude is a very good book and is very helpful in portraiture photography, not just the nude.

Highly Recommended!

Welcoming Spring in Chicago, 2012

Days are getting longer, the wife's birthday, the month of March... Yes, spring is around the corner!

Needless to say, the wife and I survived our first Chicago winter, albeit a mild one.

So, as a farewell to our first Windy City winter, I'll post these photos of a frozen Downtown Chicago. (Though of course there is still a chance of another winter storm before May, but, it helps to be optimistic...)

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Shots made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.

My review of the 50mm lens can be found here.

Want the best backpack for your DSLR? Check out my review of my favorite, the Lowepro Versapack 200AW, here and here.