When I heard rumors of Canon’s 5D Mk III low light prowess, the first thing I thought of was dabbling in wide-field astrophotography.  This was something I’d never really tried in my photography career which is strange because I’ve always been fascinated by astronomy and the sheer magnitude of our universe.  As luck occasionally has it, a couple of things converged at the right time for a unique opportunity.  I just received a new 5D a couple of weeks before a trip down south.  After several shoots at home to test the camera and get used to the interface (I’ve been a 1 series camera user for a long time) I decided to take the 5D as my only SLR on the trip.  A risky proposition as my secondary camera was a Fuji X100.  I did find shooting a bit difficult due to the lack of the battery grip and L-bracket.  When shooting, I am constantly switching between horizontal and vertical, and flopping the camera over for verticals just plain sucks.  I won’t be able to use the 5D for professional work other than aerial assignments until the grip and Really Right Stuff L-Bracket arrive.  Anyway, the sky in the South Pacific is spectacular, and there are many things that a northern hemisphere dweller will never see unless you make the trip across the equator.  The Milky Way is much clearer in the south, and a portion of it is never seen in the north.  The Large Magellanic Cloud (seen in the third picture below the Milky Way) is a nearby galaxy that orbits our own.  I had mistakenly thought that Andromeda was our nearest neighbor, but the are 24 closer galaxies!  Seeing new things through travel opens doors of inquiry that I never tire of!  Fiji may not be the ultimate place to photograph the night sky as there is a lot of humid air to shoot through, but for my first attempt at this type of photography it was a very pleasant place to be.  For this trip, I kept things simple by doing single exposure shots with a 14mm lens.  Using the rule of 600 to avoid excessive star trails (600/focal length) I was allotted exposure times of up to 43 seconds or so with the 14mm lens, but I never exceeded 30 seconds for the shots shown here.  Even at 25-30 seconds I got slight star trails at the edges of the image.  I primarily used ISO 3200, but went up to 6400, and down to 2000 to test the range.  3200 seemed to be the sweet spot for a 2.8 aperture lens.  I look forward to using a faster lens next time to see if I can use a lower ISO which should help reduce the noise, and the post-processing work required.

Framing the shots was difficult. I used a powerful LED flashlight to illuminate nearby trees so I could get a decent composition.  The 5D’s live-view feature with multi-axis leveling indicators was a big help as I could get a basic composition using the flashlight then level the shot with the indicators.  After that, it was a matter of making sure manual focus was set, and using the camera’s timer to delay exposure for a few seconds to allow any vibrations to settle down, and let the 5D do its thing.  For my first attempt at this, I am very pleased with the results.  There is much to learn and try (multiple-exposures, post-processing techniques, faster lenses etc.) but I am looking forward to adding this spectacular branch of photography to my skill set.  Now, if I can just get down to the Atacama Desert…

Things have been pretty hectic around here the last few months. Getting ready for a big move to another country is a lot of work and stress, even if it is just north of the border. So my wife and I decided to take a break in the middle of it all and go to a South Pacific paradise. You only live once.  Any trip for me is still “work” and photography is part of every trip I take, official or not. I decided to travel a little lighter this time by The new Canon 5D Mk III arrived last week, and I was able to test it on a couple of shoots including an aerial assignment. It passed with flying colors. Of course, my trusty 1DS Mk III was right there on call if anything went awry. Weight restrictions on flights are becoming more difficult to deal with, so a camera needs to do double duty. On this trip I am bringing the new 5D, a Fuji X100, and a GoPro video camera. The 5D does impact the way I shoot, as I have used Canon 1 series cameras for over a decade. Canon’s mid-range cameras have served as great backups, but the new 5D brings together a compelling mix of full-frame goodness, auto focus speed, high ISO performance, and beautiful video capabilities that make the compromises worth a little neural re-programming.

On the lens front it will be the Canon 24-105mm L, 70-200mm IS 2.8L, Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/50mm ZE, and the Canon 14mm II 2.8L. I’ve had the 24-105mm for over a year and haven’t used it much, after breaking it out the last couple of weeks I’ve realized my error. With a very useful focal range, image stabilization, light weight, and very nice image quality on the 5D, it may never come off during the trip! I always bring the 70-200mm, and almost always use it. Not much needs to be said about this legendary lens, it is just awesome. I have a hard time believing the new version is that much better. The Zeiss won a spot in the bag over the Canon 180mm macro due to size; although, it might weigh just as much! German all-metal construction means you could use it as an expensive cannonball should the need arise. I wanted to try a little wide-field astrophotography if conditions permit, and the 14mm should provide a dramatic field of view, and slightly longer exposure times when following the Rule of 600. The 5D’s high ISO capabilities have me excited on this front. Hoping for clear skies!

Despite the well documented quirks of the Fuji X100, the image quality is amazing. It’s a self contained package with one focal length, and a APS-C sized sensor. It will serve in the point and shoot capacity, but the images produced are way beyond what any other point and shoot can produce. The single focal length is liberating in the way a single-speed bicycle is. And like a bicycle, you use your legs to zoom.

I plan on shooting a bit of HD video as well, and to that end, a Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter, and Rode Stereo VideoMic Pro with Dead Kitten go in the bag. No room for a video-pan head this time, so most shots will be “locked down.” The GoPro’s super wide viewpoint will provide the action shots.

So much for planning. Things usually change on location, and I may end up doing nothing I originally set out to do. That is okay by me. I love the dynamics of travel. You are usually presented unique opportunities that always challenge the creative process. Now, back to packing…

About a year and a half ago I started looking into a better work station system for my office.  The long hours editing photo shoots was beginning to take toll on my body due to the ergonomic nightmare that is the corner desk arrangement I currently have.  I had been reading about the benefits of standing desks and decided to take the plunge.  After searching online off and on for a few months, I became disillusioned with the available choices.  Nothing really fit my need for functionality or style at any price.  I could spend $2000 – $3000 and up for a semi-custom desk that was designed within a unacceptable range of dimensions or a little less for a janky looking one with no style.  I regrettably realized that it was project time.  Regrettably, because projects of this sort take me forever to complete.  On the positive side, I have a couple of architect friends who own a design/build company and a fully decked out fabrication shop.  With the help of my friend Hiro, and his expertise with CAD software, I set out to design a desk that would hopefully meet my expectations.  After a few tweaks here and there we came up with a basic design that would see a few small modification during fabrication.  Next up was buying the basic materials for the frame.  In this case, several sticks of 1.5 inch tube steel, a bunch of weld-on tabs, and a lots of grinder disks.  Over a few weeks, we cut, ground, and dry fit the pieces together.  Next it was a lot of welding and grinding as the basic frame came together.  We did the same for the floating frame that supports the wood top.  Next step was welding all the tabs in place and grinding the welds smooth.  After the steel cooled, we bolted it all together and sent it to the powder coater for nice dark-pewter finish.

Five months went by before I was able to work on it again.  2011 was a very busy year for Ewert Photography, and things didn’t slow down until the end of December.  Taking advantage of the holiday season, I worked for over two weeks to get it finished.  This was the woodwork portion.  The decorative panels are wood floor planks (hand-scraped Acacia) bonded to a melamine sheet.  Getting the spacing right was interesting due to all the planks being different sizes.  Of course, the square footage I needed was slightly more than one box contained, but this gave me enough options so I could choose a decent pattern.  At this point it was really starting to come together, and the light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter.

The top was a bit of a challenge, and the first attempt was going to be three layers of very high quality half-inch maple plywood, but after cutting it all and fitting it into place I didn’t like the size and abandoned the design.  The gluing was going to be a pain anyway.  Enlarging the top enhanced the look to a much greater degree than I expected.  Sometimes you can’t visualize a design until you see it in the flesh.  I bought two new sheets of birch plywood (this time three quarter inch) which meant only one gluing session and less slippage frustration.  To give the top a floating appearance, and keep weight down, only the outer three inches are double thickness.  The finish on the wood was more delicate than anticipated, and in a last minute nod to practicality, I ended up placing a laminate top over the wood for durability.  After a bit of sanding and drilling out the wire holes it was done!

Though it took a long time to complete due to work schedules and other factors, I am very happy with the end result.  It could probably be used as a tornado shelter too.

This is just a very basic overview of the process, and if anyone is interested in more details please feel free to contact me.

Trade shows are one of the more challenging environments for a photographer to work in.  A client’s product or service is showcased in the best way possible for the public or press, but not necessarily for photography.  Sure, the lights, colors and excitement are great, but you have control of virtually nothing.  No matter what time you go, there is a lot of activity and getting clean shots without blurry people in the background is a challenge.  Despite the bright lights, the overall lighting level is quite low.  Getting quality shots that are usable for something other than the web, necessitates the use of a tripod and a little patience.  I was able to get in for the press events, and before the switchover to public mode, but even so, it was like juggling running chainsaws on fire to coordinate agreeable shots.  Everyone has their own pressing matters at a big event like this, and they rarely correspond with a photographer’s.  This is where managing a client’s expectations and my travel photography background come into play.  The client usually understands some of the limitations involved in any given situation, but in the end, doesn’t really care.  They are hiring you to work some magic, and expect to be excited by what you deliver regardless of the difficult conditions.  That is certainly fair.  After all, they hired you over relying on “Jim in accounting who has a really good camera” so they recognize, and respect the experience you bring to the table.  This is where the travel background comes into play.  When I first started in photography many years ago, I didn’t know how travel photography was going to translate into my current specialties.  Boy do I now.  First, when traveling to a new place you rarely have complete control of the conditions, weather, lighting, time of day, people etc.  Unlike the many great landscape photographers who camp out in a location for hours, days, weeks or more for the perfect conditions, I have never had that luxury or the desire to do so.  Well, maybe hours, but certainly not days or weeks.  For me, at least early on in my travels, I had very limited time in any given place, so making do and getting the best possible shots was very important to me.  After many years, I accumulated experience in a wide array of conditions that has translated into reflexive knowledge that I can use in virtually any situation.  Second, I have learned many ways to process the images to get the best result for a given situation.  This, unlike travel, is a knowledge base that I work on every day, and it filters back to the moment of capture, so I have a good idea what will ultimately result from pushing that shutter button.  Still, there are surprises that keep it interesting until I experience the final aperture in the sky.

A breathless relative comes up to me 10 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, and tells me “the photographer forgot to show up.”  Crap! What was to be a relaxed event at Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe just became a small nightmare for the wedding party, and an interesting exercise in improvisation for me.  An hour before, I was looking at a backpack containing a very abbreviated  collection of gear, and asked my wife, “what do you think?”  No doubt, a rhetorical question for a traveling photographer.  I threw it in the trunk.  Dashing back to the trunk an hour later I scrutinized the contents.  Three lenses, (no problem there) one SLR body, and a point ‘n shoot (potentially bad news) no flash (shadows are going to be a challenge) no diffusors or reflectors (gonna be working for days in post.)  Just a few of the thoughts going through my head as I click into work mode.  My anger at the unprofessional behavior of a fellow photographer who just made my relaxing getaway, full-on work, got me amped up for the task at hand.  I mean really, if you’re a wedding photographer, and it’s a Saturday during the summer, and you’re not doing anything, shouldn’t a bell go off in your head?

Of course, I am not a wedding photographer, and often joke that I don’t do babies or weddings.  I have done both this year.  Never be too sure about what you will and won’t do.  Fortunately, many things about photography cross over, and years (decades if I’m honest) of experience take over, and get me through the ceremony without too much drama.  On the back burner of my mind I’m thinking that this shoot is make or break in post, and it’s going to take days.  I have a full schedule of architectural work when I get back to LA, so I know I’ll be working very late into many nights to churn through the backlog.  I am a hands on guy, and personally work on every image that goes out of my office.  If it sucks, I own it, so late nights it is.  This limits my ability to schedule stacked shoots, but I like to think that my clients, friends, and family appreciate it.

I was lucky that my wife’s cousin, and his new bride are impossibly cool, and a lot of fun to photograph, but please don’t tell anyone that I shot a wedding….

Four days before our flight was supposed to leave for Africa, every thing fell apart. I had to scramble to put something together, so the time we set aside wouldn’t be a total loss. Panama is a great place to go and lick wounds, but really, I’m just testing out the Wordpress app on my iPad.

Last week I had work up in the Bishop, CA area, a place I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never visited before. After an early morning survey flight of a nearby fire, I had a four and a half hour drive back to LA with the Eastern Sierras taunting me. Since I grew up in Colorado, mountains have always been special for me.  As I always look forward to spending time amongst them, it was disappointing that my drive back started around 11:30AM.  Unfortunately, my schedule didn’t allow  a six hour wait for better light. On top of that, the whole valley was very hazy.  Hazy mid-day light is not an inspiring situation for a photographer.  Well, I couldn’t resist at least trying.  Despite the dismal light, the mountains were still majestic, and deserved an effort.  The resulting photo would never hold up to critical scrutiny or get a spot on a wall, but it does show that you can still get acceptable results with just a little forethought, and a little computer time.  I knew the raw photos would look awful, but with the sun overhead, the polarized portion of the sky was right over the mountains, so I could at least get a nice blue sky with contrasty clouds.  I took a series of five bracketed photos +2+1 0 -1-2 (with tripod of course) and hoped for the best.  When I got back, I combined the images in some new software I’ve been testing (HDR Effects PRO) and got a pretty flat looking result, but the full dynamic range was present, which gave me something to work with in Photoshop CS5.  I applied my curve cocktails that I’ve been refining for years, and boosted the saturation a slight amount. Again, the resulting image is nothing terribly special, but it does come closer to what I had in my mind’s eye on that frustrating drive home.

I am off to the photographically challenging Costa Rica. Specifically the Osa Peninsula. Costa Rica or any rain-forest destination is challenging, not for the lack of of subjects or amazing beauty, but for the often difficult conditions. Dimly lit rain forests with blindingly bright highlights, equipment wrecking humidity and rain, elusive forest creatures, and plenty of salty air. It’s great!  I’ve been there many times, and often have the opportunity to re-visit a location like Arenal pictured above.  This was my third attempt to photograph the iconic volcano.  The first time, it was shrouded in clouds the most of my stay, and I was using film which limited my options for low light photography.  The second time, I used a first generation full-frame camera (Canon 1DS) and got great results similar to this shot.  The third time, yielded this photo which was shot with the 1DS MkIII which has much better noise reduction, and high ISO response. Unfortunately, the routing of this trip doesn’t allow for a visit to Arenal (Costa Rica may be small, but getting around takes time) so I’m going to try a few different things this time.  First, I am going to bring two film cameras (in addition my digital gear) something I haven’t done since 2004! Second, I’m going to concentrate on a little more macro photography.  The 180mm macro lens has been plaintively calling me from the cabinet, and it deserves a response.

The film cameras joining me this time will be a Lomo LC-A+ and the Fujifilm GF670.  The Lomo has been a constant companion the last couple of months, and has helped me expand how I see things, which in turn has increased my creativity in all areas of photography.  The GF670 is a single focal-length medium-format camera which produces amazing negatives and slides.  I am looking forward to getting back to the very basics of contemplative photography with this interesting camera.  You better think about what you’re doing when you only have 10-12 shots per roll!  It may sound limiting in today’s “spray and pray” digital world, but in reality, it’s quite very liberating.  I love creating great images no matter what tool is used.  I bend my perceptions based on the conditions I’m shooting in, and the tools used.  By using different tools, the creative process is exercised outside the norms.  This has helped me get out of creative ruts before, and will no doubt do so in the future.

Some of my most popular images have been macro shots of flowers.  Flowers have a universal appeal, and although you don’t need to go to Costa Rica to photograph them, it helps when they are so abundant and accessible.  It is a very challenging type of photography.  The technical aspects often get in the way of good composition, but when it all comes together, the images punch you in the eye (in a good way.)  So, in addition to my normal plans for a photographic trip, these will be my new self-assignments.  We’ll see what happens.  I might end up laying in a hammock all day with Pacific breezes….

Unlikely. When travelling, I’m always seeing things, and my mind won’t rest when images need to be made.

Here are three cameras under $300.00 with sufficient zoom capabilities for your safari.  All shoot HD video (720×1280) and the FZ40 shoots RAW files!  Links are to B&H info pages.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40

Canon PowerShot SX130 IS

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7