The Digital Photo Guy

Finally Caught Up Processing Photos

Here are the last few from the Date Creek Ranch when I organized a shoot for A Day In the Life of Wickenburg. These didn’t make the cut for submission for the exhibit at Desert Caballeros Western Museum but I thought they were interesting. Five members of the Prescott Photography Meetup Group joined me at Date Creek Ranch at Oh-Dark-Hundred to make some great photos.

The first is the always faithful ranch dog. This one was accustomed to riding around on the back of an ATV. The 2nd photo is titled, “Behind the Green (Cattle) Door.” The cattle know no one ever comes back from behind that door! The heavily modified Jeep is the first I’ve ever seen with duallies. This is a serious Jeep. Tools of the Trade shows a bunch of tools I’ve never seen before and remind me of medieval torture instruments. The last is definitely a weird tool. Can anyone tell me what those plates are? If so, you’re a true farmer/rancher!

All were made with a Canon 5DMkII and 24-105/4L. Can you tell this is my favorite, go-to rig these days. Next time, I’ll post a few from Whitewater Draw made with my Canon 7D and 300/2.8 with a 1.4TC. That’s still my favorite bird/critters and action rig.

All images were processed in Lightroom 4.0 and the Green Door was run through Topaz Adjust for that ominous look.

Alyssa in LBD (Little Black Dress)

I’ll be working with Alyssa at the end of November on a 3-theme shoot at a junkyard. In this series, she was wearing one of the LBDs (little black dresses) she owns. At the junkyard, she’ll either wear this or another one that’s a bit more formal. She’s very professional and knows how to flow from one pose to the next, making it seem effortless.

The first photo above has a bluish cast on my laptop that’s not on my large monitor. Normally, I would attribute that to the fact my laptop isn’t calibrated but the other two look fine on the laptop so I’m not sure where the cast is coming from.

The photos were made with a Canon 5D MkII and Canon 24-105/4L IS USM. Post-processing was in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop CS4 and Portrait Professional. I like how PP makes Alyssa’s eyes “pop” in the first photo.

Annual Fall Eastern Sierra Trip

I hope to be in Ancient Bristlecone Pines NF around the middle of October if the weather cooperates. So far, it’s been almost as hot up there as it is in Arizona. From there, I’ll head to Bishop to photograph Sky Rock in the early morning light. Due to its remote location, I’ll be tent camping near Sky Rock to be in position at Oh-Dark-Thirty. Finally, if there’s a chance of snow, I’ll head to Bodie to try for more photos of Bodie in snow. As always, anyone who’s interested in joining me can send an e-mail and I’ll send you my phone number.

If the weather is uncooperative, I may head to Deming, NM to get some work done on my RV and then head back to Douglas, AZ to photograph sandhill cranes.

Finding Models in Arizona

I had the opportunity to photograph Alyssa this past week. She’s an experienced model who’s finishing a Masters at ASU. I found her to be pleasant, professional and very good at striking a pose on cue. It took us a few moments to get used to each other but, within minutes, we were both pretty comfortable. I’m hoping to work with her on the “Arizona Surfer Chick” project I’ve been thinking about for the past 18 months.

I used my standard “go to” rig – Canon 5D Mk II with the 24-105/4L. This was in a studio so I used their Alien Bee strobes triggered by some generic wireless triggers. There was a 48″ octobox as a key light and a smaller (24″?) softbox to camera left. I set the 5D to Manual and dialed in f/10 at 1/125, ISO 200. Lest you think I used some magic formula to set my exposure, I simply “guesstimated” and fine tuned with two test shots. I won’t embarrass either Alyssa or me by posting my first test exposure!

The photos were brought into LR4 and cropped, levels & WB adjusted and a few skin blemishes removed. Then, I used Topaz Labs Clean3 to smooth out her skin, not that she really need it. I just wanted to play with Clean3. As always, any comments or questions are welcome.

Good Golly, Miss Molly, It’s Been Two Months

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in two months! All the usual excuses apply including a 2+ hour presentation I prepared for the Desert Caballeros Western Museum show, West of Center 2014. I spent about 40-50 hours preparing my presentation on Compositional Style. You can find an article about the presentation HERE.

Some of you may remember the Tom T. Hall song “Faster Horses” from which the title of this post has been blatantly ripped off. If you don’t know, the full refrain is, “It’s faster horses, Younger women, Older whiskey, More money.” Last week, I had an opportunity to photograph an MSA (Mounted Shooters of America) event. The light was high and harsh but I managed to make the following photos. The women were the most fun to photograph.

The first image is SOOC (straight out of camera.) The rider hit a barrel and the horse was highly annoyed. The rest were processed in LR4, exported to Topaz Adjust 5 and “tweaked” using the Spicify preset as a starting point and brought back to LR4 where some were given a final tweak using the HSL panel to tone down the green background. The 5th image of the horse with all 4 hooves off the ground and visible muzzle blast was the only one where I did some PS4 trickery. The muzzle blast was in the previous frame where the horse’s legs were in a less dynamic position. I “cut & pasted” the muzzle blast from one photo to the other. I didn’t feel that was cheating since the two frames were in sequence during a high speed burst.

I handheld my Canon 7D with the 70-200/4L set to Aperture Priority and ISO 200. The AF Point Selection was set to expanded and I moved the zone left or right depending on the direction the horse was moving. The AF Shooting Mode was set to AI Servo so the lens would constantly update focus as the rider moved. For more details about these AF Modes, follow this link.

Beware of “Gurus”

Recently, I’ve overheard people advising beginners to “do it this way.” I’d caution anyone, newbie or advanced, to be wary of people who claim their way is the right way. As most of you know, the answer to most photography questions is, “It all depends!”

Upcoming Photoshoots

In mid-October, I’ll be headed back to the Eastern Sierra for my annual shoot. This year, I intend to concentrate on Sky Rock around Bishop and arches in Alabama Hills. I’ll go to Bodie if there’s snow but otherwise plan to stay south of Mono Lake. As always, feel free to contact me if you want to join me.

In November, I’ll be at Arizona Shootout, a nude & glamour workshop in the desert near Wickenburg. I’m not going to embed a link to the site because it contains nudity but if you’d like to join me, Google is your friend. The cost is ~$350 for both Sat & Sun or ~$175 for either day. These are Playboy level models with lots of experience and some top glamour photographers.

In late Dec or early Jan, I hope to make it back to Whitewater Draw near Douglas, AZ to photograph sandhill cranes. The schedule isn’t yet firmed up but stay tuned for details. While in the area, I’ll also go to Bisbee to photograph more hippies and cool art.

In February, I hope to make the 7th Annual Lake Havasu Rockabilly Reunion to photograph a boatload of pin-up models.

Junkyard Shoot

Yesterday, Saturday, Feb 8, I joined 20 other ‘togs from the Prescott Photography Club for a shoot at Reed’s Farm, a huge junkyard in Wittmann, AZ. The weather was beautiful and the junkyard was a target-rich environment. Not only did I meet a bunch of fun people but I also got a chance to put my new Canon EOS-M mirrorless through it’s paces. Later that evening, I got to hear Hal Linden (aka, Barney Miller) at a “Conversation with the Artist” event of the Del Webb Center in Wickenburg. All in all, it was a great day. Here are some photos from the junkyard as well as my review of the EOS-M.

I used a combination of Lightroom 4, Topaz Labs Adjust 5 and Photomatix HDR software to process the above photos. Can you identify the 3 that are nearly straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) from the Canon EOS-M? If you have any questions about post-processing, post them here.

Canon EOS-M Mini-Review

I finally broke down and sprang for a mirrorless camera. For those who don’t pay attention to this stuff, a digital SLR (dSLR) has a mirror and pentaprism to project the image coming through the lens to the viewfinder in the correct orientation. As the shutter is released, the mirror springs (reflexes) out of the way and allows the image through to the sensor. Of course, by that definition, P&S cameras are also mirrorless but what sets them apart from mirrorless cameras are several critically important differences. First, mirrorless cameras have interchangeable lenses. On the Canon EOS-M, using an adapter, I can attach any of my current lenses to the M. HERE (8th image down) is a cool shot of an M on a SIGMonster and the next photo shows it on a Canon 800/5.6. More importantly, mirrorless cameras use much larger sensors. The M uses an APS-C sensor, probably the same one found on the latest batch of Canon Digital Rebels. The image quality is outstanding. P&S use tiny sensors that result in tiny photosites (light collecting buckets) which produce noisy (grainy) images. Finally, the M incorporates a Canon DIGIC 5 processor, the “brains” of the camera. This is Canon’s latest and greatest and is instrumental in producing that outstanding Canon image quality.

I was totally prepared to hate the M and send it back to B&H. Surprisingly, the M fits my hand and feels like a “real” camera.” Even my wife’s Canon G11 has always felt a bit cramped but not the M. The 22mm (35mm equivalent) kit lens is outstanding and the images are clear, crisp and fully detailed. When I receive the Fotodiox adapter, I plan to test my Sigma 10-20 (16-32 equivalent) as well as the 50/1.4 (80mm equiv) and 85/1.8 (136mm equiv.) I’ll post photos at that time.

All the negative press about slow focus on the M has been pretty much put to rest with the new firmware. Because the slow AF issues caused M sales to crash and burn at introduction, it’s now available for under $400 (I got mine for $379.) If you’re a “latest & greatest” type, the new Canon EOS-M2 has been announced and should be available in 3-6 months.

That’s not to say the M isn’t without compromises. The lack of a viewfinder is annoying in bright light. I’m sure there are aftermarket LCD hood, a’la Hoodman, but I’m too cheap for that. I’ll probably fashion something out of an index card. The LCD-based controls take a bit of getting used to but, surprisingly, I found it was very easy to manipulate after an hour or two with the camera. I really, really wish Canon had incorporated an articulating LCD. In the above photos, numbers 1 (crane), 4 (hubcaps) and 10 (steering wheel) are from the Canon EOS-M and, are, for the most part, SOOC. As always, all Comments are welcome.