Tag Archives: frame

Commentary, Equipment, Technique

Canon EOS 5D Mark II: Two More Reasons to Love Live View

3 Comments

Yesterday I was at Point Lobos shooting a variety of wildlife, nature, and landscape subject. As I worked I found myself using the live view feature of my Canon EOS 5D Mark II very frequently – partly for reasons I’ve written about before, but largely for two reasons that I’d like to briefly mention.

Much better depth of field preview – Everyone knows about the small depth of field preview button on the body near the lens. Since the lens is open to the widest aperture when you focus you cannot tell what your depth of field will be until you push this button to stop down to the aperture that you’ll use for your shot. There are two problems with this technique: you cannot judge sharpness critically enough across the frame in the viewfinder and the viewfinder becomes incredibly dim if you stop down to small apertures like f/16. Put those two problems together and the usefulness of the preview button is diminished. However, when you use live view the camera automatically adjusts when you press the preview button and the image is still plenty bright to see on the LCD. Even better, you can zoom in to 5x or 10x magnification to carefully check sharpness. All in all, this makes DOF preview a much more useful feature when live view is used.

You can compose a photograph when using neutral density filters to extend exposure – At one point this weekend I was using a 9-stop neutral density filter to make exposures of the surf with durations in the 10-20 second range. My usual practice is to compose the shot and, if necessary, manually focus without the filter attached. Once the shot is set up I attach the filter. Unfortunately, the filter renders the scene virtually invisible through the viewfinder. Recomposing or manually focusing requires removing the filter, making adjustments, and then reattaching the filter. I discovered yesterday that live view mode can display the image in the LCD even with my 9-stop ND filter in place, allowing me to make changes to the composition/framing or adjust focus without removing the filter

(Shortly after posting this I got a message from B&H photo saying that they again have the Canon EOS 5D Mark II back in stock, and unlike some other dealers they sell it with no markups at the list price of $2669.95.)

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches

Leave a comment
Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches

Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Interior light shines through arched windows in a brick building framed by the base of moonlit steel towers in a night photography from Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

Once or twice a year I visit the Mare Island Naval Shipyard with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group, to photograph the amazing industrial subjects of this old and historic navy base. I was there again during the first week of March this year. I began the evening’s photography where I almost always start, in the “historic core” of the shipyard near the current museum. I have photographed the huge steel structures here before, but this time I thought it might be interesting to concentrate on details of the structures rather than their towering mass.

By the way, the illumination is a combination of nearly full moon (lighting the left side of the column) and various kinds of artificial light ranging from tungsten to sodium vapor lamps. Fun stuff…

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mare island, naval, shipyard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, minsy, steel, tower, truss, brick, wall, arch, window, door, light, interior, glow, yellow, orange, blue, street, sidewalk, ramp, frame, star, trail, tree, sky, nocturnes, road, alley, moon, lunar

Photographs: Sports

Team Quick Step Specialized Time Trial Bicycles

Leave a comment
Team Quick Step Specialized Time Trial Bicycles

Team Quick Step Specialized Time Trial Bicycles – 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Sacramento, California. February 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A row of red, white, and black Team Quickstep Specialized bicycles lined up at the team vehicle before the prologue time trial stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of Callifornia bicycle race.

The time trial bikes for Team Quick Step were lined up outside the team vehicle in the staging area for the prologue time trial – another example of the sort of opportunities you have to shoot “bike stuff” before and after the race at an event like this.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: bike, bicycle, wheel, tire, spoke, frame, fork, gear, chain, ring, brake, quick step, pulsar, specialized, components, rim, carbon, time trial, prologue, stage, hub, team, 2009, amgen, tour, of, california, professional, pro, race, road, stage, sacramento, usa, stock, red, black, white

Photographs: Sports

Bicycles in Rain

4 Comments
Bicycles in Rain

Bicycles in Rain, 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Sausalito, California. February 16, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of bicycle wheels in heavy rain at the start of the Sausalito to Santa Cruz stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California professional bicycle stage race.

Reflections on the wet roadway, spray, and the wheels of the competitor’s bikes during the “parade lap” of the Sausalito to Santa Cruz stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Those who have done enough serious riding to have experienced the sensations of a long ride in cold wet weather will probably identify with this photograph. :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: bicycles, rain, water, wet, reflection, road, wheel, spoke, frame, feet, spray, pavement, asphalt, frame, bike, cyclist, bicyclist, rider, weather, amgen 2009, tour, of, california, professional, pro, road, stage, race, stock