.iGlimpse.

0.5 Moon

2011-07-11T23:14:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago, the moon was a crystal clear half crescent. This seemed like the perfect chance to experiment with the 70-200mm f/4 IS. I pulled out the tripod and got things set up with the Canon 7D.

With the lens barrel properly pointed in azimuth and elevation, I began to dial up the manual settings on the camera. I attached a wired remote shutter switch as well. The tripod and the remote shutter switch are required measures to prevent camera shake.

I figured it was dark, so lets boost the ISO to like 5000. This is a great feature of the 7D, for dark subjects. I also had the camera in its default metering mode called Evaluative Metering. According to the camera manual: "This is a general-purpose metering mode suited for portraits and even backlit subjects. The camera sets the exposure automatically to suite the scene."

It did not occur to me until my multiple failures to capture our lunar craters in full detail that these settings were all wrong. The photo below illustrates this.

[The Moon] [Canon 7D] [EF 70-200mm f/4 IS USM] [200mm] [f/4] [1/20"] [ISO-5000] [Evaluative Metering]

Horrible. To top it off, there are even faint utility lines in the shot. I didn't even see them in real life, but the mega-ISO and over exposure caught them in the frame. I felt like such a bush-league hack. What went wrong? I figured my focus wasn't perfect, combined with an over exposure. I tried again after relocating the tripod away from the utility lines, and the next shot was still horrible.

So I thought for a second: "The moon is actually very bright, but the black sky is very dark." Seems obvious now, but this means the ISO should not be set so high and even more importantly the camera should be set to Spot Metering mode. Per the manual: "This is for metering a specific spot of the subject or scene. The metering is weighted at the center covering about 2.3% of the viewfinder area." So the camera should meter the moon, not the whole scene to set the best exposure.

After fixing the camera settings, I was able to snap the image below. (Give me a break, it is a 200mm lens, not 1600mm).

[The Moon] [Canon 7D] [EF 70-200mm f/4 IS USM] [200mm] [f/4] [1/50"] [ISO-100] [Spot Metering]

Here it is again, but cropped.

[The Moon] [Canon 7D] [EF 70-200mm f/4 IS USM] [200mm] [f/4] [1/50"] [ISO-100] [Spot Metering]

Significant improvement. Are there better pictures of the moon out there? Sure. What could I have done to make it even better? Spent $13k on a longer lens, traveled out of Los Angeles for less ambient light, purchased a heavier and larger tripod, purchased a camera with a full-frame sensor, etc.

I am a hobby photographer. Since I'm not selling posters here, I'm not going to spend all that cash. I'm quite happy with the results. I see crater rims peaking out of the shadows with sunlight illuminating their edges and now it is my computer's background image. Note that if I had taken shots of the full moon, I would not have captured the drama of the crater shadows. I hope this experience helps your lunar photography.

Zooming Down Manhattan Beach

2011-06-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

This is the pier at Manhattan Beach, CA. There is a small aquarium and cafe at the end of this pier. This photograph was taken with a 135mm zoom using the lens indicated. What a vibrant, busy scene.

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM] [135mm] [f/7.1] [1/400"] [ISO-100]

But this photograph was taken just a few minutes earlier from about the same position at 10mm wide. What a difference 13.5x makes (i.e., 135/10). This place looks dead.

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF-S 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 USM] [10mm] [f/11] [1/320"] [ISO-100]

These similar pier photos convey completely different perceptions of the same location (think trick photography). The 135mm photo suggests the aquarium cafe is a major pier attraction, while the 10mm photo makes the pier look nearly lifeless with a tiny little shack at the end. All of this is accomplished with the power of zooming.

By the way, the beach and pier was very busy that June day. It just so happened that the instant I took the 10mm shot, there were no people within several steps in front of the lens. Using a wide angle in essence increases the foreground-to-background ratio making the people in the background down the pier look far, far away.

Just look at the photograph below taken right off the pier. See, I told you it was a busy day. You can even see the Hermosa Beach, CA pier off in the distance. This is the power of even a moderate 135mm zoom (fitted on a cropped frame sensor at 1.6x as well).

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM] [135mm] [f/8] [1/500"] [ISO-100]

Speaking of a busy beach, I found a beautiful young volunteer below named Katie to model for me. I think she looks a bit like her dad. This shot was taken standing pretty close and shot at 28mm. Despite Katie's brilliant modeling technique, this is an example of a poorly composed photo. There are too many people in the background distracting us from Katie's presence. Photos like this are typical these days with the massive amount of point-n-shoot and cell phone cameras available. If you want a nice looking shot of a model, you really need a DSLR and you need to learn how to use the manual settings. Where to stand is also important as we see in Katie's next photo.

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM] [28mm] [f/10] [1/400"] [ISO-100] [Flash]

This photo below is from the same angle as above, but I stepped back a few feet (yes...I said back...that is the secret) and then I zoomed in closer to 80mm. Notice the background is a bit more blurred and the subject is now larger in the frame. So by moving backwards and zooming in, we are getting a more desirable photograph of our lovely model. Let's go back farther.

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM] [80mm] [f/8] [1/320"] [ISO-100] [Flash]

Now this shot below is much better. Again, it's the same angle as above, but I stepped back a few more steps and zoomed in even more to 135mm. The background blur is much more pronounced, even with the same f-stop as above (background blur is related to f-stop). Compare the people in red to the on the right edge of the pictures down on the sand...much more blurred in the shot below than above. This technique really emphasizes the primary subject and you don't even need an expensive f/1.2 lens to accomplish this.

[Manhattan Beach Pier] [Canon 7D] [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM] [135mm] [f/8] [1/500"] [ISO-100] [Flash]

Let's talk about my basic set-up today (i.e., tips).

None of these photos were shot with a tripod. It was a very bright day, so you just don't need it...just learn to hold the camera steady.
Because of the bright day, I fixed the ISO to 100. You nearly always want a low ISO on a bright day.
I used the built-in flash on the 7D for the shots of the model. This helps fill in the shadows with light. That is why they call it a "fill flash". I usually do not like direct flash, but on a bright day, it is a big help.
The camera mode was set to 'P', or Program mode. That is because I was under some time pressure to take these shots, so I let the camera select the exposure settings (f-stop and shutter speed).

This Is My Piano...

2011-06-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

...there are many like it, but this one is mine.

Say hello to my Acrosonic (by Baldwin) console piano. I love playing piano and so my Grandmother gave this beauty to my family a few years ago. Before that, I played a Roland xv88 keyboard which I still have in my garage. I had the Acrosonic moved from Springfield, Missouri to my home in Los Angeles. I hear that Grandmother really misses playing it and the way it sounds.

[Acrosonic Piano] [Canon 7D] [EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM] [10mm] [f/9] [1/8"] [ISO-1600]

In 1992, I spent the summer after my freshman year in college at my Grandmother's house and played this very instrument all the time. I did not take tons of lessons and so my technique is far from professional. I have a tendency to play very firmly (i.e., bang loudly) and this piano has very light key action. As you can imagine, Grandmother was always asking me to play it like rose petals falling on the keys. On this very piano that summer, I learned to play Moonlight Sonata, Adagio Cantable and several Billy Joel "standards" that I have pretty much forgotten by now, etc. (Note: I did eventually exploit this talent to marry an awesome girl and now we have 2 beautiful kids).

Hey, I thought this was a photography blog! Okay, okay. Here is a photograph of the Acrosonic's keys with the focus way down the keyboard below.

[Acrosonic Piano] [Canon 7D] [EF 50mm f/1.8 II] [f/2.8] [1/40"] [ISO-400]

The focus is relocated near the lens in the photo below. Note that the identical camera settings were used in these two photographs, only the AF point was changed. It is nice to have a modern camera with 19 focus points that enables this creativity.

[Acrosonic Piano] [Canon 7D] [EF 50mm f/1.8 II] [f/2.8] [1/40"] [ISO-400]

The photograph below tightens up the aperture to reveal a larger number of nicely focused keys. Can you say "Depth of Field"? You can count all the sad chips on the keys. Also all the shots featured on today's post employ a tripod.

[Acrosonic Piano] [Canon 7D] [EF 50mm f/1.8 II] [f/16] [1/8"] [ISO-2000] [Bounce Flash]

Speaking of chips on the keys, now for another angle below. Look at that deadly sharp point on the A. Ouch! That key has actually drawn blood while I was attempting Beethoven's Pathetique-1st movement (I need lots more practice, by the way).

[Acrosonic Piano] [Canon 7D] [EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM] [22mm] [f/22] [1/5"] [ISO-2000] [Bounce Flash]

This piano with it's light action, ragtime tone and chipped keys is more sentimental than it is a great piano. I would love to upgrade it to a used Yamaha U3 or even better. However, at the same time I was considering a piano upgrade, I had been thinking about a camera upgrade.

For the last few years, I have been slumming at the bottom of the Canon DSLR product line: the Canon Rebel XT (it's okay, but not great). I researched the internet for months and decided the Canon EOS 7D would be the most suitable upgrade for my non-pro-hobby-wannabe level. So I worked out a bit of a trade study and selected the camera upgrade (which was certainly less expensive) over a controversial piano upgrade (that would have broken some family hearts). I now have the 7D and it is great.

So that is the story of how this old piano and my incredible Canon 7D are forever linked. Overall, I am very grateful I have the Acrosonic and it definitely gets used nearly everyday.

iGlimpse is LIVE

2011-06-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

We are surrounded by abundant blessings gifted from our creator. Capturing glimpses of this beauty is a passion. Please join me on this journey.

A few days after Gwyneth was born, I discovered this lone rose petal on our coffee table. It had fallen from one of the numerous arrangements now adorning our living room.

[Rose Petal] [Canon 7D] [EF 50mm f/1.8] [f/1.8] [1/60] [ISO-250]

Precise auto-focus control on the rose center was achieved using "live view" with our new Canon 7D. The large aperture (f/1.8) is used to create a subdued background blur causing the subject to pop. Can't do this with a cell phone camera.

[Roses] [Canon 7D] [EF 50mm f/1.8] [f/1.8] [1/60] [ISO-400]

I can't wait to share more fantastic photographs.