Photowalk #53 February 8th, 2010
People who know me personally understand that I complain a lot about the weather in the Midwest. I find the mostly gray days of winter to be very depressing. I don’t mind cold and snow. I do mind day after day of gray, featureless skies. However the one thing that I dislike the most about the Midwest (the weather) often yields amazing photo opportunities. The snowstorm that hammered the East Coast mostly missed the Midwest, and yesterday’s bright sun warmed the ground enough to cause evening fog. Overnight, though, temperatures dropped below the dew point, thus causing an amazing display of frost to appear by morning.
Sunset and Astro Timelapses February 7th, 2010
The recent snow storm that blasted the east coast did little damage here in NE Indiana. However, once the winds died down, the sky cleared and yesterday presented a good opportunity for a sunset timelapse. This type of timelapse is very challenging because of the wide range of brightness between direct sunlight and dusk. I had read on timescapes.org that sunset timelapses are good candidates for aperture priority, so I dialed my camera to Av and headed out to setup the tripod. My sunset location of choice is the pavilion on the north side of the Salamonie Reservoir dam. This location has a great view of the sky, and serves as a good location for sunset or astro timelapse photography. I set the intravalometer to take pictures every 20 seconds. The aperture was set to f/2.8 and the ISO set to 250. I attached a 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens to my Canon 5D Mark II and set the lens for a wide angle view at 24mm. The resulting timelapse came out as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Opportunistic Timelapses from NY and NH February 3rd, 2010
Last week I traveled to New Hampshire to spend a long weekend with some old friends. On the way there, I decided to stop at Farmington, near Rochester, in Upstate New York for the night. I had arrived in the mid afternoon, so I took advantage of the decent weather to go on a photowalk. After returning to my motel, there were a few hours of daylight left. So I setup my Canon 7D for a timelapse of the sky. Although there were few clouds at this time, I thought clouds might roll in as the sun set.
Photowalk #52 January 31st, 2010
Yesterday started with a brisk cold morning. Despite the sun shining, it was a very cold day. However there was a graveyard nearby I wanted to check out, so I bundled up and headed out into the arctic tundra. With the recent snowfall, there wasn’t anywhere to park. I found a spot at a nearby trail head and walked the few hundred yards to the cemetery.
Photowalk #51 January 30th, 2010
Yesterday I woke up to bright sunny skies in Southern New Hampshire. I’m staying just west of Nashua, so I don’t have to drive very far to get some good scenery. In fact a short drive to the west takes us to one of the most climbed mountains in the world: Mount Monadnock. With its close proximately to a major metro area (Boston), its relative ease to hike, and payoff of a rocky peak at the top, Mount Monadnock is a very popular hiking destination.
Photowalk #50 January 29th, 2010
Yesterday I arrived in Southern New Hampshire in the late afternoon. I had really hoped to get photos of Mount Monadnock. Unfortunately a low cloud layer hid this famous peak from view. I had been battling a winterly mix of snow and rain all day, so I was eager to finish the drive and rest. However my path took my right past the trail head for Pack Monadnock, so I stopped to take a few photos. Having hiked this area for years, I knew the lower cliffs might offer some fun photo opportunities with the snow.
Photowalk #49 January 27th, 2010
Today I dragged my arse out of bed at 4 AM and made the 9 hour drive to the Rochester, NY, area. I’m traveling to visit friends in New Hampshire for the weekend. However I don’t like to drive the full 16 hours in the winter. Therefore I decided to stop a little East of Rochester in a small town called Farmington. That seemed appropriate enough for a naive farm boy from Indiana. Since I got a really good start this morning, I arrived around 2pm. Once settled in my motel I fired up my laptop computer and searched around for something interesting to photograph. This is the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, and fortunately Canandaigua Lake is nearby. So I grabbed my Canon 7D and drove down to the lake to see what I could find. From where I’m staying, driving directly south takes me right to the town of Canandaigua on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake.
Timelapse with a Canon 7D January 24th, 2010
We finally got a break in the weather here in the Midwest. At this time of year, we are often treated to days and weeks of overcast skies. Warmer temperatures of 50 degrees Fahrenheit brought an unstable system that got the clouds moving. I could see the clouds moving with my eyes, so I thought this might be a good chance for a timelapse. Although the skies were threatening to rain, I setup my Canon 7D for its first timelapse shoot.
Canon 5D Mark II and 7D Photo Comparison January 21st, 2010
I made a comment in my last post that I felt the quality of images captured with a Canon 7D rivals that of the Canon 5D Mark II when equipped with an equivalent lens. I made this assumption based on my subjective observations from using both cameras. However since I have both cameras, it’s possible for me perform a quantitative analysis to back up my claim. Perhaps I’ll finally get some use out of that Master’s Degree I earned from Miami University years ago.
Canon 7D: My First Look January 19th, 2010
I recently added the Canon 7D DSLR camera body to my collection of photography equipment. I’m often guilty of impulse purchases, but in the case of the Canon 7D I’ve wanted to own this camera since it was first announced in September of 2009. My primary motivation for getting this camera is that I’ve felt it would be a great companion to my Canon 5D Mark II. Projects that I have in mind for the near future will require two cameras. One camera will serve as the primary image capture device, while the other camera documents the process. This will include both still and video projects. Up to this point my Canon G9 has served as the backup camera. However, the quality of imagery that I’ve captured with the 5D Mark II equipped with Canon L series glass has raised my expectations. Also the Canon G9 has limited video capability, which was an issue for me moving forward. However this doesn’t spell the end for the Canon G9 since it’s still a great point-n-shoot camera that also happens to shoot time lapse.