On a good day some of my co-workers are scary. On this particular day it is very scary here. This is the day before my vacation. Very Scary! I am headed to Florida to see my daughter tomorrow, I am toting all my point and shoot cameras, my GPS, my Bogen Manfrotto tripods and bag pods, about a half dozen SD memory cards and a USB card reader. The cameras? One Olympus digital camera, two Nikon coolpix cameras, one Sony Cybershot camera and two camera capable cell phones. I hope I get a picture or two in Sunny Florida. I hope their not like the ones I took here at work today!
Skippy Skelington and Kim Il Dawn posed for me.
See why I cant wait to get out of Roberts today?
› posts tagged ‘manfrotto’
Tuesday Comics
As I drove in this morning in the bumper to bumper brake jam-fest I was trying to come up with a subject for my next blog. The five lanes of traffic curving away ahead in the in-between light of near-day looked to me like a giant undulating snake with ruptures of fire shooting out from under its brake-light scales. Still I was drawing blog blanks while tapping car brakes. Patterns changed, I lost my train of thought as the train of cars ahead pulled out of the stationary. I lost any ideas I had as I had to attend to the traffic ahead.
It’s times like these that I wish I had bought an Olympus voice recorder for that “on the spot inspiration capture.” I know! I could get a small holster-like Tamrac, Tenba or Lowe-Pro belt case and carry that along with my new 1030SW Olympus digital camera, my extra sandisk cards (flash memory cards), my leatherman tool and utility knife, my cell phone and my store keys.
“I’m Batman!” Come to think of it I should carry my old Canon camcorder, and my Bogen Manfrotto tripod (the Nano video/compact camera tripod one) too. I could get a quiver style over the shoulder case for the camera tripod.
I’m “The Green Arrow!”
It’s a good thing I don’t routinly carry Professional Studio Lighting, after all, I’m not “The Flash!” I think what I need for all my gear, gadgets and digital camera accessories is a thinktank Modulus belt system (shoot, there’s even room to carry a portable USB card reader). Now if I were to attempt air travel with this menagerie of materials I’m sure the security systems would think “I am Iron Man!”
See how the mind has wandered today? If I had the Olympus voice recorder, if only recorded those original thoughts… I promise to have a blog worthy blog next time kiddies. Same Bat Blog, Same Bat Channel.
I’m Outta Here!
The Lengths You’ll Go
Bokeh. Yup, it’s time to continue my discussion on that screwy term and talk about what goes into creamy out-of-focus backgrounds. So, before we dive into today’s topic, let’s mention what we’ve learned so far:
1. Bokeh comes from the Japanese, and roughly means to be out of focus. It describes the aesthetic quality of a shot’s out of focus area.
2. It is a complex thing influenced by many variables.
3. One of these variables is aperture, and wide (low number) apertures are better because they have shallower DOF.
So, next up is the variable of focal length. Focal length, you’re likely aware, is how long the lens’ front element is from the sensor and it affects how your camera “sees” the world. The human eye has roughly a 45 degree field of view. A telephoto lens might only have, say, a 25 degree field of view. That means it’s seeing less of a scene than your eyes, but since it’s putting it on the same size sensor your final shot will make it seem like the lens made an area “bigger”. It’s the other way around for wide angles, and they’ll shove much more of a scene than you can see onto that same size sensor, making everything look smaller.
Airshow Wrap-Up
So, I was going to do this before now but then I got buried under computer problems, updating our homepage, and Canon’s surprise announcement of the 50D this morning. But, I’ve got a moment now, and I’d like to talk briefly about this past weekend’s airshow experience.
Now, I’d never been to an airshow before, so I’m not nearly as seasoned a voice as Chuck is, and I won’t be talking much here about the show itself (although I will mention that while the F-22s were neat, I vastly preferred the acrobatics of the older showplanes.)
For those of you who somehow missed the details, Roberts was out there by the flightline, and reps from Sony, Nikon, Canon, Bogen, and MAC Group were out there to show off equipment. So, if you’d been dying to try a top-of-the-line Canon digital SLR camera or any Bogen Manfrotto tripods, there were plenty going around.
But, this year’s is over now, and if you missed out, why not check out our new Flickr, freshly loaded with shots from the show? If you did make it out, we’d love to host some of your shots on our Flickr (don’t worry, we don’t want to use them for anything commercial, and you’ll of course retain your copyrights to them.)
So, to visit our Flickr, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29881616@N08/
If you’re interested in having your pictures up there, go here for more information: http://www.robertsimaging.com/airshowgallery.jsp
Things are Looking Up!
The Blue Angels do a high speed belly to belly pass. Chuck Pace 2007
Last year I worked Roberts Imaging’s first Indianapolis Air Show. I’ve got to tell you it was one of the best and most memorable events I have been involved with. Well this weekend is the 12th Annual Indianapolis Air Show, and I am working it again. Roberts Distributors is supplying a lucky 5 and a half score of our customers with a chalet on the flight line, as well as a catered lunch, bottled water and sodas. Several of our vendors are going to be on hand to assist the attendees with professional and amateur camera gear. Manfrotto, Gitzo and Induro will be there loaning tripods and mono-pods to the onlookers (up lookers). There will be Pros from Nikon, Canon and Sony loaning bodies and lenses as well and Roberts will be supplying CF & SD memory cards form Lexar, Sandisk and Kingston for a meager charge too.
Last year I borrowed a D200 Nikon Professional DSLR and a Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR and got dozens of rewarding shots including. If you have been visiting the Roberts Imaging web site in the past couple of months you have been seeing one of my shots, the B17 bomber with the smoke and bomb bay doors open is one of mine.
Last year the Blue Angels were the “Headliners” this year the U.S. Air Force will be showing off the latest in avionics and engineering with the F-22A Raptor Demonstration Team. I can hardly wait to see the mastery in the air and the defiance of gravity itself. My wife and I will both be carrying our Nikon Coolpix cameras all day and I hope to get may hands on a Sony A300 or 700 for some shots or one of the Canon DSLR’s or another Nikon, maybe a D300 this time.
In addition to the Raptors there will be the historical ‘War Birds’ again, and Bi-Plane stunt flyers like last year.
The photo to the left is of Team Oracle’s Sean Tucker cutting a ribbon with his wings less than 20 feet from the tarmac. I’ve provided a link to the Team Oracle site and Sean Tucker bio. If you didn’t sign up to attend this year we will most likely be doing next years I recommend it highly.
Confessions of a Coffee Addict, pt 1
I Gots the Jitters 1
Hi everybody, I’m glad you could join us today. My name is Derek, and I’m a coffee addict (murmur of support and hellos). I know, I know. It’s just, it’s such a nice arrangement, my addiction. I get to not have splitting headaches, and hey, I’m providing revenue streams to developing countries, right? Right?
But, I’m not going to let it get in the way of things that matter to me, like my photography. So, I’m here to tell you about the world where dark roast meets lens hoods.
We’re going to start with tripods. Now, me, personally, I don’t like them much. Don’t get me wrong, there’s something inexplicably neat about them, I just hate having to use them. I tend to shoot available light because tripods hinder my mobility to move around and explore a subject.
But, good luck hand-holding even a stabilized camera once the sun sets and getting a crisp shot (no, honest, the blur is an artistic decision, not a technical failing, I promise!). Especially since after a pot or two my hands aren’t exactly surgeon-steady. So, tripods.
The big names here of course the Bogen Manfrotto tripods or Gitzo tripods. But, since I’m an art shooter (read: not getting paid for this) I have a hard time justifying a tripod that costs twice as much as my camera when I’m only going to use it for one out of fifty shots.
Fortunately, there’s Induro. They make camera tripods that approach the quality of the big guys, if not meet it, except at a price I can afford. I’ve been playing around with them, and I’m thinking of getting one soon to replace my current studio tripod. I have their brochure on my coffee table. I use one of their SA-0 ballheads on a Gorillapod Zoom to hold a wireless flash unit. But, how can you not love something like the A214 (pictured), 20.9″ Folded / 65.84″ Extended for under 130 bucks. Now, that I can justify.
Next time, getting mobile without getting shaky.
Focusing Rings and Olympic Rings
I have become an Olympics zombie. I am up until 1:00 or 1:30 AM almost every night, or should I say morning, and then up again before sunrise to catch the news on all the USA athletes, and the medal counts and you name it. Not just a fan, I have a unique perspective when watching some of the more popular events.
Having been a film and digital camera and video camera salesman for nearly 20 years I notice all the photographers on the sidelines at the events. I’m not the only one either; every time Michel Phelps is in the Swimming Cube the Network High Definition Video cameras pan the photographers galleries due to his enormous popularity. Most people just see media professionals. I actually look for people I might know. I notice the Canon DSLR’s and Nikon DSLR’s, the Manfrotto, Induro and Gitzo monopods and tripods and the big professional lenses and flashes and wonder how many of them came through Roberts on their way to Beijing. I know we sent boxes of camera lenses and Lexar and Sandisk CF and SD memory cards and card readers out a few weeks before the games.
When my wife and I are watching the events I point out the different brands of video cameras and camcorders, the long lenses on the Nikon’s and Canon’s.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh the unstoppable Women’s Beach Volleyball team draws out so many fans too, and it looks like every one of them has a point and shoot Coolpix, Powershot or Olympus camera with them.
Even during the opening ceremony all the athletes were video taping each other and getting their pictures with their teammates, competitors and heroes. I can’t help it, I notice them. I even tell my wife which ones are which (the gear AND the athletes). What can I say; I’m a camera nerd. It doesn’t hurt that the USA athletes are doing great either. I’ll sleep in September.
Chuck Out.
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