How I Shot That - See the New Orpheum and the Capitol

How I Shot That - See the New Orpheum and the Capitol

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Camera: a6000 / Lens: 50mm f1.8

Street style photography isn't something I get to do all the time.  I might not get all of the finer points of Street Style (I have much to learn), but it is so enjoyable to do.  And if you live in Wisconsin, one of the greatest places to practice this art is Madison.  State Street to be specific.  

 

 

This area has a great mix of people.  The University of Wisconsin is very close.  This is the state Capitol area.  It is an area right between two large lakes.  Government offices and government related businesses are every where to be seen.  You will find people from every part of the state and the region coming to this street.

 

 

UW is probably responsible for much of the night life, but being the state capitol it is a little above average.  That means besides bars and sandwiches, you find classy restaurants and even theater.  It is a great place for anyone starting out in street photography.  For myself, I wanted to include the buildings of the area in my photos.  

 

 

Besides the buildings in this photo, we have a mix of the area's people.  Young professional, college students, and tourists.  The young professional near the optometrist isn't going the way of the crowd. The college kids are heading up the street to their next destination.  Then the theater is lit up and just viewable past the trees.  It is a slice of Madison.
 

How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

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Sony a6000 / Sony 50mm f1.8

When the Fall comes, the weather gives us special opportunities.  One of these opportunities came from a set of trees in La Crosse that are nearly 100 years old.

Every fall, these few tall trees around Riverside Park shed their leaves.  It is the hight that gives me options.  And that day the clouds were spotty and the wind was just enough to rest the light collector away from the branch.  

Since it has so far to fall, the wind really carries it away.  I get enough space away from the tree to take that out of the frame.  And then I need to spend much of a day by this tree, running down leaves.  Sometimes I need to spend multiple days in order to get the photo I want.  This one, I had actually come back to the same place multiple afternoons to get the photo of a single leaf with the clouds in the background.

Something else that helped take this photo, was a new camera (at the time) that had a much better focus system than my old point and shoot bridge camera.  This was from my Sony a6000.  I used the 50mm f1.8 lens.  The a6000 was made as a starting sports camera.  So I was able to get my focus on the leaf pretty well.  I also had to shoot pretty fast.  So 11 frames a second was nice to have.

If you were to purchase this photo, the best way to do it justice would be on a large metal print.  Think 12x18.  That would be gorgeous.

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

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Lens - Sony 50mm f1.8 - https://amzn.to/2qsKH6W
Camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2veYxyW

In La Crosse, WI, there is this downtown 'hardware store' that most people think of as either the Downtown Kroner's or Kroner's Really Neat Stuff store.  It is one of those things that makes a downtown of a small town feel like a part of a small town.  La Crosse is one of those cities that has a hard time with that identification. 

Almost bipolar in that aspect.  Some ways a small town... the next block over, you realize too big to be small.  Overall, it tries to keep the façade of a small town.  This is one of those places where you feel it keeping those roots. 

The building keeps a white wash on the front with a black and white art deco style to it.  Obvious with it's run against time.  It has a need of fresh paint.  But the building otherwise keeps the clean lines and great signage.  I liked this because you have a newer car to date the time, even with being a black and white to keep the age of the setting.

There is another element of rule breaking here.  I took this in broad daylight.  Must have been between noon and 1pm.  The light is harsh, but I think it accentuates the sharpness of the building.

From where I was, is also a common location where people eat in downtown La Crosse for lunch. 

That is the other reason I took this, anyone from this town will instantly recognize this spot, that store, and why you would be there.  It has a connection to a local that others won't have.  But on it's own, you can connect with any one from a small town with a downtown hardware store.

This was with my Sony a6000 and a 50mm f1.8 lens.

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

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Lens - Sony 85mm f1.8 FE - https://amzn.to/2Gwzto2
camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2H9lplA

Sony has been growing their lens selection to include some impressive glass.  One particular lens is the 85mm f1.8 seems to perform above its class.  That means it is relatively affordable, but at first had some people thinking photos that came from it were like that of a Zeiss build of glass. 

This is what I love about this lens, besides how cheap it was, it wasn't very heavy (for me) to carry around.  And in spite of some of the photos describing how big it was, it didn't feel that big in my hands... it felt just right. 

I rent this lens for a family photo shoot, but I needed to get a feel for the lens.  I went out to one of the parks with access to wild life and a variety of shooting options.  It was fall, with a beautiful collection of fall colors breaking out all over the place. 

Now, I'll let you in on a secret of mine... I have some color blindness.  But it is selective with trouble between some reds and greens.  You will find other incredible photographers out there with color blindness as well (probably most well know is Trey Ratcliff).  So, when I can see how awesome some color combinations are, I'm sure it is going to look amazing.  At least that is what I'm told... lol!

Being an 85mm lens with a 1.8 f-stop available to it, you can achieve an incredibly thin field of focus.  On top of thin focus, you can gain some silky smooth backgrounds.  With a marsh and fall weather, I knew I could get some greens, reds, blues, yellows. 

So this was a plant that lost all of the pedals and just had a ball of its center left.  I was near the water where some sun had peaked out.  That made me in shade, this plant in light, and a mix of light and shade behind it.  This makes use of one of the greatest assets of a mirror less camera, the electronic viewfinder.  It helped me see the effect I was going for all the easier.

That electronic viewfinder also helps because people can't focus this way, and it helped me nail the focus on the ball.  It also helped me realize if I missed my intention, I could go right to the next shot.  No wasting time.

When I first placed this on some of my media pages, people came up to tell me how neat it was.  People also told me about how some colors were amazing (you know, the ones I didn't even know were there)! 

But that is what makes the feedback so amazing.  You not only get confirmation about what you intended to do... but you get to understand the view of other people around you, too.

How I Shot That - After Hours near the Bahai Temple

How I Shot That - After Hours near the Bahai Temple

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Sony a6000: https://amzn.to/2GiWa2T
Sony 50mm f1.8 OSS:  https://amzn.to/2E24YEx
Bahai Wilmette Wikipedia Page

When you are in town for a visit with family and you find a little bit of time... go do something.

The other day I was in the Chicago area and after dinner I had a little extra time.  I asked my brother, if we could go see the Bahai Temple in Wilmette, IL. 

If you haven't seen this place, it is huge!  It is the kind of thing that in most cases, a small lens was made fore.  But I really like the 50mm.  I like it so much, I still use it for getting scenic shots.  Could I have had done this with something else... probably. But I'm still very happy with this.

That night was very much spur of the moment.  The night had actually gotten a bit more chilly than I expected, too.  But being the upper Midwest, we are not unfamiliar with this change in weather.  After we found a parking spot it was a small walk up to this location. 

But, since it was cold, my brother and I did a couple of things before leaving the vicinity of his car. We checked our batteries in our Sony cameras.  Changed our lenses, and then started walking. 

As we got closer, it became apparent just how massive this structure is.  But since I had the 50mm lens on my APS-C sized camera, I had to find my first photos be from a ways back.  And that is where I found the location for this photo. 

Where most people would take the photo of the building dead center, I wanted the off-center look.  But when you do that, usually it helps to have something that makes up for the empty space.  That is where a leading line comes into play.  That is why I took this spot to start snapping away.  The lights for the parking area lined up a little to point towards the top of the dome.

Some of the first photos were a little fuzzy, and had too much noise.  I didn't have my tripod with me, so this was going to require me planting my feet in a very steady position.  I held the camera a little extra tightly, and against my head by the eyepiece.  Then I started to lower the shutter speed to 1/15 of a second and then lowered the ISO to 500.  After a few attempts, I got a clean shot. 

If you want to see a clean, enlarged photo, go to my Google Plus Post Here.
 

An interesting thing is hearing out there all of the talk about photography gear.  People look at the new toys out there, but not at what they already have.  Or, they are convinced that this one particular lens will be all they need. But the truth us going to be messy.  That is because as artists, we are usually a little messy. 

And I think that night illustrates some of this point. I sure would like different gear, but the distraction of other gear for me will be a detriment. If I had kept my 70-210 lens with me during this walk, I would have been distracted with other 'options' and couldn't have focused on what was in front of me.  It helps me stay in the moment.

Thanks for letting me vent a little bit!

How I Shot That - Milwaukee Fog and Art

How I Shot That - Milwaukee Museum of Art

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Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2FW83M8
Sony 20mm f8 - http://amzn.to/2pywfJC

They say, always have a Fog Plan.

A couple of years ago, at about 10 am in July on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, I didn't have the faintest clue that we would be heading into a wall of fog.  But we were in for a treat. 

My brother and I both do photography, and we got a late start to the day.  He and I were driving in from Chicago and thought that we were going to see a lot of hard shadows and sunny skies.  However, nature sent us a gift.  Fog at the shore line that was thick but let us have all the light we needed. 

One of the best architectural treats of Milwaukee is their Museum of Art.  Looking like a sailing vessel instead of a structure, it sits on the shores of this Great Lake.  Walking outside it can be misleading when finding a center focal point to photo.  So you get it just right, or make it look like you broke the composition rules on purpose. 

I had to line up the points and check for other matching lines.  The point of this deck that came out towards me was my main setup.  In checking out the lines, I confirmed I could not see the wall of the center rib on that deck.  When lining the photo up to the top, the top of one of the masts also lined up.  I decided that the 'sail' could break the rules of composition.  I know the sides of the photo seem to be clipped a little, but that looked equal to me, so I went with it. 

When I had this photo in color, it felt like I lost contrast a little bit.  But going back to monochrome, gave me back some of the building, while still keeping some of the fog's softness. 

But this also brings up the idea of the 'Fog Plan'.  When I first came to this building, I went to the main entrance.  And then I went inside.  What was I thinking?  I wasted valuable time with the fog!  Remember, fog is your friend in photography!

Also, this was a fun day that day, walking around Milwaukee.  You should try it some time.

Equipment Post - what would make this better?

Equipment - What Would Make This Better?

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I have seen a lot of people drop their jaws over new cameras lately.  It seems that some people are chasing the megapixels of a camera, others just want the latest camera.  And a few, are shrewd enough to realize an improvement can be done, but perhaps not the latest camera, but that you need the right camera.

My test was when posting this photo of a skater at the 2017 National State Games, to ask people what could make this photo better.  This was a group of heavy Sony users and many said the a7Riii or the latest a7iii.  Only one person admitted to getting the camera (that released over a year ago) might be the right path.  That was a suggestion for the a6500 with the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  Sure, this would have been a near $4000 investment, but it didn't take me north of that with suggestions of the other camera's and the same glass. 

But the main thing that would give me the best increase in photo quality would be the lens.  Lens issue would help by this main factor.  The lens I used for this was the Sony 70-200 f4 G.  But the lens I wished I had was the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  And  what that lens does is allow?  More light to hit the sensor.  More light means I can use a smaller ISO value.  Smaller ISO value means smaller grain in the photo.  Smaller grain means that the color and sharpness will be more pronounced. 

One other thing... you get better subject separation between subject and background/foreground.  This is called Bokeh, getting a fuzzy looking out of focus look.  It also makes the subject stand out that much greater from everything else. 

Now, what a better camera body would have given me: other opportunities.  The a6500 still has 11 frames per second, and that is a must.  But something else is that camera has eye auto focus on continuous focus mode.  Additionally, it would give me the option to use 8 fps speed, but give me the slight motion between those shots.  And that would help with tracking the subject.  This photo, while what I wanted, was only in the bottom two thirds of the frame. If I had gotten a much more centered photo, then I would have greater content to work with.

Product Amazon Links
Sony a6500     Sony a6000
Sony 70-200 f4 G     Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM
Sony a7III     Sony a7RIII

How I Shot That - Late Afternoon Marsh Bench

How I Shot That - Late Afternoon Marsh Bench

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Lens: Sony 50mm 1.8 OSS - http://amzn.to/2tT6LvK
Camera Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2FFH6fF

Golden Hour... 

Besides the fall, spring can give you a magnificent glow.  Morning and evening will give different properties so you want to choose your times wisely.  This article will discuss the ending time of light.  

Usually, shooting into the Sun isn't going to be helpful to your photo.  But, like you will find so often in Photography, rules are more like guidelines. And in this case you can find the exception in this: the shadows are not too much.  

Some of this is because many of the latest sensors like the one in my Sony a6000 have great dynamic range.  That means it can bring out the details between shaded and lit areas very well.  I did need to sacrifice one thing, the sky.  

But what happened to me today?  How did I come up onto this place, it could almost be cropped further for different aspects to give a new outcome.  This spot could be used for different types of portraits, nevermind all of the foliage and wildlife that surely must be near this.

By my nature, I'm a very distractible person.  (I try to keep these posts short because of it.)  But this time when I went out with my camera, I used that distraction.  In fact, I had been shooting what I could of wildlife and random people.  This was part of a path that forces you to turn around and head back as it becomes a dead end.  But photography is almost always a matter of perspective.  And walking a path in multiple directions helps me release my distractions and swim in them at the same time.  

So I was heading back from the dead end, and I realized the sun had produced an extra glow due to all of the pollen in the air.  This location was probably one of the richest in pollen thickness in the air... you could smell everything (if it didn't overpower your nose).

And the glow struck me that the shade never was completely dark.  The glow made me wonder because a portrait would give an air of magic to the subject.  The glow made it possible to break so many 'rules' you could find in photography.  

If I had to come back to one thing, that is to explore... even if you can't travel, explore the same places.  Probably more important when you are new than anything, because it gives you experience.  It gives you ideas for the future.  Explore the same thing at different times of day and of the year.

If that skill was good for Ansel Adams (autobiography, http://amzn.to/2FFC96i), I'm sure it will help me out here and there too.

Equipment - Reviewing my Olympus OM-D E-M10ii

Equipment - Reviewing my Olympus OM-D  E-M10ii

Olympus OM-D E-M10ii - http://amzn.to/2DmIH3W

 

During the spring of 2017, I attended an event for Drink and Click in Madison, WI.  We went to Lucky's Brew Pub where Olympus came to sponsor the event.  We got to try their cameras and shoot with a model.  It was a fun event and at the end of the day, they gave this camera away, the OM-D E-M10ii (Amazon Link).

I have some positives and negatives to say about this.  But like my other recent articles, I want to keep this at least not-long.  I think it has kept things easy to read online.

I was introduced to Micro 4/3 sized sensor with this camera and event.  My main camera is a Sony a6000 (Amazon Link) at a sensor size standard of APS-C.  So I do not have a full frame camera just yet.  However, it means that the effective reach of my 200 mm focal length on APS-C is similar to 300 mm from a full frame and with the M4/3 sensor it gives me equivalent zoom of 400 mm.  Sports and wildlife tickle me with being able to reach out further with these cameras so it is why I didn't start with full frame.

What I liked:

What I have to say is that this camera is for is the starting photographer that isn't shooting sports or fast activity of any kind.  For an experienced photographer you can take advantage of certain things that can give you a good second camera.  

The new photographer will find two things familiar to you on your cell phones: a touch screen.  In a user friendly configuration, you will find as soon as you touch the screen, it will take the picture.  So just touch what you want to focus on and it will take the shot.

Additionally, you can get a camera that has decent auto modes and scene modes.  You can choose coloring and other affects.  This is like when you are on instagram for different styles.

One of the things that shine for this camera is IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) on the sensor.  Along with your kit lens (that is also stabilized) video feels like you are on a gimbal.  This means the movements of the camera will feel very smooth.  Along with touch screen focus, you have a versatile starting system.

And what I like as a more professional photographer: 

I still love the IBIS.  

I like the M4/3 format as it is easy to adapt a non-M4/3 lenses to it.  You need an adapter, but since this is an open standard that multiple companies and people have worked on ways to adapt other brands to this camera.  Old lenses look great with this... even though you need to manually focus you can still get things fairly sharp since you have eliminated camera shake. 

Just because it is a small lens, does not mean it won't give you a great reach.  I picked up this old 135mm lens, and it means it will reach out as far as 270 mm equivalent focal length.  I can go out and shoot something that isn't moving fast, like a squirrel in a tree or a perched bird or duck in the water.  And I can do this because the camera will show me what is in focus with focus peaking.

The camera is also fairly silent.  You don't have a loud noise when clicking the shutter.  You can hear something (it isn't 100% electronic), but it won't be like a big clunk from my Sony a6000 (Amazon Link).  It won't disrupt sensitive events, and animals won't be completely disrupted.

Some of what I didn't like:

Autofocus system is terrible.  If you like having the viewfinder by your eye, there isn't a wide area autofocus continuous (af-c).  This camera does not have eye auto focus like many other cameras, such as the Sony a6000 (Amazon Link) and the  Olympus  OM-D  E-M1ii (Amazon Link).

The menu system.  There are a ton of options in the Olympus menu.  However, it gets too big and too confusing.  For example, there is a feature called setting effects.  When using the camera through the viewfinder or the screen on the back, you can set it up to see the exposure before you shoot or it will just give you a similar view like from an optical camera.  But I had the hardest time setting it up this feature.  Since I want to see how the exposure will affect my shot before I take it, I had to adjust 4 or 5 different settings in the camera before it would work like I wanted it to.  People have said Sony menus are bad, but there is only one menu item I need to adjust in the Sony before I change this type of feature.  

But that may be a feature most people that pick up this camera are not worried about.

If I had to rate this in a 1-5 star rating comparing it to all of the other cameras out there, I would give it a 3.  It is a solid body.  It can do what you want it to do.  It does have limits.  But it is great for a starting photographer that isn't looking to make it a possible career.

If you are comparing it to all of the starting level cameras out there, I give it a 4 out of 5.  But the area wide auto focus can be a limitation.  If you like pointing at everything on the back screen to focus on and then photograph then it is kinda fun.  Or if you set the focus to be a single point on the camera then it will do well.  But many cameras today have a much more intuitive focus system and make the experience much more fun.

And video, while not the main point of this review, is nice with 5 axis image stabilization on the sensor.  So that video will look way better than anything from your cell phone.

Ultimately, you will be seeing me use both this Olympus camera and my Sony in the months to come.

How I Shot That - Thirsty Robin

How I Shot That - Thirsty Robin

shot with: E. Zuiko 135mm f3.5 - http://amzn.to/2DjNoeZ
Beschoi OM-M43 Adapter - http://amzn.to/2DjMU8F
Camera Olympus OM-D E-M10ii - http://amzn.to/2Fu1wb8

Robins are the bird that herald in the first breath of spring.  This little guy came up on the middle of this park path in front of me.  All I had was my Olympus OM-D E-M10ii with an old film lens of 135 mm lens stuck on it.

I didn't want to scare off the bird.  I backed up slowly a few steps and soon realized I had to get down low. After getting down low, I needed to do two more things on my camera to make sure I was as sharp as I could get.  First, I activated focus peaking.  Doing that gives an outline around everything that is sharp.  Then I used a magnify button to make sure I can see the finer focus points.

The lense I used was an adapted lens.  It wasn't originally designed for my camera.  It was an old Olympus film lens E.Zuiko 135mm f3.5.  The nice thing about it, the lens has a big focus ring on it, and it is so easy to operate when you have any kind of gloves on your hands.

So I got low.  But for a while, I think the bird was trying to figure me out... neither of us moved.  Then the robin moved closer to the water of this puddle.  I just checked my focus one more time and started shooting.  Eventually, many times the bird got down to drink.  This photo was probably the sharpest I got.  But the shot was still cropped in a bit, even with the equivalent full frame focal length of 270mm.  That's what you get when you need to step back a few.

Technical detail of this photo:  f3.5, ISO 200, 1/640 sec.

How I Shot That - Returning the Favor, Guitarist and Drummer

How I Shot That - Returning the Favor, Guitarist and Drummer

Lens is the Sony 50mm f1.8 - http://amzn.to/2F96Kcc
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Venue - http://thebrickhouselacrosse.com/
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This was maybe a year ago, I had gone out to a new bar that opened.  This was The Brick House with a great space for bands to play.  They have a ton of can and LED lights around the band platform.

Returning the favor (FB page here) has a lot of their own music that is a range from folk/blues to rock/pop with a little reggae sprinkled in for flavor (Reverbnation page here). They have a rather big cast of musicians.  So while They were playing it was a little hard to find a shot that looked good with all of them in it.  Either equipment would hide one of them, or another person did that.

Here is the lead guitarist (also does some vocals) with drummer.  Just the two, but it was a feeling the guitarist was portraying with drummer that caught my attention.  The shot is a little dark with highlights around them for a reason that made love the Black and White treatment I used with this.  Part of what I liked in monochrome was that I had fewer distractions.

But there was another challenge, in Color, the lights were such pure red or blue or green (or whatever color) that it seemed to easily overpower my camera's sensor.  But re-introducing it as B&W gave me all of the detail I saw that night.  And I actually love it.  Specially since it seems so sharp and full of detail to me.

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That isn't to say I won't find a color option too!  Such as this one of the drummer with the other guitarist.  This photo also required some treatment in post... but to accentuate some colors but then muting it just a little bit on the drummer, so we can see his face.

But putting that aside, the day I shot these, I couldn't get a decent shot of all of this 5 person band.  Sometimes the reward is gained during a lesson in cutting your losses and in not getting greedy for that 'one' shot.  By moving around and keeping my eyes open I was able to find other wonderful positions.  

How I Shot That - Spinning Competitive Figure Skater

How I Shot That - Spinning Competitive Figure Skater

Lens Sony 70-200 f4 G OSS - http://amzn.to/2oUsCx8
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Setting 1/500 second, ISO 1600, 200mm Focal

This is Kendal at a competition in Grand Rapids, MI.  Michigan was hosting the State Games of America competitions back in August of 2017.  This was a large cross section of sports from winter sports (hockey and figure skating) to the classic summer sports (baseball, track and field, boxing).

Kendal's heart was into this competition.  She had been used to this music for a long time.  I had to play catch up in terms of feeling the music and anticipating when movement would ensue.  So it is interesting that I feel like, even though I am not a skater in any way, that I've started predicting some movement.  Such as spins versus jumps. 

I've mentioned in a previous post that at this event I prepared by renting the Sony 70-200 f4 G OSS lens from Lens Rentals .com.  It was very useful with photographing these skaters on the ice rinks.  Even though this photo had to be zoomed in all the way, it was able to help capture all of the movement up and down the sheet of ice. 

When a skater starts spinning, it can be pretty nice for us photographers.  The spins usually have to be done several times in each position to be counted as a position, add to that that the skaters are trying to do several positions per spin!  Wow, what opportunity!  Here, Kendal is working on the grab portion of her spin, elongating her position with her hand over her head and yet maintaining balance.  I know I have the shutter speed set to freeze the motion, but this still tells you that there is movement. 

Something about a skater's dress, and the crystals on them.  Figure skaters have crystals such as these Swarovski ones that were applied to her dress. The dress had many added to it.  They were added to help her to be visually accentuating to her movements and position.  As you can see, it is easier to identify her bend backwards needed for this move.  Crystals like these are available in bags such as these from Amazon.com

Something of a technical nature when shooting photos at an ice rink, your light meter in your camera is going to be wrong. You will need to keep the meter at about plus 1 if you shoot manual. Make sure when shooting skaters that you have some room to move.  These skaters move fast so you need to be able to turn with them.

How I Shot That - Gulls over Bridges

How I Shot That - Gulls over Bridges

Shot with Sony 50mm f/1.8 - http://amzn.to/2FmZ82E
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
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Shot this almost a year ago, I get to take many noon-time walks during my day job. Usually this isn't the time to take a photo, the light is usually so harsh.  

What can you do, but take advantage of a ritual near a location that is always changing.  I've read and learned that many photographers will sit in a location and even camp out for days at a time.  But what I have substituted was ritual.  When I go for a walk at lunch, I'll have about 4 routes I choose from.  Being next to the Mississippi River, 2 of the 4 routes take me along that path.  

Usually, this gives me 2 types of water fouls to shoot... mallards and gulls.  They seem to love this area because... it's easy.  People feed them.  A ton of people feed them.

At this time, the ice had just disappeared from the river and the birds were looking for more food than people were giving them.  And for a moment, it seemed I had cought them lining up as if coming or going over the interstate bridges. 

And a bit of technical luck, I set the camera up for more of a street style aperture of f8.0.  This helped keep the bridges sharper while I focused on the bird.  And because it was broad daylight, I could keep the ISO at 100 with a 1/750 sec shutter.   This is how I kept the noise down and the birds are still in the air.

And in post I really just needed to bring out the contrast and deepen the blacks.  

How I Shot That - I Would Rather be Ice Fishing

How I Shot That - I Would Rather be Ice Fishing

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Lens: Olympus Zuiko OM 135mm f3.5
Micro 4/3 Lens Adapter: OM-M4/3 bESCHOI
Camera: Olympus OM-D EM10ii

 Winter in the Upper Mid West is very different than what you would find in many other places.  Here, you may find almost as many people willing to be outside the house as you find inside the house.  That is what I re-affirmed when I went scouting for a portrait shoot this day when trying to use my Olympus OM-D EM10ii with an adapted old film lens, the Olympus Zuiko 135mm f3.5. 

So, when the weather gets just a little bit warmer, but we still have thick levels of ice, it is time to get those winter portraits of people that do an ice sport or those that just love the outdoors.  This island in the middle of the Mississippi River has a great little lagoon on it.  The water is protected from the currents and freezes really nicely.  Additionally, almost no matter what direction you shoot in, there is going to be a great back ground to shoot . 

When I walked onto the ice, it was very smooth under the snow.  When I went out there, this guy had already setup his ice fishing tent.  I loved this, only in Wisconsin will you find someone who would rather be in a small cramped shelter rather than a huge one you can all see in the back ground.  I mean, since you can't fish from the big one, there really is no contest, right?

Couple of more nice things was his fishing spot was centered nicely with the Gazebo, the trees the lined it, and the little bit of open water you can see in the background.

What's more, I used this camera that I won from a Drink and Click event in Madison, WI.  I haven't really liked this camera until I got these old lenses and adapted them.  That is because the camera has IBIS (in-body image stabilization) where it moves the sensor a little bit to counter any jiggle you make as the camera holder.  Effectively, this is like shooting with a 270mm lens.  And I needed that, because I was practically shooting from the other end of the lagoon. 

I just had to move around to center up the tent/shanty with the gazebo, and no problems.

How I Shot That - The Waiting Skaters

How I Shot That - The Waiting Skaters

Purchase This Photo (suggest metallic)
Amazon SP Teri Skate Search
Amazon Edea Skate Search
Amazon Riedell Skate Search

Figure skating, like in a lot of things, is filled with an atmosphere of 'hurry up and wait'.  I couldn't think of a finer personification of that statement than with this moment.

Every year, the City of La Crosse Park and Recreation and Forestry department puts on an ice show for the people that participated in their winter figure skating program.  Over the years, through my wife, I have gotten to know many of these kids quite well.  At the time, the camera I was using was still new to me (Sony a6000).  But I loved how flexible it is for me in this environment.  Specially since it let me get a shot like this.

This is a little bit before the ice show started.  I had previously determined that this location is where I would shoot the entire show from, because the door there would open up to the ice.  At this moment, many of the higher level skaters were lining up at this door for the show's opening number.

One of the  challenges about figure skating and photographing kids is a lot of people don't always like their kids faces online.  So I'm always looking for a photo that will be universal of sorts.  When we were waiting for the show to start, I'm seeing all of these kids with all of their skates.  For me what I think worked best, very few of the skaters had the same skate as someone else.  What got me excited was, everyone skating with whatever they had... an incredible cross-section of skaters.

So I got low with my camera (from Amazon: Sony a6000) and I kept on my 50mm f1.8(from Amazon) lens.  By focusing on some of the middle skaters more of the skates could stay in relative focus (I didn't need bokeh balls in the background).  I could get the shot down to 1/60th of a second but still needing my ISO up to 1000.

And I must say, the best reward of this photo was printing it on metallic paper.  This is a shot that needs to show the shine of the blades while making the skates shimmer a little bit.  I liked it cropped or like this.  So it can be taken down to 16x9 and it still looks great!  Honestly, I think ice rinks all over could have this photo to decorate with.

How I Shot That - Rivoli Theater Building BW

How I Shot That - Rivoli Theatre Building BW

Purchase this photo
Shot with Minolta 70-210 F4 Lens - http://amzn.to/2sNQSGy
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr

A photographer I admire has said many times, "Clouds are cool!  I won't shot if I can't see clouds."  

While I am not 100% sure that is true for every situation, clouds did make this photo better. 

Besides the obvious clouds in view on this photo, there is something else that the clouds did that day.  Normally during an afternoon walk, I am exercising futility in my photography.  Broad daylight with the sun coming almost directly overhead is actually not a very good thing.  Light coming almost directly down would have made the shadow from that little ledge at the top of the Rivoli building too much.  But Wisconsin if full of weather changes.  Cold, hot, windy, calm rain/sleet/snow (many times all at once) and of course sunny.  

Since there is so much of this changing weather, I keep reminding myself, even if your walk doesn't provide a fruitful set of photos one day, does not mean another day won't provide something awesome.  Just like this awesome September afternoon did.

Now, normally, a straight on photo of a building doesn't do it for me.  But since the wind was blowing this flag around I really wanted to make it part of the photo.  Funny thing, this flag is in a Bank parking lot across the street, it doesn't belong to the theatre at all.  But for many here in La Crosse, WI, we love this theatre just as we love America.  It only has two movie screens, a main one and a 'showing room'.  You can order a pizza, get beer, essentially have a movie type dinner here.  The main theatre even has a section in front that has tables.  When you have a child's movie playing, it is the most family friendly place.  When you are there for fright night type of a showing, it is the most fun.  And when they decide to show an old movie (that they do frequently) you have a great date with the one you love.

So I had to include this flag.  Like the movies, America is full of drama.  Just as much as the sky was showing that day.

On this walk through town, I was trying something different.  Normally, street photography makes you want to have a short lense. Most use a 20mm.  Many times you will see me with the 50mm.  But this day I used what many in the Sony/Minolta world call 'The Beer Can" lens.  We call it that because it is the 70-210 f4 Minolta lens that has no optical stabilization and is just a straight and tall can shape.  Almost the size of large beer kans from back in the day.  

From where I saw this, I had walked through an alley from another block away, letting me see across this parking lot of a bank to have this reveal itself to me.  Obviously, if I was zoomed in all the way, I would have been looking at the sign of the building, and forgetting about everything else.  So this was most of the way out at the 70mm zoom.  And I was using f4.  After making sure my shutter speed was really high at 1/2000 of a second.  This gave me the clouds a pop in shape, froze the flag in motion while giving me enough light on the building.

To show this place some love, visit them at http://www.rivoli.net/

How I Shot That - Figure Skating Bullfighter

How I Shot That - Figure Skating Bullfighter

Sony 70-200 f4 OSS G: http://amzn.to/2F3YYR2
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr

Back in the late summer of 2017, I was at an event called State Games of America (SGA).  This is an Olympic style of athletic competition open to competitors in all 50 states.  I found that SGA had a photography competition, and that they would give you all access to the sporting events.  You then get introduced to all sort of people all across the nation.

One of the most attended sports is figure skating.  I've been around this sport for a long time, nearly as long as I've known my wife (the coach in this sport).  She had 5 kids participating in various levels and events.  This kid, Daren, started with her and now lives on the east coast.  

But back to what I had to do in figuring out the event and getting the best possible photos of these participants.  I knew that my current lense wasn't going to be enough.  The lense I had been using for skating up till now was a 50mm f 1.8 OSS.  It is great for when the kids are pretty close.  But it makes for a lot of work down the line.  I needed to rent something nice.

I went to Lens Rentals .com and was able to reserve the 70-200mm f4 OSS G (probably should have gotten the f2.8 GM, but that was too much money for what I wanted at the time).  This along with my crop sensor a6000 would give me an effective focal length of 300mm at the farthest reach.  In other words, If I had to shoot photos all the way down at one corner of the rink, I could still fill most of the frame with the skater all the way down at the other end of the ice.  

When I first got to the rink, I had to get my media packet and find my places.  I wasn't going to photo 'everything' so I needed to get situated for when I was going to be there.  I quickly found one of the nicest things at this event, where these rinks usually have glass set up for hockey, they had places in the corners with the glass removed.  These were photographer hot spots!  But I needed to make sure I had access, it wasn't a reserved place.  There is a lot to be said for having presence in any job you are performing.  And that is what I did, didn't take up too much space, but when I moved, I made my moves seem precise and required. This way, other parents, or unauthorized Photographers wouldn't get in the way.  I must say, the other event authorized photogs knew how to find a close spot, but not get in the way.
 

The day I shot Darren (pictured above) was the 2nd day of competition.  These skaters at these levels were much faster.  To get the motion blur as reduced as possible, I had to get the shutter speed up to 1/800 a second.  The lighting was pretty good, but I still needed to go as high as ISO 2000 and my f-stop was as wide as it could be at f-4. 

Another way to prepare is to get some shots off during the warm up session.  I was able to get the group of skaters before their program in a few practice shots.  Thankfully, this let me know Darren jumps high.  I was able to keep the camera steady, and maybe move a little bit to account for the jump, but still get everything.  Thankfully, my camera can go as high as 11 frames a second, so getting him in front wasn't so hard.  I have many other photos of the man and my favorites from that event.  https://lifeexposure.smugmug.com/State-Games-of-America-2017/Favorite-of-SGA2017/

It really makes me want that lens.  I was, however, happy with renting it for now.

How I shot that - Baby Owls with a Beginners Camera

How I shot that - Baby Owls with a Beginners Camera

I used the Nikon Coolpix p510 http://amzn.to/2GQZXR8
Current version of this camera: Coolpix p900 http://amzn.to/2F132gM



When I was starting out with my photography, I had what people called a Bridge Camera.  There was one lens that had an effective focal length ranging all the way from 24 mm all the way out to 1000mm equivalent of a 35mm sensor.  Just starting out, I didn't know what to photograph.  That meant I was taking pictures of everything. 

Maybe that was a little much for a starting new photographer, but it was fun.  Some of that fun came from living in an area of western Wisconsin that had easy access to some great wildlife and birding areas.  So many times, it is as simple as walking around.  But for this shot, I had to talk to some people before I knew where to look.

Specifically, I was walking in this city park that is a part of a marsh to the La Crosse River that feeds into the Mississippi River. The city park system has taken ownership of a wetlands area that keeps people in appreciation of the Great River wild life, and has made it mostly enjoyable (minus the summer and fall mosquitos). 

That day, I had my camera on shutter priority.  I wanted to control the speed of the shutter and let this thing think about the ISO and aperture.  I was still relatively new back in September 2015.  For fun, I was walking around this park called Myrick Park Marsh.

It just so happened, that the area Audubon Society was meeting at the shelter here.  I popped in for a little bit and realized every one was way more serious than I was.  I just wasn't prepared and I was here for fun.  But walking outside, I realized most people in the park (even though they weren't at the meeting in the shelter) were birders.  I had to talk to some of them and got a couple of ideas for the day.

But then there was the prize, baby owls.  This marsh was a fantastic place for the owls, because no one was able to get in their face or walk up to the tree they were in.  The tree was surrounded by water.  But I just sat there for a good 20 minutes and found them inside this broken trunk of a tree. 

What a reward.

Talk to people, find a spot, sit there.

Using a point and shoot Nikon P510 bridge camera.

I still feel great about that shot.

How I Shot That - Skating in Riedell Boots

How I Shot That - Skating in Riedell Boots

Similar Riedell Motion Boots - http://amzn.to/2CGzq6s
Shot with Sony 50mm f/1.8 - http://amzn.to/2FmZ82E
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Buy this photo here

Figure skating is in general a difficult sport to photograph.  You will have fast moving people travelling in a low light environment. If that isn't enough to make you think twice about shooting professionally, then the ice is going to mess with your light meter.  If you don't know better, then your meter will tell you there is enough light, when in fact, there isn't.

Product photography hasn't been what I was after, but I do like to get the details.  A few great photographers have always said, "Get your wides, the mediums, your close ups, and your details."  I find this to be great advise.  As a photographer, you need to be considering the entire canvas... then remove what you don't want (I think that goes against those 360 Virtual cameras, but I digress).  Figure skating and sports in general is no different.

This is an exercise in finding that detail shot.  It is also an exercise in finding out how to be different, or to stand out.  So often, I find photos online of figure skaters twirling, jumping, being tossed by a pairs partner and so forth.  But ask any skater what item they care about the most, and you will undoubtedly find it being their skates. I know, duh!  To underscore this, my wife has ornament upon ornament of ice skates for a Christmas tree.

That is what inspired me to get down low while at a high school figure skating team practice.  I wanted that product type of photo of one of the skater's skates.  Obviously, this was melding two types of photo styles: Product and Action.  Normal product photography gets everything in a controlled environment.  People get together to have lights just right, place the products ever so still, and make sure that the smoothest and most detailed photo possible could be made.

Action on an ice rink makes that impossible, unless you have rented the rink and no one else is skating.  Nonetheless, my goal was to have some movement.  I wanted that skate to show it was in use.  My plan was to wait by the coach near the boards.  Eventually one of these kids were going to come near by to talk to her.  

Let the waiting game start.

But while I was waiting, I needed to find what settings would work.  Usually, I photograph a skater at 1/500 or 1/750 a second.  While fast, even at this shutter speed, you can find motion blur with a figure skater.  My ISO was lowered from 1600 down to 1000 while increasing my aperture from 1.8 to 2.4. The 1.8 to 2.4 was needed so that I had a better depth of field.  Normally, with the 50mm on a figure skater, they are far enough that f1.8  isn't a problem.  Actually, normally, that lets in all that more light so the photo doesn't need to be higher than 1600 iso (it makes for a less grainy photo, compared to higher ISO numbers).  

I found I had the frame speed I needed at 350th a second.  Enough to freeze the photo of a slower moving skate of a subject talking to the coach.  I probably took about 10 shots trying to get this one that I liked the most.  The skater was stopped, but they had just barely put their right boot and blade on the ice.  You can tell this skate is used.  You can also tell it isn't damaged, so it is cared for.

How I shot that - LAX WI Blue Bridges over the Mississippi

How I shot that - LAX WI Blue Bridges over the Mississippi

Shot with Sony 50mm f/1.8 - http://amzn.to/2FmZ82E
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Similar aluminum Camera Tripod - http://amzn.to/2opfBw3
Purchase this photo

La Crosse, WI (#laxwi in my tags) sits on the shores of the Mississippi River running between western Wisconsin and southeast Minnesota.  Between the two states (and in the middle of the river) sits Pettibon Park.  Pettibone Park was an island originally governed by Minnesota but was given to Wisconsin at the start of the 20th century.  

Originally, this island was mostly owned by a sole investor who's idea was to make a magnificent city on the river.  To say the least, that idea didn't pan out.  The river flooded so high and so often, that any structures would have to withstand such high water levels that would never allow for year round living.  But eventually it was realized that open structures open to a surrounding of water from the river would work out nicely as a park.

Given that the island would be part of La Crosse, WI that meant building a bridge over this mighty river wouldn't be a problem as you have one less jurisdiction to worry about (one less state).  

Fast forward almost 100 years, LAXWI is a thriving city with good river traffic sitting between the bluffs of WI and MN.  As it happens, I found that it was almost the time of a 'super moon', but the Upper Midwest has a lot of weather.  So, sometimes weather looks good in the afternoon, but clouds all up at night... and then there is the reverse.  July 19, 2016 was a long day on top of that, as my wife and I were driving all over the area.

But driving home, this park was on the way.  The river had relaxed to an almost normal stage. And not only did I have my a6000, but also my tripod too.  On my camera, I had the 50mm f1.8 lens and I took nearly 28 photos to stitch this together.  I was thinking, everything is farther away, but I didn't want to leave it at 1.8, and so I changed the aperture to 5.6.  I had a 1/45 shutter speed and 1000 iso.  

I came away with the tops of the bridges and the buildings on the other side of the river being a little distorted, but to me that was fine.  The river is larger than life.  Oh, heck, this river IS life to most of the country.  So if you need to make buildings to challenge it, they too need to behave this way.

Business of My Photography

New focus on my business of my photography.

Something I have had people inform me about is that my photography reminds them of product photography.  Not the original thought I had when pressing the shutter.

Youth Football Cleats
Shot with Sony 20mm F2.8 wide-angle http://amzn.to/2GFfmn9
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr

But after time, I thought it over.  It wasn't easy, because I have dreams that take me far beyond product shots.  But dreams don't pay the bills.  And people that you want as clients (People with a huge sum of money) may want to see that what you do actually can pull some weight.

Charmant Hotel, Hotel .com gift card - http://amzn.to/2BMnAe0
Shot with Minolta 70-210 F4 Lens - http://amzn.to/2sNQSGy
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr

So if much of what I have is like product photography, I will get some use of it somehow.  A friend at work mentioned Amazon and their affiliate program.  I read it over, and it seems good.  Descent returns, and rewards you get even beyond the initial item you linked to.

Similar Edea Skates - http://amzn.to/2GFvllt
Shot with Sony 70-200 F4 OSS G - http://amzn.to/2sRzSPM
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr

So here is to a growing economy that they say is booming.  You know all I need are a few sheckles.  I want the photos to speak for themselves, but if there is something about the photo that can drive a persons to Amazon and pick something up, all the better!

GGOOLLD Band http://amzn.to/2CCw2cM
Shot with Sony 50mm f/1.8 - http://amzn.to/2FmZ82E
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr