Jun 4, 2012 | Field Reports
01.01.2013 Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!
Here’s a side by side comparison of two video go cameras, the GoPro Hero (on the left) and Wingman HD (on the right). Both were in there housings attached to the hoods of our rental cars as we cruised Custer State Park. You can make up you own mind which does the better job. I didn’t have the Contour at the time to add it to the comparison but I’m still liking its results and operation the best. You might notice the time stamp, that is accurate :-)
As for creating the actual side by side, that was done in Photoshop CS6. Enjoy!
Jun 4, 2012 | Field Reports
01.01.2013 Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!
The D4 & the D800/D800e have a new Time Lapse feature that taps the video portion of the cameras. It’s one HUGE advantage to me compared to the old method is, once your turn it off, you have a finished time lapse, there is nothing else to do but watch and enjoy! What you have here is a 6hr, 1 click every 30sec time lapse from my deck of a brewing thunderstorm.I’m having a ton of fun doing these on the spur of the moment.
The process is really pretty simple and you can see the “old” method all on video by heading to my Romancing the Landscape series on Kelby Training. Both methods start the same way. In a nutshell it starts by taking a click and looking at the exposure and making any adjustments you think are needed. The “new” way though begins when you turn on the Time Lapse feature and set the intervals and duration and let ‘er go. When you turn off the Time Lapse, the D4 / D800 create a video final video you can instantly play on your camera. You’re all done!
Just so you understand how cool this is, in the “old” days you would have to capture your time lapse as Jepgs (the D4 / D800 does it with Raw), place all those Jpegs in a folder on your computer (time and space consuming), launch Photoshop and have it compile and then export the time lapse a video. Having all of this done in camera is just to way cool! And if you’re wondering about battery consumption, this 6hr time lapse took the D4 down to it’s last bar. Give it a try, it’s really fun!
You might not be aware, but Photoshop CS6 now edits video as well (you don’t need Extended for this). I dropped in the titles and the rest for this video right in Photoshop. It’s not only faster and easier then Premiere, but the final folder of “stuff” you save is much smaller. For creating simple, fun videos, this rocks!
Jun 1, 2012 | Field Reports
Here’s an example of the pieces when they mesh. An unique aircraft, A-26 normally tucked away in the back corner of the hangar with no photographic possibility. One day as things get moved around, it gets pulled out and I just happen to be there, the skies just happen to cooperate and the light is just right with nothing in the background to make a simple, clean click. I’ve been incredibly fortunate that many a time, the right cloud, rock, critter or person will be in the right place at the right time in front of my lens. In fact, I actually work hard to put myself in front of those interesting things so when it doesn’t happen, my mind starts spinning.
Here’s just such a case. We were in SD for our K&M Adventure a couple of weeks back and arrived at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum just as the storm broke. The skies were to die for, the light great and there in the back corner was a C-54 Skymaster looking really great. That’s if you like planes on sticks. I enjoy looking at them, learning about them but photographically, planes on sticks leave a lot to be desired for me. So I says to myself, “You know Photoshop, remove the sticks and park it on the grass.” Strictly a personal challenge, not something I was going to put out to photo buyers, I made the best possible images I could thinking the sticks and cement would disappear. I tried a couple of methods “parking” with this being the least offensive but they all suck. What bugs me most about the image are the tires, they simply look very wrong and that’s the only part of the photograph that actually has been messed with. I tried a number of techniques but no matter what, I simply don’t like the tires.
Now typically I don’t post images like the middle one, this is one of those experiments I talk about going down in flames that I keep to myself. It’s from these experiments though that I push my photography forward. Whether I succeed or go down in flames, you just never know until you try. And even though this experiment went down in misery, I’ll keep thinking about and working on a solution because at some point in time, I will have to make the photograph in similar conditions and then, failure won’t be an option. As my good friend Joe would say, it’s about getting out of your comfort zone. As a tow truck driver just reminded me, if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space!
Jun 1, 2012 | Field Reports
I simply can’t recommend enough, renting before buying. I’ve been doing it since the first day of my photography and I still do it. It’s real simple, buying the wrong piece of gear is not only a real bummer, it’s expensive. Last month I wrote about needing batteries for the D4 for the Doolittle Reunion so I contacted BorrowLenses.com and within a heartbeat, I had the batteries. We’ve hooked up with BorrowLenses.com now and can highly recommend them as thousands of others can.
The way I recommend you go about this is simple. When you know you are really able to shoot, have time to devote to trying out that new lens or body, rent it for a minimum of three days, a week is better. Then force yourself to shoot with just the piece of equipment to get to know all of its pros and cons. Don’t give yourself or that piece of equipment a break, shoot, shoot, shoot. Then look at your images and ask yourself the simple question, “did that piece of equipment solve the problem you envisioned you had?” Within that answer if your answer whether you should buy that piece of gear or not. Give the folks at BorrowLenses.com a try, tell them Moose sent ya. You and your photography won’t be disappointed!
May 30, 2012 | Field Reports
A WHOLE bunch of folks have been asking me about video of late, shooting with the “On the Go” video cameras. Well in response I went shooting and testing with WingMan HD, GoPro Hero and Contour+. For a long time, the GoPro has been my go to for my video on the go camera. It simply works and works well. I was just introduced to the Wingman and while I really like its features and on screen programming, it has two issues for me. The video quality (all 3 shoot 1080p) just isn’t as good as the GoPro. While the housing for the Wingman permits easy operation of the camera, you have to remove it entirely from the suction cup stand to open the housing to turn the camera on. That’s lame! Both of these are priced in the $200 range which make them very easy to own.
Then there’s the Contour+ which I really like! While it’s up in the $400 range, it’s video quality is a tad better then the GoPro (all my tests were done using the housings which might count for some of the issues in quality). What I really like about the Contour+ is it works Bluetooth with the iPhone so I can see what it is capturing and change settings remotely. When the camera is remotely attached and being used, I can emphasize how important that is to me! I have a lot more to share about the Contour+ but wanted to get this preliminary info out as folks have been asking for it. I know this is by all means all that are available, it’s just what I could test at this time.
May 29, 2012 | Field Reports
D4 Firmware Update | D800 Firmware | D800E Firmware
D4 Firmware “fixes:”
When a still image was captured while viewing existing images in playback mode, the monitor turned off, the memory card access lamp glowed steadily, and, in some rare cases, the camera ceased to respond to operations. This issue has been resolved.
When network functions were used with certain settings applied, RAW images were also transferred when Network > Send file as was set to JPEG only. This issue has been resolved.
When an option that utilized the main command dial was selected for Custom Setting f15: Playback zoom, and an image was zoomed in or out with playback with certain settings applied, shooting shutter speed, aperture, and exposure compensation settings were sometimes changed. This issue has been resolved.
NOTE: Having an issue with your D4 seeing the update? I did and it was because I had under Setup > Network enabled. Turn off the network and no problem updating. You might have noticed with Network Enabled you couldn’t Lock Mirror to Clean Sensor. You’ll have that back now too.
