PT-22 Ryan
captured by D5 / 70-200f2.8 FL
I’ve had the opportunity to shoot in the field with the new 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR and I love it! There are many attributes that bring me to this feeling, sharpness, speed, design, balance, all adding up to making this IMHO more than a tad better then the previous version. I’ve shot it on the D5, D500 & D750 and it performs flawlessly on all. Here are my thoughts:
PT-17 Stearman
captured by D5 / 70-200f2.8 FL
A whole new way to show off your photographs, TruLife Acrylic is pretty amazing!
No, I’m not takin a survey but rather, answering a common question. Deciding what should be your next camera lens purchase can be a real sleep turner, hand wrenching decision. The reason is usually two fold, money and desire. Being photographers, we tend to desire a lens we can’t afford. That’s what makes us … us! Once you move past that near fatal photographer condition comes the reality of, we need to build our camera bag, but what lens to buy next? The first question I recommend folks ask themselves in this quest is, do you find yourself backing up or moving closer when you’re shooting (zooming with your feet)? If you back up, you need a wider lens and if moving closer, you need longer lens. Now narrowing it down from that takes honest soul searching. Ideally, you try out the lens you think you want to buy first. Perhaps you have a friend who owns the lens you want to buy or, you go on a photographic workshop and someone there has the lens you can try. Personally, I get the lens I think I want to add to my bag on loan or renting it prior to purchasing.
The key here is, get the lens for at least ONE week for true, real life testing. I had the 105f1.4 for over two weeks to make sure the purchase would pay for itself. I had the lens when I KNEW I had real world shooting to test it with. In the case of the 105f1.4, I got it to test when I had portraits which is the natural application of this lens. Doing my usual, forcing myself to shoot everything with a new piece of gear, I quickly discover the 105f1.4 worked for lots of applications, not just the stereotypical application as you can see above. And then only after that real world testing did it become mine. Do I buy every lens I try, not hardly! It does take you longer obtaining that new lens using this approach, but it saves you time selling it on eBay later when it doesn’t work out like you though it would from just reading about it. The lens focuses your ideas and storytelling so others can read it sharply. It’s worth your time, make it count!
My girl singing in the rain
As I watched the rain come down yesterday (we received 11.1″ of rain at the time of this post on top of our 6′ snowpack) it occurred to me it was time to talk about how I shoot in the rain. To start with, my rule of thumb is, if I can stand the rain, so can my gear. With that said, I personally don’t cover my gear with a cover or bag. Now if it’s pouring so hard I can’t stand it but I have to be in it, then I would cover my gear. The key is once your gear is wet, never WIPE your gear dry, always BLOT it dry! Wiping forces the moisture into crevices where it shouldn’t go and will cause damage. Blotting your gear dry with a dry white towel wicks up the moisture safely. Knock on wood, but this very KISS method is what I’ve used for forty years and I’ve never had any gear go down. Thought I would simply pass along this trivia looking at the wx pattern for the next week across the US. That’s because some of the worse weather makes for some of the best photographs.
Allen’s Hummingbird
Sharon & I have a limited number of opportunities in 2017 to spend time with you in the field exploring our passion of photography. And at this moment, we have just a handful of openings in our 2017 offerings:
None of these “workshops” are normal because well, I’m not normal. You will have fun, you will learn a lot and you will be inspired. If you’re interested, have questions of want to join us, give Sharon a call … 661.204.1506. Cya out there!
With all my snow posts of late, had a few folks ask about keeping the fingers warm. The questions were more specific asking if there is a one stop shop for gloves. Well for photographers there are a few options and now, a new one you might not know about. B&H Photo now sells outdoor gear (with killer specials, just got chairs from them!). With this comes a much bigger assortment of gloves to pick from which is great for us. First, I want to point out again the DSLR Parka Cold and Rain Protector which I think is just marvelous! I’ve been using mine this week and it is simply the cat’s meow. But I have some new offerings for you to consider, all available at B&H.
The Men’s Stretch Thinsulate Gloves are really nice gloves for most of the time when it’s just starting to get cold. I find them to run a tad large so you might want to get a size smaller than you normally wear. Enough padding to keep warm while still permitting the ability to work the functions of your camera.
Now I really love these, the HEAT 3 SMART Cold Weather Touchscreen Gloves are made for photographers. When the temperatures head towards zero, you’ll truly appreciate the warmth these gloves provide. The dexterity while not 100% still provides enough to work most camera controls. So if you’re fingers are cold, here are some great solutions.
