Sell photos on photrade | By MSchoonmaker

I like symetry.  And Metal.  So i found this. 

Work Lights FTW for contrast.  Had to eliminate a little bit of noise with Noise Ninja… 

Its well into that part of the year where the ducks and geese run rampant on their way to the warmth of the south… Actually, up my way its just about over.

This photo is from August, pre-migration.  A nice little American Black Duck who decided to entertain me in Lake George, NY.  

This is why i miss my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II.  Past dusk shooting.  Given, obviously, there is blurring of the wings.  But Hey, i like movement.  My 50mm f/1.8 II took a jump off a mountain (well, rock outcropping) in Delhi NY on a hike.  I still have it.  Its just in pieces, heh.  Lesson learned, use two hands when changing lenses.

Sell photos on photrade | By MSchoonmaker

In a continued interest in stock photography, here is an attempt.  Fairly simple idea, fairly simple execution.

Bottle = Lindemans Framboise…. if you haven’t had an opportunity to taste this utterly delicious beverage, do it.  Raspberry Beer.  Yes, you heard me right.

The same setup as “Self Portrait” was used, with one minor addition.  An actual backdrop.  White Sheet FTW.   The uneven backdrop lighting was on purpose, to attempt to get some depth out of the photo (afterthought: the foil has more than enough depth on its own)…

I realize this may not be a stereotypical stock photo, but its part of mastering the backdrop/lighting aspect before i bring in your normal subjects.  And, its more interesting than a keyboard and hands.  Yes, i said it.

As a side note, anyone else feel like we’re entering a new chapter of american history?

Comment.  Share.

Sell photos on photrade | By MSchoonmaker

I figured an adequate way to start off this blog would be a self portrait.  Yea, thats me.  I applogize for subjecting you to what is, well, me, but its to late for appologies.  

This photo was really spawned by my trying to get into stock photography.  I had just spent way to much time over at DIYPhotography.net and made a home depot run.  

What i wound up with was two “clamp work lights” (such as this), and one straight up typical lamp fixture (had to wire it myself, go me)… After that add a couple of n:vision daylight lamps and waaaaaa-laaa.

This shot only envolves two of the lamps.  the Clip ons.  One on each side of my face, fairly close. 

Then Camera, Tripod, Remote, Shoot!  I did come out with some other severely entertaining poses, but this really says it all.  Its now my everything picture (facebook, twitter, myspace, photrade, flickr, ect, ect… ).  Go Me.  

Gear:
Canon 350D
Canon EF 50mm 1.8
Tripod
Remote
2 x Clip Lights w/ N:Vision 27w Daylight Bulbs
Spare Time 

Thoughts?  Comment!

Now, i post these pictures with great hopes of some helpful reviews/violent critisisms in hopes of learning and hearing other’s opinions.  I am in NO way a professional photographer… an Amatuer just taking his first steps if you will… 

A little background.  I am attempting to get into not only photography for myself (nature, art, whatever i fancy), but also some stock photography as a second source of income.  Hey, why not, i have some of the gear (note, SOME, which should be, a TINY FRACTION)… Also, i have no budget.  I’m trying to do this for as little as possible until, maybe, one day, hopefully, please, i’ll get a check for it.  Hey, ya never know.

I’ll try and go through some of the methods (if it exists) the photo was taken with… also, maybe i’ll put up some random news on occasion.  Or promote other’s great work.  

Oh, one last thing.  I’ll be posting all pictures from Photrade.com.  If you haven’t given them a look yet, you should.  Not only is it a flickr-ish type service, but also supports sales, and has far superior security compared to flickr.   I should note i still do post on flickr… well, sometimes.  And don’t be suprised if i reference some flickr-ness occasionally.  

My Photrade Account

My Flickr Account

Gear
Canon 350D (Rebel XT)
Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III USM
Canon EFS 18-55mm Kit Lens
Canon EF 50mm 1.8 (since dropped)
lots of randomness…  

Anywho, on to the first “real” post.

“Noise Ninja for Aperture will be released August 5th”

August 5th, 2008… Noise Ninja for Aperture!  Rock.

Also, i was told to wait to purchase a license for any of their products until then… so can you presume that the Aperture version of Noise Ninja will not be included under the Pro Plug-in License?  I’m guessing yes.  New License, sadly enough.  But worth it!

Note: this was not an official press release/inquiry on my part… simply the response of someone at customer support.  So keep an eye out.

Picture Code, makers of noise ninja.

Current Noise Ninja Licenses.

this post is also on Schoon Multimedia – Tech…

As soon as I received my Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6III USM I wanted to get even closer(on a budget). I started to look in to different tele converters… 1.4x, 2x, Canon, 3^rd Party… It took me weeks to make a decision on what I wanted to order, and I finally have… and here is my review of what I wound up with…

The Pro-Optics 2x Teleconverter DG (C/N)AF

Overview
The exact model I ordered is for canon EOS bodies, and does pass through Auto Focus/Aperture connections…

Coming in at $90 the Pro-Optics 2x Teleconverter is quite the bargain as well…

It is openly admitted by Pro-Optics that if you are using a lens that is as fast or faster than f/5.6 (aperture goes as low as 5.6) that Auto Focus will work. If the lens is slower than that, then Manual Focus it is. This is NOT 100% true, but we’ll cover this later on…

Also, your Depth of Focus is cut in half… this is most evident below in the white balanced photos…

Also, this converter comes in Canon AND Nikon Variations…

First Shots

Right out of the box, I strapped it in behind my Canon 75-300 Lens… and immediately got out the tripod. At 600mm you MIGHT be able to get away with shooting at 1/600 of a second hand held… Generally speaking to shoot hand held, for every mm you are zoomed, you should be at that number in tenths of second (50mm = 1/50^th sec, 100mm = 1/100^th sec).

On a tripod it shot fine, and the converter doesn’t add that much weight (although it is a solid seeming metal construction)…

First impression though, it does add an extra Inch onto the lens, which does, indeed, make your shutter speed slower… also, it adds 4 more pieces of glass for the light to go through, making your shutter speed, once again, slower (I’m not sure if this is avoidable with any teleconverter).

An odd yellowish tint also appeared, but I believe it was due to zooming and being near a window (florescent light mainly, and when zoomed you’re getting more of the natural light from the window).

Test Shots

After a little playing around at the bird feeder, I was off to the “lab” to test this thing out a bit…

The following are the results of my tests… first a table, which shows f/stop and shutter speed w/ and w/o the converter (to show slowing of shutter speed)… and then some test shots shown in multiple ways…

So as you can see from above, with the addition of the 2X Tele converter, my shutter speed goes up by an average of X5-6… which when you’re outside on a sunny day isn’t the biggest deal, but for any kind of night time sports, dusk shots… not so good. Luckily I Plan on using this for mostly wildlife. Not to say bird’s aren’t fast, but when I’m talking 1/1200 of a second shutter speed to start with… 1/200 is acceptable (tripods IS A MUST).

Now, here are a few sample images… I personally can’t see any degradation of the image at all, aside from a yellow tint (fixable in Aperture/Gimp for me).

Here are two images @ f/5. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

Here are two images @ f/11. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

Here are two images @ f/22. The First w/o the Teleconverter, the Second with.

And finally here are two images @ 200mm. Both color corrected w/ the white of the rubix cube selected as the pure white of the image. Note: the white of the rubix cube IS NOT pure white, which is why there is weird coloring in the background. This is meant only to show both w/ and w/o the 2x Tele Converter in the same exact coloring.

Also, notice in these images that the depth of field IS cut in half. The background isn’t quite as nicely blurred in the photo w/ the teleconverter as w/o.

First image is with out the teleconverter, and the second is with the teleconverter…

The only defect i can see is the white balance issues.  The lens seems to be more sensitive to light (this is inside w/ florescent light w/ natural light in the background)… Notice something else? Leave a comment!

Wrap Up

Okay, there are obvious draw backs from using a 2x tele converter of any quality. I happened to be on a budget, and ordered an inexpensive 2x tele converter. For the few drawbacks, the main advantage is still there. My 75-300mm lens is now a 150-600mm lens. I can correct the coloring issue (which will most likely not be an issue outside) and I have a tripod to counteract the slowness created.

I’ll have some real life in the field photos up from this camera soon either on…

Flickr
Schoon Multimedia Photo Blog

Pros
Doubles the Zoom of any Lens
Metal Construction
There is no avoiding using a tripod
$90 Dollars!?!

Cons
Slows your shutter speed
More sensitive to different spectrums of light (tinting)
There is no avoiding using a tripod (you should be all the time anywho)

All said and done, I’ll give this…

***/***** (3/5)

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Canon EOS Autofocus SLR Cameras.

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Nikon Autofocus SLR Cameras

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Maxxum and Sony Autofocus SLR Cameras

Pro-Optic Multi-Coated 2x Tele-Converter for Pentax Autofocus SLR Cameras.

For those of you not in the know, Gimp is an Open Source Photo Shopish option.  I like cheap.  Even more so, I like free (and legal, pirates!).

Gimp, The Image Editor

I’m always hunting for something free to replace pirated software.  Not that I mind pirating certain software (see: big even corporation, also see: microsoft).  But this is what I’d call a good find.

Open Source software can often be iffy.  Pros: many users that contribute, quick bug fixes, a community of developers you can ask questions of.  Cons: compatibility testing isn’t as thorough, no financial liability for failed/slow releases.

Gimp really does hit the Pros of open source software.  New versions every month or so, a great community, and a great product!

Oh yea, and there are windows/mac/linux versions.  Rock.

for the rest…

Now, I’m not big on image editing.  Mostly in the past I’ve used photoshop/clones for web design and very basic image editing.  Now that I’ve begun to wander down this path of Photography, things have changed. I need something to edit images with.  Not that i do often… i actually try not to.  It’ll look better if you can reshoot and get it right on the camera.  Sometimes you can’t reshoot.  And sometimes the basic coloring/exposure/ect of Aperture isn’t enough.  That’s when i export and boot up Gimp.

Now, from my limited usage of Photoshop, Gimp is similar.  Not the same.  Not a replacement.  But similar.  Tools work the same, some tools are located in the same tool bars… some are not.  Remember, this is free.  Photoshop is not (and a BIG not).

It takes a little getting used to, but i found that once i got going things were a breeze.  Almost all of the tools are very, very customizable.  Easy to work with.  Those that are not should not be.

The plugins that are shipped with gimp are pretty decent… I haven’t made much use of them, but when i have i’ve been happy (except the fish eye plugin… but i’m never happy with a fisheye plugin in any program).

From my limited and very niche use, I’d have to give this another great rating.  Remember, free.

Gimp is at least worth trying as an alternative.  No investment besides the 70mb download.

*****/*****

Oh, and don’t forget to install its framework apps (like dotnet framework).  It helps.  A lot

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II      

read more…

I purchased the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II on amazon just a few weeks after I got my 350D… I wasn’t happy with the 18-55mm that came with the camera.  It did somethings okay, some things horribly.  So i decided to try the cheapest lens i could find.  And it paid off for once, heh.

Upon receiving the EF 50mm f/1.8 II, I immediately dragged the dogs outside the play.  It took a bit to get used to absolutely no zoom, but it really did help me think about composition and my subject a lot more.  There was no more zooming to distract me.

Also, I realized the minimum focus distance was quite a bit closer than i was used to.  Yippee!!!  A not-so-macro introduction to shooting macro.  It helps isolate subjects… I’ve gotten anything from small dogs, to spiders, to textures with this lens.  Once again, the fact that i could get closer made me look for macro-ish shots.

Also, the aperture goes allll the way down to 1.8.  Thats the lowest you can find on any of the less expensive lenses.  And its the cheapest lens you can find, heh.

I work in the music industry… taking pictures in dark clubs, or even outside at night is a huge challenge.  Now this lens, nor any lens is not a solution to this, but it helps a lot.  Because of a few elements (shorter lens, lower aperture) you can get a much faster shutter speed compared to other inexpensive lenses.

Also, as you know, aperture IS depth of field.  The lower the number, the slimmer the depth of field.  I will admit, while at lower f stops with this lens, the background can take harsher shapes, rather than soft rounder shapes as you’d see with more expensive lenses, but hell.  Its only 90 bucks!

Yes, I said it.  90 bucks!  Its a plastic lens, which seems a bit flimsy, but its damn near throw-away even with my budget!  I even purchased the lens hood just because the whole Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II kit is so cheap to get into.

Now the cons of attaching the lens hood is that it blocks the manual focus ring.  The lens hood easily enough, so for those moments when you’d like manual focus, you just have to pinch it and pop it off.

I am glad to admit though, I’ve tried to use the lens for land scapes.  Successfully mind you. It may not be the best lens for the job, but it still does a bang up job.

Pros
Cheap
Cheap
Low Aperture
Good Learning Lens
Lower F/stop = Faster Shutter Times

Cons
Plastic

I’ll go ahead and give it… 5/5 Stars.

*****/*****