The 300

At some point I will stop making blatant movie references and actually try to come up with a title on my own, but until then, let the cheesy rip-offs continue!

Awhile back I talked about having rented a Canon 100-400mm lens and how, although I really enjoyed it, I just couldn't justify the cost and decided to make due with what I had - the very nice 100-300mm. Still, always present in the back of my head were the stunning shots I had taken at both Mid-Ohio and the local park last year. This in mind, I began to 'casually' investigate potential options for a high quality longish telephoto.

There are really 3 options for Canon lenses in this range (that cost less than $4000): the 100-400 that I had previously rented, the 400mm f5.6, and the 300mm f4 IS. After quite a bit of consideration, I finally decided that the 300mm was the ticket. At f4, it was decently fast for motor sports and birds, and the IS is a life-saver, especially with my complete lack of hand-steadiness. This way I also had the option of using a 1.4x tele-converter to have a very nice 420mm f5.6 IS - seemed like a pretty good compromise.


Image Courtesy of B&H Photo

So after much searching, I found a practically new copy for a great price on the Canon Photography Forum classifieds. This is a great place to buy and sell gear, with $5,000~10,000 lenses being bought at sold all the time. The lens arrived in perfect condition as-advertised, and I was very excited to get out and try it.


Tufted Titmouse close crop from my first time out with the 300mm.

To say I was pleased with the image quality would be a gross understatement. The focus speed and accuracy is excellent on my 40D, and I've used the servo function to track everything from hummingbirds to racebikes.


Ruby Throated Hummingbird


Eric Bostrum coming through T1 at Mid-Ohio

I do miss the versatility of the zoom at times, but I've been a prime lover for some time now, so I'm used to zooming with my feet. The range is a bit short for birds, but I've found with lots of patience it's actually not bad for backyard birding. It's perfect for the track, not only in focal length, but the weight is low enough that my arms never got tired @ Mid-O, which I'm sure certainly wouldn't be the case with a 12 lb 400mm f2.8.

Overall I'm extremely pleased, and look forward to continuing to use this lens for as much as possible. MotoGP at Indy is just around the corner!

I Make My Own Light

Although adapting an obscure Batman movie quote to a post title for the second time in a row may seem questionable, I offer no apologies.

Recently I have become increasingly interested in flash photography, mostly as a result of following the excellent Strobist blog created by off-camera flash guru David Hobby.

Looking back through my photos, and a great many that others have taken, I have begun to realize that lighting is unquestionably the most important factor in the difference between a stunning (or even good) shot and a mediocre one. The Strobist philosophy is all about learning how to use light, both flash or flash and natural together to create the exact lighting conditions to fulfill an artistic vision.

As a self-admitted control freak, you can imagine why this would appeal to me greatly.

The only real hurdle for me to learning the Strobist off-camera flash techniques was not having a flash. Or any way to get it off-camera. Fortunately, my dear 'ol Pa stepped in and graciously donated his Canon 580EX to my cause, and I was able to pick up some cheap radio flash triggers from eBay.

After a quick trip to MPEX in Columbus, OH (a fantastic camera shop - also recommended by David Hobby), I was finally set with a very nice light stand and shoot-through umbrella to compliment the 580. The setup looks a little like something you'd see at the DMV, but used correctly, it's an excellent diffuser, especially for things like portrait headshots:



In addition to upgrading lighting for portraits from what could have previously been referred to as 'mugshot chic' , I've also been playing around with using the flash in a more controlled way to get a specific lighting effect that creates a mood. Placement of shadow is just as important as highlights, and the play of light and shadow has an enormous impact on the feel of an image.

Here's a comparison of a Dragonball Z figurine brought back to me from Japan in two different lighting environments:

Figurine shot in lightbox w/ basically omnidirectional light:


Figurine shot with off-camera flash through a snoot (long tube) to control the highlight area:


Both shots are basically the same composition, taken with the same lens and camera at similar settings, but the look and 'feel' are completely different. To me, the second shot represents just some of the possibilities to be found in off-camera flash work.

I'll close with one final strobist shot:



The reason that I am particularly proud of this shot, other than it looking pretty cool and not burning the house down while taking it, was that I was able to get the look I was after in the glass by itself within about 5 minutes of playing around with the flash/reflector setup. After that it was just a matter of adding a little isopropyl alcohol for the finishing touch.

To me, learning the techniques and being able to apply them (relatively) independently to achieve a specific vision in my head is really cool, and one of the reasons that I think photography has become such a strong interest for me.