PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG

Acratech introduced a radical new ballhead In 2001, Acratech Ultimate Ballhead, for most 35mm format cameras and wide to medium-long lenses it was all that the outdoor photographer needed, especially anyone hiking, that reduced the weight of the head to less than one pound. And now Acratech has updated refinements the GV2, “G” stands for Gimbal able to act as a gimbal head as well.

In the past it was necessary to carry a separate Gimbal head or Gimbal attachment for ballhead. The Acratech GV2 Ballhead is uniquely designed to function both as a ballhead and as a Gimbal head by rotating the ball into the Gimbal slot on the side of the ballhead, it works well with lenses up to a 400 4.0.

I recently got a copy of the Acratech GV2 Ballhead because I want strong but light and convenience head for my long trip and dynamic work. For maxmium flexibility, I also acquired a Wmberley C10 standard quick-release clamp and a P-5 universal camera body plate.

This looks a perfect setup to meet my requirement. Though yet I don’t have life run experience to share at this time, that is a piece of quality equipment representing the designer’s art in mind.

Come back sometimes later, I will have more comments to share after my next trip. And check these photos for my current setup.

Read full article.

How do we do it? Well, there are a few steps to follow and a few things you should keep in mind. Such as…

1) Keep in mind what color(s) in a frame works best with the colors of the photograph/image. I feel that the frame helps people digest the photograph sometimes. If I have a very dark image, I might choose to have a black frame to help the mind transition from the background of the web page or wall to the image. But if the image doesn’t have pure blacks in it, a totally black frame will make the image look washed out. Alternatively, an all white frame will make a washed out image look a little better sometimes. So experiment.

2) Have an idea of what you want to accomplish. And remember that ideas are guidelines. If you can’t make your vision work exactly the way you envisioned it, try something else.

3) Making a frame will increase the file size of the image. So if you have a slow computer, resize the image to approximately the final output size, then make the frame. This is especially true with Photoshop CS.

OK, now on to the frames. My apologies to the dial-up members. This tutorial is graphics-intensive. I have tried to lower the image quality as far as possible in order to keep the file sizes low.

Read full article.

Why Canon EF 24-105/4L IS USM? This is an interesting lens, I find it a great lens for portrait and outdoor works, in particular, it is sharp wide open at f/4 which I find the best aperture for portrait. Some people would prefer the 24-70/2.8, a faster lens in similar range. For my style, I find the extended focal length and IS feature from 24-105 gives more advantages over the 1-stop faster 24-70 at most of the time.

If I have to go into shooting moving subjects or actions, I would always prefer one stop higher usable ISO level (thus double the shutter speed) instead of one stop faster lens, not only because the faster lens is more expensive and bulky, but also a bigger aperture means shallow DOF coverage and subjects are more likely at risk being out of sharpness.

Lenses at f/2.8 and faster are good to work with sensors (some work at f/5.6 and some need f/2.8 or faster) for tracking subjects during continuous shooting. Some people would also love to produce special blur background effect given by a very shallow DOF.

Life run of my 5D kit combo for about a month, it is a very capable system ideal for travel and trip. The kit lens 24-105/4 is capable of covering most everyday work.

These are samples taken during our visit to Ocean Park and a flower/ gardening exhibition, just with some minor adjustment in contrast and sharpness, in general the 5D and 24-105 delivers very nice result, specifically, still very nice wide open at f/4 …. full article.