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Photography Archives

Giottos Rocket Blower
March 1, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Unwrapping the product, had my little girl thinking she got herself another toy.. I felt bad to tell her that it actually was something for me. As depicted, it's a rocket looking air blower.. can be used for a million purposes.. mostly for blowing dust off of whatever you want. My Nikon D70s over the year has delivered pictures with barely visible dust particles.. which was the reason for this purchase.. I want em rare dust specks gone!. I'm still not sure about the wet-cleaning solution, so I purchased this device as an alternative [and actually recommended according to the Nikon manual]. I was told that I could have just purchased a generic blower that would do just as well, but cmon!. Sensor dust is an issue when it comes to D-SLRs and especially when you want to use the smaller aperatures or capture smooth landscapes (e.g. sky). It's capable of delivering a decent level of pressure, and ultimately saves you from having to touch your sensor in any direct manner. Well designed, can be stood up so that no dust can set on the end of the nozzle, and the nozzle is a good 2.5" long spout allowing for it to clean the internals very nicely. It comes in 3 versions, get the big one and you'll be set ($15). Dont even think about creating your own 'cleaner' or dare using compressed air.

Lenswork Magazine
January 30, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Amazing how such a little periodical can have such a great punch to it. It's probably 2/3 the size of a regular magazine, and the same thickness, but purely in black/white and sepia. It comes out six times a year, and focuses on 3 portfolios consisting of approx 12-24 images. Since I am an amateur I always try and look to see what kind of camera/lens the pictures were taken with, and this publication doesnt bother with any of that type of information.. it makes you realize that its not the lens/equipment but the look and feel.. and to make an intelligent decision of how to capture that picture if you have the opportunity. It's funny but Im realizing that Im now recognizing attributes of what makes certain pictures more attractive than others.. the core rules (s-curves, rule of thirds, etc) all come into play and dictate the outcome. There's no doubt that there are a million beautiful scenes out there, its a matter of how do you capture it to convey it in a photograph. This magazine does a great job in proving that it is possible to capture that essence and more.

Nikon Sb-800
January 22, 2007 | | TrackBacks

My portrait shots have been suffering due to my non-flash preferences.. unfortunately that means I have to have the sessions done during the day or in a venue which has a LOT of lighting.. else its blurred or simply dull results. Im great at Photoshop but I prefer to get the bulk of my work done by shooting and not photoshopping. The sb-800 is the current top of the line professional version, with the sb-600 being the consumer friendly edition. It can definitely throw out a lot of power in terms of lighting, and therefore I have a lot to learn in terms of bouncing and diffusing the flash so that hard-shadows are not evident. So now my goal is to make my pictures look like they dont have profanely flash evident appearance to my shots. I know lots of others like non-flash photograpy, but I got to say that shooting at iso 1600 and working pictures with blurred / soft chracteristics is painful to constantly deal with.

Nikon DSLR Remote Contols
October 26, 2006 | | TrackBacks

Remote control for a Nikon D70s DSLR. I didn't realize how sensitive camera's are to everything. Utilize a tripod whenever possible.. and a remote control actuator to get you as close to a perfectly still shot as possible (especially for Macro). I did ponder over whether to get the corded remote (MC-DC1 $23) or the wireless version (ML-L3 $16).. I got both. Both have their downsides.. the wireless receiver on the camera is located on the front, so you've got to be either in the picture of the shot or at an awkward angle above it.. naturally the corded con is that the bloody wire could cause you to trip or flip the camera. Having an SLR camera, its impossible to ask someone else to take my picture, so this is a great solution. As y'all will notice.. my picture on this thing has now been updated without a camera infront of my face.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 8.0 SLR
September 12, 2006 | | TrackBacks

canon.jpgYou must remember what I am and what I am not. I am a mother of two small children who never stop moving. I am not a photographer on any professional or even amateur level. But I do take lots of photographs of those two fast-moving children. And my Kodak Easyshare was just not cutting it. I almost broke several ten commandments when I borrowed my uncle's Canon EOS Digital Rebel 8.0 SLR. I had to have one! I finally was able to afford the $900 price tag after a rebate offer at Best Buy. I have to admit it was a little harder than I thought to make the transition. Things weren't quite as easy as my point and shoot Kodak but when I got it right, it was worth it. Those funny faces my kids make and the silly things they do actually got frozen in time in a clear, high quality 8MP picture. And hey, being able to slap on my dad's (yes he HAD to have one too) telescopic lens was fantastic for taking great pictures of certain bald men at certain American Idol concerts I might have attended.

Nikkor 80 - 200 F2.8 ED AF Lens
September 4, 2006 | | TrackBacks



I'll start by stating that I am an amateur Nikon-biased photographer, but I will not hesitate to look over my shoulder to see what the other brands are doing. One thing I've always been told was that when it came to lens, Nikon was always top notch. I now understand. When this Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 ($899) ($75/week rental) barrel spent it's first days in my hands, all my worries about this being too heavy were gone. Yes it does weigh 3-4lbs, but have you seen the pictures this thing can take?! It doesnt do too well at low-light, and if you are still shooting in auto mode then dont bother.. this lens requires a learned owner. My best pix have been taken with this, producing wonderful brokeh and sharp/contrasty results.

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This page contains an archive of all entries posted to We Called It! in the Photography category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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