Photography

Photography

I have been serious amateur photographer for about twenty years.  At one time I was using a SLR and photographing almost exclusively in black and white.  For photographs in night clubs I would use 3000 ISO B&W film.

Since those days I have shifted to a Canon 40D DSLR.  I still miss having the ability to push to 3200 ISO but the Canon 40D can go to 1600 ISO and I think I am getting some good results.

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In 1972, Albuquerque, NM, had the first balloon fiesta.  It was sponsored by the KOB radio station to celebrate its 50th birthday for the station.  The first fiesta had thirteen balloons.  There are now close to 1,000 balloons that fly in the festival.  Here are some pictures from the 2022 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

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Photo Equipment and where to get prints

Currently I am using the following camera, lenses and flash (and attachments).

Main Camera Equipment

  • Canon EOS 40-D - I recently upgraded my camera body with the Canon EOS 40-D.

  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens - This lense came with the Canon Rebel XT. 

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens - I also got this zoom 70-300mm lens at the same time.   Not only has it been very useful in photographing landscape and some nature shots, it has been a fantastic lens for photographing blues bands in bars and nightclubs.

  • Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash - Because 90% of the photography I am currently doing takes place in bars and nightclubs I needed a good flash for my camera.  The Speedlite 403EX meet my immediate needs. 

  • Gary Fong Whale Tail Studio Complete System - I wanted to find a better way to diffuse my flash in the situations where I was photographing bands in bars with poor lighting.  If I went with no-flash I ended up with either a very 'soft' or poorly focused image.  If I went with a flash it either washed out the colors, flattened the image, or created very annoying shadows.  I looked at other diffusing systems, especially more traditional ones using cards.  As silly & funny looking as the Whale Tail looks ("Tupperware", "toilet bowl", etc), it works perfectly for my needs.

Camera Toys

  • i-gotU GT-120 Travel Blog Master - This is a GPS Logger with software that you can use to put geotagging information into your photographs.  You can also use to log your location.

  • Wireless Remote Shutter Release - This is a Vivitar wireless remote shutter release for Canon 40D & 50D bodies.  It worked right out of the box.

Benjamin's Camera

I gave this camera to Benjamin as a birthday gift with some lenses.  I hope he has the "Tannen camera eye".  Only time will tell.

 

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Review of ExpoImaging ExpoDisc 77mm Digital White Balance Filter - Neutral

One of the problems I found when I went from shooting black and white film photography to digital color work is that nightclubs with the low lighting I was getting a great number of poor quality photographs due to white balancing.  I am not fond of spending time in Photoshop trying to fix these kinds of problems and it is hard to use a white balance card in these situations.

That is where the ExpoImaging ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filter has become a life saver.  I will freely admit that I am not using it entirely correctly because I would have to stand on the stage where the musician is going to perform and then take a shot of lights to get the white balance.  Right now I don't stand in the exact spot where the musician is at.  I get close and then take the photograph of the lights as best as I can.  It works out pretty well.

This was a good $100 investment in my photography bag of tricks. (out of five)

 

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