Photography
Photography
I have been serious amateur photographer for about twenty years. At one time I was using an SLR and photographing almost exclusively in black and white. For photographs at 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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- Written by David Tannen
- Category: Photography
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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
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Canon EOS 40-D - I recently upgraded my camera body with the Canon EOS 40-D.
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Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens - This lense came with the Canon Rebel XT.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens - I replaced my Minolta 9000 with this Canon a few years ago after spending a considerable amount of time researching my options. I have been extremely pleased with the results I am getting with my Canon. I would highly recommend purchasing this Canon or one of the later models.
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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- Written by David Tannen
- Category: Photography
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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)