Monday, March 30, 2009

Random shots with my new pocket camera

Several months ago, I was looking for a good digital compact camera that I could easily carry around in a jacket pocket. After doing a little research I decided upon the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. There are so many good things about this camera. Rather than go through all the details, just check out out this excellent review at dpreview.com if you are interested.

What I love most about this camera is that is has a super fast f/2.0 maximum aperture at its widest focal length (equivalent to 24mm on a 35mm camera).

Here are some random pictures I took with the LX3.


1/8 sec., f/2.0, ISO 400
1/100 sec., f/2.0, ISO 80

1/30 sec., f/2.0, ISO 160

1/30 sec., f/2.0, ISO 250

1/25 sec., f/2.0, ISO 400

1/30 sec., f/2.0, ISO 200

1/30 sec., f/2.0, ISO 160

1/800 sec., f/6.3, ISO 80

1/100 sec., f/2.0, ISO 80

Saturday, March 28, 2009

New York Aquarium

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the New York Aquarium in Coney Island. It was a great opportunity to take some pictures.


Canon 5D w/135mm f/2.0L lens, 1/800 sec., f/4.0, ISO 200
Canon 5D w/35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/200 sec., f/1.8, ISO 1600

Canon 5D w/ 135mm f/2.0L lens, 1/1600 sec., f/3.2, ISO 1600

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Baseball Opening Day is Almost Here!

In honor of the new baseball season in which we will welcome new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees, I'm posting one more picture of Shea Stadium from last year.


Canon 40D w/Sigma 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens, 1/320 sec., f/6.3, ISO 250

Monday, March 23, 2009

More Baby Photography

Last week I photographed a baptism and after party. These are a few pictures I took before the ceremony. Each of these pictures was taken under natural window lighting.

Canon 5D w/85mm f/1.2L II, 1/320 sec., f/2.2, ISO 1600
Canon 5D w/85mm f/1.2L II, 1/640 sec., f/1.2, ISO 1600

Canon 5D w/85mm f/1.2L II, 1/500 sec., f/2.2, ISO 1600

Friday, March 13, 2009

Figaro/Figaro

I recently photographed a dress rehearsal of a production of Figaro/Figaro by (re:) Directions Theatre Company. Figaro/Figaro was adapted by Eric Overmyer from Beaumarchais' The Marriage of Figaro and Ödön von Horváth's Figaro Gets a Divorce. It is an excellent show. You can catch it at the 14th Street Y Theatre.

My favorite lens for theatre photography is the Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L lens. This lens is incredible even wide open at f/2.0. Each of these photos was taken with this lens attached to a Canon 5D.

(1) 1/160 sec., f/2.2, ISO 1600



(2) 1/200 sec., f/2.2, ISO 1600



(3) 1/80 sec., f/2.0, ISO 3200



(4) 1/200 sec., f/2.8, ISO 3200



(5) 1/200 sec., f/2.8, ISO 3200

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Concert Photography at Sullivan Hall

Last month I stopped by Sullivan Hall in NYC and took some pictures of the bands playing that night. High and Mighty Brass Band and Dawn Drake and ZapOte each played a set.

Like most music venues, the lighting was dim. I wanted to shoot with the available light so I used a Canon 5D (excellent in low light) and cranked up the ISO to 3200. I shot with the Canon 35mm f/1.4L and Canon 135mm f/2.0L lens.

High and Mighty Brass Band:

(1) Canon 5D, 135mm f/2.0L, 1/160 sec., f/2.0, ISO 3200



(2) Canon 5D, 135mm f/2.0L, 1/80 sec., f/2.0, ISO 3200.



(3) Canon 5D, 135mm f/2.0L, 1/80 sec., f/2.0, ISO 3200.



Dawn Drake and ZapOte:

(4) Canon 5D, 35mm f/1.4L, 1/125 sec., f/2.0, ISO 3200.



My favorite photo taken this night:

(5) Canon 5D, 35mm f/1.4L, 1/80 sec., f/2.2, ISO 3200.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Soccer at Chelsea Piers

I was at Chelsea Piers the other night and took the opportunity to practice my panning technique. My panning technique is mediocre, so every bit of practice is helpful.

Panning is just what it sounds like. Essentially, you pan your camera along with a moving subject. The aim is capture a relatively in focus subject, but with a blurred background. This technique generates an image that has a feeling of movement and speed. Panning is used extensively in sports photography.

The first thing I suggest you do is set a shutter speed of 1/60 second or slower. If you use a fast shutter speed like 1/1600 second, there will likely be very little blur in the background. Keep in mind that the slower the shutter speed, the more blur you will have and the more difficult it will be to keep the subject in focus.

As the moving subject approaches, focus on the subject and try to track it with your camera as smoothly as possible. As you pan the moving subject, press the shutter button and fire off several shots. Even after you release the shutter, keep panning the subject for a moment so that the background blur remains smooth.

I used the panning technique to take some pictures of an indoor soccer match. Most of the players' bodies will be blurred because of the flailing arms and legs. Here are two pictures. Notice how their heads are relatively in focus, but everything else is blurred. The first picture was taken at 1/30 second. The second picture was taken at 1/15 second. It easy to see from these two examples that the slower you make your shutter speed, the more blurry your background will be. At the bottom of the post, I've included further details of the specs of these images.


(1) Canon 5D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, 1/30 sec., f/4.0, ISO 1600.



(2) Canon 5D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 38mm, 1/15 sec., f/3.2, ISO 200.