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

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.

Shira & Jason's Engagement

A couple of weeks ago, my very good friend Jason told me about his plan to propose to his girlfriend Shira. His plan was to propose to her at the Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge at approximately 8:30 p.m. and then take her to the River Cafe for dinner.

Jason asked me if I could "surreptitiously" photograph the engagement so that he could surprise her with the pictures the next day. Of course I agreed.

In preparation for the shoot, Jason and I went to the Fulton Ferry Landing the week prior to check out the lighting conditions in the evening. What we found made for a very challenging photo shoot. There were NO LIGHT SOURCES on the pier of any kind. No lamp posts, nothing. The only thing providing any light at all was the moon. Needless to say, we could barely read our watches in the darkness.

I knew immediately that I would have to shoot at a slow shutter speed with a tripod in order to capture the lights of the Manhattan skyline. In addition, I would need to use a powerful flash in order to illuminate Shira and Jason from a distance of approximately 40-50 feet.

The equipment I used for the shoot was a Canon 5D camera, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, a Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash, an external battery pack for the flash and a Bogen Manfrotto tripod. The external battery pack was necessary in order to provide fast recycling times for the flash in the 45-50 degree weather.

Jason proposed to Shira on Monday night and it went perfectly. She was so excited that she did not even notice the flashes going off. It was so dark that I had to quickly focus the lens manually for each shot as I changed focal length because the camera's autofocus did not work accurately in such low light at such a distance.

Here's a quick shot sequence:







Here's Jason giving me the "thumbs up". Congratulations Shira and Jason!!!



Photo info:
All photos in the sequence were taken at 1/6 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800, manual mode, ETTL flash at -2/3 flash compensation.
1) 70 mm focal length
2) 155 mm focal length
3) 155 mm focal length
4) 200 mm focal length
5) 90 mm focal length, slight panning.

Camera and Lens Recommendations

Recently, I've had several friends ask me for advice as to what are good SLR cameras and lenses to buy for loved ones for the holidays. Since I mostly have Canon equipment, I can make a few recommendations for digital Canon SLR camera equipment to purchase. Other manufacturers such as Nikon and Olympus make excellent products, but I have very limited experience with them.


The Canon EOS 5D (left) is an amazing digital SLR camera. It features a 12.8 megapixel full frame sensor which produces excellent image quality under low light conditions. You can buy the camera body new for about $2,100 - $2,200. For professionals and serious amateurs, this camera is a good alternative to the Canon EOS1D Mark III which retails for about $4,500. The 5D is my primary camera and I am extremely happy with it. This camera is a favorite among wedding photographers.





The Canon Digital Rebel XTi is a terrific consumer level SLR camera. It features a 10.1 megapixel APS-C sensor. At approximately $550 for the camera body only, the XTi is 4x cheaper than the 5D, but is still a quality camera. I prefer the 5D because the image quality is far superior under low light conditions. However, the XTi is a terrific camera for the price and more than adequate for a hobbyist.



The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens (left) is a very impressive, high performing zoom lens. It is widely regarded as one of the best general purpose lenses available. The 24-70 L delivers excellent optical performance and is very sharp for a zoom lens. The fixed f/2.8 minimum aperture makes this lens a very fast zoom lens. In my opinion, the only downside is it's weight. At about 2.1 lbs, it is hefty. On a full frame camera, the focal length of 24mm is reasonably wide, but on an APS-C sensor camera such as the XTi, I find myself wishing it was a bit wider. For APS-C sensor cameras, I recommend the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens which retails for about $950. The 24-70 L retails for about $1,050.




The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens provides a very useful focal length range with excellent image quality and image stabilization. Like the 24-70 L, this lens features a fixed f/2.8 minimum aperture. This lens is heavy at 2.9 lbs. However, this high quality lens is a favorite among professionals and serious amateurs. At around $1,600, this is also a very expensive lens, but well worth the money.



The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens is terrific because it is small, light, inexpensive, sharp and has a fast f/1.4 aperture. At around $300, it is a must buy for both casual and serious photographers. For traveling, this lens is excellent in combination with the XTi because both are very light. Unless you really need the flexibility of a zoom lens, this is a great lens to keep on your camera most of the time. This is my favorite prime lens in the Canon line of consumer lens. The professional line of Canon prime lens are definitely superior, but they are also at least 3 to 4x the price. If you can afford the steep $1,700 price tag, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens produces stunning images.


You can find numerous consumer reviews for these cameras and lenses on the Fred Miranda website. For samples images taken with this equipment, a quick search on Flickr will generate plenty of examples. Have fun shopping.

Fun New Gadget

I've wanted to buy a fisheye lens for a while now and recently picked one up. I bought a Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG AF Circular Fisheye. This is the widest circular fisheye with autofocus. It is capable of capturing a 180 degree field of view. I love how it produces an exaggerated perspective and dramatic distortion especially along the edges of the frame.

On a full frame camera such as my Canon 5D, this lens can achieve full circle images. Except for the occasional dancing at the reception shot, I probably won't be using this lens much for my wedding photography business. However, this lens is great fun to play around with and can make mundane subjects visually interesting. This lens is not really meant for taking pictures of people close up as it will greatly exaggerate a person's features.

Here are a few test shots I took on Thanksgiving in my fiancee's sister's backyard:

Atlantic City trip

My fiancee and I go to Atlantic City often enough that we usually get a complimentary hotel stay and sometimes tickets to an event. Last weekend we received comp tickets to "Fashion on Ice" at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The theme of the show was that singer Sarah Brightman would perform while Olympic figure skating medalists Sasha Cohen, Evan Lysacek, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto and others would skate routines dressed in costumes designed by top fashion designers. When she first told me about this show, it was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes.

First of all, I must say that my fiancee is a huge fan of the Olympics. She particularly loves gymnastics and figure skating. Particularly with gymnastics, she appreciates the skill and hard work necessary to be good as she was a terrific gymnast as a child. However, she doesn't particularly like gymnastics or figure skating exhibitions because usually the skill level displayed is lower than in competition and the routines are 10 times cheesier than normal.

Since the tickets were free, we decided to check out the show. As we made our way into the arena, both of us were shocked to learn that some of the tickets for the show were selling for over $100. Furthermore, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that our free seats were about 7 to 10 rows from the ice.

The show actually turned out to be pretty good. Sarah Brightman sang a good version of "Con Te Partiro", a song made famous a few years ago by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The skaters were impressive. Seeing them skate in person was definitely more interesting than watching them on TV. Sasha Cohen and Evan Lysacek both skated very well.

I had a good time because it gave me the opportunity to take pictures of a sporting event under low light conditions. Shooting a fast moving sport under low light can be very challenging because your shutter speed has to be fast enough to spot the action and you need to use a lens that opens up to a very wide aperture. Since I was reasonably close to the ice, I decided to use the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens, an excellent, relatively inexpensive, medium length prime lens which excels in low light.

The first two pictures are of an Italian figure skater whose name I cannot recall. The last two pictures are of Sasha Cohen.





Sasha Cohen is one of my fiancee's favorite skaters. I did a quick google search and found out that she's known as one of the best, if not the best, artistic skater in a long, long time. Apparently, nobody beats her on artistry, but she sometimes has difficulty executing her jumps. She won a silver medal in the last Olympics. This next picture shows off her incredible flexibility.