Photography
This may be the last photo/s I post while Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America. So to represent the two main political parties running for that office... here are two portraits. Both portraits were shot with a Canon 5D mark II and a 100mm 2.8L lens.
A friend asked me to recommend a point & shoot. After some research, I narrowed my choices down considerably. Timing was good as the PDN Photo Expo was coming up. So on the expo's last day, I had my opportunity to check them out. I was impressed and completely blown away. So which point and shoot was best?
Pentax WG 2: This is a very sturdy and impressive point and shoot for the adventurer or a family with small children who like to play hockey with the family camera. Very impressed by it's price point, durability and overall package. One cool feature the WG 2 has are 6 small LED lights circling the lens which allow you to do "Micro Photography," according to Pentax's brochure. The battery for this camera is between $25 and $40, as 3rd party batteries are available. It takes an SD card and has a carabiner & strap which comes as part of the overall very rouged feel of the package. This camera can take photos up to 40 Feet under water, and in 14 degree weather. It can be dropped from about 5 feet and can withstand over 200 lbs of pressure.
FujiFilm XF1: This point and shoot is by far the most fashionably and trendy looking point and shoot of the lot. It is simply beautiful. And I believe for that look alone it will do well. But it's far more than it's beautiful facade. The FX1 has a F1.4 lens. (The lower that F number means the better lens for low light photo taking.) The lens is going to be the main feature here. As the lens closes flush, but pops out to go into a standby mode, then turns into a manually focusing ring. It's a hit or miss feature. I liked it. Everything about this camera screams buy me. But it is not tough at all. I would even want this camera out in a misting rain. The leather wrapping which comes in 3 colors, brown, red and black is not water resistant. FujiFilm made sure to offer a good amount of accessories including vintage styled cases.
Olympus Tough TG-1 iHS: I am completely impressed with this little camera by Olympus. Not only is it a much sleeker touch point and shoot camera like the Pentax WG 2; the TG-1 allows you to add a "Fish Eye" and "Telephoto Zoom" lens to it. Like the WG 2 it can sustain the same amount crush proof pressure of over 200 lbs. It can do everything the WG 2 can do, and more. Where it differs from the WG 2, the TG-1 can be dropped from up to 6.6 feet. And has a F2.0 lens, which allows you to take photos with far less grain in low light situations! It also has a 3 inch OLED display. This little camera has a technology which allows it to quickly identify what it's being pointed at, allowing you to take that sudden photo faster and sharper than the competition. In the end this is the camera I would buy. And I believe I will.
Unfortunately I only took the brochure for the TG-1. So i am sourcing a photo from the lionlinks.com website, where they have written a few words on the TG-1 as well as many other cameras.
Saturday! Hallelujah! Oh no… wait. I had to get up extra early this time, head to the expo then go to work! Auuughhhh! The good part of it all, I was able to really check it out today.
What I ended up doing was actually heading to work earlier then head to the expo around noon, then head back to work around 3-ish. This time around I was able to take a better look around. After meeting with my friends and some family, I bumped into Zack Arias. Zack was very nice and very patient. He agreed to take a photo of with me. Which ended up being two… just in case.
I looked at various venders, dismayed I wasn't able to really sink my teeth into the vendors I wanted to talk with. Billingham was there. Although for the first time in years I didn't see Harry Billingham at the show. Induro wasn't at the show. I was looking forward to discussing their lines of extra light weight travel tripods with them. I also was let down by PocketWizard; but once again, they weren't there. And mostly Feisol wasn't' there.
Feisol is a European tripod company, shocked me last year be being the lightest tripod I was able to find at the show. (My brother was in the market.) This year I am in the market. I was so impressed with Feisol, I waited months to meet with their representatives at the expo. As you already know, they weren't there.
IMPORTANT: Feisol's site is feisol.net. There is a feisol.com, which looks similarly to the dot net, but is buggy. The prices are different from the dot net. If you Google Feisol, you'll see the dot net come up. Be careful. Or just order from B&H, they sell them.
This photo was taken at Comicon 2012 at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. The Samurai was brought there by the Japanese Consulate; and is an authentic complete set of Japanese Samurai Armor.
A photo of a New York City Calvery Officer while he's on horse back, at Times Square. The title says it all. He saw me lining up my lens from at least 20 feet away. He made the face on purpose. I believe he was having a bit of fun. It makes me smile.
I took this photo while in Alphabet City, Manhattan, New York, inside of the Secret Garden. There were many flowers exposing themselves in many different angles. I was shooting with a Canon 5D mark II and my Canon FD 50mm 3.5f Macro lens.
I placed myself into the mindset of a bee. I started to wonder what it would look like if I were not only looking into a flower, but looking into a flower from below the flower and into it's natural hanging (drooping) state. I realized the interior of the flower still captures sunlight, although it's not facing directly into the sun. As you can see the petals help illuminate the interior of the flower.
These next couple of additional daily posts will be written the day after they occurred. I'm just too busy with elections to write same day. Which is why my posting times are no where near the middle of the day.
On Thursday, I went the PDN Photo Expo. Although I wasn't able to stay long, I was able to see a few things, bump into Scott Kelby (founder the National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and Andrew Lerman (One of the kindest and most talented photographers I know.). I was also able to take a nice look at the New Leica M camera (Not yet available for purchase. The Leica M is a very solid camera. I had very little time to play with it & wasn't able to keep any photos I took with it. When I asked one of the people from Leica who has used the M and the Leica Monochrome, he told me it's still a prototype and it wouldn't be fair to compare the two cameras. That's fair.
I am very excited to get my hands on the not yet released Cokin "Pure Harmonie" (Their spelling) screw on filters. I could never do what I saw justice, with my description of the filter. However they are so incredibly thin, I didn't believe you could screw on any additional filters. But you can. I'd like to see how well a lens cap will stay on them. If everything works out, these filters will find themselves on my lenses.
The last entry is about Shawn from Squarespace. Shawn ran several webinars I attended for Squarespace. He was incredibly helpful and very knowledgable. We both were surprised to bump into one another at the show. I asked him some questions and he graciously helped me. Meeting him in person was an honor. Thank you Shawn.
I've wrote before (in the previous version of danrusso.com) about happy accidents. I say embrace accidents. While wondering near some construction, I spied a pigeon walking out of the darkness into the light. I took a couple of photographs of the pigeon, then realized exactly what the pigeon was walking into. A mosaic of shapes caused by light, shadow and tile. I re-focused my lens and framed up the shot. In the end, I captured the below photo. As far as the pigeon... idk another day I suppose.
The last entry of the Hoboken Terminal experience, Louis Comfort Tiffany's stained glass ceiling. I know I said 4 entries... but I am being greedy and keeping one in my private collection. I hope you enjoy the beauty of this amazing work.
Years ago, when I was young and easily impressionable... I opened my father's draw and found an Olympus camera. I remember holding it in my hands... winding the camera... pretending I was taking photos. And who knows... perhaps I was. I had no clue what made it "click". I was young enough not to know what film was, or how it worked.
There was a weight to that camera. And that feel of leather and metal. And ohhh those mysterious buttons. I played with them all, I assure you. And from time to time, I would sneak into that drawer and take out that camera; and just hold it in my hands... The mysterious object that took photos...
It's been a long time since I was that young... but I never forgot that camera. So when I hold a camera in my hands now I can still revert, back to that child... I can still wonder sometimes, how that magic little object works. The difference is I know what the buttons are.
For years I've heard photographers say, "... I catch the light..." And for many years, I thought, "I catch the moment." Which is true. For most it's light. But I believe for some its the moment. In this particular example... I'll leave what I did as a mystery. I hope you enjoy it.
@2012 - Daniel Russo
When you first come to my site you may find a super large photo of a woman with facepaint on. The face paint makes her face look pretty evil. She was anything but. Now you may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with shooting in black and white?" Good question. The answer... Nothing. Shooting black and white is just a part of my taking photos. I first discovered the wonders back in college. I shot a LOT of black and white film back then. But I didn't really see how much it effected my shooting digitally until about a year or two ago. Over the past couple of years I have grown to really favor black and white photography. Even when desiring color as my final outcome.
I'd frame up my shot. Switch the camera setting to monochrome. Check out the tones of the image. Then I'd switch back to one of my color settings. I honestly don't think I'd ever have to worry about color afterwards. For me it worked out. I'd say give it a try and slowly see how that works out for you. In my experience, I loved it.
Now when you look at my site, you may think that I shoot a lot in black and white. Well I do. But not as much as you would think. Quite often I'd come across a photo which I intended to be in color. I shot it in color and and processed it in color. However for some reason or another I made the final decision to create a black and white version of the photo. OR!!! You may be looking at a photo I took while shooting film. I generally prefer black and white film, as there is a certain quality in the final outcome of the photo which digital photography can't match. I do not post nearly as much black and white film photography as I do digital. Why? I share a lot on the blog and in the site. Some things I like to keep just for myself. Those photos are printed, mounted and hung.
Photo by Daniel Russo @2012
Canon 5D Mark 2 - Carl Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar T* ZE
