One of the latest lenses that they folks at Sigma have been gracious enough to let me borrow for an extended period of time is their 30mm f1.4 lens.  You read that right – f1.4!  Much like the “nifty fifty” because after the crop sensor is factored in, it’s really close the an equivalent of a 50mm on a full frame sensor (30*1.6 = 48)!

I’ll take the usual tack and look at Focal Length, F-Stop Range, Noise, Size/Weight, Build, and Cost, and Image Quality separately. So, let’s get started!

Focal Length

At 30mm fixed, this is another lens where zooming is not an option so you have to zoom with your feet!  This means walking around to get either closer to or far enough away from your subject to get the composition you need.  This could be construed as a disadvantage for those that prefer to dial their lens rather than shuffle their feet, but since I need all the exercise I can get, I am going to call this a positive!  Another positive is due to its relative focal length (48mm) after crop sensor size is factored in.    The rationale here is that it’s a pretty close approximation to what the human eye sees naturally.  So, it’s very much a WYSIWYG approach to composition (what you see is what you get)!

One of the advantages of this is that because it’s a fixed focal length, optical quality is pretty tack sharp all the way through, and even through various f-stop levels.  Overall, the focal length is definitely a positive – even for those used to zooming or adjustable focal length lenses.  It’s quite a treat to get into shooting with a lens like this!

F-Stop Range

The bane of a photographer’s existence is having a scene present itself to you where the light is fading, and you have no tripod or way to stabilize your gear.  The counter to this has been to invest in what’s becoming commonly known as “fast glass”.  The idea is that you can capture a scene at a wider f-stop ratio to let in more light in a shorter amount of time.  The downside to shooting wide open like this is that your depth of field will suffer unless you are focused to infinity. This does limit creative possibilities if you are hand-holding, but the advantage is that you can shoot in lower light.

At f1.4, this lens is designed to let in an amazing amount of light when shot wide open.  I was able to take some decently sharp pictures in near darkness with nothing but sidewalk lights and an indoor light around my house.  Another shot I was able to get included an underpass that was in near darkness and I could make out details in the underpass (see sample shots further on…)  This feature alone (in my opinion) makes a lens worth considering if the budget is there.

Noise

As is the case with most modern lenses, the noise that comes from running the auto focus is becoming much more tolerable.  Older lenses have had noisier motors (like my Sigma 70mm Macro – very loud when focusing).  Because this is a newer lens, and also due to its prime lens design, the lens is very quiet when it does focus in (the focusing ring never has far to go…)  Another pro for the 30mm!

Size/Weight

The Sigma 30mm has the size of a kit lens. It’s very compact which makes for easy inclusion in a camera bag.  When you have multiple lenses and need to decide whether a lens goes with you or stays home, this is one to take with you simply because it takes up such a small amount of space.  As for the weight of the camera, it’s surprisingly well-balanced on the Canon 40D, providing for a nice fit and comfortable shooting environment.

Build

The signature brushed dark metal of the Sigma line is present here and I’ve always been a fan of how these lenses are built and how they feel in your hands.  Exuding professionalism, and a solid graphite brushed metal coating make this a definite pro.

Cost

At B&H, the build cost is the same for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and all other mounts at $489.  You may be able to save a couple bucks here and there by shopping for sales and discounted or used equipment sites, but based off the retail price, the ballpark is around $500 for this lens.  While $500 is a substantial dent to most wallets, I would have to say that this is worth the money.  I’ve had this lens on loan from Sigma for the last 2 months, and it’s not left my camera through several photo walks, two assignments, and of course all of the testing.

Image Quality

Now for the fun part: the image testing!  Now in the interests of full disclosure, I cannot share some of the images here on the blog because of client releases and such (although I will say that I was comfortable with photo delivery to clients using this lens, so that should be an indication of image quality).  Here’s some shots from when I was shooting in other various conditions:

So, there you have it – various examples of the lens shooting under normal, close up, and low light conditions.  In most I’ve just done simple post production work for sharpening, so there are straight out of camera (sooc).  In the low light shots, I did include some noise reduction to handle the grain, and you can see it cleaned up fairly nicely.  Overall, a great lens – thanks to the folks at Sigma for the extended use for testing.  I’ll be sad to see it go!

So, how are we going to round things out this week?  By turning things around!  Yep, the tip is to use the shoot through umbrella as it’s own reflector!  Take a look at the results.  I took a picture of the world (okay, it was a globe in our spare bedroom) from the flash in two different setups:

While it’s always better to shoot with your flash off-camera, this is probably the best lesson in showing that just because your flash is off-camera doesn’t make it good light!  Yes, it’s better than on camera lighting, but look at that harsh specular highlight, and how…well, boring the photo on the left looks.  Then consider the photo on the right – the hottest part of the light is nowhere near as specular (bordering on not even becoming a specular highlight…), and the diffused, reflected light gives some nice character and a sense of depth lacking in the first.

Here’s the lighting setup for each shot:

So, as you can see (hopefully), this demonstrates that turning things around (not just your camera) can have a surprisingly good effect from time to time.  It really becomes subjective at this point, and some may prefer one style over another, but that’s part of what makes the craft so enticing – you are limited by nothing more than your vision!

Thanks for tuning in to this unique week-long series on off-camera lighting – I hope you enjoyed reading these tips as much as I enjoyed writing them!

On that note – I’d like to ask you for more ideas on some themes and topics in this vein.  This really seems to have resonated based on the traffic, email, and feedback I have gotten thus far, but I do want to keep content moving in directions you are interested in, so feel free to chime in the comments with ideas, thoughts, and feedback not only on existing content, but asl on ideas thoughts and feedback for new content down the road!

Have a great weekend (don’t forget, today is the last day to get your entries in for the November Flickr contest) and be sure to stop back next week for the year-end wrap up on a bunch of product reviews – and you know what that means!

Quite a bit already, and we’re almost done, so I’d like t round things out with a little bit of stabilizing.  You see, while light stands are great for moving your flash off-camera, they’re not the most stable things around.  Certainly not like a tripod for your camera!  Why is that?  The answer is in the physics – a light stand is typically a single pole that is extended into the air, whereas a tripod is three poles that converge at a point (your ball head or camera mount).  Whereas the former has each other to lean on and stabilize things, your light stand doesn’t have this benefit.  But, you can minimize the wiggle!  Here’s how…

Most light stands will have a three-legged base which collapses down to help with portability and to compact the size.  I’ve seen people take light stands out, and the first thing they extend all the way are those three legs.  Don’t!  When you take the three legs to their maximum height, yes, you are getting more height, but you are losing leverage and stability!  Don’t!  Instead, do this:

See how in the first example the legs are high, narrow and only have three points touching the floor – this invites a top-heavy rig, which is always more likely to topple over.  If you sacrifice those 3″ at the bottom, look what you can gain!  A wider stand base = more stability, a lower light stand = additional stability, and then the addition of the center point for even more stability!  The one on the left is how it’s supposed to be done.

For an added corollary, you can also bring sand or water bags to your shoot and fill them when you get there…then place the bags inside that little “pocket” that is formed for even more of a weighted base that will further reduce toppling risks!  (Consider it a Light Stand Tip 4A!)

Tomorrow we wrap up the week of lighting do’s and don’ts when using light stands and shoot-throughs!  I hope you’ve enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed writing them (it’s always fun to do a series like this, because it has a beginning, middle and end – which makes for nice writing projects!)

The bare flash

The results are not atypical of what one would expect.  We can see quite a bit more diffusion over a flash fired with no shoot through at all.  The light is cast much wider across the umbrella, and a certain amount of diffusion can be noted.  However, we can also see a hot spot of light in the top half of our umbrella.  Bad?  Not necessarily, considering either shooting with no umbrella, or worse – using the flash on camera!   But can we make it even better?  Let’s try!

Flash+Reflector

An interesting result!  We see the light now is carried through more of the umbrella bu looking at the center point as our frame of reference.  See the light expanding a little further down past that center point?  Cool!  But also, look what happened at the top – the reflector took light from the top and bounced it down to the bottom as we clearly have a shadow line going across there.  Hmmm, not sure I like that, so let’s try another improvement!

Flash+Diffuser

Now we’re talking!  Look at that light!  It’s clean and even throughout the umbrella!  No lines from a reflector, and nowhere near as much spill over the edges of the umbrella itself.  This is some nicely diffused light!  But wait – can we take it even further?  Let’s try one last thing, just to see what happens!

Flash+Diffuser+Reflector

Uh oh, we over-thought it!  The light is still pretty evenly diffused and spread across the umbrella, except for that one rectangle area across the top where apparently the reflector blocked the light from getting to – thus creating a shadow.  For me, it looks like #3 was the best choice of flash controls.  Here – take a look at all four side-by-side-by-side:

Flash Comparisons

I’ve circled the areas that caught my eye in terms of the quality of light – what I like and what I dislike about each – with labels under each setup.  As noted above – my preference is for #3.  The lesson learned here?

Use the built in diffuser when using a shoot through umbrella for a nice even light source!

As in all things though, it’s not a “my way or the highway” mentality – all thoughts and opinions are welcome!  So, which one(s) did you like best? #1? #2? #3? #4?  Sound off with your own thoughts in the comments or via email – feedback and discussion is always encouraged!

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Contest Reminder:  Only a few days left to enter the Image Wizards contest.  No fuss, no muss, just enter your image in the Flickr thread for a chance to win a 16×20″ print from them (as judged by yours truly!).

Be sure to stop back in tomorrow for the fourth installment of how to get the most out of a single light setup!

In yesterday’s post, I showed how light can spill over an improperly mounted umbrella. I got a few emails noting that light does seem to still spill over the top of even a properly mounted one.  While that’s right, there’s a couple things to keep in mind.  First off, the flash is mounted to a trigger, not to the light stand directly.  This does raise the flash a tad (about an inch), and while that may not sound like much, it can increase the spill.  Now there are some triggers that are extremely low profile or that can rotate to lower the height of the flash by angling it forward, but there are downsides here too.  If you think about the idea of moving the head of the flash closer to the umbrella, you are essentially decreasing the amount of fill that your shoot thru will get.  The light will be more concentrated, (a.k.a. hotter) the closer it gets to the umbrella.  Conversely, the further away from the umbrella, the more diffused it will be.  Take a look:

Now, again, the terms “wrong” and “right” are subjective, because you may want a hotter light from your shoot thru.  The only thing I would say to that though, is that if you want a hotter light – why use the umbrella in the first place?  A shoot thru is designed to reduce the “hot” factor of the light and make it more even and diffused.  You can best accomplish this by positioning the light as far back on the umbrella as possible.  How far?  I usually leave about a quarter of an inch to an inch just so I can grab the umbrella if needed from the back side.  You can position yours where ever you like – just remember the “hot factor”!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Part 3!  I bet this is one a lot of you will likely say “Now, that is cool!”  In the meantime, keep sharing your own ideas, tips and tricks for getting the most out of your lighting gear!

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P.S.  A couple admin notes – the monthly giveaway is almost done (with a 16×20″ print from the folks at ImageWizards at stake), so get your shots in on the Flickr thread before Friday!  Next week is review week on the blog too, with books, gadgets, lenses, even a camera, and of course, the annual Holiday Gift Guide!

After experimenting with my own sets of various wireless triggers, and the number of questions that have come out in this area, I’d like to set about de-mystifying the concept of wireless triggers.  In doing so, let’s separate for the moment the whole reason for removing flashes from your camera (better lighting, more control, etc.), and for introducing the wireless element (fewer cables to trip over, longer range, etc.)  Let’s instead start where most people like to start – talking about the gear!  There’s basically four competitors out there, and I’ll cover the nuts and bolts of each here:

PocketWizards

• Link: Pocket Wizards at B&H Photo
• Cost: $440.00 Set
• Pros:  They just work.  These are the ones professionals use, and they do so for a reason.  You can even use them to trigger your camera!  Another plus is a long range and pretty sturdy!  Lastly, readily available through multiple vendors so warranty/worry-free
• Cons:  Expensive and large.  At close to $450 for a pair (you have to have at least two), it’s nearly the cost of a flash!  When the accessories cost almost as much as the main gear you are trying to accessorize (the flash with a trigger), the cost is probably too high in my opinion.

CyberSyncs

• Link: CyberSyncs from Paul C. Buff
• Cost $270 ($180 and $90 for a transmitter/receiver set)
• Pros:  Much more cost effective than the PocketWizards, and work with nearly the same durability, repeatability and range.  Not at the same level as PocketWizards, but for the price, this is one many enthusiasts look at seriously.
• Cons:  Not as reliable, durable and extensive a range.  Paul C. Buff is considered to be reliable and I’ve heard good things about them, but let’s face it – they’re no B&H.

Radio Poppers

• Link: Radio Popper Store
• Cost: $170
• Pros: Low cost of entry for the Jrx system, nice and compact system.
• Cons: Batteries are unique size so getting replacements can be more expensive in the long run.  I could not get multiple flashes to fire from on-camera with any measure of repeatability.  Documentation on their website not as clear I would have hoped.

Generic Triggers*

• Link: Varies
• Cost Varies – from $20 to $100
• Pros: Very low cost of entry, wide variety of vendors to choose from
• Cons: Reliability and warrantability can be sketchy depending on which vendor you go with.  No surprise, you get what you pay for.  My first generic set were from Gadget Infinity for $20 and could not get them to work right with any regularity.  My most recent set, (branded by a friend under the heading of *Blackbelt Light) costs $75, and are very reliable.  I got one trigger and three receivers for $75 and they have worked flawlessly.  Likely out of warranty after 90 days though under most normal circumstances, and again, no B&H, but having friends in high places helps!

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So, there’s the nuts and bolts from the various wireless triggers out there, from generic to professional grade ones.  It’s worth noting that that one player is notably absent, that being the Elinchrom Skyport.  The reason I left this out is because initially they were available from B&H, but are now distributed by Manfrotto, and while I have no bias for or against either company, when a product shifts distribution channels, that in and of itself raises a flag in my eyes.  Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, I’ve not been able to test or know anyone who has tested them that I could get to give me feedback in time for this writing!

Perhaps the best part of all of this is that now you get a chance to share your own thoughts, questions, and comments on wireless triggers?  Do you have any of the above sets?  What are your own experiences with these?  What about the Elinchrom’s?  Anyone out there use them and care to share thoughts or experiences?

You see, it’s a given that there are limitations to the “point and shoot” grade of cameras.  You simply don’t have the same degree of flexibility – no changing out lenses, a smaller sensor, more inherent noise, etc., etc. etc.  Yet, when you take an SLR, there’s a lot more gear involved, even if you “go light”.  At a minimum, you’re likely to have a camera body, a lens, a flash, and a tripod.  So, which do you do?  Thankfully, with the advancement of the “P&S” grade cameras, the differences between SLR’s and the “P&S” category has narrowed substantially.

So, the question becomes:  which P&S is a good alternative for the SLR when you just want to take something and go, yet still have the malleability to capture the kind of images you want?  Now, if you ask ten different photographers this same question, you will likely get ten different sets of cameras in varying degrees of priorities.  That being said, a short list of high-end P&S cameras is always helpful to consider.  Here’s the short list I picked:

There were some others I considered including a few from Panasonic, Sony, and Olympus, but in looking at the specs of those, all had an interchangeable lens feature, which makes them more SLR-like than most P&S counterparts, so I removed them from consideration.  Here’s the criteria I am using to consider cameras for inclusion in a P&S review section:

1.  True point and shoot design (no interchangeable lenses)

2.  Cost should be less than the entry level SLR for that vendor

3.  Raw or sRaw capacity is probably going to be a requirement…most high end P&S cameras I’ve seen have this feature.

These are of course, just subjective takes on which P&S cameras stand head and shoulders above the rest, and the criteria to classify ones for inclusion as “true P&S cameras”.  As they come through the doors, I’ll share thoughts and feedback with you, but for the time being, I’d also like to hear what others think of these selections.

Can a P&S really stand toe to toe with an SLR?  Is it even worth looking at?  What about the cameras themselves?  Are there others that you wish were included?  Do you own any of these?  What have your own thoughts and experiences been?  Sound off in the comments, and I’ll see what I can to do add others to this roster for upcoming review!  In the meantime, happy shooting, and we’ll be back tomorrow!

So, for today, I am happy to bring to you the latest gear review – from none other than the folks at Sigma, with their 85mm f1.4 lens.  Let’s just jump right in:

1.  Focal Length – I’ve talked at length on the blog before about fixed focal length versus variable length zooms.  Their differences, both pros and cons of each are duly noted, and for the most part, I think we can skip the formalities of the technical explanations.  It’s an 85mm lens.  This means you are not going to be able to zoom with the lens, rather with your feet.  It also means that you will gain pros in IQ (See #8 below).  Normally I am shooting with either a 10-22 for wide angle landscapes or a 70-200 for portrait work, so this took a bit of adjusting.

When I did shoot portrait work, I kept on having to step further back to bring more of the subjects face into the scene, and with landscapes, I found myself rotating into portrait position (vertical) and instead of trying to get everything in one shot, rather capturing several shots, with the acceptance that I would have to stitch together in post production.

It’s not perfect for either, but a good compromise in focal length to try and meet the needs of both ends as much as possible.  If I had to choose my favorite focal length, it probably would not be an 85mm, but there are very subjective reasons for that, which probably aren’t as relevant here, so I will defer that for another post.  The focal length is what it is.  You either like the length or you do not.  I was middle of the road on it – sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn’t.

In the end, I think the focal length was fine for most purposes.  Even

2.  F-Stop Range – This is the reason I want this lens.  Stopping all the way open to an f1.4 gives you amazing results from two key perspectives:

• Depth of Field – When you shoot with a low depth of field, the subject is very easily separated from the background.  This also brings up the subject of bokeh quality, and here I was quite impressed as I didn’t see any evidence of jagged lines or aperture opening sizes, which is often characteristic of cheaper lens builds.
• Low Light photography – Low light photography to me means shooting at or near dusk, or in an incandescent environment where you don’t want to introduce flash.  You don’t want to be a part of the scene.  The photographer wants to blend into the background and be as unobtrusive as possible.  Lenses with low f-stop ranges allow you to do this, and the Sigma 85mm f1.4 is no exception!

3.  Noise – The motor on this lens is as quiet as one would expect for current technology – whisper!  I never heard anything that would cause a distraction, and at this point I am actually considering upgrading the Sigma Macro for this reason – the quieter the operation, the easier it is to concentrate on what you are shooting!

4.  Size/weight – About what would would expect for this focal length and aperture.  Remember, the lower the aperture (f1.4) the beefier a lens will have to be, because elements will need to be thicker in order to have any sort of stability.  It made for near perfect balance in conjunction with the 40D.  On a larger camera like the 5D or 1Ds Mark IV, I could see where you might not have as much a balance, but for my purposes, it works!

5.  Build – Patented and as expected, the water resistant housing, and non-slip grip that is now almost a trademark feature of Sigma was present so no surprises there.  I always enjoy shooting with Sigma gear because the heft of it just feels solid in my hands.

6.  OS/IS/VR – There is no built in motion correction here, which is what I collectively use to refer to the proprietary features of Sigma, Canon’s and Nikon’s camera shake correction technologies.  ALthough I should probably share that OS = Optical Stabilization (Sigma), IS = Image Stabilization (Canon), and VR = Vibration Reduction (Nikon).  Since this lens doesn’t have this motion correction feature, there’s really not much to discuss here.

The one note I would have is that when shooting with this lens, the benefit is primarily in that you can shoot at f1.4 which lets in a lot of light.  To that end, the need for motion correction is probably not as needed, except for the most exceeding low light scenarios, but you’ll see in a minute, that’d have to be pretty darn low!

7.  Cost – For the benefit of shooting at f1.4, the price of admission is hefty indeed.  B&H Photo prices it out at $969.  Since this is a new lens in their lineup, you likely will not find it for much less than this, as there is no aftermarket yet to speak of.

8.  Image Quality – Here, as always, I like to let the images speak for themselves.  I’ve tried to include a few samples that demonstrate both the depth of field capabilities and the low light performance.  Keep in mind – every image here was shot hand held!

My wife’s birthday is right around the corner – literally.  The next time I post, her birthday will have passed.  The funny thing is, she has received her typical stipends from the parental units and now has some extra cash to spend (which is odd enough in this economy), so finds herself in a bit of a pickle.  What to do?

She has a point…take a look at our current technology library:

1.  Windows XP desktop (Dell Optiplex)

2.  Windows XP VOIP system

3.  Linux Video Camera Surveillance system

4.  Macbook Pro OSX

5.  Acer Netbook

6.  Motorola Android X Smart Phone

7.  LG Smart Phone

8.  iPod Touch (2nd Generation)

9.  Amazon Kindle

Know what the one thing is that’s missing?  Yup, you guessed it – the iPad.

We all know about them, more know about them, and some even fawn over them…claiming they are the only device in their category – the iPad is it’s own category.  So, when she had this extra money for her birthday, she came to me and said, “I don’t know what to do..there’s nothing I really want or need…any ideas?”  My response was:  Get an iPad!

Then she said, “Why”…and recited the list to me.  She has a point – we really don’t need an iPad. It looks so cool…but, is it something that we need?  Probably not.  It is something we’ve thought about, but given our connected nature already, do we really need it?  My truthful answer is, “No.”  She asked me to put together a list for her of why she should get an iPad.  I came up with tons of reasons – for me…

So, it looks like the iPad will not be coming to the house any time soon – simply because, as Tracy put it:  “How Much is Too Much?”  So, with that in mind, I’d really like to pose a question to the reading audience:

How much gear do you own?  When would you draw the line?  How much is too much?  Sound off in the poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Don’t forget – the eBook just came out so if you get a chance, stop over and consider getting the DIY Legal Kit – it can save your bacon, and it’s on sale for only $15! Or just buy from the Cart button below:

I did have some notes to go back to Faxon (the owner): the back of the box had no hanging wire mechanism, which put me in an awkward position of having to nail a picture hanger into the box myself, and without knowing how it was wired up for electrical, made for a potentially damaging situation. The other thing I noticed is that a thin line of light was evident around the perimeter of the box on all four sides. As we discussed at length later, this was an unfortunate side effect of the production line, with no real professional way to mask this light spill (we both agreed that gaffers tape or electrical tape would just look rather amateurish).

Not long after that, I had an idea when noticing a piece of trim molding in my office was peeling…what if there was a thin piece of trim molding that surrounded the print…this could effectively black out the border thereby avoiding the light spillage. I relayed the thoughts to Faxon, and shortly before I left for my trip, he informed me that the 2^nd generation product was ready to ship and to send another photo in for production.

After sending in another image (a sunset over Folly Beach), I got the updated product literally 24 hours before my departure on vacation, and the end of the April contest series…so the review had to wait until now.

First off, let me say that I was (and am) very impressed with the professionalism that Faxon exhibited during the entire research and development process. Not only did he take constructive criticism well, but he also was quick to implement changes where improvements were desired, including not only a photo hanger on the back now, but also the trim molding to effectively eliminate the the white line of light around the border.  Take a look:

The image looks amazing and I was surprised even that it was one from my own portfolio! Give the image quality, back-lit intensity, and visual appeal from this product, I must heartily give it a two-thumbs up rating, even though it is likely still in development. While most products usually are, this one even more so as he continues to improve upon the original design to deliver a better quality product to his client base. For the cost of printing, it almost is a no-brainer to consider these as part of your portfolio of products to offer clients. I’ve seen two different landscapes, and Faxon has shown me displays of portrait work and architecture work as well that have really rocked my socks off!

It’s a great product that will only improve with time, and is something every photographer should have both in their own portfolio, and as a product offering to their clients. For more information, and to upload/order your own images for production, please visit www.backlitbox.com

For those interested in having product reviews done on your own product line, please feel free to email me, as always. I do also appreciate the many requests for reviews of various products from the readership here, and all it takes is a request to me for a review to begin the process of communication with respective vendors for review copies, so keep chiming in with these ideas – it’s your suggestions that keep the product reviews coming, so sound off in the comments with what you’d like me to review next! Until then, happy shooting!

So, after years and years of advice and instruction on maintaining hard drive redundancy, and the benefits of upgrading from time to time, I finally am following my own advice and upgrading my venerable Macbook Pro.  After a screamingly good deal came out for laptop disk drives locally, I went out and snagged a 750GB 7200 RPM hard drive from MicroCenter and brought it home.  I also picked up a copy of Mac OS X.6 since my previous upgrade came through a friends DVD who was no longer living in the area.  All told, I am in for a little over $100 – not too shabby!  However, as they say, the Devil’s in the Details!

I’ve changed out lots of hard drives in my time…after all, it’s no secret that I am a working IT professional – that’s my day job.  I’ve been doing that for about 10 years now, so hardware upgrades are pretty routine for me by this point – and I’ve got lots of tools to do it with too…everything from magnets, to phillips heads, to flat heads, to Torx bits for unique screws, and even a pair of nylon pliers.  But all of this based on a Windows background.  I’d never done much with Macs.  The mentality I’ve always had though is that hardware is hardware, right?  I did check out a few tutorial videos on YouTube and all the tools sounded like ones I own, so I jumped right in and off I went – until I got inside the Mac and was presented with two teeny tiny screws that required a Torx bit T6.  I went to my trusty toolbelt and saw my Torx bits went from T30 all the way down to T4 – awesome!  Until I noticed that one slot was missing – and sure enough, it was the dreaded T6!

A trip to Wal-Mart yielded no dice (it was getting late), so this morning off to Lowe’s I went.  I did find the T6 bit – but it was in a package of other bits and a nut driver – for $20:

Suffice to say, I was a bit (if you’ll pardon the expression), a bit torqued to be missing what was likely a 50 cent bit and having to spend nearly $20 to reassemble the Mac.  However, the eternal optimist, I put the positive spin on it – this is a nice kit I bought and the rest will probably go to Good Will since they are showing their age a bit.  Finally, of course, the educational moment for me:  I finally got my Torx in Order!

So, with the Mac now flying on a 7200rpm drive with plenty of storage, my weekend will likely be spent performing a fresh install of all my favorite apps.  Which ones do you think will go on there first?  I’ll give you a hint – the company name starts with A and ends with dobe!  The takeaway from all this – make sure you have your Torx in order – it is definitely a good motto to add to your motto book!  Have a great weekend everyone – just because I wont be shooting doesn’t mean you can’t so be safe, be smart, and…(wait for it)…

Happy Shooting!

In the meantime, here’s the nitty gritty details for the contest:

• The Number:  1 image per person
• The Size:  Longest side must be between 600-800 pixels.
• The window:  30 day window for capture date (nothing earlier than February of 2011
• The theme is:  Flat
• The deadline:  March 31st at midnight (my time)
• The rest:  You can read more about it at the Contest Guidelines page and the Rules of Engagement

Good luck everyone, and here’s the link:  March Contest Giveaway

For the record, the Tether Table will be very slightly used, as you know a hardware review is likely forthcoming quite soon on this equipment…but then again, that’s something to look forward to, right?

As a final postscript today, a new poll is up on the sidebar, so if you don’t visit the archives much (maybe take some time soon – lots of good stuff there! ), be sure to take a moment and sound off in the latest poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

One of the most surprising things I learned about during our recent trip to Brainerd, MN was that many photographers are tethering their cameras to their computers for transferring photos over for processing.  While tethering via cable is always an option, there are many risks to doing so, and during our talk, we took a few minutes to share some reasons why it’s better to use a card reader than to import from your camera.  Since there were so many people that seemed to appreciate the insights, I thought I’d take some time to share some of those insights here:

1. Speed – Card readers have nothing else to do other than transfer data onto and off of a card to a computer.  No camera firmware is required, no menus need to be loaded, and no power is needed.  It’s a simple plug-and-play process for practically any computer and you can increase your transfer speeds significantly by taking this route over camera direct transfers.  Seriously…with the super fast UDMA cards out there today, you can really see a decrease in transfer times, which gets you on with other things even that much quicker.
2. Reliability – Because cameras are such advanced devices that have so many working parts and components, the process of connecting them to a computer does take a certain toll and if the cable is frayed, or a connection is lost, or even power is lost, you can risk losing and/or corrupting your images during the transfer process.  Eliminate the risk of losing those precious memories you’ve created and use a card reader!
3. Conserving Battery drain – In Minnesota it was cold!  We were in negative temperatures for a good portion of our stay, and with lower temps comes decreased battery time.  If we had to deal with draining our camera batteries to transfer images to a laptop or desktop computer, they likely would not have lasted.  It’s important here to remember that plugging a camera into a USB port isn’t like plugging in a phone or other devices.  Plugging in doesn’t charge the batter, it discharges the battery!  Something to keep in mind when conserving your battery life.

So, what kind should you get?  The answer here (as always) starts with “It depends…”  What kind of camera and card are you using? Do you have multiple cameras and multiple card format types?  Cards range in size and format from SD, CF, to Memory Sticks, and other proprietary sizes and shares.  Formats also include the new UDMA which increases write/read transfer rates, and varying capacities from extended capacity (XC) and other older ones which may require specific types of readers.  Check these considerations before making a purchase.  My suggestion though is to get a reader that can read both standard capacity cards as well as the XC formatted ones.  These can be found for as little as $5 through sites like Newegg.com and Amazon, but the better quality ones are available through camera retailers like B&H Photo, Adorama, and Sammy’s.

There are, of course, other reasons to use a card reader over a camera for data – and I could go on with a quite extensive list here, but would really like to hear from others:  what are your reasons for using a particular transfer setup?  Do you have a reader preference?  Or are you using the camera to tether?  Sound off in the comments with your own ideas and suggestions!

A while back I teased about a forthcoming lens review (nearly 3 months ago actually, in the Teaser Alert), and after several project shoots, the holidays, and scheduling delays, I am finally getting my act together to bring you the latest gear review…that of the Sigma 50-500mm.  As a word of caution, you should be forewarned that the Sigma line-up of lenses that I have reviewed has become quite extensive.  Right away this should tell you two things:

• Sigma has been quite generous with me in terms of making a variety of lenses available.  They likely are doing this for a number of reasons, but primarily because they know that I will give a fair, honest, and 9 times of out 10, a positive review of their equipment.
• I like Sigma lenses!  It should be no secret by now that I do like their lenses.  They are optically on par with what one would expect from lens manufacturers by todays standards.  Heck, sometimes I think the optical quality even exceeds that of the main brands out there (of course here I mean Canon and Nikon).  The price is almost always right on – sometimes the price tag is a little high for my taste, but the advantage that Sigma has is that they are what is considered a “third party lens”, and because of that designation, their pricing is a notch below comparable lenses made by either Canon or Nikon for equivalent glass.

So, when Sigma came calling (actually I called Sigma), with the 50-500, the game face was put on.  Right off the bat, here Sigma has been more than generous because I have now had this lens in my possession for nearly 3 months!  I’ve posted a few photos from this lens over the past three months, so you may see some repeated images here, but they serve the purpose of demonstrating the various settings that I have used to shoot and test this glass.  Having set the stage, let’s get started with the review.  In the past, I’ve talked about things in terms of Pros and Cons, listing first the things I like, then the things I was not as much a fan of.  While it has worked to a degree, I am trying to make things more uniform in the review section, so will start adhering to some more concise points and then indicating whether it is a pro or a con.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the

Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.3 Review

1.  Focal Range: The focal range is how lenses are most commonly identified, and this is the measure of how much “zoom” there is in the lens.  Here, the description says it all.  This lens ranges from a widest point of 50mm to an impressive “zoom” of 500mm.  On a crop sensor camera, that means you are looking at a range of 80 to 800mm!  By any standard, this is a pretty wide range, encompassing a difference of nearly 700mm in focal adjustments.  I am going to call this one a Pro.

2.  F-Stop Range: The f-stop range is the measure of the minimum (or maximum depending on your way of thinking) aperture the lens can handle at various lengths.  When dealing with a zoom lens, as you move further out, the elements have to compensate for the change in the length by increasing the size of the opening of the aperture, so you will see adjustments as the lens “zoom” increases.  The Sigma 50-500mm is dialed in to a minimum aperture opening of f4.5 to f6.3.  So, at the widest zoom of 50mm, the lowest aperture setting you can get is f4.5.  Likewise, if you zoom this all the way out to 500, the minimum aperture is f6.3.  So, don’t be misled by the numbers, shooting this lens at 500mm will not afford you the f4.5 that is capable at the widest setting any more than the f2.8 is available on a 70-200 at the longest zoom.  When you have zoom lenses, there is a compromise in aperture capabilities that must be met when zooming out, and such is the case here.  I did some experimenting at various focal lengths, and here are some apparent limits at different zooms:

Given the technology of aperture limitations in zooms, I would say that the Sigma is on par with what the expectations would be for this range. To build this lens for any lower aperture settings would make the lens both heavier and longer.  I don’t even want to think about what it would do to the price either!  It’s not the greatest in aperture abilities, but it’s no slouch either.  I’m going to have to thrown an “Even” flag on this.

3.  Noise: I brought in the noise consideration based on my first Sigma lens I ever purchased, the 70mm Macro (f2.8) which did not have HSM.  The inclusion of HSM in almost every lens since has been a Godsend.  This holds true for the 50-500mm as well.  It’s super quiet and has convinced me that I will never stray off the Hyper Sonic Motor (or USM on Canon glass, ever gain!  ‘Nuff said.  Pro

4.  Size/Weight: My last big lens I reviewed here was the 18-250.  It was a respectable weight, but this is by far the heaviest lens I’ve ever tested.  Weighing in at a shade upder 4.5 lbs (that’s 1970 grams for you Metric folks), it can cause some serious arm strain after extensive shooting.  I would recommend using either a monopod or a tripod for this lens whenever possible.  It also bears mentioning here that due to the weight of the lens, you want to support it in the provided collar.  Supporting the rig by the camera can result in some serious shear force, which can rip the lens right off the camera.  Other size considerations involve the length of the lens both fully closed and fully extended.  This will draw some eyes at either end…whether it be the short side (8.5″) or the long side (12″)!  Here’s a comparison shot with it next to several other lenses so you can get an idea of its relative size:

Another consideration to take into account about this size is the filter required.  For those interested in using the ND filters to protect front elements, you will need a 95mm filter to cover this – not a cheap thing to purchase by any means.  Ultimately the size/weight considerations really will depend on your personal ability to handle it effectively.  For me, most of the time it was not a factor, so I’ll acquiesce and call it a Pro.

5.  Build Quality: In line with expectations, the Sigma quality showed here.  Their now easily recognizable textured exterior exudes professionalism, and just feels good in your hands.  Given the weight of the lens, you don’t want to hold this gingerly, but at the same time, if the body took a slight bump from another lens in your bag, the “other lens” would likely bear the brunt of it.  No questions here.  It’s a Pro.

6.  OS/IS/VR: Due to the limited aperture range, and the weight, the presence of OS is invaluable.  Using the OS allows you to keep your aperture value low, allowing for bother faster manipulation and shorter shutter speeds, as well as some nice bokeh in the background when your distances are good.  What was extra nice about this is the ability to toggle between the vertical and horizontal planes to control vibration in different circumstances.  When I was on a monopod, I switched to OS 2 to help control vertical (or up and down) vibration.  When shooting handheld, I was on OS 1 most of the time, under the premise that my own face, body and camera holding helped to minimize the vertical and thus needed more help with horizontal.  When I was on a tripod, I turned it off per normal procedures for when using OS/IS/VR.  In my book, having versus not having OS/IS/VR is definitely a Pro.

7.  Cost: The average retail market for this lens is approximately $1500.  Given the focal range, the aperture range, and other considerations thus far, it seems to be pretty competitive.  The Canon lens with the longest zoom range is their 100-400 and that factors in at $1800.  Nikonians can salivate over their 80-400 for $1850.  Both price in over the Sigma lens, and it still gives an extra 110-150mm of variable range.  For my own personal budget, that’s a tougher call because while I would love to own this lens – I would have to sell something else to do so, and am not sure I want to dispose of anything else in my camera bag at the moment…the jury is out on this for me personally, but for those interested in purchasing any time soon:  Pro

8.  Image Quality: Image quality is always subjective to the viewer/shooter, so here I will just let everyone defer to their own tastes by sharing a few sample images taken over the last few months:

Kissing Squirrels

Chopper Series

Miscellany:

Other features that bear mentioning here include the locking mechanism and the focusing rings.  I thought about including the latter in the build quality, but decided to bring it in here for discussion.  First, the locking mechanism is a handy feature to have for keeping the lens locked in place to prevent lens creep.  The idea is a good one, but for this particular lens, it would not lock in the “zoomed” position, where I would have thought lens creep would be more of an impact, than in the “closed” position.  Having said that, from the lunar shots I did (as shown above), the fully extended lens did not experience much, if any, creep.  This could be because the lens was recently brought back from a service stop where knobs and buttons and toggles were all tightened and such.

This brings me to the focusing rings.  The rear focusing ring is the one used for fine tuning and the front ring is for zoom.  This was an adjustment for me as my other zoom lenses have these rings reversed (where the zoom is on the back ring and the focus is on the front ring).  it forced me to change my style of shooting a little, but since I was working off a lens-mounted setup most of the time rather than a camera-mounted setup, my shooting habits were already being adjusted anyway.  The last part is that the zoom ring did seem a bit tight to move.  Whether this is by design or because of the recent factory adjustments, I am not sure, but it was just a tad stiff to adjust.

Summary:

All in all, the Sigma 50-500mm is a great lens.  It stood up for the challenges of both wildlife and aerial photography, as well as lunar and even a portrait shot of the canine companion.  The compression it exhibits at the far end (which is characteristic of these long zooms) is to be expected, but I would probably not be using this for landscapes unless I was in a pinch and had no other lens with me.  Still, it could be done, depending on what kind of landscape you are trying to capture.  The zoom really had no noticable effect on image quality without going into some serious pixel peeping, and thus, meets or exceeds all criteria that I can think of.  I would definitely make a positive recommendation on this lens for either a wildlife or sports shooter where distance from subjects is often greater than 10-15 feet.  (The minimum focusing distance at 500mm is something like 6 feet!)

That does it for today – I hope you enjoyed the review and photo gallery from the Sigma 50-500.  Here’s the final results/scores I give the lens:

Have you shot with this lens?  Share your own thoughts in the comments or with me via email.  Likewise, if you have a lens you would be interested in having me review, feel free to drop me a line or share your requests through the comment area as well.  Special thanks to Sigma for giving me such an extended testing period to review the lens, and we’ll see you here again soon!  Happy shooting!

We all have camera bags.  Whether you use a Point-and-Shoot, an SLR, or any other type of camera, you are putting it somewhere eventually that could be defined as a bag.  These bags are made in such a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and straps, it’s really amazing sometimes how many options there are for the photographer today.  But like it or not, if you have a camera – you are gonna need a bag!

If not for the camera, the accessories almost make bags a requirement, whether it’s media cards, batteries, lens pens, cloths, business cards, lenses, filters, flashes, or whatever – bags are needed no matter how light or heavy you want to go.  Just like bags, everyone has preferences too, whether it be for a shoulder bag, a backpack bag, a transport bag, a waterproof bag, or anything else, there are as many preferences as there are bags on the market.  In the past I have tried several types, ranging from shoulder-style packs, to backpacks, belt and harness systems, and everything in between.  The one style I hadn’t really needed before though, was the suitcase-style bag.

After reviewing the Think Tank Airport International though – not so sure I can live without this one.  Let’s take a look at the bag itself.  The overall bag itself stands at 14x8x21″.    It’s a beast, I tell you and I fit literally every item I own inside this bag (except the tripod).  Not only did I pack everything in there, but I also had room to spare.  Not too shabby when you consider my gear list:

While this may be a pittance compared to many ensembles for a professional photographer, I can assure you that it’s quite substantial for the enthusiast.  And it all fit inside the bag with room to spare!

While I did have room to spare, it really only is leaving room for more lenses or glass.  I wish there was a way to configure the dividers so I could pack something like a change of clothes into one corner.  For the recent trips I went on to NY and Anaheim (then NY again), I jerry-rigged it to do so, and stuffed a collapsible duffle in there too.  That way in the event of having to gate-check on a smaller flight, I could use the clothes as cushions and quickly switch the most important gear into an acceptable carry-on size for the smaller aircrafts.  (And, yes, I had to twice, for those that are going to ask if I needed to…)

Another of the other features that stood out for me was the exterior storage compartment.  This is meant for smaller items that you access more frequently like lens pens, CF cards, batteries, quick-release plates, and more.  I also managed to fit a lens hood for the 70mm Sigma Macro in there too:

There was even more to love as I was able to slide my Macbook Pro into the exterior sleeve of the bag for easy on-the-go storage and quick access.  They do make a little case to put your laptop into before sliding in, but I opted not to get that.

I believe you can insert the Laptop Artificial Intelligence in here, but, as mentioned, I did not opt for the additional bag as this was more than generous enough for Think Tank to send this item out for review.  For those that want the additional laptop sleeve, you can find it on Think Tank’s website here.  And here’s an additional product shot from the folks at Think Tank so you can get idea of its design:

Some of the other very-much appreciated features that the folks at Think Tank also thought to include were:

1.  The Extension Handle – Whoever invented this should be awarded the Nobel Prize or something, because travel has become so much easier with this functionality built into our baggage.  Having it for the ever-increasing weight of camera bags is an additional godsend that I don’t think I will ever be able to forgo again!

2.  The security lock – If you get to an event want want to lock down your main gear bag in one location then go lightweight while at a shoot, this security lock that is built into the back of the bag is brilliant!  The steel cable unlocks, then wraps around some permanent structure (like a bike rack or something) and you can combination lock it down once wrapped for additional peace of mind!

There is an additional lock by the side handle that you can attach the companion Laptop Sleeve to in order to keep everything together.  (Again, sheer brilliance of innocation, although I’d advise setting the combination for each of these to something different – makes it even safer and the added peace of mind is worth it!)

Each lock also has a key access for the special TSA agents to use their keys on for security inspections, so it is officially TSA-approved! (Just another of the many well-thought out features!)

3.  Serial Number – Think Tank has also thought to include a serial number so you can register the bag for easier recovery in the case of theft.  This metal plate is securely attached to the bag with steel grommets, then further secured with a rubberized seal, making it all but impossible to remove for anyone except the most determined thief!  (Photo not shown for obvious reasons…)

#4  Wheels – I know it almost goes without saying, but the wheels make this one of the easiest bags to transport, especially when traveling.  One would think me to be Captain Obvious given the name of the bag itself as the Airport International which in and of itself indicates the functionality as a travel bag, but without these beautiful little gems, it’s just a camera suitcase!

5.  Side Handles – As we often have to shift our bags around to be stored in various positions during travel, Think Tank has gone so far as to have a rugged handle sturdily sewn onto both the horizontal and vertical sides of the case, making it easier to insert “wheels first” (as flight attendendts will command you on their carriers), or as you prepare to lay it down flat to access the gear inside.

Note also that the vertical handle also has yet two more compartments…

A.  The clear plastic shield makes a great place to store your name for easier identification when traveling (there are lots of black carry-ons these days!).  I would not recommend putting a business card in there as advertising that you are carrying photography gear is not a good idea.

B.  A zipper slot makes for the perfect place to store your boarding passes.  Easy to stick in and retrieve for when the final call for your flight is announced at the gate and you’ve got to shut off your laptop from charging and dash to the gate!

Here, you can also see the additional security lock as I mentioned earlier.  Remember to program this to be different from the one that hides nicely behind the backside in its own zipper pouch and you are all set to travel pretty much anywhere a plane can take you!

*****

Final Thoughts:

Functionality – Bar none, the best bag I’ve had the pleasure of testing thus far.  The thought and innovation that went into this design and function is unparalleled.  If you travel a lot, this bag is simply a must-have on that basis alone.

Price – Not for the faint of heart, this bag comes in at a shade over $300 at $329, but is really worth its weight in gold.  If you want a bag that accomplishes what this one does, and with the design, function, and purpose, no other bag really can compare here.

Weight – As the gear we have is enough weight, adding weight just from the bag itself is something I have become very cognizant of, and when empty this shell is easily less than ten pounds.

Availability – I am a little disappointed that I cannot purchase their items through B&H, but I know there are regional stores and alternatives like Adorama, Mike’s Camera, and such that offer them.  I do get free shipping from B&H due to my NAPP membership though, so that’s just a personal preference more than anything else.

Bottom line – would I recommend this bag?  For a traveler – yes!

The question is – do you want a traveling bag?  Or is a backpack bag your preference.  Bags, just like haircuts, are based on personal and subjective choices including -  the type of photography, where you are going, how you are getting there, and how much gear you use, as well as your own shooting style.  If you travel a lot, this case is definitely for you.  For the street-style photographer, perhaps not the best choice.  For me, it has become my de facto bag that houses all my gear both when traveling and when storing.

Anyone else taken this bag through its paces?  Have additional thoughts on the bag?  Feel free to ask questions about other features if you are interested in the bag, I’ll be happy to reply either in the comments or through email!  Special thanks to Think Tank Photo for donating the bag for gear review…you can learn more about their entire product line from their website here:  www.thinktankphoto.com

Sigma 4.5mm f2.8 Circular Fisheye

As things start to settle down again, I’ve got a pile of reviews pending work, so this past weekend, while in bachelor status temporarily, I really knocked out a few projects, including getting caught up on some overdue reviews and blog writing.  Today, the first of these projects is the Sigma 4.5mm fisheye lens review.  This is a super cool lens, and has a lot of opportunities for creative exploration.  I took the typical test shots indoors to get a feel for where it’s strengths and weaknesses are, how it focuses, and then took to the streets.

Right off, I should qualify that this is a circular polarizer – so the photos themselves will be circular in nature with black surrounding the entire frame.  This is an expected and widely known behavior for circular fisheyes, but it did throw me at first when I saw it in the viewfinder, so just to kind of prepare you – the black surrounding elements are part of the composition – there’s just no two ways about it as that is the nature of the circular fisheye.  The other thing I should note is that I did shoot this on a crop sensor camera.  For most lenses this is not a problem, but as you go wider and wider, more barrel distortion will come into play on the edges, and here specifically, you can even begin to see the edge of the barrel depending on how you compose your scenes.

My photo assistant on this shoot was the venerable pet, Maggie.  She waited patiently as I took a few of the typical shots you expect to see, including some of the budding tulips:

She even waited as I did the typical portrait-style work that will come with this sort of experimentation:

As for the barrel distortion issue, take a look at these three samples as I tried doing a little exploration around a playground in the park with some bracketed exposures:

See the barrel?  The important thing to note here as that there are two key elements at play.  First, I was letting in more light, and the more light you let into the lens, the more visible the inside of that barrel will be on longer exposures.  If your subject is the night sky, that’s one thing, but here where there is a decent amount of contrast variation between the sky and the composition of the subject, it’s more evident.  The other factor at play here is that I happened to place the focusing point in camera on one that actually lined up with the edge of the barrel.  If I had chosen a different focal point, it could have easily been blurred out of focus and not been as easily noticed.

I do suspect that this would be less of an issue on a full frame sensor, but cannot confirm that.

On the note of focusing, this does drop all the way down to 2.8, so it’s pretty fast glass.  It’s also got a super close focusing distance at just a shade over 5 inches, which gives a unique opportunity to get center subjects in focus and throw the distortion into play with the background.  This gave me an opportunity to try some architectural shots as well as a few additional ones that I would not have been able to attain in a slower lens.  So, that’s a good thing!

It did have a little bit of trouble focusing at times, but I suspect it’s because the point was  the lens itself!  The HSM handled nicely though, and I would highly recommend Sigma for its HS-quality alone.  Comparing it both in terms of battery drain, noise quality, and quickness of focusing, the difference is quite marked.

Here’s just a few more shots to show you some of the creative approaches you can  take with a circular fisheye:

So, what’s the bottom line?  Well, it’s $1500 retail, and because of how this lens behaves, it serves a specific purpose.  If your projects meet that work flow, it’s a must have lens because I don’t know of another one that comes close to this wide with this level of IQ.  Many people don’t like fisheye lenses because their cost is relatively high compared to the creative use of it.  While this is a good point from a business perspective,  I think it’s an advantage because the nature of the lens forces you to become more aware of how scenes look and to pay more attention to your composition.  Using this lens with any regularity will make you more creative, you’ll get better shots, and in the long run, become a better photographer.  In my mind, that’s always a good thing!

You can find the Sigma lens at your favorite distributor.  Mine is B&H, so here’s a direct link to their product page there:  Sigma 4.5mm f2.8.  Thanks also go out to Sigma for the loaner lens – it was a lot of fun to review and I got some great images from it too now.  Since it’s not due back for another few weeks, I may play some more with her, so keep your eyes open for some more test shots either here or on my Flickr Page.  Speaking of Flickr pages, don’t forget the May contest is open for entries and you can win a copy of PTGui Pano Software!  (The Sigma 4.5 lens and a wide contest….too bad I can’t enter!   )

Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

P.S.  These were all pretty much raw from camera, and processed through Lightroom 3 Beta 2

Polarizing Filters

Polarizing filters can be a godsend – they can really bring out blues in a sky, or minimize reflections in windows, and can really help to improve the quality of your work.  At the same time, polarizers can also be very tricky to use.  On my recent trip to Arizona (I shot a weekend with Rich Charpentier of The Airstream Chronicles), there were many opportunities to bring out the gorgeous blue sky, and contrast it with the amazing colors in the orange rocks that the American Southwest is known for.

The problem with polarizers is that the blue that is brought out is not a consistent blue – it usually gets stronger as you move toward the light source.  So, when you go to stitch things together, the results can be less than satisfactory with evident banding and shifts on hue of the blue skies.  Take a look at the example below to see what I am talking about regarding the banding…

See how the sky has blues that aren’t consistent?  It’s because I did not rotate the filter to accommodate the shift in blues as I shot across the scene.

Another problem is kind of hinted at above – what if you have a sky where you want the blue to pop, but the foreground includes a water reflection that is an integral part of your composition?  The answer here is to expose both with, and without the polarizing effect, and then blend together the two shots later in post production.  Masking off parts of images is much easier to deal with than the polarizing effect in the sky, but it’s a pitfall of panorama photography to be aware of.

As it happened, later on that day I was capturing another scene where there was no sky, so it was a non-issue.  Here, the key is to remember to spin your filter so that the reflection does reveal itself, otherwise you will think you are doing something severely wrong when you can see the reflection with your eye, but not through the lens.  I probably spent a good five minutes trying to change the angle of view before I realized it was just a quick spin of the filter to reveal the reflection below me…

As, as you can see, there are benefits to polarizers and there are also downsides to consider as well.  When used correctly, they can really add to the character of an image.  For those looking at specific recommendations, here are the ones in my gear bag:

• Moose’s Warm Circular Polarizer (58mm)
• Tiffen Circular Polarizer (77mm)

But enough about my thoughts on polarizing filters – what about you?  Do you think they are legitimate tools to alter a scene?  What about reproducing the effect in post production?  Which ones do you use?  Do you have a favorite or do you prefer all photography “au naturale”?  Sound off in the comments or via email!

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow for more photography goodness!

Enjoy!

In any case, here is the long-awaited review of the Epodisc from the folks at Expo Imaging:

First – what is the Expodisc?  It’s simply a disc that defracts light as it passes through your lens in order to determine the proper white balance setting for your images.  Why is this a good thing?  It’s a good thing because light doesn’t always fall into the specific categories designed by your vendor.  It’s not always daylight, tungsten, florescent, etc.  These vendor pre-sets can get you close, but if you want spot on white balance settings in camera, this is definitely the way to go!  Here’s the short video I had put together a while back on how it works:

[display podcast]

Do I like the Expo Disc?  Absolutely – and if I were in an environment where lighting conditions change often, or it was tricky to determine (say those lights in gyms with the green phosphorous), these utilities are a godsend.  Landscape environments can also be tricky when you are dealing with things like snow, shade and sunny areas at the same time, and portraiture can be tricky too – say you have a bride’s wedding dress, the whites of the eyes, and the teeth for sample areas – which do you set?  Use the ExpoDisc and it will be spot on every time!

Thanks again to the folks at Expo Imaging for lending me the review units of the Ray Flash and the Expo Disc. It was a pleasure, and for those interested in learning more about their products, please visit their website here.

Happy shooting everyone – be sure you get your shots in, because there’s limited time left in the Circles contest for a lucky participant. Here’s the Flickr thread – keep on posting and keep on shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Western Digital Passport Drive

Well, not only is the second hard drive a great way to increase the capacity of your laptop, but it also saved my bacon this weekend, because when the library was corrupted (I use the method of not importing a copy to my library and save the library on the main OS drive), it was simply a matter of creating a new library when opening iPhoto, changing the option in Preferences to not copy images in, and then sitting back and waiting the hour or so for the import to complete.

What I like about this Passport Drive though is the fact that I have dedicated storage for my photos, music, and documents independent of the OS drive.  I also can easily remove it from the laptop if needed.  Lastly, I also like it because I can expand this fairly easily.  To do that, I would just get another drive, plug it into another USB port, and simply drag-and-drop to copy to the new location.  The old primary can now be easily disconnected, become a back-up, and the new one becomes the primary.  Another great feature of these is that you can easily copy data to and from it, and with surprising ease.  I cannot verify this, but suspect that these Passport drives are solid state drives because they don’t get very hot, and it’s just been so awesome for letting my photos and music libraries expand without me thinking much about them.

The downside?  They are a little pricier than their larger drive equivalents.  With the ever-decreasing cost of storage these days though, it’s well worth the additional 20 cents per gigabyte in my opinion!  (My 320 GB was like $80 – it goes for $71 now at B&H.)  You can get these pretty much anywhere from your local Wal-Mart, to Best Buy, Newegg, B&H, and other retailers/e-tailers.

Oh, and there’s a moral to this story too:  always, always, always…back up your data! For more reviews and other information on this drive, feel free to find your favorite review resource online.  I like the ones over at TestFreaks myself (although this is a rating of the 500Gb unit), but as with any review resource, your mileage may vary.

In other blog notes of interest:

• The Flickr contest is in its final two weeks starting today – it’s a prize package of three pretty sweet items, so be sure to get your entry(ies) in soon.  At stake is a $25 gift card to B&H, the 11th Season of Photoshop User TV, and a book from Photographer/Author, and Friend-of-the-Blog, Matthew Bamberg.  The Flickr thread is linked up at the top of the blog, but here’s a quick link for easy reference.
• Speaking of the links at the top of the blog – you may notice that more content is being added.  The Navigation Bar is being reorganized to include more “About” pages, Archives, My Gear, and much more.  Feel free to peruse those at your leisure.  More content is coming soon too, so don’t just be checking things out in your RSS feeds – lots of content is available directly from the blog!
• Congrats to Mary Angelini as well for her witty comment from the Scott Kelby book giveaway  -  stop by her site for a good set of photo galleries to peruse too (and to congratulate her).

That’s it for today…happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

I was going to make this a combo post for both hardware and software, but given the length of the former, decided to hold off on the latter for another week…so, let’s just take a look at the Rayflash today. First off,  you may ask how this is at all different from David’s write-up, and you would do well to ask.  The answer lies in the nature of the comparison.  You see, David is looking at different types of ring flashes, while I am considering adding a ringflsh to my gear bag.  So, rather than look at different ring flashes, I am looking at a ringflash as opposed to not shooting with one.  What are the differences in the nature of light?  Or better yet – are there differences in the nature of light?  Thanks to the folks over at ExpoImaging, I got a chance to take a firsthand look at the Rayflash.  Here are my thoughts…

For starters, I decided to consider the nature of the gear itself, since it is specific to camera body and flash type.  So, this means if you are shooting with a Canon 40D and a 580 EXII, it takes a different model from, say the Nikon D300x and the SB900.  In a way this is a good thing, but there’s also a downside.  The downside is the lack of cross-camera support.  If you ever change gear out for any reason, the Rayflash as an accessory won’t migrate with you.  That being said, it’s a good thing because that means the product is custom made for your specific setup, whatever that may be.   In the end, it depends on your perspective, but I would consider this a pro for the Rayflash as I know it’s going to fit – no questions asked!

The other big thing to consider is weight.  Having not gone through any capture with my light on-camera lately, it was an adjustment going back to shooting with the 580 on the hotshoe.  In taking the 40D, a 580 EXII, and a Sigma 70mm, then adding the Rayflash to it – my arms got a workout!  It was heavy!  I can’t even imagine how heavy the setup would have been with one of the other styles of ring flashes, as the Rayflash on its own added very little weight.  Score another one for the Rayflash.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the output – what kind of light does it produce?  Well, there’s no better way to answer this than to take some actual pictures.   So, let’s take a quick look at the purpose behind ring flashes as a general tool in your bag – what do they do?

Ring flashes are good at providing even light, to kill shadows.  They also make for great catch lights in portraiture.  There’s something quite compelling about seeing a portrait with a nice little ring of light to add some dimension to an image and make it more compelling.  However, due to lack of available models in my time frame, I decided to take advantage of the shadow killing aspect of ring flashes.

This meant going for macro work.  With macro photography, often it is challenging to get nice even lighting throughout an image primarily because you are working in such close proximity to your work.  Ring flashes can help eliminate that problem.   Let’s take a look at how the Rayflash performed here.

To test the quality of light, I set my 580 on manual exposure rather than ETTL because with the Rayflash on, it could effect the light output, and I wanted to be in complete control over this element of the photo.  So, I set it to 1/32nd power, with the camera set to a shallow DOF (f2.8) and a shutter of 1/500th.  The following images show the resulting image, first with the Rayflash, second without the Rayflash and finally, with the built-in camera (except here I couldn’t control the flash output – but I wanted to include it for comparison purposes..you’ll see in a second here, take a look):

Taken with the Rayflash

Taken without the Rayflash

Taken with on-camera flash

As you can see, the Rayflash gave a nice, even distribution of light around the subject of focus – the flower.  It softened things much like a diffuser would and prevented excessive shadows from forming arond the edges of the petals.  Compared to the flash without any adapter, the result is much more harsh, with more blown out highlights, and in general, a less compelling image on the basis of the quality of light.  You can see now why ring flashes are used in macro work.

Finally, the on-board or built-in flash.  Ugh!  Almost unusable from the quality of light perspective.  Unless your purpose is to capture a subject in the most unflattering light possible, I can’t imagine enjoying the third image.  This is why we add flashes, then learn to accessorize them, and finally to move them off-camera.

So, there you have it – I would say that if you are serious about macro work, then a ring flash should definitely be in your camera bag.  Apologies for not getting to the portrait side, but that would have made things SUPER long.  (Aren’t ya glad I didn’t add the software review too?)  Feel free to chime in via the comments or email if you have additional thoughts or feedback on the gear, and many thanks to the folks at ExpoImaging for their support in providing the review unit – couldn’t have done this without you!

Until tomorrow, Happy Shooting (and let’s be careful out there)!

First off, thanks to the good folks over at Sigma for accepting me into their loaner program to experiment with these lenses gratis for a few weeks, so others out there can learn the benefits of some of these lenses.  In case you don’t remember, in the past I had taken a look at some pretty impressive gear from their line-up including a 18-250mm lens, and a 10-20mm lens.  Anyway, back in the saddle today, here’s the 50mm f1.4 from Sigma:

Sharpness

First up – since this is the f1.4, what most people really want to know about is how the depth of field is on this lens, and whether it can be tack sharp at the perimeter.  The answer is yes, it can definitely be tack sharp.  here’s a few sample shots taken with the lens.

Portrait Test from Sigma

Depth of Field Test on Sigma (Low Light)

Bokeh Test from Sigma (outdoors)

I tried the lens in multiple environments and with multiple things in mind, including portrait work (my dog is the only one who will sit still for me anymore), depth of field, and bokeh, as well as indoor and outdoor shots, as shown above.  While the subjects and overall composition may not be worthy of Smithsonian inclusion, I think they illustrate well how the Sigma 50mm f1.4 would work for its intended purpose.  (Pretty darn good on sharpness, bokeh, and low-light performance.

Other Pluses

• Weight – I love the weight of this lens.  It’s not too heavy, but also sturdy enough to know you’ve got some good glass on your body.
• Finish – The now-familiar mat finish adds a nice professional touch, with the lens very sturdy and non-slip grip easy on the hands.
• Filter – The popular 77mm filter for the lens cap is another nice touch as that is one I have both an ND and a polarizing filter for, eliminating the need to purchase additional filters for use on this. (The Canon 50mm takes a 58mm filter which I don’t have in my gear bag).
• Low-Light – As mentioned above, I tried a few low light shots (so the ISO was cranked way up too).  Given the limitation of ISO, I was able to effectively hand hold the lens in limited lighting environments, so places like restaurants, concerts, and other areas where light is not as immediately available, or where flash could be obtrusive, the lens did very well.

The downside (you knew it was coming), is the cost.  Here the Sigma actually runs more than its comparison in the Canon line-up, because it’s $100 more, coming in at $499 retail from B&H.  (The Canon is $399.)  I have a feeling though, that the rule of thumb applies here as the lens seems a tad heftier and it has an additional element to it (8) than the Canon counterpart (7).

Overall, this lens, as a made-for-digital tool is definitely one for the gear bag of the discerning photographer.  We’ll be back again tomorrow with the Contest Winner for October, and the announcement of the prize/giveaway for November, along with a software review.  You may be able to guess what’s coming, but be sure to tune in anyway, as there’s lots to come!  Happy shooting everyone and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

• Multimedia Wired Up 10 Bag (Retail value $140)
• Mic Drop-in Bag (Retail value $40)
• Audio Recorder Bag (Retail value $40)
• Big Audio Bag (Retail Value $50)
• Wireless Mic Kit Bag (Retail value $50)

Rather than describe the function of each, here I am going to defer to the descriptions Thinktank provides on their site because their descriptions are pretty good and I figure why re-invent the wheel.  Instead, I’ll share here my lists of pros and cons on the system overall.  So, here’s the lowdown from my perspective:

Pros:

1. Design – The overall design of these bags is just superb.  Because it’s designed as a multimedia system, the idea of incorporating a way to feed cable lines from one component to another is just brilliant.  This way cables are not interfering with operation of anything.  I also very much enjoy the idea of incorporating both a belt and harness method for carrying gear.  While belts can tend to sag down when loaded, the shoulder harnesses prevent this from happening without being too constricting.
2. Material –   Additionally the material is the excellent canvas/nylon-style on the outside with very well-thought out padding on the inside (although I think the pads could still stand to be a smidge thicker).  They also were very generous in that most of the bags have a rain cover that easily pulls out should you get caught in a sudden downpour.
3. Space – Even though the Wired-Up 10 bag is the smaller of the two (there is also a Wired Up 20), it can hold an impressive amount of gear.  Although I had to take off lens hoods, I was able to get all of the following into the bag:

With all this crammed in there I still had room in the front portion to accommodate a few other accessories (like radio triggers, media cards, batteries, etc.  The rear pocket also allows for things like grey cards, business cards, and other slim style things (I tossed my 1.4x TC in there along with the flash diffuser cap for the 550EX).  I know this isn’t exactly a multimedia gear list, but it does give you an idea of what all can fit in there.  Here’s a quick snap I took with everything in there:

The rest of the system also holds up well – with what appear to be very durable zippers, which have bungee-style pulls that make them easier to close.  The accessory bags also are designed with stiff flaps on the backs and Velcro to add them onto the main belt bag (the Wired up 10 or the Wired Up 20).  What I especially liked about each of the bags is that not only could I see the use for each designed component, I also could see other items being substituted in and out.  Ipods, P&S cameras, and other components could easily fit in here.  Probably the thing I was most pleased with was the slim pocket that sits against your back.  It was a little snug but I was able to fit a mini-laptop in there (my wife’s Acer Aspire One).  I literally could go completely mobile and reduce my overall technology footprint to fit inside this bag/betl system.  I think the Wired Up 20 would probably be more desirable just because things were a little too snug.  For a trip though – it could work in a pinch – check it out:

Cons:

Design:  My two druthers in the design are the belt and the suspender/shoulder straps.  On the belt, I wish it had a little more space to put the accessory bags on them.  With the current design, each bag would butt up next to one another without any room between them.  While this may not matter if you are up and moving around, but I can imagine that sitting down while fully loaded could be tricky.  Sure, you can always take the whole setup off, but if you are bending and squatting or wanting flexibility then this could conceivably have trouble with maneuverability.  The other element were the shoulder straps – they were thin which made them less obtrusive.  However, because of their thinness, this could cut into your shoulders if you are heavily laden down with gear.  Thankfully, I don’t own enough gear to really have that kind of an impact, but for the multimedia minded, with audio recorders, mics, and all the bells and whistles, I could see it kind of digging in a little too much.

Other than these two elements I really couldn’t even think of much else I would change – even the price is right for what you are getting.  All five of these bags is still under $350 which is quite a good deal!  Heck, even the matte black and thin blue pin-striping that is a part of the Thinktank design looked cool here.  All in all, this is definitely one to consider.  While no bag or bag system is perfect – this is the closest to perfection I’ve seen yet!  (And I’ve tried a few systems…)

Well, that’s about all for today – just a reminder that we are in the last week of the current month’s giveaway where you can “Win a Wacom”!  Get your photos in by Friday to the Flickr thread, be eligible for this giveaway.  Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for the latest software review (and you should know what that is – if not watch the video from last Friday!)

Grab the Feed

Ah, how I loved thee, the Canon 550 EX, with your 3 flash modes, ETTL, Manual and Multi mode.  You were especially wonderful because of how well the ETTL worked in conjunction with the Canon bodies.  Your typical standard hotshoe fit every Canon SLR from the first days of DSLR’s (I think)), and you worked beautifully both as a slave and as a master via the toggle just below the button panel.

Another especially nice feature you had was the variable power settings when in manual, where I was able to adjust you from full power down to 1/128th power.  YOu also were very kind in allowing me to adjust your zoom range from 24mm to 105mm for the range of output too.   Compatability with the ST-E2 and the infra-red line of sight was another added benefit, although the infra-red technology has dated you beyond use in the current spectrum of choices.

When it comes to working in master-slave modes, you were pretty rockin’ though.  The ability to adjust ratios from 1:1 all the way to +/- 1:8 was pretty sweet, as was the ability to  assign you to one of three different groups, A, B, or C.  Although I’ve never used you in the multi-mode, the options there seem quite nice as well.

The Flash exposure bracketing, and High Speed sync with later EOS models has been a nice feature for me too, which is why I’ve hung on to you as long as I have – provided I’ve got the batteries and power to support it!

However, it was your time to go as you did not have a full-360 degree rotation on the head (without a hack), and your vertical tilt only had 3 adjustments at 60, 75, and 90 degrees. You also went through your 4 AA batteries like a hot knife through butter without the accessory battery pack (pricey in its own right).

Additionally, at a smidge over 14 ounces without batteries, and your large size (3.1 x 5.4 x 4.4) you’ve taken up a lot of space in the gear bag.  YOur remote limitations also had their downside since I could only fire you with the ST-E2 or Canon proprietary cable.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Canon gear, but sometimes others had flashes that I would like to have been able to use or borrow and could have if only you had a PC-sync plug.  Sure, workarounds and jerry-rigged devices are out there (which I have ended up using), but the endless testing, mis-fires, and other tangential effects of a home-made brew had some less than desirable outputs.

Ahhh…550EX, I loved thee well – you shall work well as a secondary with your newer cousin, the 580 EX II when she arrives in another month or so!  But when she arrives, I shall bid thee farewell, relegating you to the dust mites of my camera bag.  Good thing your owner kept your vitals intact here

Until that day, I’ll shoot again tomorrow!  (Happy shooting everyone!)

Grab the Feed

Having had the Touch now for about a week, I’ve had a fair amount of time to look at all the features, bells, whistles, and nuances of it to give a more thorough review.  As this review begins, you surely must be asking, “How does this relate to photography?”  An excellent question, so let me begin with the benefits relating to photography:

Photo Albums – this is a great way to take a portable portfolio with you where ever you go.  Say you are in a grocery store, restaurant, or somewhere and a discussion starts about any good photographers.   “Funny you should ask – I am a photographer…would you like to see a little bit of my portfolio?”  Then whip out that Touch and pick an album to show them – the ooohs and ahhs could make the difference between landing the gig and having them respond with “We’ll let you know…”  Having the extra advantage of being able to show at least a pocket-sized portfolio could make the difference between getting a gig or not.  Interesting food for though…

Networking – the Touch has built in wi-fi, so you can stay up to date as long as you are connected to a wifi network.  Here in Denver there is a free wifi network downtown so as long as you are within range, you can check email, update status on Facebook, and network the latest developments on Twitter or Friendfeed.

Applications – bar none, the best feature in my opinion.  From here I was able to download an FTP client, a photo editor (very light in function, i.e. cropping brighten, darken, saturate, desaturate, etc.) and voice recorder.  Other utilities include sunrise/sunset calculators, light meters, word/excel editing apps, etc.  As the saying goes, if there’s something you want to do, there’s an app for that.  With these utilities I can do things like record audio snippets for the blog, upload said content to the blog or other website, do quick photo edits, or even review documents on the fly.  The built in email service is also very handy.

Music/Podcasts – Just like other ipods, you can listen to music, podcasts, and because of the nice glossy screen, watch videos, including TV shows and movies (pretty much anything the Apple Store offers).  As a blogger and podcaster, for me it is particularly useful because I can listen to what others are doing, and either ensure that I am keeping up, or ensure that I am producing original content that is enjoyable to my viewers and listeners.  If you are a fan of podcasts and other such learning resources to increase your experience and knowledge base, this can also be useful as there are many good podcast resources out there for aspiring and learning photographers.  What I am not a fan of in this regard though, is the fact that with the ability to install “applications”, the Touch still requires connection to a computer in order to manage your content.  You have to delete apps, music, podcasts, pics and such from the iTunes application on your computer and not from your ipod.  What’s up with that?  You’d think Apple would build their own applications into something this robust…but more on the cons in a moment…

Having started with the negatives a little bit, let me go into some of the drawbacks.

Software I – the iPhone user is very fortunate because when the software update from 2.0 to 3.0 came out, the upgrade was free.  Touch users saw no such benefit.  I bought this a week ago, and had to pay for the privilege of getting the OS update to 3.0.  Because of the benefits of it though, as well as the low cost (it was only $10), I went ahead and bit the bullet, but seeing as I had just spent over $200 for something brand new, in principle it seems that it should have shipped with OS 3.0 already on it.

Software II – A couple of the built in applications seem quirky, like the iTunes music.  There is a neat feature called Shuffle where you shake the Touch and it creates a random playlist for you from your library of music.  The problem is that it will keep generating new playlists randomly any time there is a little bit of shake unless you turn it off manually (say for your morning jog).  There must be a better way to toggle this on and off – but I am not a software designer, so not sure how to even go about doing this.

Photo Albums – One of the advantages of the Apple setup over Windows (I had always thought this anyway) is that you don’t have the same pyramid of files and folder structures where things can get lost.   Not really.  If you want to create multiple albums within your Touch (or any other iPod for that matter), the best method is to create a sync folder on your computer, then sub-folders within there and then connect the iPod and let it sync to that folder.

Deleting stuff – As mentioned above, I don’t like that you have to sync the iPod to the computer, then un-check the apps in iTunes on the computer to remove from the iPod.  Lastly, you have to then remove the applications from iTunes before they will be gone completely.  Give me an option to remove from the iPod directly.  The same goes for podcasts, music, photos, and the like – give me a way to delete (triple tap or something) from the iPod without having to resync.  Reason:  If I am on the go and a new podcast for Photoshop User TV comes out, I’ve got to have a fair amount of disc space available to download that from the wi-fi.  If I don’t have an iTunes instance on an available laptop or PC to connect up and delete manually, I am S.O.L.

Music – It’s similar to, but tangential enough from the delete/sync issue above that I thought the music portion warranted its own discussion.  This is not so much that I want to be able to delete music files, but I would like the ability to create playlists depending on what’s going on.  On the photo walk over the weekend, I actually did have about 20 minutes where there was no one in my immediate vicinity to talk to, so I was shooting around and decided to listen to some music to help with inspiration.  If the music isn’t right for the mood though, it can be distracting, so let me do that w/out having to re-sync back to iTunes to create another playlist – that’s just silly.

Camera – This is the only hardware element I have a complaint with – why did you not include a camera with the iTouch?  It seems rather odd that given the preponderance of built in cameras in things like phones, PDA’s, and Blackberries, Apple would say “no, just for the iPhone folks”.  Come on now…the TOuch seems like the more appropriate device for the camera than the iPhone.  After all, the phone has a utilitarian function, why would you bundle a camera into that and not the more accessory nature of the Touch?  Just seems like backward logic to me.

Accessories – The headphones for the iPhone have a built in microphone, and I can understand why they have always been included by default, but with the Touch 2G, and the new OS 3.0, the ability to record audio seems to becoming more and more standard as a way to make notes, deliver content to others.  Wit that, I think Apple should have included the headphones with built in mic wit the Touch.  It was a $30 investment, which I reluctantly paid, and am now glad I have, but really think Apple just wanted their extra little bit of my wallet in that scenario.  *sigh*

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the gaming and entertainment aspect of the device as many people do find the diversions an enjoyable activity.  For me though, I have other venues for distraction and don’t find as much benefit in them, but if you are of that particular ilk, then by all means, check out the App Store part of iTunes for whatever strikes your fancy.

Overall though, the nits I have with the Touch are minor.  It’s a great device that can give me content to listen to, the ability to create my own content, and stay connected with family, friends, and colleagues.  The ability to listen to music while surfing the internet, catch up on Twitter, check email, and even record some audio content for the blog makes the Touch a valuable addition to my belt.

Well, that’s about it for today, as I can’t think of any additional feedback to give on the Touch – I’d give it one and a half thumbs up.  Until tomorrow, keep the energy going from the Worldwide Photowalk and keep on shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow!