Hi everyone!
So its almost March, the Olympics are in full swing, and hopefully the snow is on its way out.
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on whats happening in my world. Hmm, where to start...hah! There really is nothing too much going on right now! Busy with the family as usual. Work as well.
I have gotten some of my films back from the developer from my Diana camera, you can see them here: link
I also received as a gift, a B+W ND 1000x filter! Which is a neutral density filter that cuts out 10 (yes thats right!!) stops of light. So what this means, is that I can take super long exposures in the brightest of days if I want to smooth out water or cloud movement, or even make a busy street seem devoid of life! I got this filter in 77mm thread size, I do not have a lens with that large of threads (yet) so I had to get an adapter off ebay that would allow me to attach the filter onto my 52mm threaded 18-55 lens. The reason I did this was because in the near future, I plan on purchasing the Nikkor 10-24mm or the Tokina 11-16f2.8 lens. I am still on the fence about which one I want. But they both have 77mm filter threads.
I also got a focusing rail! I am really looking forward to trying that out soon on my test subject, a dead dragonfly :) I am going to use it to hone my focus stacking skills and for taking technical shots at high magnifications of tiny things!
I recently did a job for a client where I needed to take pictures for a brochure for a fitness machine the client had invented. It forced me out of my comfort zone of nature photography and threw me headfirst into shooting a model and controlling light sources and all that exciting stuff. It was really interesting, and I enjoyed it, the pictures turned out great as well! I learned a lot from the Strobist website in my preparation for this assignment. Thanks for making all that valuable info available to everyone! http://strobist.blogspot.com/
Well, I am still planning on doing that write up of my Diana camera (I know, I know, I said that a month ago). Bear with me here, it will get done soon. Maybe now that I have written about doing it twice now, it will make less prone to forgetting about it again. Whoops!
Take care everyone, talk to you soon!
C
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Working on another write up!
Hi, I am getting a lot of positive feedback on my write up for the tripod below on the various forums I frequent. Thanks everyone, I hope it was helpful to anyone in the market for a tripod, or to just open your eyes to another brand :)
I am working on a write up of my Diana F+ camera I received as a christmas present, it should be up soon, most likely after this weekend!
I am also in talks for another advertising gig, the last one was for a local window cleaning company, called Window Butler.
Another reminder to check out Doug Gosling's book, The Wolf at my Door. I created the cover picture for the book. It is about Doug's battle with Prostate Cancer, an excellent read, for anyone who has/had cancer or knows someone who does. It's a real eye opener. It is now available on Amazon here.
Stay tuned for more about my new camera!
Craig
I am working on a write up of my Diana F+ camera I received as a christmas present, it should be up soon, most likely after this weekend!
I am also in talks for another advertising gig, the last one was for a local window cleaning company, called Window Butler.
Another reminder to check out Doug Gosling's book, The Wolf at my Door. I created the cover picture for the book. It is about Doug's battle with Prostate Cancer, an excellent read, for anyone who has/had cancer or knows someone who does. It's a real eye opener. It is now available on Amazon here.
Stay tuned for more about my new camera!
Craig
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Giottos MTL 9371B / MH 1000-652 First impressions
Alright, so as promised here is my first impressions and a bunch of pics of my new tripod, the Giottos MTL 9371B and Giottos MH 1000-652 Ball Head.
I received this set up as a Christmas gift (thank you!), so I haven't had it for too long, nor have I had the chance to get out in the field and try it out. But I have toyed around with it in the house, mounted my camera on it and seen how it functions, and I am very impressed! I have not had too much experience with professional quality tripods, but this is a very well manufactured piece of equipment and it both the ballhead and tripod itself feel as if they are the utmost in quality.
Here are some specs before we get into the pics and impressions.
So lets move on to the ballhead's specs
Here it is all folded up and ready to go, with the ballhead. There is some gear around it to give you a little sense of size, my cell phone, my diana camera, and the tools that came with the tripod.
So, lets open it up!
So that's it unfolded, legs still at their shortest.
Lets look at some of the little details here before we get too excited.
Here is the MH-1000 logo on the ballhead.
This is also on the ballhead, the 3 way bubble level.
This is the bubble level on the tripod itself.
Here is the logo and model number sticker on the tripod leg.
This is the toolkit attached to the tripod. More on that later!
Here is the center column tension adjuster:
Okay, lets put a camera on it
and extend the legs by using the lever locks here:
to get to this point:
It seems to be pretty tall!
So it has this 'multi function center column' which is one of the main features I wanted this model for. Especially for my macro work. How this works is you extend the center column fully, then you release the tension on these knobs
and raise the column up, until you can tilt it over like this:
So now you can rotate the column 360 degrees around and lengthen or shorten the column as much as you want. When you get it where you want to go, just tighten up those same knobs and away you go!
Lets talk about the independent moving legs which is another feature I was looking for when shopping around for a tripod.
There is these buttons I will call them on tops of the 3 legs that, when pushed in, restrict the movement of the leg to a preset position for, I will say, 'normal operation'. Being a standard set up, all 3 legs the same distance apart. Here are the 'buttons':
You can pull them out to allow you to pull the leg out further, the above picture shows the leg at the lowest point. There is also a middle point as well.
Here is a picture showing the tripod extended and the 3 legs in different positions, this would be good on uneven terrain:
Using these buttons, if you pull them out and pull the 3 legs out the farthest, you can lower the tripod to its lowest working height. At this point, you will either need to extend the center column to its max extension or it will hit the ground. So you could lower the tripod and use the 360 degree center column mode, like this:
Or, if you remember the toolbag shown earlier in the post, it has a short center column in it. In order to use this, you will need to remove the big center column and also attach the head to the short center column. To swap the head over to the short center column, you need to use the supplied allen key to loosen this screw:
Then you can remove the plate that holds the ball head, and you simply swap it over to the short column, which looks like this:
Once that is done, you can insert the short column into the spot where the bigger column came out. You will need to lock it into place with this little knob, which aligns a small post into the groove of the small column:
and voila! you have your tripod at its lowest point and the short column installed.
(Another selling point with this model is that you can use it without a head by using the short column installed all the time, it will function as a 3 way head on its own.)
Lets talk abit about the ballhead! This is model MH 1000-652. So that means that the ball part is MH1000, and the plate on top of it is MH 652. They came together, you can also get different combos. At some point, I will probably upgrade to a quick release plate, hopefully an 'L' plate, which will let me swap between portrait and landscape orientation without detaching the plate from the camera.
Here is a shot of the ballhead:
The knob on the right, is the locking knob for friction control, the knob on the left is for the socket ball, and the knob on the bottom middle is for the panning base. Pretty self explanatory!
The portion that attaches to the camera is pretty simple as well, you have your plate that screws onto the camera, then you have the part that the plate clips into.
The part that goes on the camera has a slotted screw in the bottom with a little metal tab for easy turning (thank you) like this:
To release the plate from the base, there is a dual action release lever for added security.
So you will push and hold in the little tab I have dubbed '1', then you will pull the tab dubbed '2' over and that will release the plate! Pretty neat
And finally, here is a close up on the panning markers:
So I think that about sums it up!
First impressions are;
I highly recommend looking at this model if you are in the market for a tripod
Ok, thanks for reading this, leave me a comment or drop me a line if you want to see some more info or if you have a particular question about it :)
Stay tuned for a write up on my Diana F+ camera (pictured in some of the images above)
Craig
I received this set up as a Christmas gift (thank you!), so I haven't had it for too long, nor have I had the chance to get out in the field and try it out. But I have toyed around with it in the house, mounted my camera on it and seen how it functions, and I am very impressed! I have not had too much experience with professional quality tripods, but this is a very well manufactured piece of equipment and it both the ballhead and tripod itself feel as if they are the utmost in quality.
Here are some specs before we get into the pics and impressions.
- The tripod is a 3 section aluminum tripod with lever lock legs.
- The leg diameter is 1.2".
- It weighs 5.42 lbs (w/o ballhead).
- When it is all folded, the length is 28.7" (w/o ballhead).
- Extended height is 63" (5'3"), without ballhead.
- Fully extended with center column at full height is 67.7" (around 5'7"), without ballhead.
- Minimum height, again without ballhead, is 11" off the ground.
- It will support up to 10kg (22 lbs!)
So lets move on to the ballhead's specs
- It is 4.7" tall
- it has a 2.5" base diameter
- it weighs 1.3lbs
- it supports up to 10kg (22 lbs)
- it has a 3 way bubble level.
Here it is all folded up and ready to go, with the ballhead. There is some gear around it to give you a little sense of size, my cell phone, my diana camera, and the tools that came with the tripod.
So, lets open it up!
So that's it unfolded, legs still at their shortest.
Lets look at some of the little details here before we get too excited.
Here is the MH-1000 logo on the ballhead.
This is also on the ballhead, the 3 way bubble level.
This is the bubble level on the tripod itself.
Here is the logo and model number sticker on the tripod leg.
This is the toolkit attached to the tripod. More on that later!
Here is the center column tension adjuster:
Okay, lets put a camera on it
and extend the legs by using the lever locks here:
to get to this point:
It seems to be pretty tall!
So it has this 'multi function center column' which is one of the main features I wanted this model for. Especially for my macro work. How this works is you extend the center column fully, then you release the tension on these knobs
and raise the column up, until you can tilt it over like this:
So now you can rotate the column 360 degrees around and lengthen or shorten the column as much as you want. When you get it where you want to go, just tighten up those same knobs and away you go!
Lets talk about the independent moving legs which is another feature I was looking for when shopping around for a tripod.
There is these buttons I will call them on tops of the 3 legs that, when pushed in, restrict the movement of the leg to a preset position for, I will say, 'normal operation'. Being a standard set up, all 3 legs the same distance apart. Here are the 'buttons':
You can pull them out to allow you to pull the leg out further, the above picture shows the leg at the lowest point. There is also a middle point as well.
Here is a picture showing the tripod extended and the 3 legs in different positions, this would be good on uneven terrain:
Using these buttons, if you pull them out and pull the 3 legs out the farthest, you can lower the tripod to its lowest working height. At this point, you will either need to extend the center column to its max extension or it will hit the ground. So you could lower the tripod and use the 360 degree center column mode, like this:
Or, if you remember the toolbag shown earlier in the post, it has a short center column in it. In order to use this, you will need to remove the big center column and also attach the head to the short center column. To swap the head over to the short center column, you need to use the supplied allen key to loosen this screw:
Then you can remove the plate that holds the ball head, and you simply swap it over to the short column, which looks like this:
Once that is done, you can insert the short column into the spot where the bigger column came out. You will need to lock it into place with this little knob, which aligns a small post into the groove of the small column:
and voila! you have your tripod at its lowest point and the short column installed.
(Another selling point with this model is that you can use it without a head by using the short column installed all the time, it will function as a 3 way head on its own.)
Lets talk abit about the ballhead! This is model MH 1000-652. So that means that the ball part is MH1000, and the plate on top of it is MH 652. They came together, you can also get different combos. At some point, I will probably upgrade to a quick release plate, hopefully an 'L' plate, which will let me swap between portrait and landscape orientation without detaching the plate from the camera.
Here is a shot of the ballhead:
The knob on the right, is the locking knob for friction control, the knob on the left is for the socket ball, and the knob on the bottom middle is for the panning base. Pretty self explanatory!
The portion that attaches to the camera is pretty simple as well, you have your plate that screws onto the camera, then you have the part that the plate clips into.
The part that goes on the camera has a slotted screw in the bottom with a little metal tab for easy turning (thank you) like this:
To release the plate from the base, there is a dual action release lever for added security.
So you will push and hold in the little tab I have dubbed '1', then you will pull the tab dubbed '2' over and that will release the plate! Pretty neat
And finally, here is a close up on the panning markers:
So I think that about sums it up!
First impressions are;
- Tripod and head seem super sturdy
- quality is top notch, feels and looks professional
- has all the features I wanted, and then some
I highly recommend looking at this model if you are in the market for a tripod
Ok, thanks for reading this, leave me a comment or drop me a line if you want to see some more info or if you have a particular question about it :)
Stay tuned for a write up on my Diana F+ camera (pictured in some of the images above)
Craig
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to send out a quick note wishing you all a happy holidays and a wonderful new years!
I hope 2010 is going to be another great year for everyone :)
I am back off to toronto for a few days to spend christmas with my aunt and uncle!
Look for new and exciting things from me in 2010, including snowy pictures, my (mis)adventures trying to figure out my printer (still) and some other cool stuff I am sure!
This year went by so fast and a lot happened with me and my photography stuff. Well, just in general actually! My son is going to be 2 in a few days, I got married in Jamaica, I have a photo on a book cover(!!), and I got a new car! I am sure there is other stuff as well.
Well, I should stop procrastinating and get to sleep, since I have to leave at 6am for toronto!
Here is a little photo of my son helping decorate the christmas tree!
Be safe this holiday!
See you in 2010
Craig
Just wanted to send out a quick note wishing you all a happy holidays and a wonderful new years!
I hope 2010 is going to be another great year for everyone :)
I am back off to toronto for a few days to spend christmas with my aunt and uncle!
Look for new and exciting things from me in 2010, including snowy pictures, my (mis)adventures trying to figure out my printer (still) and some other cool stuff I am sure!
This year went by so fast and a lot happened with me and my photography stuff. Well, just in general actually! My son is going to be 2 in a few days, I got married in Jamaica, I have a photo on a book cover(!!), and I got a new car! I am sure there is other stuff as well.
Well, I should stop procrastinating and get to sleep, since I have to leave at 6am for toronto!
Here is a little photo of my son helping decorate the christmas tree!
Be safe this holiday!
See you in 2010
Craig
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Wolf at my Door
Hi everyone!
I have some great news!
My Uncle Doug has been writing a book about his battle with prostate cancer and it is now finished and available for sale! The book is titled "The Wolf at my Door". Here is a brief blurb about the book taken from the publishers website:
Click here to check out more on the book and purchase it directly from the publishers site. You can also view his blog "Talking about Cancer".
I have known about this book for awhile now, and when the time got closer and closer to it being completed he approached me with an idea for the book cover, and having seen my photography work, he asked me to create the book cover. At first, he wanted just a picture of a door, then it evolved over time to including many elements digitally added in. Including a shadow of a wolf, and scratches on the door itself from the wolfs claws.
I was honored to be given this opportunity and immediately started scouting locations. I remembered visiting old historic site near my hometown when I was younger and thought it might have what we wanted. So I packed up the camera and the family and drove to go check it out. Well, I was in luck! We found an amazing old door that fit almost exactly with what Doug had described. I framed my shot and snapped a bunch of images. I processed the image soon after and printed a draft copy and sent it to him. He called me as soon as he got it, and said that it was perfect! We were both really excited and quickly began work on the fine details. Here is the image before any manipulation.
Okay, so that's it for now, a little teaser if you will! This weekend we are having a book launch party in Toronto for friends and family. Doug will be signing copies of the book and I will present a time line and progression of the book cover, from concept to finish! When that's done, I will post it up here as well so you all can see the changes the cover went through.
Thanks again for your support! I am very excited to have this book released, and can't wait to read it!
Happy Holidays everyone
Craig
I have some great news!
My Uncle Doug has been writing a book about his battle with prostate cancer and it is now finished and available for sale! The book is titled "The Wolf at my Door". Here is a brief blurb about the book taken from the publishers website:
When Doug Gosling was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at the relatively young age of forty-nine, it was the beginning of an incredible journey of profound discovery. As he says, “I came to realize that cancer was really two diseases in one; a physical disease of the body and also an emotional disease – a cancer of the mind, if you will.” In The Wolf at my Door, Doug engages us in a deep and open discussion of the two faces of this deadly disease. His incredible story has relevance to people with any type of cancer and, equally, for those who love and care for them.
Click here to check out more on the book and purchase it directly from the publishers site. You can also view his blog "Talking about Cancer".
I have known about this book for awhile now, and when the time got closer and closer to it being completed he approached me with an idea for the book cover, and having seen my photography work, he asked me to create the book cover. At first, he wanted just a picture of a door, then it evolved over time to including many elements digitally added in. Including a shadow of a wolf, and scratches on the door itself from the wolfs claws.
I was honored to be given this opportunity and immediately started scouting locations. I remembered visiting old historic site near my hometown when I was younger and thought it might have what we wanted. So I packed up the camera and the family and drove to go check it out. Well, I was in luck! We found an amazing old door that fit almost exactly with what Doug had described. I framed my shot and snapped a bunch of images. I processed the image soon after and printed a draft copy and sent it to him. He called me as soon as he got it, and said that it was perfect! We were both really excited and quickly began work on the fine details. Here is the image before any manipulation.
Okay, so that's it for now, a little teaser if you will! This weekend we are having a book launch party in Toronto for friends and family. Doug will be signing copies of the book and I will present a time line and progression of the book cover, from concept to finish! When that's done, I will post it up here as well so you all can see the changes the cover went through.
Thanks again for your support! I am very excited to have this book released, and can't wait to read it!
Happy Holidays everyone
Craig
Thursday, November 26, 2009
My new toy
Here is my new printer, I am in the process of setting it up now! I am very very excited about it!
I will post with more info later on!!
C
I will post with more info later on!!
C
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Here are some shots from my creepy day in Gatineau
Hi folks!
Finally got around to processing some of the shots from Gatineau a few weeks back.
So as I mentioned in my last post, it was a lonely and foggy morning. I tried my best to capture a sense of atmosphere and eerieness! The first 2 pics should show that, then the last one is a waterfall that I followed all the way up to the top of the trail!
So I plan to do a write up about the adventure at some point, when I get all the good shots processed, I will either do it here, or on my gallery!
Oh and I bought a new car last week! I picked it up on friday, its awesome!
Here are some pics :)
See ya!
C
Finally got around to processing some of the shots from Gatineau a few weeks back.
So as I mentioned in my last post, it was a lonely and foggy morning. I tried my best to capture a sense of atmosphere and eerieness! The first 2 pics should show that, then the last one is a waterfall that I followed all the way up to the top of the trail!
So I plan to do a write up about the adventure at some point, when I get all the good shots processed, I will either do it here, or on my gallery!
Oh and I bought a new car last week! I picked it up on friday, its awesome!
Here are some pics :)
See ya!
C
Friday, October 30, 2009
Had an eerie adventure today!
Hey everyone!
So I finally got out to Gatineau Park this morning! It was a perfect morning and day! Not too cold, very atmospheric. There was a thick fog for the majority of the morning and it was just the kind of atmosphere I wanted to capture. My mood lately would not have been suited to bright sunny pictures :)
Anyways, here is a shot I took from my phone, not the best quality, but I will post more later on!
Thanks and stop by soon to see more!
C
So I finally got out to Gatineau Park this morning! It was a perfect morning and day! Not too cold, very atmospheric. There was a thick fog for the majority of the morning and it was just the kind of atmosphere I wanted to capture. My mood lately would not have been suited to bright sunny pictures :)
Anyways, here is a shot I took from my phone, not the best quality, but I will post more later on!
Thanks and stop by soon to see more!
C
Monday, October 19, 2009
Lost Forest
Hey everyone, just a quick little post to let you know I am still alive :)
I was driving to a clients to shoot some pictures and I passed this little pathway. I didn't have time to stop on the way, so I made it on the way back and hoped the light was still good. Although not as good as before, the sunlight was still ok! There was a lot of falling leaves and I tried to capture some of them, but in the shade it was a little more difficult to increase the shutter speed and keep my ISO as low as possible.
I plan on going out on a day trip to Gatineau Park to shoot some more landscapes. It seems like awhile since I have taken any shots for myself!
See you around!
C
Friday, October 2, 2009
It's October!!
Hey everyone!
Been awhile since I have blogged :) Let's see, what has been going on with me lately? Well, I have been working 2 jobs! My normal job making ethanol, and I got job taking photos for a local company for their website and some printed adverts! It is very exciting, and it's really nice to get a taste of the business side of things! More on that later on, when the job is done :)
I also was the photographer for my good friends Jess & Chester's wedding at the end of the September. It was a lot of fun! I was a little leery about it first, I am used to shooting nature and candid shots of my family and stuff, so this was definitely a new experience for me.
Luckily, they were on the same page as me when it came down to what style they wanted their wedding shot in. I am not one for too much posing and neither were they. They let me work in the background and pretended as if I wasn't there. They also want the majority of shots in black and white!! We all know how that made me feel :D :D :D!!
I ended up renting a lens for the wedding shoot, because the reception venue was pretty dark. I rented a Nikon 24-70 f2.8! It was amazing! Really heavy and built like a tank as well. The pictures it takes are spectacular, I would recommend this lens to anyone! It's a bit pricey though. I didn't think it was going to be wide enough on my cropped frame sensor, but it was perfect! I don't think it left my camera the whole day, asides from a few shots here and there! It was a little sad when I had to bring it back to the store the next day, that's for sure. Again, I am going to put up some shots from that lens soon as well, once I have processed the wedding album for the couple. I will also give a report on the flash brackets I used for the day and the excellent 'Demb Flash Diffuser Pro' that I bought and love!
hmmm, I knew I was missing something! My lovely wife bought me a christmas present! I ruined the surprise though :) The mailman delivered it, I happened to be home that day and answered the door. The package happened to be ripped right where the product name was on the box!! So I ruined christmas this year. She was a little upset to say the least. But, I am even more so the luckiest guy in the world! She had bought me a "Canon PixmaPro 9500" printer!! It is amazing!! It's not hooked up yet, it is huge and I need to clear out some room before I install it.
Well, that's all for now! I must go to bed because I have to work all weekend! But definitely stay tuned for some more updates and pictures, and some product write ups!!
Thanks for reading!
C
Been awhile since I have blogged :) Let's see, what has been going on with me lately? Well, I have been working 2 jobs! My normal job making ethanol, and I got job taking photos for a local company for their website and some printed adverts! It is very exciting, and it's really nice to get a taste of the business side of things! More on that later on, when the job is done :)
I also was the photographer for my good friends Jess & Chester's wedding at the end of the September. It was a lot of fun! I was a little leery about it first, I am used to shooting nature and candid shots of my family and stuff, so this was definitely a new experience for me.
Luckily, they were on the same page as me when it came down to what style they wanted their wedding shot in. I am not one for too much posing and neither were they. They let me work in the background and pretended as if I wasn't there. They also want the majority of shots in black and white!! We all know how that made me feel :D :D :D!!
I ended up renting a lens for the wedding shoot, because the reception venue was pretty dark. I rented a Nikon 24-70 f2.8! It was amazing! Really heavy and built like a tank as well. The pictures it takes are spectacular, I would recommend this lens to anyone! It's a bit pricey though. I didn't think it was going to be wide enough on my cropped frame sensor, but it was perfect! I don't think it left my camera the whole day, asides from a few shots here and there! It was a little sad when I had to bring it back to the store the next day, that's for sure. Again, I am going to put up some shots from that lens soon as well, once I have processed the wedding album for the couple. I will also give a report on the flash brackets I used for the day and the excellent 'Demb Flash Diffuser Pro' that I bought and love!
hmmm, I knew I was missing something! My lovely wife bought me a christmas present! I ruined the surprise though :) The mailman delivered it, I happened to be home that day and answered the door. The package happened to be ripped right where the product name was on the box!! So I ruined christmas this year. She was a little upset to say the least. But, I am even more so the luckiest guy in the world! She had bought me a "Canon PixmaPro 9500" printer!! It is amazing!! It's not hooked up yet, it is huge and I need to clear out some room before I install it.
Well, that's all for now! I must go to bed because I have to work all weekend! But definitely stay tuned for some more updates and pictures, and some product write ups!!
Thanks for reading!
C
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