This is part two of the Shooting in Bad Weather series. Part one talked about getting out to shoot even if the weather seems like it will be a complete waste. Here we talk about finding bad weather to shoot in so that you can photograph somewhere in a situation that few if anyone will ever see.

Finding bad weather can be easy. First of all it comes when you plan on it not being there. Taking it to the next level you can do these things to almost assuredly get bad weather to shoot in.

Follow the weather channel, watch those radar readings, satellite imagery and weather forecasts for indications of where bad weather will be. If you miss the bad weather because a forecast miscasts, you will still likely find yourself mostly there alone. I am amazed at how many people will cancel a trip or outing because of only the potential for bad weather. How often are they always right?

Visit in the off season, this usually means the more interesting and weather influenced season! Many famous places are free from crowds at off peak times. I have visited many famous places in the middle of bad weather, and during the off season and found myself there all by myself.

Look at historical records of when rain and snow are most likely to come to an area. This isn’t a guarantee you will find weather, but if your stuck planning trips far in advance this may be the key to more likely finding weather different from the common blue sky and sunny days.

Look up once in a while and with practice you will be able to tell most likely where what weather will hit on an hour by hour basis in a day. This is hard to do in forests or canyons, but wide open places make it possible. When I was in the Grand Tetons a while back I would get out of the tent and be able to tell where the mountains might be visible, and guess what might go on in the next few hours by the clouds in the sky and watching how fast they were moving and in which direction. This can be totally ineffective at times but it can also be very effective if you practice continually.

These are a few ideas for finding bad weather to shoot in. There are other ways I am sure, but these are usually my starting point for planning on what to expect when I head out somewhere to shoot.

Remember weather is usually only really bad if your totally unprepared for the elements that you are dealing with. There are many situations that are dangerous to be in. I personally won’t go near lightening, or potential flash floods. Those are some things that no amount of gear or preparation can negate the consequences of if you get “struck” by them. So remember safety first, but most of the time you are dealing with only a small amount of inconvenience for great opportunities to photograph an areas in an entirely different character and light from what most people will ever see it in.

What do you do to find great opportunities to photograph places in different weather conditions?

This is part two of Shooting in Bad Weather. Check out part one Shooting in Bad Weather to find out why you should even try getting out to shoot in bad weather at all.

How to Buy the Right Camera Part Four – Making the final decision!

This is Part Four of the How to Buy the Right Camera Series and the last installment. To catch it from the beginning check out “How to Buy the Right Camera” Part One!

There are a lot of different types of cameras available. They come in all shapes and sizes, and can do some pretty amazing things. My own camera can do a lot of things I don’t even know about. Narrowing it down to which one you are going to buy can be difficult, so here is my last bit of advice.

• Don’t buy a camera because someone tells you to (I have tried really hard to not tell you to buy the Canon 5D Mark 2 because I use it. Well I said it, but it may be the wrong one for you).
• Consider realistically what you will use the camera for, especially what you need and want, and buy for that purpose or perhaps one with a little bit of growing room if you are looking for more.
• Consider the effects that camera will bring about. Is it to heavy to carry all the time? Are you embarrassed to use it in public? Does it draw to much attention to you? Does it have what you need for now and in the future?
• Lastly remember the photographer makes the pictures, not the camera. The camera is only one of many tools in the photographic process, all of which are initiated by the photographer!

I hope this little series has been of good use to you. I honestly didn’t expect it to run into such a long series. As I am finishing this up it has reached nearly 4500 words. Wow, sorry about how long winded I got.  This is an important decision but don’t let it overtake you. The camera only makes pictures. You are the one that makes amazing images and art.

What camera did you decide to buy? For you what was the deciding factor?

This is part four of a series on How to Buy the Right Camera.

Part One gives a basic overview.

Part Two talks about needs and wants.

Part Three discusses the different types of cameras.

Part Four talks about the final decision.

I hope you enjoy!

How to buy the Right Camera Part 2 – Needs and Wants talked about the things you may need and want in your new camera. In part 3 of this series we look at the types of cameras out there and what their differences are. If you new to this series, start with part one, How to Buy the Right Camera.

In the last article I talked about considering the different things you may or may not need and want your new camera to do, and where you will be using it.  In this article I am going to go through several different types of cameras and go over their positive and negative points.

Before I go any further I am breaking down the groups of cameras more by the size of film or digital sensor they have, rather than by the actual style of the camera. Several medium format cameras actually are Single Lens Reflex cameras, or SLRS.

Point and Shoot Cameras

There are lot of point and shoot cameras out there. You find them in phones, digital planners, and other places as well as the traditional point and shoot camera. They come in both film and digital versions (I haven’t looked but I think you can still buy a film point and shoot). I have even seen a large format point and shoot camera that shoots 8×10 film. Most of these are rangefinder type cameras. This basically means that there are two openings, one for you to look through and see what will be in the picture and one for the picture to be taken through. Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras use one opening for taking the picture as well as previewing what will be taken.

Positives

• These cameras are cheap. They are in phones, or other electronic devises at little cost. Often they cost $100 or less and can produce amazing results. They come with a fixed lens, meaning they aren’t meant to change lenses like SLR and Large Format cameras can.
• These cameras are being produced with more and more functions available, a stark contrast from their beginning when they were nothing more than a small box that had a shutter and pretended to be light tight.
• The new digital point and shoot cameras often are very small and can be taken anywhere.
• They usually have the option to make videos, something that many cameras costing far more can’t do.

Negatives

• Have lots of functions, but few useful ones like all manual controls.
• The fixed lens can be versatile but can lack in quality, and limit what pictures you can take especially compared to wide angle, telephoto, and macro photography lenses available for cameras with interchangeable lenses.
• These cameras have a very small sensor (if it is digital) and the quality is often not great beyond screen viewing or small prints.
• The time delay from pressing the button to the actual picture being taking can feel like minutes. They also usually don’t have a high speed shooting rate.
• Some models are plagued by poor battery life, and require a special charger.

These cameras are very useful, and I hope to get one in the future to have as a second camera for self portraits and other things when shooting in the field. Overall they aren’t bad, and have a place that even professional value. Just be sure the one you get doesn’t have too many negative points for your own use.

Single Lens Reflex Cameras (SLRS)

This type of camera is very common and popular. There are both film and digital versions. This category of camera has some versions with fixed lenses, but generally they are designed to have interchangeable lenses allowing a large variety of different lenses to be used with the camera.

These cameras usually can shoot much faster than point and shoots. Film SLR cameras generally are made to shoot the format of 35mm film but there are a few out there that shoot film in the APS size. Digital SLR cameras are produced with a variety of sensor sizes, usually the APS size and the Full Frame size. These refer to sensors that are usually about 22.5mm x 15mm for the APS size and 36mm x 24mm for the full frame. In the case of film and digital cameras the larger the sensor or film size in most cases this leads to better quality. Several types of rangefinder cameras exist with these sizes of sensors or film used.

Positives

• These cameras are usually very portable and may offer the most flexibility and quality for the price.
• They often have a wide variety of lenses and accessories available.
• Some DSLR’s are now equipped with video making capabilities.
• They generally produce a higher quality image than point and shoot.
• Making large high quality prints is an option.
• They often can shoot at 3 frames per second or faster.
• DSLR’s usually have better batteries that are interchangeable.

Negative

• These cameras are more costly, especially the high quality lenses that are available.
• The quality isn’t usually as good as could be had from larger format cameras.
• Some of these cameras and lenses can be heavy, especially if you have several bodies and lenses.

Overall I am quite partial to this type of camera, so I am having a hard time coming up with the negatives! This type of camera is probably one of the most popular camera types available today. More point and shoot cameras may be sold but this style is very popular.

Medium Format Cameras

Medium Format cameras are called thus because they are a larger format than most cameras in the SLR category, but smaller than large format cameras. This smaller or larger format size is of course describing the film or the digital sensor not the actual size of the camera. There are a few medium format cameras that are smaller than some professional DSLRS or film SLRS. Also there are medium format cameras larger, bulkier and heavier than some large format cameras. Several types of rangefinder cameras exist with this size of film being used.

Medium format cameras make images one a piece of film that is several times larger than a 35mm cameras film. Medium format digital backs represent perhaps the largest digital camera sensor that is in common production. These cameras range from 16 to 60 or more megapixels in resolution.

Medium format cameras film and digital are larger and more ungainly to use. The reason to use these cameras is because you need the higher quality or some other feature these cameras have. For example there are some medium format camera lenses that are capable of ultra high speed flash sync shooting. Most DSLRS and SLRS aren’t capable of that.

Positives

• Amazing quality, especially from the digital backs available for medium format cameras
• The lenses are usually of much higher quality than those available to SLRS and DSLRS
• Some accessories are only available to these types of cameras

Negatives

• These cameras especially the digital versions are extremely expensive. Film versions are becoming less so. However the cost of shooting medium format film cameras is much higher than 35mm film cameras.
• They are often larger and heavier than most SLRS and DSLRS.
• Most medium format film cameras don’t produce results of as high quality as is possible with DSLRS.
• They don’t often have the option of shooting faster than 1 frame a second, and if they have auto focus it is often slower than SLRS and DSLRS.
• The higher quality is sensitive to proper use. Get sloppy and the results will be awful.

Large Format Cameras

These cameras are called large format because of the extremely large pieces of film used in the shooting process. Film sizes are often 4 inches x 5 inches, 5 inches x 7 inches, or 8 inches by 10 inches. There are even larger sizes, but these cameras are usually custom made and not widely available. This large piece of film generally produces the best results possible from a single image. Some medium format digital backs give this quality a run for its money, especially the 8×10 size. These formats are all shot at a very high cost per shot, though purchasing equipment isn’t prohibitively expensive.

These cameras are generally all manual, and have no metering system. You need an external light meter, and will have to set the shutter speed and aperture. They do allow the tilting and shifting of the film plane. What? If you know what it is it is cool. Basically this allows ultimate control of what is in focus, perspectives, and other things. These functions are nice to have, and available to a limited extent in the medium format and SLRS and DSLRS.

Positives

• The image quality possible is why many use these cameras.
• The size of these cameras can be large, but many models are available that are very light.
• You have total control of the image by tilting and shifting the film plane along with the all manual controls of the shutter and aperture.
• The quality of lenses is usually quite high, and not to costly.
• You will slow down and consider shots more carefully and often this will increase your overall quality.
• These cameras have a solid reputation for creating art of high quality.

Negatives

• The cost of shooting a piece of 8×10 film can easily reach $10, this doesn’t include printing or digitizing in any way.
• The equipment and required accessories can get bulky, heavy and expensive.
• You will end up shooting far fewer images.
• The entire shooting process can be quite labor intensive and for some this will decrease actual shots attempted or even considered.

This type of camera has a cult following. It is a labor of love that can produce amazing results. I am often tempted to go back and shoot it a bit more. This may or may not happen…

So those are the major types of cameras available. There are a few other types like twin lens reflex cameras, but they won’t be for sale on Amazon or other places new actually found that several varieties are for sale new on amazon, check out the link above to see them. If you want more information about them then go ahead and Google them!

What is your favorite? Which do you think would be your next purchase if you could have any of them?

If you new to this series, start with part one, How to Buy the Right Camera.

Buying the right camera is today’s subject. We have all faced a high pressure salesman, the social pressure of trying to be like or better than everyone else, and you may feel like you want to try and get what camera a professional has so you could do the same stuff as them.

Those are all the wrong reasons to consider buying a certain camera. I will be honest I have gone through many of those situations, so I am not trying to point fingers. The whole purpose of this series is to try and get you closer to what you really want and what you really need.

There are a few things you need to consider when buying a camera. This post is the beginning of a series on how to buy the right camera for you, and not for everyone else. If you are pro and already have the camera you want then this maybe isn’t exactly what you want to read today. That is cool.

When I am considering buying a camera I consider a few of these things. From the outset I am going to make the assumption that money isn’t a problem, we just don’t want to spend more than we absolutely have to. So I am not going to tell you buy a $40,000 camera if you only need a $100 one.

• What do I need and want this camera to primarily do for me?
• Where and when is this camera going to be used?
• What are the major types of cameras and the practical differences?
• Remember who and what actually makes pictures better.
• Making the final decision.

If you have to make a decision now then go ahead and just use this quick outline to help yourself out, or read these follow up posts to get help buying what you need and will actually want later one.

What do you consider primarily when thinking of buying a camera?

The ideal camera bag is something most photographers search for. There is a survey going on over at Digital Photography School that asks people what camera bag is their favorite. Judging by the response people are giving there are a lot of options and there isn’t a clear winner.

I have personally researched and considered a lot of camera bags for a long time. I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t an ideal bag for me made by a camera bag company. Like most people I have a need for different bags in multiple situations. For most of those situations I haven’t found a bag that is ideal. I have to deal with carrying kids, lots of lighting gear, and lots of gear or just a little all depending on what the shooting situation is. For me there isn’t an ideal bag, but several that would be ideal.

I have three problems in general with the average camera bags available today.

• First, they cost a lot of money. It is true that some are coming down significantly in price and still offering great value.
• Second, the bags are often easily identifiable as camera bags. Nothing like advertising that your bag is worth a nice chunk of change (quite a few of you have bags of gear costing more than 5 figures, and in some cases perhaps closer to 6 figures).
• Camera bags don’t usually have a harness that can comfortably distribute the weight you put in the bag. This is especially the case with camera backpacks. I may have been spoiled by my extended use of high quality mountaineering bags in the past; they manage to provide great harnesses for carrying obscene weights comfortably.

So I have gone the route of using a mountaineering bag and a hip style bag for my camera bags. One is a very old Black Diamond bag that can carry a lot of gear easily. It isn’t a panel loading design like most camera bags, it is a top loader, but for me that isn’t something that’s a problem.

The other is a Mountainsmith lumbar bag that I use for shorter day type things. Both offer great weight carrying comfort and don’t advertise the fact that they are holding a lot of valuable gear. The problem is that carrying a tripod on any bag makes it easy for someone to put two and two together.

Overall both bags weigh less than 2 pounds, so they don’t add a lot of weight to the total you will have to carry.

Along with those two bags I have a much larger panel loading bag that I keep all my gear in and then pull out what I will need for a day or specific shoot. I would really like one of the think tank roller series bags for this but I haven’t gotten around to spending money on that just yet.

I use lens wraps to wrap each lens and piece of gear that needs padding, and have cut up an old closed cell foam pad to put in the bottom of each bag for the little extra padding that is needed. The nice thing about the wraps is that I can protect my gear with them in any place I want to put it. To keep things ordered with the lens wraps I bought several different colors. Then I put everything into wraps by color so I know what is in each color wrap by just looking at it and can easily pull out what I want.

That is how I manage my gear. Those two bags are great for carrying and organizing, and when there is extra room they can carry other stuff.

I really am regularly enticed by the variety of camera bags and things that they can do, and their almost sexy design (only in a few cases for that). In the end I look closely at what will work best and I am still using the mountaineering bag and the lumbar bags now 7 years later.

There are a few bags that I really like the idea of. To not come across as a camera bag hater here is a list of the camera bags that I like the most and links to information about them.

• Think Tank Shape Shifter
• Lowepro Flipside 300
• Think Tank Rollers
• Domke Bags
• Kiboko Gura Gear Bag

I have favorite mountaineering bag brands as well, so if your interested in this route check them out for what may work best for you.

• Mountainsmith
• Black Diamond Equipment
• The North Face
• Arcteryx

What works for you? Do you change often? What is your favorite brand?

Last year I made a few photography gear purchases that made photography better for me all year long. Good news is that they are cheaper rather than expensive.

Mid Range Prime Lens

The first thing I got that really changed my shooting was a 50mm macro lens. I got the Canon version so my experience was based on that lens rather than ones available to other brands. This was a great purchase because it has macro built in. It doesn’t give 1:1 magnification and I still haven’t used the 1:1 converter available but I love the macro on it. It lets you get really close when shooting portraits, or detail landscape work.

It also is a great focal length for my style of shooting, I generally end up with most pictures shot at 17mm to 20mm (about 30%) and the majority of the rest usually fall into that 50mm range (50%) so I didn’t need to carry around my heavier zoom lens (actually I sold it happily because it was getting no use).

The f2.5 maximum aperture is quite shallow especially when you shoot pictures from a foot or less. Lastly the sharpness is amazing. It is easily one of my sharpest lenses. Corner to corner I love the sharpness in the pictures that I shoot with this lens.  There is something else as well about shooting with prime lenses that I really like. This lens is a real pleasure.

This lens is also very light. Some people would feel like it feels cheap and flimsy. It has had no durability issues for me in a wide range of uses I put it through this year. Plus being light I took it everywhere with me and this often paid off with more pictures captured rather than not.

The biggest negative is that it focuses slowly. Oh well, if it had to have a downside for this price ($265 as of 2/23/2010) about I will take the slow focusing.

If you have this lens then try out the non macro version 50mm lens. It has a shallow depth of field, and is a great little lens I am excited to try. Both of these lenses are very inexpensive as far as photography equipment goes. The macro version is a great starter for macro and is especially useful for shooting macro because it provides a different macro perspective from longer macros by allowing far more depth of field. Because of the increased depth of field in the 50mm macro I have had great photography opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise with just the 100 or 150 macro lenses I also have.

This gets a huge thumbs up!

The Timer Cable Release

I know that there are several of these available from name brands and off brands but the recommendation is for the functions it offers rather than the specific product, so keep that in mind. Canon’s is called the TC80N3, and there is an off brand version made by Opteca. What these all do is give you a cable release and also a very nice way to control timed sequences of photos as well as a programmable timer. I know that they are costly, but equipment that costs less than $200 and that offers real value is a nice thing.

I love this little dohicky for a few reasons. First I can program the self timer to take 7, 9, 117, or 13 seconds. Whatever I really want and need. Several times I was able to get pictures because of being able to set a timer for longer than 10 seconds. Like here and here.

You can set up the timer to take pictures every certain amount of time for as long as you want. I used this function to take quite a few star trail pictures that were later merged (check that out here) and to shoot fun sequences of pictures that I made into a movie.

It also has a programmable bulb. So you can tell it to leave the shutter open for 37 seconds, or for hours (I think 24 hours is the limit).

The bad I have to say about these timer cables is that honestly cameras should have all of these options built in especially since they are electronic. Companies just like to sell us more crap. These options are really nice to have on hand so they set up the extra sell by keeping it separate. But if your reading this Canon, Nikon, or whoever else, just include this in the camera. If you are actually listening then thanks, if not then what is new?

These are useful, and I recommend you get one!

The Lens Wraps

So the last thing I got last year that I really loved was some lens wraps. I got ones made by Skooba. Lots of people make them however so get the brand that works for you. I got this brand because they had a small amount of padding, but most of the entire wrap is designed to repel salt, water, and other things toxic for your gear. I find that lots of padding is overkill so these really do the trick for me. I can wrap up gear and throw it in my backpack and I don’t have to worry about dividers or organizers. I just put on top what I am going to use most and unwrap the lens when I want to put it on the camera.

I really like these little guys! They also fit well into my gear packing method. They cost me about 20 dollars a piece. I actually scored a sale that gave me two for one so I bought quite a few.

The Remote Control

So I am not sure what other cameras have remote controls available. I know that some radio control units like pocket wizard will let you use them like a remote control. Luckily the Canon 5d Mark 2 does have a remote control available for it called the Canon Wireless Remote Control RC1. Again this is a small thing that you should put in every camera because it is cool. Just in case your listening camera makers! So basically what can you do with a remote control? Use your imagination…

I use it for an on the spot cable release if I have forgotten mine because the canon remote control comes with a handy clip to attach it to the camera strap. With this baby no camera shake is require. This was fun, and luckily even a little bit useful! Mine cost $20 or a bit less. Plus it is so small it doesn’t get in the way and is always there.

So that is the list of things I would recommend. Just four things, but they are all pretty useful for me in my shooting. I like the function they offer and the good images they made possible. Best of all they didn’t break the bank!

What little accessories or low cost items are quite useful to you?

post script…I should include a bubble level. However I am such a loser that I just can’t get the rhythm of actually using it. So it didn’t make my list…

Yesterday I decided to shoot a little video talking about the Canon 85mm 1.8, a lens I have had and enjoyed for a while. The video is a hands on review about what I think of the lens and what works about it for me.

A lot of people are going to be thinking about this lens compared to the 85mm 1.2. The biggest differences are what the out of focus areas will look like, focus speed, and size of the lens in hand. The 1.2 aperture is pretty shallow, compared to the 1.8 but in actual use for myself I found I was usually shooting at around 2 or 2.2 aperature openings. So in the case of this lens length either would work for me. The benefits of the 1.8 over the 1.2 faster focusing, and easier to hand hold, as talked about in the video won the game for me.

I elected to not keep this lens because of the rather long minimum focusing distance limiting portrait work, and the harder time I had hand holding this lens and getting consistent sharpness. The canon 100mm 2.8 IS macro solved both of these issues and is now the lens of choice for me to cover this portrait need and macro work.

Hope this helps, if I had know some of the things you face with actually using a lens I may not have gotten this one for my use. This is still a great lens, and I would recommend it with the caveats of limited minimum focusing distance and hand holding issues.

Okay so this post is all about what I would like next from Canon.

To start with, I shoot Canon gear. To see what I shoot with check out my Gear Bag page.

For the record I have ended up shooting canon gear because when I was at the critical point of choosing a camera brand most everyone I know was shooting Canon. At that time I believe it was a good choice. What choice would I make today? Well that is a good question. Now the people I know are shooting about half and half Canon and Nikon. This is mainly due to adding a wider variety of shooting acquaintances than to brand conversions.

I have shot with Nikon and know that either way I would be happy.

So here is what I am telling Canon now. Please consider my following requests seriously if you would like to keep me as a customer and convince me to not switch sides!

Canon I love your 70-200 f4 IS. This is my favorite lens easily. Not necessarily the most used, but my favorite. The one I try and make excuses to use. If nikon came out with this lens today, and you didn’t do any of the things I request, I would go strait to them for this.

Canon I also love the Canon 5d Mark 2. It is a great camera. Maybe you could have made up a better name, but oh well. Here are some things that I don’t like about it. Later I make a list of things you can add or do to make it even better, or the best camera ever.

• It focuses terribly in bad light. It is also pretty slow at focus tracking. Give us better focusing power in the same body size.
• The memory buffer could be bigger. I am not sure how this works, but it seems to not be a big deal to make it a lot bigger. Do it!
• Give us auto focus on the video. That is the next step.
• Pop a mirror lock up button on the outside.

So overall the camera isn’t to bad. But please give us a better camera on the next upgrade, not just more megapixels. So here is what I want in the next upgrade you come out with for this range of camera.

• If you have to add more mega pixels lets not worry about more than 28 or so. Honestly, it seems that we have reached the limit of how many mega pixels we need for stuff, without more real estate. (larger sensors). If you want to go higher, start up a medium format thing…
• Give us a faster processing camera. I would like a buffer of no less than 100 raw images, or better yet, unlimited.
• Give us at least 6 fps. I would like the option of 10 fps in a small body like the 5d mark 2. 3.9 fps really isn’t enough for a camera to cover all types of shooting.
• Better auto focusing is required. If you want this to be used for something besides sedentary objects we need faster focusing.
• Better battery life for long exposures.
• Dual Memory Card Slots.

Okay so there really isn’t to much I want. I understand that a lot of these features are pro level. That is okay, I just want these options in a smaller body. At this point (21 mp) I don’t need more mega pixels. I want a camera that will shoot these better and faster. Sadly this probably won’t sell you more cameras. So I will never see it. That is why Nikon may be getting a new customer.

Also I would like some other things…

• Give us better wide angle lenses. The 16-35 2.8 version 2 is really nice. Just go pay to use Nikon’s 14-24 design. I want that lense in Canon.
• Give us an updated 100-400 IS
• Come out with an all new 200-400 f4 or similar lens. Yep that Nikon lens is awesome as well, and makes me drool.
• Come out with a flash system that basically incorporates pocket wizard like controls in the camera that can control flashes that have the radio receivers built in so all we need is camera and flash units. It is time to come out with something totally new. This will also allow you to sell extra separate units that will control old flashes, and studio lights, or any other light for that matter. This is good for you. New products that people would really want and be ready to pay for!
• Also make special batteries for these new flashes that will last forever like your camera batteries. This will make me really happy, not having to deal with AA batteries! In fact make them interchangeable with the camera’s battery.

Really that is all. Just start making cameras the Pros want, not what the consumers will buy. I know that this wont happen, but it is what I want and honestly need as a photographer.

Thanks Canon (if your even listening, which we are pretty sure your not…)!