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The 50 Comparison

Not long after I bought my camera I added the 50mm f/1.8 to my camera bag. I was thrilled to have a prime lens & all that extra light capable of coming into my shots. It has been on my camera all the time- it’s what stays on there until I have a specific need to change out for some other reason. I really didn’t think there was anything wrong with it at all- until I started my class. I was using it to take full body shots & I just wasn’t getting the tack sharp image that I was looking for- even when closing down to f/9.0 or higher.

So a dear, sweet, GENEROUS friend said she would loan me her 50mm f/1.4 to try so I could get an idea if it was my lens that was the issue. Well- it wasn’t until after it was already shipped off to me that we talked about my expectations when shooting people from father away. I was thinking that when I look at the image in full size on my screen- I should be able to see faces JUST AS tack sharp as I do when I am up close. Yeah- she told me I was being unreasonable. But the lens was already on it’s way to me.

SO – her lens arrives & the first things that took me back was how the same focal length from the same company would be so much larger in size. Now that I have her lens here for a couple weeks & I am putting it to the test. First thing I like is that it’s QUIET in comparison to mine. It “hunts” for focus a lot less & my images are ever so slightly sharper SOOC. I like that it’s heavier & feels more sturdy. In fact- I love it so much- I am going to just buy it from her so I don’t have to be sad to send it back. (for the record- I do think that it is sharper when shooting from afar)

I was totally diggin’ the “low key-ish” with the shadow here.

This set processed with Paint the Moon’s Eclipse action that I mentioned yesterday.
(It’s one of my top picks)

Super Moon ~ Tips on Capturing the Moon

By Kleinworth & Co 13 Comments

First I have to tell you- my dear friend Kim (who creates some amazing pictures btw) is going to be offering some online workshops teaching Photoshop & Elements. I know there are a lot of different classes out there- but if you are just getting started & it’s all so confusing right now, this would be a great place to start. I can’t tell you how long it’s taken me to learn everything she will teach you in about 2 hours time. Seriously- I so wish she would have done this a year ago. AND—– it’s so affordable. You won’t have to forego picking up new gear just to pay for the class. Click the button below & check it out & sign up!

NOW- Let me start by saying- a good portion of capturing the moon depends on it’s placement & the phase it’s in. In my experience- my view of the moon when it’s full, like the super moon, the face that I see has less craters & detail. I have always been less than impressed by my moon shots when it’s full. So I had low expectations when it came to the super moon on Saturday.

Now- here are some things that I have learned about shooting the moon.

First– you need to go against your urge to open the shutter. Capturing the moon is actually like shooting directly at a giant flashlight. You can keep your ISO low & your shutter speed fast. I’m usually using my long lens- so my aperture is usually at a minimum of f/5.6 when zoomed at 300mm.

Second- don’t expect those fabulous moon over the horizon shots to just happen. If you want a detailed moon- you have to go with the settings I mentioned above. When you do this- everything else is black. If you want to capture everything below the moon- you have to open your shutter & your result will be a big glowing dot in the sky. (like this shot below) You have to use a double exposure to get the look you are after. Unless you are shooting at dusk & still have some light in the sky. This being said- the example below shows that I didn’t have quite as much light as I thought- I ended up with the dreaded glowing dot. (I have yet to play with double exposure- maybe someday I will give it a whirl.)

5/5/2012 Super Moon 125mm ISO 200 1/25 f/4.5 (not what I wanted)

It was a good thing that I had low expectations for Saturday- because these really came out like crap in comparison to others I have done in the past. (shown towards the end of the post) I really wish I would have done the bulk of this post before going out to capture the super moon because I would have had all these things fresh in my mind before setting up to shoot. I know that the hubs is going to ask me how they turned out & I am going to have to say- not so good. I thought I was getting it while it was happening- but as you know- the little screen can be deceiving at times. So a good part of this post will be examples of the good & the bad. When looking at my settings between the good & the bad- there is a lot I can tell you of what I should have done & then there are some where I really don’t know what went wrong.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 800 1/160 f/5.6

I thought the sky was light enough to be able to still capture the details. It just wasn’t as sharp as I thought I could get.

I didn’t adjust the warmth either- because at the time it was that yellow while rising.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 400 1/200 f/5.6
I should have lowered the ISO to 200 to get this sharper.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 200 1/250 f/5.6

I really don’t know what the deal is with this one. I had my settings right- but the clarity is beyond disappointing. This particular lens has been less than sharp for me lately. I don’t know why. Maybe from when it dropped back in October. But I don’t know why it would take so long to show the effects of that. It’s just not consistent- which is a bummer.

So it was bugging me & bugging me & bugging me. I couldn’t let it go. I waited all day on Sunday to get out there & try again. It finally rose around the time we were heading to bed & so I rushed out to snap a few before turning in. I was pleased with how they turned out & I even like the mysteriousness of it slipping behind the one lonely cloud that was in the sky that night.

5/6/2012 300mm ISO 400 1/200 f/5.6

I upped the ISO & lowered the shutter speed because it wasn’t nearly as bright while rising.

So- what a difference a couple days makes. I shot this yesterday morning. Yes- I got up at 5am because it was all I could think about. I knew that the moon would be brilliant & bright & I wanted another stab at it. So I got up & got exactly what I was after. You can see that it’s slightly less than full- but that allowed me to capture those craters better & all I did to this image was run a sharpening action on it.

5/7/2012 300mm ISO 200 1/250 f/5.6

Now here are some examples & settings of some past moon shots.

This one I captured back in October. I like that it shows the detail & it’s clear- but it still looks less spherical to me.

October 2011

Then there was the lunar eclipse. This was trickier because it wasn’t glowing at all. So I opened the shutter wide & went against all the rules in my head. The result wasn’t sharp- but I was able to capture exactly what I was seeing with my eyes.

12/10/2011 The Lunar Eclipse 300mm ISO 400 1.0 sec f/5.6

As I mentioned before- sometimes capturing the moon while the sky is blue- rather than black, is the best option. I actually captured this in February one morning at sunrise. While the moon isn’t detailed & sharp- I was able to capture the mood- which at the time was what I wanted.

2/12/2012 Sunrise 100mm ISO 200 1/250 sec f/6.3

This is my favorite shot of the moon to date. I shot this back in January & I love it because not only did I get all my settings right- but I like that it’s less than full, which actually gives it the 3 dimensional feel. Like you see in the images above- when the moon is completely full- it can sort of look flat when captured.

January 2012 300mm ISO 200 1/160 f/5.6

So- it’s obvious that I have a lot to learn still. I’m far from an expert.
But I hope that you are able to see what I have done & it helps you capture what you are after.

Drip, Drop………. Drip

By Kleinworth & Co 26 Comments

Okay- Jaymi- my dear sweet Jaymi!!! You have given me so much fun with the camera these past few weeks. God bless you!!!! When Jaymi posted her drops & told us all how to do it- I promptly wrote it all down & here it sat on my desk. For a week!!!!! I finally decided to give it a go. But I don’t have a macro lens – so I did things a bit differently. I didn’t think to take pics as I went- so you will have to just imagine.

First- I set up the tripod next to the sink. Picked out my fabrics I wanted to use as the back splash behind the water. I used my cheapo macro extension tube with my 75-300mm lens. (this set up works the best for macro for me) Now because it’s not the Canon extension– when I use the tube it not only gives me F/00 on my screen but it also forces me to focus manually. So I put my other settings at ISO400 & shutter at 1/200- focused on the bottom of the faucet & just kept clicking the shutter. I did also use my softbox on my speedlight too. It was a lot like capturing lightning- you just click & see what you got later. But I think that was what was fun about it. Sometimes you get a great one- most of the time you catch it in-between the drops & get nothing. Hurray for digital- right?!!

Now processing- I did boost clarity a bit & sharpened like crazy. But that was it.

Thanks Jaymi for giving me something cool to try.

Now I know I shared this last one on Saturday- but it’s my fav!!

Those of you that have this Cardiff fabric on your strap will recognize this.

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