Wazopia: The Web Blog of Jim Fisher

Vidtography?

The camera world stood still last week with Canon's announcement of the new 5D Mark II. Sure, it's got a new 21 megapixels sensor and all the other cool features from the new 50D like sensor cleaning and SRAW. But two new features are the real frosting on the cake:

1. Low noise ISO up to 6,400 (expandable to 25,600)
2. Full 1080 resolution at 30fps HD video capture

First, the low noise ISO: Canon sensors have always been great at dealing with noise in low-light levels but some of the new Nikons have made vast improvements and have superseded the Canon specs. The new 5D MK2 sets a new standard for all cameras. You can easily set the ISO at 800 or 1600 without a worry. Even the 1600 or 3200 ISO settings look pretty clean as well. This will be a welcome feature for those who suffer shooting sports in the twilight.

Second, is the big bomb, is a feature that will significantly blur the lines between photographer and videographer. The 5D Mk2 will provide in one unit both a professional still camera and a full resolution HD camera. It's like having a top camera with a Canon VIXIA HF10 built in! Add the wide array of Canon lenses and you have a terrific video capture system.

What a great camera for photojournalists! Now they can shoot video. You can see them with two 5D Mk2's, one blasting stills and the other rolling video. One set of lenses, same batteries, accessories, light camera bodies, etc.

To get an idea of what's possible take a look at Vincent Laforet's video using the new Canon 5D MK2. Vince is a Canon Explorers of Light photographer and had access to a 5D MK2 for the weekend.

Lost in all this was the new Canon G10 an upgrade to the super-cool G9 which is not even a year old.

So everything has changed this past week. Canon got the message from the Nikon challenge over the last year and has brought out some outstanding products. Let's see what they do with the 1Ds line next.

Labels: 5D mark ii, camera, canon, High Def, Laforet, video

None dare call it sunshine!

What a difference a week makes! Though it is still cold we had SUNSHINE!

Same images from last week but with actual sunlight!

All images shot with Canon G9 and processed using Adobe Lightroom 1.3.

Labels: adobe, canon, Canon G9, image, lightroom, Ohio, photography, picture, spring

Desperate for Spring - Part 1

Yes, I am desperate for Spring 2008. I want to see sunshine, feel the warm breeze and watch nature's green carpets get rolled out after the white carpets are rolled away. In the meantime, here are some last, lingering winter pictures taken over the last few weeks

Here's the original in all its greyness.

Grey images are great for split toning. This one is called Silver Sand.

This one looks a little more cheerful. It's called Cool Bluetone.

Now for a little more dramatic look. This is a Sepia and Blue split tone.

The original image was shot on a Canon G9. Lightroom 1.3 was used to process the RAW image and then to add the split tones.

Labels: black and white, canon, grey, Ohio, photo, Powershot g9, split tone, tree, winter

There's snow in them there mountains

Imagine our surprise! It was raining, hailing and even some snow fell on the mountains surrounding Scottsdale, Arizona. Locals said they hadn't seen this much rain in years. I'm so glad that we were here to see it.

So it rained in Phoenix, what else is new? Isn't this place where a just last night 13-point underdog knocked off an undefeated team? Only in Phoenix?

Image captured with Canon G9.

Labels: arizona, canon, image, mountain, picture, Powershot g9, scottsdale, skyline, snow

A Bratenahl Lamp

I'm still trying to get out of the winter doldrums. The best thing about winter images is that you can convert them to grayscale. Then you don't have to worry about bleak white/gray skies, lifeless color and low contrast.

On my way to downtown Cleveland, I hopped off the highway at Eddy Rd. and cruised along Lakeshore Blvd. I love the incredible mansions along the road built during a time of great prosperity in Northeast Ohio. I spotted this street lamp at the front of a long driveway. Using Adobe Lightroom I did the usually color treatment,--converted from RAW, white balanced using the eyedropper, cropped, added some vibrance and clarity, and finally, sharpened things up.

So now it's time to play!

First, I went for a more subdued version of the original at the top. Instead of rich color, this one goes for the faded. This is called cross processing which means doing a reverse of the normal way to adjust colors. Lightroom users have provided a number of "presets" you can use to experiement with cross processing or you can create your own presets.

This is a brownstone effect, not quite a sepia tone, but darker. It gives it the 1920's look it deserves.

Finally, I went for a faded color look. I wanted it to look like it was a print from the 1940's but starting to deteriorate. After reading the book, Nash Editions, I learned about how so many of the color images printed on Kodak paper in the 1940-50's faded out, especially the magenta color channel.

This image was captured on the Canon G9.

Labels: adobe, bratenahl, brick, canon, cleveland, fixture, gate, image, lamp, lightroom, ornate, photo, Powershot g9

More Canon G9

The lobby at the new TCP Inc. headquarters in Aurora, OH. They make more compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) than anyone.

Here's an image showing the dynamic range of the Canon G9. Bright sunlight to the left, CFL's above. No noise at ISO 80. Decent depth-of-field at f2.8. Here's the specs:

ISO 80
1/60
f2.8
7.4mm (about 35mm)
RAW capture.

Labels: canon, CFL, image, lighting, lobby, photo, photography, Powershot g9, TCP

Heavy Metal(s)

I went back to the Pollock Hot Bottle Car at Steelyard Commons to play around with the Canon G9.

Big rivets along the side of the car. The streaks come from rust.

Big springs that hold up this solid steel, multi-ton car.

To see the other Pollock picts click here.

Labels: canon, cleveland, Ohio, Powershot g9, steelyard

Light in the Storm

A little burst of light before the storm from Lake Erie starts barreling into town.

Camera: Canon G9 using the 16:9 Widescreen format.

Labels: canon, cleveland, color, photography, Powershot g9, winter

Some Black 'n' Whites from a Gray Day

The sky turn neutral gray yesterday. So here are some black 'n' whites to check out.

A wooden door from Gates Mills, OH.

An old well from Bentleyville, OH.

A field in Hunting Valley, OH.

All images shot with a Canon G9 camera.

Labels: black 'n' white, canon, door, fall, field, image, lightroom, Northeast, Ohio, photo, photography, picture, Powershot g9, well, winter

Three Color Variations on Tiles from the Floor of a Deli

Photography starts in the camera but is brought to life in the digital darkroom. In this case, it's Adobe Lightroom. Here a simple exercise of taking an artifact (tile floor) and working out some color variations. Why? Because we can!

Here is what the floor looks like with normal enhancement.

Next is what is called the "300" look which is desaturation of all but one color.

This variation goes after a "negative" look, in other words reversing the lights and darks similar to a b&w negative (but with color).

Finally, let's freak out the colors a bit by split toning or separating the colors.

The image was made with the Canon Powershot G9, another incredible camera.

Here's the dirt on the exposure:

200 ISO
25mm
1/5sec. @ f4.0

Labels: canon, color, image, lightroom, photo, photography, Powershot g9, tile

Making Web Galleries using Lightroom

I am trying out the Web Gallery feature on Adobe Lightroom 1.3. I put together two of them. The first is called the Postcard Viewer template and it does an interesting job of shuffling the images like a deck of postcards.

The first one is called August 2007 Picks, a kinda of "best of" batch of images. You've seen most of them if you check out this blog often.

The second is a group of pictures I entered into the Canon National Parks Photo Contest. I haven't heard from them yet and I'm not holding my breath.

By the way, you'll need Flash to run the viewer.

Enjoy.

Labels: adobe, canon, contest, gallery, lightroom, photography, postcard, Web

Dried out corn and stalk

Not much color in the original image so I converted to B&W using Adobe Lightroom 1.2.

Labels: adobe, canon, corn, dried, fall, lightroom, Northeast, Ohio, photo, photography, stalk

Scarlet and Grey

This image came out pretty good. Grey is the toughest color to image. No doubt some of you may wonder where the grey is in the picture. That means your monitor is calibrated differently than mine. Whatever the colors I love the swirls in the background.

Let me tell ya, at f2.0 the LensBaby is a bear to focus! To get this image I stood on a rickety picnic table and the wind was blowing the leaves.

Canon 5D, ISO 100, 1/800, f2.0, LensBaby.

Labels: 5D, canon, color, fall, leaf, leaves, lensbaby, lightroom, Northeast, Ohio, photo, photography

More leaves - I can't stop

Only another week and one of the best falls for photography will be over. Then I'll stop this craziness with leaf images.

This image was captured on Fields Rd. in Bainbridge Township, OH.

Soon it will be barren and desolate as winter sets in across Northeast Ohio. Anyone willing to pay for me to take a trip to someplace exciting? Tuscany? Morocco? Cabo?

Labels: 5D, canon, color, fall, leaf, leaves, Northeast, Ohio, photo, photography

Lilies on a rainy day

A pair of beautiful lilies or gladiolas (thank you to my cousin MaryAnne for the correct info) in front of Thayer Hall at Holden Arboretum.

Labels: 5D, Arboretum, canon, flower, Holden, Northeast, Ohio, photo

An Amish Saturday

Amish life is simple and fun. Plenty of walking or riding on horse-drawn vehicles. Here's a few scenes in and around Mesopotamia, OH. Enjoy!

An Amish father and his sons walk along the road.

A young Amish boy pushes a scooter.

An Amish family takes a ride on a cart pulled by Shetland pony.

An Amish couple takes an afternoon stroll.

A familiar site throughout Geauga, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties are these Amish buggies.

Labels: 5D, Amish, boy, buggy, canon, fall, family, father, Geauga, horse, image, Mesopotamia, Northeast, Ohio, photo, ride, road, scooter, sons, walk

Leaves and camera

*** CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE ***

Why do fall leaves and digital cameras go so well together? Take a look!

This grove of trees were so spectacular I almost parked in the middle of the road to shoot them. The sky looks great and with my handy polarizer filter the blue sky looks glorious.

A nice contrast of a barren tree in the foreground against a beautiful tree in the background.

Labels: 5D, blue, canon, color, fall, leaf, leaves, Northeast, Ohio, photo, road, sky, tree

The Falls at Chagrin Falls

Friday was a beautiful day in the Cleveland area. The sky was blue, the weather was mild and the leaves are lovely. I took a short stroll around the Triangle in Chagrin Falls. Enjoy!