Launch of Mitchell Kanashkevich's Captivating Color

Occasionally, scenes do grab me by the neck and scream, "Mic, you've got to be an idiot not to see color here!"No, this blog is not the official fan page for Mitchell Kanashkevich.  Just when I do a review of Mitchell Kanashkevich's Understanding Post-Processing, he comes out with a third e-book, Captivating Color: A Guide to Dramatic Color Photography. Pure coincidence I assure you.  Anyway, pay attention because you don't want to miss...

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In Retrospect: Search for Second Flash

Baby SoftWhen my Yongnuo YN-560 flash got fried (or rather, drowned), I started looking for another flash.  Although I was satisfied with the YN-560, I got an Nikon SB-600 as a replacement, primarily for the remote adjustment capability.  I thought I'd update everyone on what I think of that choice in retrospect.(Hit the jump)The YN-560 and other manual flashes excel as a second or third flash if used for setup shots.  It's hard to...

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Understanding Post-Processing by Mitchell Kanashkevich

cover of Understanding Post-Processing Besides Rick Sammon's Light It! app, another tutorial I read over the weekend and that I'm excited about is Mitchell Kanashkevich's ebook Understanding Post-Processing.  Whereas Rick Sammon's app is addressed toward beginners and novices, Mitchell's ebook is primarily for intermediate or advanced amateurs and even pros.ABOUT THE AUTHORMitchell Kanashkevich is a travel photographer who's career as a...

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Junior Strobist in Training

The photo above is not a self-portrait.  It's actually our toddler's first strobist (i.e., off-camera flash) photo!  As you can see, with some lighting technique, even a child can take a decent photo. :)Strobist/lighting info: the key light was a small softbox on an SB-800 mounted on-camera, also acting as CLS commander for the rim light, which was an SB-600.  Both flashes were on T...

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Preview of Rick Sammon's Light It! for iOS

Hey everyone!  I downloaded Rick Sammon's Light It! for iOS last night and I'm just halfway through but it's excellent and I would readily recommend it.   Light It! is an app with video tutorials on techniques for taking photos of people.  Like the title says, much of the focus is on getting good light on the subject, both ambient and flash.  Here's an excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbpMhBs47Hg I found the tutorials to provide a good intro to lighting concepts.  If you're somewhat new to photography and...

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Seller Rating Is Not a Guarantee

(I promise this will be the last post on scams - at least for a while!) The hypothetical seller in yesterday's post about scams targetting sellers was me of course.  Not that hard to guess :) .  Yeah, I've been thinking of upgrading my D300 to a D700.  (I debated this with my colleague and fellow blog contributor mshafik -- I'll post that full frame vs. small sensor discussion soon). Interestingly, I found a D700 on sale on Amazon's used marketplace for a little more than $1300 (current final eBay prices are at least...

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Caveat Venditor - Seller Beware

Perhaps you've been yearning for a new camera.  Maybe one that's full-frame.  Or has much better high ISO performance.  Or has that one feature missing from your camera that could transform your photography.  So you think about selling your camera to upgrade.  You research the prices online, and advertise your camera at a fair price on craigslist.  You get a few inquiries that are mostly low-ballers.  Then one day you get an offer from someone who's willing to buy your camera at $100 more than the price you offered...

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Japan's Earthquake Consequences: Canon EF 35mm f/2

If you have read my prime lenses chat article, you should know that I was looking for a wide aperture prime that would give me a 50mm equivalent focal length on my 1.6 crop sensor, I was torn between the Canon EF 35mm f/2 and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, but Japan's earthquake solved the problem for me. Hit the jump for more.I was waiting for my camera shop to take delivery of the Sigma 30mm so I can try it for myself because I got some feedback that it's...

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Macro Talk: Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

What is a macro lens? What if my zoom lens has a "Macro" designation, are they the same?Today I am going to chat a little about my experience with a macro lens, and what other situations it can be used for. This is not going to be a macro photography tutorial, but more of a chit chat about macro lenses regardless of the brand. Hit the jump for more.MAGNIFICATION Macro photography can be defined as close-up photography of usually very small subjects....

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Comment on mirrorless cameras

It seems to me that mirrorless cameras are here to stay. Canon and Nikon still haven't produced their own versions but I'm sure they will come up with their mirrorless cameras eventually. There are indeed persistent rumors of a Nikon mirrorless camera. On that note I think it would be cool if Canon and Nikon made their mirrorless cameras compatible with existing lenses. That would leverage the strength of their existing lens lineups. Because mirrorless cameras have thinner bodies and the sensors are closer to the lens, compatibility would probably...

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Playing at Pacific Park

We went to Pacific Park at the Santa Monica Pier.  We got there mid-afternoon, and it was very sunny.   To manage the wide dynamic range, I figured I would need a little fill-in flash to lift the shadows.Ideally I would like to use a very soft light source as fill, but bounce under these conditions (bright, with no obvious bouncing surfaces) would not be easy.  I decided to use the Propet handheld umbrella.  I used the SB-600...

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't get tired of backlight. :) Shot at sync speed to minimize ambient.  SB-600 camera right triggered via D70 popup flash as command...

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Stella and Sophia

20110313-D300-_DSC0906.jpg a photo by mic_ty on Flickr.Took this shot during one of those moments when we didn't look tired. :) Lighting was primarily from bounced flash with my hand as a flag, with the flash aimed to a wall on camera left. Postprocessed with Lightroom 3.Nikon D300 + Tamron 17-50 VC + Nikon SB-...

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"Now what?" Options for a Hybrid Digital/Film Workflow

Nikon N90, Kodak Ultramax 400, scanned with Noritsu at Costco  Many of today's amateur photographers started out learning photography on a digital camera (like myself) and never got exposed as it were to film photography.  This post is part of a series where digital-only photographers such as myself can learn what's it like to shoot with film.  It's not a tutorial per se but more of an introduction.  (If you've shot with film,...

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Neil vN Tests Nikon's Boosted 1/320 Sync Speed

One of the cool things about the Nikon D300, D300S, D700 and D7000 is that they can boost the flash sync speed above their normal sync speed of 1/250 to a third of a stop higher to 1/320.  The manual (at least on my D300) cautions that using this 1/320 sync speed will cause a reduction in the effective flash output but it is still more efficient than high speed sync (which has a 2-stop penalty).  It was always a mystery to me as to how the boosted sync speed works, and what the power loss was. Neil van Niekerk just posted an article...

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Tip: Using a Zoom Lens as a Compositional Aid

I am quite busy this week and behind the schedule for my next article, so until then, here's an extremely useful tip for everyone that I found a while ago on Digital Photography School. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did.NOTE: The illustration shown above is taken from Canon's EF Lens Work III, they have very useful material for everyone regardless of the camera/lens brand. I would really suggest you read it, and here is a direct link...

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Latitude of Bounce Flash as Fill

We had a going-away party for one of our coworkers at a restaurant/bar with a wharf warehouse theme.  Weathered lumber was all over the place, along with barrels, crates and fishing nets.  It's how I imagine it would feel like being in an 18th century galleon.Taking photos at this location was quite a challenge.  First, with dark wood everywhere and very high ceilings, there was no obvious place from which to bounce a flash. ...

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