Faces!

You Serious?

 

This was a fun project, my friend which you see above showed me a portrait for a bearded man with lots of face details and wrinkles, and wanted to imitate the picture, so we gathered along with my brother and played a little with lights, hit the jump for more details.

 

I knew we would not be able create the exact same look becuase we didn't have enough time nor enough light modifiers to pull it off, but we did our best.

 

Rocky Balboa

 

For equipment we had three speedlites (580EX, 600EX-RT & YN-560 II, first two flashes were mine one day), three YN RF-603 wireless triggers, however we ended up using just 2 lights.

 

The camera was a Canon 60D and we used the 200mm f/2.8L (used to be mine as well), it was too long for indoor use (320mm equivalent), but we wanted to use it, especially that we had a very small black cardboard for the background.

 

Lighting was quite simple, we started by killing the ambient in manual mode, exposure was 1/250, f/11, ISO 200. Key light was a bare flash with the full Rogue Grid, high and 20 degrees camera left, you can easily figure out its position if you connect the shadow of the nose tip to the nose tip itself in the opening picture, flash power was 1/64, then for fill, I used a shoot through umbrella, camera right and almost on axis, then we tried several power settings until we were satisfied with what we got, I believe it was 1/32 power, but it was much less effective than the key because of the umbrella and the distance.

 

Serial Killer

 

Post processing was fairly simple, we intended to shoot in B&W from the beginning, so I took the RAW files into LR, hit the B&W button in the colors panel, opened up the skin tones a bit (targeted dropper for saturation, then moved the mouse wheel upwards), added contrast and blacks, increased the clarity quite a bit, and finally used the adjustment brush to decrease the highlights and exposure at the surroundings of the face.

 

That's all, not bad for a couple of hours of fun, what do you think?

 

Astonished

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Story & Review: Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 60D & Canon 6D

 
It's no secret that I switched from my beloved 60D to a 5D Mark II over 8 months ago, it's also no secret that I switched to a 5D Mark III a couple of months ago, in this post I tell you about the whole story, this is not only relevant to Canon users, but to anyone considering the switch from a crop sensor to a full frame. Click through to read the whole story.
 
It took a lot of effort to switch to full frame, I had a nice collection of lenses that satisfied me on my 60D, the 15-85, 55-250, 35 f2, 50 f1.8, 60 f2.8 macro, & 85 f1.8. In order to sell all of these lenses (except the 35 and 85 since they worked on FF), I made lots of calls, had to wait until I got the money, etc... before I was able to get the 5D Mark II, and I was completely hesitant at what lenses to get, the only thing I knew for sure was that I'd be getting the Canon 50 f1.4, then I decided to get the 5D with the kit lens (24-105 f4 in case you're wondering) because of its reputation and flexibility, later I bought the 200 f2.8 L, the 100 f2.8 L macro and the 40 f2.8 pancake.
 

 
The 5D Mark II lasted a mere 6 months in my posession, setting a record among my cameras for the shortest time of ownership. I waited a lot before buying the 5D for Canon's announcement of the 5D Mark III, then once I saw the price announcement, I decided it was out of my reach, and therefore my only FF chance was the Canon 5D Mark II.
 
It was a step-down from my 60D in a lot of ways:
 

• It had dated focusing compared to the 60D, center point focus was good, even for tracking, but outer focus points were not reliable in lower light conditions. The 60D had all cross type focus points.
• GUI is older than the 60D, changing button assignments was not as easy.
• Maximum burst rate was slower 4 fps vs 5.3 fps, and shutter sounded much better.
• Shutter is louder and the viewfinder blackout takes longer.
• No swivel screen.
• No lock for the mode dials.
• Stupid power button that confused me.
• Exposure meters and exposure compensation only goes to ±2 while the 60D goes to ±3.
• No 720p 50/60 fps for beautiful slow motion.
• Battery and memory card doors didn't have springs like the 60D.
• Heavier and larger.
• There was this weirdo issue with assigning the AF to the (*) button at the back, where I had to use the AE-L button to zoom out instead.
• 1/200 sync speed vs 1/250.
• Rubber smell from the grip stuck to my hand everytime I used the camera.
• No popup flash, and thus no triggering external speedlites.
• No electronic level.
• No in-camera RAW processing.

And despite all that, I fell in love with the 5D Mark II, if I may say, I felt like it had soul, everytime I held it, I felt like we understood each other very well. I never felt that way about any other camera, not even the 5D Mark III, it is very clever and everything, but it doesn't involve me in the taking pictures process like the mark 2.
 

 
Below are some of the benefits of the 5D Mark II over the 60D:
 

• Much larger sensor with better characteristics (less noise, better skin tones, shallower DoF for those who want it, better dynamic range, better tolerance to highlight and shadow recovery, etc...).
• Larger and brighter viewfinder (although same 97% coverage), you won't notice the difference clearly unless you use both side by side.
• More custom modes (3 vs 1).
• Auto brightness for the back LCD via a light sensor, can't tell you how useful this feature is, it makes a huge difference in usability.
• Magnesium alloy body, theoritcally stronger and weather proof. If you hold both, the 5D feels more robust and better built.
• Uses faster CF cards, although I hate the prices, I am impressed with the speed.
• The joystick is quicker and eaiser to use than the 8-way dial.
• Dedicated buttons for all the important functions, I was very happy with the WB button, on the 60D I had to set it to the "SET" button.
• At least one stop better noise performance, I used ISO 3200 all the time without hesitation.
• Excellent AWB, never failed me except under certain tungsten lighting where I had to change to custom WB (2500K).
• Skin tones and color tolerance, I can't stress how important this is, I shoot indoors a lot, usually a mix of ambient and bounce flash, in several situations shooting with the 60D didn't produce correct skin color, and I was not able to correct it in RAW, however in the same room with the same flash, the 5D gives me a better skin tone and color, I have no idea why, but things look real, accurate and pleasing.

Checkout the example below, taken with 50 f1.4, available light only, an ugly mix of tungsten and those new CFL lights that cast a green tint, AWB, didn't touch it in post, and it is one of my favorite pictures.

 

 
So why did I sell the 5D Mark II if it is that good? Image quality was the best I've ever had, a few reasons actually, the first and the major one was focusing, I got tired of trying to focus with the outer focus points in low light and not being able to, the mark 3 sounded attractive with 41 cross type AF points, and I only had one, ONE! Other reasons were not due to faults in the mark 2, but rather better, luring features in the mark 3, and missing some features from my 60D like the 720p 60 fps, but I will discuss this in future posts.
 

 
I did wait for the 6D announcement before I decided to jump the gun on the 5D Mark III, I was disappointed with the 6D's announcement for a lot of reasons, not mainly faults of the camera itself, but becuase the expectations were set quite high, and then there was the Nikon D600.
 
Rumors said the new FF will be an entry level, affordable camera, prices were expected to be around $1500, it was expected to have the same auto focusing system from the 7D (we're moving forwards in time, aren't we?), and we hoped it might have attractive features like a swivel screen or a popup flash that can act as a wireless trigger. Then Nikon announced the D600, $2099 full frame, 39 AF points with 9 cross types, 100% viewfinder, popup flash, weather sealing, 5.5 fps, dual memory cards which supports UHS, a small body and immediate availability.
 
Now imagine Canon announcing the 6D a little bit later, asking for $2099 and giving you 11 AF points with ONE cross type, 97% viewfinder, no popup flash, no swivel screen, 4.5 fps, a single SD card, and availability in 4 months. Expectations were really high, and it was a major letdown, especially after Nikon's excellent foray with the D600. Add to that a couple of omissions compared to the 5D Mark II, like the 1/4000 shutter speed and lack of a joystick, and you can see why I quickly went for the 5D Mark III instead.
 

 
So does this make the 6D a bad camera? Of course not. Is it as good as Nikon's D600? In my opinion, of course not, I believe if I was just entering the FF world with no investment in lenses or flashes, I would definitely choose the Nikon (provided they solve the oil/dust issues) unless it turns out that Canon's 20 MP sensor produces some legndary image quality, which I doubt it will given that it would not be able to match the 1DX's 18 MP FF sensor's quality.
 
"But I have Canon lenses and/or want to buy a Canon FF, shall I buy the 5D Mark II or wait for the 6D?" I hear you asking. Given the current prices of the 5D Mark II, I find that it's a real bargain, I'd pick one if I need the money. I see the benefits of the 6D over the older 5D Mark II are the probably better sensor, more sensitive center focus point, smaller size, weight, 720p 60fps video, built-in WiFi and GPS. If you see that you need any of these features then you know where to look.
 
But if you don't need all of this, you can save yourself time and money (enough to get you a nice prime lens), and get one of the 5D Mark IIs before they go extinct. You'd have the advantages of the 1/8000 shutter speed, 1/200 sync speed, joystick, faster CF card, auto LCD brightness sensor and that's probably it.
 

 
I have no doubt the 6D will sell like hot cakes, especially after the 5D Mark II disappears, and the prices for the 6D get lower, this would be the most affordable Canon FF camera, what I really hope for is that the 6D's sensor shows significant image quality gains and that the focusing system turns out to be much better than its older sister. I hope I can find someone with a 6D to review.
 
Now that I finally got this out of my system, it's time to start talking about the 5D Mark III, it is a phenomenal cameras, soul-less (until now, that is) but phenomenal. It is similar to the McLaren MP4-12C, a brilliant car, but reviewers say that it's like a fax machine, no soul, unlike the Ferrari 458 Italia for exapmle, but the 5D Mark II is no 458 Italia, maybe it's an F355. Below are a few more examples taken with the 5D Mark II before it got sold.
 
 
RELATED POSTS
 
Canon 5D Mark II - First Impressions
FAQ: Full Frame DSLR
 

 

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur at sunset, photo taken from KL Tower (through glass) during one of the moody storms

 
This post is dedicated to Robin Wong, a Malaysian photographer whom I first knew about from Kirk Tuck's post about the BERISH 3.0 Malaysian Protests.
 
You see, I have traveled to Kuala Lumpur once and enjoyed my trip there immensely, and I really wish to go back there. I am also quite interested in Olympus M4/3 system, so when I saw Robin's blog, I enjoyed looking at his photos (especially the sharpness and the B&W treatment) and started back reading lots of his older posts that I missed, I have since been subscribed to his blog, and I enjoy reading everyone of his posts. More after the break.

Several of Robin's posts featured the Westin hotel (where I stayed), the KL Bird Park and Bukit Bintang, it all felt very nostalgic, especially that Malaysia is the only East Asian country that I ever visited, so I decided to post about my trip to Malaysia.
 

Downtown KL, shot from the KL Tower

 
I traveled to Kuala Lumpur (I'll call it KL for the rest of the post) on a business trip for 4 days, I arrived at noon one day before my conference started, and stayed for one more day afterwards, this gave me two opportunities to see KL in daylight.
 
Malaysia has tropical weather, during my stay there it was hot and very humid. The sky can be clear and shiny one second, and then suddenly there's a heavy rain shower which suddenly stops again, one of the essential things that I brought with me was an umbrella (we never use those in Egypt, but I had bought one during my trip to Sweden).
 
GEAR TALK:
 
One day before leaving for Malaysia, I sold my Canon 550D and kit lens, I had called a camera store in Malaysia and had them book a Canon 60D for me to pick it up upon my arrival, and I only took my lenses with me. This was a bit risky because if I didn't get/find the camera I would miss shooting everything during my trip. Little did I know, KL turned out to be a camera/DSLR heaven, and I bought way more things than I originally planned from there. I picked up my 60D on my first day of arrival just after I unpacked my bags at the hotel, you can read my initial impressions here.
 
Before I start talking about my trip, I would like to talk about the lenses I chose to take with me, I wanted to travel light, so initially I planned to take the Canon EF-S 15-85mm zoom for all-round shooting, and the Canon EF 35mm f/2 for night shooting, but I knew I'd be visiting the famous KL Bird Park, so I took the Canon EF-S 55-250mm along just for that reason, and actually I didn't use it anywhere else. I had my Lowepro Top Loader Zoom 55AW with me (it has a rain cover that I actually used).
 
I bought the following things during my trip: Canon 60D, Canon 580EX II speedlite, BlackRapid RS-5 strap, Lowepro Top Loader Zoom 45AW and a few small accessories.
 
THE TRIP:
 
I didn't get to shoot a lot on my first day, I arrived at noon, unpacked my bags and went to buy the 60D, the weather was great when I arrived, and a few minutes before I left the hotel, a rainy storm suddenly started, oh well, an umbrella and a Taxi it is. I was staying at the Westin hotel, where we also had our 2-day conference, below are some photos taken at the hotel, and the parking lot outside.
 

Candles at the hotel entrance

 

Desk lamp in my room, I like the pattern it makes on the wall

 

A very cozy dining area

 

Strange ceiling decor

 

Lamborghini Murceilago, lots of nice cars in KL

 
After we finished our first conference day, we were invited to a Thai restaurant for dinner, outside of KL. We took a couple of buses and went there, I took my 60D and 35mm f/2, light inside the restaurant was too dim, I had to shoot wide-open at f/2, ISO 3200 and even then shutter speed was around 1/10th and 1/15th risking motion-blur, it was the first time for me to use ISO 3200 and like the results, I limited myself to ISO 1600 with the 550D.
 

Rain and heavy traffic, KL traffic is incredibly jammed almost all time

Rain bokeh blobs

 

Restaurant entrance, dim, red lights everywhere

 

I don't know half of the things I ate there

 

Guava juice, in Egypt the juice is usually white and thick, not greenish and translucent

 

Japanese friend, see the phone light on his face?

 

The bus driver that took us back to the hotel

 

My Swedish friend Mats, took this photo when we returned to the hotel

 
Next day after the conference I went shooting & shopping until night around Bukit Bintang and the Pavilion mall, I usually don't do any street shooting in Egypt, culturally this is not a normal practice, even carrying a camera in the street will get you lots of hard stares, however, in KL I was very relieved to see 90% of the people carrying cameras and shooting every thing.
 

Pavilion Mall from inside

 

Saw this sign on one of Robin's picture, that's why it's here

 

McDonald's

 

On my way to one of the camera malls

 
Next day was my final day in KL, conference was over and I decided to go to the KL Bird Park, I was up and ready from 7 am, I finished my breakfast quickly and asked the hotel on the best way to go to the park, only to discover that the park didn't open until 10 am, drat, I had to wait for tw hours in my room since nothing else opened earlier.
 
I took the 60D with the 55-250 and my black rapid strap, I also took my Lowepro bag (in case it rained) and the 35mm f/2. I am very fond of the quality the 55-250 exhibited for such a budget lens, sharpness was great, bokeh was round and nice, and actually I dig the look a telephoto lens has, the background compression just looks creamy to me.
 

This bird usually stayed at high places, it looked like a park guardian

 

Colorful beak and eye ring, look how smooth the color transitions are

 

Luxurious duck, if it were a person, it would be a rich man wearing expensive suits

 

Colorful duck, although more humble than the one above

 

Eagles, they look scary, especially that close, all eagle shots were taken through the cage

 

Same eagle, the telephoto lens makes the cage magically disappear

 

Intimidating, here you can see traces of the cage on the right part of the picture

 

Solemn

 

This bird was everywhere in the park

 

It was their mating season and I was fortunate to see this view

 

Artificial frogs, I like how the moulds look

 

Slippery stairs

 

Green everywhere, see that net on the left side? The whole park is covered with it!

 

Red parrot

 

Colorful parrot

 

School trip to the park

 

Despite enjoying the park, I had to leave to catch a view of KL from the top

 
I went back to the hotel around 3 pm, and only had a couple of hours before sunset, and it hasn't rained once since morning, so I decided to ditch my camera bag, and only left with the 60D and the 15-85 hanging at my side with the black rapid strap, no weather protection at all.
 
I wanted to see KL from above, and there were two options, either the famous skywalk on the KLCC twin towers, or the KL TV tower, I wanted to go to the former, but I learned there are long queues and lots of waiting. One of the Malaysian participants in the conference advised me to go to the TV tower instead as it has a better view, so that's where I went, and he was correct, the skywalk on the KLCC was a path connecting between two buildings with a limited view to the sides only, the KL tower has a 360 degrees view and much higher (~280 meters).
 

This is the view from my hotel room, and it shows the KL Tower in the middle

 
I assumed that I'd find an open air observation deck or something, but it was all covered with glass that is not clean and has lots of reflections and glare that reduced the contrast, however I was able to get some good photos.
 

High in the sky

 

One of the benefits of the 360 view, I can see everywhere

 

Pool on the roof

 

Zoom was quite decent with the 15-85

 
I decided to leave and do a bit of shopping before my plane was set to leave, but a funny thing happened, a sudden thunder storm, and a strong one at that, I saw lightning strike buildings around us, and I was worried at the beginning, but the attitude of the others around me told me that there is nothing to worrying about, however, there was another problem, rain and cameras are not friends, I didn't have my umbrella or my Lowepro camera bag, so I was stuck at the tower until rain stopped, but I'm glad I waited because of this picture you see below taken after sunset, one of my favorites.
 

KL from the top

 
Rain didn't stop and I had to leave, so I asked about a way to get a taxi and ride it without having to walk in the rain, turned out there was a covered place below the tower where taxis took passengers, now I was back to the hotel with my camera safe and sound.
 
I finished the remaining of my shopping, exchanged the remaining Malaysian money to USD and went back to the hotel to pack my bags. My plane was set to leave at dawn, and I was quite surprised at how empty the airport was from inside at that time, it was as if I will be the only passenger.
 

Ghost airport

 
I hope you've enjoyed this post, and if you're interested in traveling to Malaysia, I urge you to go, it's a great tourist destination with lots of things to see, and I wish I had enough time to visit all the different places outside of KL.
 

See that plane? There was another one at the right side as well, is this normal?

 

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