UNL candids (I)

So, to futher test up my new Canon 70-200 2.8L IS, I went down to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln yesterday and camped by the student union. Mainly, I wanted to test the Ai Servo focusing (which is just a fancy word for "let the autofocus track objects that are moving towards or away from you"), the mode 2 IS (which is the lens's ability to pan horizontally while eliminating vertical vibrations), and the performance wide open. The last time I tried shooting candids at a college was when I was in college, and so this was also an interesting experiment for me photography wise. :) I've got way more than will fit in a day's posts, so I'll just cherry-pick and post a few at a time.




Today's shots are the AI Servo tests -- shots of people walking torwards me. Click any photo to enlarge it in a new window.

















Geeze, lady -- didn't anyone tell you it'd be 15 degrees outside?! ;)

Lincoln downtown (testing the new lens)

Thought I'd head out today and see what I could see in downtown Lincoln. I've needed a chance to put the new lens through the paces (it only has a 90 day warranty, so if it's busted, I want to know ASAP) -- so far, I really, really, really like it. :) I guess I never realized how much of a difference image stabilization makes. Being able to handhold a 200mm lens down to 1/40th (down to 1/15th at 70mm) really opens up a lot of possibilities. I mean, that's really dark when shooting at ISO 400, which still looks nice on a 20D. Click any of the below images to enlarge. My usual monitor is fritzing out, so I had to tone these on my laptop using only numbers, so hopefully the colors/lighting doesn't look too funky. :)





This was shot through a pane of glass (as you can tell from the reflections.) I think it was like 1/50th.






Another guy shot through a store window (Jimmy John's).






This is a 100% crop from the shot above. Amazing detail for f/3.2 and through a pane of glass, IMO!






This is a test of the lens's Mode 2 IS. Basically, you flip it to mode 2 and you can track objects horizontally. The camera removes all vertical camera shake but allows the smooth horizontal panning. Really quite amazing.










Camped outside this for a while waiting for these folks to walk by. The juxtaposition, along with the color temperature difference, was hard to pass up. :)






A random urban compression. Nice reflections during the golden hour.






While walking back to my car, I ran into someone I work with near the theatre. Portraits? Check!

New lens test

I went out on my balcony today to try to see if there were any birds nearby to test the lens on. I found a mischevious lil' squirrel perched on a neighbor's porch. This was shot at 200m on the 70-200 2.8IS and at f/3.5 (f/2.8 has a ridiculously tight DOF @ 200mm at this focal distance), click to enlarge:





Below is a 100% crop of the above picture. You can even see a nice reflection in the squirrel's eyeball. That's sharp!







Yes, sir, I like it!

New lens

Got a new lens:







It's a Canon 70-200 2.8L IS. I sold my Sigma 70-200 2.8 and my EOS-3 to pay for it. (I am REALLY going to miss that EOS-3 -- we've been places, baby!) I've been wanting to use something with image stabilization for some time now, and this does the trick! I wrapped it up a couple days ago with some camo guntape (non-adhesive, of course) to break up the white. While white lenses may scream "look at me, I have a great lens!", that's not exactly what I'm after, especially with candids. :)







This was shot handheld at *1/60th* of a second. Indoor lighting, ISO 800 -- on my 20D, that's effectively 320mm being handheld at *1/60th*, and it's critically sharp. I do love this lens. Hopefully I can snag some good candids with this.



It's a napkin rack, in case you were wondering. :)

Yowza!

I've been Dugg!

Dance!

Every now and then I end up shooting a wedding or a wedding reception. I haven't done very many, but I've grown to really dig shooting the dances, especially later in the night as people loosen up a bit. :) For this type of shot, I set the camera to around 1/8th or 1/4th of a second and use fill flash. The flash freezes, while the intentional camera movement creates motion. It helps if you "dance with" your subject, as your camera movements then become very natural with the motion of the people. Click any image to enlarge in a new window.

San Francisco Alley Art

This is an old film scan of some alley art in San Francisco -- painted on the City Lights bookstore, no less. I believe the mural is a Zapatista cultural tradition, and is supposed to reflect their history. I had to wait some time for the man at the left to finally show up. Click to enlarge.



If you ever find yourself in San Francisco, I highly reccomend the City Lights bookstore. Lotta history there.

Outtake

Here's an outtake from the April 2006 storm chase (you can find it as a link on the right.) Click to enlarge. I like the vertical version of this shot much better, but this gives an idea of where that forground catchlight came from. Props to Amos for the illumination! It's only January, and I'm already getting a little nostalgic for the storm season. Next year's is just around the corner... only 3 months left! I've got better mobile internet coverage this year thanks to Alltel, and that, combined with GRLevel3 radar, will hopefully mean that I can bust less and see more supercells. Hurry up, Spring! :)

Ice!

Just a heads up for those of you swimming over here from the ice storm photos over at Mike Hollinghead's "extremeinstability.com" -- I'm not the guy who shot those photos. :) That seems pretty obvious to me, but I've already had a few folks congratulating me for the great ice storm shots. I *wish* I could take credit for the amazing stuff Mike found on his journey into Central Nebraska, but alas, by the time I got a chance to roadtrip out there, most all of it had melted.



Anyhow -- one can certainly say that the plains are a highly dynamic place to live. Grid-wrecking ice storms in the winter, supercells in the summer. And all of it quite beautiful. :)

The rest of 'em

I'm mostly posting these to share with friends, but you're welcome to get a kick outta them too if you're just passing by. As you can see, we mostly just focused on portraits of each other.

So! Here's the rest of our little photo excursion. We started out in the Haymarket near the old train in the rain, broke for Chinese, then headed out to "Wilderness Trail", which seemed aptly named. Good times had by all, as you can see. :) Click any photo to enlarge.

I'm actually like 3 inches from Josh when I shot this.









Okay, sorry, I couldn't resist. :)



Awwww!



AAAAAAH!





The above shot of me is taken by Mr. Fiddler himself. Don't I look respectable?





There's Josh, always makin' people smile with his pics!





Josh is going to use this as his ID picture for his street credentials.



Thanks, Mister Random Guy Walking in the Background! You totally made the picture!



Now Josh says he's NOT going to cut his hair until he moves from Vermont. Possible problem: his wife has 2 1/2 years of Law School left!





Grrrrr... Lanette SMASH!



For the record, Lanette is only the second person I've ever driven with that's scared me.









Josh does the happydance!

Out shootin'

Josh, Lanette, & I went out on a photoshoot yesterday. The weather was pretty crummy, and none of us wanted to douse our cameras, so we mostly shot pictures of each other. I'll post some more later, but for now I'll post the shot that would work as an album cover if Josh & Lanette ever form a band. ;)





I see Lanette's put her stuff up -- you can see it here. She got some great stuff, IMO -- I especially dig the broken glass shots!

Huzzah!

Posting this for all my friends who don't live in Lincoln. :) Click to enlarge.