A new look!

I use SmugMug to host all of my photos.  If you're looking for a great and highly customizable service to host all your photos and videos, pricing is extremely reasonable for unlimited storage space.  I highly recommend it.  In fact I actually have two subscriptions -- one for my artistic photography which I share with you in my blog, and another for all of my family photos that I keep separate and password protected.

SmugMug just released a significant upgrade to their interface and I spent the better part of the last 5 days converting my site to use the new template system.  It now looks great on my iPhone and iPad too. Have a look.

As you would expect, I also took the opportunity to upgrade my blog template to compliment my new photo site.  That's why things look a little different around here.  The biggest change?  BIG IMAGES!!! If you have a big monitor, expand your browser to full-screen to get the full effect.

Here are a bunch of random shots:

Insects!

Once again, I took my camera armed with my macro lens to my father-in-law's backyard, which is always teeming with wildlife.  I had observed an iridescent blue dragonfly over the past week, so I was hoping to capture it's spectacular colour.  However it proved to be skittish, so I also stalked some other prey when Mr. Blue flew away before I could take his picture.





And finally, the elusive prize I chased all afternoon settled down and posed for me just as the sun was starting to set.


It's colours are gorgeous!



 - jc

Buying used equipment from Keh.com

I recently read an article on buying used lenses. I have always shied away from buying something so complicated and expensive from a complete stranger, given that you really have only a short amount of time to test it.  You really don't know the condition of something until you've put it through a considerable amount of rigor.  By that time, it is unlikely that you'll have any recourse if it turns out the lens is defective.  So this article particularly interested me.

Not to downplay the advice given in the article -- all of it makes perfect sense and there are some points to remember even when buying new equipment.  But it was one of the comments in response to the article that began a journey culminating in the authoring of this post:

Andy Says:
"Or you could just go to Keh.com"

Andy, whoever you are, you have changed my life.

First, a little more background.  I used to own a Canon 20D dSLR.  Somewhat frequently I would use it for long exposure night photography.  By long exposure, I mean shutter speeds measured in minutes.  Here is an example of a 2 minute exposure of the hotel I stayed at in Thailand:


The image is silky smooth.  There is absolutely no noise present at all.  With my 20D I could easily shoot 4 and 5 minute exposures and get stunning results without the need to apply any noise reduction whatsoever, either in camera, or in post.

When my 20D died, I upgraded to a 50D.  Folks let me tell you, if you ever needed proof that more megapixels is not necessarily better, here it is:


This was an 8-minuite exposure shot with my 50D. Ok, it's not horrible.  But if you click on it to view it larger you'll see that the image is very soft as a result of the aggressive noise reduction I've applied just to get something acceptable.  And it's still VERY noisy!  Right out of camera, this was a mess of hot pixels, luminance noise, and blotchy colour artifacts -- this was shot at ISO 100!!!!  My biggest disappointment with the 50D's image quality is how noisy the images are.  Even shots at ISO 100 shots in broad daylight show some amount of noise.  Cramming all those pixels into an APS-C sensor has the serious tradeoff of significant thermal noise.  Both of these shots were in very hot and humid conditions, by the way, which only amplifies the problem.  So you can see how much better of a performer the 20D is in this respect.

Ever since I processed this image, I've been looking for a good price for a used 20D.  Since I wanted it specifically for night photography and not much else, I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  Henry's has an inventory of used equipment, but the best price I've found has been around $350.  Given that the 60D is the current model in the series, with the 70D just announced, I thought that was a pretty steep price for a camera 5 generations old.

Which brings me back to Keh.com.  I casually perused the site, not expecting fantastic deals -- after all, photography is a lucrative business these days.  Boy was I surprised!  I found three 20Ds for sale in varying conditions -- two in EX+ condition ("Excellent Plus") for $139 and one in what's known as their "Bargain" condition for $99 -- all including a battery and charger.

Now, I am skeptical by nature, and I immediately thought that this was too god to be true.  So I did some research.  I came across post after post of photographers gushing about how much they love this site and buy gear from them all the time.  I learned the following:

• Keh.com has been in business since the 1970's starting as a brick-and-mortar outfit dealing in used equipment.  So they are not one of the numerous companies that have popped up in recent years just looking to cash in on the current photography craze.
• Their rating system is quite conservative.  The EX+ rating would be anyone else's "Like New" condition; their "Bargain" rating would be anyone else's "Good" to "Excellent."
• Their service is unbelievable.  I came across a number of stories of buyers not getting the quality (or in some cases the product) that they had ordered, and in every case the problem was cleared up quickly and without hassle.  In one case, the owner of the store himself posted in the user forum offering to help a particular buyer.
• They offer a 6-month warranty on their products, and a 15-day no-questions-asked return policy.

Armed with this new knowledge, decided to try it out.  I probably would have been fine ordering the "Bargain" rated unit, but for only an extra $40 I went with the EX+.  I ordered it on Friday, and it arrived the following Wednesday, including a one-day customs delay at the border.  I also ordered a lens hood for my 15-85mm zoom lens for $20 in "Like New" condition.  It is the genuine canon version, which retails brand new for $75 for some reason.  I had bought cheap knock-offs in the past, but they break far to easily an don't fit quite as snug as the genuine Canon ones.  So I thought $20 was more than fair.  Shipping for the whole lot was a bit expensive at $59, but Keh.com was promoting free shipping at the time for any orders within the U.S., and a $10 discount for international orders.  Finally I was dinged $33 import tax.  So for $240 all in, I got my used 20D plus the lens hood for my 15-85mm.  Not bad at all!

As for the quality, my research was correct.  The camera arrived in pristine condition.  There is a little bit of visible scuffing on the rubber cover for the USB port and on one of the metal loops for the strap, but that's it.  By the time my first 20D died, it was in nowhere near such condition.  Everything was well packaged.  Each item was sealed individually in a zip-lock bag, then wrapped in bubble wrap.  Then even bigger bubble wrap was used in the box to ensure nothing rattled around.  The lens hood arrived in all of its original packaging, making me suspect it was actually "New" instead of "Like New."

I'll definitely use Keh.com again to buy gear.  I'll likely even try buying items marked "Bargain" condition as well, given everything I've read and experienced.  If you're looking for used gear, I can't recommend them enough!  The only negative part of the whole experience was the rather expensive shipping fee to get it here to Canada.  Of course, that is not a problem specific to Keh.com -- for some reason shipping anything from the U.S. to Canada is particularly expensive.  So to mitigate this, I suggest you order a bunch of things together and only pay for shipping once.

Happy shopping!
 - jc

Canada Day Fireworks

Last night I went down to Rouge Beach Park hoping that I would be able to see the massive fireworks display at nearby Kinsmen park. I thought it would make for a unique point of view as also visible from this vantage point is the Pickering nuclear power plant.

I arrived to find that the view of the Kinsmen Park's display was mostly blocked by trees, but I was happy to see many people shooting off their own fireworks. So I set up on the sand to capture some interesting shots.

I've shot fireworks in the past, but I've stuck to the big displays. Last night's shots were, by contrast, very intimate. I was able to include people standing around watching their fireworks go off.  Since these images are all teken in bulb shutter mode, the people in the shots are in silhouette and are blurred from their own motion. I really like the affect as they are lit only by the glare of the shooting fireworks.

A few of my favourites. Click on them for larger versions and to see more fireworks shots.











 - jc

My Boys in Black and White

I took the boys down to the Distillery District recently. The abundance of aging brick makes for a great backdrop. And when combined with conversion to black and white, you end up with some great looking shots with a vintage feel. Here are the best of the shoot.

As always, click on them for larger versions.

 -jc

Macro

I've said it many times before... my father-in-law's backyard is teeming with wildlife.  Here are a few shots of some insects.

Click on them to see them big.

 -jc

Shooting the Moon

This past weekend an event happened known as a Supermoon. A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the point at which the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit. It appears largest shortly after rising. Unfortunately by the time I was tipped off about it, the moon was already high in the sky.  It was a very clear night so I took the chance to snap a shot of the noon with my new lens, the 70-200 L.  Here's the result:


This is more or less actual pixels.  I cropped out the majority of this photo, as the moon was still pretty small in my shot.  But look at the detail!  It's amazing to see the places where the moon has obviously been hit by asteroids or other heavenly bodies.

In any case, I figured the moon would still be pretty close to Earth the next night, so a bit of research informed me of the time of moonrise for Sunday night.  I took my new lens down to the mouth of the Rouge River in hopes of catching the moon rising over the lake.

It turned out to be an overcast night, but the moon was visible near the horizon, so I snapped a couple before it disappeared behind the clouds.

The result astounded me... upon leaving the shutter open for a few seconds, the scene lit up as if it were a sunrise or sunset. This has not been altered other than to straighten the horizon and to reduce the noise. The colour is as I saw it:


Of course, while this shot is amazing, nobody would ever believe this to be a moonrise scene.  So I recoloured a second one to look more like what you might see on a poster for a werewolf movie.


As always, click on these for larger versions.

 - jc