Now not only do photographers have to carry multiple lenses, bodies, flash, spare batteries, and compact flash cards for their still cameras, they have to tote a video camera as well. While shooting for a local high school football team a few weeks ago, I spoke with a photographer from our local newspaper about this. He said that it was a huge burden in that he had to learn how to use the video camera to produce a quality video that would be used on the paper’s site. He then had to learn how to edit the video and get it uploaded to the paper’s web site in a timely matter. Oh yeah, he still had to get stills from the game as well. He also gave me a little inside information saying that there was light at the end of the tunnel, as major players in the world of digital SLR cameras were about to make his job easier.

The marriage of still photography and video is now no longer a dream but a reality. In late August, Nikon introduced the D90, the first DSLR to offer video recording capabilities up to 720p HD resolution and 12.3 megapixel image quality. Not to be outdone, in September, Canon announced the EOS 5D Mark II, which can produce video in 1080p HD resolution and 21.1 megapixel image quality. This breakthrough in technology allows photographers to use the current lenses that they have to be used to shoot video, with no real learning curve. Not only that, the prices of these cameras is relatively cheap compared to video cameras that produce similar quality of video. The Nikon D90 will have an expected street price of US$999.95 and the Canon 5D MarkII will have an expected street price of US$2699.

This will not only benefit the professionals out there but general consumers as well. Gone will be the days of having to juggle a video camera and a still camera to capture birthdays, holidays, vacations, graduations or any special occasion making life simpler for everyone.

Official Canon 5D MarkII link
5D MarkII Video Samples

Official Nikon D90 link
D90 Video Samples

Over the years she had purchased several photos from me and she thought because she bought this new camera that her photos would look more like mine. I noticed that the camera was sporting a kit lens (a lower cost lens sometimes sold with new cameras). I asked her about the lens and she said she bought it because it was cheaper and allowed her to also purchase another zoom lens with longer reach. The money she spent on these two inferior lenses would have been better applied to the cost of one good lens.

To greatly increase the quality of photos, invest in good glass and not camera bodies.

Cameras are like cars, every year they come out with new models with more bells and whistles that supersede the previous model, therefore causing depreciation in value fairly rapidly. Good glass will not only produce higher quality, more professional images, they will hold their value much longer than camera bodies and should last for years.

One caveat, good glass is expensive, in some cases very expensive. To some the price of a professional grade lens is quite a sticker shock, but if the highest quality photos are the goal, there is no other way to go. These lenses use better high-quality glass and electronics and will produce better contrast, more sharpness, better clarity and truer color in photos. There is a reason that so many photographers rely on these lenses daily to put food on their table.

Not convinced that glass is the way to go? Try it for yourself. Many camera stores rent professional grade lenses for a reasonable fee. There also online stores that rent good glass. There is always the used market to explore but sometimes many of these lenses aren’t a great deal cheaper than new.

I made the decision years ago that to get the best possible images I had to invest in quality lenses. That is one decision I’ve never regretted and haven’t looked back since.

Shortly after the camera found its way into photographer’s hands, the photo blogs and messages board began to light up with news of a possible major flaw with the camera’s auto focus system. Under certain conditions the camera would not focus on, or track a moving object. This was a major ordeal as many photographers and photojournalists rely on this camera to put food on the table.

It was early August 2007, with high school football season rapidly approaching. The number of shutter actuations of my three-year-old EOS 20D was pretty high, and I wasn’t sure if it would make it through another season. I needed a new camera.

I went to the local camera shop fully aware of the problems mentioned on the Internet about the Mark III. I talked to the owner of the shop, and he too was aware of the buzz on the net. He told me that the local newspaper had bought five of these cameras and none of the photographers had had any such issues. I knew a couple of the guys that shot for the paper and asked them if they’d had any problems with the new camera and they told me quite the contrary, they loved it and had not experienced any problems whatsoever.

I was still skeptical but still needed a new camera as well, one that would stand up to the rigors of shooting baseball and soccer in ninety degree plus heat, football in thirty degree frost, or a basketball game in dimly lit dungeon of a gym. Not only was it an issue of buying a possibly flawed camera, because I am an amateur and not a paid professional it was a financial risk as well. I took the risk and put my name on the waiting list.

I got the call that my camera had come in and I could come pick it up. I was apprehensive yet excited at the same time. I brought the camera to work and charged it up so that it would be ready to shoot once I got home. When I got home I slapped on a lens and began shooting away, trying out all the new bells and whistles this camera had to offer. I couldn’t believe a shutter could open and close that fast, it was painfully obvious that I’d have to purchase bigger memory cards.

The next day was the first soccer game of the year and the first real test for the focusing system under the same conditions that supposedly caused the tracking problem. I went home after the game hoping that I could put my fears to rest. I uploaded about four hundred images and I was simply amazed. The images were breathtaking right out of the camera. I didn’t have to do anything in Photoshop to make them look good. They were sharp, displayed brilliant colors and had nice contrast. I had very few frames out of focus, and the ones that were had more to do with the photographer than the camera.

During football season I got pictures that I couldn’t possibly have gotten with the 20D. I could shoot at 3200 ISO, stop the action and with very little noise in the final image. The autofocus was incredible; it felt like sometimes it knew what to focus on before I did and still very few out of focus frames.

In the month of October Canon issued an official “Fix” for the Mark III that affected certain serial numbers. Lo and behold mine was one of the possibly affected serial numbers. In December I sent the camera to Canon free of charge and got it back four days later. The sub mirror assembly was replaced and the camera was to now be within Canon specs and I got a one-year warrantee from the date that it was repaired.

The first basketball game with the sub mirror fix yielded the same outstanding pictures that I had gotten before the fix. I noticed a very little difference in the focusing capability. Again, I was able to nail photos that with the 20D were just impossible.

Maybe I was just lucky to get a good copy or maybe I’m just a little more forgiving but for me the Canon EOS 1D Mark III lives up to the hype that it received before it was released. I’m not saying that there aren’t Mark IIIs out there that do not function as they should, there are, and that is an utter shame. The cameras that do work simply produce amazing images in all sorts of environments and situations. With the black eye this camera has received I’ll probably take a hit on the resale value but I absolutely love this camera.

Head to their post for a sample and instructions.

I just read about this product that may be interesting to travelers.

The Quikpod is basically a monopod with a twist. Literally.

The Quikpod basically acts as an extension of your arm. It holds the camera at an angle so when you hold it out, it lines directly up with you and your friends. This avoids the need to hand your $2000 DSLR camera to a stranger and ask them to take your picture. And it provides better results than holding the camera out with your arm.

Just an interesting product that can also be useful. It goes for $24.95.

The steps are simple. First, you export your contacts as a .cvs file (Outlook) or a .vcf file (Apple Address Book). Then, you upload that file (or any file with a list of email addresses) to flickr friends. The site will scan that file and then use the flickr api to see if any of your contacts have flickr accounts. If they do have an account, it will give you a link to their photos and profile.

This is all a fast process and it does it all on the same page using Ajax and Javascript.

The one problem I found is that your list of addresses can be no larger than 1MB. To get around this, I split my address book into four groups and then exported a card for each group. Then, I just did them one at a time.

Just as I expected, very few of my contacts used flickr. I think it’s natural for people to want to see photo’s from other people but forget to share their own. However, I did find a few contacts on there and was glad to see their photos.

You can give this all a try here. (yes, it’s free)

However, one morning a friend and I took the early bus to Treasure Island. I have been out there many times, but never as the sun was rising and I wanted to see that.

My point in going was to get a nice skyline photo so I could try the new “Auto-Align” and “Auto-Blend” features in Photoshop CS3. Even though my hands were shaking in the cold and a huge ship tried to block my view, I was able to take a few shots as the sun was rising.

When I got back to my computer, I opened up Photoshop CS3 to stitch together the shots. I couldn’t believe how easy it is to do it. It was really just three steps.

1) Open all the photos to the same project.
2) Select all layers and choose “Auto-Align”
3) Choose “Auto-Blend”

That is seriously all that I did and I was amazed at how well the photos were stitched. Even with the morning sky being list from left to right, the blending was good.

You can see my photo below: (click to enlarge)

Also, my friend took a nice panorama while he was in line for the keynote. He also used CS3 to stitch the photos.

Yesterday I read thru a post that was titled “13 Photographs That Changed The World” I had seen all but one of them before, but their power was still present on me.

Be sure to check the comments of that post for even more photos that could have been included.

However, I was surprised to see how few quotes I had that dealt with photography. Of the few I have, my favorite is from Ansel Adams. He comforted with:

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

As you are learning photography and not feeling like you have a grasp of it all, it’s nice to hear something like that.
Do you have any favorite quotes about photography? If so, please share. I’d love to add to my collection.

If you are thinking of pulling out your camera to take some photos of the Christmas lights, you’ll want to be sure and read this tutorial on how to photograph them well. There are some great tips!