More 50D Thoughts

Alright, It's been just over a month that I've had the 50D. Anyone who knows me will tell you I've taken a lot of photos with it. Mostly just snap shots for testing purposes but a lot none the less.

I was at first a little disappointed about the high ISO performance. I was expecting too much I think. I was looking to get perfect pictures in very low light hand held at a decent shutter speed. Ya, that's not going to happen.

I did discover though that Noise Ninja will clean up my images very well. So well that I am not at all hesitant to use ISO 3200 where needed.

This was my biggest concern about the camera and I had some trouble getting over it.

As for the rest of the camera's performance I could not be happier. The burst rate of 6.3 fps is awesome. The focusing is dead on. The camera has the ability to fine tune the focusing but I have not tried that out yet. The build of the body is solid. It feels really good in the hand. The image quality is amazing. 15 mega pixels compared to 10 is a big difference. The camera still handles the larger file size well but downloading and post processing them is a longer procedure.

Well that's it for now. I'll write some more as I play with more of the features.

Here are some of my more recent photos.


56mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6 for 1/60 sec. Early morning window light very heavy overcast. The room was moody, dimly lit. Very impressed at the ISO performance and Noise Ninja's cleanup of the noise.


53mm, ISO 200, f/6.3 for .4 seconds (the exif tells me 2/5 seconds Odd). This is a shot for my course. Still life using 45 degree light and a reflector. Light from camera right and reflector camera left.

Chris.

East West Office View AM November 26 2008

Hmmm. These look very much like yesterday. Perhaps I'll hold off until something noticeable changes.

East


West


Chris.

East West Office View AM November 25 2008

Just for something to photograph at work I've decided to show what the city looks like each morning from my office facing west and the BBQ deck facing east. Now that I'm on the top floor I get a better view. Keep in mind though that I work in an industrial area so the view is not that great but it is nice to see how the seasons change.

East


West


Chris.

I have a domain!!!

Those of you who have come to my blog via the normal route of chrislemmen.blogspot.com don't realize it yet but those who ended up here via www.chrislemmenphotography.ca well here you are.

I have registered www.chrislemmenphotography.ca as my own domain. Why you ask? Well I needed a presence on the web other than this blog. A more permanent one. One I can use when I get Chris Lemmen Photography up and running. That will be the name of my photography company. I was going to use Patterns In Light but that was getting to be a headache.

There is a new email address too. chris@chrislemmenphotography.ca

So for now the domain will be forwarded to this blog until such time that I require a more robust website.

If you followed www.chrislemmenphotography.ca here then please click on the blog name at the top of this page and you will be taken to the full blog in all its glory. Well at least to the full blog.

Thanks for visiting.

Chris. (new link to my new photography email address.)

Photo For Now #010

For this photo, I stood on the chair and had Mikayla looking way up at me. I had to bug her for a bit to get her to smile that great big toothy smile of hers. I always try to make even my snaps around the house as creative as I can and as technically correct as I can. Practice makes perfect.


50mm, ISO400, F/8 for 1/200 seconds, Canon 430ex flash.

Chris.

Project Obie - Day 5

Lest We Forget.

This may seem rude but I wanted to include a photo of Obie today. I'm trying to keep up with the project but I'm not having as easy a time as I thought I might.

I don't know anyone personally who is in the military these days. Nor do I know anyone that has been impacted by a death of a family member who is in the military. I do know that these people put their lives on the line to make sure we get to live our lives the way we do.

We in Canada enjoy a freedom that most people in the world do not. The USA, Europe, parts of Asia. We all enjoy these freedoms and we should not forget those who have helped to make is possible for us.

This photo is not meant to demean the military in any way at all. This is my poppy I taped on to Obie. I wear it proudly. To those in the military I say Thanks.



Chris.

Photo For Now #009

Being stuck creatively is a bad thing. I'm there right now. I have gotten many suggestions on how to break through it. One of my favorites is to take pictures of mundane objects from a different perspective.

Here is today's mundane object. My pen on my desk.


50mm, ISO 400, f/1.8 for 1/640 seconds.

I love the 50mm f/1.8. Look at the shallow depth of field when it's wide open. It's only about 1/2" or so. Awesome. It is a little soft of focus when it's wide open but so what. That's really not the point. The bokeh is the point.

Chris.

Photo For Now #005

Here is a photo that I'm really happy with. It was about -3°C outside on Saturday morning and I noticed this line of frost covered leaves on the front lawn. Made for a great fall photo in the early morning light.



17mm, ISO 100, f/5.6 for 1/320 seconds.

Chris.

Project Obie - Day 1 Continued

Obie is a busy guy. He has to have a coffee first.



Then he is ready to get to work. Obie is a jack-of-all-trades. He can do anything. Here he is as a heavy duty mechanic repairing a manlift.





Obie is also a backhoe operator. This is his favorite one.





Obie also works his ass off. He has loads of paperwork. When you are only 4 inches high, paper is huge!



Chris.

Project Obie - Day 1

I've gotten myself into a creative rut. I'm not taking any pictures that are worth taking. Mostly just playing with the settings and such. It's driving me crazy.

Late fall in Edmonton is boring, drab and cold. Nothing to take pictures of really. So I need a project to keep me going. Something silly not too serious but one that will require me to use my skills.

Enter Project Obie (oh-bee).

He doesn't do much but he's always there lurking around the corner somewhere. This is the story of his adventures.



This is Obie. He's 4 inches tall and weighs about 1/4 pounds. He gets around. I will try my best to get good photos of Obie but he is quick and I may get tricked up.

Please check often for Obie's adventures and leave comments about them or any suggestions you may have for an adventure.

Chris.

I'm Published Again!

Well, this is starting to go to my head. LOL. I've had another photo of mine published. This time by Schmap Calgary. They have photos from each of the tourist attractions on their web based map. When you click on the attraction it's page opens and there are photos from that location scrolling by. It seems like 20 to 30 photos for each one.

This is the photo that was selected for the Calgary Zoo.



Chris.

Canon 50D Hands On Review Part 2

Ok, I've been using the 50D for a little over a week now. I've put it through some testing both indoor and out. With flash and without. I must say I am happy with the camera but a little let down at the same time. I think I was expecting more that was was possible. Don't get me wrong I love the camera. It's smooth operating and nice to work with but it's the high ISO that gets me. 3200 is work able and that's great but the higher 2 settings are not all I was hoping for.

Anyway, I'll stop ranting about that. I do really like the quality of picture and the ease of use. The menu structure, although much different from the XTI, is easy to navigate and there are lots of features that the XTI does not have. One I really like is the ability to move from ISO to ISO by 1/3's instead of full stops. That's cool.

So here are some more photos for now.


44mm, f/5 for 1/160 sec, ISO 100.


61mm, f/5.6 for 1/80 sec, ISO I00.

Chris.