Kelby Training, ThinkTank bags and Zombies

I want to eat your intestines!  OK, I admit it I love zombie books and movies.  I even own a few zombie graphic novels (which inspired this photo) as for me zombies are the perfect mix between comedy and fear.  Some local people in Nanaimo recently did a zombie walk through the big mall in town during the Christmas shopping rush.  I elected to stay out of the mall as I knew the reception of zombies this time of year was not going to be good, but did photograph some of them before they went in.  Not the best time for it guys, but I hope you do it again next year.

Henrys recently had a free shipping deal so I finally bought myself the Airport International V2.0 rolling suitcase camera bag from thinkTANK.  Last year when doing weddings and events I found that my really big camera bag was just not big enough and when I stuffed it with gear it was really heavy.  In the interest of not destroying my neck and back I wanted a rolling bag and this one is designed to be carried as a carry-on on planes which I think will come in handy.  I've only had it a week, but my first impression is that it is super well built (definitely what I'm used to from thinkTANK) and it just barely fits all my gear in a nice and tidy way.  Now I can show up to events with my studio strobes in one bag, my light stands in another and all the camera gear, cables and crap in the suitcase.  For a wedding, this one bag will be all I need.  It has a locking cable that you can secure to something so that people can't easily walk off with your gear.  This is nice as I frequently worry about leaving my bag out of sight.  The inside is totally customizable with dividers and I've fit in two professional bodies, all my lenses as well as two flashes, batteries, cables, business cards, Pocket Wizards and light modifiers.  Biggest bonus....the replaceable wheels mean I shouldn't have to lift this tank of a bag too often.  Should mean I can continue to avoid using a chiropractor.

Scott Kelby recently had a sale on for one weekend only ($149) for his Kelby Training website where you can access a host of Photoshop, Lightroom and photography tutorials.  I decided to treat myself to a membership.  I find that I learn Photoshop and computer things best with online videos and tutorials and from books I can lay on my desk.  Photography courses are best learned in person for me.  Anyway, for less than the cost of one photography weekend class I bought a years worth of Photoshop training.  Nice. The regular price is $199, but I believe it is on sale now for $179 if anyone is interested.  You'll just have to hit Google for the discount codes.

Looking for a stocking stuffer for that photographer in your life?  I really enjoy Digital Photo Pro and get it as a subscription.  It is a magazine that is geared solely at working photographers, but I think any serious photographer would really enjoy it.

Lastly, I sold one of my Olympus E3 bodies in preparation for my purchase of one of the Evil Empire cameras from Canon and Nikon and a lens or two. I'm still considering which one to buy.  I don't much care about the video and I could care less about "Full-Frame Pride" so I've narrowed it down to the 1D MkIV, the 5D MkII and the D700.  I think my first choice would be the 1D MkIV which should be available for sale right around the time I'm writing this.  It comes a a big price premium over the others but I am somewhat afraid of the slow focus on the 5D and lack of dual memory cards.  The D700 is very cool, but it doesn't feel right in my hands (possibly a battery grip would help?) and while I'm not a megapixel whore the 12 mp does seem like a limiting factor and if I were to buy it and at some point want more resolution my only choice would be the crazy expensive D3x which doesn't thrill me.  Well, a decision will be forthcoming before the end of February (and hopefully sooner) as our wedding season bookings begin in March.  Of course Murphy's law says that Olympus will finally get off their butts and release a really cool E4 1 day after I spend money on another brand of camera.  Sigh.  I try and avoid the gear head in me, but it keeps coming back.

Spacey, Newton and Landscapes

Kevin Spacey did some commercials for the Olympus Pen Cameras which I think are pretty interesting.  Different at least.  A good way to explain what these cameras are to the average consumer without really explaining the tech stuff.



I just finished watching a documentary on Helmut Newton called "Within the Frame" which was pretty interesting.  Honestly I didn't know too much about him.  He strikes me as arrogant, elitist and a shockingly good photographer.  I like his stance on being a still photographer, not a videographer.  He seemed like a jerk to some of his models, but that isn't really an area of photography I can say I know much about.  I did add his Sumo book to my Amazon wish list, but at over $100 Canadian I might have to splurge on that when I'm not poor from Christmas shopping.

I went back to Biggs Park to try again at a long exposure black and white image.  This time I went at sunrise which at this time of a year doesn't cost too much of a sleep penalty (7:55am) but was disappointed when the sun pretty much popped up without colour.  The ocean was still and there wasn't much wind so I satisfied myself with some HDR shots.  My recently cleaned sensor on my E3 still showed a lot of spots at f22 which was disappointing.

It looks like Samsung is going to be releasing their mirror-less interchangeable lens camera (the NX) very soon.  Kind of a homely looking thing if you ask me, but if the rumours prove true it could be smaller and lighter than the Panasonic and Olympus cameras which would be very appealing.  It would (hopefully) use Pentax lenses with an adaptor which is great as they have so many really good primes and the real winning feature would be a price that is lower than the GF-1 or EP-2.  Oh and a viewfinder of course.

Boredom

I'm bored.  Don't you hate when that happens.  The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy, but not with photography.  So I sat down yesterday and ate an orange and surfed the net looking for what my wife calls 'camera porn.'  That is news about photography, photographs by my favourite artists, forum gossip, etc..  Then I took my camera, pointed it at my orange peel and took a shot.  Side lit, threw some black cardboard behind it.  Man.....I need to get out.  So I have a 'real shoot' on Sunday for a commercial project which is going to be challenging and fun.  But today I'm going to take advice I freely give out to people and I'm going to just get out of the house with my camera and take some fun shots.   Just for me.  No oranges.

I almost talked myself into buying the Olympus extension tube for macro photography while shooting that orange but stopped just before I hit that impulse buy button.  Still trying to save for the Canon 1DMk IV and continued investment into Olympus gear is not going to get me any closer.  An interesting discussion about the longevity of Olympus dslr's is happening on Dpreview.  I've really stopped having an opinion about the matter.  I love Olympus gear but even if they do continue with their pro dslr bodies, they just evolve them too slowly for me.  Having said that, I'll still keep my Olympus gear for those rainy outdoor days.   I'm pretty sure that no matter the weather sealed claims of the Canon, it won't be built like the E3.

I wanted to point out a great deal I saw at Scott Kelby's blog on Topaz products.  I use Topaz detail a great deal in my post processing, and with this deal I'm considering getting the whole package.  I really like their products and their pricing is fair which is great as so many of the plug-in software for Lightroom and Photoshop are in my opinion ridiculously priced (yes I mean you Lucis Art and Kubota and On-One).  Anyway, check out the Topaz deal, it is this weekend only.

Lastly, since it is the season of giving (am I allowed to say Christmas?), I wanted to point out a few good causes that I either use or have caught my eye recently.  One being Kids With Cameras which is new to me, but is really intriguing to me as a photographer.  The other photography related cause is Help Portrait which I think I've mentioned before.  I admit I haven't organized myself to do a portrait by their December 12th date, but it has inspired me to try again to offer some portraits to people that can't pay for it.  I was amazed when I was starting out in photography that so many people declined free portraits when I offered them.  Seems to me in hindsight they felt it was a scam or up-sell, so I need to work on my approach.  Lastly, if you are a friend or adult family member of mine you have probably received your goat already this year (though I have branched out and bought Mango trees and books this year), for those of you strangers that read this blog my wife and I forgo gift giving (and hopefully receiving) from the grown-ups in our lives for Gifts of Hope.  Plan Canada has this nifty catalogue online where you can target purchase gifts in peoples name for causes you believe in.  We are fond of the goats ourselves, but it sure beats another tie or box of chocolates under the tree that are just going to make me chubby.

Now get out there and use your camera for non orange related photography!