Lighting Demo and Educational Program
I am truly honored and proud to have been selected to demonstrate and teach lighting for Manfrotto. They represent Gitzo, Elinchrome, Lastolight, Gossen and more of the finest.Join me for a day at Hunts Melrose or a 1/2 day in Hanover.This is a great educational experience as well as an opportunity to check out some fantastic lighting gear. Some of the finest manufacturers products featured in one location.The event is free but you need to register.
LRTimelapse and Lightroom 5 issues - Keep Lightroom 4 for Time-Lapse
With the release of Lightroom 5, Adobe has made one big hash of the video features in the Slideshow Module. You will no longer be able to use any of the LRTimelapse Video Presets.If you do use LRTimelapse - please do not uninstall Lightroom 4. Keep all your time-lapse sequences in a Lightroom 4 Catalog so you will be able to generate time-lpase videos.The developer of LRTimelapse is working furiously to create an alternative process which will go into Beta soon.All is not lost - there are ways around the problem.Sign up for my blog posts to stay informed.
The Genie Motion Control Device
Syrp, a New Zealand company, was very kind and shipped me one of their motion control devices, that I am featuring in my upcoming book. The time-lapse sequence above, was captured using the Genie in Time-Lapse mode with the Clouds preset modified for my way of capturing.I love the simplicity of this unit. It is easy and a charm to use.I also did a review of the Genie that you can read - click on this link GENIE Review.Please contact me if you need more information or would like to get your and on one.
The Impressive Feisol Carbon Fibre Ball-Head
I had done a review of the Feisol Carbon Fiber Tripod and the The FEISOL CB-50DC Carbon fiber Ball-Head a while back Click here for the review. This lightweight ball-head continues to impress me. It is a light yet very well constructed Arca Swiss compatible ball head designed for general purpose use.
My unit is now mounted on my Dynamic Precession cart atop the 6 foot rail and performs really well. As most of these rails are belt and stepper motor driven it is best to keep the overall weight as low as possible. Here is where this head is perfect.
The carbon fibre construction is impressive. The locking mechanism is based on dual calipers. One dual caliper is used to lock the ball while the other is used to lock the base plate. Each caliper is operated by a rotating knob. A third flatter knob is used to maintain tension on the ball preventing any accidental flopping of mounted equipment.Hunts Photo is conducting a one week "shiv verma | photography" special for all Feisol Products. Discounts and free shipping are available through April 14, 2013.
My favorite sling straps for my cameras.
If you never tried a sliding sling strap, you are in for a wonderful experience. We are all familiar with sling straps on camera bags and some back packs. Sling straps are worn diagonally across your body to move the weight of your gear from your neck to your shoulder – resulting in a significant improvement in comfort. 
Sliding Sling Straps differ from sling straps in one important feature. Sliding sling straps have a fitting that slides along the strap. The fitting in turn connects to your camera. That means that the camera, which is attached to the fitting, can be brought up smoothly to your eye without pulling your clothing – the strap, which is a loop, does not need to move!Sliding slings trace back to 1885 where the slider was connected to a rifle http://www.rollanet.org/~stacyw/us_1885_carbine_sling.htm. The first commercial application that I found for cameras dates back to 2004. The product (still available), called simply “The Strap” is sold by a company called Leicagoodies, http://www.leicagoodies.com/strap.html. This sliding sling uses a detachable connector attached to a split ring which slides along 1” wide loop strap.There have been many embodiments of the sliding sling strap for cameras since 2004. The most popular are the Black Rapid straps and the California Sun Bounce Straps. Many smaller companies also produced sling straps. In 2007, Black Rapid applied for a patent on the sling strap. The patent was granted in November 2011. Black Rapid immediately moved to eliminate competitive products that used the sling concept for cameras. A letter notifying infringement of a patent and threatening legal action was sent from the president of Black Rapid to the manufactures of sliding sling straps and to camera dealers who sold competitive product. One manufacturer immediately stopped production of their strap; others modified their design to avoid an expensive patent infringement law suit.A relative newcomer, BosStrap, dropped the original design and took a different approach and completely different strap. Introduced in June 2012, the BosStrap Generation 3 Sliding Sling Strap is truly “unlike anything else” as BosStrap claims. I recently had an opportunity to try them and used two of them on my two 7D and 5D MkIII bodies while doing my workshops in Iceland.This product really is different from others. Careful engineering resulted in an elegant, functional design. To begin with, BosStrap uses a unique, double lock, patent pending attachment to the camera. This USA made product is different from other sling straps in that it attaches to the left strap lug on the camera, not to the tripod socket as virtually all other sling straps do. When hanging from the left strap lug, the camera rests in a much more natural way with the lens directed downward and backward allowing your camera nestle against you with your hip between the front of the pentaprism and the top of the lens. Hanging in this position tends to stabilize the camera when walking, yet keeps the camera grip at your hand for instant access.When you want to move to a tripod, you simply release the Generation 3 Tail strap from the slider. You do not need to unscrew anything from the camera, and you can continue to wear the light-weight sling strap without the camera.BosStrap has completely freed the camera’s tripod threaded socket from a strap connector. Your tripod mounting plate never needs to be removed from your camera. BosStrap claims that Nikon and Canon do not recommend carrying the inverted weight of the camera and lens by the tripod socket because of the possibility of internal seals being stressed in a way they were not designed for. There is also concern about the ability of the tripod socket to carry the inverted weight.You won’t find a shoulder pad on a BosStrap. I was skeptical about this lack of cushioning at first, but after trying it with my Canon bodies, I was convinced that the 1-1/2” wide strap really offers the same comfort that a bulky pad would provide. BosStrap works with an L-bracket too.I like to do street photography and have the need for a lot of flexibility and be inconspicuous. With a BosStrap, I can conceal my camera under my open jacket and not have a large lump from a shoulder pad showing. My camera is partially concealed under my jacket until needed - very unobtrusive and it is an excellent theft deterrent. An added benefit is that the strap can be wrapped around the lens when putting your camera back in the bag.A BosStrap is simply an efficiently engineered product that does precisely what it is supposed to do – provide very quick accessibility and support your camera in a comfortable, safe manner. Most important they are very reasonably priced. You can get them directly from Boss Strap, LLC or one of the many stores they have listed on their site.You can a;sp order them from Hunts Photo Video at http://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com
Phottix Macro Focusing Rail
I have just finished a review of the Phottix Macro Focusing Rail. The review is a PDF document that you can read on line or download.Phottix Macro Rail Review
Photographing the Aurora Borealis
I have added a new tip on my tips page on "Photographing the Aurora Borealis" Click here for a direct link
Should you backup to the cloud???
I was asked a question today: What is a good on line backup service or program?Let me ask you, do you backup your computers, all your data or, selectively just what you believe is important, like your images?I have multiple terabytes of data, mainly images that I can not afford to lose. I continue to generate many gigabytes each month. Just a day’s shoot can be 32 to 64 GB of images. For me a backup system is an absolute must. At the present, I backup all my data (currently resident on raid arrays) to networked drives and secondarily, to a duplicate set of local drives. The data is scheduled to backup nightly on the local drives and weekly on the networked drives. Key client data is also retained on BluRay disks.So what about the cloud? Online backup services are becoming increasingly popular. The number of online back up companies that have been established in the last few years is amazing and difficult to list. However, some of these companies like Mozy, Carbonite, Crashplan, Dropbox, and SpiderOak have been around for a while. They all have their pros and cons. They all provide on line backup services and offer programs for a very reasonable fee (small Backups can even be free) based on the amount of data all the way to unlimited storage. These services require you to download and install programs on your computer that will monitor your system and backup to their remote servers, as long as your computer is connected to the Internet. All of this is fairly simple, and once set up, the entire backup is done in the background requiring no intervention on your part.I decided to check out two of these services, Carbonite and Crashplan. Carbonite was no good for me as I am an Apple Mac user. For Mac users Carbonite’s backup is limited to your main system and will not accommodate connected devices. So after a brief test, I dropped them. Also worthy of note is that Carbonite will throttle your data speed after you reach a certain data transfer threshold. I next tested Crashplan, another free trial. They offer all that I would need, backup the main system, connected drives, selected folders etc. I installed the software on my MacBook Pro and started the backup. I should point out that I have Verizon FIOS with 50 up and 25 down speeds. More than fast enough. Well the test started and a month later, when the trial expired, it had not completed the backup, a mere 400 GB of data. At this rate it would take more than a year to back 6 terabytes and up to 2 years for my main system that houses all my images. So much for the free trial, I did not subscribe.During this trial period I have given the online/cloud backup services some thought and here are some of my concerns.A service provider’s disgruntled employee, could take control of your information. This can be achieved using the very software that you install to manage the backup of data on your computer to the service provider’s data storage bank. This is just one concern and so many what if’s – hackers, information mining, etc., etc. Yes these service providers say the data is transferred via SSL (Secure Sockets Layer, the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between systems) and is stored encrypted. But all the encryption would be useless if your login identity could be compromised. It is worth reading a blog by an industry expert at http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/The other significant concern it the time it takes to backup, so how can you possibly check a full restore. In my case it would be two years to back up and I would know that it succeeded or failed two years later.Privacy and your personal data security concerns:
- All files you backup to an online/cloud service company can be viewed for review purposes by the service company. Though your data is encrypted the service company may decrypt it on an as needed basis.
- The government and law enforcement may request access to your files, and they will be granted access. Note: the hosting company has no obligation to notify you of any such request. As an example, here are the terms and conditions from Dropbox that is one such service.Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement Requests; Protection of Dropbox’s Rights. We may disclose to parties outside Dropbox files stored in your Dropbox and information about you that we collect when we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) comply with a law, regulation or compulsory legal request; (b) protect the safety of any person from death or serious bodily injury; (c) prevent fraud or abuse of Dropbox or its users; or (d) to protect Dropbox’s property rights. If we provide your Dropbox files to a law enforcement agency as set forth above, we will remove Dropbox’s encryption from the files before providing them to law enforcement. However, Dropbox will not be able to decrypt any files that you encrypted prior to storing them on Dropbox.
- Be cautioned that these services can be just as easily hacked as American Express, Master Card, TJX Companies to name just a few. So many banks have been compromised.
I am not implying that you should not use these services or not back up. You should be aware of what can happen and what access is permitted by law. If you must back up to an online service, be selective with what you send to the cloud. If you must backup sensitive data, consider using a local encrypted vault. A product like TrueCrypt will perform this service. Then you backup the vault to the cloud. In the unfortunate event that the backup service or your backup gets hacked, your files will not be accessible as they are contained within the “vault”.Disclaimer: This article and blog post is based solely on what I am aware of and is my opinion only. I will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.All copyright and trademarks are owned by the respective companies mentioned, their owners, or their licensors.
Which DSLR should I get
With all the Black Friday deals and Christmas around the corner, the question "what DSLR should I buy" dominates the photography Q&A. Here is my take on the subject.Since the question is about DSLR's let's first consider two factors, full frame or crop frame. The full frame camera bodies start around $ 2,000 where as the crop sensor entry level DSLR starts around $ 400. Decide which one you want. A few quick tips - the full frame sensor camera will have better image quality, low digital noise and a shallower depth of field compared to a crop factor camera. If it is relevant consider video capability, most DSLR's in the market are video capable.Resolution and Mega Pixels do make a difference, but do not make this a key factor when you're choosing the camera. Today's entry level DSLR's are capable of capturing images that will produce sharp print enlargement. A camera with over 16 megapixels is adequate for most photography.Next is brand selection as you will make a small investment in the camera body but considerable investments in good lenses. This is a long term investment and remember lenses are not interchangeable between manufacturers. Lens selections are an important consideration and currently Canon and Nikon offer the widest lens choices with Sony following close. Third party lens manufactures offer good choices but for now I suggest you stay with the manufacturer of choice.So how do you decide? Go to your local camera store and hold various camera bodies (with the kit lens attached) in your hands. Get a good feel for weight comfort and size. Next look at the controls, the position of the key controls is important, do you feel comfortable with the position and your ability to press, turn and maneuver through these. Now look at the menus and the ease of understanding the various settings - do they make sense to you? The newer models have inbuilt help so it is easier to understand the various functions.So once you have a good feel for the camera body select a good lens in the 18 to 135 mm focal length range. If you feel you might upgrade to a full frame camera in the future, make sure you do not buy lenses designed specifically for crop factor cameras. You do not want to repurchase the same range again just because you upgraded your body. Camera Kits are cost effective but I suggest you buy the boy and better glass.Once you have made you purchase and want to learn the basics of photography, or if you just want the basics, sign up for a one day workshop on December 8, 2012 - click here for more information.
BosStrap LLC to sponsor Iceland 2
I am so happy to announce that BosStrap is sponsoring the Iceland 2 Photo Tour and Workshop. The designers of the original BosStrap Camera Sling System now have the full range of sling straps for you professional DSLR to your Point and Shoot cameras. The BosStrap is MADE IN AMERICA - here is a link to their web site:
All my camera bodies are equipped with the BosStrap - they are light, strong and so very convenient - read more on their website and support American Made.
December 2012 - One Day Workshops
The One-Day workshops for December 2012 are now available. Please reserve your spot early as these do fill up fast.Click Here to be directed to the One Day Workshop Page and the reservation form. Call 617.759.0010 if you have any questions.
Using Colored Filters with NiK Silver Efex Pro 2
Silver Efex Pro 2 includes the standard colored filters that were used by Black and White film photographers. In addition the application provided for a continuously variable custom filter with two slidersThis brief article is to explain the use of the standard filter and the effect they have on monochromatic images.How Filters Affect Tones in your ImageColored filters were used with B&W film to will lighten similar colors on the color wheel and darken opposite colors. As an example a red filter will darken the opposite primary colors, green and blue while but will have the most effect on Cyan which is a combination of blue and green. Conversely, it will lighten red and colors that contain elements of red like orange and magenta.NiK Silver Efex Pro 2 filters in order:
Neutral is the first filter – it removes the effect of any filter applicationThe Red filter has the most dramatic effects. It creates high contrast in monochromatic scenes. It is one of the most used filters for landscape photography and where a high level of creativity is expressed.The orange filter is used to lighten reds in an image. It is an excellent filter as for black and white portraiture. The filter will reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and redness in the eyes.The yellow is a filter that has the least effect and used mainly to make blue skies a shade darker. It is probably the most used in B&W film photography and least used of all the colored filters in digital photography.The Green filter is similar to the Yellow and not heavily relied on. It is used in landscape photography as it does favor the deepening of reds and oranges and ideally suited for fall foliage landscape photography. There is a slight drawback as it will lighten the blue in the skies and reduce contrast.The Blue filter has traditionally been least used in monochrome photography. It was used to reduce overall contrast.Note: The NiK Silver Efex color filters will only work if your image is in color and contains RGB information, An image already converted to B&W or brought into NiK as a B&W will not be impacted with these filters.
New Tip - Star Trail Imagery
Going through some of my notes and articles if found one ideal for tonight. This is on capturing star trails. Click here for the tip.
The Use of Negative Space – Making Great Images
A few weeks ago I posted an image of a Red Wing Blackbird with a fair amount of negative space. I have been asked a lot about the "negative space" so have posted a brief in my "Tips" section. Negative space and its use is not new to art. Centuries ago Asian art used negative space to define the primary subject and to draw emotional responses.So what is “Negative Space” – it is that area or space between objects or around an object but it is not a part of the object. It could be considered that which defines the outline or the border of the object. Yet it may or may not be the subject of your images.More