Dan Bailey Photo Newsletter - October 2015 Issue
Published: Tue, 10/27/15
Hi
"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air." -Nathaniel Hawthorne
I ran across this quote this morning and found it to be very fitting during these weeks when the daylight hours are decreasing each day. This time of year, is there anything so precious as those rays of direct sunshine that, even though they lack the warmth the had a couple months ago, or the rich contrast of blue sky set against sunlit fall leaves. The reds, yellows and blues of fall are all primary colors, which is one reason they resonate so strongly on our visual systems, and it’s one of the reasons why autumn is such a wonderful time to shoot photographs outside.
Unfortunately, I missed the peak of fall here in Anchorage, although I have a good excuse. I was in Romania, where I spent almost five weeks traveling and bike touring around Transylvania. It was a vacation well deserved, after a busy year of shooting, writing, editing and teaching workshops. Five weeks of no schedules, and no deadlines. Get up. Ride bike. Shoot photos of whatever caught my eye during the course of each day, then figure out where to sleep that night. Bliss.
I hadn’t gotten to do that in awhile. Have you? Our souls need that kind of refreshment, and our brains need long hours of downtime to think and ponder new ideas. When we’re always busy, rushing to meet deadlines, whether self imposed or dictated, and putting out fires, we don’t have the freedom to wander deeply within our deepest selves, which is where the most creative ideas are born.
In today’s touch screen world, where everything is at our fingertips all the time, we often spend too much time absorbing information and not enough time digging down in our own brains. Make sure you do that from time to time. I’ve always said that creative ideas don’t live at your desk. Even talking a walk at lunchtime can breed new ideas.
The Romania Gear Bag - The Benefits of Using Primes
I took a simple camera setup to Romania, two bodies, the Fuji X-T1 and X-T10, and three prime lenses. I like that combination for travel; it’s relatively lightweight, and it’s simple. I love fixed lenses, because they’re usually faster than zooms, unless you’re carting around the big glass, they’re inconspicuous and unobtrusive and they provide those visual limitations that can enhance creativity and photographic skill.
Although zooms give you more options, there’s a lot to be said for knowing exactly how a particular prime lens will render your subject, and then working the scene with that one, single viewpoint. Too many choices can cripple creativity. In my mind, primes force you to work deliberately, and there’s something pretty cool about that.
The three lenses I took on my trip were the 14mm f/2.8, 23mm f/1.4 and 90mm f2. Wide, middle and telephoto. I kept the 14mm fixed to one body and the 90mm on the other, and this is what I used to shoot nearly everything. Sometimes, I swapped out the 14 for the 23 when I wanted to change things up a bit, or when I was shooting environmental portraits or in lower light conditions.
This method made things fast and simple and it cut down on time spent changing lenses. If I wanted a different look, I just reached for the other camera, although going into most scenes, I already had an idea of how I wanted to shoot it, so I knew which camera to grab.
The Fuji XF 90mm f/2 Lens
I LOVE the new Fuji 90mm f/2, and it was an easy decision to take that lens- it’s way lighter and smaller than my XF 50-140 f/2.8, and it still gives a classic telephoto perspective of shallow depth of field and compressed backgrounds. This is easily one of my favorite lenses, and I see using this for a wide variety of work in the coming years. With a view similar to the classic 135mm lens on full frame, it’s ideal for portraits and for isolating parts of the scene off in the distance, while showing them dead sharp against a blurry background.
In addition, the new XF 90 is the first Fuji lens to feature a Quad Linear Autofocus motor, and in use, it’s one of the fastest AF lenses in their entire lineup. And, it’s ridiculously crisp. I’d put this lens up against any for shaprness and resolving power. At $949, it’s considerably less expensive than the 50-140, and although I LOVE that lens, if you’re on a budget, or just can’t see lugging around the big glass, I’d take a serious look at the XF 90mm f/2.
If you’re a Canon shooter, they have a similar lens, the EF 135mm f/2L USM for around the same price. Nikon has their own classic 135mm f/2, and Tamron makes a 90mm f/2.8 for both mounts, Tokina has a 100mm f/2.8 Macro for an exceptionally good price. In fact, I think this is one of the best lens values for this range when you consider that the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro costs $600 MORE than the Tokina.
Olympus has the ED 60mm f/2.8, which gives a similar view of the Fuji 90mm, and it’s a pretty reasonable price. Sony shooters also have an affordable option with the Samyang manual focus 135mm f/2. I haven’t tried Samyang lenses but they have a pretty good reputation from those who have used them.
Presenting at Kenmore Camera Digital Photo Expo -
Nov. 7-8, Seattle, WA
If you’re in the Seattle area next month, come by the Kenmore Camera Digital Photo Expo and watch my free presentation, either Saturday or Sunday, Nov 7-8.
The event will feature 25 photo industry vendors and manufacturers, who will be giving special deals on just about every type of equipment and accessory. In addition, there will be Classtime with the Pros, with ten featured speakers who will be giving seminars on various photography styles. I’ll be doing a presentation called “Adventure Photography - Moving to Mirrorless,” where I’ll talk about shooting adventure sports with the Fuji X cameras, detail some of the main advantages morrirless cameras offer for shooting this type of work and give tips and tricks.
I’ll be doing my talk on both Saturday and Sunday, twice each day, and I’ll be signing copies of my book, Outdoor Action and Adventure Photography. If you’re free either day that weekend, come on by!
Save $25 on my Online Photography Course
Last month, I announced the release of my brand new online photography course, Outdoor Photography Essentials, and so far, it’s been doing great!! People are really excited about the content, which I see as the glue that will help you bring together all of the skills and techniques that outdoor, action and fast breaking photography require. This is information I really want you to have, because I know it will help you out and make you a better, more well rounded photographer, especially when you’re shooting while out hiking or exploring with your friends.
My special introductory $25 off sale is still going on, which means you can get the course at half price right now. However, this is a limited time offer, and it won’t last much longer. If you’re curious about the course you can watch the trailer and check out part of the first lesson for free.
Also, here’s a testimonial from one of my students that describes my online teaching style.
"His lessons and inspirational words help keep me motivated on tough days! I recommend this course for all photographers, regardless of skill level, as his experience and guidance is applicable to all who seek to improve their work.” -Jean Lua
Gear Corner - Hard Drives
Let’s talk hard drives. In today’s digital world, they’re one of the most essential pieces of gear we use in photography. Desktop drives for photo storage, backup and Time Machine, and external drives for taking your work on the road and backing up the images you shoot while traveling.
Fortunately, they keep getting bigger and less expensive. Here are a few notable models that I saw at PhotoPlus last week.
LaCie has just come out with their 4TB Rugged RAID drive. With both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, this drive allows you to either use it as a full 4TB drive, or run it as a 2TB RAID, where your data is mirrored across both drives. Plus it’s water and shock resistant and is designed to withstand a 5-foot drop.
For a couple hundred dollars less, LaCie also has the new 4TB Rugged Mini, which is just a straight 4TB USB external drive with the same water and shock resistance. Both are great for backup or taking your photo library on the road with you.
Another cool little drive I saw is the brand new SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD Drive. There are quite a few portable SSD drives coming out now, but this one seems most suitable for outdoor photographers.
Coming in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB, the Extreme 500 SSD is a tiny, waterproof, rugged storage solution that’s about the size of a drink coaster. Seriously, it’s tiny. Fits in your shirt pocket tiny. Or clips to your pack. With a single USB port, the drive offers extremely fast data transfer to and from your computer or laptop, and is made for use in the field.
Of course, the deal with SSD drives is that they have no moving parts, so they’re highly durable, resist vibrations and wide temperature swings, and enormously fast read and write speeds. Ideal for outdoor or travel photographers and videographers to backup data in the field.
Western Digital is running specials on their 4TB Elements Desktop drives this week, only $109 ea. These are workhorse drives that work great for Time Machine. Put a couple of them side by side and you have an excellent RAID storage option for storing your master photo library or backing it up.
The Western Digital My Passport Wireless functions as a regular external hard drive, but it also has an SD card slot that allows you to back up your cards on the road, and it functions wirelessly with their My Cloud app, which means you can potentially leave the laptop behind and still access your image catalog on the road with your iPhone or iPad. I used it this way in Romania, and even sent images back home to clients a few times.
Around the Web
Getting the Lightroom Interface Out of the Way- Lightroom is great, it’s full of really useful tools, but sometimes you don’t want to see tools, you want to see the image. In this post, Scott Kelby shows us a few simple keystrokes for hiding your tools and presenting your photos in the most effective, non-distracting powerful way.
Questions to Ask Yourself - Critiquing your images. Also on the Lightroom Killer Tips blog, Pete Collins presents 8 simple questions that will help you maximize your self critique process and narrow down to your very best images. This helps your keep a more streamlined catalog, which makes it easier to find images, and it helps you become a more effective photographer and visual storyteller.
Using Mirrorless Cameras for Sports - I’ve shot a lot of cyclocross with my Fuji cameras, and so it’s cool to see how other people do similar things. In this post, Francis Specker has his own take on cyclcross. Here’s a race he shot with his Olympus OMD-EM5 and Panasonic Lumix GX-7. Action photography requires good gear and technique, and with mirrorless cameras getting better every year, more sports shooters are starting to use them full time.
Jaw Dropping Aerial Photographs Capture the Earth’s Water from Above - As an aerial photographer myself, I can appreciate this one. I love seeing the the world from above, and the pictures in this post are simply gorgeous! We really do live on an amazingly beautiful planet, don’t we?
Autumn Photography Tips - If you still have leaves on the trees where you live, maybe this post will help you get some great fall foliage photos this season. Frits Habermann offers some great tips for showing off the colors with effective use of framing, contrast, viewpoint and composition.
Finally, my brand new book is out! Backpacker Magazine and Falcon Press have just published Adventure Photography, A short, highly illustrated, pocket-size how-to guide to taking great pictures in the outdoors, this book offers up all the information you need on modern camera gear, technique, and tips for capturing stunning images. Including numerous examples of jaw-dropping wildlife, landscape, and action photographs, this book explains in detail how to make the best use of your camera gear outside—in a variety of conditions, and with a variety of subject matter.
It just came out this week and I’m pretty psyched to see it in print! I’ll have more info later, but I just wanted you to be the first to know about it. Check it out!!!
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As always, thanks for reading and enjoy my latest blog posts below. Please share this post with your photographer friends, keep in touch and enjoy the rest of your fall!!
Best regards,
Dan
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