Amazing new printer deals

I just bought a new Canon IPF 5100 inkjet printer today from Shades of Paper, and I wanted to pass along the great deals that they have going on at the moment. If you are interested in a new printer (or paper/ink), Jason Adams is your guy over at Shades of Paper. So here are the great deals through the end of the year:

Canon IPF 5100: $1625.00 delivered

Canon IPF 6100: $2750.00 delivered

Canon IPF 8000: $3400 delivered

Canon IPF 8100: $3800 delivered

Canon IPF 9100: $8500 delivered

You can contact Jason at (864) 569-0748 or email him at jadams@shadesofpaper.com.

Cameras and lenses, Oh My!

I was diving through my most favorite images a few days ago, and decided to use Adobe Lightroom's meta data filtering capabilites. I sorted all of my favorite few hundred images, and here are the most popular lenses from my safaris since I switched to digital in 2002:

16-35mm f/2.8 = 5
24-70mm f/2.8 = 34
24-105mm f/4 = 17
70-200mm f/2.8 = 11
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 = 36
400mm f/4 = 57
500mm f/4 = 81

 
I can certainly see the trend in my photographic style, as well as my use of certain cameras and lenses. What is amazing is how many of these images were captured with non professional camera bodies. I had a good run of images back in 2003 with only a pair of Canon 10D cameras.

I am using shorter and shorter lenses these days, as well as specialty cameras such as a modified Canon Rebel XTi for infrared. I have also purchased a 6x24cm panorama film camera, which will be put to use next month in Tanzania. My photographic vision is certainly changing right now, and I am trying to visualize and capture all of my African images in black and white. I like to think that this is the next challenge for me, and I am certainly making it a challenge. My new Fotoman 624 panorama camera is huge, only captures 3 images per roll of film, and is quite challenging to use for moving wildlife. For example, in ample light I plan on shooting with ASA100 film. To obtain an adequate depth of field for my subjects at 300mm, I will ideally shoot at f/16 or f/22. This might give me a shutter speed of 1/125 at best. I must be nuts. But challenges is what I am into, so bring em on.

Back from Moab

I just got back from a 22 hour drive from Moab. My drive back home took me through multiple snow storms, sleet and pounding rain. Normally I fly to my workshop destinations, but these two workshops were different. The second workshop was a combination field landscape workshop, as well as a digital printing workshop. So I took my 100 inch diagonal screen with me, along with an Epson 3800, enough profiling gear to outfit an entire school, sample prints, a Rotatrim cutter, and a dozen boxes of 13x19 paper, graciously donated by my friends at Moab by Legion Paper.

 
I want to thank everyone on both workshops for such a fantastic time. The comraderie was a pleasure! I also want to thank the other folks who helped along the way. Scott Martin of On-Sight Consulting, Jon Fuller of Moab Photo Tours, and Bret Edge. Let's do it again next year! I am pondering my 2008 schedule, and it is likely that I will move this yearly workshop from the winter to an early spring schedule, likely in 2009.

Online Interview

A Portugese website has recently published a short interview with me. It can be found here:

O elogio da Sombra interview with Andy Biggs

What I learned on my last safari

Here are a few bullet points of technology changes or tests from my last Tanzania safari.

No Laptop

I attempted to spend 21 days out on safari without a laptop computer. In its place I used two Epson personal storage devices, the P-2000 and P-5000. I upgraded the P-2000 to 100GB, and the P-5000 had the standard 80GB drive inside.

Did the test work? Yes and no. It worked from a data storage standpoint, that's for sure. After each game drive I just plugged in the CF cards and walked away. Talk about simple. This freed up a ton of time to socialize, help other with their photos, talk about workflow, or just read a book. I did miss having a laptop around to critically review my images. When you start adding up the weight of two storage devices, you are approaching the weight of a subnotebook. The space required isn't that different, as well. I had my Epson storage devices protected with Case Logic hard drive cases, and I cannot think of a better product to help protect these devices.

 

 

Two-headed Giraffe, Lake Manayara National Park, Tanzania, Oct 2007

Canon EOS 1DsMkII, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x, 1/1000 @ f/4

Digital Projector

This was my first safari with a digital projector, and this is the wave of the future for me. I do believe that our safari travelers enjoyed when I pulled out the projector for slideshows. I own the Epson 1705c LCD projector, and at 3.7 pounds it worked well for me. I look forward to the day when I can find a projector with increased resolution in a smaller package. The 1705c is a 1024x768 (XGA) projector. The colors are fantastic, and brightness and contrast is also great for small or large spaces.

Nikon D2x and 200-400mm f/4

I was having issues with the Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS with teleconverters, so I wasn't enthusiastic about using the lens once I figured out what was going on. A friend of mine from our first safari had to fork over 483 Pounds for his second checked bag out of Heathrow airport, so he was eager to have me take his Pelican case back to the US for him with some of his Nikon gear inside. US travelers are allowed two checked bags, instead of one. I am not sure why there is a difference, but it is what it is.

So suddenly I had a D2x, 200-400mm f/4 lens and a 1.7x teleconverter to use. He he. I haven't shot with a Nikon camera since 2002 when I switched to Canon. I enjoyed shooting with the D2x, as the ergonomics is top notch. Button placement is intuitive, usability is much easier than a Canon 1 series camera out of the box. To pick up the D2x and shoot with it is an exercise in not needing to read a manual. There are tons of menu choices, though, so it can be just as dizzying as my Canon cameras to understand everything you need to know.

 

Baby Giraffe, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Oct 2007

Nikon D2x, 200-400mm f/4, 1/200 sec @ f/4, ISO 800

I was disappointed with the image quality over ISO 400, though. I have become very spoiled with the image quality of my Canon cameras for higher ISO speeds, so this is a difficult hurdle for my shooting style. I am a depth of field junkie at times, so you might see me photograph with a long lens at f/11 to f/14 most of the time. F/8 is often used if I am suffering from a slow shutter speed. This has me using ISO 160 to 800 quite often on my own equipment, and I tried to avoid anything over ISO 400 on the D2x. This reminds me of my slide shooting days when I needed to be less sloppy and more regimented with my shooting style. From everything I hear, the new Nikon D3 should be a huge camera for those folks like myself that need to rely on higher ISO speeds.

The 200-400mm f/4 is a dream safari wildlife lens. I really did enjoy having the capability of zooming in and out to properly frame my images. The equivalent field of view with the lens is 300-600mm. I used the 1.7x teleconverter quite often with the lens, and even though the quality of the final image was quite good, the autofocus speed does suffer when not shooting in midday light. This was extremely disappointing, so my suggestion is to stick with the 1.4x teleconverter for faster autofocus speed.

 

Elephant Family, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Oct 2007

Canon EOS 1DsMkII, 500mm f/4, 1/500sec @ f/8, ISO 500

Garmin Vista Cx GPS device
How have I lived without a GPS device? GPS is very valuable for the safari photographer, and I was not only able to track where we went, I was also able to determine the elevation and mark waypoints. Battery life was less than optimal when I used rechargable AA batteries, as I averaged around 11 or 12 hours. On some days, we might be away from camp for the entire day, which could be 13 hours. 6am until 7pm. You never know. So I switched to lithium batteries to see if this changed. Talk about a huge change. I was able to get around 4 days per pair of lithium batteries, which averaged around 40 hours of use. The downside is that once depleted you need to throw the batteries away. So I carried all lithium batteries back home with me for disposal.

I used LoadMyTracks to offload the data from the GPS unit to my Mac Pro desktop computer. You can save your files as .kml files for use with Google Earth. Very cool.

May 2009 Namibia Photo Safaris

Ok. The last time I announced a Namibia safari, I had 20 people email me within a few hours of the announcement. Unfortunately, I only had 11 spots available on the trip. This time around I will have two Namibia safaris that will be back-to-back trips, and both will overlap slightly with the itinerary. So here are the details:

Namibia: The Northern and the Central
May 9-19, 2009
Leaders: Andy Biggs and John Paul Caponigro

AND

Namibia: The Central and the South

May 19-27, 2009
Leader: Andy Biggs

These Namibia safaris will differ in a few ways, with one location (Sossusvlei) being included on both safaris. The first safari with John Paul will have 3 main locations: the remote landscapes of the Skeleton Coast, the Himba tribe and dunes/mountains of Serra Cafema, and the towering dunes and dead trees of Sossusvlei. The second safari will have 3 main locations, as well: The deserted mining town of Kolmanskop, the Mars-like landscape of Wolwedans and the Namib Rand, and the towering dunes of Sossusvlei. If you have a measurable interest in either or both of these safaris, please let me know right away, as I anticipate these trips to be booked up quickly. Please email me at info@andybiggs.com for signup details.

Kolmanskop, Namibia

Kolmanskop, Namibia

Skeleton Coast of Namibia

 

 

Sossusvlei

 

Dead Vlei

Photo of the Day

Kicker Rock, Galapagos Islands, May 2007

Canon EOS 1DsMkII, 16-35mm

Blurred Panning Techniques « Photo Weblog - photography tips, tricks and camera help

1) Choose a clear, uncluttered background. Try to use uncluttered backgrounds in your composition. This will help focus the viewer's attention on your panned subject, as opposed to the background. However, sometimes it is beneficial to include more background in your composition, as this helps convey a sense of location.

Canon EOS 1D MkII, 100-400mm at 400mm, ISO 160, f/32 @ 1/10 second.

2) Zoom lenses are more flexible. I like to use the Canon 100-400mm for my blurred pans. Why? Because it offers the ability to zoom in and zoom out, helping me frame my subject better. The lens is also considered a 'slow' lens at f/4.5-5.6. Slow lenses are also valuable because they usually allow you to stop down to f/32 or f/40. This is important, because if you have ample light, you might have difficulty reaching slow enough shutter speeds at ISO 100 and f/22. With the ability to stop down even more, you can often obtain shutter speeds in the 1/4 second range.

Canon EOS 1D MkII, 100-400mm at 300mm, ISO 100, f/32 @ 1/10 second.

Canon EOS 5D, 400mm f/4 DO + 1.4x, ISO 400, f/45 @ 1/6 second.

4) Choose the right shutter speed. Depending on your subject, you will find that shutter speeds ranging from 1/60 to over 1/2 of a second can be used. I try to have the subject's main torso, neck and head as sharp as I can, while leaving the legs blurred. The appropriate shutter speed changes for each animal. For example, giraffes, wildebeest and hyena have longer front legs, which makes their neck and head bob up and down. This makes longer shutter speeds more difficult.

 

 

Canon EOS 5D, 500mm f/4 L IS, ISO 160, f/32 @ 1/8 second.

5) Follow through. When focusing and panning on a subject, be sure to follow through with your panning movement. With slower shutter speeds, this is extremely important, as you are creating horizontal lines of movement within your photograph. You also need to pan at the same speed as your subject. Choose an area on your subject, and focus your camera on that particular area. Now follow through, while maintaining that particular focus point on that area.

 

 

Canon EOS 10D, 300mm f/4 L IS + 1.4x, ISO 100, f/16 @ 1/50 second.

6) Practice practice practice. My family has adopted 2 retired racing greyhounds, and I frequently use them as my practice subjects. Whenever I purchase a new camera, I will test the new camera on my greyounds in either a park or our back yard. Try this yourself. You can even practice with passing cars.