a blog of little consequence » Canon 5D Mark II

Why I Shoot in RAW

Jenn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:16:18 +0000

I have read a number of articles about the advantage of shooting in RAW. Among them is the idea that our current computers and monitors do not display all of the color data captured in a RAW photo and that in the future we will be able to see and process those colors.

Bob Atkins gives this reason in a comment on this article:

You should get significantly better results by color balancing a RAW file than by color balancing a JPEG. The reason is that the RAW file has all of the original color information, while the JPEG file has thrown away some of it.

To take an extreme example. Suppose you shot indoors under tungsten light but you had the camera set to daylight white balance. If you write a JPEG you'll be throwing away a lot of the color information information and you'll end up with a red/yellow looking image. You can't get that lost info back. However in the RAW file, all the color data for all the channels is there and you can recover the image.

To me, it is defenitely worth the effort of post-processing and the expense of extra storage. I am interested in learning more about DNG, which promises to reduce file sizes.

Photography Sites of Interest

Jenn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:41:57 +0000

I have greatly benefited from online photography and photo editing resources. I started out by joining a couple of groups in Flickr, which provided me with the opportunity recieve critiques, advice, and ask questions of other, more experienced photgrpahers. Recently, I have added a few more websites to my more frequently accessed list. Here are some of them:

http://www.photofocus.com

http://www.scottbourne.com

http://www.canon5dtips.com/

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=HomePageAct

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/

I have also started follow these sites and a few others on Twitter. I have found many of their tutorials, articles, and videos hepful.

Brooklyn Bridge

Jenn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:01:18 +0000

I tried my hand at a little (little being the key word) video editing with Adobe Premiere Elements 7.

National Geographic Explorer Medium Backpack Review

Jenn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:20:43 +0000

If you are like me, one of the most important questions you have when selecting a bag is, “How does it work on a plane?”

I have travelled with this bag stuffed to the limit a few times now and can happily report that it fits well both in overhead storage, as well as under the seat ahead of you. Security has never even batted an eye when I run this bag through. The last time I travelled I had the following in my bag:

Dell 15.4” laptop with extended battery (Inspiron 1525)

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 70-200mm 2.8L

Canon 14-70mm 3.5L

Canon 50mm 1.8

Canon 28mm 2.8

Speedlite 430 EX II

Various filters

Kata rain jacket

Various other small accessories

A Terrible Towel

A Bogen carbon fiber tripod attached to the side with the loops *

A Bogen pan head in the big knapsack compartment

I can’t tell you how much I love the all of the pockets and rings. I have a Crumpler Karachi Outpost, but hardly ever use it because this bag makes getting to your gear so easy. The folds out pockets on the side are awesome for your water bottles as you spend the day hiking or site-seeing. I have hiked around NYC, Washington D.C., and Pittsburgh with this bag and wouldn’t have changed a thing about the bag.

I will also add that the included rain cover is slick and easy to throw over the bag, buying you some time to get out of the rain. I would depend on it for an all day deluge, but most of us don’t spend all day outdoors in the rain with this type of equipment.

Many people have commented about not having enough room for a 15” laptop. I usually put my laptop in the bag form inside the bag through the knapsack pocket versus the outside zipper pocket. Even with the extended battery, it fits nicely.

I am running out of space in this bag and have been considering the larger bag, but the reviews aren’t so great about it. I might get it and modify the Velcro in the photo compartment.

* I usually detach the tripod once I get on the plane for ease of storage under the seat. I think you could easily leave it attached in overhead storage.

I purchased mine through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-NG-5162-Explorer/dp/B000FJ2OSM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248106412&sr=8-1

Cloud Rotation

Jenn — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:56:09 +0000

After a crazy night of storms, I caught some cloud rotation from what turned out to be a tornado. The rotation appears at the end of the video.