Friday, March 22, 2019

Carribean Cruise, Harmony of the Seas.

After a long time I am back on the blog.  As you all know I love cruises. Cruises are a great vehicle for photography. These are some of the images I captured on a recent cruise I took to the Eastern Carribean.  The trip coincided with the Super Moon. Here are several images I took of the ship, which included the Super moon. 









Here are some random images I captured at  St. Maarten. 








Images captured in Puerto Rico from the 16th deck of the Harmony. The panoramas were shot handheld, 5 exposures each. 









These images were captured at Labadee, Royal Carribeans' private island in Haiti. 














Hope you liked them. I will keep posting them here. If you are interested in photography please join the blog. I will try to answer any questions you may have, on how I shot these images. 
Thanks for looking, and happy shooting. 


Saturday, February 3, 2018



  After a long time I am back on the blog.  Between then and now, I have bought new equipment.
I am still shooting with Sony, but bought two Leicas and can not put them down.  These days I have confined my shooting to landscape and long exposure photography. As time goes by, I find myself shooting and studying photography more and more. An interest in film has reawaken, and after many years I find myself shooting 120 film like in the old days. This time I am shooting with a 1961 Rolleiflex.

Along the way, I shot with many incredible cameras. I shot 35mm than graduated to medium format. Years later came digital, and have been shooting digital until now.  Two years ago I started reading about Leica cameras. Their history, and lots of famous photographers who shot iconic photographs with them. I purchase an M9 digital (CCD) sensor, and immediately I was hooked. For many years I shot Canon, and had several bodies and numerous lenses. After shooting with the Leica, I set the Canon aside and honestly do not use them much. Along came a good deal on the Leica M240 and I bought it. Matched it with a 35mm Summicron the produces unbelievable images. I find myself shooting Leica about 70% of the time.

About 3 months ago I went on a cruise with my wife Maria. On-board they were selling the new Leica Q. They had it for an incredible price. After a good dinner, and while sipping on good wine, we walked to the photo section, and bought it. I had read a lot about the camera, but never imagined I would buy it on a cruise. I was happier with the purchase than the day I bought my new car.

The Leica Q does not disappoint.  The Camera has a full 24MP sensor , and a fixed 28mm 1.7 Summilux lens that is razor sharp, even wide open.





                                                                          Leica Q                         
                                             



                                                 Below are a few samples of this gem.







                          Image was shot handheld at F1.7  1\40th of a second, ISO 800 hand held.





                         This is the Fort at Puerto Rico's harbor as seen from the 12th  deck of the ship.


I have had a couple friend photographers ask me if Leica is really worth the money. It depends, the type of photography you do, and of course if you are willing to pay the asking price. Do you need a Leica to do great photography, of course not.  I will say that there is something nostalgic about shooting a Leica. Using a rangefinder camera is an experience all in it self. The Leica is quiet, light, inconspicuous, and a pleasure to shoot. Takes you back to your photography roots. All lenses are fixed. NO ZOOM, need to zoom with your feet. I can say for sure, Leica lenses are worth every penny, and "there is no sharper lens".

Next post I will write about the Leica Q in detail, for my friends that are interested in the it.
Happy shooting. 












Saturday, May 3, 2014

The NEX 7 Mirror-less Camera a whole new photographic concept



After a long time, I am back on the blog!  Just want to talk about the new camera trend "THE MIRROR- LESS CAMERA".  These new cameras are stirring the photographic market. Every major camera manufacturer is coming out with at least one in their camera line-up. After so many years of using SLRs, this is a welcome change. For a while I was undecided whether to invest in one or not. After some research on the net, I decided to take the plunge. I waited until the technology was somewhat perfected and bought my first mirror-less. I bought the Sony NEX-7. This particular tiny machine is marvelous. It is compact, fully featured, and sports a 24 megapixel APS-C sensor. When I first used the Nex 7, I was blown away by its' image quality. The quality is compatible to that of any APS-C sensor SLR.  It took a week or so to become accustomed to the Sony menus. Once learned, it became second nature. I found myself using the camera more and more. I always carry it, because it is really small, and light. I can carry the camera all day long, and never realize it is there until I need it. I bought it with the 18-55mm  kit lens. The kit lens to my surprise is incredibly sharp. Sony got it right this time. To me the greatest advantage of this camera, is its' ability to accept adapters and use legacy lenses. The first lens I bought for the camera was the Rolleinar 28mm F2.8 lens. Since the sensor is APS-C size, there is a 1.5 crop factor. The 28mm lens has an angle of coverage of a 42mm in 35mm (full sensor) format. This lens is just great for all around shooting. I first tryed it out on a recent trip to Walt Disney World. The images below were shot at Epcot center with the NEX 7 and adapted Rolleinar 28mm. 



  The next image was also shot with the NEX 7 and 28mm Rollinar at ISO was 1600 at F2.8.  Not bad for a tiny camera.




The Nex 7 was originally selling between $1100 and $1300. Today a good used one can be had for a little over $500. There is no doubt that this camera is worth the money. Just the ability to adapter almost any lens ever made, makes it a worthwhile investment. The camera also captures great video. It even does 60FPS/ full HD. You can either shoot in  MP4 or AVCHD. Just recently I was shooting video with the Sony VX-2000 and VX-2100. The NEX 7 blows both of these cameras away. I have printed several NEX 7 images on my Canon Pro 9000 photo printer in 13X19in size. They came out spectacular.  If you are looking for a camera that is small, light , and has great image quality, look no further. The NEX 7 is the camera for you. 

Please stay tuned for a small write up on the King of the hill. The Sony A7r mirror-less camera. Got mine about a month ago, can not put it down. 

Happy Shooting.... 






G

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

A Tiny Wonder: my Canon G12 Update

Today I continue on my quest, testing the Canon G12. I was able to get out to Key Biscayne and do some shooting. At the Dinner Key Marina and Kendall Metro Rail Station, I shot  video using the miniature effect (tilt/shift) filter. The filter is pretty cool and easy to use. A lot of the video setting are automated, but the camera does a very nice job. I shot this video in 640 on tripod. I also took several photographs with the camera set to aperture priority, most were shot at F8.  I am really enjoying this camera. It is very light to carry around, but does produce the good quality images and video Below are several images I shot today. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.  In the mean-time Please keep shooting!!!







Sunday, September 18, 2011

A Tiny Wonder: my Canon G12

Finally got the Canon G12. Went out to do some test shots two days ago. After owning a G9, this camera came with significant improvements. Looking thought the menu, I find it very easy and pleasant to use. Some of the important controls are at immediate reach with manual dials and buttons. The addition of the front dial to me is the most significant improvement in this camera. Adjusting aperture and shutter speeds is no different than setting them on an SLR. The camera has a solid feel, and is very well made. The lens is a 28mm- 140mm (equivalent in 35mm). It is sharp and of good quality. The lens has variable apertures of F2.8-4.5. Not bad for low light shooting as long as you are shooting wide. The noise is not bad shooting at 400 ISO. Below is an HDR I shot two nights ago using the auto bracketing feature. I set the camera to auto- bracketing, self timer, on tripod, and got this image. I am also working with the video. I will update my review as I test the different features of this tiny machine. In the meantime, please keep shooting!



Monday, September 5, 2011

The Forgotten Lens


  The 50mm lens is probably my favorite lens of all. If I could only pick one lens to shoot it would be the 50mm. A 50mm lens on a full frame digital camera will give you an angle of view very close to that of the human eye. The 50mm lens is sharp, inexpensive, and lightweight, just to name a few advantages. For a long time the 50mm lens was the kit lens that came with film cameras. Today they have been replaced with the compact zooms. Let me list some the advantages that 50mm lenses have over the consumer grade zooms. Usually these zooms have variable aperture starting at F3.5 and going up to 5.6 depending on the focal lengths of the lens. A 50mm 1.8 lens can cost a little over one-hundred dollars. Zoom are considerably more expensive. If you are like me and hate to use flash this lens is a must. I do a lot of existing light in-door photography. The 50mm fits right in. I also own a Canon 24-70mm L 2.8 lens that cost me over a thousand dollars, when set to 50mm the images are almost identical in sharpness to a prime 50mm 1.8. I have argued at times that images taken with a 50mm (prime), seen on the monitor at 100%, are as sharp if not sharper than images taken with the 24-70mm L zoom lens set at 50mm.
If you like a shallow depth of field this lens will do it well.  If your camera has an APS-C sensor then the lens will have an angle of coverage close to an 80mm lens. 80mm is great for portrait photography. The convenience of a zoom gives the photographer the flexibility to stand in one place and zoom in and out to compose the image. With the 50mm you will need to move (walk) in or away from the subject to compose the image you want. Some photographers see this as a disadvantage; I see it as an advantage to learn better composition. With a prime lens the photographer must look closely though the viewfinder to compose the shot. With a zoom the photographer tends to zoom in and out quickly, taking less time to compose, and does not get the same results in the final product. Some of the worlds’ best photographers have shot all their lives using a 50mm lens. Most different manufactures have a 50mm lens in their line-up. I know that Canon, Nikon, Leica, Pentax offer the 50mm in several different flavors. They can cost from one-hundred to several thousands dollars. 50mm lens come in F1.8, F1.4, F1.2, F1.0 etc. The difference between these lenses is their light gathering capabilities.  

If you are a photographer on a budget, but want professional results, go back to basics and buy a 50mm lens.

Thanks for reading and KEEP SHOOTING……