Took a long time photographer friend out to re-introduce him to the joys of landscape photography.  He has made his income from portrait photography for at least 30 years.  He said it has been a loooong time since he had the joy of just going out and shooting some landscapes.  A joy he intends to pursue now that he is retiring.

The irony here?  He took my senior portraits years ago and is masterful at it.  Now I am the teacher, which is quite ironic I think.

Anyway, here is my crop of photos from the morning:

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Sounds strange, but I have never owned a true photo backpack in 27 years of having an SLR type camera system. I have had backpacks, just none build just for photography. That all changed this week. I have been looking at bags for years, but never found what I really wanted. Many came close, but just not enough to pull the trigger on a purchase. I have been following Kata since the 1990’s when I first heard about them in regards to video gear bags. Then I came across the 3N1-30 and knew it would meet my needs.

There are plenty of reviews out there, so I will just say what I think after using it for some short walks, shooting an event out of it and taking it on a wilderness hike for many hours.

The price was right. The weight was right. The protection was right. The equipment it holds is right.

How it performs
Just the right size for just the right needs. Comfortable and fits my 6′5″ frame just fine. Nice form factor, easy to use and a joy to transport gear in.

How I use it
I don’t take everything on a hike. I need a body or two, 3 or so lenses, some accessories and maybe a pano head for certain trips.

What I like about it
It does not scream “expensive photo gear inside” to me. The left or right sling option is great.

Bright yellow interior might not be to everybody’s liking, but take this into account. At night, fumbling inside a dark bag trying to find something is a pain. Almost all my photo gear is black and it really stands out against that vibrant yellow. Thumbs up for me.

Access to equipment the way I want. Easy pull-out of lens mounted body is a cinch. Not having to put the bag on the ground to use it was key in my book. Access to memory cards and a lens change or two is easy without putting it down too. When you do want to put it down and have access to every square inch well it works well that way too.

Strong and durable.

What I don’t like about it
Around town, short walks and such I never noticed an issue. But on a long wilderness hike I had issues with the shoulder straps pulling back into an uncomfortable position. I could not keep them in the right place. Maybe it is my size or what I was wearing was more prone to them slipping, but it bugged me. The solution in the field was easy though. Just unclip the straps and clip them back in with an X pattern across the chest. Problem solved for sure this way. An optional chest-strap might be in order here to use it as a more traditional backpack.

Using it sling-style works too, but not fully loaded I find. Too much pressure on one shoulder and it starts to ache rather quickly. Too heavy when rotated around, but once the largest body/lens combo is pulled out of the side, it is much quicker and easier to use a sling.

I think the add-on 3N1 Tripod holder is just that, an add-on. It works really good mind you, and is only a minor nitpick. A 2.3lb CF tripod does not add much weight at all. The fact that I can remove it and get a very clean backpack when not packing a tripod is a plus. So truly a minor nitpick.

Price Paid
$129 for backpack, $29 for tripod holder.

Conclusion
It really serves my needs and when fully packed it still not too heavy. Great as a sling, great as a backback and the crossover backpack option is nice to have when you really need it. Whenever you are not using a strap or belt it tucks away. Brilliant!

Next Test
Airlines, airports and packing gear around in different cities. Will be testing this soon, but all indications are that it will be perfect for such excursions.

-Landon

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I never owned a carbon fiber tripod before now. I have seen them, played with them, but the price tag always kept it outside the top purchase decisions any given year. I have had two Manfrotto aluminum tripods that did not fail me, well rarely anyway. One for 20 years. But just too heavy and too many excuses not to take one with me. I looked at Gitzo, almost bought one. I looked at Induro, almost bought one.

Then I came across the Feisol though I had never heard of it. I found a review on Fred Miranda and was intrigued. I researched it and found a distributor just a half state away. Emailed Kerry with www.reallybigcameras.com with my questions. Immediate response, then more, then help with product selection and use, then ordering and confirmation of everything all in one day.

RAL Legs or Not?
Personal preference I say. Leg sections that don’t rotate would be nice and if saving 2 or 3 seconds of setup is critical for you, the you probably need them. I do not have any issues with the non-RAL legs.

What I Like Most
It is so light! It is so strong! It goes everywhere I go! It is short when collapsed, which is perfect. It goes into all kinds of positions during use. Legs are very easy to position and place in all kinds of ways quickly. No cold metal! I do not miss cold metal on a frigid winter morning. My skin will never freeze to a tripod leg again.

What I Like Least
Unlike my old bang-around aluminum tripod, I am much less likely to stick this one in the places I put the other one. I don’t want to beat it up or scratch it up. The old one took a lot of abuse and was rebuilt annually.

It is so light that wind can take a hold of it. If you are setting up in a windy spot where the tripod can get blown down and damage it or lose it over a precipice, strap it to something before you let go of it! A stone bag hung from the hook, or your camera bag, or a bungee cord or nylon strap/cord securing it to something is a good practice to have.

How I Use It
Top plate, no center column 90% of the time. I hate center columns unless I really need one. If that is the case I will just install the center column and go shooting.

Breaking With Advice
Best advice is get one tripod, get a good one, and get it as tall or a bit taller than you are. I broke this rule on purpose. You see I rarely put a camera at eye level standing flat footed at 6′5″ tall. I just find that camera position boring. I am often getting much higher or much lower as often as possible. So I bought a new tripod that does not go as high as I am. But it is also taller than the tripod I used on trips for 20 years. If I want a tall tripod I have a studio one that will do that. I so rarely need this feature.

Price Paid
$309 for tripod. $39 for center column and $79 for leveling head.

Conclusion
I have been using it for a month now. It is so light! It is so strong! It fits my needs perfectly! My criteria for purchase was affordable perfection. I have taken it on real estate shoots, event shoots, concert shoots, around town, deep into the woods and is so nice to have no excuse but to take it with you. It has met my needs and then some.

-Landon

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I have not owned Really Right Stuff products before this, but have always wanted to. When it was time to upgrade my ball head I only had one in mind, the best. I did go and look at all kinds of ball heads though. For the price and build quality I don’t think you can beat it. PhotoClam was my second choice but the price was similar enough I went with what I knew I would be happy with.

What I bought it to do
I bought it to be my go-to device for almost all shoots.
I bought it to connect my pano head to and act as the centering device, as needed.
I bought it to replace a venerable ball head that was not heavy duty enough.I used a 322RC2 grip action ball head for years, with a RC2 plate on each end. I have big hands and it really worked well for me, for most things. The ball/tension is not great and it droops, sags, etc. The ball has to be lubed, and gets your fingers dirty at times. Not the best solution.

What I need it to do
I need it to be rock solid. It is.
I need it to be buttery smooth. It is.
I need it to not droop when you loosen the panning knob. It does not.
I need it to work with with everything I mount to it. It does.
I need it to last a long, long time. It will.

How I chose to use it
I am a bit different from the average RRS user. I actually like the Manfrotto RC2 quick release system. It solved my needs many years ago for rapid mounting of a camera from vert, to horz and back again. It has never failed me. There was no quick release lever from Really Right Stuff back then. Granted, I have found my own way around the pitfalls of the system. Custom anti-twist solution for 70-200 lens foot. Custom L-Bracket for camera, etc. I have them for my auto poles, my underwater housing mount, my super clamps, my ground-pod, even my Nodal Ninja 5L pano head and RD-16 rotator use this system. Everything uses them and it all works well for me. So I bought the BH-55 PF with the platform and mounted a 323 RC2 plate to it, but seriously thinking about mounting the Custom Brackets QRM to it instead.

Do I want Arca-Swiss style plates? Yes! But for me the cost to upgrade is over $1,000 to replace my entire system. Yikes! I will have to upgrade in stages to afford that.

What I like about it
Do I need drag settings to make a photo? No, but it sure is handy!
This ball head is a real pleasure to use, even with gloves on, in the dark and in every other way.
It works flawlessly, built to last and will support 50 lbs. The two drop-notches are a nice touch and I actually have used them with my NN5L for vertical panoramas in the field.

It is low, not tall like so many other ball heads. When I shoot as close to the ground as possible, every inch counts.

Custom drag settings are nice, and they are repeatable. With one lens/body setup I might dial in a 4 and know what to expect. For a heavier combo an 8 might be just right. Very easy to just dial in the setting you like or find a new one as gear changes. Nice touch! I also like it that when you release the tension know, a heavy camera won’t suddenly rotate on the ball and smack you in the face when tension is set for that weight.

No lever! Less to snag on when working in brush and limbs. I really like that. Levers on tripods and levers on ball heads would always get snagged on things in the field. No more.

What I don’t like about it
For backpacking it is too bulky and heavy but is not a fault of the gear, just a different purpose/preference. I have hiked with it and of course really works wonders, just a bit too heavy when every ounce counts on your back and on your feet. I would rather have one that is lighter and weighs less for those trips. In the scale of things though, hiking is not my mainstay, so a true nitpick and just requires owning two ball heads. Problem solved. I guess if I was backpacking with a 200-400 then I would find this perfect.

It is such a work of art I am much more careful with it than my old ball head. This may keep me from putting it in harms way like I would the other one. I also keep it covered during transport. I am just not used to this. I am sure I will get used to working with such quality.

Price
$370.00

Final thoughts
Marvelous. Workhorse. Strong. Exact. Pleasure. Investment. Practical. Artful.
The low center of gravity was a real plus in the purchase decision and a real plus in the field for me.

-Landon

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A great event, great people, so many fun moments captured, and my birthday to top it off.

Here a just a few of the 1700 moments captured this fine day.  So glad it stopped raining the day before!

I wish Tori and Bryan all the happiness a life together can bring.
Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day. I had a great time.

-Landon

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Tags: bride, groom, photography, wedding

• In order to get better, most of us have to take a lot of photos.
• In order to progress in the craft, most of us have to shoot often.
• In order to get better ideas, most of us have to look at a lot of photos.
• Photography is always a game of giving up something to get something else. But what will it be next?
• There is no perfect camera.
• There is no perfect lens.
• There is no perfect photograph.
• Quality of light is almost always more important than the quality of the equipment.
• “I spent too much for my lenses” is rarely an issue other than on your budget.
• Digital photography requires you to be the lab technician, color expert and processing guru.
• The business of photography is often about making money, not better art.
• Being too critical can keep you from making photos.
• Not getting critical enough can let you languish in mediocrity.
• Photographer’s are their own best and worst critic.
• There is not a direct correlation to the expense of the gear and the quality of every result.
• Everything in the resulting photo is completely up to you, because you chose when and where to click the shutter.
• Grain can be dealt with, but today blur is forever.
• When you bring everything on location, you won’t use most of it.
• When you bring just a few things, you will likely need the things you did not bring.
• Long-term professional photographers generally are often better business people, better problem solvers or better managers of details than most other photographers.
• Photography is a journey, not a destination.

-Landon

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Tags: obvious, photography, secrets, tips

I upgraded my panorama tools this week by taking advantage of the $30 off the Nodal Ninja 5 shown here:

NN5L with RD16 rotator

Can be purchased here

What I like:

• Sturdy construction should last a long time
• Rotator works really well and allows for click-stop rotation points from 3.5 degrees up to 120 degrees for lots of lens/field of view/coverage options
• Not too heavy so will likely take it to most locations

What I don’t like:

• The arm sticks out a ways, and when I shoot things really close to the camera, like almost touching the lens, the arm can oftem move them, so just have to get used to it and plan for it
• With a fully loaded camera/grip/batts/L-bracket/lens the unit “sags” a touch more than I would like, but the frame would have to be a cage to keep this from happening I guess

How I modified it:

I added my own quick release to the arm, and added a quick release to the base so I can make this fit my needs quickly as needed.

I looked at lots of other pano heads, but came back to this one many times. Considered the RRS Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package, but without click stops, the NN5 won out, plus the price was sweet.

UPDATE: 5/12/10
I have used it on some actual assignments, I have done a live demo at the photography club, I have used it with my new leveling head. The NN5L works great and I am so happy I own it now. It makes the process so much easier and repeatable.

-Landon

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Tags: Gear, panorama, photography, tools

Easy enough to point your camera at a flower and take a photo, but lets look a
little deeper than that.

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Ordinary can become extraordinary with just a change of angle:

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Look to maximize opportunities on cloudy and/or rainy days too:

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Look for color in interesting ways:

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Break out the diffusers, reflectors and flashes!

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“Never shoot blooms in mid-day” Bah! Break that rule as it fits. Besides, some blooms are not open all day long Ever try to shoot California poppies at sunrise?

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Getting locked into one way of shooting? Try something else:

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Look for great light, see it, feel it, then maximize it as it happens:

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Look for oddities, the unique, the strange:

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Look for composition, groupings, layers, backgrounds:

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Put on the macro lens and see what critters are around too:

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Bring the blooms into the studio:

Get out and experiment!

-Landon

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Tags: blooms, flowers, free, macro, spring, tips

1. Tell a story, refine the story, get rid of what does not enhance the story.
2. Level your horizons, level architecture, straighten square lines unless you want the slant, tilt and convergence to enhance your story. Do it with purpose.
3. Watch for “catches” in a photograph; things that your eye finds, maybe not at first, but once it does you cannot seem to stop noticing it. They almost always detract from the subject.
4. Look to the edges of the frame for things that lead you out of the frame and do not enhance the photo but keep pulling you out.
5. Sharpen a photograph, but only as much as needed and only where needed.
6. Look for and remove dust spots, then look again. Keep your sensor clean, but not always feasible. One trick I find is before you finish the photo, grab it in Photoshop and swirl it around with the mouse/pen a few times in tight circles. I find it easier to see dust, even subtle dust you may have missed. Another method is to increase the microcontrast - greatly. That will let them pop out like a sore thumb, then undo and clean up those areas. Nothing worse then seeing them after it is printed/shared/sold.
7. Not required, but a lot of photos can still be improved with a simple curves and/or levels adjustment.
8. Subtle selective color adjustments often work better than big global saturation adjustments.
9. Special effects, plug-ins, image enhancement tools should be used sparingly if you choose them and should generally help refine the story, enhance your style and allow you more control of vision. Applying them just because you have them is like using a bunch of fonts in a brochure because you have them. Fads come and go, but good photography stands on its own.
10. Let your art reflect your style, otherwise it my just look like everybody else. Appealing to the masses may just water down your potential.

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Tags: photography, refine, tips

The top ten list of things I see that can improve people photography in every day life:

1. Pull people away from the wall, background, surroundings as it is often more flattering. Feel free to break this rule when you know how to do it well. Until then out of focus backgrounds and no shadows cast from the subjects will help you a lot.
2. Shaded, dark eyes = dead portrait. Get light in those eyes any way you can. Change positions, use a fill card, bounce some flash in there, anything. Watch for light from above as it will shadow the eyes nearly every time.
3. Straight-on flash in the face is nasty. Might be OK for a touch of fill, but beyond that use it very sparingly. Bounce that flash, get it off camera, etc. It will improve the photography immensely.
4. Learn to see face shapes and body types. The role of the portraits is to make anybody look good. A few basics can take you far.
5. Group shots can be a real pain - think simple first. Start with the obvious main characters and group the rest around them. Put smaller people up front, larger/taller behind. Layer the heads and watch so that you don’t have a lineup of eye lines. Make the grouping visually pleasant, like a bouquet of flowers. If this fails, shoot the group from above in a tight grouping, they almost always look good. Nobody gets to had their face in the crowd, but hiding (or blocking) a self-conscious body type is certainly practical and suggested.
6. Casting shadows on other people. You really need to watch this any time there are two or more people in the shot. Make sure that nobody has a shadow on their face from the head next to them. If using strobes, higher lighting is often key with larger groups.
7. Watch the background, everything in the background of a portrait is under your control. Simple is often better, control it all to great effect. Please avoid poles, branches, signs, buildings, trees coming out of peoples heads. It is very easy to look for when you pay attention to it.
8. Hands can be very distracting. Hide them if it does not amputate the hand visually. When you show them show the edge of the hand and close the fingers when possible. Watch for hands coming around shoulders and waist lines. They can be distracting and can look like “tentacles” or “tarantula legs” in a portrait. In group shots when holding kids, the big surface area of the hand holding a child can be larger than the child’s face and distracting.
9. Be in control and stay in control. Be confident and stay confident. Even if you are scared to death and don’t know what to do next, don’t show it. Keep it moving and don’t be afraid to move on if an idea is not working.
10. Have fun! If you are not having fun, if you are not “into it” or get nervous, scared or bored it will show. When you stay fun the session stays fun, even if it is not the most enjoyable session, at least enjoy your work. If you don’t enjoy photographing people, then it will show.

-Landon

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Tags: photography, simple, tips

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