Start of Blog

Here is my first post in my blog. The reason I'm starting this blog here is to have a place to showcase my photos, explain a little bit about them, and talk about the digital side of photography. I got my first DSLR camera for Christmas 2006. Since then I have started to go nuts with photography and even now carry a point-and-shoot digicam wherever I go. I'm learning little by little how things work from a technical standpoint. Maybe soon I can go into the business standpoint, but before that happens I definitely need to get better.

For those of you wondering, the DSLR I have is a Canon Rebel XTi. The spec everyone seems concerned with is this: 10.2 Megapixels. The point and shoot I use is an Olympus Stylus 770SW. At this writing I have 4 lenses for the DSLR. They are as follows:

1. Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5 - 5.6 (this is the kit lens);
2. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8;
3. Tamron SP 17-35mm f2.8 - 4 LD Di Asph;
4. Quantary 28-200mm f/3.5 - 6.3 DiO.

Each lens serves a different purpose. I know these are by no means the best lenses out there on the market, but these lenses collectively cost almost $900... to me they are worth their weights in gold.


Since The Flood - 1 April 2007... my first concert with my DSLR. This pic, believe it or not, was taken using Full Auto Mode on the camera. It's a little overexposed and the depth of field is a little too deep, but altogether not a bad shot.
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO 1600
Focal Length: 18mm


The Chariot - 19 May 07... Josh was moving like a maniac through the whole set... this is one of the few pictures with which I managed to stop him.
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec
ISO 800
Focal Length: 55mm


Beneath The Massacre - 8 Jun 07 - These guys were moving around a lot, too. Here I got better color, even if a little overexposed. The cool part is I got it with just a hint of motion from the guitar player.
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec
ISO 800 with +2.0 ev
Focal Length: 38mm


Since The Flood - 15 Jun 07 - This one got good clarity and better color. The biggest problem was the lighting conditions. I was forced to use flash because the low light and high ISO would have left too much noise in the picture without the flash. I dialed back the exposure compensation a little bit to compensate for the flash. I managed to get a decent exposure; although I did have to up the contrast and saturation a little bit. Also, the other problem was depth of field. The venue sign behind the band is too clear for me.
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/20 sec
ISO 1600 with -2.0 ev
Focal Length: 88mm


First Blood - 15 Jun 07 - This one from the outset had a serious exposure problem - even with a fast shutter speed and a dialed back exposure compensation. Flash was used for this pic. I think that, in combination with a more open aperture, led to the issue. The whole picture was washed out. I like the focus on this one and it was one of the better action shots where Carl was interacting with the crowd. This one became a challenge for me to fix and I like to think I did a good job at it. For this one it was a matter of upping the contrast, dialing the exposure back, and saturating the colors. The depth of field behind the the band was a problem again, and that was probably what contributed most to the exposure issue.
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO 1600 with -2.0 ev
Focal Length: 59mm


It Dies Today - 24 Aug 07 - My third time at bat with It Dies Today. This time I got quite a few keepers but this picture is one of my favorites. The only thing that was wrong with this picture was some washout with overexposure. I dialed back the exposure a little bit in post-processing and upped the saturation a little to get his tattoos. The stop in time as he's moving into a power scream is what makes this picture stand out for me. At this point I had discovered AI Servo focusing, which is intended for moving subjects. This got me an excellent depth of field all night long at this show.
Aperture: f/2.5
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO 1600
Focal Length: 50mm


Kittie - 24 Aug 07 - I didn't really have a pass to shoot this band. But since I already got shots of the band who paid for my ticket (Thanks, IDT!!), I wasn't really worried about getting kicked out of the show if they got mad. This one was a little overexposed. I lowered the exposure and raised the saturation levels. The last thing I had to do was take the white balance to 6000K. Even with the exposure and saturation fixed, Morgan was looking like a ghost. Raising the white balance temp allowed me to dial back the saturation a little bit so it didn't look like a pastel party everywhere else in the photo.
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO 800 with -2.0 ev
Focal Length: 59mm

I invite any and all comments and constructive criticisms. I want to get better and the only way to do that will be to know what I'm doing wrong.