Yes, the 6D on a telescope! Just getting things setup for some possible comet shooting. The clouds over Hawai’i may actually be breaking up after a week of very wet weather.
Waxing Moon
Category: Photography
A New Camera – The Canon 6D
What to do when you get a check from selling some time-lapse footage? Go out and buy another camera, of course. Just a case of using hobby income to support the hobby. The curious coincidence of the check arrival and a very nice package deal at B&H Photo helped in the process.
The real attraction to me is the low noise performance of the full frame sensor. This is critical when shooting in the dark for nightscapes and for astrophotography. The camera is currently one of the best on the market, beating out the more expensive Canon 5D MkII and MkIII’s. I am looking forward to what this camera can do when mounted to a telescope or paired with a fast lens in the dark.
Nordic Quest 2013
Sorting through thousands of photos, dozens of video clips, and assembling time-lapse from yet more thousands of frames, all to create a mere five minutes of video. It is quite the chore, but also a lot of fun. In a way I relive the voyage, each photo a cue to recall all of the little experiences that make a great trip.
Having another couple photographers along provided a great source of material, it is not all of my photos. Randy and Nancy sent me some of their best, which have been woven in to create a better video. We got lucky on the weather, while it was cloudy and rainy for much of the time, we had a glorious day for visiting the ice at the top of Glacier Bay. We were lucky with wildlife as well… Orca, grizzly, humpback whales bubble netting, mountain goats, eagles, even a set of fresh wolf prints on a beach, all of the big game.
It was fun…
Nordic Quest 2013 from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo.
The Front Page
An evening stop in the local market to pick up a few groceries. There is always a stack of local newspapers on the checkout counter. But this edition looked a little familiar… That is my photo! I knew Steve, our PIO at Keck, had forwarded the image to the newspaper. I did not expect it to be at the top of the front page!
The image has gotten some traffic. Posted to Facebook the news of snow on Mauna Kea resulted in the highest traffic day I have had in years for this blog. It is not even a great image, just a snapshot taken as we headed for the vehicles to get off the mountain. The light is horrible, the scene seems flat, but it is snow, and that is always big news around here.
Actually, this is my second front page image. A panorama shot from the Keck roof was featured on the front page of the Star-Advertiser earlier this year. It is always a nice surprise to see an image of mine get some press!
Shooting Film Again
Photography was not always a process of pixels, megabytes, SD cards and Photoshop. Once it was chemicals, paper, darkrooms and something called film. I learned to shoot in another age, when every shot counted, there were only 24 or 36 frames available. When it was a week or at least a few days before you knew if the shot worked.
A Second Try for the EOS-M
My readers may remember that I purchased an EOS-M last fall. For a number of reasons I ended up returning the camera, a failed experiment.
In the interim a new revision of the camera firmware has addressed some of the major complaints about the camera, including the sluggish focusing. Low price, improved focusing, why not give it a try? I still like the idea of a camera with near DLSR capability, that is small enough to be carried at all times. Fine, I will order it again.
In Alaska I had four cameras with me… A Canon 60D, the EOS-M, a GoPro Hero 2 HD, and a Canon G12. It was the EOS-M that I used for all of the walkabout shooting on and off the boat.
The only real drawback to the EOS-M is speed, it simply does not shoot fast. As a result I kept the full DLSR ready with the long lens, the 70-200mm L series telephoto. When wildlife appeared I was ready to shoot fast. Whales bubble net feeding, a gizzly on shore, for these it was the Canon 60D I grabbed. For everything else it was the EOS-M in my hand.
I have come to appreciate the EOS-M for the reason I originally wanted the camera. It is a great carry camera, small enough to keep with you at all times, ready to get the shot. It isn’t fast, but it does take beautiful photos, providing better quality than a compact and capable of shooting in a wider range of conditions.
Shooting Film
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one of my fellow voyagers our annual boat trip was an avid photographer. The wilds of Alaska are simply candy for a camera, spectacular photos can be seen in every direction waiting to be captured. As usual I was ready for photographic effort, with no less than four cameras along, not counting the cameras in my phone and iPad. The Canon 60D, EOS-M, a Canon G12 and a GoPro 2 HD comprised a nice array of capability. I was looking forward to the conversations and maybe a chance to learn a little from another photographer.
There was a surprise when I saw the photo gear Randy was unpacking, it looked a little odd.
Randy was shooting… Umm… How do I put this delicately… Randy was shooting film.
Yes, remember that stuff that came in rolls. For those who might not remember, this is how we took photos before digital sensors, megapixels and SD cards became the language of photography.
The setup is not compact, a bulky camera requiring a full backpack to carry with the camera, lenses and light meter. It is around fifteen pounds of gear, quite a contrast to the two or three pounds the EOS-M I used for most of my shooting.
The medium format camera presents difficulties on the boat. Taking long exposures is impossible from a moving and rolling platform. Still, he managed some nice shots when the water was calm, as it was when we visited walls of ice in Glacier Bay. Finding solid ground for the tripod required breaking out the launch and going ashore. We created a couple of great opportunities, landing on algae covered rock, we slip and slide to a place where the beauty of Marble Grotto is fully exposed. Another slippery landing, this time caused by glacial mud, allows us to explore the face of Reid Glacier with cameras and tripods at hand.
Too Blue? Make it Black and White
One of the major problems in underwater photography is the loss of color as you descend. The water filters out the red end of the spectrum, creating the blue world all divers are familiar with.
Visually this is a problem, divers are unable to appreciate the beautiful colors of marine life without using an artificial light source. Most divers carry lights, even on daytime dives, for this reason. It can be quite dramatic to turn on a light and watch brilliant reds and yellows appear where there was little color without the light.
Photographically it is even more challenging, a strobe can light up nearby objects, revealing the colors. For more expansive scenes even the most powerful strobes fail, resulting in photographs heavy in greens and blue, with very little red. For some photos, the blue works, a “true” representation of what was seen. Often the blue does not work, the resulting photograph is an unattractive blue tinged with green, that no amount of fiddling in Photoshop will salvage.
One method in dealing with the loss of color balance is to simply take the loss further, convert the image to a black and white photograph. This is a technique you will see used in underwater photography quite often. By removing the distraction of color, the viewer is able to focus on the subject. The same reason so many modern photographers eschew color, even in an age when wonderful saturated colors are easily reproduced.
GoPro Fun
What can you do with a little camera? A camera that is rugged and waterproof? A camera that shoots video, stills and timelapse?
It is a fun little camera. The video quality is decent as long as there is enough light. I have been using it for diving, I know that the case is good to well over 100 feet. The little camera is a good choice when the mantas show up to dance.
Why not take the camera fishing in Alaska?
For this trip I have set up to find out just what you can do with it. GoPro camera? Check. A variety of mounting methods? Check. My friend Mark has done some fun things with his GoPro lately, providing some inspiration and setting me a bit of a challenge. I may have taught Mark a few things about video editing to get him started, he has taken those lessons and run with them.
One of the intruging features is the WiFi back. This gives me remote control of the camera from my iPad. There is no viewfinder on the back of the camera, but with the WiFi setup my pad becomes the viewfinder allowing the camera setup to be checked.
The remote option also allows me to mount the camera on the boat somewhere and control it with the tablet. Hanging off the bow? On top of the mast? The little suction cup mount should stick to the boat just about anywhere. One of the provided adhesive mounts, designed for a helmet, looks to have just the right curve for the radar mast.
The front ring of the camera case has been replaced with an aluminum ring and a mounting point for a lanyard. A ten dollar EBay purchase that looked to be a wise idea. This should allow a strong safety tether and more freedom in placing the camera in otherwise risky locations. Need to buy some strong cord in Juneau.
What do I come up with? Anything worth watching? Stay tuned to DarkerView to find out…
Hawaiian Sky
A nice bit of Big Island after dark eye candy from German photographer Michael Kunze.
Hawaiian Sky – Mauna Kea | Kilauea volcano from Michael Kunze on Vimeo.