Photo Workshop

[BobW]

I've never had any photo instruction or classes but next month I'm going to spend a week at a photo workshop with Weldon Lee in Estes Park, Colorado. I don't know much about him and his work but I like the area we will be going which is mostly Rocky Mountain National Park.
I've been upgrading my camera equipment over the last year and think I have a pretty good setup. I've been hooked on Canon since the early '80s so I got a 30D, 24-105 IS and a 100-400 IS, a Manfroto Carbon Fiber tripod with Bogen ballhead, and a left over from previous gear Tamron 28-200. Also have a set of extension tubes. The next purchase might be a 1.4X teleconverter.
I've attached a photo I took with a pocket Nikon 4300 while camping at Caddo Lake in East Texas. I'm thinking of trying to recreate it with the Canon setup.

I've never shot in RAW but plan to do that a few times before the trip as I'm sure that would be a much better format to use on this trip. I just got an 8gb card to go with the two 2gb cards so I hope to have enough storage I can download to my laptop a time or two each day.


Well, for some reason, after 3 tries to attach the photo it doesn't look like it will work.

[kdog]

Hey, Bob. Great equipment line up you have there. The only thing you really need now is the Canon 10-22 ultrawide zoom. Going ultrawide is a whole new experience and you'll be getting shots you only dreamed of previously.

Have fun at that photo workshop. I'm green with envy. What an awesome thing to do.

Cheers,
-joel

[DavidTaylor]

Hey, Bob. Great equipment line up you have there. The only thing you really need now is the Canon 10-22 ultrawide zoom. Going ultrawide is a whole new experience and you'll be getting shots you only dreamed of previously.

Have fun at that photo workshop. I'm green with envy. What an awesome thing to do.

Cheers,
-joel

Yep that's the next lens purchase I want to make (once I finish farkeling my GS :) ). I've seen some incredible pics taken with that one. You can also get some very interesting portraits of people up close, makes for some very cool photography.

I took a 1-on-1 workshop last year with Bill LaBrie, owner of Visions of Nature (http://www.visionsofnaturegallery.com/)gallery in Cambria, CA. He does some of the most amazing nature photography I've ever seen, and the pics on his site don't nearly do them justice. We have three of his hanging in our house and I still stop and stare at them regularly. Here's a couple of my favorites I took during the workshop.

http://www.davidkari.com/WSP_0690.jpg

http://www.davidkari.com/WSP_0708.jpg

[kdog]

Right on, David! Great slow-mo waterfall shots. :thumb:

Speaking of interesting wide-angle portrait shots with the 10-22, you mean like this?

http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/az_move_trip/IMG_8709.jpg

Cheers,
-joel

[dmatson]

Looks like two little Goblins in the Valley, very cute ones too!

[DavidTaylor]

Right on, David! Great slow-mo waterfall shots. :thumb:

Speaking of interesting wide-angle portrait shots with the 10-22, you mean like this?


Cheers,
-joel

That as well. A friend at work has the lens and at a group party was taking fairly close=up pictures of people's faces, folks standing around talking, etc. THe wide angle of the lens gave some really interesting perspectives on folks, almost caricature-like for some people with very distinctive features.

Man, the girls are really growing up! you better watch it, they may be in college next week! :D

[kdog]

That as well. A friend at work has the lens and at a group party was taking fairly close=up pictures of people's faces, folks standing around talking, etc. THe wide angle of the lens gave some really interesting perspectives on folks, almost caricature-like for some people with very distinctive features.

Man, the girls are really growing up! you better watch it, they may be in college next week! :D

Gotcha. More like this then. :D

http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/uploads/IMG_9814.jpg

Yeah, the kids are growing up fast. Gotta watch where I put the car keys these days. :eek:

Cheers,
-joel

[BobW]

Yes, a 10-22 would be nice. Maybe before the trip too.

[DavidTaylor]

Gotcha. More like this then. :D

http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/uploads/IMG_9814.jpg

Yeah, the kids are growing up fast. Gotta watch where I put the car keys these days. :eek:

Cheers,
-joel

Yeah, that's it! I think I work with this guy. :histerica

[kb6yaf]

I agree with kdog.....get the Canon 10-22mm wide angle lens. It lives on my 20D about 75% of the time. I do a lot of aviation photography and it comes in VERY handy for static display stuff. Be careful about the low end of the lens because it does distort. You can use that to your advantage, but it will bite you back sometimes.

[BobW]

Well, I got the 10-22 and a 1.4X Extender; however, the extender will not work with the 10-22, only with my 100-400. I guess if I want one for the 10-22 and the 24-105 I need to get an off brand 1.4X.

I also got an Epson P4000. Last year's model and about half the speed of the current P5000 but at only $250 I think it will do just fine. Now I can back up the CF cards in the field and then also on the laptop that night.

[kdog]

Why would you want to use an extender on the 10-22 or 24-105 when you've got those ranges covered in your other lens selections? Extenders reduce image quality and slow down your lens by a stop or two, depending which one you get. The only place an extender would be marginally useful for you is on your 100-400. However, the advantage there is minimal because it exceeds the minimum speed of the lens required for the 30D to autofocus (which is F5.6). You're either limited to manual focus, or faking out the camera by taping over some pins on the TC. Even then, it greatly slows down the AF and now the lens reports the wrong F stops. TCs are much more useful on faster prime teles. The only zooms they really work well for is the 70-200 F2.8 and F4 lenses, because those are faster lenses and so the AF still works with the TC on them.

Regards,
-joel

[BobW]

Got back Saturday evening from the workshop. Had a great time and might have even learned a little. Got photos of Elk, Moose and Big Horn Sheep as well as a couple of landscapes. I used the 100-400 lens the most but also used the 10-22 and 24-105 on several shots.

Got some snow up on the mountains Sunday night so Trail Ridge Rd was closed until late Tuesday. Then it was snowing hard again on Saturday morning. The road may be closed for the season now.
We would leave the motel by 6am with temps at our destinations varying from 35 down to about 25 and sometimes a stiff wind blowing. Like when we found the Big Horns up on top the wind was about 45 or 50mph and temps about 25 or less......damned cold. We had to lay down on the ground in order to hold the camera half way steady.
When we found the moose we had to hike back into the bush about half a mile but did get a few good shots.

[BobW]

A few more shots.