Maniac With Camera Blog: June 2011

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Lee Filters - Why They Take So Long to Produce.

Mike Browne visits Lee Filters

This is the reason why Lee photographic and cinematographic filters take so long to produce. Each filter is custom handcrafted and quality tested. I'm planning on getting a set of soft 4X6 graduated neutral density filters for my landscape/city scape photography so I'm expecting a bit of wait on these filters which will give me the biggest bang for the buck. They are absolutely the highest quality filters that you can get anywhere. Well-renowned for not throwing unwanted colorcasts into the output, these are prized so much that they have a wait-list of up to several months. I fully expect that I will probably be thrown onto a wait-list as well when I order them.

Update: July 4, 2011: I have put my name on a waiting list at The Camera Store in Calgary. It may be at least late summer - early fall before I can actually see the set of filters, but I will be sending in an order for my Lee filter holders by middle of this month. Then I'll be going and getting some landscape shots to put up on 500px.com.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Lack of Entry Level Wildlife Lenses through Nikon

There has been a distinct lack of "love" by Nikon for entry-level wildlife/aviation photographers. When you look at the Nikon catalog versus Canon, you see the deserted wasteland that is the 100-400mm range, or the 200-500mm range that could be filled by a 100-400mm f/5.6 lens or a 200-500mm f/5-6.3 lens armed with VR and AF-S. Certainly we could go Tamron or Sigma for those lens ranges, but considering that there is a legal fight going on between Nikon and Sigma over VR/OS proprietary rights, I'm kind of wondering what the fallout of that is going to be.

Nikon versus Sigma Legal Filing of Proprietary Rights over Sigma's OS similarity to VR

Right now our only choices are either going 3rd party manufacturers and risking less than quality glass or sticking with a long-in-the-tooth 80-400mm D ED VR lens or slapping a 300/4 with a TC-14EII or TC-17EII which pretty much is the same as throwing your money at a Tamron 200-500mm f/5.6-6.3 Di LD (IF). For those of us who don't have the financial resources to throw at a 400mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4, or 600mm f/4 prime, a 400mm f/5.6 or a 500mm f/5.6 prime would be a god-send. A lot of the amateurs have gone Canon because of the attention shown by Canon manufacturers to the amateur crowd. A Canon 100-400mm f/5.6 IS L is probably one of the prized lenses that amateur wildlife photographers who shoot Canon have in their inventory. Nikon might do well to court that demographic for those of us who have steadfastly and faithfully decided to stick with Nikon for better or worse.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Ships to Shore 2011 - June 4th, 2011

The tall ships came to Garry Point in Richmond, British Columbia. They will be here from June 1st to June 7th. It's one of the attractions that's going on in Richmond. Well worth going out.

Garry Point Park is located near the Steveston Fish Cannery and fishing docks.

Lady Washington sails up Garry Point to do battle with the Hawaiian Chieftan during the mock gun battles.

It was a great day to be out watching this. I brought my 70-200mm VRII and took a whole lot of shots; a lot of which haven't been edited yet.

Lady Washington delivers a devastating broadside.

...at the Hawaiian Chieftan

Hawaii Chieftan sails upstream.

~more photos to come as they get edited.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Andreas Exner

I have to say this guy is a maestro with a Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3. So much so that I'm going to think of getting a Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 OS HSM for an interim working lens while I'm saving up for the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 and the Nikon 600mm f/4.

Feast your eyes on these images at his blog: Andreas Exner's Blog

And if you want to see some stunning images of bald eagles taken by Andreas. Go directly to this entry. Andreas Exner's Bald Eagle photos

He is a great all-around photographer. His other images may be viewed at his pbase photographic website Andreas Exner's Photography Website

He is absolutely amazing with that lens and really pumps the "Bigma" for what it's worth. All in all an amazing photographer. And folks, PLEASE respect his copyright. He earns money off his photography as I am trying to do with mine. So if you would like one of his images, please do the proper thing and buy it from him.

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Maniac With Camera Blog

This is my personal photography blog; the one that I keep separate from my corporate photography blog. This is where I keep everyday photography that I do. Whenever I go places I take my camera (either my DSLR or my point & shoot) with me. In that way, I have a way of documenting stuff at all times. Like it's said...people always wish that they had their camera with them when something happens. Well...if I keep my camera with me at all times, I'll never wish I had it when something does happen. ~ Hugo Chikamori, Maniac With Camera Blog Owner

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YOU MAY NOT DISTRIBUTE, COPY, PUBLISH OR USE THE IMAGES OR ANY PART OF THE IMAGES IN ANY WAY WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER. YOU MAY NOT ALTER, MANIPULATE, ANY PART OF AN IMAGE WITHOUT CONSENT.

All images included herein this Internet Web Site publication are the copyright and property of FalconRose Photography. COPYRIGHT NOTICE WARNING: The entire contents, as well as all individual parts, of this website are copyrighted by its creator and author, and are protected under the laws of the United States of America and member treaty nations. These laws impose substantial penalties for infringement, and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The use of any images or other materials included herein, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than for the private purpose of the user, including, but not limited to, copying, reproduction, publication (including on Internet Web Site including third party web pages by any means, including "hotlinking", storage in a retrieval system (other than internet browser), manipulation (digital or otherwise), or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of Hugo (Haruo) Chikamori. All artistic and moral rights of the author are hereby asserted.

All inquiries regarding use of and purchasing prints and image use rights must be directed to Hugo Chikamori, via e-mail at falconrosephoto@gmail.com.

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Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and its ramifications world-wide, FalconRose Photography has ceased doing business with all American-based suppliers. FalconRose Photography will patronize Canadian suppliers and retailers of photographic equipment.

Also, this will result in sales of images to United States purchasers treated as if the purchase had taken place in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, and that all such provincial and federal sales taxes due will be paid by the purchaser (due to the complicated tax process involved, point of sale cannot be specified at location of purchaser.) Purchaser is responsible for payment of all US federal and state use-taxes as we will not be collecting those for the United States Government.

We are a small Canadian company and as such, we have had to take measures to protect ourselves (by removing all stain of US tax presence - being treated as a US taxable person; we are Canadian) from United States Taxation and its complicated methods of filing taxes under the United States Tax Code.

We are also boycotting any United States shooting locations and will proceed to shooting schedules in Canada only. Canada is a vast and beautiful country and there are plenty of places to photograph without having to step outside it. We look forward to continuing to bring beautiful images of Canada's wildlife and landscapes for your viewing pleasure.

Edit: upon further research into the confiscatory practices of the US Internal Revenue Service; FalconRose Photography recommends that any US based company requiring images refer to many of the talented photographers based in the United States. FalconRose Photography will not do business with US buyers.

I Do Not Critique Other Peoples' Images

I have had people ask me to critique their photos. Unfortunately, photography is a very subjective field. I don't like to give out critiques because invariably it involves "my opinion" which pretty much carries the same amount of weight as everyone else's - a very negligible weight.

I find that most photographers either want one of two things: They want me to a) praise them so that they don't feel bad about the photography that they are outputting. b) they want to be offended by minor criticism so that they can write the critiquer off as some hack photographer. So it doesn't matter how I give critique, it's a no-win situation.

If I am impressed by your photography, I will say so on my comments at your site: Flickr, 500px, or whereever you may be placing your photographs. If not, I will more than likely be silent. Remember the old adage of mothers everywhere? "If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all."

Your photography is your photography, I cannot tell you whether or not it's good or not. If you wish instruction, I would suggest looking up a certified photography instructor. There are people out there who have dedicated their careers to training others. Unfortunately as a working photographer who is doing wildlife stock photography and getting his business off the ground, unfortunately, I do not have the time to do so on a gratis basis.

Above all, photography is essentially the way YOU see the world, not through being filtered by other people. So the only person who can really critique your images is yourself and if you are true to yourself, you will be the hardest critic of your own work.

The only people whom I've ever critiqued images or helped by instructing them on occasion are people whom I've gone personally to school with and they already know who they are on my friend's list on Facebook. So please do not send me your photos to critique, because invariably you will not hear from me.

About Me

Haruo Chikamori has been shooting photography in some shape or form since 1984 when his late father got him a Mamiya Sekor TL500 35mm manual focus SLR. Since then he has taught himself the basics of exposure, shutterspeed and aperture...and has progressed from the basics to running his own freelance photography business.

Hugo has had numerous cameras from point and shoot and SLR 35mm cameras to digital cameras (both point and shoot and DSLR). He now prefers to work with Nikon 35mm film and DSLR cameras.

Currently his photographic arsenal includes a Nikon D300s body, a Nikon D50 body, AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, AF 50mm f/1.8 D lens, a AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VRII lens and a Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4 D ED-IF II lens. He also has a SB-600 flash.

In the future, he hopes to get the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, a Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VRII lens, as well as a Nikon D700 FX (full-frame) body and a Nikon F6 (35mm film) body