Monthly Archives: January 2011

Fitting Square Pegs into Round Holes

Most casual shooters don’t think much about aspect ratios when they’re out taking pictures, and even among those that do, how many do you think actually take the time and trouble to switch between  4:3 , 2:3, or 16:9 before … Continue reading

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Biking through the Bokeh

Back before the leaves turned colors and fell away from the trees, I was out on my old Schwinn when I had an “Ah-hah!” moment. It had to do with a conversation I had a few days earlier with a good … Continue reading

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Nighttime. It’s the New Daytime

For the longest time the rule of thumb for taking sharp hand-held photographs was to never take a picture at a shutter speed slower than the focal length of your lens. In other words, if you were shooting with a … Continue reading

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Sekonic L-308DC DigiCineMate for Metering Stills & Video

The original Sekonic L-308 was hugely popular light meter due to its easily pocket-able size, 1/10th-stop metering accuracy, and price. The latest incarnation of this little hottie is the Sekonic L-308DC DigiCineMate, which as its name infers has added film … Continue reading

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Canon 58mm Filter Adapter for Canon G10, G11, & G12

My friend Allen Green from Visual Departures tipped me off about this honey of a gadget. The Canon Filter Adapter FA-DC58B allows you to use 58mm screw-in filters on Canon PowerShot G10, G11, and G12 cameras. Simply remove the accessory ring … Continue reading

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Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Packs Higher-Capacity Ink Cartridges

Epson’s newest 13×19” desktop printer, the Stylus Photo R3000, should reduce the angst levels at late-night print marathons, which usually begin when the ‘low ink’ light starts blinking. At 29.5 ml, the eight UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta ink cartridges … Continue reading

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Sony CLM-V55 5″ Clip-on LCD for DSLRs

As anyone who’s shot video with a DSLR can tell you, DSLRs – regardless of how large the camera’s LCD may be, can be awkward in practice. To make life easier, Sony has introduced the CLM-V55, a 5”, 1,152,000-dot (800×480) … Continue reading

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True Stories: The Day Mother Nature Blinked

When people hear you take pictures of boats for a living, they start getting all sorts of pictures in their minds about sunny isles, gentle breezes, and all else that comes with the ‘good life’. Admittedly, there are times when … Continue reading

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How to Make a Gray Barge Sing

About two years before the twin towers fell, I got a call from a shipbuilder down in Louisiana who was about to launch the first of a fleet of barges slated for duty in and around the New York harbor. … Continue reading

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The Sweetest Light of the Year

One of the better metaphors I’ve come up with to describe the difference between mid-day light during the summer months and winter months is to compare them to an overhead lamp at full Wattage (summer light) compared to a desk … Continue reading

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