Chasing the light...

Every time you trek out to capture an image you hope that it may land on the cover of the next hot issue of a local magazine or orders will flock in hand over fist. But the unfortunate fact is that many times the weather just doesn't come together as you want it to.

I've been fighting for good light over the past year and I've only had a few occasions in which it has actually worked in my favor. Not to say that those images are immediately destined for the computer trashcan, but more so that it becomes a personal learning tool.

Below are two examples from this past fall that have failed to come together as I imagined. First off is my trek with fellow photographer Scott Hotaling of Light of the Wild Photography to the top of Chimney Tops on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The skies were almost completely overcast and it was beginning to thunder on our way up and the trail. As we climbed tot he top, it looked as if the cloud bank to the west would begin to break up.

Shortly before sunset, the clouds hadn't changed much and we noticed a fog beginning to roll through the valley and heading our way. As the light began to dwindle, we were overcome by the fog racing up the hillside and significantly decreasing our visibility. Within a few minutes of packing up our gear the skies opened up we navigated down the rock face and walked the entire trail in the rain.



The next situation was on our way into GSMNP for sunrise when we noticed the cloud breaks in and around the Newfound Gap area. We made a quick decision and headed up to Clingman's Dome, a popular and iconic spot within the park. We drove as fast as we could up the 8 mile winding road to the parking lot. As soon as we arrived, we made a few quick arrangements and made a dash up the hill to the observation tower.

The mixed cloud cover helped create a scene and things were looking promising as civil twilight began. As I searched for compositions along the horizon, the side light was mediocre and things from straight on were tough to compose given our location.

Here are two good shots taken from this location, but they are not what I would call 'the next level.' Creating images of the next level is what every photographer should be seeking to accomplish.

The Canon EOS 7D

I'd long ditched crop sensor cameras. My first Canon DSLR was a 40D and it was great, especially since I was shooting a whole lot of macro. Then, I made the move to a 5D and even though owning a 50D for a short period, I've been exclusively shooting the 5D for over a year now.

I decided that with the advent of HD video, advanced AF features and weather-sealing that I'd bite the bullet and pick up a 7D. My first impression is that it fits in your hand as well as a 5D, and its roughly the same weight. Of course the big and clear LCD is something that will spoil you when you've been using a much older version.

The AF is really grand (although I've never thoroughly tested a 1-D series camera) and you cant go wrong with 8fps in good light with a high percentage of keeper shots. I do think that the 18mp is a bit much, but it seems the megapixel war is never ending.

The ISO performance of the 7D is nice, a bit better than my old 50D and quite usable up to around ISO 1600. This is no low light monster, and from the results I see from the 5D mark II, I long to try one out

The video option is very cool and just through my hand-held adventures I like the added feature. One thing I've recently found out through discussion is that the 7D has a full time auto-gain feature, meaning it will hone in on the loudest thing in the vicinity. This can be a pain if you're trying to focus on something specific or use it for dedicated HD video purposes. You can offset this by recording sound separately, but that gets pricey. This is not an issue with the other HD DSLRs , the 5D Mark II and the 1D Mark IV.

In the end, I really like having this camera in my bag, I think mainly because I was missing a second body. However, I think what is likely to happen is that I'll be trading the 7D in towards a purchase of a 5D mark II for the better image quality, larger sensor and slightly more tuned video functions.

I strongly believe it is true what they say - once you go full frame, you'll never want to go back!

Prints - Soon available!

Finally, I've got the Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II printer up and running with good proofing results. I am planning to begin cranking out 8x10", 11x17", and 13x19" prints. All will come in a precut mat w/ backing board in a clear sleeve. I can negotiate prices if you are ordering multiple prints.

Base prices* for now will run as follows (does not include shipping costs):

8x10" - $25
11x17" - $50
13x19" - $70

*these prices are standards and do not reflect the price of each print - please inquire about any select piece of work until the site is up and functional.

Canon releases new Rebel T2i with 1080 video and 18MP

DPreview has an initial report with photos of this new camera. More can be seen here:

Canon Rebel T2i at DPreview.com