2009 Atom Champions!

Finally!!! After three years of finishing second in this tournament, the boys finally won the gold!

Métomedia Official Photographer!

I had an objective to bump off everyone`s weather image on the Temiscaming Weather page and have 5 of my images in-sequence.  I did it! Why? Who knows, just for fun I guess.

Surprisingly the Fall reflection image got over 14000 views in one week!

From the lighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

It’s a small world

You don’t have to go to Walt Disney and ride the “It’s a small world” attraction to realize just how small the world really is. 

This week I received two e-mails that proved that.  The first e-mail was from the World Energy Council’s London office you wrote to tell me that my image “Modern Day Farming” was the global winner in the Council’s annual photo competition.  Aside from getting a T-shirt with my image on it, I get a £500 Amazon.com gift certificate.  I’ve been considering purchasing a high-end Epson Archival ink printer and this is making the decision that much easier.

My second e-mail came from a flickr contact.  He wrote:

“Hi Pierre,
We last spoke some time ago after I'd expressed my
admiration for one of your locomotive HDR's, a very strong
image which really stuck in the mind. Anyway, the other day
as I was glancing through my weekly edition of "Amateur
Photographer" magazine, I spied an ad for, I think, the
Tokina 11-16. Since I find myself shooting more and more
architecture on a professional basis, I read the ad as I'm
considering swapping my Sigma 10-20 for the Tokina.
Unusually for a lens makers ad, it featured a decent quality
photo which caught my eye and closer inspection revealed a
credit for "HDR by Pierre Contant". I immediately thought "I
recognise that name, thats the locomotive guy!" and was
delighted that your HDR skills had been recognised!

Amateur Photographer is the UK's oldest and most respected
photo mag, celebrating its 125th birthday this year. As part
of their celebrations they gave away a reflector and white
balance target/diffuser with last weeks issue and since I
wanted both gifts I bought two copies. If that was the same
week I saw your work gracing the Tokina ad it means I should
have a spare copy floating around somewhere, which, if I can
find it, I'd be happy to send to you.

Either way you've been refining your HDR skills for a while
now and it's great to see them recognised, congratulations!!

If you'd like any more info about the Tokina image then
just Flickrmail me. Have a great weekend!

Best Wishes, Adrian " 

That image was sold to Kenro, the UK distributor for Tokina for a one year license agreement for an ad campaign. 

The internet has made our world small, very small.  I've sold images in Canada, the US and the UK.  And to think that just maybe the Queen is sitting on the throne reading “Amateur Photographer” and gazing a my image of Lumsden Dam just tickles me. 

From the lighter side of the darkroom, 

Pierre

Workshop Update

My fall Outdoor Digital Photography Essentials workshop did take place last Saturday and I would have to say it was a success.  Although we crammed in tons of information, we managed to get out there and try things out.  

I shared many tips and tricks which will undoubtedly improve each and every participant’s photographic skills if they continue to put in practice what they learned.

I truly enjoyed the day and the fact that the workshop attendees were great people who wanted to learn made it that much better and a perfect day.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Pierre

Photography Workshop

FULL - This workshop is now booked. If you wish to be on a cancelation list, please send me an e-mail.  
 

I’m looking at hosting a Digital Photography Essentials workshop this fall. I have a few things I need to iron out but I should be in a position to confirm if the workshop will take place in a few weeks.

Where: Temiscaming, Quebec

When: The tentative date is Saturday September 26^th, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., rain or shine. A one hour preparation session will take place the night before from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. to get started and ensure that everyone is prepared for the next day.

Workshop Outline: I will cover just about everything in digital photography except for post processing and studio lighting. At least 4 hours of the day will be out in the field trying and testing the various learning with one-on-one coaching. Night time and flash photography will be covered after dinner.

Prerequisites: You need to be a serious amateur willing to learn and improve your photographic skills.

Required Equipment: A DSLR and a tripod is a must. Most Point & Shoot (P&S) digital camera will not qualify as they do not have the level of functionality required.

Limited seats: The workshop will be limited in participation in order to maximize the one-on-one instruction. Since space is limited, seats will be on a first come, first served basis.

Workshop Fees: The cost for the workshop is $100. You will need to bring your lunch and cover your dinner costs.

Language: My last workshop was in French only and this one may be in English depending on who attends. If the lectures are in English, French may be used during the one-on-ones to better explain and understand the theory. 

f you are interested in improving your photographic skills by participating in this workshop or have any questions, please e-mail me at pierre.contant@yahoo.com as soon as possible.

Pierre

El Rodeo, more than trucks....

El Rodeo!

Every year, the Rodeo du Camion (El Rodeo) attracts over 65,000 people in Notre-dame-du Nord, a small 1500 resident community on the Ontario/Quebec border. The rodeo is filled with attractions such as the amazing Show & Shine competition, truck parade and up-hill truck drag racing. This event has become the biggest activity of this nature in Canada attracting people from across the country and the US.

Coors Light like you've never seen

This year I decided to attend the event as I hadn’t been there for over 20 years. I was perplexed to see how big this event had become and floored to see how much beer was being consumed. Beer shacks were all over the place and the grounds’ were covered with empty beer cans. This big beer drinking party attracts many young people looking for a good time.

Entertainment

But what really titillated me was the free entertainment between each race. Motivated by Mardi-Gras style necklaces and crowds of cheering men, ladies of all ages were encouraged to lift their tops and show their breast and that they did. From woman young enough to be my daughter to one that was old enough to be my mother, many participated.

Now I could tell you that I was totally appalled by this behavior and to stand there and see all these perverted men cheer and holler to the women on the opposite side of the track to take there tops off was disturbing, but that would be a lie. In fact, I truly enjoyed the entertainment and best of all it was free!

I quickly reviewed the fine print in my marriage contract and no where did I see that I could not photograph these bare chested women.

So as I stood their in the crowd, actively scanning for the next lucky contestant, I quickly realized that most of these rowdy guys were on the other side of the track which meant that most of the ladies participating were on my side. Needless to say, it was time to change sides.

Once on the other side I found the perfect spot with a great view but I guess it wasn’t my lucky day. It seemed that by time I got to the other side most of the action had changed sides as well. But nonetheless I was determined and decided to wait it out for things to go my way which they finally did.

Reality

When I got home I shared the experience with my wife and confirmed that I hadn't missed any fine print in our marriage contact. And as I sat there later that evening, replaying the day’s events in my head, I suddenly realized that these young girls had a father and the older ones participating probably had grand children! Having a daughter myself made the fun of the day take sudden change in perspective.

The next morning at breakfast I had a little chat with my daughter. She was well aware of what I had seen at the Rodeo so I shared with her my thought about the concept of her participating in such an activity. Being a mature and reasonable girl, she was disgusted by the event and unquestionably supportive of not embarking in such activity. I told her to scratch this event out of her list of events to attend.

Now just to make sure she doesn’t go, I’ve convinced my wife that I should be attending each year!

From the brighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

DIY Camera Raingear

It doesn’t take much rain to get a 10 year old boy outside but to get a 13 year old girl to put aside her iPod and get off the couch to go out and play in the rain takes an impressive downpour.

Well that’s what we had last Sunday night, a very heavy downpour and what better time to test my home made camera raingear. Now while most photographers were looking outside I was out there taking pictures and getting wet, really wet.

The camera raingear worked perfectly and in fact outperformed my worn out raincoat. It was raining so much, perhaps too for a first test. It kept the camera dry but I could not keep the front lens dry which made photography a challenge.

The Design

I’m a canvas sewer hobbyist and designed and sewed the raingear myself with the following features.

Seal – The rain gear seals around the lens with a pull cord and the bottom of the cover seals up with velco so that I can seal it around my hand.

Window – I put a clear plastic window so that I can look in the viewfinder and see the LCD display. With my right hand inside the cover I can adjust any setting.

Fabric – Lightweight water repellent black nylon.

Size – The fabric is collapsible for my 50mm lens and extendable for my 80-200.

Version 2

I give this design 100 % for normal rain, wet or snow conditions. However, for torrential rain such as in this test, the nylon fabric eventually became drenched. No water got through but I could begin to feel the dampness on my hand. This was undoubtedly more rain than I had ever imagined testing this gear. It was raining so much that pouring buckets of water over the covered camera would not have been any worse. That said, I've made a second version made out of 100% waterproof marine canvas. This on is fully sealed model and you must operate the controls from outside the cover. I made a 1/4" hole under a sealed flat for a tripod mount or the adapter of my fantastic Rapid-R strap. This unit designed for extreme conditions and I can't wait to try it out.

VERSION 2

Click on image to view larger

From the brighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

Where's the Wildlife?

While I was on vacation I noticed a guy on the beach feeding seagulls and I was quite impressed to see just how close he was getting to the birds. Was this a photo opportunity?

Later that night as I sat by the fire, faithfully testing the blueness of the Coors Light Mountains, my wife noticed that I was rather quiet. Concerned that I may be contemplating the purchase of more camera gear; she asked me what I was thinking.

I was actually deep in thought developing a plan to capture these famished gulls in a unique way but I wasn’t about to share this with her. My mind is focused (most of time) on a few things and regardless of what I say, her answer usually is “Don’t you ever think about anything else?”. So I replied that I had enjoyed the day and was looking forward to tomorrow, which was true, just not what I was thinking.

Operation REGULAR

Throughout the next day I did the Dad thing. The beach, the Midway, the Mini-Put, Dairy Queen you name it. When the time came and the sun was where I wanted it to be, operation REGULAR was engaged. Before I started I had to shelter my daughter and wife in a safe location and what better place than a shopping area with plenty of stores. My assistant (son) and I were then cleared to execute the mission.

We stopped at a local convenience store and bought two bags of REGULAR potato chips and headed to the beach. I purchased regular flavored potato chips because that was part of my back-up plan. You see my assistant loves regular potato chips so if he got bored during the mission, he too could have some!

The Location

We found a location where cars are allowed on the beach and spotted a flock of poorman’s wildlife. When you think of wildlife you imagine tigers and grizzlies not seagulls. And when you think of wildlife photography lenses, a telephoto come to mind and not a wide angle lens, even less, a super-wide. So why not shoot seagulls with a super-wide angle lens? Neither are wildlife related.

The Calling

My assistant and I sat on the tailgate of my truck and began the operation by opening the first bag of potato chips. And just like the cracking sound of opening a cold can of beer in a locker room would get any man’s attention, every bird within a 10 mile radius heard that bag of potato chips pop open! Within seconds they were swarming around us and we were ready to execute.

The Setup

I got my brave assistant to hold a potato chip with his fingers as high up as he could and held my camera out about a foot away, under the chip. I rallied the gulls by throwing a few potato chips near our feet and into the air. They were as excited as I was the first day I set foot in B&H Photo in NYC. The gulls aggressively fought for the food and it didn’t take too long for the braver ones to start going after the potato chips in my assistant’s hand. I shot blindly (camera help out by my hand) and pointed the lens toward the bellies of the approaching birds.

The Pain

As the bag of chips emptied, the size of the potato chips got smaller, making my assistant’s little fingers more and more attractive to the gulls. Between each feeding/photo shoot my assistant checked to see if his throbbing fingers were still connected to his hand and began to complain. I felt like saying “Listen Trooper, when you enrolled in this regiment did you think we were going to wear Phentex slippers and take walks in the park????”

Then I realized that he was only 10 years old and that he was a real Trooper and had done an excellent job. So we called it quits and emptied the remaining potato chips on the ground for the birds to feast.

The Camera Settings.

At first I shot with a flash, and experimented with different shutters speeds. I soon realized that the birds were moving too fast and that I needed a very fast shutter speed, at least 1/2000. Although my camera can flash up to 1/8000, the exposures were not always what I expected. I opted to shoot without a flash and set the camera to 1/2000 and some at 1/4000 of a second in shutter priority. The action was very fast and focusing was taking too much time so I set the lens on manual focus and set it for the estimated distance.

The Result

The results were amazing. I managed to get many images that I had never imagined doing with my super-wide lens. And the exposure? My trusty Nikon D300 did an incredible job in Shutter priority at getting the perfect exposure almost every time. Minimal and in any PP was required.

The Second Bag

During operation Regular we only went through one bag of potato chips and kept the second one for a repeat performance later that evening. Unfortunately on the second go around the gulls were not cooperative but I did manage to get good images such this in-flight potato chip bite (not with the super-wide).

What luck?

At the end of our vacation as I quietly drove the 8 hrs journey back home my wife noticed my mind was elsewhere. She sked me "What are you thinking about?" We had been camping for 9 days and sleeping with our kids in the intimate confines of our camper trailer. It was a beautiful family vacation and not a honeymoon. Now we were heading back home and I could not stop thinking that I was finally going to get into some 'real' wildlife activity. Now I was not about to say this as both you and I know what her answer was going to be. So I told her, "I'm tired, I can't wait to be in bed tonight!", which was definitely true. She smiled and replied "Oh honey, you must be exhausted with all that driving but you are in luck! You will sleep well in our bed tonight, alone. The kid's have asked me to camp-out with them in their bedroom tonight!"

From the brighter side of darkroom,

Pierre

Who’s teaching who?

Where’s the wedding?
I don’t go to many weddings these days. I’m not sure if it’s because people don’t get married anymore or if it’s because they just don’t invite me but one thing's for sure, “Here comes the bride” played on the organ is a rare sound.

But when I finally get invited to a wedding, photographing the reception is always a challenge. By the time the Bride and Groom makes it back to the reception the people at the bar know me by name. And to make matters worse, there’s always one girl wearing a dress her boyfriend wishes she wouldn’t have bought which ends up distracting me.

Free Help
That’s why I decided to get an assistant to help out with the reception photography and who better than my 10 year old son. He was bored so I setup my camera for him and gave him a 2 minute lesson on operating the flash head for bounce lighting and off to the races he went. There he was lugging my D300 c/w MB-D10, lens, flash held by my faithful BlackRapid strap around his neck. He fired away and I didn’t see him most of the night. All I could see was the room light up every minute or so as if we were in a lightning storm.

Job well done
After filtering his 200 or so images he shot, surprisingly 130 were keepers. The composition or horizon was off on some and crop off center on others. But out of the 130 images there were many that were simply perfect in that he had captured the moments of the evening. (Luckily for me he didn’t capture all of them!) The image on this post is his. I simply cropped it and processed it.

Learning
Kids learn so much by observing and trying things out themselves. My son is well on his way of becoming an outstanding photographer and my daughter too for that matter. She has her own camera and manages to produce some very creative work. I don’t know what it is with her(and her friends) but she's stuck in this continuous self-portrait mode. Once she figures out that she can turn the camera around, she’ll discover a whole new world of photography.

My kids are not the only ones learning. After filtering my son’s images and being pleasantly surprised by his work, I realized that he too had taught me something. His tenacity, POV and spontaneity delivered the goods while I was busy checking the blueness of the Coors Lite mountain’s or on the dance floor trying to imitate a guy that can’t dance (which that I did very well!). So what did I learn? I learned I should have got him to shoot the reception too!

Now I can’t wait for him to learn Photoshop. When that happens I’ll be able to sit back and just be the director.

From the brighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

Trigger happy!

I’ve had my Nikon D300 for about 10 months or 300 days now and I’ve shot 20400 images with it so far. Being awake for an average of 16 hours a day for the last 300 days, that makes an average of 4.25 images per hour!! That's basically pressing the shutter button every 14 minutes for the last 10 months!

Why I don't shoot weddings

Let me start by saying that I have the utmost respect for wedding photographers, good ones that is. 20 years ago I shot weddings, motivated by my passion for photography and my hopes to make money to pay off my equipment and then buy more!

A couple of years into it, the motivation came to a sudden halt when the realities of shooting wedding came to light.

I don't shoot weddings anymore because:
1 - I'm meticulous (some would say perfectionist) and like to do things well. I'll redo it until I like it. Bride's aren't to crazy of getting married a second time if you screwed up!
2 - Way too much pressure - You are shooting non stop and you need to perform.
3 - Time - time is always limited and you are rushed. Unfortunately my creativity takes time, something you don't have(time) when you shoot weddings.
4 - Money - Time is money and I don't think you can pay me enough to lose a Saturday and then the countless hours to process the images. But if you think you can then maybe I can be convinced!

From the lighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

Photographing Art

My sister asked me to photograph some of her paintings as she's having a tough time getting quality images of her work.

I told her I'd do it as this is really easy. Heck you could train a donkey to do this.

I setup my nifty Manfrotto tripod and set my camera at f/16 with 50 mm lens and began to shoot the art work.

I processed them all in PS using my usual action and I was really pleased with the result. My pleasure came to a sudden halt when I decided to check the color match between my images and the painted canvas. That is when I realized that my colors and contast were totally off. I had tweaked the saturation, levels and curves like I do on all my images. Something you can't do when you try to replicate something because the end result was images that didn't resemble the art work!

I had to redo them all and try to color balance the images to match the paintings. Tough job and although I managed to get my images to look closer to the paintings, I just couldn't get them bang on. Maybe a donkey can't be trained to do this!

From the brighter side of the darkroom,

Pierre

Missed Opportunity

After some persuasion, the girls graduating this year managed to convince me to shoot their Prom. I had previously managed to hold my position and didn’t shoot their formal gown shots as this repetitive photography just doesn’t appeal to me. After retiring from shooting this type of event 20 years ago, I finally said yes to the big day.

Why did I say yes?
Well part of me wanted to relive the pressure and adrenaline rush of shooting an event but I really wanted the opportunity to confirm or refute my reasons for not doing these events in the first place. Shooting weddings 20 years ago was more pressure than fun. Trying to make an ugly bride look good and getting paid peanuts to do so just wasn’t my cup of tea. But there was a part of I liked when shooting wedding and I felt this would be a great opportunity to clear that up so that I can know when to say yes and when to say no in the future.

The assignment
The grads were to give me one hour of their time between the graduation and reception. I was to take individual portraits as well as group shots. I was also asked to shoot the diploma ceremony and the reception dinner and speech coverage as well.

The big surprise
At the end of the ceremony, one hour before the portrait shoot, I learn that my 1 hour shoot had shrunk to 15 minutes and all they really wanted now was a group shot. What a change in plans! I was bewildered. This group finally gets me to say yes and they have one hour of my photography time to create memorable images of this day but now they only want 15 minutes? I may not be renowned for my people pictures but heck, give me a bit of time and I’m sure I can produce some stunning images. At that point I realized that they either had no clue of what I was capable of producing or that they didn’t really care. Neither did I in fact as I was doing this for free. Yup! Free. And they didn’t take advantage of this opportunity.

The Shoot
I showed up at our meeting place for the shoot and got ready. The grads slowly showed up and I started shooting portraits of those that arrived, waiting for the entire class for the one shot they really wanted. As time progressed, some of them got impatient of waiting and the questionable weather (thunder) made them return to the reception. For a period of 30 minutes they came and went and I managed to get some portraits and some smaller group shots but not of the whole group as they wanted. The light was perfect and they could have all gotten some great images.

Will I do this again?
I’ve come to realize that I feel most rewarded when I create photographic art. Anyone can take photographs but few can make it into art. But producing art takes inspiration, talent and time, not 15 minutes and a camera. So to answer the question, if someone asks me to take pictures again, I'll say no, I have no time. But if someone wants to buy my art, then I'll say yes but you will have to give me time.

From the brighter side of the darkroom

Pierre.

Loose Screws?

I've got a case full of lighting accessory goodies including a small smorgasbord of e-bay triggers. They work pretty good but anyone would rather own PocketWizards or Radio Poppers instead.

I recently came across Cybersync's from AlienBees and I'm pretty excited by the price. (As you can see it doesn't take much to excite me. Show me a price tag and I'm out of control!) They are half the cost of PocketWizards.

I purchased a White Lighting Flash Unit from a Paul C. Buff (owner of AlienBees) about 20 years ago and the thing still works so I'm confident that these Cybersync's will last a long time.

I decided to do a bit of testing of my e-bay triggers tonight to sort of convince myself that somewhere in AlienBees warehouse in Tennessee there were a few Cybersyncs with my name written all over them.

The test did prove that the e-bay triggers aren't too consistent and that misfires are frequent.

Now what about the loose screws?

After shooting 150 test images of myself (yeah with my clothes) I actually got an idea and shot the above image. Heck if I got that idea before I started I wouldn't of wasted an hour popping the flashes in my face.

The image is three different shots layered together and then some fancy post processing.

When I was done I showed it to my wife who looked a me as if I had some screws loose. I explained to her that I was performing a highly technical and controlled test of my 'junk' accessories yet that didn't seem to impress her. To her, I was just wasting my time!

It was also obvious that mentioning the fact that there were two Cybersyncs with my name on them in a Tennessee warehouse wasn't going to make things any better so I just shut up!

From the brighter side of the dark room,


Pierre

Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 - One of the funnest lenses you can buy!

I don’t have smorgasbord of lenses. Not that I don’t want one but because my Chief Financial Officer (my wife) doesn’t approve and the Board of Directors (my kids) have focused my capital expenditures on project they feel are needed for our Company (our family). As Chief Executive Officer I comply with the direction or I risk having them exercise my dismissal clause in my contract.

That said, I do have a few good lenses in my bag but one stands out as the funnest lens I’ve ever owned and perhaps the best one I have. That lens is the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 lens.

This lens is incredibly sharp and wide, ultra-wide. This lens allow you to capture scenes with a view and perspective that no other lens can do. If you are looking to add a whole lot of fun to your day’s shooting then get one of these lenses.

From the brighter side of the dark room,

Pierre

The Circle of Life

When I was 12, my dad bought me my first motorcycle. There is no doubt that my son dreamt that he too would get one someday. I also think that my dad silently watched from a distance and wondered when in the hell I would stop spending all my money on camera gear and buy him one. After years of thinking and talking, we finally did it. This years birthday gift was any boys dream come true.

So this has obviously consumed a great deal of my ‘free’ time and explains why flickr has taken a back seat for now.

Dessert is no longer on the menu for dinner at home. Once he’s inhaled his dinner (even though we try to slow him down), the first thing he says is “Dad, do you think we can go out for a ride this evening?” Saying yes is easy as I remember how I felt when I was young and all I could think about was my red Honda.

I like to stop and take a break just to watch him go. There is nothing more rewarding to see the trill and joy in his eyes as he learns to ride. My son is a very sensitive child and when we load our bikes to head back home he never forgets to say in a sincere way, thank you and “I love you dad!”.

I also realize now, how my dad felt back then.

Thanks Dad, and I love you too!

Pierre

From Depends to braces!

I’m always amazed at weddings to see old uncle Bert and aunt Edna get up and dance so gracefully across the dance floor while I’m there uncoordinatedly dancing as if I was wearing a Depends needing a desperate change. Heck, it’s my uncle Bert who wears Depends yet he just has those smooth moves I wish I had.

So last year I convinced my wife to take some dancing lessons with the hopes that when I get to be 72 years old and invited to a wedding, I too will be able to get on that dance floor and just like uncle Bert, impress all the young folks.

After a few months of lessons I can honestly say that I’ve improved. I’ve gone from Bambi on ice to John Travolta on crack! Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration but I have more confidence on the dance floor and although I’m not 72 yet, I sure look forward to that next wedding. Now as long as uncle Bert doesn’t show up, I should be good enough to make aunt Ethel(Edna’s envious sister) wish she was young again.

Now what does this have to do with Charlie’s Angels?

Well my wife is a high-school teacher and every year she helps put together a school talent show. I like to help out a bit too by creating some of the advertising graphics and photographing the evening so that the kids will have souvenirs of this memorable event. This year she gathered 10 students (5 couples) and taught them the Cha-Cha, the dance we learned, as one of the acts.

Before the show, 3 of the dancers wanted me to photograph them. I was not ready for this as I was setup for low tungsten light telephoto photography. Now I wasn't about to say no to these cuties so I quickly changed my lens and scrambled though my camera's settings to readjust and shot some images back stage even though the improvised background was bad.

When I got back home I looked through all my images I shot during the event. I liked one of the backstage shots and decided to get a bit creative. I cut out the bad background and replaced it with flames and this quickly turned out to be Charlie’s Angels.

I sat back later that evening and realized how ironic this whole dancing idea had become. Last year I just wanted to be like my old uncle Bert so that I could dance like him when I’m 72. Now I wish I was that 16 year old kid with braces that danced with these beautiful girls that night!

But after even more reflecting I realized that when uncle Bert goes gliding by me so elegantly with Aunt Edna on the dance floor, he looks at me and wishes he was still 43 and dancing with my beautiful wife.

From the brighter side of the dark room,

Pierre

The Benefits Of A Big One!

They say that size doesn’t matter; it’s what you do with it that really counts. Even thought I’m very fortunate to have a big one, I’d have to agree that size doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to use it. But when it's all said and done, the size of your camera sensor makes a huge difference in image quality and your ability to salvage an image if you are starting from a bigger image file. A big sensor means a big camera and a big camera has other advantages.

The Other Benefits of a Big Camera
When I’m out shooting I often have my D300 with an MD10 Power Grip and a 80-200 zoom with shade hood hanging of my side held by my BlackRapid R-Strap. I always get a kick out of the facial expressions when people see just how big it is. Women usually say “Oh my that is big!”. With a smirk and smile I usually look at them, blush and reply by saying “Thank you”.

When I was at Disney and getting ready to take a picture of my kids with the Little Mermaid, she couldn't help but notice the size. She whispered in my ear “Listen big boy, if your snorkel is as impressive as your camera, you can spend the evening with me in my grotto!”. I was stunned by the proposition and couldn't help but imagine what it would be like when all of sudden I heard a loud voice. It was a Disney Cast member saying “Excuse me sir, for the last time before we call security, we are asking you to move on and let the rest of the children get a picture with the Little Mermaid!”

As I walked away disillusioned of having been ‘kicked’ out of the grotto, I couldn’t help but wonder if she really did whisper in my ear and if she did, what did she really say. Maybe she said “ Listen fat boy, I’m not sure if you have a snorkel in your pants or you are just happy to see me but get the hell out of my grotto before I call security!”.

I'd like to believe that she actually did invite me for the evening and everyone once while I let my mind wonder off and think about what it would have been like to spend that evening chasing each other around in the grotto while eating plankton!

So when it’s all said and done, having a big one does have many advantages. From basic image quality to salvaging an ok image from a bad shot to simply impressing people by how big it is, big is good. However if you happened to have a small one, don’t feel bad or don’t rush into getting a bigger one. It is amazing to see the stunningly beautiful images produced by small sensor cameras. And if you do have a small one and aren’t getting beautiful images then your problem is most likely not your camera!

From the brighter side of the dark room,

Pierre

To Clean Or Not To Clean, That Is The Question.

I’m the type of guy who has has to fix what’s broke. I like to be organized and my work area needs to be clean. I’m not sure if that is what led me to adventure myself in cleaning my camera’s sensor myself or it was just plain old stupidity, but I did it anyways. I learned so much about the exercise I though I’d share with you my experience so that you can avoid the mistakes I did and the mild seizures!

I’ve blown dust off my sensor in the past and that has always worked. But on my recent Disney trip, I was changing lenses more often in one day than my son was changing his mind on what souvenir he wanted me to buy him. On this trip I got many Disney souvenirs myself. Some stuck on my camera sensor and the rest on my Visa statement. Blowing on the sensor like I did the past just didn’t work this time around.

According to Nikon, there’s only really two options if blowing it out doesn’t work; live with it or send it to Nikon for cleaning. We’ll I didn’t like either options so researched the various cleaning methods on the Internet. After hours of research, I was sold on the option of purchasing the Photographic Solutions Digital Survival Kit and doing it myself.

Heck why not? After looking at so many people do it on YouTube why couldn’t I do it? Thinking this was easy was mistake #1.

So I did a simple ‘uncontrolled’ sensor dust test with Photoshop that proved to me that my sensor was in desperate need of a good clean up. Here’s the test result.

The test was ‘uncontrolled’. That basically means I had no clue what I was doing so I didn't get a proper reference check. This was mistake #2. You'll see why a bit later.

With all this information, I purchased the kit from Vistek's and anxiously waited for the delivery.

When I got the kit I just couldn’t wait to try it out. Why wait, plan and think this further? Why not just jump into it like a monkey in banana tree? It’s only an $1,800 camera and I’ve never done this before! What a perfect opportunity to learn and maybe even regret.

The Digital Survival kit cost about $40 delivered to my door and came with 5 swabs. Now I read that it takes a bit of getting use to and that you may have to repeat the swabbing at first as you learn the technique. And even though you can only use the swab once, there’s 5 in the kit, why should I be worried, a monkey can do this. Mistake #3, thinking I was better than a monkey.

So when got home from the Post Office I grabbed my camera and ran upstairs into the washroom (claimed to be the room with the least amount of dust in the house - definitely the best reading room in the house!) and began to setup. I read the instructions and realized there was a discrepancy between the kit’s instructions and what I read on the Internet. The kit says to generously apply the cleaner to the swab while the Internet tended to say just a few drops will do. Mistake #4, don’t follow the manufactures instructions so I only put a few drops.

So I got the camera ready in Mirror Lock-up mode for sensor cleaning and prepared a swab and went at it. My first surprise was the fact that the camera sensor chamber is tight, very tight. Second surprise was that the perfect sweeping motion I saw so many time on You Tube just wasn't happening with me. When I was done, I did a quick test and just used the camera LCD display to see how I did. I was quite disappointed to see what appeared to be as much dust on the sensor than before, and bigger chunks. So I tried again. I improved a bit but this time I managed to get fibers from the swab on the sensor. This was going from bad to worst. Seeing I had plenty of swabs I figured I’d just keep on going until I was happy! Mistake #5, when 2 out 5 fails, you better rethink your approach or you are in trouble.

So I continued until there was only one swab left. I looked at my LCD display and was still disappointed. So why not use the 5^th swab? Why not screw it up even more so that I can send it to Nikon to get it done properly? So I used the 5^th swab and finally got a better result but still not perfect. Now that I’ve made so many mistakes, why not do one more? So against instructions I reused the fifth swab a second time. Mistake #6.

Now that the swabbing was done (I had no more left!), it was time to do some tests. My first test on one wall turned out frightening. Aside from the fact that a few dust spec remained, it appeared that I had damaged my sensor. The more tests I did the worst it got. I tried different ISO setting, apertures walls, you name it, I tried and things looked bad. Here’s one example.

At this point I really thought I had screwed up my sensor, and badly. As the evening progressed, I couldn’t stop thinking of how stupid I was to have tried this in the first place. I researched the Internet again, looking for ‘Getting out of jam for dummies” or "How to explain this to your wife for dummies" and then realized that maybe my test background and technique was part of the problem so decided to use my laptop screen similar to these instructions. I did that and got this result.

The result was much better but I got some annoying rings. Why? I did more test and the rings were in different places on every image. By 11:30 p.m., 5 hrs after the first swab, I realized I had made another mistake. All my tests were done in JPG mode. And since I had cranked many adjustment(sharpness, saturation) on my camera settings, I clued in that the rings I was seeing just might be the in camera raw to JPG conversion effect. So I did another test in RAW at f/22.

And voila, a fairly clean sensor with no sensor problems.

So here’s what I’ve learned.

1. This isn’t quick and easy.
2. 5 Sensor swab is not too much.
3. Do a good controlled sensor dust test before you start. (ISO 100 or 200, F22, LCD screen as background, +1EV, RAW). Follow these instructions.
4. Do other test such as F/4.0 and F8.0 to see what the dust will look like on your typical shots.
5. Ignore test with smaller than f/22 apertures as you will most likely never use this anyway.
6. Don't use walls, use your Computer LCD.
   

My camera sensor is clean now and I hope it stays that way as I don't plan on trying this out again soon. I purchased a Giotto Rocket Air blower and hope that this will get most of the future dust off my sensor. But should the sensor get dirty again, I guess I'll suit up in my Monkey suit and and go at it again.

Hope this helps you make a decision on whether to blow, swab or eat bananas!

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at pierre.contant@yahoo.com

Pierre