I’ve started shooting B-roll background files for my documentary after breakfast, and will be out in the city all day also reviewing historical sites and doing interviews.
These files are pretty large.. I will be sending still images to my blog/site here which links to FB.
Stay thirsty, my friends (that will not be difficult for me to do here)
Arrived this evening late from Shanghai, plan to begin with on the street and other interviews with students from Jinan University and the general citizenry. It was a long flight…… cooler here than in Shanghai, about midway between that region and Beijing.
There’s some Tsingsao beer cooling off behind the door.
Another piece of the setup added today, and had fun hanging out with a fellow northern Californian (hi to Stepfanie Atkinson from Mill Valley), even though she shoots Canon….
I ‘m planning to use this shoulder rig mostly for projects like documentary clips and abstracts, and certain travel applications. The Genus variable 8X ND will help a great deal with being able to use wide apertures in bright lighting conditions , therefore isolating subjects.
And my field audio gear finally found a home, the LowePro utility S&F bags.
To all: enjoy tomorrow, 4 July- my personal Independence Day, because that day in 1863 marked the Union victory at Gettysburg.
So far, a snowstorm and then overcast, with some sun and a lot of fantastic scenery being revealed… it really feels like a vacation and I’m enjoying every day more up here. Heading back Saturday and may get to Sequoia before returning to work.
I’ll do some editing before then and may post something in the next few days. Go X-Men!
I plan to put my D5100 and microphones, Zoom H4N and other video gear to work and do some backpacking, exploring the possibilities with my GoPro wearable camera and not spending one minute thinking about medicine or radiology!
Continuing preparations to travel to China in mid-July, spending time in several cities including Nanjing and Shanghai and documenting the experience of a foreigner seeing the country for the first time. Probably I’ll stick to noodles for the whole trip…..
The preliminary experience with the upgrade to Adobe Premiere Elements 9 has been generally very good, I think this is a practical video editing software option for many people at an intermediate to moderately advanced level. And the price -less than $100 with rebate- is definitely right.
So far I have these observations:
– The Selective Color and Color Sketch Effects modes seem most appealing to me, partly because I enjoy their looks and partly because, like the others, they can be applied either in capture (with Live View) or retouching JPEG’s already shot.
-Having native ISO to 6400 available is expected to be very useful for my style of shooting- both stills and video.
-Ergonomics seem very good, although distinctly different in some ways from my pro bodies. I find that the button placements are generally very intuitive given the presense of the articulated screen and have been easy to use. I like the operation of the LV lever, it would be nice if there were a concentric video button as with the D7K – a minor issue.
– I intend to work with this camera mounted to a Matthews or Manfrotto SuperClamp, since it allows remote triggering.
-The layout of the left panel output access ports is appealing. Having a GPS-ready camera this size is exciting and like the new Nikon ME-1 microphone, the GP-1 doesn’t have an internal battery (to fail or corrode). I’m going to look for that microphone and evaluate its features as soon as available.
– Shutter lag is definitely much greater that with my pro bodies and AF is slower to much slower, very much depending on lens choice. I ‘ll experiment more with my upper-end FX lenses in coming weeks to evaluate how much of a factor that may be, should I try shooting limited sports with this camera.
– The AC adapter has eliminated battery life as a factor in the studio , or where a generator is available.
-I’m definitely going to scarf that 12-24mm f/4 DX from Grant to use in the backcountry…..
This body will give me the ability to capture full HD 1080p video, 16MP files, and perform HDR and selective color rendition of images in-camera with very light weight and a compact form for backpacking, climbing, travel and other active pursuits. The articulated 3″ screen is excellent and makes extreme-angle shooting such as video and macro much easier.
Don’t yet know how its battery will hold up to cold nor how the body will withstand heat and other weather.. we’ll see.
Garibaldi Lake, BC, Canada
I’m a big fan of high dynamic range (HDR) and use primarily Photomatix Pro4, sometimes CS5 when I want a more realistic rendition or when also doing panoramics.
Here’s an example: the image was a composite of 5 handheld shots in the Coast Range of British Columbia with a D300s, 18-55 DX lens and is titled “Don’t forget your down jacket”……..
William Hooks
maximpactphotography 