Category: Photography – Canon PowerShot S90

Categories
Photography Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Photography - Canon PowerShot S90 Photography - Canon PowerShot S95

New Canon PowerShot S95 On Its Way!

While I was away for the last couple of days, Amazon.com emailed me that the Canon PowerShot S95 that I ordered the first day it was announced (August 19) has actually shipped and should arrive tomorrow.

Canon PowerShot S95

The S95 is the successor to the outstanding S90 – my favorite camera for the last year (see my S90-related posts here on the blog). Improvements over the S90 include: a new case coating to make the S95 less slippery, new hybrid image stabilization system and 720p HD video with stereo sound. In addition, the S95 is the first Canon camera to feature an in-camera, HDR scene mode – enabling HDR processing in-camera. I suspect the HDR feature will be very 1.0 – we’ll know shortly! The actual image sensor, on-board processor, and lens are the same as on the S90 – and they’re great! I’ve also read that the S95 stiffens up the read control wheel a bit so that it isn’t easily bumped – a complaint for some but one that has never been an issuer in my shooting.

Although I also own the Canon EOS 5D Mark II – another excellent camera – the size and resulting portability of the S90 make it the perfect camera to have with me all the time every day. My S90 is usually in my backpack – which goes with me almost everywhere.

The 5D Mark II, on the other hand, is superb for serious photography – including some great HDR work that I’ve done with it. For me, the two cameras are complementary. The only other camera – that’s literally with me all the time – is my iPhone 4 – another excellent camera but not quite a real “photographer’s camera.” That said, it’s easy to miss a shot when camera stuff is getting in the way – and the quick capture of the iPhone helps avoid missing anything (see some of my iPhone photos here)!

While in New York City earlier this year, I had great fun with the S90 in my hand shooting street scenes. With such a tiny camera, you just don’t look like a photographer!

I’ll have a more in-depth review of the S95 coming up after I’ve had a chance to get better acquainted with it!

(Note: Amazon affiliate links included above.)

Categories
Photography Photography - Canon 5D Mark II Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

Italian Street Painting in Palo Alto

This morning I headed out to University Avenue and Cowper Streets in downtown Palo Alto for a look at this year’s Italian Street Paintings. The annual street paintings (done in chalk by artists from around the country) are part of the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts 2010. Here’s one example – click on it to see the full Flickr set.

Italian Street Painting in Palo Alto - Photo by Scott Loftesness

Categories
Compact HDR HDR Photography iPad Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

Sausalito Boardwalk – iPad Wallpaper – Canon S90 HDR

Early yesterday, I took off on a photo shoot expedition up to Marin County – and ended up capturing one of my favorite shots of San Francisco Bay with my tiny Canon PowerShot S90.

San Francisco Bay View from Sausalito Boardwalk - iPad Wallpaper

It’s been a very popular photo on Flickr – and tonight I made a version of it available for personal use on iPads – 1600 pixels wide, 132 pixels/inch – just perfect. It’s available for non-commercial use (like on your iPad!) via a Creative Commons license.

If you’ve got an iPad and are looking for some new wallpaper, take a look at this image! You can customize it (using Photoshop or Preview) to add you own personal information to the image – so that if you happen to leave you iPad behind it’s got its own “luggage tag” built-in. If you want to license it for commercial rights, contact me: licensing@sjl.us.

Enjoy!

PS: You may also want to check out Trey Ratcliff’s iPad wallpaper app – based on his spectacular HDR images that he shares on StuckinCustoms.com daily.

Categories
Compact HDR HDR Photography Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90 Photomatix Pro

Tweaks to My HDR Settings for the Canon PowerShot S90

The Canon PowerShot S90 I bought last fall (when my right shoulder was basically out of commission due to a massive rotator cuff tear) has proven to be a great camera for High Dynamic Range photography – in addition to everyday use.

UC Berkeley Campanile (Sather Tower) (HDR)

Yesterday, I headed out to try to master the settings for HDR on the S90 – heading over to Berkeley to shoot some photos on the UC Berkeley campus (see this Flickr set). I had posted the basic settings I’ve been using back in late January.

Yesterday, I experimented a bit more – particularly moving away from fixed to Auto ISO and ensuring that the f/stop I used was set to the mid-point of the remaining range available after you’ve composed the shot and cranked in any zoom. Allowing the ISO to be managed by the camera helps ensure that the under and overexposed shots are actually achievable. My earlier experience with fixed ISO was that I’d sometimes end up with one of them not being a full 2 f/stops away from normal.

In post-processing, I also experimented with the new HDR Pro feature of Photoshop CS5. I came away liking some of the results but continue to like the Photomatix Pro effects better. I’ll continue experimenting with Photoshop CS5 as I’m still learning how to tweak the results to come closer to my favorite look with Photomatix. When I have a chance, I’ll post some comparison shots between the two post-processing tools on Flickr.

Categories
Compact HDR HDR Photography Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

New from Trey Ratcliff: Digital Workflow for Photographers

Trey Ratcliff at StanfordA few months ago, I had the opportunity to do a photowalk at Stanford with Trey Ratcliff (that’s me with the tiny Canon S90 on my tripod!). It was a rainy, wet day – Trey was tweeting with us in real time about maybe yes, maybe no for the photowalk – yet about 45 of us turned out to meet Trey at the Oval and to then walk with him through Stanford Memorial Church up to the Tressider Union.

This photowalk with Trey at Stanford was one of those experiences you really remember – with Trey taking time to meet each of us – in the rain, helping us with our shooting and even passing out goodies with his Dad (including his Mom’s fudge!) as we relaxed together at the end of our photowalk. In the days afterwards, he shared his comments on our shooting together that late wet afternoon in our Stuck in Stanford Flickr group. It really doesn’t get much better than this in life – a special couple of hours!

Trey’s a pretty interesting guy – he’s the proprietor of a beautiful website at StuckInCustoms.com and the author of one of my favorite books: A World in HDR. His HDR tutorial on StuckInCustoms.com (described in more detail in the book) is the way I learned how to shoot HDR! His daily email newsletter is always gorgeous and inspiring! HIs tweets and Facebook page equally so. (Too bad Trey’s a Nikon shooter! In case you were wondering, I’m a Canon guy!)

Digital Workflow for PhotographersTrey’s now sharing some of the unique skills he’s developed as his photography has become his business in a new eBook titled Digital Workflow for Photographers. If you’re interested in learning how a smart pro manages his digital photography workflow, Trey’s eBook is what you need.

The eBook is available in two versions – the basic book ($15.95) and a slightly more expensive version ($19.95) that includes extra screenshots showing how Trey does it along with illustrations for managing the multiple images required for HDR photos.

(Note: If you click here to buy Trey’s new eBook, I’ll earn an affiliate fee on your purchase.)

Categories
Compact HDR HDR Photography Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

My Tips for a New Photographer – and Canon PowerShot S90 Owner

I recently received the following email:

I saw your web site and thought you might be a good resource for a recommendation. I am new to photography (I know next to nothing) and I want to at least learn the basics. I just purchased an S90 and I want to learn how to use it. My problem is I know zero about photography. I was wondering if you were aware of any potential web resources I could use to learn elementary photography. Any pointers or web resources you might recommend are greatly appreciated.

Here’s my reply…would you have any other tips for him? Please share them in comments below!

Thanks for your email – and congratulations on getting the Canon PowerShot S90 – it’s an amazingly great camera! See my earlier posts about the S90!

As for learning, let me suggest a few sites:

Hope this helps! Send me a few of your best photos!

Best,
Scott

Categories
Apple iPad Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

The Canon PowerShot S90 and the Apple iPad

My guess is that one of the “killer” photography combinations this year will be the Canon PowerShot S90 and the Apple iPad. They’re both beautiful devices – the trick will be combining their capabilities to enable great photography on the go – in an ultra-portable combination.

As it turns out, I own both already. My iPad arrived just over a week ago – and I’ve been having great fun with it – but I’ve not been able to put it to serious use in a photography sense. The problem: at the moment, there’s no easy way to get shots off of my S90 and into the iPad.

I’ve ordered the iPad Camera Connection Kit – but it’s scheduled to ship in “late April”. The kit offers both USB and SD card input for the iPad – and says it supports “standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.”

I’d like to think that sometime soon, a great camera like the S90 or its successor and the iPad would simply be able to sync wirelessly when in close proximity. And, I should be able to do that without any clumsy add-on adapters/accessories. Then we’d really be cooking – and the iPad would begin to become the dream machine for photographers on the go.

Categories
Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

Manfrotto Tripod for Canon S90?

I had an email today asking about which tripod I’ve been using with my Canon S90.

I’ve been using the Manfrotto 718B tripod. In my experience, it’s a perfect tripod for the S90!

Amazon’s currently selling a replacement for the 718B tripod: Manfrotto 7321YB M-Y Tripod with 3-Way Head – Replaces 718B.

Categories
HDR Photography Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90 San Francisco/California

Canvas Print – San Francisco Skyline from Fort Point

I’ve not had much experience with printing photos on canvas – but recently decided to give the folks at Snapfish a try – due mostly to their Flickr integration.

The photo I tried was this New Years Day 2010 photo of the San Francisco skyline – as seen from Fort Point down by the Golden Gate Bridge:

San Francisco - Jan 1, 2010

I ordered an 8×10 canvas of this photo – and I was delighted with the result. This photo was post-processed using some of the techniques learned from Trey Ratcliff’s texture tutorial – and it truly looks superb on canvas!

I’ve made this photo available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. You can’t use this image for any commercial purposes (contact me if you want to) – but feel free to share/remix it as long as you provide attribution back to me here on my blog.

Categories
Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S90

Ghost Ship

I was over in the East Bay yesterday visiting family and while coming back noticed the layer of fog hugging the bay itself. I popped off the freeway, through the tube to Alameda and out to the USS Hornet – which looks like a ghost ship in this thick fog!

IMG_1005-500px.jpg