Katie at the Gardens, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, N.C. | Canon 5D Mk. II and Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 ZE lens | Exposed 1/250 sec. @ f/3.2, ISO 100.

While testing the Zeiss 85mm two weeks ago, I ran into Katie at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and made a quick portrait.  While I’d really need to have them side-by-side to do a more thorough comparison, it seems that the Canon 85mm f/1.2L Mk. II has far superior bokeh, but that the Zeiss might actually be a sharper lens from f/2.8 and smaller–but the Canon would definitely win at the largest apertures.  Either way, the Zeiss has fantastic micro-contrast, good bokeh, and clearly has potential for portraits…so long as your subject understands that it will take a second to (manually) focus!

Tags: EOS 5D Mark II, portraits, Reviews, Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ZE
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Portrait diptych: Brett Witte, left, and Heather Calkins, right, on the bow of the US Fish & Wildlife Service's electro-shocking boat on Oct. 7, 2010 on the Cal-Sag Channel, south of Chicago, Ill. | Canon 5D Mk. II and 85mm f/1.2L II lens

Tags: Asian Carp, Canon 85mm f/1.2L II, Chicago, diptychs, EOS 5D Mark II, Master's Project, photojournalism, portraits
Posted in Master's Project, Updates | No Comments »

Capt. Dan Egan minds the rear of the boat as Steve Gray stands on point at the bow of the empty barge while they push it up the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Illinois Marine Towing's "Albert C." on October 20, 2010 near Lemont, Ill. | Canon 5D Mk. II and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 38mm | Exposed 1/60 sec. @ f/10, ISO 100 (flash @ -1/3 EV)

A few more frames from my day on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal with Illinois Marine Towing.  I wanted a little “more” both from the portrait of Dan Egan and the image below, with Steve Gray growing in proportion from one frame to the next.  As for the third image, I can’t help but be drawn to photos of flowing water, although usually I try to make it silky, I enjoyed the way that the faster shutter speed froze the large droplets.

(Two more photos after the jump!) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asian Carp, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L, Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, photojournalism, pictorial, portraits
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Calin Ilea diptych - 3 October 2008, just after participating in the Missouri Photo Workshop in St. James, Mo., left, and 1 October 2010, on the second-to-last day of co-coordinating the Missouri Photo Workshop in Macon, Mo., right.

Today, a Romanian Fulbright student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism will defend his project to his committee to earn his M.A. in journalism.  When I met Calin Ilea two years, ago, I had no clue our friendship would change the way I approach photography.  He’s headed home on Thursday, but I can’t be in Missouri today to celebrate the (likely) completion of his project with him.  Are rain checks good in Romania, Calin?

Tags: diptychs, Missouri Photo Workshop, photography, portraits
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Jeff Phelps, proprietor, Saints Rest Coffee House, Grinnell, Iowa | Canon 5D Mk. II and 85mm f/1.2L Mk. II lens | Exposed 1/60 sec. @ f/1.2, ISO 100.

Last weekend, I traveled from Missouri to Iowa to visit my Alma mater and some of the people who were crucially influential for the beginning of my career in photography.  (My dad is the most influential of all, but it was in college where I found people who urged me to take my photography in the direction that it has traveled since my graduation in 2006.)  When I return to campus next year both for my five-year reunion and to peddle the re-print of my book, I hope to use these images as the basis for a series of portraits of people who mean so much to me.

I’ll just have to make a note to myself to reserve the 85mm f/1.2L II from Canon Professional Services so that there will be some consistency among the images.  It may just be the most beautiful lens in Canon’s line-up. . .

Matthew Kluber, Assistant Professor of Art, in his office at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa | Canon 5D Mk. II and 85mm f/1.2L Mk. II lens | Exposed 1/200 sec. @ f/1.2, ISO 100.

Anne Geissinger, freelance photographer and co-author, Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others, Grinnell, Iowa | Canon 5D Mk. II and 85mm f/1.2L MK. II lens | Exposed 1/800 sec. @ f/1.2, ISO 100.

Tags: Canon 85mm f/1.2L II, EOS 5D Mark II, portraits
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I have finally had a chance to go over all of my images from the Tour de Missouri, as well as my other shoots from the week, and found three images that I thought were particularly interesting but were unpublished–they did not find their way into the Columbia Missourian, or my Blog, for that matter–until now!

Old Courthouse reflection, St. Louis, Mo. Canon 5D II and 24-70mm f/2.8 L @ 70mm; exposed 1/500 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 100

I saw this composition with the imperfect reflections of office buildings and the Old Court House as I was walking to the downtown Hilton to pick up my press credentials for the first stage of the Tour of Missouri.  This is cropped fairly heavily, so I do wish that I had switched lenses to the 70-200mm f/4 I L IS, but I was in a rush to get to the race before it started without me!

More after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Columbia Missourian, lighting, outtakes, photography, photojournalism, portraits
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I was watching some audio slideshows for a class assignment and found a few that might be of interest to viewers of this site.

Martin Schoeller and Steve Pyke are staff photographers for The New Yorker and have an interesting discussion about some of their portraits  that are being exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. through this fall: http://www.newyorker.com/online/multimedia/2009/01/12/090112_audioslideshow_portraiturenow.

I recognized some of Schoeller’s portraits from a different slideshow that was originally published on Media Storm.  He certainly has a distinct style.  Makes me want to go and make some strip lights………

Tags: light, lighting, lit, multimedia, photojournalism, portraits
Posted in J7558, Updates | No Comments »

This past weekend I photographed Jarrad Henderson, a fellow photojournalism masters student at MU. It was a class assignment to make a portrait first with a single strobe, and then with multiple lights. That’s where the fun really began. The only problem is that I have two images that I like, so it’s hard to choose!
Ultimately, I believe this first image is the more successful of the two:

Canon 5D Mark II and 24-70mm f/2.8L Lens @ 70mm. Exposed 1/125 sec. @ f/16, ISO 100

More after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Advanced Techniques, light, lighting, lit, portraits, strobes, studio
Posted in J7558, Updates | 2 Comments »