Gallick

SLRs Evolving to SLMs

2010-05-21T01:50:00.000-07:00

For decades, the Single Lens Reflex camera has allowed photographers to optically view the image they were taking through the actual lens rather than a separate viewfinder. Seeing the crisp image directly through the lens was certainly an advance over the dual-lens rangefinders, but it added a level of mechanical complexity to cameras. A pentaprism and a moving mirror not only added complexity to the camera, it added cost, weight, and additional size. As video capability becomes integrated into still cameras, the time has come for the single lens reflex (SLR) camera to become the single lens mirror-less (SLM) camera. That is exactly what is happening in the industry. The latest offering appears to be Sony’s new e-mount NEX camera system which allows for interchangeable lenses and can capture both still images and HD movies. Sony is expanding the use of their new e-mount lenses with an HD camcorder in the Fall of 2010. For compatibility with their SLR lens family, they are offering an adapter which will allow their A-mount (alpha) lenses (which are also compatible with the Minolta lenses) to be reused with the camera systems. The one thing I would like to see Sony, Panasonic and similar vendors do is to create a wired LAN/Wi-Fi or even a 4G cellular camera body without an integrated LCD display so that such bodies along with the millions of high quality lenses floating around could be reused as high resolution security cameras.

Sony Cameras on Amazon

Polaroid Is Back

2010-05-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Polaroid is back as a company - but their product offering of traditional Polaroid films is limited to the Polaroid PoGo. It produces 2”x3” instant images on a sticky-backed paper. The images are created in about a minute. Along with the ZINK Photo paper for their camera, Polaroid is selling digital cameras, LCD TVs, photo books and prints. It seems like they are selling a lot of me-too products in a crowded retail space. I thought their 15.6” and 18.5” LCD TVs were somewhat interesting. But starting at $500, I wonder how well the product will do. If Apple or a 3rd party would create streaming TV to the iPad, it would make a great nightstand or desktop TV and would be in direct competition with the small TVs Polaroid is offering. It will be interesting to see how well the new Polaroid does. I would have liked to have seen them offer some of the traditonal Polaroid film products. Visit the Polaroid site.

Search Amazon.com for polaroid

Sidney Snoozing On Pillows

2010-05-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sidney sleeping on his pillows. At 15 1/2, Sidney enjoys snoozing on one of his pillows. Photograph was taken on May 2, 2010 with a handheld Sony Alpha 700 (Sony DSLR-A700). Technical details include: Aperture: F2, Exposure: 1/15s, focal length: 50 mm (35 mm focal length: 75mm), ISO: 800, and no flash. Lighting is natural diffused light through the windows.

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Sidney sleeping with his stuffed bunny rabbit - Happy Easter 2010 composition. The photograph was made with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: aperture: F/5.6, exposure: 1/15s, ISO: 400, and focal length: 60mm. There was no flash used. The composition was made in Microsoft Visio and then saved as a png file in Snag-it editor.

Search Amazon.com for sony DSLR cameras

Sidney Waking Up

2010-03-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sidney waking up in the morning while nestled in his bed of blankets and pillows. Sidney is 15 years old in this image. The image was made with a Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details include: aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/15 sec, ISO: 800, lighting: ambient daylight filtered through window (no flash), focal length: 50mm, 35mm focal length: 75mm.

Check Pricing:
Sony Alpha A900 24.6MP Digital SLR Camera (Black)

Mediterranean Fan Palm: New & Old Fruit

2010-01-25T22:58:00.000-08:00

Mediterranean Fan Palms produce fruit which goes from green to a golden amber to a deep red and finally to that which almost resembles the size and color of a big raisin. These photographs show a Mediterranean Fan Palm with the current years fruit as well as the previous year’s fruit. The previous year’s fruit appear underneath the current fruit. The three photographs are various views of the same plant.

The photographs were taken with a handheld Sony Alpha 700 DSLR. The technical details of the top photograph include: Camera: Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700) with a 1.4/50mm Sony lens, aperture: f/16, exposure: 1/25s, ISO: 800, focal length: 50mm, 35mm focal length: 75mm, white balance: auto.

The technical details of the above photograph include: Camera: Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700) with a 1.4/50mm Sony lens, aperture: f/16, exposure: 1/60s, ISO: 800, focal length: 50mm, 35mm focal length: 75mm, white balance: auto.

The technical details of the above photograph include: Camera: Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700) with a 1.4/50mm Sony lens, aperture: f/16, exposure: 1/80s, ISO: 800, focal length: 50mm, 35mm focal length: 75mm, white balance: auto.

Sidney On Feather Pillows

2009-12-31T04:48:00.001-08:00

This photograph was made of my friend Sidney after he fell asleep on several of his feather pillows. He finally fell asleep after begging for food at three in the morning. I gave in and gave him a hamburger and then 8mg of Benadryl to help him with his allergies. At a little over 15 1/3 years old, Sidney gets pretty much whatever he wants.

The photograph was made with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700) with a Sony 1.4/50mm lens. The technical details include: focal length: 50mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/8s, and ISO: 4000. The photograph was made on the last day of the decade, December 31, 2009. As for all of the photographs posted on this blog, click on the image for a larger photograph.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T00:11:00.001-08:00

This image was captured on Christmas Eve 2009. It is my dog Sidney’s Christmas present sitting on a red tree skirt. Sidney actually loves the tree skirts. He thinks they are big handkerchiefs to wipe his nose on.

The photograph was made with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details include: focal length: 50 mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/15s, ISO: 800, light source color balance: Tungsten, Exposure Compensation: +0.7 step. There were no other light sources in the room outside of the Christmas tree lights. There were roughly 1500 miniature lights on the tree.

For a quick glimpse of Sidney, Check out the previous blog entry titled: Mature Dog Photography: Sidney.

Mature Dog Photography: Sidney

2009-12-14T19:55:00.001-08:00

This is a photograph of my best friend Sidney. He is fifteen years old. The photograph was made with an Apple iPhone 3G and was cropped with Microsoft Picture Manager and slightly touched up with Adobe Photoshop CS3. Sometimes a smaller image or a softer (non sharp) image is preferred over a larger image. This is true especially for older pets as well as older people. It is certainly easier to photograph a puppy than a mature dog. I don’t prefer to photograph with an iPhone. It was just convenient in this case.

Apple and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Sidney and Winter Grass

2009-12-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

Sidney is seen in this iPhone photograph exploring some new winter grass on his daily walk. The photograph was taken with an Apple iPhone 3G. In general, it is preferred to use a dedicated camera for making photographs. But the iPhone does a pretty good job of capturing Sidney along with the vibrant color of the green grass. Sidney is a fifteen year old terrier mix. With his hair over his eyes he is very busy in the image checking out every possible scent he can detect.

The iPhone, and in general any Smartphone camera is a great way to capture those spontaneous images which occur in our day to day lives. As I have indicated in my technology blog article Cameras and Phones Meld, the camera capabilities of Smartphone's (and all mobile devices and cellular phones in general) will continue to improve as higher quality imaging modules are incorporated into them. Click on the picture for a much larger image.

Apple and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Corgi Pup: O'Reilly

2009-12-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

This is a photograph of a corgi pup named O’Reilly. O’Reilly is showing a little attitude, as is shown by the look on his face, as he watches from within his pen. The image was made with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: focal length: 50mm, aperture: F/5.6, exposure: 1/2s, and ISO: 400. The photograph was taken on 2/24/2008. O'Reilly is now a healthy adult corgi and loves to receive attention. The photograph was cropped down to create a square image. Click on the image for a much larger view.

Christmas Ornament On Tree

2009-12-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

This photograph of a Christmas ornament hanging on a tree was taken with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: focal length: 100mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/13s, and ISO; 200. The F/2 aperture causes a very small depth of field which creates the blurry lights in the background. When photographing ornaments, remember that reflective ones will also capture the image of the photographer in their reflections. Since this ornament has a shinny surface but not a mirror-like surface, no reflection showed in the image.

Captured Over Phoenix

2009-12-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

This image is of an a photograph manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. It started out as a photograph of fireworks. The image was full of wiggly lines from an accidental bump of the tripod. To clean up the sky which was not pure black, I started pouring dozens of paint buckets of black into the sections of the image. One bucket of black on the upper top side ended up filling a portion of the fireworks itself. Thus the black spider-like image on the upper left hand side. I selectively added several more buckets of paint at various places – intentionally not filling all the voids with pure black.

A little more manipulation was achieved by playing with the color balance. By playing with the color balance it would be possible to create dozens of variations of this image with various colors. Instead I made two subtle changes. For the midtones, I left the cyan-red setting at 0, the magenta-green setting at 0, and on the yellow-blue setting I changed the yellow to -20. This gave the overall image a little more pop. Likewise, I changed the yellow-blue settings on the highlights to -11.

It is interesting to start out with an image which would normally be trashed and create something with it. The photograph was taken with a Bogen tripod mounted Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details of the original image include: focal length: 200mm, aperture: F/5.6, exposure: 2s, and ISO: 1600. The image was made on July 4th, 2007 in Phoenix. The fireworks display was at the Pointe Tapatio at North Mountain. Click on the photograph for a larger image.

Phoenix Zoo: Squirrel Monkey

2009-12-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

The Phoenix Zoo has a unique feature in that the users are allowed to walk inside of Monkey Village. Monkey village is a large caged area containing small squirrel monkeys. This photograph is of a playful squirrel monkey.

The photograph was taken with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details of the image include: focal length: 180mm, aperture: F/6.3, exposure: 1/320s, and ISO: 200. The long focal length allows the background to go out of focus.

The Phoenix Zoo is located at 455 N Galvin Pkwy, Phoenix, AZ 85008. Click on the image for a larger view of the squirrel monkey.

Small Arizona Lizard

2009-11-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

This image of this lizard was photographed at night under incandescent lighting. It was made with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The lizard appears to be a small gecko. Notice its almost translucent body.

The technical details of the photograph include - focal length: 50mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/10s, ISO: 800, light source: incandescent, exposure compensation: +0.3 step.

Arizona Roadrunner

2009-11-29T00:47:00.000-08:00

Don’t tell Wile E. Coyote, but this roadrunner can be found in the Phoenix Zoo. The roadrunner is actually a very common bird in the Arizona desert. The roadrunner is known for their foot long tail which in general is over half of their entire length.

This bird was captured with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details include: focal length: 110mm, aperture: F/5, exposure: 1/125s, and ISO: 800.

The Phoenix Zoo is located at 455 N Galvin Pkwy, Phoenix, AZ 85008. Click on the image for a larger view of the roadrunner.

Scandinavian Christmas Ornament

2009-11-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

This Scandinavian Christmas ornament was photographed with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100) using a Minolta fixed 100mm/F2 lens. The camera was handheld. The technical details include: focal length: 100mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/15s, and ISO: 200. In general, 1/15th of a second is a little long to take a hand held photograph. It will sometimes, however, yield a slightly softer image due to slight camera movement.

Gila Monster with Sonoran Gopher Snake

2009-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

A Sonoran Gophersnake (Pituophis melanoleucus affinis) slivers down a branch toward a Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) in an exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo. Adjusting the white balance and coloring correcting is required for images taken at these particular exhibits due to the lighting. The Gila monster (pronounced HEE-la monster) is a venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and to northern Mexico. It is known for biting and not letting go of its pry. Humans are often bitten when their curiosity gets them a little too close to the lizards.

The photograph was taken with a Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details include: focal length: 26mm, aperture: f/4.5, exposure: 1/50s, and ISO:800. Color correction for habitat lighting within the zoo was made in Adobe Elements.

The Phoenix Zoo is located at 455 N Galvin Pkwy, Phoenix, AZ 85008. Click on the image for a much larger view of the Gila Monster and Sonoran Gopher Snake.

Moon Shrouded By Clouds

2009-11-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

This image is a composite of two images. The base layer is that of a full moon and a black sky. The layer on top is a night photograph of high clouds and a much smaller image of the moon which have been manipulated. The top layer of clouds and an over exposed small image of the moon was converted to black and white in Adobe Photoshop and then toned in blue with a filter. The opacity of the top image was reduced to 52% allowing for the full moon to show through yielding an interesting image. I may use this image as the basis for other images in the future.

Both images were shot with a Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The full moon image was taken with a tripod and a remote camera release. The high clouds photograph was taken with a handheld camera and a relatively high ISO. The full moon photograph details include: focal length: 560mm, aperture: f11, shutter speed: 1/800s, and ISO: 200. The top layer of clouds and an overexposed much smaller image of the moon details include: focal length: 50mm, aperture: f2, shutter speed: 1/20s, and ISO: 6400.

Arizona Lizard

2009-11-12T16:24:00.000-08:00

A lizard in Arizona sticking its head around a stucco column to warm itself in the sun. The lizards are very aware of their surroundings. I took one step toward him and he scampered around the pillar.

The image was taken with a handheld Sony DSLR-A700. The technical details include: Focal Length: 50mm, Aperture: f/9, Exposure: 1/2500s, and ISO: 1250. The metering was centered weighted. No flash was utilized.

Close-up: Flower Photography

2009-10-19T22:38:00.001-07:00

This flower was photographed with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: focal length: 100mm, aperture: F/4, exposure: 1/125s, and ISO: 400. This image was made as part of a series of photographs of a flower bouquet.

Fallen Grapefruit

2009-10-17T23:58:00.000-07:00

This is a photograph of a grapefruit which dried up on the tree and fell to the ground. The photograph was made with a Sony DSLR-A700 (Alpha 700). The technical details include: focal length: 50mm, aperture: F/14, exposure: 1/160s, and ISO: 200. The aperture was chosen to yield slightly more depth of field.

Sidney and Halloween Grave Markers

2009-10-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sidney stops and stares at Halloween grave markers on his evening walk. He wasn’t quite sure as to what they were. He paused for a few moments and stared at them but never went up to them to sniff the objects. The image shown is a cropped photograph made with an iPhone. The image is somewhat dark in the late afternoon light. But, I think it makes the picture more interesting.

Dreamy Red Flowers

2009-10-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

This photograph was made as part of a sequence of photographs of flowers from a simple bouquet. The image was made with a handheld Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: focal length: 100mm, aperture: F/2, exposure: 1/15s, and ISO: 400.

The slightest movement with the slow shutter speed assists in the soft edges of the subject. The backgroud flowers which are out of focus also gives additional depth to the image.

Product Photography: Waterproof Matches

2009-10-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

This image of Coghlan’s waterproof matches was made for 360ProductReview.com. The background was chosen to give the feeling of being outdoors and the sand backdrop also provided a convenient place for a burning match.

The photograph was made with a Sony DSLR-A100 (Alpha 100). The technical details include: focal length: 70mm, aperture: F/5.6, exposure: 1/125s, and ISO: 160. There were only a few seconds between lighting the match and the first shutter release of the camera.