Prairie Rim Images

How big should my home studio be?

2013-05-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

I frequently see people who are remodeling their house and want to create a proper photo studio as part of that space. Since space is almost always at a premium during a home remodel, these folks want to know how small a space they can get away with allocating to their studio without making it so small that it's not really usable. Of course, the answer depends on what type of subjects you're photographing: automobiles require more space than jewelry. However, by breaking it down and adding up the space required for each individual component, it's not hard to come up with a number that serves your needs.
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Shooting Sandhill Cranes with my daughter

2013-04-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

My 11-year-old daughter loves animals. She also loves art work, including photography. Consequently, every year, she and I make a 24-hour pilgrimage to Nebraska's Central Flyway to photography Sandhill Cranes together. It's a fun trip, and one that we've made for four years now. My previous blog post explained the basics of the great Sandhill Crane migration and gave tips on how best to enjoy their annual, spring stop-over in central Nebraska. This time, I wanted to share a play by play of our most recent trip.
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Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska's Central Flyway

2013-03-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

I'm blessed to live just a couple hours away from one of the great spectacles of nature: the migration of half a million Sandhill Cranes from their winter homes in Texas to their summer homes in Canada & Siberia. En route, these 4-foot-tall birds stop over along central Nebraska's Platte River for 5-6 weeks each spring to bulk up for the journey ahead. It's quite a sight, and one that people travel from all over the world to see. My family has been driving out to see it every year for a while now. Enjoying a profitable trip can be pretty hit & miss if you don't know what you're doing, so I wanted to give some pointers on getting the most from the experience.
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Kenko 1.4x PRO 300 teleconverter DGX

2013-03-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

Ever since I upgraded my Canon 70-300/4-5.6IS lens to the shorter, but faster, 70-200/2.8IS, I've missed the extra reach that the 300mm lens had. A teleconverter has been on my wish list ever since. With the Sandhill Crane and Bald Eagle photographing season approaching, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. Despite the impending birding outings, a 1.4x teleconverter seemed to be a more useful multiplier than 2x, so I bought a Kenko 1.4x PRO 300 from Amazon. I took a few test shots immediately after unboxing it, and wanted to share what I found.
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Documenting 3D wall art

2013-02-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

My dad is a pretty good artist. His current medium of choice is acrylic-painted 3D wall art, and he's been amassing a healthy portfolio of work in preparation for a gallery show. He had been taking photos of the pieces to display on his web site, HollingsworthArt.com, but his point & shoot camera was giving him lackluster results, so I volunteered to come photograph all of his recent work before he hauled it to the gallery for the show. Photographing--or more specifically, lighting--large, semi-gloss objects of varying sizes can present some challenges, so I figured I'd share the process I used.
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Disassembling a Canon point-and-shoot camera

2013-01-24T20:00:00.000-06:00

I've had several Canon point & shoot cameras since we first made the digital leap in late 2001. Because these tiny cameras were made to be carried around everywhere in your pocket, then tend to have a hard life in our family. They inevitably end up with some physical defect that prompts me to completely tear them apart in an attempt to fix the problem. Sometimes I'm successful, other times not. The process has been very similar every time for 11 years, and I expect that it won't change a whole lot going forward, so I wanted to document it here for you.
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A day in the life of an LBC concert

2013-01-13T18:00:00.000-06:00

8:54pm - Performance

Several times each year, our church hosts concerts for A-list contemporary Christian musicians. My wife heads up hospitality (food & green room) for these events, and I usually help her. It takes scores of volunteers an entire day of work to put on a show that provides the attendees with 2-3 hours of entertainment, but most people have no clue what really happens behind the scenes to make a show like this happen. After several years of watching this, I proposed to our head concert organizer that I shoot a personal project documenting a day in the life of one of our concerts. He loved the idea, and thus began one of the busiest single days of photography that I'd done to date.
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Organic patterns in window frost

2013-01-06T20:00:00.000-06:00

Living in a 100+ year old house has some drawbacks. One of them is that the original, single-pane windows leak heat like a sieve. The silver lining is that when the warm, moist, indoor air leaks through the window and freezes on the outer storm window during really cold weather, the resulting frost forms the most amazing patterns. Sometimes they resemble miniature forest scenes. Other times, they look like vines, leaves, or feathers. Combined with the right back light, this simple window frost can provide some beautiful images.
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Most popular posts of 2012

2012-12-28T20:00:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time of year again--the time when most of the media outlets on the planet recap what they've done over the last twelve months. Not wanting to be left behind, I present to you now the ten most popular posts from the Prairie Rim Images blog, based on page views accrued during 2012. As expected, "Old Glass" and DIY fix-it articles make up the entire list. If you're a recent reader, this is your chance to see what all the hype is about.
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DIY variable size light tent

2012-12-16T15:07:00.001-06:00

Because I've got bad GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), I've got a number of items that I really need to sell so as to free up more room on the shelf (and pocketbook) for new gear. The only thing really holding me up from selling things is that I haven't taken the time to get some decent photos of the items to accompany the ads. While driving home one night past a craft store, it occurred to me how I could make a simple light box that could break down for easy storage and still not cost a ton of money.
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Oh, he's not dead. Not yet.

2012-12-10T20:00:00.000-06:00

Has it really been almost five weeks since my last Prairie Rim Images blog post? Yes, I suppose so. Life has gotten a wee bit interesting of late, and these blog posts have been forced to the back seat. That's only temporary, though. I've got a couple new posts in the works, and the first of them will hopefully show up in a few days' time. Please stay tuned!
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1941 Chevy portraits BTS

2012-11-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

In my previous post, I presented a number of photos that I've taken over the years of my uncle's first car, a 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe Business Coupe. The last of those images were taken on my final day with this rusty, old antique. While most of the earlier photos were taken in natural light, these were artificially lit and composed against a black background, giving a decidedly "portrait" feel to the images. Today, I want to go into some detail on how these photos were created.
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1941 Chevy Master Deluxe Business Coupe, RIP

2012-10-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

Bill and his first wheels, one last time

I still live in the same town where my family has been for 100 years. My grandparents lived on a dairy farm (now merely an acreage) south of town for 73 years. I grew up on that farm myself. The farm has been full of memories and beautiful photography subjects to which I turn my camera every chance I get. I've said many times on this blog that I love old things, so it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite photo subjects has been my uncle's 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe Business Coupe, which has sat immobile in Grandma's shed for nearly 50 years. The Chevy was sold recently as part of Grandma's estate auction, and will most likely be parted out & then scrapped. I therefore wanted to pay it tribute with a little photo montage.
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This shoot was for the birds

2012-10-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

I've always enjoyed Joel Sartore's "Photo Ark" project, wherein he photographs simple portraits on black or white of endangered animals. When I as asked to shoot images of some birds for the web site of a local parrot rescue organization, the Photo Ark was the first concept that popped into my head. I had never made serious portraits of animals before, so I did a test run with a friend and her cockatiels. The goal was to photograph her birds on black and white backdrops, sometimes posing with her family. Kids? Animals? Flaky equipment? What could possibly go wrong with that trio?
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Updating the Canon 7D firmware

2012-10-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

In late August 2012, Canon released a new major version of the firmware for its 7D body, upgrading it from 1.2.5 to 2.0.0. This was followed a few weeks later with version 2.0.3, which fixed a few minor bugs. The v2 firmware added a number of relatively major features to the 7D, and provided an uncommonly significant upgrade to a body that is over two years old. After waiting a month for other people to beta test the new firmware (a good idea, as evidenced by the release of v2.0.3), I finally upgraded my own 7D from version 1.2.5.
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New full-frame DSLR's: are they right for you?

2012-09-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

Coinciding with this month's biannual Photokina trade show, Canon, Nikon, and Sony have all released new DSLR bodies which offer full frame (35mm-sized) sensors at a really low price point (US$2000-3000). I don't typically review brand new gear in the Prairie Rim Images blog, but I've been asked by a few people what I think of these, so I wanted to share my opinions publicly. The specific models in question are the Canon 6D, the Nikon D600, and the Sony SLT-A99.
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Canon product service life expectancy

2012-09-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

My Canon Speedlite 430EX died on me recently. Much to my dismay, I found that Canon factory service no longer repaired that model. Nor, in fact, would several other third party repair facilities. This stuck me as odd, because the flash had only been out of production for four years, and although the 430EX wasn't their flagship model, it was closer to the top than the bottom of their product line. This caused me to do a little digging into the amount of time for which you can expect to have a particular piece of camera equipment repaired, should it fail on you. This info is especially useful for people like me, who like to save a buck by buying used gear.
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Railroad photography and Operation Lifesaver

2012-08-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Fall is nearly upon us here in the northern hemisphere, and the season is in full swing for family portraits and senior photos. As photographers and their subjects seek to portray ever more interesting environments, they are increasingly shooting on and near railroad tracks. Unfortunately, railroads are private property, so this activity constitutes trespassing, and more importantly, can be very dangerous. I've recently learned of a big push that's being made here in the US by Operation Lifesaver and the rail carriers to curtail this behavior.
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Fashionable camera bags

2012-08-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

Nobody ever accused me of having great fashion sense. I once dressed my son for church in plaid shorts & a striped shirt, and saw nothing wrong with it. I also carry all my camera gear in old bags that I pick up at thrift stores and garage sales. You, however, may be blessed with a little more style in your wardrobe (and I hope this includes most of you women out there). If you'd like that style to carry over into your camera bags, your options today are much broader than they were even a few years ago. Gone are the days when you were stuck carrying your gear in a rectangular, black, nylon bag like those that line the shelves at Best Buy. Since I've been asked to recommend storage options to several friends lately, I figured I'd post what I've found publicly for your shopping enjoyment.
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Skating at sunset

2012-08-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege recently of hanging out with my family, our neighbor kids, and a bunch of strangers at a local public skateboard park. My oldest son was the impetus for the outing. He's no Tony Hawk, but he enjoys playing with his skateboard, his BMX bike, and especially his brand new Rip Stick. As I do with most family park outings, I took my camera bag just in case. There was a large crowd at the skate park that evening, and we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset that provided some excellent photo ops. All of the kids were happy to perform for my camera after they saw the type of shots I was getting, and I handed out several business cards so I could share the images with them. I figured I'd share with you a few of the techniques that I used that day to capture the action.
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Brenden Stai Golf Classic, round 3

2012-08-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

Every year, Husker football celebrity Brenden Stai sponsors a golf tournament in Lincoln to raise money for Tiny Hands International. A handful of other Husker celebs partner up with each foursome on the course, and a dinner & silent auction take place the preceding evening. This summer marked the fourth year of the tournament, and the third year that I've been its official photographer.
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Shooting youth soccer

2012-07-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

Odds are, at least one of your kids has played organized soccer (or "football," as it's more appropriately called in most of the world) at some point. It's an easy game to pick up and requires very little equipment other than a round ball & some open real estate. Being an outdoor sport, it's also one of the easier pastimes to photograph. I'm no Sports Illustrated photographer, but I have shot my share of kids sports. There's also a lot of carry-over here from other types of event photography, which is my bread and butter. Keep reading to find out what I know about shooting soccer.
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Err 30 on my Canon 7D

2012-07-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

A month or so ago, my primary camera body (a Canon 7D) started locking up on me and throwing an "Err 30" message. I was instructed to pull the battery and try again, which worked only for a couple shots before the error reappeared. The battery being used would then show up as being dead. After going through a couple batteries in just a few minutes, I removed my aftermarket vertical battery grip (a Flashpoint / MeiKe). With a battery inserted directly into the camera body, the problem went away. The problem was solved... for a few weeks.
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Rained out... almost

2012-07-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

This summer, I was scheduled to photograph the third annual Cross Pointe Innovations charity golf tournament. It's been a dry summer, and we hadn't seen any significant precipitation for six weeks prior to the event. Of course, that meant that we experienced torrential thunderstorms for a solid twelve hours prior to tee time. It made for an interesting day.
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New Powerex Imedion batteries

2012-06-21T01:16:00.000-05:00

These days, almost everybody who does a reasonable amount of work with off-camera flashes has switched from traditional alkaline batteries to NiMH rechargeables. Despite the significant up-front investment, rechargeables definitely save you money in the long run. The first sets of AA batteries that I bought have been wearing out lately & won't hold a charge very long. When choosing their replacements, I decided to try a new brand: Imedion by PowerEx (Maha). I've only used them briefly so far, but I'm definitely pleased with them.
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