Tag Archives: 5D Mark III

Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

Our day in Glacier Bay was my single best day, photographically, in a long, long time.  I don’t know if that is a result of the place being so photogenic, or the fact that I was prepared for my time there, with my only goal for the day to make photographs.  It’s probably a combination of the two, since Glacier Bay is certainly an amazing place and I found it quite inspirational on my first visit several years ago.  I have to imagine that what I experienced was a confluence of my own openness to the place and the renewed inspiration I felt from being there.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

The Tourist Approach would be to slap a wide angle lens on the camera and shoot the huge expanse of icebergs, blue water and glaciers.  But what I was feeling was more intimate, although even with a 400mm lens, the actual slice of landscape I captured was still quite large.  The scale of the place never ceases to amaze me.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

One of the most striking things about being in Glacier Bay aboard a cruise ship is how quiet everything becomes.  They mercifully turn off the sound on the outdoor “Movies Under The Stars” entertainment system (it’s just a big television), the ship slows to maneuvering speed, and except for a few comments from the onboard naturalist, the place is silent.  And I crave silent.  Silent makes me happy.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

 

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

Only one ship at a time is allowed in each area of the park, which is huge (3.3 million acres!) with several “inlets,” so the captain is able to essentially stop the in front of the glaciers, and when the ship moves from one place to another it does so slowly, barely creating a wake.  The slower movement of the ship makes using a tripod very easy, both for composition and for holding the camera still.  People ask me why I use a tripod on a moving ship, but it really does make a difference.  Other than a couple of videographers, mine was the only tripod I saw on board the entire cruise.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

I scouted ahead of time and found a great spot on the aft of the ship that had good, unobstructed views, access to both sides of the ship and had enough room to get out of the way.  You would think that, with 2000 people on a ship in a place like Glacier Bay it would be crowded, but except for the time in front of the major glaciers and the times when they were giving away free hot chocolate on deck (there are always crowds around Free Food) I had the place pretty much to myself.  Most of the people hung out in the center of the ship, closer to the pools, the restrooms and the bars.  Silly me, the bars!

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

The onboard naturalist told us that one of her most frequently asked questions was, “what’s the best side of the ship to be on to see wildlife?”  To which she replies, “the OUTSIDE!”  She also stated that wildlife watching involved a lot of wildlife “waiting.”  But amazingly, most people didn’t like the idea of waiting.  I saw dozens of seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises and whales, and often I was the only person around to see them.  Once in a while someone would walk by, see all my gear and ask me if I had seen any whales.  When I replied that I had, they looked at me like they thought I was lying.  Most of them were too far away to take photos of them, but they were still fun to watch through my binoculars.

Even on a ship large enough to hold 2000 passengers – small by modern cruise ship standards – I was struck by the enormous scale of the landscape and how small I felt within it, the ability for it to remain relatively undisturbed and how quiet it was.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

My personal favorite photos from the day are the abstracts.  They really speak to the quiet and calm I felt that day.  I seem to have a thing for moving water, and some of the patterns are simply spectactular.  I’m thrilled that the photos reflect them so well.  I also enjoyed finding patterns in the glaciers and on the mountainsides along our route.  Again, the relatively slow speed made for some pretty easy composition, although I did find that I had to “lead” the scene just a bit in places.  All I did there was to keep the panning knob within easy reach, so that once I had the composition framed up and level, I could just pan the camera just a bit as needed.

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

One of the funny things about being an obviously serious photographer on a cruise ship is that people always ask me to take their pictures.  I always oblige, although Kathy often handles that task so I can keep making my own pictures.  What was really funny was that I think every one of the ship’s photographers took our picture at some point during the day.  They knew we would understand that they had a count to make and almost looked like they wanted to apologize for it.  We didn’t buy any of their photos but it was interesting to see the difference in composition and framing between the different photographers.  Good photos, reluctant subjects!

Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska from aboard Sea Princess

Skagway

Maybe I Could Get A Job Here

I suppose the port areas that the typical cruise ship passengers see are about as “Alaskan” as the Caribbean cruise ports are “Caribbean.”  It’s possible to find actual native art, handcrafts and souvenirs, but you have to really look.  My impression of Skagway is that it might be a little more “Alaskan” than some of the other places we visited, but that is only my impression.  There were still the usual “Ship Recommended” stores, but based on my research those weren’t the places you were going to get the real deal.

Broadway Street in Skagway with a view of the surrounding mountains
Broadway Street in Skagway with a view of the surrounding mountains

We started our day with a ride aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.  A 110-mile railroad line originally constructed in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, it is now operated as a scenic railway constructed along the original gold rush route.  Our tour covered only the first 20 miles of the route, to a turnaround point at the US-Canada border.  It was a very interesting 20 miles, however, as the WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901.

Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska

Since we were early in the season I knew that we would see snow, but I was not prepared for just how much snow we would see!  In some places near the White Pass Summit the snow was as high as the train cars.  They told us that the railroad owns a rotary snow plow – which we later saw in town – that had been restored as a showpiece but that had been put into service this winter to keep the tracks cleared.  That snow will mostly be gone by mid summer, but they’ll start seeing snow again in early September.  Short summer!

Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska
Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska
Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska

The scenery is simply breathtaking along the way, and if you don’t mind standing on one of the outside platforms of the train you can get some pretty good photos.  Since the train is moving and doesn’t have the smoothest ride, you need to be a little careful with shutter speed, and you have to be a little strategic with timing since there is really only one good spot on each end of the car, and the side to be on varies on which side of the mountain the train is on.  Since we had done this tour on our first visit and were lucky enough to have the last car on that tour, with unobstructed views from the back of the train, I mostly stayed inside and enjoyed the view from where it was warm, except for a few spots where I knew the views were good.  I also spent a good bit of time outside at the summit while they swapped the engine from one end of train to the other.  Best to have the engine in front on the downhill run!

Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska
Aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska

Since we didn’t have far to travel from our previous stop in Juneau, and didn’t have far to sail to our next destination in Glacier Bay, we were essentially in Skagway from 7:00AM until 10:00PM.  That gave us plenty of time to explore after our train ride, but we only needed a few hours before we felt like we had pretty much seen Skagway.  Go figure!  We did make time to have a very good lunch and some locally brewed beer at the Skagway Brewing Company.  It was a good spot, a little pricey but worth every dollar.  There aren’t too many places where you can get an authentic Alaskan Salmon sandwich for lunch!

Nice Boots!
Random photos from walking around Skagway, Alaska

We had been to Skagway on a previous cruise, but didn’t see any of the town on that trip because we ended up booking two tours, and since we barely had time between the two of them for lunch, we didn’t have any chance to explore.  We took a much slower pace on this trip and were glad to get a chance to see the town.  The focus on tourism is very apparent, as the storefronts are all very attractive and inviting.  A lot of it is very kitschey, like the brothel tours “10 for 10 minutes, we call it The Quickie,” Glacier Ice Cream (really?) and the usual T-shirt outlets, but there were a number of shops with some really nice, locally made merchandise, such as a lot of jewelry, carvings and paintings.  You could find diamonds and tanzanite too, but I’d be willing to bet that most of those proceeds would not be staying in Alaska.  Many of the business had signs touting their native-ness, proclaiming “Alaskan-owned since 19XX” or “Alaskan Homeowners since 19XX.”  So there is a little bit of contentiousness between the natives, the seasonal business people and the permanent transplants.  I suppose that is the same everywhere.

Random photos from walking around Skagway, Alaska
Random photos from walking around Skagway, Alaska

One of the interesting features of Skagway that I have only seen in a few other ports, is that the rock cliff by the pier is covered with paintings commemorating ships that have visited.  As I understand it, each time a ship makes its first call in Skagway, it is traditional for the crew to paint a spot on the rock wall with the name of the ship, the date and the name of the captain.

Random photos from walking around Skagway, Alaska

We really enjoyed our visit to Skagway and are very glad that we took the time to visit the town.

June Wallpaper

Large and In Charge

Sorry, but I’m having so much fun going through my Alaska photos that I’m going to stick with that theme for this month’s wallpaper calendar.  I got a number of good shots in Glacier Bay, so stay tuned to an upcoming post with more photos.  This one sort of best fits my criteria for wallpaper, so hopefully it’s a photo you don’t mind looking at for a month or so while summer here gets geared up!

It’s hard to imagine as I sit here with the temperature outside hovering around 90 that I was standing on the deck of a cruise ship in boots, wool socks, long underwear, a hat and gloves!  I tried to bring some of that cold home with me but I think it slipped out of my bag in San Francisco. 🙂

I hope everyone has a splendid June.  We’ve got a few birthdays in the family in June, so special wishes to those-who-know-who-they-are!

Juneau

Fogbow in a bay along the Chatham Strait aboard Sea Princess approaching Juneau, Alaska

Our arrival in Juneau was delayed by about 3 hours due to a combination of a late departure from San Francisco, rough seas and wind, and a temporary problem with one of the ship’s diesel generators (described by the captain as a “bolt” that took about 2 hours to restore).  As a result, we had to forgo our planned dockside lunch at a little crab shack we had heard about, but fortunately we did not miss our whale watching tour with Harv & Marv’s Outback Alaska.

Aboard Sea Princess in the Chatham Strait approaching Juneau, Alaska

Our tour had been scheduled for 3:30, but since we didn’t arrive until 4:00 I called the company and they assured me that they were aware of our late arrival and had made plans for our tour to go on as scheduled.  We were very relieved at this, as several of the ship-sponsored tours and most of their earlier tours for other passengers on our ship had to be cancelled.  The tour turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip, so we’re glad we didn’t miss it.

Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn

 After a short van ride to the Auke Bay harbor, we met up with Captain Shawn and boarded the M/V Alaskan, a custom-built boat designed specifically for wildlife viewing.  Captain Shawn is a 14-year veteran of whale watching tours and has been with the company since 2010.  If I remember correctly, he told us that he has a degree in Marine Biology, so he was well-suited for the tour and turned out to be an excellent guide.  There ended up being only 4 of us on this vessel designed for 14 passengers, so we had the run of the boat, which was very nice.

Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn

We spent about 3 hours cruising the waters of Auke Bay, Lynn Canal, Saginaw Channel and Favorite Channel.  We saw a lot of whales, most of which were too far away to properly photograph, but we did get close to a few.  Because they are very unpredictable, photographing one is a little like playing Whack-a-Mole.  They blow, surface and dive in a very short time, all while they are moving.  But it’s an amazing sight to see!  We also saw a number of seals Sea Lions, Dall’s Porpoises and bald eagles.

Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn
Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn

Since sunset in mid-May is around 10:00, we had pretty nice light for most of the tour, although it was starting to get a little dark by the end.  We arrived back at the dock a little tired and cold, but overall very happy, and headed back to the ship for a late dinner.

Herbert Glacier, "the most photographed glacier in Alaska" according to Captain Shawn. Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn

If you are ever in Juneau, I highly recommend Harv & Marv for your whale-watching adventure!

Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn
Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn
Whale watching cruise in Auke Bay near Juneau Alaska with Harv & Marv's Outback Alaska aboard the M/V "Alaskan" with Captain Shawn

 

San Francisco

Skyline from aboard Sea Princess departing from San Francisco, California

With just under 24-hours to spend in San Francisco, we admittedly got a very thin slice of this city.  But we made the most of it, I think.

The Golden Gate Bridge viewed from our harbor tour aboard Blue & Gold Fleet

We had originally booked a hotel on our own near Fisherman’s Wharf, figuring that being in the middle of all the action would be the place to be.  We later heard that due to some construction at the port that there could be some heavy congestion there, so we cancelled that reservation and booked our hotel through Princess, knowing that they would provide the transfer from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the ship.  That turned out to be a very good move, as they had a special lot for our bus to drop us off, and they made special arrangements for our luggage.  Since we were making independent arrangements for after the cruise (more on that later) we knew we would be on our own then, but also knew that would not be a problem.

Wildlife at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

Princess uses the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel, which is located at the top of Nob Hill, so the view was great, it was right near a number of restaurants, and a short walk to Chinatown and other interesting venues.  We arrived at the hotel just after noon, so once we checked in we headed out in search of lunch.  We found a nice little Italian restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel, and had a nice lunch of pizza and salad.  Then we started to explore.

Cappuccino, pizza and a good book. Nob Hill Cafe, San Francisco

We had talked about riding the Cable Car around, foolishly unaware that you can’t just “hop on” a cable car any time you want!  Most of them are packed, and since we (a) didn’t want to hang off the side, and (b) knew that if we rode inside we wouldn’t be able to see, we decided to see how far our feet would take us.  We ended up pointing ourselves in the general direction of the bay, and after walking for a couple of hours we ended up at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Famous Cable Car in San Francisco, California prior to our cruise on Sea Princess

We spent some time exploring the Wharf area, checked out the seals at Pier 39, tried to find Alcatraz through the fog, then bought tickets for a harbor cruise.  The famous fog was in full force, and the tour was windy and chilly, but it was a great way to see the sights.  We cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz and had a nice over view of the skyline.  At least what we could see of it!  After a nice dinner at The Pier Market, we wisely took a taxi back up the hill to our hotel.

Uphill all the way, San Francisco

Sunday morning came quickly, given the time change, and we did a little more exploring, finding a nice little neighborhood diner for breakfast.  A walk back up the hill was our exercise for the day, so we headed to our room  to pack up for our trip to the port and our ship.

Green Light

My first impression of San Francisco is that it is a clean, vibrant and diverse town, with pride in their community, good food and friendly people with a respect for historical buildings and architecture.  We definitely would like to return and spend more time.  I think we would be hard pressed to do it justice in even a week, but I’d be willing to give it a try!  A return trip is definitely on the Wish List.

Chung King Produce Co, San Francisco, California
“BY FIRE SHALL HEARTS BE PROVEN, LEST VIRTUE’S GOLD CROWN DIM, AND HIS FIRE WAS TESTED IN LIFE’S ORDEAL OF HIM. NOW CALIFORNIA RENDERS THE LAURELS THAT HE WON-DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR, HER HERO AND HER SON.” Dennis T Sullivan, 1852-1906
Aboard Sea Princess departing from San Francisco, California

Back to Reality!

The Golden Gate Bridge viewed from our harbor tour aboard Blue & Gold Fleet

Kathy & I returned home late Sunday after an amazing vacation to California, Alaska and back to a few days in Sonoma, CA to visit wine country.  This was our first time to California, second visit to Alaska, and of course – since we hadn’t been to California before – our first time to wine country.  What an experience!

Famous Cable Car in San Francisco, California prior to our cruise on Sea Princess

A good time was had by all, the weather was relatively uneventful, with the usual cool weather in San Francisco, a little snow in Alaska, and gorgeous weather in wine country.

Random photos from walking in San Francisco, California prior to our cruise on Sea Princess

I ended up with just under 3000 photos, but with the 5D Mark III it turned out to be just shy of 100GB of data, so I am now pushing the limits of my storage capacity and am now in the market for a new set of hard drives!

Random photos from walking around Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California prior to our cruise on Sea Princess

I took the MacBook Pro along and did some captioning and keywording, and I even processed some photos, but I purposely decided to “stay on vacation” and not try to post stuff while I was away, since that tends to take me away from enjoying where I am while looking at where I’ve been.

California Street from the top of Knob Hill while walking in San Francisco, California prior to our cruise on Sea Princess

So here are a few of my keepers from the first several days of the trip.  I plan to follow this with a little summary of the various parts of the journey over the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Aboard Sea Princess departing from San Francisco, California

Planning & Preparation

White Pass & Yukon Scenic Railway, Skagway, Alaska

Kathy & I are planners, and we have developed a number of tools to help us gather and pack the clothing, sundries, camera equipment and other essentials for every kind of trip we take.  I was talking with a friend the other day about our upcoming Alaska/California adventure, with the usual small talk (have you started packing, how many suitcases are you taking, etc.).  I replied that while Kathy & I have talked about the fact that our packing for this trip will be a little different than our packing for a typical Caribbean cruise (it’s rainy and 44 in Skagway as I write this, with snow and lows in the 30’s in the short-term forecast!) it’s not that difficult because we’re pretty organized.

“Pretty organized” may be an understatement.

We haven’t worried about packing because it’s not a big deal.  We’ve developed a workbook in Excel that contains checklists for every kind of trip we’ve ever taken.  It we did something different, we would probably be able to adapt one or more of our existing lists to make a new one. It’s partly because we’ve traveled a lot and don’t like to reinvent the wheel every time, but it’s also because we try hard to not take too much stuff.  It’s a bit of a challenge, but we both try very hard to enjoy coming back from a trip with stuff we didn’t use or clothes we didn’t wear.  Especially the latter.

Sherman City Hall-Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali National Park, Alaska

Being organized is a real advantage, though.  On one hand, we love to be serendipitous.  Decide on Thursday night to head for the mountains after work on Friday.  Sometimes we do, and we can be packed for a weekend in 30 minutes.  On the other hand, we never worry about having what we need because if we’ve needed it before it’s on the list, and if we haven’t needed it before it’s not.  So when we need to we can pack in a hurry, and we take comfort in knowing that – ruling out something unexpected – if it’s not on the list, we don’t need it!  And THAT allows us to enjoy the journey and not worry about the gear.

Gracious House Lodge and Flying Service, Denali Highway, Cantwell, Alaska

Packing camera gear is a lot like packing shirts.  I decide how many I think I need, know that I’ll leave a favorite or two at home, put them in a bag or case, and go.  For this upcoming trip I’ve decided to take just 3 lenses.  I could take more, but then I would have to take my huge Think Tank roller and I know I’d end up having to check it.  Plus, that’s a lot of gear that I just don’t need.  So I’ve decided to pare things down to a small backpack that I’m confident will fit under the seat.  My current lens choices are the 17-40, 24-105 and 100-400.  I keep going back and forth between the 24-105 and the 24-70.  It’s tough because the 24-70 is a significantly better lens (to me), but the 24-105 gives me a bit more coverage and I think the IS will come in handy.  Handy enough to give up the better lens?  That’s the question.

I have the same struggle with the 100-400.  My 70-200 is my favorite lens of all, and I hate to leave it at home.  But I really think I’m going to want the 400 focal length in Alaska, and while I could get that with the 70-200 and a 2X converter, having the converter is kind of like having another lens, because then I either have a 70-200 or I have a 140-400, and the 100-400 pretty much solves that.

And as I’m so fond of saying – repeat after me – the more lens choices I have the more likely I’ll decide I’ve got the wrong one on the camera.

My next decision involves whether to take a backup body, a point & shoot, or both.  There may be a few times when I’ll want to have the 100-400 on one body and a wide-angle on another body.  Not too many, but enough that I’m taking the 5D as a second body.  It would be a shame to carry all that glass to Alaska and have something happen to the new 5D, so it will be good to have a worthy backup.

Glaciers in College Fjord, Alaska

I originally planned to take along my G12 as a “walking around” camera, but when I really started thinking about it, I had to ask myself how likely it would be that I would leave the 5D Mark III behind anywhere?  I’m pretty sure that the new camera will go with me everywhere, and that I’d end up never using the G12.  So, as of right this moment it is staying at home.

One of the things I liked about my previous choices of camera bodies was that the 5D, 40D and 20D all use the same battery.  The 5D Mark III uses the same battery as the 7D, but alas I didn’t buy that one, so I’ll need to take a separate set of batteries and a charger for the other camera, too.  That’s not really a problem, but it is a bit more stuff to pack.

Fog Rising from the Bay, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

I don’t usually take a computer when we travel these days, but I’m taking one for this trip.  I’m taking it mostly because I know I’m going to take a lot of photos, and even though I think I’m taking plenty of cards I want to be able to back them up.  And just in case I do run out of empty cards I want to be able to re-use them.  So the computer goes with me, along with an external hard drive for backup.  And if I get inspired to write a blog post or two, it’s a heck of a lot easier to type on the computer than on the iPad!

Marina, Ketchikan, Alaska

Since this trip involves lots of different destinations with activities in each, with appointments and directions once we get back to California, I’ve added all my maps and documents to my iPad.  So in addition to having plenty of things to read I’ve got everything I need to get us where we need to go.  Pretty slick!

So, now that I’ve got all the camera gear and computer equipment figured out, the clothes should be a – relatively speaking – piece of cake!

Marion, NC Train Station

Marion Train Station, Marion North Carolina

Kathy & I make frequent trips to Marion, NC to visit our friends at Bruce’s Fabulous Foods on Main Street in Marion.  We stumbled on Bruce’s a few years ago and have been making regular visits ever since.  This past Saturday we made our most recent pilgrimage.

Marion Train Station, Marion North Carolina

I’ve had an ongoing love for train stations and enjoy photographing them.  Not sure exactly why, but I do.  We often plan trips around train stations just to check them out.

This one's for Earl

The station in Marion is one we had visited before, but with a new camera to play with it was time to stop by again!  The light was a little tough and we were hungry, so we didn’t spend a lot of time but I got a few shots.

Fire Alarm
Old building near the Marion Train Station, Marion North Carolina
Growing Like A Weed

More 5D Mark III Fun!

Views of uptown Charlotte from the Seventh Street Station parking garage, Charlotte, North Carolina
Stripes

I’ve gotten a little more time to shoot with the 5D Mark III over the last few days.  Saturday I was teaching a digital point & shoot class for The Light Factory, and part of the class time is spent out actually taking photos.  What a concept – a photography class that actually goes out and takes photos…amazing if I do say so myself!  I cheated a little and took the 5D, with full disclosure to the class, of course.  And after using my G12 in the previous session.

Looking Up, Clouds

I’ve still a little vexed by what I feel is most likely a learning curve in Lightroom…my files seem to be coming in flat and dark, and only after applying a pretty aggressive tone curve adjustment can I get them where I want them.  I thought maybe I  had some kind of Auto Tone turned on, but nothing I see indicates that I do, and even if I did I think the images, if anything, would look lighter instead of darker.  I also saw on a video tutorial something about some automatic highlight suppression that Lightroom is doing, but I haven’t found anything definitive about that.  So for now I’ve got something that works and I’m using it.

Looking Down

I’ve posted this photos a little larger than usual in case anyone wants to do some peeping.  Click on each photo to make them bigger (dare I say “embiggen?”).  They look pretty good, I think.

Frame In Need of a Face
Walking
No Littering
Arrival
Crossed

Silliness…and 5D Mark III Impressions

Sidewalk Closed

I’ve been amused by some of the press reports surrounding the so-called “light leak” issue with the Canon 5D Mark III.  I won’t even link to it here but you can easily Google it if you feel you need the details, but suffice it to say that, while it is admittedly an “issue” it is not exactly a “problem” unless you normally take pictures in the dark with your lens cap on and rely on the LCD backlight while you are metering.  Not something that concerns me, but people have made enough of a ruckus that Canon was forced to issue a press release to state that they were working on a “fix.”  It amazes me that people must actually spend time trying to find these so-called flaws.

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No Waiting

 I’ve had the 5D Mark III for about 2 weeks now, and while a lot of people would have turned over 10,000 images in that amount of time, my schedule has given me barely enough time to become familiar with the camera.  I have managed to come up with some initial impressions and conclusions that I thought might be interesting to share.

My first real experience with the new camera was a little time spent walking around Charlotte on a rainy day, shooting some dreary outside scenes and some dark interiors, stretching the ISO limits a bit.  I was and remain quite impressed with the relatively low noise at the higher ISOs, although in reality I was shooting much higher than I would seriously consider for serious use, mostly just because I could.

Random photo along College Street in Charlotte, North Carolina
Random photo along College Street in Charlotte, North Carolina

My first actual job with the new camera involved shooting a small event at a local restaurant.  I used ISO 3200 because, even though I was using a flash, I wanted the extra shutter speed that the higher ISO gave me.  The photos from that event are very nice and I can confidently say that if I was a wedding or event shooter I wouldn’t hesitate to bump the ISO when I needed the speed.

I took the camera with me over Easter weekend when we visited Shenandoah National Park.  Most of the photos I took on that trip were taken without benefit of a tripod (because I was too lazy to carry it) and those where I used the tripod were taken in very windy conditions or in harsh lighting, which makes it difficult to really evaluate the files.  Add to that a major update to Lightroom, and I have been flummoxed trying to get files to come out to my liking.  I’ve finally turned the corner on that, however, and am much happier now.

Along the trail to Stony Man Mountain summit in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Handling

My first impression of the camera when getting it out of the box was that it has a nice feel.  The surface has almost a “stickiness” to it that makes it comfortable to hold, and the grip areas are shaped just right for my hands.  It feels well balanced with all of my lenses, most especially the 17-40 and the 24-105.  Sticking a 70-200 2.8 or a 100-400 on the front of any body makes it a beast, so there’s not much to say about that.  I have yet to put the 70-200 on it, which is weird since it is my favorite lens.  Soon!  I promise!

The controls are pretty well laid out, although it does have a couple of useless buttons, the “Rate” button and something called the “Creative Photo/Comparative Playback/Direct Print button that can’t be programmed for anything else.  After a little fiddling with some of the custom controls I have managed to get things pretty much where I want it.  I’ve purposely stayed away from the custom controls on the mode dial, figuring that I wanted to get a better feel for the choices before I started trying to come up with “canned” settings.  As I did with some of my other cameras, I’ll probably create a setting for general nature stuff when shooting from a tripod, one for shooting hand-held, and another for shooting action.

I really like the addition of the “My Menu” (remember I’m coming from an original 5D) for commonly used functions like mirror lockup.  I’m still playing around with what I put on there.  It seems pretty useful though, and while navigating the main menu isn’t that hard, it’s nice to be able to recall the frequently used functions easily.

View from Stony Man Mountain summit in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
View from Stony Man Mountain summit in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Focusing

I haven’t had a chance to use the capabilities of this camera shooting action, but for what I’ve done so far the focusing ability of this camera is impressive.  It took a little effort to figure out how to change modes and move the focusing point around, but once I did it’s a piece of cake.  Focusing is fast and accurate, although I’ve found that I have to be very careful with depth of field.  After spending a lot of time using point & shoot or crop-sensor cameras I’m gaining a new appreciation for being careful with depth of field.  It’s easy to get lazy with a tiny sensor camera, and moving to a large sensor makes you pay attention.  On the other hand, getting shallow depth of field when you want it couldn’t be easier.  I’d love to put a fast prime on this baby!

Unnamed cascade along the Rose River in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia

Image Quality

This is the one area where I want to spend some more time, but the impression I have so far is that quality is very good.  The photos I’ve taken that I’m happy with show an amazing amount of detail.  The downside is that the ones that I’m not happy with tend to exaggerate my mistakes!

One area that I feel like I see the most improvement seems to be dynamic range.  I seem to be able to pull a lot of detail out of the shadows and control of highlights seems pretty good.  Some of that may be the improvements in Lightroom, too.  But the results look like the combination will be a good one for what I do.

The thing I haven’t done yet is to make prints from these files, and I am very much looking forward to a chance to do that.  Hopefully I’ll have some time this weekend to waste a little ink and paper.

"7"

Conclusion

So far my only complaint about the camera is that I haven’t had enough time to enjoy it!  In just a few short weeks though I’ll have a nice two-week vacation to Alaska and California, giving me plenty of time and lots of subject matter to finally put this camera to the test, and I’m really looking forward to that.  Hopefully between now and then I’ll be able to make some more photos, work with all of my lenses and settle on the equipment that is going to make the trip.  I change my mind every day (Kathy rolls her eyes) but eventually I’m going to test-pack the bag and see just how much stuff it will hold.