Spring Is On The Way

     A weekend warmup is on the way here in Minnesota. The neighborhood is alive again with people and their dogs out for walks, motorcycles rumbling and kids playing in the park.  Just as we emerge from winter ourselves, nature has been emerging quickly from a winter stasis.

     During the winter cold and being stuck inside I took the opportunity to photograph a beautiful set of tulips in the house I got from Trader Joes. I played around with the lighting to capture the beautiful colors of these tulips  by using my Westcott Apollo collapsible softbox with a remote triggered Canon 580EX II inside to create an illuminated background. This setup allowed the background to become near blown out and the flowers to become somewhat translucent to show details of the flowers.

Tulips with softbox background. Copyright 2017 www.starinphotography.com

Tulips in window light. Copyright 2017 www.starinphotography.com

5D Mark III and a Trip to The Dog Park

  It is finally here, I've waited over a month after I ordered the camera to receive it, due to it being recalled and the long pre-order list. I now finally have my 5D Mark III. I've been waiting for this camera to be announced in the beginning of the year and it wasn't until the week after my birthday that it was announced by Canon. After having my Canon 30D for over 6 years, a 1.6x APS-C crop sensor camera body. I have been through a lot with that camera and have taken it across the country from Washington D.C., Texas twice, and Colorado. When I was in Washington D.C. I went with my classmates from the MSU Reporter to the Lincoln Memorial at night in the pouring rain. Luckily I had a rain covered camera bag, but that couldn't keep the body dry enough when I took it out too shoot. After that the shutter button on it has never been the same. Now that I have a back up camera body I will be able to part with it and send it in to get the shutter button repaired.

Canon 5D Mark III

   First off this camera feels so great in my hands, the ergonomics of it are fantastic. In fact the overall feel of the camera is outstanding, from the battery door to memory card door and the soft touch grip of the camera, it just has a better build to it. This is all exciting to me because I am coming from a Canon 30D. The new auto focus system with 61 AF points compared to my 9 point AF of the 30D are in no way equal. 99.9% of the time I use the center focus point which is the fastest functioning AF point. When I picked it up and set sights on our Bernese Mountain Dog Aspen, the 5D Mk III just nailed the focus on his eyes even in a dark room. Compared to my 30D it search for seconds to find something in a dark room and a dark subject.  That improvement alone amazed me. The image quality output and large rear LCD are beautiful.

   I am very excited to be shooting with a full frame (35mm) digital camera and look forward to taking more photos and sharing them with everyone. Check out a few photos below I shot the first day I received the camera. All the photos were shot with a 24-70 L f/2.8 . I will be spending a few weeks just trying to figure out all of the custom functions and play around with making videos as well.

  My future posts may consist of reviewing the camera and answering any questions people have for me. Please leave your comments and questions below. Thanks!

   Of course Aspen had to be my first model.

Aspen

2 Puppy Old English Bull Dogs at the North Rochester Dog Park

A boy throws Frisbee at the dog park in the late afternoon

Spring Thoughts

    There is something to be said about the sights, smells and feeling of the sun warming your soul during spring. It is the fresh air and and unfettered feeling of being able to comfortably walk outside with out a coat on anymore. The environment becomes alive with the sounds of song birds singing and chirping. The contrasting beautiful green pushing up from the ground amongst the brown decaying grass sends a vibrant rejuvenating sight to my eyes.

   I look for this year to bring a lot of different things in life with many new adventures. This year I have the great honor of photographing two weddings with amazing couples. With that there are plans to shoot some engagement photos as well. The season change means it will be a great time to get out and start doing outdoor portraits again.  It is going to be a lot of fun working with the couples and getting to know them while capturing photos of their love for each other.

 
   I will leave you with some spring foliage photos from around the yard.

Canon 30D with 50mm f/1.8

Lilac bush - Canon 30D with 50mm f/1.8

Elm Tree - Canon 30D with 50mm f/1.8

 I was out practicing shooting with my Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens to play with the beautiful Bokeh and it's macro focusing abilities. When I came home Friday afternoon I had to act capture some photos before it became too dark.