Sage-Grouse Lek, April 23rd & 24th

Created from 584 images each image shot with a Canon 5DII and 17-40/4.0L set manually to f/4.0, ISO1600, and 30 seconds. The RAW files were processed in Lightroom 3 then using action scripts they were stacked together in Photoshop CS5 to make this final image.

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I made the trip down to shoot these star trails and time lapses; but really so that the next morning I could photograph displaying Sage-Grouse on a massive Lek on some remote BLM land.

It was calm with perfectly clear sky. The half moon rose during the night and was straight overhead around sunrise, creating good condition (as far as solar/lunar phases go).

Before this trip I took time to record my answer to this weeks 'Ask Dave' and that blog post and video can be found here.

To the left: A male Sage-Grouse displays on a remote Lek near the MT/WY boarder. Captured with a Canon 7D and 500/4.0L IS + 1.4TC III set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +2/3 at f/7.1, ISO400, and 1/640th of a second. Mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 with custom long lens support. Photographed from within a ground blind.

My main point for shooting the star trails and time lapses was to test out some software and action scripts. YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO


Two male Sage-Grouse fight on a remote Lek near the MT/WY boarder. Captured with a Canon 7D and 500/4.0L IS + 1.4TC III set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +2/3 at f/7.1, ISO400, and 1/320th of a second. Mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 with custom long lens support. Photographed from within a ground blind.

Sony develops E mount HD camcorder

From DPR:

Sony develops an Interchangeable Lens HD Camcorder

Sony announced today that it is developing a new type of AVCHD high definition camcorder which features key technologies powering the newly announced interchangeable lens digital camera, “NEX-5” and “NEX-3”.

The new camcorder will be equipped with the same “Exmor” APS HD CMOS sensor to be used in “NEX-5” and “NEX-3.” In addition, the camcorder will be compatible with “E Mount” interchangeable lenses developed for “NEX-5” and “NEX-3”, and also the wealth of “A Mount” interchangeable lenses from the existing “α” DSLR camera lineup via a mount adapter. By combining these features, Sony aims to market a camcorder capable of generating a variety of creative expressions in HD quality.

Sony plans to commercialize the new HD camcorder in fall 2010.

Now Canon needs to do the same.
Something that has relatively fast AF would be nice ;)

Home from Yellowstone... with video to share

THE VIDEO IS ONLINE HERE IN HD

I was in Yellowstone from February 26th - March 2nd. The photos will take me a while to edit; but I put together some of the video clips for those who might want to watch. I have removed the audio from the Otters as there was lots of shutter clicking going on while I was recording. The (spoiler alert) Wolf footage has the audio on all except the last clip as the sound is the best part.

The footage of the Otter/s was captured with the 7D and 500/4.0L IS while the Wolf footage was captured with the use of telephoto converters (2X and 1.4X). The Wolf was a long way off and the atmospheric distortion is very obvious. The distance adds a cool element of delay on the audio... you'll see.

Enjoy

iPad for Photographers

When I work on a blog post I tend to search the web to be sure that someone else has not already written something very similar. This is another time where The Luminous landscape has taken the words out of my mouth.

I have been very open about the issues I see with the iPad, and while it has shortcomings it will change things as to how the average person reads books, newspapers, and magazines. So it changes how I, as a photographer, must be prepared to deliver content.

The full essay by The Luminous Landscape is here.

Enjoy

1DIV video

The video has made its way to YouTube

Vincent Laforet made a leap to web startdom with his 5DII video and he has done it again with a pre-production 1DIV. The video is shot with only available light on the streets of LA. This is very impreve to have such incredible results with a DSLR and availible light, a year ago many felt that this was simply not ever going to be possible.

Vincent has more details and some great information online so take a look at the video then read away on his blog

As the video is most likely not supposed to be on YouTube I would watch it quick before it goes away.

Enjoy