Holiday Ornaments

For this Wide Angle Wednesday, A couple of captures from the Holiday Display at 1251 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), right across from Rockefeller Center. All of the below photographs were shot using the new EF11-24mm f/4L USM lens mounted on a Canon 5D Mark III.

One of the lenses I was debating before ultimately deciding on the one I chose was the 17mm Tilt-Shift lens. I thought I might like that for all the interior event setups I photograph for work, seeing as how it is very similar to architectural photography. I played with the 17mm TS lens at B&H Photo, along with a couple more. I decided that often times on site, I don't have the luxury of taking too long, which I felt would have been needed with that style of lens. If I need to do any perspective geometric correction, Lightroom seems to do what I need it to do.

The next photo in this post was taken, and then the correction was applied in Lightroom. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

The following shot does not have any perspective correction, as you can tell since the buildings have the leaning look.

Lots of pedestrian and vehicular traffic near Rockefeller Center around the Holidays!

30 Rock visible from the street across from Radio City Music Hall.

New Lens Wide Angle Wednesday!!

Recently, I was able to obtain the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens. I haven't used it too much for personal photos, have used it to capture a couple of my company's events we lit. So the shots I have taken are mostly of my commute. This post is my initial feedback on this lens.

LIRR M7 Interior shot at Penn Station

The lens is big, the front glass element protrudes very far, almost to the point of pushing past the built in lens hood. The lens cap is very large because of that fact, and you cannot mount normal screw filters to this lens. There is a filter slot in the back, and I believe Lee makes an adapter set, but I haven't tried those yet.

In addition to the size, it also is one of the heaviest lenses I have handled. It weighs about 2.5 pounds, which doesn't seem like much until you start lugging it around, either on the camera or in the camera bag. 

Downtown Bound M Train from Queens

But the sharpness of this lens! So far I am finding it to be sharp throughout the frame. And there is also minimal flare from light sources hitting the lens, unlike the fisheye lens and the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens I used before. 

I need to spend some more time with this lens. It is wide though!! 11mm on a full frame body is amazing! So far I am loving it, I just need to build up my strength so I can bring it everywhere. 

Seagram's Building in Manhattan at night

Wide Angle Slice of the Sonoran

Sonoran Desert in the City
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/16, 1/640 + 1/2500 + 1/160sec, 640ISO, 24mm

This shot is an HDR image composed of three exposures, all shot handheld and processed in Lightroom CC. 

Fisheye Friday Desert Style

Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/8, 1/640sec, 640ISO, 8mm

No escaping the dessert sun when you are shooting in the late morning with an 8mm wide fisheye lens. No matter which way you turn, the sun beats down on you and finds its way into the frame.

Stella!

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

Winter storm Stella hit NYC yesterday. I had to go to work in the afternoon. The train was deserted. Manhattan was empty of cars and people, very few people were out. I grabbed my camera and threw the 40mm pancake lens on with the intention of capturing some snowy images on my commute. 

Long Island Rail Road M7 pulling in
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/320sec, 640ISO, 40mm

I didn't take my camera out of the bag until I got to the train station. The snow was falling, it was cold and breezy. My camera worked fine, I tried to keep it dry, but it did get a little wet. Putting it in my bag or jacket pocket after use caused it to fog up the viewfinder a bit, so some of the photos I was shooting were basically done blind, hoping that the composition and focused was spot on, and hoping the exposure wasn't blown out or too dark. 

Older style MTA Logo on the rear door of the F-350
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/320sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

The Joyce Theater
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/640sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

Graffiti and Greek Food
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/320sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

Clearing the streets
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

Penn station was empty for a weekday rush hour time. I wish it was always so empty. 

Tuesday at 5:36p, usually very limited space to walk around the waiting people in the area
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/5.6, 1/100sec, 320ISO, 40mm

When I got off the train at my station, the lens got some condensation on it, and I failed to notice until I reviewed the photograph of the station and train.  Oops.

condensation on the lens
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/5.6, 1/160sec, 1250ISO, 40mm

My wife had sent me a text stating that the lights were flickering in the house and half the wall circuits around the house weren't working. And when I got close to home, I noticed a burning electrical smell, with lots of FDNY trucks present. Black smoke was pouring out of a subway grate (not for a subway though). FDNY left, then ConEd showed up with their emergency service vehicles. A manhole cover near the grating popped a short time later, I hear it as I was trying to shovel the sidewalk and driveway. Flames started shooting up, and a couple more pops. We ended up loosing all power a little while later, but ConEd was able to get it restored around 3am. 

Smoking!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/100sec, 2000ISO, 40mm

Winter Advisory in Effect!

Plow on the Move
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/400sec, 400ISO, 40mm

Here in New York City, we are bracing for the arrival of a blizzard. This winter has been pretty mild, with very little snow overall. The last time we had a lot of snow, well, really the only time we got a lot of snow this winter, was February 9th, though we got a bit on Friday, the roads were warm so it wasn't a mess. 

Confused Blossoms?
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 400ISO, 40mm

I was home for the first part of the day on the 9th, so I decided to grab my camera, with the shorty forty lens, and head into the elements to get some snaps of the neighborhood.

Ornate FDNY Call Box
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/4.5, 1/1250sec, 400ISO, 40mm

All around NYC, there are FDNY call boxes, some also have a NYPD call button, but the majority of them around northeastern Queens are strictly FDNY. There are a few different varieties, I was able to shoot one of the older, more ornate boxes, as well as a more modern one.

More Modern FDNY Call Box
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/400sec, 400ISO, 40mm

Most people were staying indoors, there were very few cars on the road, and the people out and about were mostly working on clearing snow. 

Snow Blower Jealousy from afar
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 400ISO, 40mm

Some shops were open, such as the Bagel Club, and as the day wore on, the snow stopped falling and roads were cleared as people resumed their normal lives. 

Greek Food and Butcher Shop Open for Business
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 400ISO, 40mm

Hope you stocked up on liquor before the storm!!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 400ISO, 40mm

I have a big event that loads in tomorrow morning, so I really am not looking forward to this storm. NYC Department of Education has already closed schools for tomorrow, but the event is still on! So hoping my commute in the morning will be uneventful and I get where I need to go. 

Fisheye Friday

The Revolution will not be televised!
Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/, 1/25sec, 6400ISO, 8mm

Oh hello there blog. I seem to have forgotten about you. What has it been, three or four months? I'm sorry I have neglected you. You see, life got busy, then it was the holiday season, and next thing I know, it is almost March, and I haven't posted since October!

East River from Williamsburg Waterfront
Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/, 15sec, 400ISO, 8mm

In my absence, I obtained a cheap, manual 8mm fisheye lens. It doesn't fill the frame on my full frame Canon 5DmkIII, and not quite an entire circle, but I am really enjoying using it and discovering how to shoot with a fisheye. I have found it pretty hard to nail the framing with such a wide lens, any slight movement of axis is apparent in the final image, and I love for things to be lined up just right. I also had to learn that the exposures seemed a little darker than original thought when shooting, so having to compensate for that. 

Grand Central Terminal Ramp
Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/, 1/40sec, 3200ISO, 8mm

Without further ado, here are some of the fisheye shots! EXIF data is incomplete, as the lens is manual and doesn't communicate the aperture to the body. 

Grand Central Ramp Below
Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/, 1/25sec, 6400ISO, 8mm

I used Lightroom's lens correction tool and cropping to fill the frame of the above shot. 

Empire Views
Canon 5D Mark III, Rokinon HD8M-C 8mm f/3.5 HD, f/, 1/60sec, 800ISO, 8mm