Super Slow-Mo Canon EOS 5D

Call me crazy, but I just thought this was cool & I thought I'd share. More pictures coming later today - I'm soo far behind in post processing; I have about five shoots to get through.

A few corporate pictures

Late last year, I shot a corporate event for PEBA at the Downtown Club in Philadelphia, so I thought I'd share a few of the photos. I took all of them with my Canon EOS 5D, and I alternated between my Canon 24-70 f2.8L and a Canon 70-200 f2.8L image-stabilized lenses. I learned two things from this shoot - image stabilization is a must in low-light situations where flashes and tripods aren't permitted or practical, and the EOS 5D shoots fantastic high-speed images. I alternated between shooting 1600 and 3200 speeds, and I was very pleased with the images.

This is my favorite shot of the event - I used a drag shutter to get a different look of people applauding, and this is the result. I could not have gotten this image without image stabilization; if memory serves me correctly, this was shot 1/15th of a second.

This was my first shoot using the Gary Fong diffuser on my Speedlite 580 EX II, and it really makes a tremendous difference, especially with up-close shots. I'm eager to see how the amber dome works on the diffuser for indoor lighting, but I haven't yet had an opportunity to use it at length.

Of all the posed shots I took at the event, this one is my favorite; photogenic people always help when taking candids.

A cool shootin' shot

Phew! Been a long time. Sorry once more for all of the inactivity. Believe it or not, I've been doing a great deal of photography work, but I just haven't had time to get anything online lately but, I've got lots to share today. This morning, I was looking at some firing range shots from our time in Washington State, and I remembered this shot that I took a few years ago when we were out west for Christmas.

Vandra and I flat out dig shooting guns. Yes, I'm a liberal, but liberal shmiberal - I'm a pro-gun liberal, and unapologetically so. Okay, enough politics - that's the other blog. We both grew up around guns - my dad to this day loves his guns, and he competitively shoots .22 pistols. Vandra's father is a former federal officer, so she grew up around guns, too. When I say that we "grew up around guns," by that I mean that we are used to firearms, and responsibly handling and shooting them.

Anyhoo, when we were out for Christmas, we headed to the range; Vandra's dad brought his guns, and I brought my Canon, and I took plenty of shots with both. I got the above snap while Vandra was shooting a Glock 9mm (my favorite gun ever, by the way). At first blush, this shot is pretty unspectacular, but if you look closer, you can see the bullet traveling down range toward the target. I couldn't believe it when I first put the shot up on screen when we returned home, but I'm convinced that's what it is! Please note this shot is not "Photoshopped" in any way.

It's a neat image that I was lucky to get. Ironically, I took this photo with a Canon EOS 20D, a much more inexpensive camera than my current EOS 5D. But, the 20D is notably quicker in frames per second (without checking, I believe it's between one and two FPS quicker). The reason is simple - the 20D has a smaller sensor, so the camera's CPU has less to process, thereby making it quicker. Would I have captured this with my 5D? Nope - at least not this exact picture in time. In one second, that bullet is long gone.

Canon EOS 20D, Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8-4 lens, exposure unrecorded