pm-r

Two years ago I was doing my normal thing, exploring the Western USA on my motorcycle. I discovered this Nevada State Park that I had heard the name of many times but have never been there. I thought it was a national park like Joshua Tree or Death Valley, but it's not. I paid the $10 to ride through it after just having ridden through Joshua tree the day before and it was love at first site! I made a promise to myself that when I got back home to Tennessee, I would buy a plane ticket and fly back to spend more time there. In September of 2023, I did just that and spent four glorious days there, waking up hours before dawn to head out and be ready for twilight and then sunrise. I returned each evening to do the same for sunset. I created a portfolio over that week, and with much good advice from Artisan Don Smith, I also scouted the area for a potential workshop. Fast forward to this week when I hosted my first ever Valley of Fire Landscape Photography Workshop, which just concluded. We had a great time together out there in the surreal landscapes, and each of us made some spectacular photographs. What did I take on this, you might wonder? I took the same exact kit that I had with my last year: The Sony A7CII, the FE16-35G, and the FE70-200mm f/4G II Macro lens. Regrets? Yes. Next year I'll bring the 300GM too as the moonrise and moonsets were pretty awesome but I lacked the reach to capture them properly. Enough of be jabbering on... Here are a few of the many images I made this week: Workshopper Philip J. checks his Photopills app to see how much longer till sunrise. The app was invaluable this week as we could see the exact tracking through the sky the sun and moon would make before they arrived. . I will be right back out here in the Spring of 2025 so let me know if you might be interested in joining us next year 🙂 pm-r

I'd really consider the A7IV body paired with the 20-70mm f/4G and the 200-600G lenses. This would be a fantastic setup for your trip!

I just want the "Tracking ON" feature that is in the A7RV, A7CII, A7CR, A9III, and A6700. it's the bomb for shooting sports action video!

I did a video on this exact topic a while back:

The AF consistency and accuracy is superior on the A7RV vs. the A7RIV. I also think the A7RV is a little faster to get onto moving subjects too. Because you are interested in the 200-600G, the issues you mention with A7RIV can "get you" in certain situations. The other area where the A7RV is much better is with animal and bird eye AF. Last, the sensor is the same but the processing of the images off that sensor is different. Sony learns so fast! The engineers are plotting ways to improve overall performance constantly even after a new camera ships. Case in point, I am out shooting landscapes this week in Nevada right now. I shot this morning at moonset/sunrise and came back to the hotel to find they released a new firmware for my A7CII. It took just a few minutes to update the camera, and I'll be heading back out the VOF tonigth for sunset/moonrise with that installed. Pretty cool. In short, the extra cash it will cost you to get the A7RV instead of the A7RIV will pay off big dividends in the images you make! pm-r 🙂

Here is the link: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/e-mount-body-ilce-7-series/ilce-7cm2/software/00301105 Remember, you can now download the update file [BODYDATA.DAT] and then simply put it on a freshly formatted SD card. Then insert the card into the camera with a fuilly charged battery, go to the suitcase menu and find "version." Once you do that with the card inserted in the body, click "execute." That's all there is! Easy Peasey, nice and easy... Kindest regards from the Valley of Fire today 🙂. pm-r

The A9III is not going to replace the A1 by any stretch. Just because its new does not mean that it is better than the A1. I also purchased an A9III but will keep both of my A1 bodies. For shooting birds in flight, I feel like the A1 is still the better choice, unless your specialize in shooting humming birds and need to capture their wings in flight. The A9III was a camera pretty much made for the Associated Press, especially for its use at the Summer and Winter Olympics. The A1 is still a fantastic camera that can punch in and still offer a file that is just a few mp shy of what the A9III is cranking out. The answer, of course, is to own one of each!

I just finished a five day ride on my motorcycle in AZ and NM with a good friend of mine. We meet from time to time and ride together even though we live at opposite ends of the country. Each time I ride, I try different gear knowing full well that there is no absolute perfect setup for any kind of photography. I flew on Allegiant to PHX and I'm cheap so I don't like to pay for checked bags or even a carry-on, so I always fly on these trips with just a backpack. So the room inside is tight and I need a week's worth of clothing, my Mac Airbook, headphones, and whatever camera I choose to bring along. This trip, I opted for the smallest camera in my collection, with no regrets. I chose the RX0II, which has a 1" 15mp stacked sensor inside a ridiculously small body with a 24mm f/4 equivalent lens. While recording time is limited when shooting 4K (yes, it also shoots real 4K too), when shooting stills, the camera sips power. I was able to go the whole trip only charging once, and when I did, the batter was showing 69%. I didn't need to bring an extra battery or even the charger, it turns out. I kept the RX0II in my left pocket of my riding jacket so I was always ready to shoot when I felt like it. I also found the files to be plenty large enough to crop into, even severely, and still get good results. This image below was shot in landscape, but later, I decided on a portrait crop and the file held up just fine:

I grew up in The Windy City on the Lake. Chicago is home to an mazing survey of architecture and the city is filled with jewels waiting to be exposed. I spend about a week a month up there and travel from Tennessee to visit my Mom and Dad who are both now in assisted living. I fly up there, using both Midway (Orange Line) and O'Hare (Blue Line) and always take the "L" to and from downtown. It's the best $5 you could spend! Yesterday, I had just an hour in between catching the L from the train and I spent some time walking around about a four block radius and made some pictures that I'm sharing with you now. I always take the A7CII with me on these trips because it is so small. This trip, I chose the 50G and 24G compact primes to accompany me. No regrets! When I go with just one lens for street photography, it's usually the FE40mm f/2.5 compact prime. All three of these lenses are really sharp at any aperture, they have flawless AF performance, and they are just as tiny and lightweight as the body. I'm hoping that Sony will produce more of these in the future, like an 85 and 20mm. This first image I was a little loose for what I wanted, so I used the "punch-in" (on sensor APS-C crop) to get the 75mm frame I wanted. Because the file is so large at 33mp on the A7CII, I never worry about cropping on sensor to get the framing I want. Also, by doing this I can have four different fields of view instead of just two in carrying just two lenses: 24mm (36mm), and 50mm (75mm). My kit is tiny with one lens in my pocket and the other around my neck attached to the camera. The A7CII is retro looking enough to the point where it doesn't look like an expensive camera, so I feel a little safer walking around in cities too. The next image I shot with the 50mm also, but this time in full-frame mode at f/4. I knew it would convert well to b&w. Next, I moved a block or so to capture two different images of Calder's Flamingo, both in color. I chose the 24mm f/2.8G compact prime to be able to capture as much of the sculpture as possible from under it and using the buildings and sky behind it as a contrast: The A7CII and A7IV's killer sensor allows for so much dynamic range that I typically shoot in jpeg or HIF file, and almost never in RAW. I just get everything I need without the hassle of RAW and my post production is faster too. For the last image I chose the 50mm f/2.5 again, at 80 ISO and 1/500th at f/4 for my exposure. I loved how the reflecting glass on the modern building was distorting the other one. Very cool! As my time grew short, I noticed another reflection that looked interesting, with American flag blowing in the "Windy City." Stayed with the 50mm there too: Street photography is really not really challenging. If you just walk into any big city and start looking around with a camera, opportunities will jump out at you from everywhere you look. So, six images, shot in about 45 minutes, all while waiting to catch the next public transportation... And Chicago is an architectural playground, worthy of your time, but please, give it more than an hour like I did... pm-r 🙂

Photo Mechanic to cull, LR to tone and Final Cut Pro for video editing.

I'm excited about Global shutter too and I'm looking at all my strobes in a new light... get it? pm-r 🙂

Welcome, Miguel. You know how to use light, that's for sure! Please share more of your images as time permits 🙂

Last weekend I finally got my hands on the Sony A9III camera, that, by rights, should not have been produced until 2034 or so. Working with strobes shooting action in bright sunlight and using the global shutter for the first time in my lifetime as a photographer was a radical experience. I effortlessly made some images that would have been impossible just a two months ago. I mean, that there was no way to achieve what I was shooting, ever before. The experience really challenged my brain and go t my creative juices flowing as I began to see the possibilities to shoot images that I could not before, but can now. I first shot a mountain-biker in the woods with a battery powered Westcott FJ400 powered down to 1/4 power. The light was about 20’ away from the rider and it was a bright sunny day. This series of images were all shot at 1/4000th f/2.8 and 125 ISO. The next day, we put a trampoline outside in a big field and brought out the same lights. This time, the shutter speed was 1/10,000th of a second shutter speed at f/2.8 and 125 ISO. That was not a typo. 1/10,000th is correct! We are who trained us, to a great extent. My training began in the 1950’s when the guys I worked with at the Milwaukee Journal were just getting their start alongside a 1936 graduate of the University of Wisconsin named Edward Farber. Farber had invented the electronic flash and worked it into a prototype that he used for his assignments at The Journal in 1940. By 1945, he had outfitted the entire staff of 50 photographers with his new invention and had started a new company to produce them for Pro shooters all over the world. These were large, and heavy but allowed the staff to make picture after picture without using expensive single use flash bulbs. So when I joined the staff of the Journal in 1985 as a part time shooter, the guys I was sharing desks with had worked with Farber and were part of the remaining group of shooters that had pioneered the use of flash in the studio and on location. Milwaukee is home to the second highest number of bars per capita: for every bar and tavern in the Beer City, there are just 1,800 residents. The average throughout the country is 1 in 4,800. The bar scene was and still is a big part of Milwaukee life. People eat lunch in bars, get married in bars, go to bars at night to socialize, etc… In the core of Milwaukee, there are typically two to three bars in every city block. You needed a lot of light to pull of decent photographs from inside taverns at night when they are filled with people. Ed Farmer’s flash systems made this possible for years until smaller and more lightweight options came along. In my era, the flash of choice was the Visitor 283/285 fitted with a “vary-power” knob that allowed you to change the output of the strobe from full to 1/64th. With just a couple of these and maybe one borrowed from a fellow shooter, you could easily make great images in these dark bars at night. So the guys that trained me up as a shooter used to take me along on “bar jobs,” and they shared with me all kinds of tips on lighting in the process. These same photographers would invite me into the studio where one time Ned Vespa was shooting a pair of cowboy boots on 4x5 with just one light. He was using pieces of tin-foil he brought from home that he taped onto the parts of the boots you couldn’t see to cause a reflection onto the book just behind the first one. I asked him why he was just using one light. He replied, “cause it’s more interesting.” We are who trained us. So thought I am just 59 years old, I was taught by photographers that were shooting their first assignment in the 1950’s and 1960’s. They all wore shirts and ties every day, and while their dress habits did not penetrate my iron will, their expertise certainly did. I love to light things with strobes and LED’s too. The challenge is always there, but the A9III has turned my world upside down. I’m just starting to understand how global shutter will change still photography as well as video for good. One thought as ai close out this piece…. The brighter LED lights that are going into big NBA arenas, college campuses, and even into high school gyms are twice as bright or more as the lights they replaced. This makes it that much harder to justify strobing arenas as the quality is so good, especially on modern Sony bodies because of their sensors. So, the bigger the arena, the brighter the LED’s. Getting 4-5 stops over ambient light now requires doubling or even tripling how many heads are up on the catwalk… Except now the A9III exists. We are who trained us, and, we are greatly impacted by the technology in our hands. I will not likely utilize High Speed Sync (HSS) in the near future because it's old news. I have a much better tool now, that can send light further down range than I ever thought possible! Stay tuned as I forge ahead and do some testing with this new technology and light up a college gym with super short flash duration Elinchrom strobes. But that will be for a future post.

I was trained as a photojournalist, but if you ask people who considers themselves that title, they will tell you little of what they do is actually photojournalism. Pure “PJ,” as we call it, involves a photographer entering into a situation and simply documenting what they see. There are no media wranglers, art directors, public information officers, or social media directors telling you where you can go, stand, or shoot. As a freelance photographer since 1992, I take all kinds of assignments for portrait work, corporate, industrial, convention—all kinds of photography with tons of strings attached. You take assignments that pay well and some that don’t for cash flow purposes. Last week, I got a call from the mothership of PJ. It was an assignment for a magazine published by a university to actually do PJ for an evening at a small bar in KY. I knew it would be dark as it was a music venue that caters to the blues. It’s a neighborhood place, open only on Monday nights, and the patrons’ ages spanned 20-80. All the gamut of people and backgrounds were there to enjoy the gift of music from the star of the show, an older black retired carpenter named TeeDee. Before going up there, I knew it would be a small place jammed with people there to enjoy live music. I couldn’t bring a ton of gear. Any lighting I would have brought it would have ruined the ambiance of the club, so I brought one camera and just three lenses. I I am a huge fan of the Sony A1 and I own two of them. This is my only camera for shooting sports with its 30 fps and 50mp files. But I wasn’t shooting sports, so I selected my silver A7CII instead with no regrets. It’s tiny, and with the new grip they made for it, it feels just like the A1 in my hands. The three lenses I chose from wide to tele were the 14mm f/1.8GM, the 24mm f/1.4GM, and the 85mm f/1.8. I needed to capture the whole scene at some point that night. We called these openers back in the day when photo essays spanned multiple pages with a single image covering all of two pages (double trucks). I hoped that the 14GM would’t be too wide as I knew I’d have to get really close to the action to make that focal length work. The 24mm f/1.4GM was a lock in my mind from the very start when I was still talking to the editor about the gig. It’s small, lightweight, fast, but it’s main attribute is that it’s really sharp without much distortion. Last, the 85mm was an easy choice. I knew my camera and three lenses were going to be on my body the entire night, so the 85 was an easy choice because, like the 24GM, it’s small, lightweight, and deadly sharp. I got there early at 6pm when the doors opened. Part of my assignment was to shoot a portrait of three people for the story, but only two where there that night. I used the first hour to just get to know TeeDee, listen to some of his stories, and take the place in. At 7pm, I pulled out a small Westcott FJ80II flash, and 24” beauty dish, and a compact light stand and shot a few images of TeeDee in his club. Next, I shot the woman who works the door as she was also mentioned in the story. Here, I just set up the light so she would be lit while she worked, making change for people and having them sign in. After that, I stowed the lighting gear, and got ready to shoot the music when it started. Shooting live music is really fun when you can move around and kind of have the run of the place, but I was careful not to block peoples’ view for more than a few seconds at a time. I worked in front and below the stage, from the sides, and even on the stage when TeeDee took off into the crowd playing his guitar. It was the most fun I’ve had on an assignment since shooting my last football game last season. The A7CII really came through for me. I shot the whole thing in Sony’s HEIF format, or .HIF, which is a selection you can pick instead of .jpg. This allowed the camera to make tiny little files off the 33mp sensor that have more dynamic range than jpgs at the highest quality setting. It’s almost like shooting a RAW file without all the hassle and using so much RAM. Shooting .HIF gave me beautiful colors and deeper blacks even as the images held tonality and detail in the extreme highlights. If you haven’t tried shooting HEIF files, you rally should. At about 10pm and after shooting them playing for two straight hours, I snuck out the door to drive the three hours home to Knoxville, happy, and elated for my good fortune to have a real “PJ” assignment.

I love FCP too as it takes full advantage of my M2 Airbook processor and my M1Max Studio machine. Editing is fast and doing multi-camera edits using audio to sync has been my go-to for years now. I know that REsolve is best for Color grading but I don't do much of that so I just turn on S-Cinetone on all my cameras and shoot.