New Sites

I have not updated my blog as I have decided to move most of my content to various websites.  I plan to update this more in the future, I have just been really busy updated the websites.  You can find a lot of posts related to photography news at LessonsfromDad.info.  My actually photography business website where I discuss actual events I shot and how I did it can be found at VincentMartinez.info.  Most of my sports photography can be found at KernSports.info.  If you would like to see large gallerias of my work or order prints of my photography you can find it at VincentMartinez.smugmug.com.

I am trying to update these sites a few times each week with news, tips and reviews about photography.  I have expanded from focusing on sports photography into more portrait photography.  The means I have had to focus a lot of getting my skill regarding flash photography up to par.

Sports photography is still my favorite, but portrait photography is what pays the bills, so I am more than willing to make the transition to doing more portrait work than before.

I wanted to move my blogs to my websites because I have more control over how the content and images are displayed than here on Blogger.  But I will still try to update this blog from time to time.

Photography is all About Light

When it comes to the world of photography, it’s all about light.  Without light you will just have a black canvas.

There are things we can do to create powerful images even in the lowest of light, but we have to have at least light available to us.  How we use that available light whether it is from a natural or artificial source is going to make or break an image.  But to understand how to use light correctly we have to understand the characteristics of light.

Quantity

Whether we are using natural or artificial light the first thing we have to think about is the quantity of light.  In other words how much light or better yet the intensity of the light we are working with.  What kind of light do we have and how strong is the light source?

When you walk into a movie, you can’t see anything for the first few minutes.  You can’t even find your seat.  But in a few minutes your eyes adjust.

Conversely when you walk out of a movie the sun is overpowering making it hard to see.

When you walk into a movie that is like an underexposed image.  When you walk out of a movie that is like an overexposed image.

Canon 7D Price Drop

When I attend sporting events I get get asked all the time what camera I use.  People send me messages on Facebook all the time asking what camera I recommend they start out with.  Well right now anyone wanting a great camera is in luck.  The camera I personally use for 90% of my photography, the Canon 7D is dropping in price.

The reason the Canon 7D is dropping in price is because the new Canon 7D Mark II is expected to be released in the next month or so.  With the new camera bodies release everyone is trying to clear out the old body style from its stock.  Do I plan to make the jump to the new camera body, yes.  But I probably won't make it anytime soon.

The reason is the Canon 7D is still a very good camera.  Especially for sports photographers.  Yes, their are better camera's out their.  But, given that you can pick up the Canon 7D for just over $700 refurbished from Canon http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-7d-body-refurbished its hard to beat the price.  You can also get an entire starter kit for under $1400 from Amazon.com.

Night Game Sports Photography

One of the most challenging things to photograph in my opinion, is nighttime or indoor sports.  Fast moving action and poor lighting are a photographer’s worst nightmare.  Throw in things like crowds of people and fences to obstruct your view and it only makes things worse.

When I started I scoured the internet looking for advice on shooting low light sporting events and found information that was all over the place.  Some of it was great and right on.  Some of it, in my humble opinion, was just flat out wrong.

I am not the best photographer, nor am I the most experienced.  But people do pay me for pictures of their kids playing sports, so I must be doing something right.  So I decided to put together this little guide based on what I have found works best for me.

The pictures in this tutorial were shot using a Canon 7D and a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lens.  Not the best equipment in the world, but in my opinion they give me the most bang for my buck.

All the pictures were shot handheld without any flash or strobes.  Obviously flash is not allowed at sporting events.

How to Take Better Low Light Photos

One of the most frustrating things for anyone who owns a DSLR is trying to capture a low light photo.  Whether its a Christmas Pageant or a basketball game we all get frustrated when the light gets dim and our expensive camera is not working the way we want it to.  Here are some tips to help you take better low light photographs.

1.  Get fast glass.

Something that most beginning photographers do not understand is just how important their lens selection is in regards to image quality.  Lenses are even more important than the camera body itself.  Fast glass is a photographers term for a camera lens that has a large aperture.  Typically, fast refers to any lens with an aperture of f/2.8 or larger.

He is the confusing part, your lens that came with your camera is probably f/3.5-5.6.  With aperture size the smaller the f/number the "larger" it becomes.  So any f/2.8 is considered larger than f/4.

The difference is in the amount of light the lens lets into the camera.  An f/2.8 lens lets in twice as much light as an f/4.  An f/4 lets in twice as much light as an f/5.6.  So the difference in low light situations is dramatic.

2.  Reduce your shutter speed

When you take a picture with a DSLR your shutter opens and closes.  That is the clicking noise you hear when you snap a picture.  The amount of time the shutter is open is your shutter speed.

With a DSLR you can adjust your shutter speed.  A fast shutter speed is great when their is a lot of light.  It gives you the ability to actually freeze motion.

A slow shutter speed allows the shutter to stay open for a longer period of time.  During that time your camera is collecting light.  The longer you allow your shutter to stay open the more light it will collect.  But when you leave your shutter open, any moving objects will begin to blur.  This is how photographers put a slight amount of blur into moving cars or athletes in motion.

But when the light gets dim slowing your shutter speed down allows you to collect all of the available light for your images.  The trade-off becomes how much motion blur is acceptable in your image (this only applies if you have moving subjects in your picture).

Aperture Settings Tutorial

The hardest concept to grasp for new photographers is the effect aperture settings have on your images.  It took a lot of trial and error and the use of a good lens before I was finally able to grasp the concept.  So I hope to help others understand aperture setting with this little guide.

I took my Canon 7D outside this morning with my Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens to snap a series of 8 images.  I set the camera in AV mode and changed the aperture with each image.  Each picture has the aperture setting listed below it.

At f/1.8 notice the nice creamy out of focus background.  Wide such a large aperture the word Riddell is slightly out of focus while the face mask is tac sharp.

At f/2.8 the Riddell logo is now in focus but the end of the chin strap towards the back of the helmet is soft.  The background is begging to show some shapes but it is still completely out of focus.

Rainbow Imaging Quick Release Dual Shoulder Strap Review

If you are like me you hate carrying your camera around your neck.  After a while it begins to get uncomfortable and it gets in the way when you are not shooting.  Slinging it over your shoulder is just an invitation to bumping you camera on things.  It seems like every time I am at a swim meet and my kids want something from the ice chest I throw my camera over my shoulder and it inevitably slips as off reach down to grab a juice box.

I found this amazing deal on a Rainbow Imaging Quick Release Dual Camera Shoulder Strap on Amazon.com.  I ordered it for just over $12 which was much cheaper than the $100 plus setups I had found online at various camera shops.  As soon as I tried this thing on I feel in love with it.

This harness shifts the weight off your neck and puts it on your shoulders like wearing a backpack.  It is setup to hold two camera bodies or just one.  When I shoot sports for hire, I usually carry two camera bodies so it was perfect for me.  But even when I am out with just one camera body this thing is a life saver.

How to Create Your Own Rainbows for Photographs

Like I often do I see things that seem pretty neat on the Internet and I try to replicate them.  Not that I am trying to copy anyone's style, but I feel like trying different things teaches me a new trick I may use down the road and helps me to be a better photographer.

So I found this cool trick and I decided to pass it on.  One of my favorite pictures I ever took was after a huge upset at a softball game.  As the game ended and the players were celebrating a huge rainbow appeared.  I got the shot of the girls celebrating with the rainbow in the background.  Well what if you could create your own rainbow for any shot?

Vivitar 3" LCD Hood Review

When I bought my Sony Nex 5 my one complaint was I had a hard time seeing the screen in bright light.  I found myself having to turn my body to view the screen properly.  The high cost of Sony's add on view find left me looking for other options.  I looked at various lens hoods to block the light and then I cam across the Vivitar 3" LCD hood.

Let me tell you I love this thing.  At less than $20 it was a bargain.  It allowed me to not only see the screen it bright light, it magnified the object 2X helping me to check focus without having to zoom in.

This viewfinder (and others like it) also work great on camcorders.

The viewfinder came with two mounting plates.  The mounting plates have double stick tape on them so you can attatch the plate directly on your camera's viewfinder.  The Vivitar viewfinder has little magnets on it so you can just pop it on and off the camera body when you want.

Seven Tips for Sharper Photos

We all want sharper photos.  But sometimes it seems like no matter what we do we just can't seem to get them pin sharp like we want.  Here are a few tips to help you get your pictures as sharp as you want.

1.  Pick your focus point

Today's DSLR's and mirror-less cameras have a feature to let you manually select your focus point.  The camera's come shipped with it set up that the camera picks your focus point for you.  While the camera's do a good job of picking the focus point, it is still guessing.  The camera usually selects the closest object or the object that is dead center in the frame to focus on.  This isn't always what you want to focus on.  I rarely have my camera set to auto focus.  Virtually all professional photographers rarely use this focus mode.

Set your camera to spot or single point focusing.  That way it lets you pick exactly what you want to focus on in the image.  For anything that has eyes, you typically want to put that focus point on the eyes.  We are all draw to a subjects eyes so you want this to be your primary focus most of the time.

2. Pick the right focus mode

Most camera's have two primary focus modes.  Single shot or continuous focus (AI Servo for Canon, nobody knows why Canon calls it that).  Single shot is great for subjects that are not moving.  But it does a terrible job of focusing when your subject is moving.  AI servo or continuous focus allows the camera to refocus as you subject moves in the frame.  The camera anticipates where the subject will be and continually auto-focuses to keep the subject in focus for you to take the shot.

What Camera Gear do you Really Need?

I recently saw a presentation by world renowned wildlife photographer Arthur Morris at B and H Photo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pas-GiB9jzo here is theYouTube link it is long but worth watching).  Morris was talking about being out with his 800mm lens with a 2x teleconverter on it.  He said people will tell him if they only had that lens they would take great pictures too.  Morris said he often tells people to go ahead and try.  He said they try for a minute, and then ask him to frame the bird in the view finder because they can't find the bird.

Anyone who has ever tried to photograph a bird with a 300mm lens can probably relate, its hard.  The point to the story is its not so much about the gear, but knowing how to use it.

In his presentation Morris goes over a number of lenses, cheap, old, new and very expensive lenses.  Morris shows how he has captured amazing images using every type of lens out their.

Digital cameras have come so far, that any camera on the market these days is capable of capturing amazing images, you just have to know how to use them properly.

Eight Tips For Better Photos

Sometimes as a new photographer we don't know how to properly create good images.  Sometimes as an experienced photographer we get caught in ruts and our photos are boring.  Here are eight quick tips to lead you to better photos.

1. Get in close

A lot of us, especially when we start out want to take pictures that are full length.  Pictures that show the full body.  Then when we get better we start getting in closer.  Some of my favorite images show only the eyes or a portion of the face.  Robert Cappa said "If your photographs aren't good enough, you’re not close enough".

No matter what you choose to photograph make sure you fill the frame with your subject and don't waste space.

2.  See the Light

Whether you are shooting use the light from the sun or artificial light, pay attention to where your light source is coming from.  Pay attention to how you can use that light to create a better image.

How to Photogrpah Sports in Bright Sunlight

One of the problems I faced when I started out was how to deal with sports photography in bright sunlight.  Logically, I thought the bright sun would give the best pictures.  But I was wrong.  I found heavy shadows on the players faces and overexposed bright white uniforms were over powering my photographs.  In a Southern California summer I found this occurred from about noon until 7 pm.  The time that most summer sports events took place.

Having no formal training, I did not know the proper photography terms so I spent weeks searching the internet trying to learn how to correct these problems.  I thought highlights referred to what girls did to their hair.  The term blown out highlights was completely lost on me.

Better Sports Photography - Focus Modes

I would estimate that well over half the people I know that own a DSLR bought the camera with primary intention of photographing their children playing sports.  I would also estimate well over half those same people could have purchased a point and shoot camera and obtained the same results.

Its not because the camera is not capable of shooting better pictures, its just a matter of trying to understand how to use the camera and take advantage of its strengths.

The first thing is to get out of automatic mode (the green setting on your camera).  Being in automatic mode makes the camera guess all of the settings.  While today's camera's do a very good job of guessing, they still get it wrong.  Leaving your DSLR in automatic mode essentially gives you a very expensive and heavy point and shoot camera.

Which camera mode to use will be discussed in a separate article.

The second mistake people make is choosing which focus area mode to choose.  By default cameras come shipped with auto focus points mode selected.  Again, in this mode camera do a decent job of guessing what you want to focus on, it gets it wrong way to often.

How to Create Shadow Portraits

One of the most icon and stunning portraits ever recreated (and often replicated) is the half shadow, half lite face.  Everyone from the Beetles to Michael Jordan has posed for this picture and graced magazine covers and posters with this technique.  Surprisingly not a lot of new photographers know how to create this amazingly simple photograph.

Many people create this picture in Photoshop.  To be honest I think creating the picture in Photoshop makes the picture look fake.  And it is more time consuming to create in Photoshop.

All you need to create this photo is a light source and a model.  You can even do a self portrait.  You do not need a fancy light.  I used a cheap light I had hanging on the wall in my bedroom.  I hung a dark blanket over the door behind my subject to ensure the background was dark and that was it.

Sell Your Cell Phone Pictures - Dreamstime Stock Photography Review

Stock photography is big these days.  Hundreds of sites exist to allow you to sell your photographs as stock photography for a variety of different people needing pictures.  Everything from websites to magazines need pictures to publish with articles.  In addition many companies need photographs to market various products.

While many stock photography sites have very strict demands on what kind of images you can upload, Dreamstime allows you to upload images many other sites just wont accept.

We all have a cell phone and at times we are able to capture amazing images with a phone.  Dreamstime allows you to upload those images directly from your phone to their website and sell rights to use you photograph.

While I would not expect to get rich from this, it is a way you can earn passive income for years to come.  If you get lucky and have that one image that gets used over and over by various outlets you can continue to get paid.

How to do Long Exposure Photographs

One of the coolest pictures anyone can take is long exposure photographs.  People who are not photographers often think they are either Photo-shopped images or extremely complicated to create.  In reality it is the absolute easiest thing to do in photography.

Do you ever wonder how photographers get those streaks of light from car headlights?  Or that silky appearance when they photograph water?  The answer is long exposure.

You just need two things, a camera that allows you to control your shutter speed (all DSLR cameras have this feature) and a tripod.

If you do not know how to set your shutter speed, just take a look in your owners manual or Google your camera model.  Each camera is a little different to adjust but it is incredibly easy to do.  Set your camera to manual mode and you most likely have a wheel or know to turn to adjust your shutter speed.  Try various shutter speeds but usually at least ten seconds is a good place to start.  Set your ISO low, around 100-200.  Set you aperture (f/stop) to at least f/8 so you have your picture in focus.


Put your camera on your tripod and you are good to go.

Sunpak Ultra 600PG Tripod Review

When you are first starting out in photography cost plays a big role in the equipment you purchase.  I am cheap, so I always try the least expensive version of any item I can find.  Sometimes this works, sometimes I waste my money.  When it comes to tripods, you don't want to go cheap.

My first attempt at a tripod was a $15 tripod from Target.  It lasted about two months and it tipped over shatter the cheap plastic mounting plate.  So I decided to spend a little more money and bought the Sunpak Ultra 600PG Tripod from Best Buy.  I paid around $40 for this tripod, thinking it was a huge upgrade.  It was an upgrade from the Target tripod, but it still was not a wise investment.

I do not do a lot of shooting from a tripod.  90% of my photography is handheld.  But their are times I was one.  Lately I was been on a long exposure kick trying different things.  But this tripod has performed terribly.

How to Take Better Pictures - Composition

When it comes to photography you hear a lot about composition.  Personally I think some photographers put way to much analysis into the composition of their photos.  That is not to say that composition is not important.  You can take what would be just a plain ordinary photo and make it different by composing it differently.

Most beginning photographers, and almost all Iphone photographers do the same exact thing.  They place their subject right in the middle of the picture frame.  For many situations this is where you want you subject to be.

But you can often make a boring photo different by moving that subject off center.  I am not going to get into much about the rule of thirds in this post.  I am just going to show some pictures and give you a few tips.

You have to remember, photography is art.  I personally think the Mona Lisa is a lousy painting, but millions love it.  So what I like in a photo, someone else may or may not like.  You have to find what works for you.

Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX DG OS APO Review

I have gone on record several times saying the OS is not a huge deal in a lens.  Especially for sports shooting.  It is not often that I admit being wrong, but this is one of those times.  But only a little bit wrong.

I have had both the Canon and Sigma 70-200 non stabilized lens.  I also have some image stabilized lens.  While helpful, I have never really found image stabilization to produce such a huge improvement in image quality to justify the cost.

I recently found a guy on Craigslist who had the new Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX DG OS APO lens for sale.  I noticed the ad had been up for 22 days.  Having been a slightly little disappointed with the old version of the Sigma lens compared to the Canon version, I was not really in the market for the lens.  But I figured since the ad was up for so long, if I could get the lens at a good price I would try it.

I offered the guy $600 for this Sigma lens and he agreed.  The lens looked absolutely brand new.  If I purchased it in store I would never suspect it had ever been used.

Sigma has come a long way from their old version of this lens.  The image quality is amazing.  It is much faster focusing, but still slightly behind Canon.

Sigma 70-200 f2.8 (non OS) lens review

When it comes to sports photograph everyone wants a 70-200 f2.8 lens.  The problem is the price makes it out of reach for many of those just starting out.  In steps Sigma with its 70-200 f2.8 lens.  About 25% or more below the price of Canon or Nikon it is a very attractive lens.  But does it hold up?

You can look around online and find all kinds of answers to this question.  Some swear it does while other says it is worthless.  I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The Sigma 70-200 (non OS) is very capable of producing some very high quality images.  In fact, I dare anyone to actually tell the difference between an in focus shot made with a Sigma compared to a Canon or Nikon.  In most situations they will not be able to.

Sure lab tests of lines and patterns analyzed by computer programs show the Canon and Nikon have better image quality.  But how many of us are going to be photographing items like that?

Canon 50mm f1.8 Review

When we first buy a new digital camera one of the first things we want to buy is a telephoto lens.  And for good reason.  But for your second purchase you probably want to get this lens.

The Canon 50mm f1.8 is not an expensive lens coming in at about $120 at Best Buy and even cheaper online.  It gives you a great field of view.  A 50mm lens is about the equivalent of the same field of view as what the human eye can see.  At 1.8 it is excellent for low light situations and gives some amazing creamy, blurred backgrounds (bokeh), like in the images below.

How to get Starburst in your Photos

Now I have to freely admit, I am not much of a night portrait photographer.  I take night shots every now and then when i see something cool and I want to try it out.  And then I pretty much forget about it.

One thing I was curious about was how to get starbusts from lights in your photos.  Now you can get starbusts during the day as well, but I find it a little bit easier to do at night.  To do it during the day you have to have light reflecting off of a surface like a shinny motorcycle tank or something similar.

In these pictures I simply took a picture of an ugly light post sitting outside my house.

Depth of Field

One of the most complicated things to understand when it comes to photography is Depth of Field.  My goal with this blog is to try to explain things as simple as possible for those trying to learn photography.  When I started out it seemed like everything I read was written for people who already had experience and training in photography.  Having said that, this post is not for an experienced photographer.

When you visit most sites looking for answers about depth of field (DOF) you find complicated math formulas and diagrams about how light is reflected into the lens along with terms like "circle of confusion".  Its confusing.  So lets try to simplify this.

Depth of field is how much of you image is in focus, behind or in front of your subject.  Those nice blurred backgrounds you often see in professional photographs is what we all strive for.  It helps to isolate your subject and make them stand out.

How to Photograph Little League Baseball Games

Right now is an exciting time for many Little Leaguers around the country.  As these youth baseball teams navigate their way threw the various district and state playoff games on a quest to a Little League World Series I see more and more parents with camera's at the games wanting capture these special moments.  So I decided to put together an article to try and help you capture those moments.

First lets talk equipment. It does not matter if you have a Canon or a Nikon or even a Sony.  Even if you don't own a DSLR, a cell phone will work.  The goal is to capture a moment that you and your child will remember for a lifetime.

Yes having the newest camera body with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens will produce the best images.  No matter what cell phone you use, it will never compare to images taken with a telephoto lens.  But a blurry, dark image is better than no image at all.

Smugmug Review

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to sell prints online.  I run a local sports website, KernSports.info and I had a lot of parents wanting to purchase printed copies of the pictures we run on our website.  I did not want to deal with having to fulfill the orders myself and I spent a week searching the internet trying to find a solution.

I grew frustrated as I looked around.  Several sites offered free version of their membership but I always found I could not actually sell prints with the free version.  Or every time a print was ordered I had to go back to the website and upload a high resolution copy of the picture for them to print.

I wanted an all in one service.  I wanted to upload the photo and forget about it.  I wanted the website to then handle the transaction, send the photo over fro printing and ship it.

One of the first sites I found was SmugMug.com.  But I was reluctant to use it because it has a monthly fee.  You will probably notice a theme along this blog and that is that I am cheap and I do not like to pay for anything.

ATS Lens Rental Review

If you are like me, you are on a budget.  I want the latest and greatest gear but I just can't afford it.  I am also the type of person who researches everything to learn every detail before I buy.  I sit their and debate between features and price, agonizing for weeks before I make a purchase.  Then once I pull the trigger, I almost always regret my purchase wishing I had made a different purchase.

In steps ATS Lens rental to save the day.  I can try out any lens I want for a few days or weeks and simply return it when I am done.  That way I know exactly what I want before I buy.  It also gives me a chance to try out gear that would probably be outside my budget otherwise.

Now I have to admit, I do not have any experience with any other lens rental company.  I was lucky, I tried ATS and I was very happy so I have never had to try another company.

I went with ATS because they were the cheapest place to rent from that I could find.  They offer free weekends unlike any other rental company I could find.  So you can rent a lens of Friday, ship it back on Monday and only pay a two day rental fee.

How to Photograph Swim Meets

I photograph a lot of different events but I primarily do sports photography.  Everything from football to basketball and everything in between.  But I find the most challenging sport to photograph is swimming.  It is also the sport I most often see parents photographing from positions that do not offer the best opportunity to get a picture that stands out.

In football or baseball everyone understands the picture you want is when the quarterback is throwing the ball or the batter is swinging the bat.  But swimming offers a lot of unique challenges to photograph.  The most obvious is the swimmers are are underwater.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Review

The Canon EF 28-135mm IS lens is an often overlooked and underrated lens. Coming in around $400 it is not a cheap lens.  But it offers a host of features not usually found at this price range.  With image stabilization and the ability to go from a wide angle into a short range telephoto lens this is a very reasonable cost for a versatile lens.

I bought this lens for only one reason.  When I purchased my Canon 7D Best Buy did not have the body only in stock.  They only had the camera body with this lens in store.  Because I am impatient and wanted my camera that day I went ahead and bought this setup.

And I am glad I did.  While I do not use this lens very often because I prefer fixed aperture lens and I almost always use my 70-200 lens, this lens has come in handy on more than a few occasions.

Sony 55-210 E Mount Telephoto Lens

It is no secret I am a big fan of the Sony Nex Series.  Specifically I own the Nex-5T.  Now granted I prefer the image quality of my Canon 7d and the lens selection it offers for my professional photography.  I not only use my Nex as a backup camera but for a lot of family events as well.  The reason?  The Nex is so small and compact.  Its like have a point and shoot.

I have the stock lens that comes with the camera which is great.  But I also have the Sony 55-210 f 4.5-6.3 telephoto lens.  This lens is great.  For outdoor shooting this lens combined with the ten frames per second rate of the camera makes sports shooting a breeze.

Canon 70-300 Lens Review

On of the first purchases most people want to make after buying a new camera is a telephoto lens.  The cheap Canon 70-300 for $199.99 at all the big box stores is an attractive option.  But is it worth it?

Well yes and no.  If you want super sharp high quality professional images then the answer is no.  If you want to shoot indoors or at night the answer is definitely no.

This picture was taken from about 30 ft on an overcast Southern California Day.

Despite those limitations it is a lens you should consider if you are on a budget.  You will never get professional level image quality, but you can take some very good pictures with this lens under the right circumstances.

In order for this lens to be effective you need a lot of light.  Sunlight not artificial light.  If you try to use this lens to take pictures indoors or at a night time outdoor event you better be ready for poor image quality.

Canon 70-200 f2.8

When it comes to lenses their is probably no other lens as coveted as the Canon 70-200.  It is the go to lens for sports, portraits and more.  Sure, photographers may want a specialized prime lens as well.  But for overall versatility and build quality this lens can't be match.  And that is why just about everyone wants to get their hands on one.  The only drawback, the price.

The Canon 70-200 is from Canon's professional L series lineup.  This lens is on the heavy side.  But it is weather sealed and has top grade optics.  With an f2.8 aperture it works well in low light and produces excellent bokah.

If you watch events like the Super Bowl, all the pro photographers on the sideline (well at least the ones with a Canon camera) will have a huge prime telephoto lens on a mono-pod and this lens on another camera body slung over there shoulder.

At a maximum reach of 200 mm this lens simply does not give the reach you often need for sports.  But with its zoom range it is essential for when the action gets close to your end of the field.

Do I need Image Stabilization for Sports?

I have read a lot of blog posts about the use of image stabilization when shooting sports.  While most photographers say it is unnecessary and perhaps even counter productive, I have found several post praising the use of image stabilization.

Well I am here to tell you that when shooting sports, as long as you can put your shutter speed faster than the focal length, you do not need it.

In fact, many of the lenses I use do not even have the feature on them.

I have done the majority of my sports shooting with the old Canon 70-200 (non IS) and the Sigma 70-200 (non IS) and to be honest, I don't feel I need the feature.

Now lets get something out of the way, if I could afford the IS version I would have purchased just to have the feature available should I need it.  But when you compare the $470 I paid for my used Sigma lens to the $2,000 for the latest and greatest from Canon it was a non brainier for a feature I would rarely use.

Here is why you don't need it.  When your shutter speed is fast, the minor camera shake is so insignificant it does not cause any loss in sharpness of the picture.  When you are shooting sports, if you slow your shutter speed down, you will end up with a big blur anyway because of the movement of the players.

I have only even considered using IS to shoot sports one time.  And that was during a horribly light little league game.  I had to slow my shutter speed all the way down to 1/200 of a second to keep my ISO down at 3200.  But I did not like the motion blur it was creating in the player movements, so I ended up pushing the ISO up and dealing with the noise issues in Lightroom.  No big deal.  Certainly not worth the extra $1500 for an IS lens.

But even at a 200th of a second it is more than manageable to handhold.  In fact on occasion I shoot some low light situations down the 1/30 of a second.  I just have to be very careful with how I hold the camera to avoid shaking it.

For me I shoot a lot of sports outside during the daytime right now.  That means my shutter speed is up around 2000 or more on a bright California day.

If money is no issue, buy the best you can get.  But you really will not need the feature for outdoor sports shooting.

Canon 7d Review

So you want to step up to a serious camera, but you don't want to spend the money on a pro level set up.  Well the Canon 7D just might be the camera for you.

The Canon 7D is not cheap at around $1200 for the camera body alone.  But it is well worth the investment.  The 7D is especially useful for sports shooting.  The 7D shoots at about 7-8 frames per second which helps you to capture that exact peak moment of action.

The 7D also does a very good job of controlling noise at high ISO.  Something that can be very useful when shooting sports since you may be photographing at night or indoors.

The 7D also has a host of features on the back of the camera that may look overwhelming to someone new to the world of DSLR's.  But with a little practice and some YouTube videos, you will wonder how you ever lived without them.  It gives you the ability to make changes quickly as lighting changes to give you the perfect picture.

But, like any DSLR, more important than the camera body is the piece of glass you put in front of it.  If you are not going to invest in a solid lens you may as well stick with a low end entry level camera or even a point and shoot camera.

I shoot primarily sports, but this camera works great in any situation.  I used it to photograph my sons graduation for his school and a host of family events.  Some sample pictures are below.  If you would like to see more photographs visit KernSports.info or VincentMartinez.smugmug.com.

Using 35 mm Lenses with DSLR

For those of us just starting out into the world of serious photography, it is expensive.  Very expensive.  Aside from the high cost of the camera, is the cost of lenses.  I always thought you needed two lenses, a long and a short one.  It is laughable how little I knew about how cameras work.

But for most of us, purchasing multiple lenses at several hundred to a few thousand dollars each is just an expense we can not justify.

Luckily there's an alternative.  With many new interchangeable lenses you can buy an adapter allowing you to mount old 35 mm lenses to them.  You can pick the old lenses up for a fraction of the cost of todays lenses that go with your camera.

Sony Nex Series Camera Review

I have tried a lot of different camera.  I am not an expert, but I have played with a few high end DSLR cameras and a bunch of point and shoot cameras.  None of them have come close to being as easy to use or producing the image quality as my new Sony Nex 5T.

GE X400 Ultra Zoom Review

I have tested several camera's the last few weeks trying to find one that suited my needs.  I settled on the Sony Nex 5T.  But I needed something that took fast photographs for sports.  The GE X400 took satisfactory pictures, but it just was not fast enough for my needs.

The image quality was excellent.  The ultra zoom got me close to the action with minimal blur, but the problem I had was the speed I could shoot the photographs.  The GE X400 only took a photo about every half second.  For most people that is probably fine.  But for sports I ended up missing the exact shot I wanted.

Digital Camera for Beginners

I am new to the world of advanced photograph.  I have used a point and shoot or a camera phone for years taking thousands of pictures.  But I was unhappy with the results.  It was time to upgrade.

But the information I found on the Internet was complex and designed to provide information to people who already knew the basics of ISO, aperture, depth of field and other complex terms I did not understand.

Finding information for a beginner like myself was extremely hard.  Even the beginner information was given in a manner it was difficult to understand.

So I created this blog to go over what I have learned about how to create certain effects as well as the equipment I am testing out.

This is still a learning process so bare with me.  I will explain things as I understand them and as I gain experience through trial and error.

I hope you find this blog informative and useful.  Please feel free to tell me I am wrong, suggest better ideas or tell me I awesome and this is the best blog ever ;).

Ultra Zoom Cameras

If you are just a very basic photographer who wants to be able to get close to the action without fumbling with settings, this is probably the easiest and best way to go.  I tried a few of these cameras and found impressive results.

It was not quite the clarity or speed I wanted, but definitely a huge step up from my digital camera.

Some of these cameras can be had for just over $100, a very reasonable price.  Many offer 20x -50x zoom capabilities which is extremely impressive.

The clarity on my pictures was more than acceptable.

The big issue I had with these cameras was the same you will see with most point and shoot cameras.

They were slow and did horrible in low light situations.  They also produced a lot of very dark shadows.

Why Your Camera Phone Will Not Take Good Pictures

Camera phones have come a long way from the .3 megapixel phone I had a decade ago.  When I bought my new phone I was excited because it was 13 megapixels.  I thought great this thing has more megapixels than my camera and will therefore take better pictures.

Wrong.

Unfortunately the camera makers have lead those of us who do not know better to believe everything is about megapixels.  To be honest most people will never need more than 8 megapixels.