A long sunset in the Emerald City
View Large on Black at www.thewindypixel.com!
I wrote in late November about the last photograph I took in Mesa Verde - in a post called "A luminous goodbye." I also mentioned in that post that I was headed to Stanford to interview for a job. How prescient that title was, as I accepted that job and I'll be leaving the city of Chicago come the summertime. The intervening six months will surely bring many new Chicago photographs to the blog, as will the months afterwards - but eventually my contributions to this blog will take a turn for the Californian. I hope you will all still follow me.
In the depths of winter the sun's declination effect makes for *very* long sunrises and sunsets. This is to say that the sun's arc above the horizon is so low that it takes a much longer time for that precious "golden" hour to end - compare this to the summer where the sun sets at a nearly perpendicular angle to the horizon. I scurried about the 25th floor and the floors above to take as many photographs as I could as the sun completed its long descent. I think with today's news, a sunset image is appropriate.
Here is a view of Chicago of which I have *never* seen a photograph. Once upon a time, the 25th floor of the Tribune Tower was an observation deck, open to the public. Nowadays you need to know someone who knows someone to get here. I felt extremely privileged to get a chance to do some photography from this vantage point, and I hope I did it justice. The pavilion is out amongst the flying buttresses of the great tower and affords a sweeping view from the very heart of the mag mile. Although the Gothic stonework was higher than I could extend my tripod, I managed to hang my camera out over the edge and snap a few images. The city really deserves more places like this that everybody can visit - there is something really breathtaking about seeing the place from a new angle, especially with sunset streaming in from the west side and the river in its winter coat of ice. This one is going straight into the Gotham set as well.
I also have to say thanks to those of you who sent me your questions about cameras, HDR, etc to @thewindypixel. I think I answered those that I got. Mark, who has been contacting me as he has started to dabble a bit in HDR, asked in the comments section to yesterday's post what differences exist between the D5000 and the D90. I mentioned yesterday that the D90 affords you much greater control over the camera that does the D5000. I'll elaborate on just a few of the physical differences that I think eventually become important as you expand as a photographer. First I will say that I know a handful of people who have the D5000 and it is a sweet camera - it does just about everything you'd want for a Lilliputian price. This list is in no particular order, once you're done reading it, you'll realize that these differences aren't make-or-break for a beginner - the key is to get a camera that fits your needs/budget/skill and to get out there and take pictures - you make the photograph, the lens transmits the light and the camera is just a hunk of crap that records it.
1. The D90 includes an autofocus motor, making this camera compatible with older lenses. As the lens is the most important part of the equation - imagine the dismay on a user's face who just purchased a D5000 and wants to use their hand-me-down $2800 Nikon 28mm f/1.4 only to find out - you can't focus!!! Okay this is the number one reason - but the rest aren't in order :P.
2. D90 is more durable - we all should be careful with our toys, but you just never know. This translates into a higher guaranteed shutter count, i.e. not only is the body of the camera tougher - it's guts are tougher too. This also means that the camera uses the larger Nikon batteries which provide you with more shots per charge. Unfortunately, with both the D90 and D5000, Nikon has moved away from CF cards to the smaller SD card.
3. The viewfinder of the D90 is bigger, brighter and covers ~95% of the frame instead of a paltry ~75%. This is a big deal when you are composing.
4. The D90 can support a remote cable release and a battery grip - this is really key for HDR - keep your finger off the camera and your camera on a tripod for good HDR. Yes, the D5000 comes with a remote control release and I am *EXTREMELY* jealous of this as equivalent solutions for the D90, D300, D700, D3 etc cost hundreds of dollars. Then again, the D90 will allow you to plug in a wire release that is equally useful and also accepts things like interval timers, etc.
5. The pop-up flash on the D90 will allow you to wirelessly control Nikon flashes - this may not sound like a big deal, but people pay $200 per flash to do this wirelessly if they don't have it built in. Canon owners can only dream. UPDATE: I was wrong about this - the new Canon 7D will do wireless control - I am ignorant of its features, compatibility, etc. My mistake - thanks to Donald for pointing this out in the comments section.
A long sunset in the Emerald City
View Large on Black at www.thewindypixel.com!
I wrote in late November about the last photograph I took in Mesa Verde - in a post called "A luminous goodbye." I also mentioned in that post that I was headed to Stanford to interview for a job. How prescient that title was, as I accepted that job and I'll be leaving the city of Chicago come the summertime. The intervening six months will surely bring many new Chicago photographs to the blog, as will the months afterwards - but eventually my contributions to this blog will take a turn for the Californian. I hope you will all still follow me.
In the depths of winter the sun's declination effect makes for *very* long sunrises and sunsets. This is to say that the sun's arc above the horizon is so low that it takes a much longer time for that precious "golden" hour to end - compare this to the summer where the sun sets at a nearly perpendicular angle to the horizon. I scurried about the 25th floor and the floors above to take as many photographs as I could as the sun completed its long descent. I think with today's news, a sunset image is appropriate.
Here is a view of Chicago of which I have *never* seen a photograph. Once upon a time, the 25th floor of the Tribune Tower was an observation deck, open to the public. Nowadays you need to know someone who knows someone to get here. I felt extremely privileged to get a chance to do some photography from this vantage point, and I hope I did it justice. The pavilion is out amongst the flying buttresses of the great tower and affords a sweeping view from the very heart of the mag mile. Although the Gothic stonework was higher than I could extend my tripod, I managed to hang my camera out over the edge and snap a few images. The city really deserves more places like this that everybody can visit - there is something really breathtaking about seeing the place from a new angle, especially with sunset streaming in from the west side and the river in its winter coat of ice. This one is going straight into the Gotham set as well.
I also have to say thanks to those of you who sent me your questions about cameras, HDR, etc to @thewindypixel. I think I answered those that I got. Mark, who has been contacting me as he has started to dabble a bit in HDR, asked in the comments section to yesterday's post what differences exist between the D5000 and the D90. I mentioned yesterday that the D90 affords you much greater control over the camera that does the D5000. I'll elaborate on just a few of the physical differences that I think eventually become important as you expand as a photographer. First I will say that I know a handful of people who have the D5000 and it is a sweet camera - it does just about everything you'd want for a Lilliputian price. This list is in no particular order, once you're done reading it, you'll realize that these differences aren't make-or-break for a beginner - the key is to get a camera that fits your needs/budget/skill and to get out there and take pictures - you make the photograph, the lens transmits the light and the camera is just a hunk of crap that records it.
1. The D90 includes an autofocus motor, making this camera compatible with older lenses. As the lens is the most important part of the equation - imagine the dismay on a user's face who just purchased a D5000 and wants to use their hand-me-down $2800 Nikon 28mm f/1.4 only to find out - you can't focus!!! Okay this is the number one reason - but the rest aren't in order :P.
2. D90 is more durable - we all should be careful with our toys, but you just never know. This translates into a higher guaranteed shutter count, i.e. not only is the body of the camera tougher - it's guts are tougher too. This also means that the camera uses the larger Nikon batteries which provide you with more shots per charge. Unfortunately, with both the D90 and D5000, Nikon has moved away from CF cards to the smaller SD card.
3. The viewfinder of the D90 is bigger, brighter and covers ~95% of the frame instead of a paltry ~75%. This is a big deal when you are composing.
4. The D90 can support a remote cable release and a battery grip - this is really key for HDR - keep your finger off the camera and your camera on a tripod for good HDR. Yes, the D5000 comes with a remote control release and I am *EXTREMELY* jealous of this as equivalent solutions for the D90, D300, D700, D3 etc cost hundreds of dollars. Then again, the D90 will allow you to plug in a wire release that is equally useful and also accepts things like interval timers, etc.
5. The pop-up flash on the D90 will allow you to wirelessly control Nikon flashes - this may not sound like a big deal, but people pay $200 per flash to do this wirelessly if they don't have it built in. Canon owners can only dream. UPDATE: I was wrong about this - the new Canon 7D will do wireless control - I am ignorant of its features, compatibility, etc. My mistake - thanks to Donald for pointing this out in the comments section.