DSLR Digital Quality and Medium Format Backs

I had the opportunity last night to attend a free seminar put on by Hasselblad. They were showing off their medium format digital cameras, backs and scanners. I went with no intention of purchasing a camera or digital back any time soon, fully aware of the astronomical prices you have to pay to own one of them.

You know they aim to impress when they put on a free seminar, feed you dinner and have an open bar for all attendees....

The main presentation was an overview of the new H3DII, as well as live model shoot showing what the camera could do. The presentation was a little lacking in finesse (the pre-show video featured a guy reading off a script he held in his hands, as if they threw it together that afternoon), but the camera seems amazing. I don't think there was anyone in the room who wasn't impressed with the sharpness of the close-ups of the model's face.

Click here to see a 100% crop of the model's face. Note all the little hairs on her face, as well as the little spots of makeup. Pretty impressive indeed. No sharpening done to the image; saved at 10 quality. This was taken by me on their 31 megapixel (MP) camera

I bought a pair of used 503CX/CW cameras 3-1/2 years ago along with four top quality Carl Zeiss lenses. I've been interested in shooting digital with it for my fine art and landscape shoots, as well as some commercial applications, but it's just been too expensive. But now I'm tempted to get the 16MP back that fits onto my 503 camera bodies. Not a lot more resolution than my 10MP Canon 1DMk3 (ok, 60% more, but a 21MP 1DsMk3 is $2000 less than the Hasselblad back), but the optics are far better than Canon's. Last night I think I was finally convinced that digital is better than film, in terms of dynamic range (how much detail can be retained in the highlights all the way down to the shadows) and sharpness. Still, a digital print will never be as fun to make as a gelatin silver print made in my darkroom!

Beautiful weather..... and stuck doing invoices

It's a beautiful day here. I shot some products for Prairie Arts this morning; some prototypes of art deco pottery that they just got in. There were only five pieces, and the pictures look deceptively simple, but the setup for a studio shoot always takes at least an hour.

This afternoon, all I did was business stuff- mainly invoices. You'd think it'd be a simple thing, but it's always a real chore- going back to figure out how long I spent on a job, travel times involved, rates for certain types of work, etc. One invoice can take 15-20 minutes! Oh well, they're mostly done now.

Now I need to figure out the best time for me to travel to England this summer. I go every year and shoot stock photos, but it's always hard to be gone for any length of time when clients need you for jobs. It's looking like late June will work out best.

National Geographic Adventure Magazine

It's May and that means that National Geographic Adventure magazine is using my image of Wales (taken last summer at Tintern Abbey) as a full page in their travel feature on "Wales Untamed." See page 36 if you get a copy.

Spring Weather and College Graduations

I'm enjoying my first day off shooting since May 3rd. Not that I'm out enjoying the nice weather today, but catching up processing images from the last few days. Recently I shot the graduation ceremonies at Aurora University (my third year doing theirs) and Wheaton College (my longest lasting 'gig'- since 1985). The weather looked dodgy for the Wheaton graduation on Sunday but the rain held off and some good pictures were taken. After shooting graduation in all kinds of weather, I've realized that pleasant sunny days aren't always the best. Wind brings out a special energy that sunshine doesn't. Grads holding down their caps while the wind whips at their gowns usually bring excitement and smiles to their faces.

A number of the Wheaton students have appeared for the last four in my pictures through their involvement in varsity sports. Kind of sad to see some of them go. Several women's soccer players had gone to the national championships (and won) three out of their four years at Wheaton. Andy Studebaker is headed to the NFL by way of the Philadelphia Eagles, but Kent Raymond, Wheaton's greatest hope for a national championship in men's basketball, and arguably the best player Wheaton's ever had, is coming back for a fifth year. Hopefully it'll mean another trip to the national finals for me again next March!

Catching Up

This week is a slower one for photos, but a busy one for catching up on invoicing, entering receipts, etc. I admit this isn't my favorite part of the job. With the warmer weather, I'd rather be out shooting. However, I found my picture in National Geographic during a trip to the bookstore last night; I'll post a picture tomorrow. Full page no less!

Had two shoots today; one at my chiropractor's office, and a fashion/ style shoot for Naperville Magazine. It can be hard to corral two four year old twins into a tight vertical shot on a golf course, but my experience as a father of four young children came in handy. Apparently they were fighting in the dressing room just before the shoot, but they were great once the camera came out.