Toby Keller - Night Photography Blog

A few summer shots

All taken off the coast of the Channel Islands.

Poi Spinning at Hendry’s

Some friends and I had planned a beach bonfire for Saturday night. Alas, it rained all day… then high tide came in, aided by a Tsunami surge from the Chile earthquake.

We didn’t let that get us down, though - we just retreated to higher ground and had a fire session. I did lose a speedlight to a rogue wave - it got submerged before I could grab it. Luckily I had backups on hand!

I tried a new technique with these. In the past I would do a single exposure for each shot - I’d start the exposure, cap the lens, have the subject walk in and start spinning, fire the flash, cap the lens again, have the subject leave, uncap, and let the exposure go for 5 minutes or so. This time out, though, I decided to do one shot for the background and then layer on the subject shot in post. This is good, in that it keeps the subject from looking transparent:

Combining two shots in post did present some challenges, though - I had to mask off the subject’s body in each shot, which was painfully time consuming. Also, I’m not 100% happy with how the flames look against the sky in a couple of these…

All: Nikon D300, 12-24mm, f/11-ish, off camera flash

Dance and Light

Spent the evening with some friends doing a photoshoot for the upcoming NECTAR performance at Yoga Soup here in SB. Erin and Kaita have a fantastic dance routine where they are tied together with a long white cloth, pushing and pulling at each other. They wanted to capture some of the movement and energy in photos, and I had a few ideas. Here’s what we came up with:

D300, 12-24mm, f/8, off-camera flash

Night at Goleta Beach

Did some shooting at Goleta beach the other night with my friend James.

All shot with the D300 and 12-24mm lens. f/6.7, ISO 200

Panasonic GF1 - Initial Thoughts

I just went to the camera store to look around, I promise! Instead, I walked out with a new camera. I don’t make a habit of buying cameras this way, but the Panasonic GF1 was just too much fun to pass up.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 100

I’ve wanted a high quality compact camera to supplement my D300 for ages now (I know, I know, so has everyone). I bought a Panasonic LX3 last year, and though it is by far the best compact I’ve owned, it felt lacking somehow… something intangible was missing. The GF1 seems to come a lot closer to fulfilling that ideal.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 800

Image quality-wise, the LX3 and the GF1 are pretty close. The GF1 is about a stop better at high ISOs - 1600 looks a lot like the LX3 at 800. The character of the noise and artefacts is very similar between the two.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 800

So why do I prefer the GF1? A couple reasons, and oddly enough one of the major ones is purely tactile. The larger GF1 fits my hand better, and has a satisfying heft to it. To focus the lens manually, you use a ring around the lens like god intended, rather than clicking around on a set of buttons. The GF1 makes a nice mechanical “click” when you trigger the shutter. It’s not loud, certainly a lot quieter than my D300, but it’s there and it’s real. It feels like a camera should. Somehow the little electronic click from the LX3 didn’t feel right. Of course, a near-silent shutter can be a good thing in many situations, and many photographers prefer it, but not me. It’s illogical, but somehow important.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 200

The other reason has to do with depth of field. Because of its wee sensor, the LX3 has an abundance of it - too much, in many situations. This is great for street photography - I will still grab the LX3 for candid street shooting. But for portraits and the kind of spontaneous snapshots I like to take, I prefer a nice shallow depth of field to lead the eye and accentuate the subject. The GF1s larger 4/3ds sensor, combined with the 20mm f/1.7 lens, creates a much shallower plane of focus when shooting wide open.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 800

The GF1 is a very capable and very fun camera. I find it very hard to put down, and to Panasonic’s credit, about the only thing I would change if I could would be to put a full-frame 24x36 sensor in it! Of course, this would totally change both the form factor and the price, but really the only things I am left wanting are inherent in larger sensors - even shallower DOF and less high ISO noise. But these are really minor quibbles and have to do with the 4/3ds format, rather than the camera itself.

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 100

Overall, this is one impulse buy I’m happy to have made!

GF1, 20mm pancake at f/1.7, ISO 400

Links to my posts on the LX3:

Panasonic LX3 Street Photography

Panasonic LX3 Review

New Camera: Panasonic LX3

Digital Photographer Magazine

This month’s Digital Photographer magazine showcases long exposure photography. I am happy to be included in the “Expert Advice” section with some tips on improving your long exposures! Check it out - I’m on pages 32-33.