LifesMomentz Photography

Masai Mara 2015

jayson — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 13:03:46 +0000

A visit to Kenya's Masai Mara is a destination that I am sure is on the bucket list of many people, most of whom are probably photographers. I had the awesome opportunity to visit this wonderful part of the world this year. I was hoping for more predator action but wildlife is unpredictable. I was however able to capture some memorable moments that would last with me forever.

Sunday Times Photo of the Month

jayson — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 12:52:45 +0000

This is my image that made travel photograph of the month.

Windows Alternative to Macbook Pro for Photographers

jayson — Thu, 07 May 2015 14:33:25 +0000

Most of us associate color fidelity for photo editing with Macbook products especially if mobility is the issue. I have toyed with the idea of switching to Mac OS many times mainly for the build quality and screen performance.

Being an IT professional Windows 8 is a big part of my life and I really was not in the mood to carry 2 notebooks. I am aware that you can run Windows 8 on Macbooks but I am also a firm believer in using hardware for its core purpose since at some point work arounds come back to 'byte' you.

This search led me to what I can only describe as a mind blowing alternative to the Macbook Air and Macbook pro. As far as I am concerned I think it out performs the Macbook Air out the box with its full HD resolution and sleek aluminium chassis.

The ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A impresses from the time you open the box. The highlight of this stunning unit is the MATT display. This full HD screen's color production is stunning. Its one of the only units I would trust when I have to do editing in the field or while on holiday.

I don’t have any lab tests myself to showcase this product, just my own experience with it over the last 2 years. Below are links to proper lab tests that show you exactly how great your images will look on this unit.

AnandTech Review

When you read the reviews you will come across the following impressive stats.
Contrast Ratio : 1085
Black Level: 0.37 cd/m2
Color Gamut Percent Adobe RGB: 80%
Color Accuracy Delta : 1.94

The contrast ratio is staggering for an ultrabook. It is rare to get premium laptops above 1000:1 ratio. The black levels are really key as these make your images pop. the color accuracy is of major importance to photographers as its the degree to which the screen with faithfully represent the color. The lower the number the higher the accuracy. The essence is that no serious editing will take place on a 13 inch ultrabook. For this sort of stuff I would use a 27inch wide gamut display at home. However when you are away from home, you can do a lot of culling, cropping and basic color correction with the right mobile product which is where the ASUS UX31A comes in.

I have only 1 criticism of this unit and that is that it only has 4GB of soldered RAM. If they only put in 8GB this would be the perfect Windows photography ultrabook. There is another model that ASUS make that can take in additional ram. The ASUS UX32VD. Its not as slim as the 31A but sports the same excellent display with the ability to upgrade RAM and HDD.

So, you can have a Windows 8 Photography Ultrabook that’s better looking that a Macbook !!!!

Well done ASUS !!!

NB: If you are looking to purchase this specialised product contact Rui Cruz (Asus Product Manager) at Mecer. Asus product line can be found here

Inspiration from the KZN Canon Roadshow

jayson — Sun, 03 May 2015 09:40:26 +0000

The Canon April roadshow was quite inspirational. The new format included useful training on the autofocus systems used in the Canon 7D2,5D3 and 1Dx.

Some new pointers I got on landscapes was scouting the scene a bit more before shooting.I am quite aware of composition taking into account strong foregrounds, leading lines, rule of thirds etc. but I tended to rush because of the fleeting sun. I normally composed with my filters on which does tend to hamper composition clarity.

Landscape - New Approach
This time I slowed down and took fewer shots. I experimented with a few compositions until I found a few that I liked and then repositioned trying to balance the sun and rocks in the scene with leading lines.

I was quite happy with Landscape 1 but it did not have the impact I wanted.

Landscape Shot 1

As suggested I tried a few different compositions. Shot 2 had more of what I wanted but the angle was wrong.

Landscape Shot 2

Landscape shot 3 is the one that worked best for me. It had sufficient impact and tended to draw you into the scene a bit more. It also had the benefit of showing details of the grains of sand and strewn sea shells. The jack knife water angles just added to the drama.

Landscape Shot 3

Using the same approach I captured the following.

Sun Mirror

Going for minimal objects and sweeping water.

A colder Scene

Wide Angle Alternate Use
I never thought of using wide angle for action shots. My 16-35L f/2.8 is my landscape lens -or so I thought until I saw the presentation on news photography. I was amazed at how this lens places you in the action. My normal weapon of choice is the 24-70 f/2.8 Mk2. I happened to stumble on the Red Bull PuppetMasters Wake Boarding event after shooting my morning landscapes. I did not have my ideal sports camera (1Dx) but armed with new my knowledge on the autofocus system (thanks Manus) I decided the 5dMK3 could pull it off. I took special care when firing off at the action knowing that I had a different buffer capacity and fps than the 7D2/1Dx.

Matti Buys - Take Off

And a black and white seemed appropriate given the Puppet Masters theme.

Kaylib Louw

The results I hope make you feel you were there. I went as close as I could to the action and tried to get under the riders.The falling action was also quite impressive ...

In case you are wondering - yes my camera body and lens got drenched a few times !! Not to worry it is a Canon X-Series and L lens :-).

You can catch the rest of the puppetmasters action here

Adobe RGB and wide Gamut Monitors

jayson — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 09:21:24 +0000

Wide gamut monitors allow you to display the full range of Adobe RGB colours.

The images below have been exported using Adobe RGB.

Also a Wide Gamut Image below

Giants Castle First Visit

jayson — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 10:18:43 +0000

The giants castle vulture hide was a bit more tricky than I expected. This is a record of my experience in Jan 2015. Others may have had a different experience. First of all it is a long wait. You have to arrive at around 5-6pm and wait. First arrivals are around 9/10am. Vultures cross over around every 45 minutes so there is a lot of waiting. Be prepared to spend the day. You are not going to get a lot of shots if you leave midday as I had originally planned. It stayed longer but the weather was not on my side with some afternoon showers making it a shorter day. Also I set my camera and focal length in anticipation that the bearded vultures would land. I only found out later that landing was an uncommon event and that most images where captured of them flying. Had I know this would have changed my set up. One camera was wasted focusing on the landing area. The jackals were also very skittish. Making appearances from afar and never coming close enough to get a close up. The jackal buzzard landed on both days grabbed a piece of meat and was off again. Saw him once each day he used the express lane and was in and out in no time. Really hoping the next time I go I have a better experience.

Canon 100-400 MK2

jayson — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:53:03 +0000

It has been over a decade since the original pump action 100-400 Mk1 which was announced in September 1998. This veteran of wildlife lenses has finally seen a replacement in 2014 !!! The new version is quite impressive. It comes with a hefty price tag in this category but it delivers. My initial impressions have been extremely positive.

Lions of Imfolozi

jayson — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:14:47 +0000

Finding lions in the game park is always a treat. It is even better when those are clear sightings with a pride of lion. After many years of visiting our National parks I finally had a sighting that was worthy of mention. It also gave me a chance to put the 7Dmk2 and 100-400Mk2 combination to the test. Needless to say I was extremely impressed by the performance of this combination.

Canon 7D MKII

jayson — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 18:47:26 +0000

There has been much anticipation around the Canon 7DMkII especially around ISO performance which was the achilles heel of the MK1 version. Reports indicated that the 7DMK2 was the highest pre-ordered Canon body in the UK. Not surprising given the 5 year gap between the mk1 and mk2 versions. For my part I am comfortable to use the camera between ISO 1000 - 1600 in low light without too much image noise. Previously my limits on the 7D Mk1 were 640-800 for low light. Below are a few images shot using the 7DMK2.

Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens (Canon)

jayson — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:57:58 +0000

I have been in the market for a longer range lens for birding. I don’t really shoot birds that often so I could not justify the Canon 600L f/4. At the same time I wanted the reach for the few times that I did shoot. When I read the reviews on the Tamron 150-600, I was intrigued. Firstly at the price point and secondly how well this lens was being received in general, especially with the pricing in the same ballpark as the veteran Canon 100-400L IS USM.

This is not a technical or lab review. I am no expert at equipment reviews. Its just a record of my experience with the lens on the back of using lenses like the Canon 70-200L 2.8 IS , Canon 600L f/4 and Canon 300L f/2.8 IS .

Hope it helps you appreciate the value of the lens and aid in any decision making you may have around this lens.

BUILD AND PHYSICAL (6/10)

Lens is packaged well and looks impressive out the box. Better than most kits lenses but nothing close to a 100-400L in terms of build quality. No case is included which is not unexpected given the price. Lens feels light in your hands. Its not often that you are able to hand hold a 600mm zoom lens. The zoom ring which works opposite to most canon lenses is a bit of an irritation but not major. This lens is so light that I took the shot below of the ostrich chick handheld with the vibration control off.

AUTOFOCUS & VC (5/10)

The autofocus system is not the fastest. Given the f-stop of f5-6.3 I was not expecting superfast but decent enough speed in good light. I would not recommend it to shoot birds in flight as I think it will struggle with AI-Servo mode. It works perfectly well for take off and landing shots of birds if pre-focused as can bee sen from the images of the bee-eaters. In game parks for wildlife I think it works fairly well in good light for slow moving animals. I needed the extra reach for the cheetah shot but had the cheetah been running instead of walking focus would have been a problem. I found that the VC works well and makes a difference when using handheld. Maybe about a stop and a half comfortably. Manual focus ring works really smoothly.

IMAGE QUALITY(7/10)

This is not an 'L' lens however I found the image quality quite acceptable. It is most certainly not as sharp if you are used to the Canon 300 f/2.8 IS. Not a fair comparison in terms of price I know, but I am comparing it because it is what my eye uses as a benchmark. After using the Canon 300L f/2.8L and 600L f/4 most lenses just did not work for me however I really enjoyed the images this lens produced. Colour saturation was also great. I would say that it's performance is close to a good copy of Canon's 100-400L but with the extra range. I happily shoot up to 500/550mm. I find the images a bit softer after that.

Bottom Line

My overall impression is that this lens is great value for money. I don't really keep many non-L lenses and this is one of the few that I will hang onto for that affordable extra reach with acceptable image quality. I find myself taking it out more often these days. Really happy with my purchase.