Where is Ben?

Erie, PA to Palenville, NY

Today, I drove 422 miles to Palenville, NY, which is where my friend Dan Bulkholder lives. I went to dinner with Dan and a few friends in Woodstock NY and we plan to explore the general area tomorrow. It's raining nicely tonight... I love the sound of rain hitting the roof of the bus... it's one of the best sounds to sleep to. 

Detroit to just shy of Erie, PA

After spending a few days in the greater Detroit area, I decided to continue East. Today, I drove via the back roads (not reflected in the map above) to the Pennsylvania state line, just short of Erie, PA. 

I'm itching to get to areas I have never explored in the past, so tomorrow I should end up somewhere near Albany, NY and then it will be on to Vermont! 

Iceland Interviews Ben

I've made a trip to Iceland three out of the last four years. I plan to return in July of this year to conduct my first photographic workshop in Iceland. 

I was interviewed by the local Icelandic guides that will be putting on that workshop. You can read the interview on the Focus on Nature web site. The photos featured are all ones that I should on my various trips to Iceland. 

There's also info on how to get a 10% discount on the workshop if you care to join me in Iceland this July.

The Vintage Bus Project

I've created a new page on this site to announce and describe my current major project which is to restore and live on a 1940's bus like the one shown above. You can find the page on the left side of my blog site under the heading of Other Stuff and just above the new Ben's Location map.

I plan to update that page with additional details about the project as the months go on. The page is quite detailed right now, so just skim the headings if you don't feel like taking in all the details. 

Contemplating an Auction

I'm now in Indianapolis, IN and am thinking about bidding on a vintage bus auction. I've spent a good amount of my time today inspecting the bus, but haven't really come up with my high bid quite yet. I have until Saturday to decide how much I'd like to bid on the bus. 

St. Louis, MO to Indianapolis, IN

Today, I only drove 243 miles and ended up at the State Fairgrounds RV park in Indianapolis, IN. I'm here for a vintage car/bus auction. The item I'm thinking of bidding on goes up on Saturday. After that, I plan to start exploring the East coast.

Stroud, OK to St. Louis, MO

Today, I drove 442 miles to St. Louis, MO. I'm hanging out with Chris and Cherie from Technomadia.com. I have one more day of long driving before I can mellow out and start to casually explore. 

Albuquerque, NM to Stroud, OK

Today, I drove precisely 600 miles and am now in Stroud, OK. I made stops at Cadillac Ranch, the world's largest cross and a few spots along Route 66. Tomorrow I'm off to St. Louis to meet up with some technomadic friends. 

Feb-May Update

Here's a quick update on what I've been up to since my February posting:

• explored Slab City and the Salton Sea in California

• explored Joshua Tree National Park

• partied in Las Vegas for PMA

• parked on the beach for 21 days in Los Angeles

• visited friends in New York city for a while (the bus stayed in LA)

• presented seminars in NY, TX, CAx3, MA, MN, CA (again), GA, Iceland, PA

• parked on the top of a mountain with a 360° view for about a week in CA

• visited a bunch of high school friends, college friends and new friends while visiting Minneapolis (where I grew up)

• Explored Iceland for a short time... was going to shoot it from the air, but the weather did not cooperate

• continued shopping for a vintage bus and actually found the original bus from the movie RV (see photo above). If I don't win an auction on a vintage bus in Indianapolis this week, then I might end up with the bus shown above. 

• shopped for a vintage car to replace my jeep... right now it looks like I'll end up with either a 1956 or 1967 four door Chevy wagon

The bus has been parked in California all winter (except for a short trip to Arizona). Now that winter is done, I've moved out of California and am heading to Maine (just a short drive). I should be updating this blog more often now that I'm moving around more and taking more photos. Let me know if you have any suggestions for what to see on the East coast.

Fenner, CA to Albuquerque, NM

Today, I drove 568 miles to Albuquerque, NM. Tomorrow, I'd love to get to Oklahoma City, but I wouldn't be surprised if Cadillac Ranch ends up being my resting place for the evening. 

I'm on my way to Maine via Indianapolis. 

Los Osos, CA to Fenner, CA

Now that winter is over and it's warm in the rest of the country, it's time to start exploring! Today, I drove over 380 miles and ended up in Fenner, CA. I plan to explore the East coast and am taking a fast track route to get there. I need to be in Indianapolis before Saturday so I can bid on a vintage bus that is up for auction and then I plan to explore a few states I've never been to before like Maine and Vermont. 

I'll create an update post to let you know what I've been up to since my last posting... but I'll do that after I've had a chance to rest from driving. 

Light Painted Shot

Thought you might enjoy another one of my light painted shots where the only light source used was a flashlight.

If you're viewing this post directly in your wed browser, you might want to look into an RSS reader. If you get one of those, then posts like this one will show up just like e-mail... no need to check the site directly just to find out I didn't post on that day. On the Mac, I use a program called NetNewsWire. I know there are also windows equivalents. To find such programs, do a search on www.versiontracker.com

Where The Heck Has Ben Been?

So, what happened to this Ben guy who hasn't updated his blog since mid-December?

He's been living life and not caring what the neighbors think. Here's a quote from a recent interview that might give you an glimpse into my recent attitude: 

"Shut off your computer, turn off the TV, put down that book, turn off your cell phone, then go outside and live your own life instead of reading/watching/talking about what everyone else is doing... blaze your own trail! Don't wait until you retire because you just might not have the energy or ability to get around compared to what you can do today. Why not keep your old cell phone, your older car and stop trying to keep up with your neighbors and spend that money on living more life more vividly right now?"

Here's a quick rundown of where I've been since my last post:

1. Moved the bus to San Diego for the winter.
2. Spent a few weeks over the holidays hanging out with friends in Maui, HI 
3. Attended a vintage bus rally in Arizona where I was about a dozen buses similar to what I've been thinking about buying (would cost half as much as my current bus and have a lot more style)
4. Test drove a 1956 Chevy Nomad that I was thinking of using to replace my Jeep Liberty 
5. Flew to Florida, taught a three-day hands-on HDR class and then spoke at a conference known as Fotofusion 
6. Spoke at the Connecticut Professional Photographers Association convention
7. Started using Facebook. Please only send a friend request if I'd actually recognize you, otherwise become a fan (just don't want to read too many updates from people I don't know all that well)
8. I shaved off all my facial hair just to see what was hiding under there  
9. Been working on a new product that should be ready by mid-March (you have no idea what it is, so don't start guessing) 
10. A bunch of other stuff that I can't recall at the moment, but usually involved visiting friends or trying new things. 

Here are a few random photos related to the items above:

I guess I haven't been posting here because I haven't gotten too many new finished images to post and I feel like I should always include a photo with each post. I've been updating my facebook page much more often instead. 

Most of the photos I've been taken over the last few months have been nudes, which is why I haven't been posting them here. Here's one that doesn't reveal much that I show in Maui just to give you a taste of what I've been up to. I shot this image in a dark room and lit it using only a flashlight. 

 

I've added a new mini-map to the left sidebar of this blog to indicate where my current location is. I can update that via many different web pages and iPhone apps via FireEagle. I'll try to remember to update it any time I change cities. In the future, I'd like to have a similar map that would show where I've been in the past and to show the photos I've taken in each location, but I just haven't spent the time to figure out the right service for that kind of stuff. 

OK, that's all I can think of for now... I've been meaning to post something here for quite a while and it was only after messing with the truck stop image above that I really thought I'd have the text and photos I usually use when posting.

The photograph at the top of this post is a nine shot HDR panorama composite that was taken in December near Sierra Blanca, TX. When it comes to the panorama, that's three images. But, each of those images is made from three exposures that were merged into an HDR image before being combined with others to make up the panorama. Only after the three HDR shots where stitched did I tone map the image using Photomatix to make it look good. I then saved the result as a flattened 16-bit TIFF file and opened it through Camera Raw for further enhancement. Most of this stuff is covered on my High Dynamic Range (HDR) Mastery DVD. As usual, you can click the image to see a larger version.

5D Mark II Upgrade Impressions

I picked up the new Canon 5D Mark II yesterday and thought I'd give you a few of my reactions. This is just my first impressions and is not a full review my any means. I just thought that current 5D users might want to get a sense for how things would change if they upgraded to the Mark II. Here we go, in no particular order:

• In case you were wondering, the old 5D batteries will not work in the Mark II... the batteries might look similar, but the contacts are in different positions. Mark II batteries are very hard to come by right now and I don't feel overly comfortable working without a backup. I like to have at least two batteries (usually three) and two or three chargers. I leave one in my bus, back one in my camera bag and leave one in my car which I can use with an inverter.
• I really wish Canon would add an auto focus assist lamp to their cameras. In low light it can be more difficult to get good focus. This is nothing new... I'm just amazed the engineers at canon don't shoot in low light without a flash.
• I think it's really dumb that they list the expanded ISO in real numbers. Instead of seeing ISO 25600, I see H2. Also, anything over ISO 3200 is not all that usable (too noisy), but I always have ISO expansion turned on simply so I can have access to ISO 50 when I need to use longer exposures when shooting waterfalls. Just wish it would show up as 50 instead of "L". 
• There is now an auto ISO setting which will automatically set the ISO for between 100-3200 which can be nice when shooting in low light and few brain cells functioning. I don't leave this mode turned on all the time because it will automatically set the ISO to 400 when using Manual, Bulb or Flash. 
• I love the idea of the new sRAW format which allows you to shoot at lower resolutions in the raw format (like 10 or 5 megapixels). I hope to use this for files that I pass around in classrooms so that I don't have to use so much space or give away my high resolution ready for publication images.  
• I really wish Canon would have included an electronic level indicator like some Nikon camera's feature. Who wants to carry an easily loose-able bubble level in their camera bag? 
• I wish they would have redesigned the eyepiece and diopter adjustment wheel. They are pretty much the same as on the original 5D where I quickly lost the eyepiece rubber surround (even the replacement one I bought) and often found the diopter got chanced when moving the camera in or out of my camera bag. 
• I live that there is now a two second self timer setting which is very useful when you forgot to bring a cable release and need to make a long exposure.  
• I like that they moved the top LCD backlight button. I always had trouble finding it in the old 5D and the new position right behind the shutter butter makes it overly easy to access.  
• There is a new Info screen on the back LCD display that will mirror all the settings that are shown on the top LCD. I absolutely love this feature since I often have the camera on a tall tripod where it's almost impossible to see the top LCD without tilting the camera. It's also helpful that text is included along with icons to make it easier to figure out which icon will give you spot metering versus center weighted metering, etc.  
• I have the new Really Right Stuff L-bracket that I use for attaching the camera to my tripod. I find the new version to be smoother in shape, smaller in two dimensions and it seems to have a slightly more solid connection where it's more difficult to twist the camera within the bracket.
• They have added an additional button where your thumb would rest on the back of the camera that can be used to trigger the auto focus. I like this because unlike the original 5D, you do not need to give up your EAlock button if you want a separate button for triggering auto focusing. It's also more comfortable than the button used on the 5D. 
• There is now an ambient light sensor right below the rear LCD screen which automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen. I like that because it keeps the screen darkish when shooting at night which helps to prevent loss of your night vision.
• There are now three user settings on the mode dial on the top of the camera compared to the original 5D's single custom user mode. I find that to be very useful since I can now setup one with auto bracketing for HDR shots, one for panoramas, one for night shooting with auto-ISO, etc.  
• The hot shoe on top of the camera looks a little different and makes a much more positive seal when using the new 580EX II flash. It looks to actually be a bit weather tight. 
• The camera now has a microphone and speaker, but they can only be used when recording movies. I really wish I could use them to add meta data to images much you can on higher end Canon 1-series cameras. That way I could easily capture a model's name without having to write something down. 
• The camera how has a sensor cleaning system which I have not had time to test (I've only had the camera for less than 24 hours). I am just a bit surprised that your options for using it are to either manually trigger it or have it automatically applied every time the camera is powered on or off. I'd like it to be automatically done each time I change lenses since that's when the majority of dust makes it onto the sensor of the camera.  
• I haven't tested the movie capture capability yet. But in reading the manual, I did learn one thing that will prevent the 5D mark II from completely replacing a normal video camera: There is auto focus, but it does not have continuous auto focus. You have to press a button and then the camera takes up to three seconds to find focus. That means that it will be difficult to shoot transitions between scenes where the main subject is at a different position in each scene. I guess I'll have to get used to doing manual focus tracking.  
• In case you were wondering... you *can* shoot full resolution photos while you're in the middle of recording video. The video will display a still frame for about one second as the camera captures a high res image and then will immediately return to recording video.  
• I like the new Live View since it will allow me to preview depth of field without having the image go dark and I can zoom in to 10x to check and adjust focus.  
• You can now trigger the shutter using an optional Infrared remote because they've added a new sensor on the front of the camera body. Also, when in bulb mode you can press once on the remote to open the shutter and then press a second time to finish the exposure which should help in my light painting adventures. 
• The new menu system is a joy to use compared to the single list that was found on the original 5D. I like that I can setup a separate menu and choose which settings I'd like to have appear. That way I can include up to six of my most used menu functions at easy reach. I couldn't stand having to cycle through the entire menu on the old camera just to find the 3-4 settings that I used on a regular basis.  
• I don't mind that the Jump button is gone from the back of the camera since I can always use the control dial near the shutter button to jump forward or back when viewing images in thumbnail mode.  
• There is a new picture style button on the back of the camera which I doubt I'll ever use. I think it only applies to JPG images or RAW files that are opened in Canon's software. I use Camera Raw and Photoshop or Lightroom which I'm almost sure will ignore the settings. So, why not let me assign something else to that button? It reminds me of the old print button that was to the left of the viewfinder on the 5D... a button I never pressed. Although on the Mark II that button now brings up live view mode where you can either record movies or see the view of your scene on the rear LCD screen.  
• The larger LCD screen on the back is a nice improvement. Now I just have to get a Hoodman lupe for a 3" screen so I can get a really good view of the image in broad daylight.  
• You can now get the highlight warning (also known as the blinkies) on a full size image. In the old camera, the blinkies would only show up when you were viewing a histogram and that made the image so small that the blinkies were hard to see. This new setup is a great improvement from the old since you can have blinkies visible regardless of which view you choose to review your images in. 
• Being an HDR shooter, I still wish the camera's exposure compensation could go to -3 and +3 like the 1 series cameras (it's still limited to -2 and +2) and I wish the auto bracketing could shoot more than the default three shots. Nothing new there.  
• You can now see your battery capacity in 1% increments if you use the rear LCD screen. You can also see the battery level of up to six batteries. That means you can tell if the five other batteries in your camera bag are charged or not (assuming you haven't been using up their power in a different camera). 
• I really like that I can control the settings on my 580EXII Speedlite from the LCD on the back of the 5D Mark II. This is especially useful when trying to set a custom function since the LCD will include text clues as to which function does what on the flash instead of just being presented with a numbered list and numbered settings with no text like what you'd get on the flash itself. I can see that it's possible to control the flash level of up to three groups of off camera flashes, but I haven't figured out how to get that to really work yet. 
• Adobe seems to have timed their software updates just right since I was able to download an update to both Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw that claims to support the Mark II. I haven't had a chance to test things yet, but it should work in theory. 

Well, that's all that comes to mind at the moment. I haven't done any serious shooting with the camera yet, so I'm sure I'll have more to report later. I also haven't had a chance to test for the black dot issue (Dark dots appearing on the edge of blown out highlights) that some people have reported on the internet. It sounds like Canon might release a firmware update in January to deal with the issue. Overall, I'm very happy with what Canon as done with the Mark II. 

How to get a mainly out of stock camera now

Today I received my new 5D Mark II and I wanted to share with you an idea for how you can get similar hard to come by cameras before most people can get their hands on them. For me, I simple got on B&H's waiting list just after the camera was announced. But barring that, you can visit NowInStock.Net and set your RSS reader (I use NetNewsWire) to automatically update when the camera becomes in stock. That site checks multiple camera store web sites and lists the stock status for the camera. I wish they would allow for more specific searches since I need a second battery for my camera, but it only allows me to have a generic 5D Mark II search which will alert me anytime anything related to that camera is in stock. That means I hear about battery grips coming in stock and much more. 

I'll start shooting with the new camera tomorrow... right now I'm letting the battery charge. 

I'm currently park on the beach near the LAX airport in Los Angeles and plan to move the bus to San Diego in a few days. I'll be spending the holidays in Maui visiting friends for a few weeks and then I might attend a vintage bus rally in Arizona. Happy Holidays! 

12 Flash Ringflash Madness

The crazy man shown above approached me while I was attending Joe McNally's class at the Lepp Institute. He had no fewer than *twelve* flash units all being triggered using TTL via radio poppers. Using this setup, we were able to shoot using high speed sync at 1/8000 of a second and turn daylight into night time. Go check out Syl's blog for more info on the setup and to see what it looked like when shooting from the other side of the flashes. 

Photo by Syl Arena

Free Talk in San Diego this Weekend

I'll be giving a free talk in San Diego this Saturday from noon until 3 pm. In this talk, I'll be covering the techniques I use to produce my HDR (high dynamic range) photography and what I do to the images afterwards to get around the artifacts that are typical of HDR images (like glowing trees).

After presenting a seminar in Dallas on Wednesday, I'll be driving to San Diego, speaking on Saturday for a few hours and then I'll head a bit North to attend Joe McNally's class at the Lepp Institute before spending a bit of time in Los Angeles before heading back to San Diego for the winter.

Fisheye Panorama

I was just spending some time processing more images from Route 66 when I ran across a three shot panorama that was shot with my 15mm fisheye lens. Older versions of Photoshop would not be able to stitch such a distorted panorama, but Photoshop CS4 was up for the job. If you want to learn about all the great new stuff in CS4, be sure to check out my newest book which covers all the new features.

This photograph was taken in Shamrock, TX at a restored gas station that is currently being used as the chamber of commerce building. You can see my bus parked on the right edge of the frame. I visited this location for a second time just a few weeks ago. 

As usual, you can click on the photo to see a larger version.

Heading back to the bus

I'm about to return from a trip that brought me to Boston, New York, Baltimore, New York and Miami. I'll be flying back to Dallas today, which is where the bus is parked. Previous to this, I followed Route 66 from Los Angeles to Tulsa, OK. 

I'm thinking of staying put for the next two weeks so I can spend time processing more Route 66 images and catch up on life. 

The image above is a composite of about 30 shots, each of which are lit with just a flashlight. I shot this at a recording studio in NY and composited the image on my flight to FL. That's Troy who owns the studio standing in front of some of the albums that were recorded in his studio. 

Nominee in B&W Spider Awards

An early black and white version of my Grease Monkey's Paradise image was one of the nominees in the Black and White Spider Awards. 

It looks like I'm able to post pictures once again, so here's the one you missed from my last post:

I'll be making a loop up to Santa Fe, New Mexico tomorrow and then will be headed into Texas as I continue my travels along Route 66.

Don't forget that my new Photoshop CS4: Up to Speed book is now in-stock on my on-line store. 

Back to Route 66 Once Again!

I started exploring Route 66 again today. If you've been following my blog for a while, you should be aware that I followed the full length of Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago last year. This time around, I'm not making a big effort to stay on Route 66 all the time... instead, I've looked through my previous shots and a few guide books and picked out specific spots where I felt I either missed something, or didn't quite get the shot I needed. 

I started shooting with a PhaseOne P45+ 39 megapixel digital back on a medium format camera today. I only shot one setup with it since I haven't really found the optimal HDR setup yet. This camera is limited to a three shot bracket with a maximum of a single stop difference between exposures. I'm used to having my Canon camera setup to do a three shot bracket with two stops of a difference between shots. That means I'm being forced to work in manual mode on the medium format camera and manually changing the settings between each shot. I'm sure I'll get the hang of everything over the next few days.

The image above was shot at around 7:30pm tonight. It was taken in the parking lot of the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs, CA. While I was there, I was lucky enough to meet Andrea who owns the place. I gave them a print of my "Lost Capsule" image that I shot there last year. That photo is of the same airstream trailer pictured above along with the motel sign framed up in the window. She was very happy to see me and seemed to really enjoy the print.

Tonight, I'm parked right across the street from Roy's Cafe in Amboy, CA. I plan to shoot that spot in the morning and then make my way to Kingman, AZ where I might spend a full day shooting.