Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Desert Rose

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum). This plant is known for its thick, succulent stem and vibrant, often bicolored flowers, typically featuring shades of pink, red, and white. It thrives in arid environments and is popular as an ornamental plant due to its striking appearance.

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We had one of these plants at our old place, and as soon as we saw this one, we knew it had to come home with us.

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Another favorite from last weekend

I knew this would happen—after a long weekend and 300 photos later, picking a favorite feels impossible!
But hey, here’s another one I really like. Who says you can’t have more than one favorite, right?

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Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Using On-Camera Flash at Events

 Here is a video illustrating how is done. 

The only thing I do differently is that before shooting with flash, I adjust the camera settings—specifically ISO and shutter speed—to get the background looking the way I want. Once that’s set, I let the flash, using E-TTL, take care of the rest.

At events, I usually use a modifier, unless I’m shooting in a living room with a low ceiling or walls painted white or a similar light color.

Here’s one of my photos taken using flash.

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This guy is my favorite model. He knows how to work with the camera. Is not it?

Here is a bonus tip:


 

Monday, May 26, 2025

Weekend Continuation: Bald Eagle.

Memorial Day. I decided to skip my usual park and head to Bay Port, one of the oldest places in Hernando County with a rich history. But for me, it’s just a spot to snap some pics of all sorts of sea birds, including the majestic Bald Eagles. Lately, I haven’t been as lucky with them, and I thought I’d be home empty-handed again. But guess what? As I was about to leave, I spotted a huge bird in the distance. And right away, I knew it was a Bald Eagle! 

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Most Americans think these birds only live north, but they actually also live in Florida, even as far south as South Florida. I’ve even seen them nesting there! 

Taking pictures of these birds is always a pleasure. 

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Special Mention: Flowers.

Flowers deserve a special mention. In Florida, many wild flowers bloom in May, and some even during the summer. This weekend, I took some pictures of these beautiful flowers. Here are a few of them.

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Water lily (genus Nymphaea). It is characterized by its large, fragrant white petals and bright yellow center, floating on the surface of the water alongside round green lily pads.

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Spiderwort (genus Tradescantia). Spiderworts are commonly found in gardens and wild areas across North America.

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Lantanas are known for their vibrant clusters of small flowers, often featuring multiple colors like orange, yellow, pink, and red. 

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Morning Glory (genus Ipomoea). It is characterized by its trumpet-shaped bloom, with a white exterior and a pinkish-purple center, which is typical of certain Morning Glory varieties. These flowers are known for opening in the morning and closing by the afternoon.


Sunday, May 25, 2025

My favorites from this weekend

This is a long weekend, Memorial Day weekend, so we may have another post like this one to talk about pictures taken during these 3 days. 

The first one is this anhinga in flight. I did not like the blue sky behind it, so I edited it to make it more interesting. I did not replace it; I just edited it, changing the light a little bit. 

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The second one is this close up of the alligator's eyes from the top. The skin texture looks amazing. 

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My last pick has to be this turtle that I found laying eggs in the middle of the trail. I do not know why, but turtles in that lake do not have a sense of where the best place to lay their eggs is. This is not the first time I have found one of them doing it in the middle of a busy hiking trail. 

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Tomorrow’s Memorial Day, and I’m still figuring out where I’ll be with my camera. But one thing’s for sure - I’ll be snapping tons of pics and sharing them here, no doubt! 

Friday, May 23, 2025

Shooting Indoor Events

Shooting indoor events comes with its own set of challenges. You have to consider that these events often take place in large rooms with poor lighting. In such cases, having a good “fast” lens is probably more important than having a high-end camera—but how fast is fast enough?

In my opinion, f/2.8 is the sweet spot. You might think that going with f/1.8 or even faster would help more, but it usually doesn't. That's because most of the time, you're shooting with a zoom lens—and aside from the fact that zoom lenses with an f/1.8 aperture are practically nonexistent, such a wide aperture results in a very shallow depth of field. This increases the chances of getting out-of-focus shots, especially when photographing multiple people performing at the same time.

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An f/2.8 aperture gives you a better balance—more of the scene stays in focus, which is particularly useful when you're capturing groups of people on stage.

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Considering all of this, I love bringing my old Canon EF 70-200mm L lens to these events. (If you can afford the RF version—even better! Otherwise look at the used market where you can find very affordable options for good quality glass).

A full-frame camera is a must—and if it performs well in low light, even better. In my case, I use the Canon R6 Mark I, but the R6 Mark II or the R3 would also work very well. All of them are well known for handling low-light conditions exceptionally.

The photos in this article were taken during a recent event in a church, and my ISO ranged between 2500 and 4000. This range can easily be cleaned up using most post-processing applications available today. In my case, I used DxO PureRaw, and I have to confess—this software has freed me from worrying about shooting at high ISOs, even as high as 12,800 or more.

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Shot at 12800 in a very dark room without flash.

For Sharpening I use Topaz Photo AI. Recent features added to this software such as Face Recovering help a lot to achieve the highest quality in your pictures. 

As you can see, post-editing is just as important as having a good lens and a quality camera. Most of the time, you’ll spend twice as long editing your photos as you did actually shooting the event. Of course, if you're a professional sports photographer, you may not have that luxury—so having the best gear possible becomes essential.

In conclusion, taking great photos is not an easy task. When you see photographers charging a high price for covering an event, consider the cost of their gear, the software they use, and the hours spent on post-processing. If someone is offering extremely low prices, chances are they’re not investing the time or tools needed to deliver high-quality images. You get what you pay for. 

For new photographers, lenses are more important than cameras and post editing can fix the lack of quality you may get from your cheap lens and camera. A good lens and camera will save you time in post processing.

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