Archive for 'Equipment'
Learning to slow down and starting to really see
Posted on 06. Sep, 2011 by Paul Burwell.
But it wasn’t until this summer that I finally started to take a good look around what’s been hiding in plain site, just outside my office. You see, I got married last fall (finally! hurray!) and I’ve moved into the house that my was living in. It’s a fantastic little house built during the war in the 1940′s and one of its fantastic features is a very large back yard (at least by city standards). My wife is a fantastic gardener and in addition to a few vegetable crops we have tremendous wildflower and sunflower gardens.
This summer I managed to slow myself down a little more and now I’m seeing all these little critters who I previously…
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Sprit Bear DVD re-release features my image shot at ISO 3200
Posted on 02. Sep, 2011 by Paul Burwell.
I was very happy to see the re-release of the Spirit Bear DVD at Amazon featuring my image on the cover. I’m quite proud of this image because it was made at ISO 3200 with my Canon 5D Mark II and stands up extremely well to printing on DVD covers, magazine covers and as a [...]
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Outdoor Photo Gear – A story of exceptional customer service
Posted on 30. Mar, 2010 by Paul Burwell.
Many moons ago, I used to work in the retail industry. While my job rarely took me to the front lines of retail service, I was always keenly aware of the many challenges involved in providing customers with a great level of service. Stories of poor customer service abound on the various Internet forums one comes across and that is all useful information. But, I think it is even more important to share the positive…
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2009 – My photo year in review plus a new contest
Posted on 11. Jan, 2010 by Paul Burwell.
I was sitting back the other day contemplating what a great year 2009 had been. 2010 is going to have to be pretty spectacular to upseat it, but I’m optimistic. My year, like my life, largely revolves around photography and I thought it might be useful to run through the time line and hit on a few of the highlights…
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Canon 5D Mark II Autofocus Sucks? NOT!!!
Posted on 21. Oct, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
I’ve recently had the opportunity to start going through some of my pictures that I made during my recent Spirit Bear Tour. While I normally prefer to photograph with my Canon 1Ds Mark II, I decided to take a chance and exclusively use my new Canon 5D Mark II for the majority of the trip. My original intention in purchasing the camera was the use it primarily for its high-definition video abailities, but I’ve been extremely…
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Shoot like a pro – Lens collars
Posted on 15. Oct, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
Many pro photographers use tripods and monopods in their daily work. One accessory for a lens (sometimes included and sometimes not) that makes using a “pod” a lot easier is a…
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A week in the rainforest; What worked and what didn’t
Posted on 24. Sep, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
…I’d like to impart a few thoughts about the term “Water Resistant.” I’d like to meet the marketing schmuck who came up with this term? Every piece of gear that someone had that was labelled water resistant leaked like a sieve when exposed to anything more than a gentle mist for more than 30 seconds. Pants, jackets, gloves and yes, even camera covers labelled as “water resistant” all failed miserably in terms of keeping things dry. If I were running the world, I’d ban that term. Gear would either be rated as water proof or not. None of this namby pamby stuff…
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September Update – Wolves, Lynx and Leopards!
Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
September has returned all the daytime wanderers (school folks, their parents, folks on holidays, etc.) to their regular routines and my errands today took half the time they did during the summer. It was the beginning of August when I noticed the first leaves starting to turn colour here in Edmonton, and while the full fall colour season is still probably a few weeks away, the trees seem well aware that winter is on its way.
I’m very excited about my upcoming…
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Photog goes crazy, starts shooting video!
Posted on 22. Jun, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
I’ve been facinated by the new hybrid DSLRs that can shoot both still and video images. And the video I saw from the 5D Mark II was really, really impressive. It’s ability to produce high definition video at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p) is really stunning. I’m a bit of a movie fanatic and I think part of me harbours a fantasy of…
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3 occasions when it’s acceptable to use digital zoom
Posted on 15. May, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
…I encourage my photography and workshops students to never, EVER, under penalty of death, use the digital zoom on their cameras. At a glance, I can usually guess when an image was taken with digital zoom and it really creates inferior images. But of course, like all “rules” there are exceptions. I’ve thought of three occasions when using the digital zoom on a camera would be acceptable…
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