Tokina 11-16mm – First Shots
Posted in Reviews on January 1st, 2009 by Kevin
The Hay House in Macon, GA
Fontana Dam, NC
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX Lens Unboxing
Posted in Reviews on December 31st, 2008 by KevinI just received delivery of my new Tokina 11-16mm wide angle xoom lens for the D90. Usually the lens that are recommended for a camera are those manufactured by the same company, in this case Nikon. Rather than sticking to what rules would dictate, this lens made by Tokina is supposed to out perform even Nikon’s own 12-24mm and 14-24mm wide zooms as reviewed here by Ken Rockwell, and others. So here it is… (shot with the kit 18-105mm)
Here are some initial shots with the Tokina 11-16mm…
11mm
16mm
This one is at 11mm and about 8in from my iMac’s screen…
I’ll post up more images from this lens at some point. I’m planning on heading up to the North Georgia mountains to shoot the new year’s sunrise early tomorrow morning. We’ll see how they turn out.
Nikon D90 18-105mm + Canon Wide Angle = !!!
Posted in Inspiration, My Work on December 29th, 2008 by KevinHello, it’s been a while…I’ve been busy with the Holidays. Hope everyone has had some good times and good fortune.
So I’ve kinda put this off for a while and haven’t thought much of it ’til recently…
I’ve been checking out lenses for the D90 lately and have actually ordered the renown Tokina 11-16mm Ultrawide today. It should be here by 7PM new year’s eve!!! But that’s another post all together. I’ve also been looking at Lens Baby’s. These little lenses give the image a central point of focus with a gradient blur emanating from it. A very cool and artistic effect (if that’s what you like).
By accident, I stumbled across a way to create this effect or at least a similar effect. Out in LA in October, I was primarily shooting video. The camera I was using was a Canon GL2 with a wide angle bayonet adapter on it. Specifically the Canon WD-58H wide angle adapter.
Now what I ended up experimenting with was placing this wideangle lens backwards up against the lens hood of the D90′s kit 18-105mm DX lens. Actually the outside of the 18-105mm lens hood fit perfectly around those two little plastic lips on the top and bottom of the glass inside the lens hood in this image.
All I had to do was keep the lens zoomed out to 105mm and keep the canon wide angle from falling off. All the camera settings and focus settings stayed the same. Well anyways, I ended up with images like these.
Now what you’re not seeing is the serious vignetting that was going on. But with a bit of a crop and some thought into framing the subject, all is well. Here’s one without a crop…
So while this isn’t necessarily a cheaper way or better way to do what a lens baby can do, it’s still cheaper than a tilt/shift lens and produces a pretty good result. I think the hardest part was trying to pan with the cars with while holding that added weight at the end of the lens. So enjoy, and maybe if you’re like me…a videographer with access to odd lens and adapters, feel free to mess around. Maybe you’ll come up with something that hasn’t been done before or just looks cool.
Millenia 3 Christmas Card
Posted in My Work on November 25th, 2008 by Kevin
I just finished up a card for our company (Millenia 3) to send out to our clients for the holidays. I couldn’t come up with any designs, so I was out shopping around for some stuff for the house and saw this ornament at Pier 1 Imports. I picked it up, got a shiny green shirt, and my shiny red basketball shorts and shot some photos. Here’s what I came up with. Simple and got the job done with excellent results. Original pic on top. See gallery for a bigger size.
More Red News…
Posted in Industry News, Technology on November 25th, 2008 by KevinJannard’s Post on Reduser.net:�
“New announcement on Dec. 3rd. Everything has changed… just as we promised. 
Jim
“My hope with this announcement is some sort of projection system that will allow all this wonderous resolution to do some good. Jannard went on to say,
“The 13th was insignificant…
Jim”
What could possibly make the 13th insignificant…? Not really sure. I don’t think they would try and top the announcement of the new modular system, but simply create something that would complement or accessorize it.
We’ll wait and see in another week!
RED: A Truly "EPIC" Announcement
Posted in Industry News, Technology on November 13th, 2008 by Kevin
I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been waiting for this ever since rumors started to swirl a few months back. Today RED announced a new camera system that should completely revolutionize the film/tv/photography industries. The DSMC (Digital Still and Motion Camera) system, it utilizes a completely modular design allowing the user to not only customize the system to suit their needs, but also replace/upgrade pieces as they are released, needed, or as funds are available.
The core of the new setup are these new mysterium based sensor blocks, called “brains”. These “brains” are physically simlilar, but are made up of different sensor sizes, frame rate capabilities, and lens mount options. The sensor resolutions range from a new 2/3″ 3k Mysterium-x (sub-$2500) all the way to this unfathomable, 186x56mm 28k (yes, 28000 x 9334 pixels) Mysterium-Monstro, with 6 other configurations in between. Outside of the sensor block are numerous options that can be attached to the rig, including a new 1080p viewfinder, DSMC I/O plate (with timecode syncs, xlr jacks, and dual-link HD-SDI monitoring), and REDhandle (a new DSLR style grip that can not only power the camera but gives the user various camera specific controls right at their fingertips).
The camera can be setup in a near infinite number of variations from a DSLR rig to purpose built film camera.
This is the most well thought out project I’ve ever seen. They’re really putting the creativity back into the user’s hands and allowing them the possibilities to do anything. Can’t wait for them to release this.
[Images via Engadget]
Photoshop…for realz!
Posted in Inspiration, Stuff on November 7th, 2008 by Kevin Tags: graphic design, photography, photoshop
Nikon D90: Some shots from Formula D ’08 – Irwindale
Posted in My Work on October 25th, 2008 by Kevin Tags: D90, dslr, freelance, my photos, nikon, photography, wrecked magazine
LA – Day 6
Posted in Life, My Work on October 15th, 2008 by KevinWe got a later start this morning. We started out with a trip across the street from where we were staying at the Universal Hilton hotel, to In-and-Out Burger. Double-double Animal style…the only way to get it. After that we opted to skip our previous plans to visit the LA County Museum of Art and the La Brea tar pits to instead go to Universal Studios to better enjoy the beautiful weather that we had.
We did Terminator 2: 3D, very outdated but still pretty entertaining. Also, Simpsons: The Ride, Shrek 4D, and The Mummy: The Ride. Of these, Simpsons was the newest and the best, using a near IMAX size screen and a flight simulator-like chassis to pull you right into the “Krusty Land” experience. And in a close second, The Mummy ride. This is an entirely indoor roller coaster that is short but well worth it…ride it twice if the lines are short.
After that we headed back to West Hollywood to meet up with Joey and Jason. I had to pick up a camera case for me to carry on for my flight back to Atlanta. We all chatted for a bit then Ash and I went to the Burton Outlet, and the Kidrobot store. Ash and I then made our way to Yogurtland which we’re told was recently the hotness in LA’s yogurt eating trend. Entirely self-serve, this yogurt paradise is a great place to stop in and get some refreshing mid-afternoon treats. Pick your cup size, pick your flavors and then toppings, but be careful as you’re paying by the ounce. $0.30/oz at the time.
Later, we had our name on the list for the green room at Jimmy Kimmel Live! After arriving we we’re told that the green room was up to capacity, so we waited outside for a while and checked out the stage that was setup outside for Kanye tonight. After a few minutes we returned to check on the green room. I looked down the alley as xenon headlights were barreling towards us. Two black Escalades on 24′s came to a halt right in front of us. I thought to myself, this has to be Kanye. Security jumped out and cleared the area and then Kanye, who is an arrogant half man, came out with two others in his entourage and entered the theater. We eventually made it in to the green room. They had free drinks, which was really nice.
Kanye’s performance was interesting. He performed “Love Lockdown”…eventually. He ended up doing the song 3 times. Thank goodness this wan’t a live broadcast of the musical part of the show. He blamed the band for screwing up for the most part. I’m not a big fan of the guy to begin with but this was really icing on the cake. He apologized for being un professional and performed 2 extra songs for the crowd. Overall this was a cool experience and was definitely a good show after all that crap.
LA – Day 5
Posted in Life, My Work on October 14th, 2008 by KevinAsh and I started out on Hollywood Blvd. for some morning Mc D’s. We continued shopping in that area and also East and West Melrose Ave. We met up with some friends at the Grove and got some lunch at the Cheesecake factory there. I know our choice in food isn’t very great…everything we ate pretty much we could easily get here in Atlanta but oh well, maybe next time we’ll research some more.
After that we drove up to the Hollywood Trail to check out the view and escape all the noise of the busling city below. Very romantical. We went back to the hotel after that cleaned up and headed to Universal CityWalk for some more shopping and dinner. We hit this great store called “It’s Sugar,” and I think the total purchase was $40 of candy. We had dinner at Wasabi, a not so good sushi joint at CityWalk. The only good thing was a big bottle of Asahi and also we saw John Stamos eating there as well. The sideburns gave him away.