Well, after a power outage right when I was coming home from work that threw off my schedule for a bit, I'm now sitting on the sofa, relaxing and listening to the first preseason Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game. If you know me, you know hockey is something very important to me - both watching and playing it.

The return of the hockey season is something I've been looking forward to since May 12, 2010. It was big enough that it inspired me as to what to post this evening.

So I looked through my old photos, and I found a set of photos I took three years ago to the day. Oddly enough, it was also a preseason game against the Detroit Redwings.

These shots were taken at the Mellon Arena (which I will always know as the Civic Arena), and I managed to sneak in my Rebel XT with the Canon EF 80-200mm lens attached. Technically, the Civic Arena had a policy that lenses had to be no longer than three inches in length. And unfortunately, the Consol Energy Center has a policy that prohibits all cameras with interchangeable lenses.

As a result, tight photos from a fan's seat might be harder and harder to get. So you just might end up having to crop photos down to get nicer shots. Which is exactly what we'll look at today...

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II at 100mm, 1/200 sec at f/5. ISO 400. Cropped in post production. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II at 100mm, 1/320 sec at f/5. ISO 400. Cropped in post production. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II at 100mm, 1/200 sec at f/5. ISO 400. Cropped in post production. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

If you mouseover the images, it should load the original, giving you an idea of how much the cropping cleaned up the final product. I probably could have used some effort to remove more distracting elements from the second and third images, but I was just doing a quick crop on these images.

So remember - even if you don't have that super-long telephoto, or you just want to leave your original composition a bit loose so you don't leave out important elements by cropping too closely on your actual shot - especially when shooting quick moving action, you can always go back later and crop things down a bit to get that close shot you're looking for.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think. What is your opinion of cropping in camera versus in post production.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to listen to the rest of the game... GO PENS!

- Bill

In case you were wondering - the frog from the other day managed to get away. So did this one...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro1:2 at 238mm, 1/130 at f/5. ISO. No post production. Beechwood Farms, Fox Chapel, PA.

It has been a while since I've left the critique up to you, so have at it. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this photo.

- Bill

Sorry - I've been lazy about posting recently. I've found that that tends to happen frequently when I have a batch of photos that I like but that all have a flaw of some sort.

This current batch was taken about a month ago at Beechwood Farms. This year, Anya has taken a shining to bird watching - we have about a hundred bird feeders in the back yard, we have several bird identification books and CDs, and we took a trip to Beechwood Farms as it is the local headquarters for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

On the grounds was a small pond. It was covered in duckweed, and absolutely swarming with frogs.

And then, through the duckweed, I spotted this guy...

Now, before I get into details, let me explain a few things. First, I decided to travel light this day. I only took my Canon EOS 7D with the Tamron 70-300mm lens attached. While that lens is a nice (and inexpensive) lens, it doesn't have any kind of image stabilization, so working at the 300mm range is tough without a tripod.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro1:2 at 238mm, 1/32 at f/11.3. ISO. No post production. Beechwood Farms, Fox Chapel, PA.

Why This Photo: I had been snapping shots of the frogs for some time when I noticed this pair. The tension in the situation was palpable. You knew both were watching the other and waiting to see what would happen. I tried to capture that tension as well as the stealth of the snake's approach.

What Works: The composition is ok, but I was working with what I had at hand. I couldn't really reposition or remove any distracting elements. At first, if you're not sure what you're looking at, the snake is almost invisible. The focus is pretty sharp on the frog, despite being handheld at a fairly long focal distance.

What Doesn't Work: Though the composition was ok, it is also somewhat lacking. The frog facing out of the frame is somewhat distracting, and there are a great number of distracting elements. Also, the depth of field prevented sharp focus on both the frog and the snake at the same time - this shot was the compromise.

Like I said, I really like this set of photos, but there seems to always be at least one thing wrong with each shot.

I may continue to be a bit of a slacker with the posts for a little bit here. Tomorrow I start a photography class at CCAC. I signed up with a friend mainly as a way to start getting some real training. Since I've self-taught all the way up to now, I figured some real training to confirm some of the stuff I've picked up would be a good idea. After this class, I think I'll probably try to find another, and then another, and ... well, you get the picture (yeah - pun intended again!).

- Bill

Alright - bear with me for one more dragonfly photo, and then I'll switch it up.

So today, we'll look at several different crops of the same photo. The subject is a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I saw while at Raccoon Creek State Park.

Horizontal

Square

Vertical

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/260 sec at f/8. OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

I honestly originally thought that I would like the square crop the best - I'd recently read an article in one of my photography magazines about the virtues of a square crop. However, after seeing them all together, I honestly am not sure which crop I like best. I'll have to debate a bit before deciding.

Place your vote and leave a comment to let me know why you feel the way you do.

- Bill

So one of the shots I've been trying to capture for a while is a dragonfly in flight. As you might expect, it isn't exactly the easiest thing to manage.

The most important thing I've learned is to observe the dragonflies for a while - turn the camera off and just watch. Try and identify a pattern; often dragonflies will repeatedly return to a certain landing point or hover in the same spot. You need to identify those places and prepare for your shot from there. Once you identify a place, setup your camera and compose your shot - don't worry about trying to capture anything just yet. Pay attention to your background, make sure that you won't have something distracting that will ruin the shot if you do end up getting one. Now, moving around and setting up your camera and tripod may very well have spooked the dragonfly. So you'll likely have to wait a bit longer for it to calm down and return to its pattern, but more than likely it will, so just be patient (ie: don't go moving the camera and starting over!). Finally, use a remote shutter release and shoot without using the viewfinder, just fire off bursts when the dragonfly nears the spot you are composes on. And of course, you'll need a faster shutter speed, which probably means a wide aperture.

That all said, I still haven't gotten a perfect dragonfly in flight shot yet. There's always something just a little bit off...

Sometimes I'm too early...

Or too late...

And sometimes I get close, but the focus is not perfect and the shutter speed is a little too slow to freeze the motion of the wings...

And sometimes even a bit closer still - focus is better but continues to not be perfect, but the faster shutter froze the motion of the wings a little better...

So I'm stick with it and keep trying. There are a few more things I'll be keeping in mind next time I'm shooting for one of these. First, I'll try manually focusing on a spot and avoid using auto-focus. Also, I'll make sure I just default to the largest aperture right off the bat to speed up the shutter (and maybe go with a higher ISO). And if possible, I'll get the lighting a little better to brighten up the wings - in the last shot, since they're frozen, they almost disappear - having a bit of highlight lighting on them would help to accentuate the wings and avoid capturing a floating dragonfly body. Perhaps a flash unit would help, but so far I am still nervous about using flash.

It is a challenging shot, that's for sure, but then again - I am not stranger to elusive and challenging shots.

- Bill

PS: Here's the technical data for all of the shots above:

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/330 sec at f/9.9 (first three shots) and 1/1020 as f/6.4 (last shot). OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

Just sharing a couple more photos of that Widow Skimmer Dragonfly...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/330 sec at f/6.4 plus 1/3 stop exposure compensation (not sure how that got flipped on). OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/200 sec at f/6.4 plus 1/3 stop exposure compensation (not sure how that got flipped on). OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

Feel free to critique to your heart's content in the comments.

- Bill

Before I get into the photos, I wanted to share some news with everyone. Last week, Anya and I bought some kayaks. So far we've taken them out to the Youghiogheny River at Cedar Creek Park and at the lake at Raccoon Creek State Park. Which leads me into the photos...

Several weeks ago, I went fishing with my dad and brothers at Raccoon Creek State Park and I took my camera along to see what I could catch with it. The fishing wasn't so hot, but I came home with a handful of good dragonfly photos.

This particular species of dragonfly is called a Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa). And we saw many more while out kayaking - they tend to like taking a rest on the kayaks as we paddle through the water.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/200 sec at f/6.4 plus 1/3 stop exposure compensation (not sure how that got flipped on). OS mode 1. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod mounted. No post production. Raccoon Creek State Park, Beaver County, PA.

What Works: I like the strong composition with the dragonfly resting close to one of the thirds, and the diagonal line of the blade of grass is nice.

What Doesn't Work: There is a slight ghosting around the dragonfly if you zoom to full-size - I think this might actually be a result of having the OS turned on while tripod mounted (I've read some things that this might not be the best thing to do). Also, I wish the exposure compensation wouldn't have gotten flipped up a notch as I really have no clue how that happened!

This really is a simple shot with a very obvious point of focus - something I really like in my nature photography.

- Bill

Well, since this is still my favorite shot of the whole set, I figured I should give this one a bit more time...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/510 sec at f/6.4. OS Mode 1. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Car Show, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: Like I've said in the previous posts, I was out this day trying a new photography. At this point, I was standing at the top of a curvy hill and then a sharp right turn. I was working on tracking moving subjects.

What Works: I like the close zoom on this shot, capturing the look of concentration on the driver's face. The reflections and shine on the car, and the nicely blurred background. Like some of the other shots I shared previously, I think this one also captures a sense of the action of the race.

What Doesn't Work: There are basically two things I wish were different about this photo - first, I don't mind the car not being entirely in the shot, but I wish that at least a portion of the rear wheel was in the shot to give it a little balance (perhaps I should try cropping in from the right to remove the rear suspension). The second is that the depth of field is a bit shallow so that the driver's face is slightly blurred.

All-in-all, even with its flaws, this is still my favorite shot from this set. It doesn't come close to being a prize winning photo, but considering it has gotten me into thinking about other styles of photography, there's more value in it than just a single photo. But I still like it...

While we're at it, I guess I will share some of those other photos that I feel are a bit flat and lack that feel of action to them:

Feel free to comment on any or all of the shots today.

- Bill

No - you're not seeing double.

I managed to capture these almost exactly identical images of two different racers, which is quite impressive (at least to me) when you consider that I was shooting handheld for a good portion of the day. The shots were taken only five seconds apart, but if you look very closely at the background, you'll see the shots are slightly different.

Normally, I would have recommended using a tripod shooting at such a long zoom length (439mm), but my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM has that lovely little Optical Stabilization feature, so I was able to shoot by hand.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 439mm, 1/1020 and 1/790 sec (respectively) at f/6.4. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Pittsburgh, PA.

I think I'll pass on doing my normal full critique of these two - mostly I'm just liking how cool these two photos turned out. Even though some of the cars are cut off in both photos, I still like the composition of the shots - I think it helps to give the sense of motion like the previous shot. Feel free to post your own critiques in the comments if you like.

Fun stuff.

- Bill

Well, as promised, I've finally uploaded new photos after getting my home internet connection fixed (talk about a fiasco and a half!). I have some really good photos, but I am going to try and run through them in order.

Which takes us back about a month to the 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I posted a teaser back then, and I have a few more to share.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 370mm, 1/1020 sec at f/6.4. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: I sometimes try my hand at new styles of photography. This is one of those times - just stepping out of my comfort zone.

What Works: The best thing about this photo is the lean that the racecar has from hitting this turn. I feel it gives the photo a sense of the action. Most of the other shots I took that day seem too static.

What Doesn't Work: I'm not thrilled with the shadow from the tree right in front of the car - it is a bit distracting. Focus might be a tad off too.

There's more from this set, so tune in again soon for more. In the meantime, drop me a line and let me know what you think of these car photos.

- Bill