Jaakko's Photography

Hiyayaakko is Open

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:48:00 +0000

My new photography website hiyayaakko is open.

Welcome!

www.hiyayaakko.com

Fujifilm X100 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:54:00 +0000

The review has been moved to my new blog at

http://www.hiyayaakko.com/x100-review/

Please check it out.

X100 Story

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:25:00 +0000

I have been using Fujifilm X100 for three weeks now. I was almost about to publish my review of it, but now I got struck by the notorious X100 aperture blade issue (see the forum thread at: fujixseries blog) , and I have to return my unit.
I bought my X100 from Yodobashi camera and I will attempt to get it replaced.
I will tell you how this process go by updating this blog. Thanks for waiting.

Update: I went to Yodobashi and the staff confirmed the misbehaving aperture. Since it's less than a month when I purchased the baby, they went on and replaced it upon warranty. The fresh copy of X100 is free of the issue.

Extensive review coming soon!

Her Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:45:00 +0000

Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:17:00 +0000

Back to the Shore (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:15:00 +0000

Here it is in Flickr.

CG Jaakko is open

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:32:00 +0000

I have opened my blog CG Jaakko. This is where I will publish my 3D related things.
http://www.cgjaakko.com

Free Images in Art Film Stock

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:07:00 +0000

You know, I started photography in 2005. I've been taking all kinds of photos and also done my share of microstock photography. I think money is important, but I think money isn't the reason why I'm doing it.
Therefore, I decided to release almost all of my portfolio for free download. That's over 300 images.
You can download images here.
The free downloads are under standard royalty free license. So they can be used for commercial purposes.

HDR Attempt

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:02:00 +0000

Quick attempt of HDR photo. Easy bracketing setting with Canon EOS. Combined in Photoshop CS5 automatic HDR import.

Inspecting Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:57:00 +0000

Royalty free stock photo sites have professional people called "image inspectors" who make sure that the uploaded photos are technically and legally sound.

I must say I respect these folks. Not only they must evaluate the technical execution of the photos, they must ensure that there's not going to be legal trouble if the photo is used in massive advertisement campaign. This means checking there's no logos, brand identities, license plates, barcodes or recognizable human faces (if photo is provided without a model release).

But that's not all. They must check the skies for dust specs, make sure there's no hot pixels, excess noise, and they must evaluate the overall lighting composition, and artistic value of the photo as well.

And there's crazy amount of photos, so these guys must also be efficient, which means they have to be quite fast with their work.

Often, there are "grey areas", a bit subjective things. For example a photo showing woman's hand. Woman is wearing unique looking bracelet, and there's no model release. Some inspectors accept the image and some reject it, fearing that the uniqueness of the bracelet will make model recognizable, thus requiring the model release.

Naval vessels are especially difficult area. If the ship is the main subject of the photo, it will most likely get rejected by stock agencies due to property related problems. If the ship's on background, this also becomes gray-area real fast. Depending how the inspector views the photo, it might get either rejected or accepted.

Different sites have different policies, some require more technical precision than others. For photographer, this often means self-discipline, as rejections can't be avoided. Even most popular photographers get rejections sometimes. Just keep going and chances are that more and more of your photos get accepted.

Tripod Buying Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:48:00 +0000

I really recommend having a tripod in your arsenal. In almost all situations, it will make your shots look sharper.

There are plenty of tripods out there and the price range is quite large. There are some really high-end models that are made of carbon fiber and then some small and compact beginner models which are constructed from aluminum.

I've always been fan of Manfrotto's "reasonable cost" models with a fixed ball head.

The ball head is what it sounds, a ball joint between the fixing plate and the tripod, allowing you to tilt the camera in all axis and fix it in place with one single move. These are very popular. Medium cost models come with a fixed head, while more expensive models allow you to purchase head separately.

My tip would be to avoid the cheapest models, but not to go overboard. Most expensive models aren't going to make that much difference for average photographers. Stability is key factor.

If you shoot DSLR movie, it's good to choose a tripod without fixed head. This will allow you to use fluid heads for smooth movements.

There are also monopods, and these will come handy in shooting situations that do not allow tripods. I've seen people shooting with monopods in some shrines for example, which doesn't allow tripods because they would obstruct visitors. Some sports shooting situations also forbid tripods because such fixed camera installations would pose danger for sportsmen. Monopods are ideal choice for these situations.

Keeping Your DSLR Sensor Clean

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:53:00 +0000

I'd like to tell you what I have learned so far about dust and DSLRs.

Dust specs show up in digital photos usually in skies, when photos are shot with narrow apertures such as F11 or narrower. Usually small dust doesn't show up when shooting at wide apertures. In most cases dust specs can be easily cloned out in Photoshop. However, it's important to prevent dust entering your camera.

Professionals prefer to change lenses in dust free environments, and they make the change so that the hole in camera body is pointing downwards. Dust particles follow gravity and they move more likely down than up.

If you remove lens, immediately place body cap on your camera. Make sure also to keep rear cap attached when storing the lens.

It is best to change lenses in a place with as little ventilation as possible. Moving air moves dust particles, so windy weather is hardly ideal. Get inside car or shelter yourself from the wind before making the change.

If dust doesn't show on your photos, you're probably fine. If you constantly shoot landscapes with narrow apertures and notice dust specs on skies, it might be a problem that requires action.

Although most modern DLSR's have some kind of active dust reduction mechanism, it doesn't remove all dust. Big bulb blower without the brush tip is a tool of my choice. Choose one from the expensive side rather than the cheapest.

Set the camera into manual cleaning mode, and remove the lens, and make few blows with the blower. Make sure the tip of the blower never touches the sensor. I don't recommend to insert the tip past the shutter curtains. If somehow the shutter would close while cleaning and bulb blower's tip's blocking it, you'll probably end up with damaged shutter.

You can test the result by taking picture of a blue sky, or a white wall. Use narrow aperture, for example F11, or F22. If dust specs still exist, repeat the cleaning process.

There are also tools that allow you to wipe the sensor directly. Personally I feel it's a bit too risky. If bulb blower isn't enough, I recommend to take the camera to the manufacturer's official maintenance for cleaning.

Some cameras also have automatic dust spec removal function, which registers the sensor spots in photos and automatically removes them in post processing.

When we shoot long enough with DSLRs we get used to removing occasional dust specs in post processing. In most cases it isn't big problem. What you need to take are are the big spots when they appear. In film age, dust was actually much worse problem, because it couldn't be removed as easily as nowadays.

Ten Tips for Shooting Sharp

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:06:00 +0000

There is this special term used by photographers "tack sharp" which means something of an absolute sharpness, where things fall in place and photo turns out to be exactly sharp, when viewed at 100%. Here's my tips for getting as close as possible to this.

1. Mount the Camera
..on tripod, sandbag, your knee, whatever's available. Whenever possible, use tripod. Yes, even in broad daylight. Remember to turn off image stabilizer if your lens have one, when mounting the camera.

2. Use Shutter Release
Even when you mount the camera on tripod, when you press the shutter, there's chance that the camera will move just a bit. This "just a bit" can be enough to reduce sharpness in the photo. That's why it's recommended to use shutter release, wired or wireless, which will remove the mechanical impact of your finger, pressing the shutter.

3. Use Timer
If you don't have shutter release, timer will do the job for you. 2 seconds is good for this. Just make sure you remember to turn the timer off after shoot..

4. Find Sweet Spot of Your Glass
Every glass is different, and each has a certain aperture value which is sharper than others. In my Canon EF 28-135 USM it happens to be somewhere around F8.

5. Confirm Your Focus
It should go without saying, but sometimes autofocus doesn't operate perfectly. Focus manually if you have to. If AF keeps failing you in Canon's cameras, there's function called AF microadjust, which allows you to calibrate each glass separately.

6. Sharpen RAW in post
If you shoot RAW, the in-camera processing is bypassed and you get the RAW data as it is. Many professionals sharpen their RAW photos in post to find the best solution. Sharpening in post cannot make unsharp photo sharp, but can increase the appearance of sharpness in already sharp photo.

7. Handheld
If you shoot handheld, use image stabilizer, and shoot with shutter speed that's fast enough. If lighting doesn't allow it otherwise, increase the ISO. Take a deep breath, and hold your elbow to your chest. Press the shutter as gently as possible to keep the camera from moving when fired.

8. Mirror Lockup
This is the ultimate trick of those who are crazy about sharpness. Mirror lockup locks up the mirror of the DSLR. When camera takes picture, only shutter curtains move. Mirror, especially in full frame cameras, is quite heavy and can cause camera shake when moving up and down.

9. Use a camera without antialiasing filter
Most Canon DSLR's have antialiasing /low-pass filter mounted on top of the sensor. This is Canon's way of dealing with aliasing. The low-pass filter softens the image, thus reducing aliasing/moire, and by default, camera sharpens the photo digitally. But there are some cameras, such as Ricoh's certain models, which do not have antialiasing filter. Photos shot by these cameras appear often sharper.

10. Use Sharp Lens
Canon's L lenses are generally very sharp, especially at F4. We recommend using a high quality glass to get most out of the pictures. Cheaper alternative Canon EF 28-135 USM is also quite sharp lens. Find out which lens produces most sharp photos. Trial and error is often the best way.

Ten Tips for Getting Unique Shots

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:57:00 +0000

Here are some tips for taking unique looking photos. Consider these just as tips, not an in-depth guide.

1. Avoid eye-level

Often, simply moving camera lower than eye level makes difference. World starts to look different when you look at it from unusual angle. Shooting from the hip can also often make interesting photography. If your camera has Live View function, use it.

2. Slow shutter in Daylight

ND filters allow you use slow shutter speeds in daylight. It makes pretty interesting possibilities.. Anything moving becomes like a brush for you. If you're on budget, sunglasses and piece of gaffer's tape might work for you..

3. Home Made Filters

Try women's stockings, frozen glass, broken glass, scratched glass.. Sky's the limit!

4. Waiting for the shot

Some photographers believe that finding a potential location, going there and simply waiting for something interesting to happen is the way. Others believe vice versa; that those interesting things are waiting for the photographer.

5. Don't stop experimenting

Don't stop. Keep trying odd angles, places, compositions, cameras and filters. You'll never know what you'll find.

6. HDR is easier than you think

HDR allows entirely new range of possibilities for landscapes. Try it for artistic result.

7. Shoot People Without Flash

People are always interesting. Especially if you shoot them so that they don't notice you. It takes practice, but when you watch professional photographers at work, they always try to be as invisible as possible. Shooting without flash comes to play here. Shoot with wide apertures if you work in low light.

8. Lean against the hand without a hand

Someone once told me interesting way to take portraits of people. Ask them to sit down on table and lean against their hand. Then remove the hand. There you go.. Interesting pose. :)

9. Intentional Camera Motion Blur

If it's intentional, it might be interesting. Try moving the camera instead of panning when following moving targets. Such shots would be interesting for sure!

10. Get the Animal's Point of View

Imagine how animals view the world. Get into the bushes and go crazy! Beautiful, unique world awaits you! If there's animal, follow it, and let it show you it's world.

Extra: Take two instead of one

Nowadays there's simply no excuse not to take two pictures instead of one. Or ten. Chances are that one of them turns out to be your unique shot.

Canon RC-6 Infrared Remote

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:40:00 +0000

I like wired shutter release in many situations, but RC-6 is so compact that I always take it with me. Moreover the small pouch that attaches to the neck strap makes sure that it's always where my 5D Mark II is.

The remote is very small and super simple. There's just one button. Also, the design is quite nice. The button has some tactile feel to it, although little comparing to real camera shutter.

Moreover, since this is completely wireless solution, there's no physical link to the camera, which might reduce the possibility of camera shake.

There are some downsides, for instance, infrared receiver is on camera's front side (at least in 5D Mark II), meaning that you have to hold the remote in front of camera in order to shoot. Looks silly but works.

I recommend this small inexpensive gear to always have with you.

Review: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II (aka. Plastic Wonder)

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 09:47:00 +0000

I love my Canon EF 50mm 1.8. This lens is so good and cheap that there's no excuse not to have one. In fact, this is Canon's cheapest lens. I managed to break one of them and quickly replaced it. This will always be in my camerabag.

What makes this lens really special is however the wide aperture at 1.8. It's remarkable, considering the price. Whether you are using crop body or full frame, 1.8 aperture setting will give you a lot of options.

The lens is pretty sharp especially in cente. Due to only five-blade aperture, bokeh is so-so and you can actually see the polygon shaped highlights. There's some vignetting visible when mounted to full frame body, but that's expectable. I haven't been able to get almost any chromatic aberration with this lens. It could be that the revised edition (1.8 II) has some improved coating when comparing to the original.

The lens is encased in plastic, so don't expect it to be dust or shock proof. But it also makes it very light. The manual focus is just a very narrow ring in the front part, and it rotates while autofocusing, producing quite loud motor sound. Holding the focus ring still while autofocusing might break the motor. There's no stabilizer or USM. Those needing more rugged lens, can get the equivalent with USM motor.

Shooting wide open will allow plenty of bokeh to the image, and when coupled with extension tubes, this might actually act as a portrait lens. Photos taken by this lens have very shallow depth of field without the usual zoom compression. In some situations I find it more natural and in some situations, good for portraits as it is.

Very light and good traveling companion.

EF 28-135mm f 3.5-5.6 IS Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Introduction

Canon's EF 28-135mm f 3.5-5.6 IS is still one of the most popular lenses out there using Canon's original EF mount. This lens used to be featured as a kit lens for 5D and is still a popular choice for Canon full-frame body owners.

I have used this lens for a year now with my 5D Mark II. I have been shooting both stills and movies with this.

Operation and Feel

Although the mount ring is metal, this is still a plastic lens. There's some play in the extending lens barrel and construction is very light when comparing to L-glass. Zooming is quite smooth, but zoom creep is a reality and might become real problem in some studio shooting situations when camera is pointed downwards. Also this lens is not weather or dust proof. Although I haven't taken this lens into any really dusty conditions, I seem to have gotten some dust specs inside the lens. They are small enough not to be visible in pictures, but this might become problem at some point if lens is exposed to dusty environment.

The lens has image stabilization, full-time-manual focus ring, and USM autofocus, which in Canon's terms means ultrasonic motor and focus distance window with infrared scale (legacy from the film era).

The lens Image Stablizator doesn't recognize if the camera is mounted on tripod. So user has to manually remember to disable it, or the lens starts to produce strange shake. This has something to do with a kind of "stabilization loop", when stabilizator tries to stabilize the lens when it's fixed solid to the tripod. I found the effect problematic when shooting movies (and often I taped the IS switch to permanently off when shooting with tripod) IS does indeed some real wonders when shooting movies with 5D Mark II, resulting very good stabilization.

Image Quality

In my tests, I find the image quality to be very good. Photos are pretty sharp from edge to edge. When viewing photos taken with 5D Mark II in 100% I am seeing plenty of fine detail, regardless of what aperture size I shot the photos.

When used with full frame body, there's some vignetting when shooting wide open. But when stopped down, the effect reduces significantly. I haven't been able to get any chromatic aberration to my pictures with this lens even when shooting crazy high-contrast silhouettes. Lens flare is surprisingly well controlled.

The aperture is 6-blade, which means that bokeh is pretty okay, although nothing as smooth as Leica's. When shooting in the zoom end, 135mm is going to give you pretty shallow depth of field, and pretty much zoom compression as well. This lens can be easily used for portrait photography, for example, and when coupled with teleconverters, can actually reach pretty far. Barrel distortion is reality with this lens in wide angle end, but that's hardly a surprise.

The colors are very accurate (very Canon-like) and I find no similar color problems as I got with Tamron lenses.

I found overall image quality to be very good with this lens in both movies and still images.

Uses

This lens has variety of uses. Portrait photography is one that comes to my mind, as well as landscape photography. 28-135mm gives you plenty of options, even though 28 isn't very wide, especially when mounted to non-fullframe bodies, but on the other hand 135mm will get you pretty close to even distant targets (especially when mounted to non-fullframe body)

The lens is also very light and relatively small to carry. Perhaps this could be a good backup lens for a main L-lens, it's quality being good enough for even more serious work. The biggest limitation of the lens is the widest aperture, being only 3.5, which isn't going to stop any serious motion in low light.

Conclusion

For those with limited budget or hesitating to shell money for L-lens, this lens is very good, although this could be considered to be something of "aging technology". I recommend this lens especially if you have full-frame body.

Review: Digital Photography Books (vol 1, 2, 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:34:00 +0000

Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Books are a great read. I bought the books as a set containing all three volumes. These are not especially thick books (around 200+ pages) but are well worth of the money, especially when bought as the three-volume set. Books have some full page sized photos with shutter speeds and settings, and also "recipes" for getting certain types of shots.

Volume 1 covers things like shooting tack sharp photos, wedding photography and printing, while second volume describes building photo studios and using flashes. Volume 3 takes it all into next level, showing you how to use studio, advanced camera gear and flashes.

Kelby's writing is very easy to understand even for beginners. His step-by-step advices are very useful and always right on the spot, although I wish he would have elaborated some things a bit more, things such as framing.

For example, he mentions in the book the fact that most amateur portraits have too much space above the subject's head, which is true, but the book doesn't go much more far than this. But then again as introduction segment mentions, these books are designed to "show you how to take better photos" without getting into the theory of photography too much. "Just go out with your camera and take the photos" and the books will show you how.

I recommend these books for anyone interested in digital photography.

Shaking World

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:27:00 +0000

It was perfectly normal Friday. My wife had left to work early. I had taken out carbage, made myself another cup of coffee. It was sunny and warm, a perfect day for picnic, family trip, or a visit in aquarium. It was truly a Friday without a trouble in sight.
I was working with a 3D model on a computer the moment it started to shake. The shaking started mildly and then the intensity of the shake went up rapidly. Few books fell from the shelf. It was hard to stand. I turned on the TV, which showed a constant warning of tsunami. Announcer's voice had a tension which I had never heard before. When aftershock came, I went to kitchen and hugged the shelf to keep it from falling.
I tried to call my wife, but mobiles were out. I understood from the shaking alone that this is probably something what's going to be in news in Finland. Luckily the internet line was still working, so I was able to call my family. Father had just woken up. "I'm fine, so don't worry about me when this gets to news", I said.
I was able to call my in-laws who live in Ise. My brother-in law answered the phone as they were just evacuating. He was out of breath and said with a hurry "take care". (Mie-prefecture had no damage from quake or tsunami, the evacuation was only a precaution.)
Few neighbors were chatting outside my house. They were pretty calm. Elderly man with a small dog worried about nuclear plant. Another neighbor took his bicycle and went to grocery shopping. Wires were still swaying between the poles as the shaking continued.
When I returned inside, TV was showing a black wave approaching residential area. It took everything with it. Houses, cars. Then the wave hit airport. At some point the wave of unrecognizable debris caught fire. There were airplanes floating. Oil refinery was in flames.
I wasn't able to reach my wife. Mobile phone was still out, although internet still worked. I told myself "I'm sure she's fine". Elementary schools are built sturdily for earthquakes. But that time, a creeping voice came to me. Even school buildings are only structures.
At some point, I turned off the TV and told myself to calm down. I went to convenience store and bought some instant foods, rice (the one in microwave packages) and a bottle of wine. I thought it's better to prepare just in case it gets worse. I filled bath tub with water.
The creeping voice was back. I thought to call her school by using Skype. But I thought teachers were probably scrambling to get in contact with their families.
A message came from her. It was a single word in Japanese, "Are you ok?". I sighed in relief.
It was clear to me that she's probably going to be late. Trains didn't move. I thought I'll continue work with the 3D model, but my concentration was shot to hell. My mind went blank. I decided to open the wine.
Outside was quiet. Neighbor's dog didn't bark at all. Aftershocks kept coming as I drunk the wine alone, watching the black wave in TV. The picture didn't register in my brain.
In my dream my wife returned, and she said it was difficult to get taxi and she was laughing and telling her eccentric jokes as usual. There was no reason to worry in my dream. It was just fine.
When I woke up, the darkness in my house seemed ominous. There was no sign of her. Skype started ringing in my Macbook. It was from Finland. My drunk words probably didn't make much sense for my family. At 1AM, my wife returned.

Why I am fan of @edogawakaho

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:24:00 +0000

I recently bumped into very interesting LOMO style photography in Instagram. These days I rarely find photography that really moves me. I've been spending some time checking out Instagram photos these days. Genuineness and originality are hard to find, especially nowadays when everyone has a camera in their phone.

The spirit of her photos moved me from first moment. The minimalism and lomography in it.

I like most the photo what appears to be the artist's self portrait, where she covers here eyes with her hand. There is something magical about the rhythm of this photo, maybe it's the pose or framing, but it just works. There is also some pop art shots which are very cool. Or the leaf thing under her glasses. Eye-catching! Or the yellow earphones/mirror shot.

Her photos are cheerful and funny, without being too cute. I can feel photographer's cheerful joy of photography.

She is pretty distant and objective, which is perhaps her conscious choice. Someday I'd like to see her portraits of people and more subjective viewpoint. More personal emotion. I think she could make it interesting. And even if she decides to keep her current style and subjects, I hope she will keep discovering new points of view.

Back to the Shore (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 02:45:00 +0000

New Music Website

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:35:00 +0000

I have started new website about my music.
check it out here: http://www.jaakon.com

New VFX Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:09:00 +0000

This is my VFX related blog. I will write 3D, CG CFX stuff here:
http://vfxjaakko.blogspot.com

Fresh Produce 2010 Footage

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:17:00 +0000

My Fresh Produce 2010 Footage Reel

Nissan vs Sony

noreply@blogger.com (Jaakko) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:52:00 +0000

Here's the original Sony Bravia bouncing balls TV ad. Loving the Jose Gonzalez "Heartbeats".

Here is another interesting version with bowling balls! Funny