I haven’t purchased a digital SLR since my 20D in early 2006. This past Saturday I made the 30 minute trip to Harlingen to pick up the only Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) in the area. I’m going to shoot my next short film with it. It’s awesome. Check out this video clip I shot with it this morning:

Not much to tell. A little silver/gold reflector to the side to fill in the shadows and give the shot a little punch. The rest is straight up Sol. Taken with my five (or six) year old camera on South Padre Island, TX this past Saturday for an online mens magazine.

I was hired to shoot photos of two models looking to expand their promotional portfolio. I used almost my whole apartment for the shoot. Pictured above is Angelica against my living room sofa.

Introducing my next camera. The 7D is pretty much what I’ve been looking for: an upgrade from my 20D with a 100% viewfinder, larger Polaroid, 1080/24P capability with full manual control and be less expensive than the 5D Mark II. The 7D has an APS-C sensor, but I’ve been used to them since the 300D. Check out the previews at photo.net, dpreview.com and the 7D’s official Canon page here. My 20D is pretty old now (but working great) and I’ll finally be able to let it slip into quasi-retirement as the secondary camera body. The Canon EOS 7D is released at the end of this month.

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 17 September 2008: Canon announces the full frame, 21.1 Megapixel EOS 5D Mark II: the first EOS with full High Definition video capability.

I’ve been holding out on an upgrade to my four year old Canon EOS 20D this year in calculated anticipation of the 5D Mark II. I knew that if a new iteration of the 5D wasn’t released I would upgrade to the Mark I because full frame for me is where it’s at. That’s why I bought an old film camera recently: for the joy of shooting full frame which is how I shot for the first six years of my SLR journey. And when I put that $60 worth of old eBayed Canon AT-1 film camera to my eye with a 50mm lens I remembered why that glass was often called “normal”.

I want that feeling again. I want my 50mm at 50mm, not 80-something. I want full frame but I’m patient enough to wait. And now that Canon has announced the 5D Mark II with a list price of $2600 and a release date of late November, I think my patience has paid off somewhat. Good things come to those who wait, you know.

In 1994 I was introduced to 35mm single lens reflex cameras with the Pentax K-1000, an inexpensive amateur device that required no batteries unless you wanted to take advantage of the exposure meter in the viewfinder. The K-1000 was assigned to me in journalism class during my sophomore year in high school. Before then I had used a little plastic point and shoot 110 film camera whose brand and designation I can no longer recall. It may have been a Kodak 104 Instamatic, but I’m not too sure about that. Regardless, I had never used an SLR until high school and the little bugger changed my life.

The next year, I was asked to take over the photography department while the journalism supervisor dealt with the reporters. I was then responsible for teaching use of the cameras, dark room technique and basic photography etiquette to my peers and upperclassmen students alike. And I was good at it. The kids learned a lot and their photographs got better as the semester trolled along.

My senior year, the school upgraded to Canon EOS Rebels. Gone were the days of K-mount fully manual, heavy metal cameras. Now, you could have a fully automatic experience with little photographic insight in a plastic, lightweight camera with an on board flash. These new auto focus cameras needed batteries and the consumer-class zoom kit lenses weren’t as sharp, fast or precise as the Pentax’s 50mm primes, but the Rebel did auto forward the film.

After graduation, I signed up for a Discover Card on my way out of an English class my first semester of college. One of the first things I ever purchased on a credit card was a Canon Rebel XS-II kit along with a Canon case from Best Buy. The setup worked fine for several years until one day the curtain stopped working. I never sent it in for repair and because of my hectic work schedule, I silently walked away from photography.

In 2002, after shooting some short films and getting my schedule in order, I decided to pick up a Canon PowerShot G3. I figured digital was the way to go for an uninterested consumer like myself and that’s because years ago I swore that I’d never go digital anyway. But that was also when I swore I’d never leave photography.

The G3 worked great as I started to feel the pull back to photography. In 2003, I figured I would stay digital and move up toward the SLRs again: this time I got the Canon 300D Digital Rebel. The Rebel worked great until I dropped it after one of my first model shoots (in fact, I think it was my second model shoot ever) in 2004. The damage to my Rebel was an excuse to upgrade to the Canon EOS 20D which I still use in 2008.

I have no idea how many shutter cycles I’ve actuated on my 20D. Considering it’s four years old, it may have something around 40,000 cycles on it. Regardless, it’s a great little camera and I love it to death. Even when I upgrade to the 5D or 5D Mark II in the fall I’ll still keep my little 20D around as a backup body. In fact, the 20D has been so good to me, I haven’t been concerned with camera bodies at all for years, focusing instead on purchasing awesome Canon L lenses. Because remember: a camera body is just a light-tight box with a hole in it. Image quality and control is all about the glass in front of the body.

This year, however, I’ve decided to apply what I’ve learned about photography back into 35mm film. One of those “if only I knew then what I know now” paradoxes. Except this time, I’m going completely old school and am currently bidding on Canon FD-mount manual cameras and lenses on ebay. If all goes well, I should have two Canon AT-1 bodies and two fast Canon FD prime lenses, a Vivitar flash and some JC Penney 80-200mm zoom…all for about $120 after shipping.

Then I’m going to pick up all this unused Kodak T-Max 400 film (I somehow forgot to give back to the school in 1997) and some newer consumer snapshot film and…see what develops. It also helps that I now own a Sekonic light meter which will definitely come in handy.

So, that’s a little history of my photographic journey. I can’t wait to see what happens and share it with you. But right now, I have to get ready for another model shoot. Cheers!

I got a new toy today: the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS. I got it as a replacement to my SD1000 which got ruined at a pool party some months back. Anyway, I got the bug and I got it because, again, I can’t take my SLR everywhere. It’s interesting to note that out of all the big, expensive Digital SLR, 35mm SLR, medium format and specialty equipment I own, that this little pocket camera is the only gear that features Image Stabilization. Hmm. So I played with the 1100 a bit just now before I went to bed and I must say I like it just fine. Night!

Ana likes when I’m mean. Being a girl, she frequently fishes for compliments from other human beings with statements like "I feel fat", etc. Not one to fall for such obvious bait I agreed with her, prompting the above response and a few giggles.

I shoot digital, so having a light meter isn’t really all that necessary since I can just pop a few test shots and eyeball the exposure off the polaroid back. Of course the results are absolutely hit-and-miss. So I’ve decided to become properly scientific and get a damn light meter.

The Sekonic L-358 Flash Master is perfect for what I want since it is relatively inexpensive, durable, fires my PocketWizard-ed lights wirelessly (with the optional trigger), is easy to use, has tons of functionality and even meters for video, which I also use. Now I’m nailing every exposure. And I can really see the difference when the workflow moves into Photoshop.

Behind my new tool is a blue/gray sheet of 10×24 foot muslin from Adorama Belle Drape held up by a Photoflex ProDuty backdrop support system. All of these tools I purchased with my government-issued economic stimulus check. Thanks, IRS!

I finished up an impromptu probono photoshoot with Regina this evening. I missed Battlestar Galactica, however I’m catching the repeat right now with a Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready pizza and some Landshark beer. I just saw Adama and Tigh beat the living shit out of each other…which was cool…and I’m glowing over the first-time use of my new gear: a new Photoflex ProDuty backdrop system and a Sekonic L-358 light meter. Everything worked great and I’m greatly anticipating going over the photos tomorrow before I run off to shoot some more Edinburg Landsharks football. Speaking of Landsharks: ssssip!