Canon ID Mark IV

OK, I admit it.  I love technology.  I love the latest and greatest.  I always thought that Canon's 1-series cameras were going to be just out of reach for me.  Then, a stroke of luck, some extra cash, a quick sale of an almost new 7D and here I sit with a new Canon 1D Mark IV.  I feel extremely fortunate.  It's only been a couple of days with this new state of the art machine but there's so much to love about it already:

• The new 45 point auto focus system is great.  No hunting in low light (like my 5D Mark II often does)
• High ISO shots are fabulous.  I've shot at ISO 8000 which cleans up nicely with even the default settings in Noiseware Professional noise reduction software
• The noise pattern itself is more pleasing (to me) as compared to the Canon 7D
• I think I like the 1.3 crop factor better than the 1.6 but I still like full frame (5D Mark II).
• The feature set like spot metering on the AF point
• The new AI Servo for action shots

There's much more that I have only read about but not explored.  But at the end of the day, the camera has to take good photographs regardless of all the features.  The image in this post was taken during a recent trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL (think warm).  It was taken at ISO 6400, handheld and processed with noise reduction software.  The glow in the foreground is due to the street lights on the main draft in Ft. Lauderdale Beach.

Making Waves

I just published my Making Waves series to my website.  I like this series as it reminds me of warmer weather and the peace of being out on the lake early in the morning or at sunset.  The series captures the gentle ripples of boat trails creating a pattern of colored light depending on the surroundings.  Green for trees, blue for skies and many colors of sunrise and sunset.

Check it out at http://www.rjiphotography.com


Making Waves - Images by Bob Israel

Infrared & Color

I've always been fascinated with Infrared (IR) photography. I converted an old Canon 20D to shoot only IR. The conversion was done at Lifepixel.com. Mostly, I dabbled with black and white conversions but this week, I decided to try color IR. While I used a custom white balance to take this shot (focusing on green grass), I found that by cranking up the vibrance and bumping the saturation in Lightroom, I could achieve the colors you see in this image. I'm pretty happy with my first colored IR image.