Photographer Nathaniel Johnston brought us along on a portrait photoshoot! We picked up some great basic pointers while watching him work!

Give your subject direction to try different moods and expressions. Someone might feel more comfortable with one emotion than another. Keep shooting as the person changes, because often times a genuine smile will come when the person laughs at themselves for making different faces.

To get the stereotypical headshot, keep your subject at an angle. Start by positioning their feet at a diagonal to you, and the rest of the body will follow. Let them turn their face to you while their chest stays at the angle.

Let the subject interact with the environment. The background can be more than just an aesthetically pleasing blur. Let your model sit, lean, climb, jump, and get inspiration from the surroundings.

Try shooting landscape style. Most portraits are taken vertically, but explore turning your camera on its side, as well as different angles and distances from your subject.

Get a good portrait lens. The 80-105mm range is perfect, but the 70-135mm range will work as well. Smaller than 75mm puts you at risk of distorting your subject’s features, whereas longer than 135 and you risk flattening the subject. For this shoot, Nathaniel used a 85mm F/1.2 Canon lens, which enabled a beautifully blended background and helped to make Deb, our model, really pop out with full features.

Ladies and Gentlemen the 70D has taken DSLR shooting and film making to a whole new level. Videographers get excited because Canon is upping the bar in your favor!

The Canon EOS 70D is the world’s first DSLR to feature dual pixel AF technology. The autofocus in live view mode, and when shooting full (1920 x 1080p) HD video, is faster, smoother, and more accurate! But what does Dual Pixel Technology really mean?

On the 70D’s CMOS sensor, each effective pixel can put out two signals at the same time, one for imaging autofocus and one for phase detection autofocus. This makes it’s AF reportedly 30% faster, and since the liveview will be smoother as well, you will be free to concentrate on other aspects of your photos and videos like composition and modeling/acting. We found Canon Australia’s video (below) to be an amazing example of the 70D’s abilities. The first three minutes will make your mouth water for the delicious pizza and crystal clear action of dough being thrown. Then, at 3:00, it doubles back and breaks down the autofocus, aperture and ISO settings for each scene, along with the various lenses used. Enjoy!

Here are some other features of the Canon 70D:

The 70D includes Wi-Fi and NFC (near field communication) sharing, what does that mean? You can conveniently upload or share your images wirelessly to the internet, and applicable printers and cell phones.

Through its 14-bit DIGIC 5 processor and 19-point AF System, the 70D can capture up to 7fps and in any burst mode can take up to 65 JPEG or 16 RAW images.

With the ISO range of 100-12800 it should be good for low-light situations, Although one minor setback when shooting in low light is that the 70D doesn’t have built in Image Stabilization. This means there is a chance of blurry images, so you should bring a tripod with you when shooting at night!

With the LCD’s 1,040k resolution and 0.95x magnification, you can comfortably see what you’re doing on the 3inch varied angle touchscreen. It also has a higher megapixel count on it APS-C size sensor, lifting it up to 20.2megapixels.

The Canon EOS 7D is a definite improvement from the already good 60D.  Coming in the $1,000-$1,500 range, the 70D looks like it will be an affordable alternative to DSLR’s used for professional videography, like Canon’s 5D Mark III. Who knows, with the new AF system it might even surpass it!

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Fireworks usually conjure up images of festivities and celebrations; they are a means of expressing joy in some of the most profound occasions. With the Fourth of July being right around the corner, Focus Camera gives you a few helpful tips on capturing the moment.

Turn off your flash, leaving your flash on will trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Set your camera mode to manual this allows you to control the exposure and aperture yourself. Set your aperture to F8 and if you are close to the action use a smaller aperture of F16-F22. Remember your camera’s flash will only reach a few meters, when shooting fireworks they will make your images appear overexposed.

Use a Tripod The most useful camera related tool to bring along would be a Tripod; the right tripod to carry along will depend on the size and weight of your camera. A tripod will not only keep your camera still but will also help you capture shots from a distance because you will be using longer shutter speeds. Focus Camera carries a wide selection of tripods; the Manfrotto tripods are premium quality tripods that can help you capture steady shots.
 Be prepared; bring extra batteries and memory cards along with you. A back up battery will help you in case your primary battery gives out. Memory cards are also important to consider, some cards enable faster write speeds which decreases the pressure on your camera processor, a large memory card will help you when taking many photos.

Frame your shot. In order to get the best shot you have to aim your camera before the fireworks go off. Try including background landmarks, buildings, people or cityscapes in order for your images to have a sense of scale.

Last but not least, remember to scout the location in advance, crowds might gather around the area, in order to ensure that nothing impedes your photography arrive early. Take note of where the fireworks are being set up and which part of the sky will they will illuminate. Once the fireworks start and you begin taking photos, check one or two images to test their quality.

Try varying your shots if you are aiming for a tight shot you would want to use a zoom lens at least 200mm. If there is a need you can also stand above the crowds and take shots but the most important thing is to be safe, keep a good distance from the fireworks displays don’t get too close, after all your best shots will be ones taken from a distance!

Last week we went up to Central Park to film a review for the Nikon D600. As we were crossing the street, an outgoing and energetic young man jumped into Nathaniel’s frame and posed for a photo! It was a long and tiring shoot, and this fellow really made our day! Unfortunately we were slow-witted and did not think to give him a Focus Camera card, but if he sees this, he can contact us and us we will give him a $25 Focus Camera gift card! Thank you Focus Camera Fan!

By Kayla Sargent and Alisun Dellimore

The Canon SX50, Nikon P520, and Sony HX300 are high end DSLR’s that boast large optical zoom lenses. We decided to run them against each other in an epic “zoom off” at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. Read our thoughts on each camera below, and look at the photos and video we took to decide which zoom is the best for you!

First off, The Canon SX50!

The Canon Sx50 was really fun to use. The auto focus was fast and accurate, even when extended to its full 50x zoom.  A major pitfall for many cameras is that their auto focus ceases to work as the camera zooms in closer. As you can see from the photos of the peacock, not only is the Sx50 focused, but also keeps a lot of definition and detail. It’s  ISO of up to 6,400 probably helps out with the focusing, as well as taking great quality photos in low light. The video is 1080 full HD, and though we were standing in the back of the room we could capture details on the baboon’s hands and fur. At the end of the video we put in a sample of the photos taken using the burst shooting mode (13 fps). Overall, big thumbs up for the SX50!

Next up, The Nikon P520!

The Nikon P520 was sleek and light and its 3.2 inch high resolution LCD screen which flips out and rotates made it really easy to take pictures and see exactly what we were capturing. It had a harder time focusing, especially in low light due to its ISO of 3,200, but with a lot of natural light, like the photos of the kissing prairie dogs or video (1080HD) of the otter, it performed wonderfully, albeit a little slowly. Though we were not impressed by the P520 overall, we still got some beautiful photos and video, and given more time and instruction to play around with the settings, we think the ease of shooting could be brought up to match its ergonomic design.

And last but not least, the Sony HX300!

The HX300 was also very easy and fun to use.  With a maximum ISO of 12,800 and aperture that goes to f/2.8, it can focus easily in dim situations. The HX300 has a comparable zoom capability to the Sx50. As you look at the photos and video of the baboons and sea lions, you can see that it keeps focus and definition even when maxed out at 50x. It can snap up to 10 fps in burst shooting mode, but it needs about thirty seconds to process them.  So, if you push the button too early you could end up watching the bulk of the action as the camera processes the mistimed photos you just took.  The HX300 also has the ability to take a 30 second exposure, and it has in-camera HDR capability, both of which open a lot of doors for creativity. Overall we were really impressed by the quality of the HX300 and would definitely take it on another zoo (or actual wildlife) adventure.

Note:

1. We did not use a tripod for any of the photos or videos in this post. A tripod would surely increase the quality and focus of each of these cameras. However, not wanting to get in the way of zoo patrons and hordes of excited school groups, we left our sticks at the office.

2. All cameras are on auto settings unless otherwise noted.

3. We used only the optical zoom on the cameras, no digital zoom. Optical zoom is when the lens physically extends to get a closer picture, while digital zoom is simply cropping and enlarging a portion of the photo in order to get closer, and decreases the overall quality of the picture.

Last Friday, we took a trip to Pacific Aquarium and Pet INC where Chi, Anita, and Derek helped us test our latest waterproof cameras, the Olympus TG-2, TG-830, TG-630, and TF-1! They led us past tank after tank, (a tiny seahorse, two electric blue jellyfish, more kinds of goldfish than we knew existed, the mystical axolotl) and we had still only seen half of their aquarium. After being warned away from a couple of large spotted fish that might bite, we settled on a pond full of friendly Koi to start diving in. Below are our video clips from the Olympus TG-2, TG-830, TG-630, and Sony TF-1 along with our reviews of each camera.

The Olympus TG-2

The Olympus TG-2 has beautiful picture quality, which made it really fun to film with. We left it on the bottom of the tank, and when the Koi swam up to investigate, it focused clearly and immediately. What really surprised us was the vibrant and clear colors in the video. How does the TG-2 get such vibrant colors? Its aperture can go as wide as F2, which means it can let in more light. Water makes light act a bit funky, so it is hard for underwater cameras to reproduce color, expose properly, and focus. It is often recommended to use a flash at all times and have the subject of the photo no more than three feet away. On top of it’s great picture quality, it was easy and fun to use, and collected great video with nice bubbly audio. It was our favorite camera of the four, however it also has the largest price tag, coming in at $350-$400.

The Olympus TG-830

As you can see, the TG-830 also has beautiful quality footage and great auto focus, even in the tanks with less light. It has a 16 Megapixel CMOS sensor which enhances its picture quality, and will enable you to zoom and crop without losing detail as you edit your photos. It felt very sturdy, and like the TG-2 it has locking ports for extra protection. Without having to compromise much on quality, the TG-830 is available in the $200-$250 range.

The Olympus TG-630

The TG-630 has a 12 megapixel sensor, and even at a lower price range ($150-$200) it can still capture 1080HD video. It stayed focused as we tested the 5x optical zoom in the dimly lit Koi pond, which was impressive. It also has double locking ports, so you can be secure that there won’t be accidental flooding underwater. You can buy the TG-630, and then use your savings to have a fabulous trip to the beach!

The Sony TF-1

The Sony TF-1 is the smallest and most affordable of these underwater cameras. Out of the four, the TF-1 is the only one that would fit comfortably in a pocket. The TF-1 captures 720HD video. Though it had trouble focusing on the fast moving Koi, it was much more accurate in the calmer Axolotl (black salamanders with headdresses on) tank. At around $160, you can get the TF-1 with the same quality on land as any other point and shoot, AND be able to take it into the water. The lock on the port did feel less secure than on the TG series, but we did not have any trouble as we dunked it in multiple tanks.

Overall

All four cameras were easy and fun to shoot with, but the TG-2 definitely came out on top with its quality of color and focus, while the TG-830 was a close second. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t stretch your budget! As you can see, the TG-630 and TF-1 still captured awesome video, and you can increase underwater photo quality by using the flash, and getting closer to your subject!

A HUGE thank you to Chi, Anita, Derek, and Pacific Aquarium Inc! We recommend them highly for all your aquarium needs and questions!
 www.pacificnyc.com           212-995-5895

Seth Casteel took extraordinary photos of ordinary dogs by choosing to take them under water. In an interview with Writer’s DIgest he said: “At a routine on-land photo shoot, a little dog named Buster the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel decided he would rather be in the pool. Watching him jump in again and again, I wondered, “What does he look like under there?” I’m interested in the emotion of dogs, and as it turns out, the water is a great way for dogs to express themselves.”

As you take photos, let your curiosity lead you, and find the answers to your questions with your camera!

If your questions take you underwater, check out some safe waterproof camera cases that will enable you to take the camera you own underwater. If you are in the market for a new Camera, there are a lot of rugged waterproof (not to mention drop/dirt/dust/shock proof) digital cameras on the market. Olympus just released the TG 2, and TG 630, while Sony released the TF 1. All are durable cameras that you can feel comfortable using in adventurous situations.

If you have any photos that turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, submit them to our weekly photo contest by posting them to our Facebook wall for your chance to win a $10 Focus Camera Gift Card!