Urbanization

 Credits

Model : Nadine

Assistant : Mahira

I went through my archive and decided that I wanted to dig up some photos from a shoot done about three years ago. It gave me a chance to go through photos that I may have missed out and give them the look that I actually wanted to at the time but did not know how. I shot these with my old faithful Canon EOS 1000D with the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens. Lighting was done with a lot of help from Mahira holding up a reflector. The shots remind me of how extremely hot the location was. Credits to Nadine for not even complaining about it as much as we were. Lol.

Try to get the best out of your equipment; be it a cheap or expensive camera by learning its functions in depth. Once you know what you're doing, you can concentrate all your efforts on making great pictures. I have always considered technique and execution to play an important role in photography. It ties the other important factors like lighting, subject, and background of a photograph together.

No amount of editing in Photoshop can turn a badly taken photo into something even worthy of a professional standard. It is important to put more effort into getting everything right straight out of the camera first, and then use Photoshop to complete the look of the image if you must. I tend to envision my edits even before the shoot. Editing is part of the creative process, it depends on what the photographer wants to achieve.

Canon EOS 6D

This is the Canon EOS 6D which I purchased recently. As some of you may know, I have been surviving with an EOS 1000D for several years now and a replacement was necessary. Now I don't want to get into too much technical details about camera specs as it has been covered in an extensively detailed review by Bryan at The Digital Picture. 

The following is a list of key features as seen at The Digital Picture. 

• Full-frame 20.2 Megapixel sensor 
• Tough, lightweight construction 
• Max ISO 25600 (expandable to ISO 102400) 
• 11-point AF sensitive down to -3 EV 
• GPS records your location 
• Wi-Fi file transfer/remote control 
• Full-HD video

 The rear layout of the camera closely resembles the design of the Canon EOS 60D

Of course when switching over to a different button layout, you tend to hit buttons wrongly due to muscle memory from previous body designs. The 6D utilizes a different image zooming method when reviewing photos on the LCD than on the 1000D which kept me hitting the top right buttons on the first couple of days but I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I got accustomed to the new method afterwards.

A new feature which I feel is very useful is the ability to connect to the camera via WiFi from a smartphone or by wirelessly tethering to a laptop on a WiFi network which provides options to download images directly or remotely triggering the camera shutter. I haven't tried the GPS feature yet so I cant say much about it for now.

Side view of the camera and lens

EF 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM with an EW-83J lens hood attached

I purchased the 6D as a kit with the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens. As you can see in the photo above, I use the lens with a third party EW-83J lens hood that I had been using with my EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens. Of course the 24-105 does come with the smaller EW-83H hood but I prefer using the larger EW-83J on it. You might wonder if using a larger hood for this lens on a full frame body causes vignetting on images but even if it does, it probably only has minimal impact. View the image comparison below.

24mm 1/1250 f/4 ISO 100

The 6D produces excellent image quality. High ISO performance is brilliant up to ISO 6400. Higher ISO settings are best kept for emergencies. Of course, moving up from an APS-C sensor, the difference in Image quality and ISO performance was an eye opener. I knew it was going to be great but it didn't truly sink in till I saw it.

In terms of AF performance, The center AF point is outstanding in low light, being able to lock focus in very dark situations equivalent to -3 EV. This is a plus as I cover events and weddings which mostly takes place in dimly lit venues. The outer AF points don't perform as well as the center, but I do not need to utilize them as much anyway.

The following are a few image samples from the 6D;

105mm 1/60 f/4 ISO 500

105mm 1/125 f/4 ISO 1000

85mm 1/60 f/4 ISO 1000

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Wedding : Randy & Debra

Congratulations Randy & Debra!

Wedding : Malie & Nadia

Congratulations to Malie & Nadia! 

These are some pre-wedding photos from a recent wedding assignment with Mahira and Ikhwan, shot at Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, Likas. I would like to announce our group name, The Scene Republic, the logo and watermark is currently in the works.