Film Noir Nostalgia Series, Old Cars

I took all these shots at the Okotoks Kinsmnen Show'n'Shine, it was done in the Olde Town a very charming venue for this kind of event, the old architecture gave a great backdrop to shoot old cars.

It’s not easy to get the shot during an event, dealing with the crowed, the space, all the signage, advertising, vendors, name it, need to be persistent and wait for the perfect timing.

I always bring my tripod, wait to get the point of view I am looking for, set my camera, sit and wait for the perfect moment. I always bracket my shot in an event like that, you may have only one chance to catch that moment and you want to make sure you got the perfect exposure, not only that you can also use some of the shots for HDR later on, HDR and old cars are a great mix.

Early morning Olde Town Okotoks doing my spotting walk, before the cars and crowed arrived,Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f4, 1/60sec, ISO 200

All the shots were done using my Canon 5D Markii, and most of the time my Canon 24-105, on a tripod when possible, I like to use the 24-105 for event, great range, and great image quality, during this shooting I also used my Canon 70-200 and Canon 16-35.

For this post, I used only black and white in Film Noir, Film Noir in French for Black Film, first applied to Hollywood film in 1946 it was great for melodrama, way before that Film noir was associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style .... of the 1910s and 1920s that involve theater, photography, painting, sculpture.

Using HDR and Film Noir a great mix, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f4, 1/42sec, ISO 200

For me Film Noir is a way to add a bit of drama, and nostalgia to my story teller project.

When I photography car, I always try to get at least one side and and angle of the front or tailfin of it, but sometimes the lack of space render this practice impossible especially in event, to face that situation I try to get a good angle with great details and info about the make.

In a perfect shot adding old buildings in the background to add to the story is great, I had the chance to get few shots like this during this event, but I never expect to get this kind of opportunity during event, I don't want to end up very frustrated, when it happens it’s a bonus.

Having the chance to shoot the building as a backdrop Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 32mm, f7, 1/128sec, ISO 200

Great point of view, HDR and Film Noir combination, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 40mm, f7, 1/198sec, ISO 200

All post production were done using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, preset Film Noir 1, I change the grain per pixel for 250 to 350, the preset comes with 92 that is too low for my taste, I also in some case change the border or took it out, same thing for the burn edges, what is interesting with Nik Silver Efex is that you can control every details of the preset, same for all black and white plug ins programs like onOne, Alien, and Topaz.

No tripod space, sitting on the side of the sidewalk in between cars, angle front and side view, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 40mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

This is one of my favorite, angle front mid side shot, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f7, 1/125ec, ISO 200

Angle front and full side shot, HDR and Film Noir combination, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 23mm, f2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 200

When there is no space at all, angle mid front and side front whell, Canon 5D Markii, Canon70-200 at 170mm, f6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 200

Another squeeze situation, angle mid front, full side, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 35mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

 Don't stop at the front only, some have beautiful tailfin design, like this one, angle 3/4 back and full side shot, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 35mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

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Cumulus Congestus Cloud Over Okotoks

Cumulus Congestus very impressive, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 35mm, f13, 1/200sec, ISO 200

I remember that day, driving back from the grocery store, couldn’t wait to get my equipment to shoot this amazing cloud, a rare occurrence in Okotoks. This kind of cloud appears when the atmospheric conditions are ‘unstable’. This means that the way the air temperature changes with altitude tends to encourage the rising column of warm, moist air at the centre of the cloud to keep lifting higher and higher.  This kind of cloud produced heavy rain, I had to act fast, time was the essence and I had get the shot before the wind and rain started.

Cumulus Congestus very impressive, Black and White using onOne perfect BW, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 35mm, f13, 1/200sec, ISO 200

Lucky for me it was close by my place, took me about 10 minutes to get set up, I was able to shoot for only few minutes before the wind kick in, too strong to continue shooting even with my sturdy tripod, when out shooting weather condition, never put yourself or your equipment at risk, some condition like that one, shooting in the middle of open field became too dangerous for me to pursuit.

I was very happy that I had the opportunity to shoot that majestic cloud, never had that opportunity to shoot another one since!

Cumulus Congestus using my lens to get closer, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 67mm, f13, /320sec, ISO200

 

Cumulus Congestus using my lens to get closer, Black and White using onOne perfect BW, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 67mm, f13, /320sec, ISO200

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Cough, sore throat and chest pain syrup

Lemon Juice, Brandy, Honey and Vegetable Glycerine, Canon 5D Makiii, Canon 100mm Macro, f16, 1sec, ISO200

After my husband third spine surgery, I got very sick, too many night without any sleep, passing many hours at the hospital, end up with a chest flu, it started with a sore throat and got worst, getting into my lungs it was very painful, I tried all kind of store bought syrup, a lot of cough drops, nothing seems to work! That’s when my mom told me to try Sister Angele syrup, Sister Angele real name his Angela Rizzardo she was born in Italy in 1938 and moved to Quebec in 1955, she is well known for a lot of TV show and great recipes, one of them is the cough, sore throat and chest pain syrup, I was septic at first but I had to try it, and it worked, no more cough, no more pain, and very easy to make.

It’s called 4-4-4-4, because of the 4 ingredients using 4 ounces each.

I normally do half a batch,

2oz of brandy

2oz of honey

2oz of food grade glycerine

2oz of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a cup, keep it in the fridge.

I use a shooter glass to drink it, 1oz as needed.

1oz as needed, Canon 5D Makiii, Canon 100mm Macro, f6.3, 1/6sec, ISO200

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Flower Photography Using Telephoto Lenses

To do flower photography I normally like most of us use a macro lens, like the Canon 100mm, or Lensbaby with macro accessories, but is doesn’t mean that this is the only lenses available for that kind of work.

I like to use my Canon 100-400 to compress the image and get a shallow depth of field, like I did with the first image below, one of the reason was that the flower was far away, and surrounded by other objects that I didn’t want in the picture, I had to isolate the flower, using the larger aperture f5.6 at 400mm was the only way to get the result I was looking for. The second image was done at the zoo, I couldn't get close, no choice I needed to use my big lens, at 250mm.

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 400mm, f5.6, 1/320sec, ISO200. added texture

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 250mm, f5, 1/160sec, ISO200

Another fantastic lens, is the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS USM now replace by the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS 11 USM and it's quite expensive, if you can find the first generation like mine you can save some cash, and it's a great lens, I used it to get a shallow depth of field, compress the image and isolate my subject,  sometimes I attached a Canon 500D, Close-up lenses/filter for quick and easy close-up photography. The first image was done at a market, I couldn’t get close to the flowers, but I was able to get the image using my Canon 70-200 at 200mm, the second image was done with the 500D attached to my 70-200 at 180mm, that was in the middle of winter, these little dead flowers were so small that it was the only way to get the shot.

 

Canon 5D Markii, Canon70-200 at 200mm, f9, 1/40sec, ISO200

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 70-200 at 180mm, with 500D Close up Lens/filter, f16, 1/200sec, ISO800

Another lens that I used frequently for flowers is my all times favorite my Canon 24-105, this lens is always in my bag, if I had to keep only one lens that will be it. The first image was done using my 24-105 at 75mm at the larger aperture possible f4 on that lens to get a shallow depth of field and isolate my subject. The second one was done using the same lens but adding an 25mm extension tube, I used Kenko 12, 20 & 36mm and Canon 25mm.  

Extension tubes are designed to enable a lens to focus closer than its normal minimum focusing distance. They have the effect of magnifying your subject and are useful for macro photography, allowing you to convert almost any lens into a macro lens while maintaining its original optical quality. If I don’t have the space to bring my macro lens, I bring my tube, I always have the Canon 25mm with me.

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 75mm, f4, 1/125sec, ISO200

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 105mm, f4, 1/80sec, using a Canon 25mm extension tube

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