G Dan Mitchell | Photography

The big news in the photo equipment world this week is the announcement of the new Nikon D700 camera. This is a 12 MP full frame body that in many ways approaches the performance of Nikon’s more expensive full frame D3 - and in a few ways may even surpass it. And this at a list price of $2900. This really sounds like a very fine camera in every possible way, and Nikon shooters should be very happy to see “their brand” introducing such fine stuff.

I’m a Canon shooter who uses the 12 MP 5D, a camera that the designers of the Nikon D700 must have had in their sights. On a purely feature for feature basis, the Nikon surpasses the excellent but older 5D. It isn’t that the 5D is a poor camera by any means, and I’m not going to sell my 5D to get a D700. However, the Nikon clearly takes advantages of improvements in DSLR technology that have occurred in the three years since the 5D was introduced and Nikon seems to have done less to cripple their $3000 FF 12 MP body relative to their more expensive bodies in comparison to Canon.

So, why am I glad?

Canon now appears to have (or will soon have) very serious competition in the full frame DSLR market at essentially every model level. The Nikon D3 competes strongly against the (1.3x cropped sensor) Canon 1DMKIII; the Nikon D700 competes very strongly against the Canon 5D and its probable successor; and the word on the street is that Nikon will soon introduce a direct competitor to Canon’s flagship 1DsMKIII.

For many years, Canon was essentially the only game in town when it came to full frame DSLR bodies. While the Canon bodies are great tools that can produce excellent photographs, competition is likely to spur all manufacturers (likely including Sony and perhaps others before long) to renew their focus on optimizing camera design and functionality and will likely even create some pricing competition.

To put it simply, the introduction of excellent Nikon full frame cameras will likely lead to even better Canon full frame offerings - and I’m all for that.

G Dan Mitchell :: Jul.02.2008 :: Commentary, Equipment :: 2 Comments »

Kelsey, Brandon, and Jameson. Temecula, California. June 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

OK, not your usual wedding photography - fortunately someone else was handling that! My “kids” at my daughter’s wedding a week ago today.

(So, what do you think? Is it more Weegee or Friedlander? ;-)

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.29.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Last weekend was very special for us as our daughter Kelsey was married to our new son-in-law Mel. My role was to be the “Father of the Bride” - not the “Photographer of the Bride” - so while I took a minimal camera kit along I left it in the car for the main event. I left the photography to professionals and to the many guests who recorded the event - including my brother and his video crew of various talented nieces and nephews, and my sister whose point and shoot camera recorded several of the most wonderful shots I’ve seen so far from the event.

It was interesting to watch some of the methods employed by our photographer Katy Regnier and her “assistant” (otherwise known as her husband Ben) at the wedding. At times the two of them split up to cover different aspects of the event - Katy photographed Kelsey and “the girls” getting hair done and so forth while Ben photographed the guys getting ready (or, more accurately, “hanging around” ;-) at their hotel. But even when they shot together they worked in ways that complemented one another. For example, it often seemed that Katy would work close in with primes while Ben stood back and worked the same subjects with a longer telephoto zoom.

If you follow this blog, you know that while I do some photography of people I’m certainly no wedding photographer, nor do I aspire to be. However, I have a renewed respect for those like Katy and Ben who do this type of photography well. Good wedding photography requires photographic skills, but it is also requires social skills, timing, attentiveness, knowledge of wedding rituals and traditions, and a good sense of when to step in and direct and when to work invisibly in the background.

I will post a few photographs from the wedding here eventually, though because this event was a personal and family event rather than a photo shoot many of the photos will remain personal and private among my newly expanded family. But here is one of Katy and Ben photographing Kelsey and Mel after the ceremony as the sun set over the vineyards below the hilltop winery where they were married. (Can you say “awwwwww…” ;-)

Kelsey and Mel. Falkner Winery, Temecula, California. June 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.28.2008 :: Commentary :: 2 Comments »

Almost everything that has appeared on this site during the last week was queued up weeks ago. “Why?” you ask. (Or maybe you don’t, but I’m going to answer anyway. :-)

It has been a very busy June - and for the most part not for photographic reasons. I’m a faculty member at a California college that is on the quarter system, and the spring term has been coming to a conclusion, with final exams this week - and I’m deep (hip deep, more or less) in the process of grading, grading, grading. And more grading.

Two weeks ago my oldest son moved to the SF Bay Area from Seattle and I flew up there to help him load a U-Haul truck, drive it to the Bay Area over the course of two days, and then unload and move into his new place.

And last weekend was my daughter’s wedding! As you can imagine, that wonderful event filled the better part of four or five days. (Although we hired professional photographers I did do some photography as well. More on that later.)

But in a few days things will begin to calm down. Grades will have been turned in. I’ll have the summer ahead of me - and I don’t teach summer session and I don’t return to the college until late September. This will give me more time for my photography, and I have some plans to post articles on several subjects here on the blog.

I hear the Sierra calling!

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.26.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Just a reminder about the process for placing my photographs into this blog… As I make photographs I upload them to my gallery and then place the photos from the gallery into blog posts that appear on this page. In order to keep the photo per day flow going, I often am building a queue of upcoming photos that is a month or two “deep.” For example, the photos that are appearing right now were taken nearly two months ago, and the photos I’ve done most recently (I was in Seattle last weekend) won’t show up in blog posts until the end of July at the earliest.

If you are curious you can hit the gallery link and get a sneak peak at what I’ve been doing before those who just follow the blog get a look. In addition, there are some photographs in the gallery that don’t get posted here at all. (The six small images in the left sidebar are direct links to the most recent half dozen photographs placed in the gallery.)

Just thought you might like to know.

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.18.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Tonight I discovered that all links beyond the home page of this site were going to my gallery page. Now, while I’m glad that a lot of people probably visited my gallery, I’m not so happy that people trying to access other pages on the site may have been frustrated. Although I’m not exactly what happened to create this problem I have - once again - fixed it.

If you were unable to find something you were looking for here today, please accept my apology.

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.17.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

I’m back this morning from a little jaunt to Seattle (about which I may post more later on) and getting ready to start a busy week. I just came across a fun little collection of quotes by photographers and about photography at Reuters. It contains plenty of gems, including two of my favorite from Saint Ansel but here’s one to enjoy before you click the link:

The photographer is like cod which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity. - George Bernard Shaw

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.16.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Judging from some emails I’ve received and by the fact that some folks have recently posted comments on some posts (see the Chinese Lantern photo post below), it looks like the membership issue has been resolved. If you would like to join, you can do so via the membership link or via the join tab at the top of the page.

If any other readers have previously tried to join and post but were unsuccessful do to site errors, please try again - and let me know if you encounter any problems. I’ve been able to resolve every one that came up during the last few weeks.

Dan

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.11.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

One of the most common camera questions comes from folks getting a new DSLR - often their first “serious” camera beyond the point and shoot range - who want to know what lens or lenses they should get with their new camera. Amber sent such a question yesterday:

i am currently researching lenses for my canon rebel xti. i have been looking through your website and reading your helpful info on lenses. however, it is all so confusing. i mostly like to do landscape photography…sometimes portraits. right now i don’t have a ton of money to spend on a bunch of lenses…so i was wondering if you could suggest a good lens (…color, sharpness) that will help me for awhile until i can afford more.

A while back I posted an article on this (Beginner Questions: What Lenses Should I Get for My New Camera?) so I’ll make this post focus on some basic ideas to keep in mind as you try to figure this out.

Amber is on the right track in several ways. Continue Reading »

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.07.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Transverse Dunes, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. April 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Color photograph of transverse Death Valley Dunes at sunset.

This is another photo from the shoot I described in yesterday’s post - a quick shoot from a roadside pullout as the day came to an end. We just barely arrived here in time (having arrived in the park just hours earlier) and ended up shooting with long lenses from this roadside vantage point.

While many people focus on the taller section of these dunes a bit further west (I’ve shot them also) this section of smaller “transverse dunes” further into the valley provides some very interesting shapes, textures, and colors.

keywords: death valley, national park, transverse, dunes, sand, desert, funeral, mountains, plants, light, shadow, patterns, ripples, scenic, landscape, color, photo, photography, stock, california, usa, sunset, golden hour

G Dan Mitchell :: Jun.06.2008 :: Commentary, Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert :: No Comments »