Wednesday Wallpaper | Sheep At Wedderburn

Howdy Blogger-lings.

This week's free ipad or desktop wallpaper is here!

Sarah made this image about a year ago after the second big snow storm of the winter.  Wedderburn is  about 40 minutes drive up the road from our home - these hardy girls didn't seem too phased by their lot -  it made me glad to be a bi-pedal cave dweller though.

You can download this image here - just use the password freewallpaper when prompted.

Feel free to view more of our New Zealand Landscape photography in our webstore at www.sisson.co.nz

Have a great day!

Cheers - Todd

Snowy Sheep Paddock, Near Wedderburn, Central Otago New Zealand.  Photography By Sarah Sisson

New Zealand Photo Of The Day | Lake Hawea, South Island New Zealand

This photo was made by my lovely and talented wife Sarah a few year's back while she was taking a well deserved photo-break from our insane toddlers (who have since grown into insane school kids).

Lake Hawea is located about 20 km from it's more famous and fancier neighbour, Lake Wanaka. I have geo tagged the post - so check it out if you are interested.

Please feel free to visit our website to view more photos of beautiful New Zealand.

Cheers - Todd

As always please ask any questions in the comments stream.

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Last of the light - Lake Hawea, Southern Lakes, South Island New Zealand | Photography by Sarah Sisson

Sunset, Kaikoura New Zealand | Free iPad Wallpaper

Red sunset clouds over the Kaikoura Coast and Seaward Kaikouras,  South Island New Zealand. By New Zealand Photographer Todd Sisson.

Thanks to the globally connected economy, I am now able to defer this week's Wednesday Wallpaper to Thursday on the basis that it is still Wednesday somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere :-)

If you are wanting to download this image as a desktop or iPad wallpaper,  you will need to grab the large version from this link:  [free iPad wallpaper] Password = freewallpaper

This photo of sunset over the Kaikoura coastline was made a couple of year's back on a very photogenic trip to Kaikoura, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island.

For many more photos of beautiful New Zealand landscapes head on over to our website.

Cheers - Todd

Tech Wreckage: f/16, 2.5" ISO 100.  I made this on a Canon 5d mkii (I'd buy the 5d mkiii these days) and a 17-40mm f/4 zoom with a Marumi DHG Super Circular Polarizer and Singh ray 3 stop grad filter.

The 17-40mm is a fantastic (and I believe under-rated) lens. It is light to carry and has a terrific focal range for landscape.  Yes it has more distortion than a Nine Inch Nails concert but who notices it for this kind of image (it's had no corrections applied).  Did I mention that it is a bargain too - it's on sale right now at B&H, Adorama and of course Amazon.....

Nikon D800e Landscape Photography Reviews | Dynamic Range Tests

I have been playing around with some informal field tests of the Nikon D800e's much-vaunted dynamic range - I have been so surprised by it's performance that I found myself writing an article on my website that included the strapline Are ND Filters Dead?  - something I never figured that I would be writing at this point in time.

In that article I surprised myself as to how well I could brighten the shadows in an underexposed foreground from a Nikon D800e file.  I went to sleep that night quite pleased at myself for the scientific rigour that I had engendered upon that test (sad, I know) until I was wrenched from my near slumber by a thought: What about the 'over-exposed' images? Can they be brought into line with a bit of Lightroom magic?

 The answer is of course yes - look at this finished image: 

A Nikon D800e Landscape Photo | Edited image after Lightroom exposure and highlight recovery. The histogram shows a perfectly contained tonal range (see below).

Histogram and adjustments to the image -  a Lightroom grad adjustment was applied to the sky - exposure adjustment - I'm just to lazy to do a screenshot of it :-)

And here is the original image: This was shot at the camera's suggested exposure - turns out the D800's exposure knows it's limits.....

 Nikon D800e Landscape Dynamic Range Field Test | The original un-edited image - on any other camera I would have figured this image was toast - especially near the horizon

So, yet more compelling evidence that the world of landscape photography has taken yet another really big leap forward.  I can't remember witnessing such a quantum leap forward in meaningful and useable  image quality between camera bodies.  


As you can see in my previous post, the Dynamic Range capabilities of the Nikon D800/e are in a totally different league to my previous camera body, the ground breaking Canon 5d mkii. 


So are Graduated Neutral Density filters still needed? That depends, if you are shooting any other DSLR I think the answer is yes (unless you are into HDR or serious exposure blending).  If you are toting a D800/e the answer is no - not really.  That makes me a little sad, as I genuinely like my Grad filters and Singh Ray are a great company - but like my postcards, which are being purchased less and less, times change and products become obsolete as technology marches on..... 


My advice - if you want to be making the best landscape images possible for an 'affordable' price - buy the Nikon D800 (Amazon) 


 Cheers - Todd

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRii Reviewed For Landscape Photography

Introduction

Upgrading to the Nikon D800/e and considering the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRii as part of your landscape photography arsenal?  You'll want to read this review I have been a full-time nature photographer for 10 years and this lens is a revelation.....


As you may have already guessed, I like this lens - hell, I love this lens.  The Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VR II is an incredible weapon for landscape photographers - quite simply, this lens has been transformational for my long lens landscape photography, particularly when paired with the D800e and D7000.


If you are buying the the Nikon D4, D800 or D800e you need this lens, it is the only zoom in the Nikon range of this focal length that will do justice to the incredible image making abilities of Nikon's latest DSLR bodies.  Read no further - just buy it.  Actually, do read on - this review took me bloody ages to write :-)




Before we start:
I am a landscape & nature photographer - a simple man. I am not a lens designer, lens tester, or nuclear physicist - I don't know a Bayer pattern from a sewing pattern and I have yet to come across an MTF test chart in the wild (I dread that day - I hear they can be viscious).  The results here are no more than my opinions and observations and are based on exactly zero scientific research.  With that said, I hope that this is of some value to you - enjoy!

Background

I purchased the 70-200 f2.8 VR II in April 2012, in anticipation of receiving a brand spanking new Nikon D800e.  At the time my long lens option was restricted to the surprisingly capable (with caveats) Nikon AF-S 55-200mm f4-5.6G VR IF ED for use on the nikon D7000.
I had previously owned a nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF-D, a lens that I never came to love.  I may have had a poor sample but the 80-200 f2.8 's weight and poor handling never seemed to be adequately offset by stellar image quality. The 80-200 seemed to suffer from focus accuracy issues out towards infinity.



If truth be known, I actually didn't want to buy the 70-200 f2.8 VR II thanks to it's cost and weight.  This was compounded by the fact  that I had been using the Canon 70-200 f4 L IS for over three years.  The Canon lens is spectacular from wide open and incredibly light - if Nikon had built an equivalent f4 lens I would have taken it.  Nikon doesn't make such a lens and I was pretty much forced into buying the 70-200 f2.8 VR II as my only tele zoom option for the D800e - I am glad that I did.

Technical Specifications

Tech specs deplete my will to live.   After 20 years of photography I am no closer to understanding why I would care about the number of optical elements in a lens design - it either works or it doesn't.  Hence I present you with no lens cross section diagrams, discussion of lens coatings or tech specs - just practical results and findings. You can find the specs on the B&H product page.

Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 In The Field

Field Handling: The 70-200 f/2.8 VRII handled being in this field really well.  (Attached to a D800e and clamped down to a Benro Tripod)

But seriously, on to handling. The 70-200 f2.8 VR II weighs in at a relatively hefty 1,530g - about 250g more than my old 80-200 f2.8 AF-D.  Now, given that I ditched the 80-200 largely due to it's weight this should be an issue, but it's not.


Somehow, somebody did something to something within the design of the 70-200 VR II.  That something that somebody did has made the lens wonderfully balanced to work with - I just don't notice the weight, and as we will see soon, the results more than compensate for the inconvenience.


When it comes to handling, the lens is terrific.  VR controls are well positioned, manual focus override is a cinch compared to the 80-200 (which involves pushing buttons and turning rings to move from AF to M) - just grab and focus. The zoom ring has a wonderfully positive tension to it and it's position is excellent for use when hand-holding.


Of course zoom and focus are handled internally on a lens of this calibre so there are no protruding extensions during operation - everything just happens on the inside - all very deep and meaningful.

Build Quality

The 70-200 f2.8 VR II is an exceptional piece of engineering - it is one of those rare cases where you can see and feel where your money went.  The lens housing is reassuringly metallic - I believe that it is constructed of the same magnesium alloy used in Nikon's pro camera bodies.  Yes, that mottled metallic finish that nikon moulds into it's plastic products is actually for real this time - nice.   All this metallic heft and bulk leaves you with the impression that, if money were no object, one could happily use the lens to hammer tent pegs while on a photo-safari.


I have yet to test the weather/dust sealing of the lens to extremes. I have never had any issues with weather sealing even on my cheapest Nikkors, so I presume that this will be the case with the 70-200 f2.8 VR II.


Evidence of build-quality can be found by simply twisting the tripod collar locking nut.  The collar swivels around with a velvety motion and the locking is extremely positive, going from free to locked in about half a turn.


But my favourite example of this build quality is the HB-48 lens hood. To me, it is a thing of great beauty, with a stylish yet manly petal shape and, for want of a better term, it mates beautifully with the lens.  This coupling is consummated audibly when the metal locking mechanism clicks into place.  A better lens hood I have not owned.

Focus Performance

The  70-200 f2.8 VR II is surely the fastest and most accurate lens that I currently own.   It locks onto subjects rapidly even under dim lighting conditions.


Nikon's silent wave motor has not always been that silent in my experience but on the 70-200 f2.8 it truly lives up to its name, operation is quiet and fast.


When paired with a relatively high performance body it tracks focus effortlessly - I am no bird or sports photographer, but I am father to two hyperactive kids and this lens just gets the shot when used on the D7000 or D800e.

Too Cute To Need A Title: AF-C Performance: Nikon D800e in DX mode (6fps) : f/2.8, 1/5000, ISO 400 at 140mm 35mm equivalent .  Sure, the D800 has state-of-the-art AF, but paired with the 70-200mm f2.8 it delivers incredible tracking performance with the press of the AF-start button. 

AF-C Performance: Nikon D800e in DX mode (6fps) : f/2.8, 1/5000, ISO 400 at 140mm 35mm equivalent - 100% crops - no sharpening applied, focus point set to Indi's chest.  I am too lazy to give you a crop of every shot in this sequence, so here are some loupe screen shots at 100% - I couldn't cram a loupe onto every shot so you will have to believe me that every shot in this sequence was technically usable.  The 70-200 f2.8 VR II delivers stunning AF performance.

Vibration Reduction (VR) Performance

The 70-200 f2.8 VR II is the first top of the range Nikon VR lens that I have owned and I am very, very, impressed by its stabilisation performance.  


I have had my reservations about the performance of Nikon's VR on my first generation 18-200mm VR DX and 16-85 VR DX lenses.  To me it has never seemed that effective.  This impression was only reinforced when I purchased the Canon 24-105 f4 l IS and 70-200 f4 L IS lenses.  The Canon IS system just seemed more aggressive or 'active' to me - it may not be the case but that is the way it seems and I have come to rely upon it when shooting handheld - especially with people. 


I am happy to report that the VR on the 70-200 f2.8 is stellar, and easily in the same league as the IS on my Canon lenses - probably better in fact, and certainly quieter. Check it out.

Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR II - VR Effectiveness: 1/30th Second, 200mm. Check out the sharpness in that loupe - and Nikon issued warnings about the D800e not being hand-holdable.  Nuts! to that I say - I got two in a row like this at 1/30th at 200mm.  VRII works wonders.  Did I mention that I am very impressed with the VR on this lens?

Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR II - VR Effectiveness: 1/10th Second, 200mm. I needed to shoot something that didn't move to go this slow. 75% of these images at 1/10th were usable.  I even managed to get a sharp shot at half a second at 200mm!  Did I mention that I am very impressed with the VR on this lens?

IMAGE QUALITY TESTS >>>>

Sisson Product Photography

Hey I just realised that clicking these images opens them bigger - try it you'll like it!


The sisson - beautiful pictures of New Zealand - website is finally nearing completion* - thank God!!!

Countless hours have been spent grovelling to the over-lords at google - optimising pages, renaming images and re-working the descriptions for each of our 310 products into uniquely tempting metadata morsels for the 'spiders' and 'bots' to feast upon.

If any of the preceding sentence:

a) sounds remotely interesting to you.
b) made any sense.

I suggest that you sign up on this website for uber-dweebs that I found myself languishing on yesterday. Just don't expect to see The Autocrat trolling the forums with biting witticisms about metatag refresh rates, referring to google and yahoo as simply G & Y, or making suggestions on Alt- Tag optimisations - for the first time in weeks I found a site that I didn't subscribe to.

As usual I digress.

The final barrier to completion has had nothing to do with this techno-babble, it has had everything to do with our photography, more specifically, photos of our finished products deployed in the home.

We genuinely thought that this would be easy - given that we used to earn our living as commercial photographers. We also think that our products actually look pretty snappy.

Unfortunately after three or four attempts at shooting our fine-art prints, photo blocks and photo magnets at home we had exactly zero shots that successfully represented our work.

Both of us were suffering from a crisis of confidence. So we sat down together to analyze the shots. It rapidly dawned on us that our toddler-infested suburban residence was holding us back.

Although it is a nice house, not a single room will ever grace the front cover of architectural digest - or, for that matter, the back pages of remotely interesting homes weekly.

So today we loaded up the car and headed around to Mark & Sharon's house (yes the same Mark that seems to appear in 50% of these posts) to try out our luck there.

I am happy to report that three hours in their beautiful home yielded all the shots we needed and partially re-inflated our sagging egos**!

Now that's more like it! - one of Sarah's shots displayed in a snazzy environment

There are many more shots on the home page slideshow over at sisson fresh New Zealand photography - check them out :)

Cheers! TA


* to our dismay, we have learned that a good website is an 'ever-changing, dynamic organism' that is, by definition, never completed. For more information spend a week or two on the forums at webmasterworld.com :)

** despite outward appearances photographers have notoriously fragile egos - hence the abnormally high incidence of leather jacket wearing press photographers (its a metaphorical thick skin thing).

Battered is Better - No not a discussion about blue cod....

I love 'battle-worn' camera gear. I get the warm fuzzies whenever I notice that the black anodizing has worn through to reveal bare aluminium near a button or switch on my camera body. My pulse quickens when I spy a piece of rubberised plastic slowly dissolving after hundreds of hours of contact with my (apparently quite grimy) hands.

I can't profess to have reached this level of wear & tear but my 4 year old D2X is just starting to get good. No real monster dings or scrapes, more of a cumulative patina of pragmatic decay - including a very stubborn and quite crusty spot of egg yolk ingrained in the rubber at this year's toga party riots in Dunedin.

Toga threesome: glad you lot are having fun.... I'm still finding egg on my gear.

I can trace this admiration for deterioration back to 1997. Sarah & I were at a weekend workshop with Art Wolfe and Nikon had sent some kind of ambassador/legend guy along to show off 800mm lenses and the recently released F5 body.

Nikon F5 - creator of many a late night fantasy during the 1990's and possible vanquisher of bears

This dude was seriously cool. Not that he thought so at all - which, of course, is why he was so cool. He had the air of a survivor, a war-torn photo-journalist turned nature photographer who had seen things that would leave poseurs such as myself looking for a new career.

Apparently his pre-production F5 had been quite instrumental in his continued ability to breath. Casual (yet reverent) inspection suggested that en-route to the workshop, our man had extricated himself out of tight spot with a Kodiak bear - by using his F5 as a club.

Furthermore, It appeared that upon reaching his car he had succumbed to a spot of shock and, for reasons known only to him, attached his camera to the tow ball of his car and high-tailed it to the nearest bar (180 miles away in Anchorage).

His camera looked absolutely shagged. The finder prism was dented in, rubber was torn off, only about 40% of the black anodizing remained - but apparently it still worked like a charm.

Nikon couldn't have orchestrated a better PR campaign if they tried (frankly, I doubt that nikon marketing could never do anything that clever).

I was sold on nikon from that day onwards and despite my grumblings I still am. Their pro body build quality and performance in really tough environments is as exceptional today as it was 15 years ago - cue the Kodiaks!

TA

I forgot to mention......

That our recommended New Zealand camera stores listing is now up on our site.

Anyone needing some new gear should check it out.

TA

NZ Photography Hotspots - Mt Cook/Lake Pukaki

My blog has segued quite dramatically towards becoming a parenting and relationships column recently. The web has enough of that 'content' already, so I thought I had better get some photography postings up before I find myself sharing my to-die-for pecan and maple muffin recipe with you!

So it is with great pleasure that I announce the release of part 1 of our 2 part Mt Cook photo-guide here.

We have also posted several shots from our recent trip on flickr ,so check them out. Everyone is going gaga over Sarah's shots and I am now feeling inadequate vulnerable and under-appreciated - think I'll go bake a tray of my incredible mocha banana brownies OMG they are sooo goooood!!!! I'll get the recipe up tomorrow ;-)

If you have found us on blogger, remember to drop by our website to view our New Zealand Photography :)

Sometimes you just gotta wait...and wait...

The Big Mountain has not been playing nicely on this trip - but last night things started to look positive - as the cloud cover cleared out of the valley and I headed up to Kea point in the hope of getting a nice mountain portrait.

A pesky bank of valley cloud kept regenerating right in front of the summit for about an hour, up until the last 4 or 5 minutes of light, when it cleared and provided this view of the mountain.

I often find that you just have to keep on waiting until the bitter end, as there is nothing worse than seeing a view like this in the rear vision mirror of your car :-)

If you have found us on blogger, remember to drop by our website to view our New Zealand Photography :)

First sighting (snow) & first shot (canon 70-200 f4 IS)

The Snow
The clouds finally broke for a few hours and we got a nice look at the snow cover on Coronet Peak. I was contemplating the idea of wrenching my gelatinous form away from my desk, heading down to Small Planet (where my new touring skis reside in the layby shack) heading up the hill for a run or two, and returning to a bask in the halo of mountainman glory that would surely radiate from being the first stud to bag fresh pow this season.

Turns out I was guzumped by my old friend 'Marky Mark' Orr, an international playboy and creator of the canny traveler who is based here in Queenstown at present. Maybe next year I will beat him to it (his first child is due in July). I will not reveal any more of my plans here, as Mark is the only confirmed reader of this blog at present :)

The Lens
Onto photographic things - the shot above was a handheld snapshot taken at f4/200mm on Sarah's new 70-200. I am blown away, as it is quite stunning - amazing detail wide open and razor sharp by my standards. Even better, it is light and relatively compact - Sarah really didn't want to lug the 2.8 version around and now that ISO 800-1600 is usable on your camera who cares - dial it up! I look forward to seeing more from this lens!

TA

NZ Photography Hotspots - Moeraki Boulders

I have just posted a short hotspot review of the magnificent Moeraki Boulders, a location I have had hours of fun shooting at.

You can find it here.

Welcome to the photo autocracy

Howdy, welcome to the photo autocracy - future home to my un-censored ramblings, ruminations and randomisations (as well as a fair amount of alliteration).

I will be using this 'forum' to keep you up to date with articles, postings and work in progress over at sisson.co.nz - our website/store. This blog is an opinion-piece, pure and simple, and while little or no effort will be expended in researching or preparing posts, I can guarantee with almost 50% certainty that 50% of what I write will be 50% accurate some of the time. This almost certainly makes the information on these pages about 200% more accurate than most of the crud that poses as 'expert advice' on the web.

So the ball is in your court - read my articles, edit out the bits you don't want to believe and take the rest as divine gospel - perfect!

What you will find me writing about in the future:

• New Zealand Landscape photography advice
• General photographic philosophy
• Photographic gear advice and opinions (mainly nikon)
• Our photographic adventures
• Digital photography tips & philosophy
• New Zealand travel advice
• Anything else that cranks my tractor

Just a note on comments, although the blog is called the photo autocracy I have given a nod to the forces of democracy by enabling comments - think of it as a benevolent dictatorship. Feel free to post positive comments, I see little point in disagreeing with me as your opinion will undoubtedly be misguided and inevitably wrong. Hence, I will not be engaging in discussion, debate or good ol' fashioned flame-fests on the comments board.

Yours benevolently - The Autocrat