I used my fastest lens, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. I expected to struggle with low light, but the struggle turned out to be the various colored lights on stage throughout the night. I had trouble getting the photographs to look right in post-processing. At the beginning of the show, I did have some problems with focus as well, and I eventually resorted for autofocus for most of the night. The lighting necessitated spot metering in order to get face colors as close to normal as possible, even if it sacrificed the tones on clothing or the background.

Even with careful concentration, many of the photographs are blurry. it would have been better to use a tripod, but I was also trying to stay out of the way of the spectators and performers.

One of the XTIs weakness when compared to later models is noise with high ISO settings. While this is hardly noticeable when the photographs reduced in size for Facebook or even Flickr, it is much more apparent in full 100% view. I have yet to print any of these for another look.

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XTi, EF 50mm, f/3.5, 1/80 s, ISO 400 — view flickr page

None of the photos stand out for me to include as an example, however. This photograph is one of many that focuses on the red rocks.

XTi, EF-S 17-85mm at 17mm, f/10, 1/50 s, ISO 200 — view flickr page

The sky wasn’t clear once during my entire vacation to Arizona, which led to more interesting photographs.

I have published separate sets for Sedona and The Grand Canyon.

And now for some personal news. A few weeks ago, I began taking a Saturday morning class at the Arts Council of Princeton. I am hoping to improve my skills, particularly to find good guidance for spotting great photographic opportunities, building my aesthetic sensibilities, and improving my technique through every stage of shooting, including “post-production.” I have already picked up a few invaluable techniques that will help improve the balance and look of my photographs through Photoshop.

Currently, none of my photographs posted on Flickr have been corrected using Photoshop; the way they are posted is the way the are pulled from the camera. I do plan on selecting a few good photographs from future sessions to balance levels and perform other minor adjustments. I also plan on including my best results from this class in another set on Flickr and here on Photophyte.

In aerial establishing shots in the series, the Princeton University student center doubles as the hospital.

XTi, EF-S 17-85mm at 17mm, f/10, ISO 100 — view flickr page

In person, the building is not curved, I’m pretty sure. The wider-angle lens seems to have distorted euclidean geometry.

If you look closely — and this can be aided by clicking on the photograph for a larger image or visiting Flickr for the original — you will see Princeton’s shield logo through the windows of the building. This is one detail I have yet to see on House.

While I’m not particularly impressed with the photographs I managed to take on Sunday, I was able to capture two students playing Frisbee outside of the student center. View the set on Flickr for some samples from the day. I spent time with the 17-85mm exemplified above, the 50mm, and the 70-300mm. The latter was helpful for getting closer shots of the Frisbee players without getting in their way.

Photography was disallowed once within the exhibition, but I managed to grab a few pictures outside and inside the Franklin institute itself. I’ve uploaded most of these photographs to a set on Flickr. I decided to take only my newest lens, the 50mm f/1.4. Without zoom functionality, I found it challenging to frame photographs as well as I had wanted.

Here are two of my favorites from the day. They both focus on hands. First, Amy’s hands.

XTi, EF 50mm, f/1.4, ISO 200 — view flickr page

At full size, I didn’t get the focus quite right. I could have been more successful with a narrower aperture.

In the atrium of the Franklin Institute stood a statue of Rumblebuffin, a character from the Narnia adventures, advertising the exhibit. Here’s his hand.

XTi, EF 50mm, f/1.4, ISO 800 — view flickr page

Here, the wide aperture offered an advantage of nicely blurring the rest of the statue to focus on Rumblebuffin’s hand. More time, warmer weather, and more courage might have allowed me to get some more photography practice in while visiting the City of Brotherly Love.

The Franklin Institute is named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, so here’s a photo of old Benny greeting visitors who come in off the street rather than up the stairs from the parking garage.

XTi, EF 50mm, f/2.8, ISO 800 — view flickr page

My favorites are numbers 6, 14, 28 (for the view of the Capitol through the window), 36 (nice watch), and 47 (that guy is awesome).

XTi, EF 70-300 at 115mm, Av, f/4.5, ISO 1600 — view flickr page

This is one of my favorite photos so far with my camera. It was taken on July 26, 2008 at a Mets game at Shea Stadium. I don’t know who these guys are, but they were into the game. I like the way the depth of field puts maybe two of the three faces into sharp focus.

Blue and orange are great colors together. The Mets made a good choice when they decided on combining the Brooklyn Dodgers’ blue with the New York Giants’ orange when the team was originally formed in the 1960s. The natural light and the camera’s sensors worked together well to capture these colors, and the addition of black is nice, as well.