Reviews

The Watchman

March 26, 2012 by Justin Balog 4 Comments

This image was a lesson in paying attention. I was up shooting close to the Twin Peaks overlook (you can find it in my travel guide) and I thought to myself…”self, next time you are up here you will have to coordinate with another person to stand on top of that hill down there.” Just as I said that, myself quickly said…”hey, quit talking to me and pay attention. Someone is standing on top of that hill!” The light wasn’t great, but I had enough shape and contrast in the scene to make it work.

Photographer’s Note: I shot this image using my trusty Nikon 28-300 VR. It really is the ideal travel lens. I actually ran it through a field test in San Francisco. If you are interested in the results you can read my review of it here.

Continue for Capture/Processing Notes…

Filed Under: Black & White, California, Gitzo Traveler, Nikon 28-300 VRII, Nikon D700, Processing Notes, Reviews, San Francisco, Tips, Travel

The Great Salt Lake

November 29, 2011 by Justin Balog 11 Comments

Ahhhhh…..The Great Salt Lake. It’s that little sliver of light at the bottom. A friend of mine told me that the sunsets in Utah are a product of both the dust from the Salt Flats to the west and the reflective qualities of the Great Salt Lake. After witnessing a few of these this summer, I would tend to agree!

Gear Update & Mini Review

My Think Tank Retrospective 10

This summer I was looking for a more discrete camera bag for travel, exploring cities, and photo-walking. I ended up picking up the Think Tank Retrospective 10. It has served me well now for several months. I just received word from them that they are running a special holiday promotion on all their retrospective bags so I thought I would share it with you. If you buy any of the Retrospective bags, you will get $20 back. If you use this link or my affiliate code on checkout (434) you get to choose from 1 of 11 free bags.

Here are my findings after a couple months of use.

It is pretty discrete.
I feel like it might be something Indiana Jones would use if he was into photography.
It fits my iPad in the front pocket, so it is a viable travel companion.
The shoulder strap is super comfortable.
Although I don’t normally carry a flash with me, it has to dedicated internal pockets that can fit your flashes if need be.
The ‘stuff’ organizer is really well thought out.
I think it is cool that my bag has velcro silencers.
The front pocket can easily hold my GoLite Gortex jacket and some snacks.
Yes, you can put a bunch of stuff in this bag, and this is the 10. I can’t imagine what you could put in the 20 or the 30? That being said, be honest with yourself, just because you can fit it in doesn’t mean you are going to enjoy carrying it for a full day. No matter how comfortable the strap, more gear means more weight. More weight means less fun.
Also, be aware this is a soft sided bag. It does a good job protecting gear from most stuff, but if you drop if off a building, there are no guarantees.
Because it is a soft sided bag, it kind of collapses on itself a bit so you might end up digging around for stuff if you have it packed to the brim. But we don’t want to do that because more stuff equals more weight, and more weight equals less fun!

Here is a look at my ‘street/travel kit’. This is the kit I carry around when I’m out about exploring cities, photo walking, etc. I carry the second body for portraits. This is the kit I was using when I shot the image above.

If I’m only carrying a single body, but I want the best image quality/versatility I can manage, this is what I carry. All of it fits nicely inside and is pretty easy to work out of.

Need to be quiet? Just put it in stealth mode!

Filed Under: Nikon 28-300 VRII, Nikon D700, One Click, places, Reviews, Salt Lake City, Sunsets, Tips, Travel, Utah

Nik Snapseed (iPad Drivers Rejoice!)

June 6, 2011 by Justin Balog 3 Comments

First there was the wheel, then sliced bread, followed by the iPhone, and now Snapseed. Nik Software’s ‘Snapseed’ for the iPad is my new favorite photo editing tool. This toolset is only $4.99 and it makes photo editing and sharing super easy and fun. You will need to warn your Facebook friends because you are about to unleash a torrent of hyper creative and beautiful images on them. You can continue reading my review, however for $4.99, you might as well download it, change your status to “Channeling the muse”, and start getting creative.

Just click the icon to download it.

As you can see below, you can quickly (and I mean quickly) use a variety of tools to enhance your images. Everything from simple adjustments like brightness, saturation, and contrast to applying a retro vintage vibe to your photo. All of that power is literally right there at your finger tips. No mouse required. Snapseed photo editing is Minority Report style. Just swipe, pinch, and touch your way to glory! (hmm…that probably didn’t sound right, but you get the picture…it’s and iPad!)

Nik Software Snapseed

The app is simple to use, so I won’t go into great detail about the ‘how-to’, but basically you choose your effects, swipe up and down to select the enhancement you want to make, and then swipe left and right to control the intensity of it. If you get confused, just click the “?” to get a description of the gestures.

Just click the ? to bring up the help screen. This will get you going quick!

A Quick Work-Flow

Here are the steps I followed to make this image of Hippo, the guest relations manager at the l’Hermitage hotel in Vancouver.

Nik Software Snapseed Review

The first thing I did was a few global adjustments to Color, Contrast, and Saturation. Just a couple swipes and I was done!

Next, I cropped the image to my liking. Just a quick pinch and I was done.

This is the coolest feature! Nik Famous U-Point technology has made it to the iPad. Just drop a point on the photo, change its size, and selectively control things like brightness, saturation, and contrast. You can cut/paste/copy/delete as many points as you want. In this image, I just brightened Hippo's face up.

Lastly, I used their cool focus feature to blur the background a bit and add a vignette. A couple swipes, pinches, and touches and I was done. I think I had it finished and ready to share in under a minute.

Speaking of sharing, you can pretty much send your photos anywhere. Even the printer...wirelessly!

The Travel Challenge

Snapseed, coupled with a capture device like an iPhone, has revolutionized my travel photography. Most of us aren’t shooting for magazines. We are just trying to connect to the moments in our lives and share them with friends. I’m in the same boat. When I’m traveling I just like being out and about, making images, editing them as quickly as possible and sharing with others. If that sounds like you, Snapseed is your Huckleberry. On a recent trip to Pennsylvania and Niagara Falls I decided to see what I could do armed with only an iPhone and Snapseed. Here is what I came up with.

Photo Transfer – I use a cool little app that lets me transfers photos between all my iDevices wirelessly. You can download it here.

The following images were all captured via an iPhone 3Gs and edited in Snapseed. Now that beta-testing is over, I can finally share them….lookout Facebook friends!

Nik Software Snapseed Review

Before And Afters

Snapseed doesn’t end with the iPhone. It is a fulled featured, super efficient, digital darkroom. To prove it, and let you see the the variety of creative tools you have at your finger tips, here are a few images (from various cameras) edited exclusively in Snapseed.

White Tip Reef Shark Molokini Crater Maui, HA
Camera: Nikon Coolpix 5100 and iKelite Housing

Before

After

Denali National Park
Camera: Nikon D700 / Nikkor 80-200 AFD

Before

After

Jan Ulrich 2004 Tour de France
Camera: Nikon D1x / Nikkor 80-200 AFD

Before

After

Me (in a very back-lit dark photo)
Camera: Nikon D5000 / Nikkor 16-85 VR

Before

After - Wow, look how much detail Snapseed was able to recover with a selective adjustment. It totally saved the photo!

Conclusion

It is pretty clear. For $4.99 you can’t go wrong. This app is amazing. Actually, it’s more than that. In my book, Snapseed is a game changer. It is that innovative.

Just click the icon to download it.

Filed Under: News, Nik Software, Reviews

Point-n-Kick Ass!

December 21, 2010 by Justin Balog 3 Comments

Panasonic Lumix LX5 Review

This little bar sits between Denver and Castle Rock Colorado, along a once sleepy little road connecting the two cities. Now, it’s everyone’s favorite shortcut. I have always wanted to make an image of this bar, but the opportunity never presented itself until recently. You might know by now that I have a camera on me at all times. However, the type of camera I have varies. I thought I would take a second to outline the 3 category of kits or systems I run around with. You can find more detailed information on my gear page.

iPhone – As Chase Jarvis has successfully demonstrated, the Best Camera is the one you have with you. For me, it’s my iPhone. You can find a list of apps I use here.
DSLR – A lot of bells and whistles here. You can find the my various system configurations here.
Go-Lite Point n’ Shoot The focus of this post isn’t the iPhone of the full DSLR system. It is that dynamic middle ground where it seems most camera manufacturers compete….the Point n’ Shoot. There is quite the spectrum of cameras that fall within this category. I have shot them all. Canon Powershots, Nikon L & P series, Panasonic, Sony, etc… That being said, I have finally found my perfect Go-Lite Point-n-Shoot system. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. I liked it so much, I wrote up a review of it here.

Whether it is the Lumix LX5, or some other compact camera, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to make great images. The cameras that were once second class citizens are pretty darn cool nowadays. So go out, grab yourself a ‘Point-n-Shoot’, and Point-n-make some kick ass images!

Filed Under: Americana, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, Reviews

It Is The Sea Monster…..

December 12, 2010 by Justin Balog 5 Comments

Myth has it that if you approach the shore of the Tutshi Lake in the Yukon, you will attacked by a large fresh water sea monster. Not wanting to take any chances, I slapped on a zoom lens and kept my distance.

Nik Silver Effects Pro Review: I have added a review of the software I used to handle the black & white conversion for this image. Many of you might already be familiar with it, if not you can read (and watch a video) about Nik Silver Effects Pro here. It includes some of my favorite black & white images.

Continue for Capture/Processing Notes…