Busy, busy, busy..

But not too busy to take pics! Did a bunch of stuff this month, besides the 365 project. Last monday we went to our favorite area for photography, the Amsterdam Drinking Water Dunes. The results were... Well, see for your self; We had a great day. Lovely weather. Probably the last good day of the year. Good thing about that is that mushroom season is about to start.. Time to break out the macro stuff!

High-speed, high ISO...

I know, i know...

Havent posted anything lately. But one must work hard in order to play hard. I did manage to take this photo.





Taken at ISO 12800. Its not the most stunning pic ive ever taken, but it shows the capability of the 7D pretty well. Believe me when i say that it was pitch dark.

Taken with 7D / 100-400L at 1/6sec, 200mm, F/5

DIY Bean bag.

I was looking around for a beanbag for some time, but the prices put me off. So, i thought; "How hard can it be to make one myself??".

First, the needed supplies.

[x] one pair of camouflage pants.

[x] one sowing set.

[x] one big bag of polystyrene pellets.


I cut off one of the trouser legs to serve as the beanbag.



I measured it to my longest lens at the time, the 100-400L.



I then proceded to sow the bottom of the trouserleg shut with a double stitch.

No pics of that, you ask? Yes. No pics of that. Needle and thread isnt my thing, i was too busy swearing and trying not to stab myself with the needle.

When that was done i put a plastic bag inside the trouser leg. It serves as a container for the poly-pellets, and it makes swapping the content of the beanbag easier. (I now use poly-pellets, but i could switch to rice, seeds, whatever is available.)



Filling the beanbag with the pellets is what is known as "the fun part". Again, no pics, but believe me when i say that ones livingroom is easily covered in those white plastic stick to anything bastards.

After the filling, i sew the top of the bag shut, again with a double stitch.

The result of all that hard work;





Total costs;

About €5,- to 7,-

Total time spent;

1.5 hours.

Total time spent vacuuming the escaped poly-pellets;

4 hours.

Canon White.

When i got the 100-400 F4.5/5.6 L one of the first things i noticed, besides the awesome build quality, was the ugly black lens hood. I know the colour of that thing doesnt do anything for the quality of your photos, but...


Its ugly, man.




So i started an internet search for a white one. Many shady Hong-Kong based firm passed by on my screens, but no luck..

In the end i decided to get a cheap re-placement lenshood off e-bay, and have a go at it with my modelling supplies. After all, all you need is some fine grit sanding paper, an airbrush, a turntable and the right paint, no?

I started with sanding the hood with a fine grit paper, so the paint would adhere. After that i applied the masking tape.



The re-placement hood didnt have the felt on the inside that the Canon original does, so i wasnt afraid the tape would damage anything.

Then it was time to prep the paint. Canon does sell a touch-up paint for its white lenses, but thats pretty hard to come by over here. So i decided to try and mix it myself. I read somewhere on the web that the modelling paint Tamiya "Deck Tan" XF-55 is a pretty close match for the Canon shade of white. With a little drop of Tamiya XF-2 "flat white" added, i checked it under a daylight lamp. Spot on!



I sprayed the hood in several layers, allowing the paint to dry in between. Since the Tamiya paint is acryllic based, it dries really fast.



When i was satisfied with the paintcover, i let it dry for a couple of hours. Then i sealed the paint with a matte varnish by Vallejo modelling paint.

Im very pleased with the result;




Again, this is done purely for cosmetic reasons. It improved my photography by the factor 0.

But the curious looks i get from other photographers are priceless..

Weapon of choice.

Every photographer has his or hers preferred lens. Mine currently is the 300mm F/2.8 IS USM L series. Light enough to carry around for extended periods of time, and tack sharp. I usually shoot handheld with this, but ive mounted it on a gimbal head or mono-pod too.



Ive fitted it with a so-called Lens Coat. Besides the camouflage aspect, it helps protect the lens from bumps and scratches. In cold weather it also keeps it a bit warmer to the touch. Since the lens is metal, it can get really cold really fast..

Ive only recently aquired this lens, when Canon announced the new versions of the 300 and the 400mm L series. I had planned on getting this lens at some point, but the increase in price for the new models made me get it sooner. Since i am an amateur, this is about as expensive as i could rationalize aquiring. Havent regretted it for a moment though. My photo's have improved, in my opinion.


This offcourse isnt the only lens i have. Since i like to do all sorts of photography... I have the collection of lenses to boot..



In this Pelican case are the Eos 7D with batterygrip, the Canon 100-400L F/4.5-5.6 IS, the Canon 24-105L F/4, a Sigma 150mm F/2.8 APO Macro DG HSM lens and a Sigma 10-20mm F/4 - F/5.6 DC HSM wide angle lens.

I dont carry around the Pelican Case when im in the field, but ill get to camera bags in another post.

Some of you probably noticed the white lenshood on the 100-400mm lens... "Hey! That aint right! Canon only makes black lens hoods!"

True. But from the moment i got that lens, that black hood annoyed me. Purely for cosmetic reasons i decided to go DIY on that sucker. That too will come in a future post.. (So you'll just have to keep coming back..)



When im out with this lens, a lot of people are looking at it. Trying to define the model of the lens. So far i havent gotten any negative comments.



Pics taken with Ixus 60.