Marc Benton dot Com

Pittsburgh Drive By

Last night while driving home from Columbus I decided to take a 30 mile detour and visit Pittsburgh for the first time.  I’m a sucker for city skylines so it was natural that I would seek out the Mt Washington overlooks.  A quick call to fellow photog and Pittsburgh native Shawn Duffy confirmed my plans  (BTW, Shawn has a great guide to  Pittsburgh photo spots on his site).

The extra 2 hours to the trip were well worth it.  The view was fantastic, the people extremely friendly and open to conversation, and I enjoyed one of the best pizzas ever eaten (Cestone’s Pizza on Virginia Avenue).  Not only that but last night was the opening game in the 2009 NFL season that continued the new rivalry between the Steelers and the Tennessee Titans.

Below are a few of my shots: 1) Two 5 shot panos of Pittsburgh at dusk and at night; 2) will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas on the Jumbotron during their performance at the NFL Kickoff Celebration; and 3) Pregame fireworks at Heinz Field.

Tags: heinz field, mount washington, NFL, pano, pennslyvania, pittsburgh, Shawn Duffy, skyline, Steelers, Tennessee Titans

Equipment List Review for Today’s Runway Shoot

Shawn Duffy posted his gear list for today’s Flaunt Runway Fashion Show shoot today so I thought I’d learn a lesson and do the same. I spent last evening recharging batteries, checking my gear’s working order, and reviewing camera operations.

Camera
Canon EOX 40D
Canon EOS XS
Canon Powershot S5IS

Lenses
Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM (on the 40D)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (probably won’t use it but its small)
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 II/III USM (on the 40D for portraits)
Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon (on the XS)

Light
Canon Speedlite 580EX II
Canon Speedlite 430EX II

Filters
72mm soft spot filter for 28-135mm lens

Miscellaneous Photo Gear
8GB and 4GB CF cards (40D)
Three 4GB SD cards (XS and Powershot)
Two cleaning cloths
14 AA Eneloop batteries with charger
1 Extra 40D battery with charger
1 Extra XS battery with charger
Power strip
Laptop with power cord and Canon sync cable
Tripod
Small notebook and pen
IPOD

Shawn’s list is much longer, I think he bought out one of the local Ritz Camera’s inventory. Between the two of us I think we’ll have every contingency covered.

Tags: 40D, 430EX, Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens, Canon EOS, Canon Speedlite 580EX II TTL Flash, Shawn Duffy

Prepping with Flickr to Shoot the Flaunt Runway Event

Photo by Joshua Yospyn

Let me start off by telling you what has me excited this week.  Heather Goss, the Managing and Arts Editor at DCist.com, has invited Shawn Duffy and I to shoot the upcoming Flaunt Runway Event at the Honfleur Gallery.

This spring, the Honfleur Gallery will premiere Flaunt: Photography & Fashion Collaboration, a special exhibition showcasing emerging local talent in photography and fashion design. To highlight the synergy between the two mediums, the show will feature two events: an opening launch on Saturday, April 25, 2009, and a runway show on June 6, 2009.

Flaunt, produced in association with Ten Miles Square and Project Beltway, LLC, will feature new fashion portrait work by photographers Joshua Yospyn, John Ulaszek, Meaghan Gay, and Steve Goldenberg. The work is the result of collaborations with local fashion designers Dana Greaves, Taimur Baig, Lara Akinsaya, and Will Sharp, who will showoff their talent as their clothes grace the runway.

This is something new for me so I’ve been conducting research all week in preparation. Shawn has been a fountain of knowledge for me and I really appreciate his patience with all my questions.

One often overlooked resource on the web is Flickr.  Not only is Flickr a great way to share your photos but it also provides a way to learn from others.  For example lets take Saturday’s upcoming shoot.  I plan to bring two cameras, my new 40D and my XS.  Since the 40D is new to my bag I wanted to conduct some research on how other owners used it for this type of shoot.  I logged into my Flickr account and choose Camera Finder under the Explore menu.  Choose your brand (Canon for me) and it will present you with a list of all cameras used for images in Flickr.  Choose your model (40D for me) and you’ll be presented a page with various types of information on the camera such as price, capabilities, most interesting pictures, as well as a search box.  In the search box enter the type of subject you are interested in (Fashion Show for me) and you’ll be presented a listing of photos for that subject from that camera.  Here’s the results of my search using Canon 40D and Fashion Show.

Review the results to get a feel of the compositions of your subject shots.  To get greater detail click into one of the individual shots.  Flickr provides a way to view the EXIF data if its available in the uploaded JPEG. On the right hand side below the tags will be a link saying More Properties if the EXIF is available.  Here you can see the exposure, aperture, ISO and many other settings used for that shot.

Photo by alan_raga

For every photowalk I go on I spend some time on Flickr getting ideas.  Its an invaluable resource that I’m surprised more people do not take advantage of.

You may want to try this before your next shoot.  Good luck with it where ever it is and wish me luck this Saturday!

Tags: 40D, Canon 40D, Dana Greaves, DCist.com, Digital Photography, EXIF, flickr, Heather Goss, Honfleur Gallery, John Ulaszek, Joshua Yospyn, JPEG, Lara Akinsaya, Meaghan Gay, preparation, Project Beltway LLC, Shawn Duffy, Steve Goldenberg, Taimur Baig, Ten Miles Square, Will Sharp

Early Morning Cherry Blossom Photowalk

Last week Sherri and I attended a photowalk hosted by Shawn Duffy that started at 5:00am.  We stumbled out of bed at 4am, downed some coffee and made our way into DC to brave the winds that were quite cold early on.  It was all worth it as watching the sun come up over DC and shine its early morning light over the Potomac, the Jefferson Memorial and the flowering Cherry Blossoms is a sight to behold. Not only are the views fantastic but we really enjoy spending time with the friends we’ve made at these walks.

Continue reading »

Tags: Cherry Blossom Festival, Cherry Blossoms, Jefferson Memorial, photowalk, Potomac River, Sakura, Shawn Duffy, washington dc

Ritz Camera Store Closings in DC/MD/VA Area

Saturday April 4th is a banner day for local photographers.  Downtown DC will be the place to be for cherry blossoms, parades, Japanese culture and lots of crowds.  The weather should be good, a little chilly in the morning and kinda windy, but we’re supposed to have a clear sunny day.

There are at least two photowalks prepared to take advantage of these activities.  For the early birds there is Shawn Duffy’s at 5:00am and another for the people that like a little more sleep at 10:00am.  You can find information on these and other events here.

Also Ritz Camera will start the liquidation of more than 300 of their stores which includes a number of them in the local area.  Here’s a list of local closings:

Virginia

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Seven Corners Center
6328 Seven Corners Center Falls Church VA 22044-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Dulles Town Center
#156 21100 Dulles Town Cir Sterling VA 20166-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Potomac Mills
2700 Potomac Mills Cir Ste 737 Woodbridge VA 22192-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Ballston Common Mall
4238 Wilson Blvd #3076 Arlington VA 22203-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Pentagon City
1100 S Hayes St #T2 Arlington VA 22202-0000

Ritz Camera Big Print One Hour Fort Evans Plaza
210A Fort Evans Road Ne Leesburg VA 20176-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Courthouse Square
2050 Wilson Blvd Arlington VA 22201-0000

Ritz Camera Big Print One Hour Bailey’S Crossroads Crossroads Center
5874 Crossroads Ctr Way #500 Falls Church VA 22041-0000

Ritz Camera Ashbrook Commons
20035 Ashbrook Commons Plz Unit 114 Ashburn VA 20147-0000

Ritz Camera Parkway Crossings
William Parkway Woodbridge VA 22192-0000

Ritz Camera Atlas Walk Virginia Gateway Center
7352 Atlas Walk Way Gainesville VA 20156-0000

Washington DC

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Homer Building
601 13Th Street Nw Store # 3 Washington DC 20005-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Capitol Hill
233 Pennsylvania Ave Se Washington DC 20003-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo
1017 15Th St N W Washington DC 20005-0000

Maryland

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Lakeforest Mall
701 Russell Avenue Lakeforest Mall Gaithersburg MD 20877-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo Wheaton Plaza
Wheaton MD 20902-0000

Ritz Camera One Hour Photo White Flint Mall 1
1301 Rockville Pike Kensington MD 20895-0000

Ritz Camera Big Print One Hour Shops At Sumner Place
4611 Sangamore Rd Ste F Bethesda MD 20816-0000

Ritz Camera Colesville Joint Venture Downtown Silver Spring
8551 Fenton Street Silver Spring MD 20910-0000

Tags: Liquidation, Maryland, ritz camera, Shawn Duffy, Store Closings, Virginia, washington dc