Allan Johnson 8/12/16 Allan Johnson 8/12/16

Project update

Just wanted to post an update on my current project blog. So far it has been about 5 weeks and I have been able to post one article every week. Its pretty fun so far and can't wait till it catches on a little more. You can check it out at the links below I will link all the articles to date.

If anyone has suggestions for topics or something they want to see feel free to let me know and I'd be happy to try to write a post about it. Remember these are my opinions and thoughts/experience with these subjects. Writing like this is new to me so over time I will improve and bring you even more awesome content.

The Photography Tips Blog: http://www.thephotographytipsblog.com

Article #1

RAW VS. JPEG WHAT ARE THEY??:

Article #2

PRIMES AND ZOOM LENSES WHAT ARE THEY?: http://www.thephotographytipsblog.com/primes-zoom-lenses/

Article #3

PHOTOGRAPHY PHONE APPS: http://www.thephotographytipsblog.com/photography-phone-apps/

Article #4

DSLR VS. MIRRORLESS VS. MICRO 4/3 CAMERAS: http://www.thephotographytipsblog.com/dslr-vs-mirrorless-vs-micro-43-cameras

Article #5

HDR PHOTOGRAPHY: http://www.thephotographytipsblog.com/hdr-photography/

Allan Johnson 5/12/16 Allan Johnson 5/12/16

My First Experience With A Hasselblad Medium Format Camera

Recently I was lucky enough to pick up a Hasselblad 500 EL/m from eBay. Surprisingly I only paid about $180 and it works perfectly. The only damage is has is some of the chrome parts are pealing, and the focus screen has some marks on it. Thankfully those do not effect the final images the camera produces.

The Hasselblad 500 EL/m for those who are not familiar with this type of camera is a Medium Format film camera that has a motor to move the film to the next from after an exposure

The Hasselblad 500 EL/m for those who are not familiar with this type of camera is a Medium Format film camera that has a motor to move the film to the next from after an exposure was taken. Due to the batteries not being available anymore mine came with an adapter for a 9v battery. I had to buy the lens separate so I got bought a Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm F2.8 (the lens cost over $250).

It came with the 120 film back which unfortunately did not work so I went to a local camera store to see about repairs. The estimate I received was going to cost about $150 for a total over haul. The problem was I needed it for the weekend to try it out at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Lucky for me they had some backs there and I was able to buy a newer one that matched the age of the camera for around $130.

So at this point the camera was really setting me back in the money department, but I was excited to have such a nice and cool looking camera to try out. Now I have not used film in a long, long time and this camera unlike my other film cameras has no light meter built in. So back to eBay I went and got one cheap for around $15. AS usually it worked but not like it should. No matter what I did I could not get it to zero out. I figured if I could just compensate I would be fine, but alas I kept forgetting and well my pictures came out a bit darker then I would have liked.

Lucky for me I walked the floor with my Nikon D800 first and then the Hasselblad so I still got pictures that look good. When I was looking at the pictures I noticed some light leaking into the frame (examples below). Doing some research it looks like I may have a light leak in my film back where the dark slide comes out. Sounds like a simple fix of just replacing the foam inside that may of rotted over the years. Again thats going to cost at least $15.

120 file seems to be easy enough to get. I used Kodak 400 Tmax B&W for these shots (five rolls for $25 or so). I want to try out some color 120 film, but every time I go to the camera store to get it they are sold out. I guess I’ll have to order some before my vacation. I sent my film out to be processed to a place called The Darkroom. Since I wasn’t sure how they were going to come out I did not order prints and only ordered scans. Three rolls with their best scanning option cost me about $60.

So other then costing me more then I originally wanted, I do love my Hasselblad. The photos I took with it are IMO not that great at all. Thats not the cameras fault at all. I chalk it up to a bad light meter and myself. Like any camera you buy, the more you practice and play with it the better you will get. I am looking forward to getting some nice images out of my Hasselblad in the future.

So after all is said and done I spent around $660 for the camera, lens, film back, film, and processing. Was it worth it? To me yes to some of my friends who I told about it no, but to me its all in the name of fun and art of photography. I am hoping to take it out again this weekend and trying to see if I can get some nice shots down at the shore.

Allan Johnson 7/30/15 Allan Johnson 7/30/15

Time-Lapse Tutorial with Nikon D5200

In this video I show you how to do Time-Lapse on a Nikon D5200.

Check out my previous tutorial on Time_lapse here and see how I do post processing and combining the files to make the TL video. https://youtu.be/rcC0fpQ4wRA

Gear Used:
Nikon D5200: http://amzn.to/1SNEreD
Nikon 24-70mm F2.8: http://amzn.to/1JEnVbS
Sony A5000: http://amzn.to/1Kqj57L
Sony ECM-AW4: http://amzn.to/1SGTV40

Nikon D5200 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens + Nikon 70-300mm G Zoom Lens + .43x Wide Angle Lens + 2.2x Telephoto Lens + High Definition U.V. Filter + 50" Professional Size Tripod + 2pcs 16GB Class 10 SD Memory Cards + 21pc Digideals Bundle Kit

$677.99

Buy on Amazon

Sony ECMAW4 Wireless Microphone (Black)

$140.10

Buy on Amazon

Nikon 24-70mm Nikkor AF-S f/2.8G ED Autofocus Lens

$1,886.95

Buy on Amazon

Sony Alpha a5000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm OSS Lens (Black)

$448.00

Buy on Amazon

Allan Johnson 2/22/15 Allan Johnson 2/22/15

Fish Tank Time-Lapse Tests with GoPro Hero3 White Edition

I have made a couple time-lapse videos with my fish tanks. One was in my smaller 10g tank the other my 35g tank. Both videos are posted below. Here are the stats for the videos.

Video #1: 5 seconds, 2820 pictures, 4.73Gigs.

Video #2: 5 seconds, 4712 pictures, 6.98Gigs.

These were not shot in the best of conditions. It was really to test out the underwater housing that came with the GoPro. That being said since I made two videos the housing was working fine so no loss of a GoPro to water damage. you can watch the videos here or over on my youtube channel. http://bit.ly/BigAlsPhotographyYouTube

GoPro HERO3: White Edition - 131'/ 40m Waterproof Housing

Buy on Amazon

GoPro Tripod Mounts

$9.99

Buy on Amazon

Allan Johnson 1/16/15 Allan Johnson 1/16/15

Sad Day

So this morning my grandmother passed away. We saw it coming so it wasn't a big surprise.

The thing that hurts is that the last day where she was really "there" was thanksgiving. The problem is due to my retail job I had to work that day (Black Friday which started on Thursday) so I wasn't able to go see my family. So due to that I missed my last opportunity to see her in good health.

So I am more determined then ever to get out of retail and into photography 100%. I know it won't happen right away, but I will make it happen somehow.

Allan Johnson 7/12/14 Allan Johnson 7/12/14

Film project update

So I am almost done my first roll of film. 4 more shots then off to get it developed. Funny thing is my mom found 4 rolls of film in a drawer that we didn't know we had. Should be intresting to see what's on thoes.