Photography Chat

Thu, May 5th, 2011  |   Audio, People, Photography 8 Comments

Over the past several months, I’ve had a series of enjoyable Skype chats with photographer Jon Cornforth, sometimes about nothing in particular, often about equipment and other toys, and most recently, about an amazing dual-hemisphere humpback whale extravaganza that we’re planning for next year (trip details to come soon).

Jon is probably best known for his landscape images, but also loves the underwater world; I spend most of my time submerged, and only occasionally photograph stuff above the water line.

Despite the differences in our areas of focus (whoa, majorly bad pun), there are many common themes and issues that crop up. I also find that when I talk with fellow photographers like Jon, I learn a lot, get new ideas from time to time, and occasionally get smacked by one of those (rare) Eureka! moments.

At one point, we joked that some of the stuff we talked about might actually be interesting for other people who are into photography, whether for work, passion or both. So…we decided to record a recent conversation, embedded below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Among the topics of discussion, I asked Jon what his “go-to” equipment is for landscape photography (in large part so I can work out how he takes those jaw-dropping images), and Jon queried me about dome ports for his housing. To make it easier to find the stuff we talk about, there’s a list of links at the end of this post for the equipment and manufacturers we mentioned. (Please don’t read any meaning into whether a particular brand is listed or not. It’s just a roster of the products, manufacturers, destinations and people that happened to come up during our chat.)

The conversation is about 49 minutes long. If you’d rather download a file and listen offline, the audio is also available via my podcast on iTunes.

Update: By request, you can download the audio file (m4a format, 61MB) by right-clicking this link: Photography chat with Jon Cornforth.

Dramatic clouds and ocean waves at sunrise from Koki Beach near Hana
Sample image Jon took with the equipment we discuss,
dramatic clouds and ocean waves at sunrise from Koki Beach near Hana

Since we’ve taken the time to figure out how to do this, we’ll probably record another discussion in the future. If there’s anything you’d like us to address, let me know via my contact form.

Australian sea lion in shallow water
Example of half-half image shot with small dome,
a topic we touch upon in the discussion

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS 7D
Canon 17-40mm f4L
Canon 16-35mm f2.8L
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS (Jon has version 1)
Canon 70-200mm f4L (Jon recommends non-IS version if you’re just taking landscapes)
Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-4.5
Zeiss 28mm f2
Zeiss 35mm f2

Lowepro
Gitzo GT1541 tripod
Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
Kirk L brackets
Singh-Ray filters
Canon infrared remote RC-6

Pro One domes
Ikelite
Subal
Seacam
Aquatica

MV Golden Dawn
Bob Halstead
Walindi Plantation Resort

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  • http://twitter.com/roteague Robert Teague

    How about making the podcast available on a service other than iTunes? The Zune Marketplace, or direct would be fine.

  • http://profiles.google.com/timochu Timothy Chu

    Ahh, so the dome is how you achieve those half-in half-out shots. My attempts (with just an underwater case) always result in a bit of a blur at the water line. Does the dome include a graduated filter, or do you fix the exposure in post-processing (I’d expect the above-water shots to be slightly over-exposed compared to the below-water)?

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Hi Robert,

    Just added a download link to access the file directly. Hope that works for you.

    I’m not set up on the Zune market. Tried writing to them before, but got no response, and I don’t own a Zune so it’s difficult to test. If this ends up be a regular thing, I’ll see if I can figure something out.

    Thanks,

    Tony

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Hi Timothy,

    If you have a big fisheye lens attachment on your compact camera, you might be able to achieve a half-half, but it’d be difficult. The smaller the surface area, the trickier it gets.

    No, there is no graduated filter. In the scene in this post, the light values are aren’t that different. I have to pick and choose when I try a half-half. It is possible to use some sort of ND, but I’ve never done that. Too much hassle!

    Cheers,

    Tony

  • http://twitter.com/roteague Robert Teague

    Thanks Tony, I’m looking forward to listening. The direct link will work find; I’ll also submit it to the Zune Marketplace as well.

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Thanks Robert!

  • Dave

    Hi Tony,

    Beauty shoots, just a question. ¿Do you ever use polarizer for this half-half images?

    Best regards from Barcelona.

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Hi Dave,

    No, I don’t know of any practical way to use a polarizer for these types of images. For the big animals stuff, an opportunity usually only lasts a few seconds (if that long), so there isn’t any time to set up with filters, etc. even if I wanted to.

    If you’re shooting half-half shots in more controlled circumstances, it might be possible to use a filter or combination of filters, like an ND to bring down the exposure level on the top portion.

    Cheers,

    Tony