My Recommendations for a Great Digital Camera Setup

Marty CohenCamera Accessories, Canon, PhotographyLeave a Comment

I was asked for my thoughts on a DSLR camera that was near-pro quality that would shoot well in all lighting conditions, especially in low light settings, was good for action and sports photography and should also do high quality video. I will say, up front, that I am a Canon camera user and know the Canon line better than Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and others. There are many outstanding cameras in those other brands, but my recommendation is for a Canon camera as I have been a long-time user and and am very happy with the quality and features.

I will recommend a camera and the accessories to complete the setup.

The camera I am going to suggest is the:

Canon EOS 7D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm IS STM Lens

This is an amazingly powerful camera with an excellent sensor, rapid focusing system, excellent video focusing, very good low light performance and it gets very good reviews. The amazon price at the time of this post is $1,649.00 (List Price $2,149) which includes the camera body and the 18-135mm lens.

Memory Cards:

If you plan on doing much video with this camera, you should get at least 2 or 3 high capacity cards with high transfer speeds like these below:

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A Mandatory Second Battery

I can’t stress enough the need to carry a second battery when you’re out shooting with a camera. There is nothing worse than getting some great shots and having your battery die in the middle of a performance or game you’re photographing. I also recommend only using Canon brand batteries for the best and longest lasting performance.

Camera Straps

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I’m a big fan of Peak Design’s camera straps and accessories. I’ve gone through numerous other brands of straps and found these to be the most comfortable and easy to use. Check them out at Peak Design Camera Straps.

Tripods

There are so many tripods out there that it can get very confusing to choose one. I have been using MeFoto tripods a lot because they make a great travel tripod that can be packed into a suitcase but is still solid and works well. Like all other pieces of photographic equipment, the better the function the higher the price. The best tripods to use are large and very solid so there is little vibration or shake during shooting. But for the average amateur photographer, one of these below will work well. While only one color of tripod is shown below, there are 8 to 10 different color choices for some of them.

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[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″] RaodTrip
[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″]Globetrotter
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Microphone for Video

While the camera has a small built-in microphone, if you are somewhat serious about shooting video, this is a good, relatively inexpensive, add-on microphone that fits into the hot shoe on top of the camera and will plug into the microphone port on the camera.

Triggertrap – Fantastic Remote Control of your DSLR

If you’ve never heard about Triggertrap, it is a very cool way to connect your IOS or Android device to your camera and perform photographic magic, like time-lapse, star trails, high speed photography, multi-exposure HDR, use in multiple cabler release modes, and much more. You can see their products at Triggertrap. Watch the video below.

Canon 7D Mark II Training Video

I have purchased Michael’s training videos for the past 3 DSLR’s I’ve owned because he’s very clear, concise yet complete and an excellent teacher:
Michael The Maven Training Videos- Canon 7D Mark II

Canon 7D Mark II Accessories


2015 International Juried Exhibition – Center for Photographic Art

Marty CohenLandscape, Morocco, Photography, Sand Dunes13 Comments

2015 International Juried Exhibition – Center for Photographic Art
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WIND SCULPTURE

 

I was notified this past week that I had one of my images selected to be in the Center for Photographic Art’s 2015 INTERNATIONAL Juried Exhibition. I am amazed and thrilled to have another one of my images chosen to be one of 40 juror-selected winners for this competition, and it makes me very proud. Opening night for the Exhibition is 11/21/15 and the top three prize winners will be announced at that time. Best in Show is $3,000, Second Place $2,000 and Third Place $1,000. The exhibition will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 12 noon to 4:00pm and will run through 1/9/16 at the CPA’s gallery at the historic Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

The juror was Robert Hirsch, an artist, curator and historian. From 1992 to 1998 he was the executive director and chief curator at the CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y. He has a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and MFA in Visual Arts from Arizona State University. He is the author of Seizing the Light: A Social History of Photography; Photographic Possibilities: The Expressive Use of Equipment, Ideas, Materials, and Processes; Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age; and Exploring Color Photography: From Film to Pixels. He has been a contributing writer for Afterimage, Buffalo Spree, CEPA Journal, and a number of periodicals on the history and techniques of photography. He heads Light Research, an organization that provides professional services to the field of photographic art and education.

 

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In The Kitchen – A Photo Project

Marty CohenFood Photography14 Comments

In The Kitchen – A Photo Project

I have been working on a photo project based on the food photographs I’ve taken over the past eight years at our family’s Japanese New Year’s celebrations in Los Angeles. Most food photography we see is posed, set up and styled and has great lighting, I was doing “on-the-spot”, “as-it-happend” candid photography with available lighting or bounce flash. What I discovered was I had created some beautiful, artistic images and I wanted to share them as a collection. The project is titled “In The Kitchen – Images as they happened.”

 

I created a photo presentation using Adobe’s “Slate” iPad app. The presentation is best viewed on a laptop, desktop or iPad/Android tablet (in landscape orientation). Click on the image below and a new window will open for you to view the presentation and then scroll down to view the images. After you view the presentation, please come back to this page and leave me your comments and please share this with your friends and family.

Click on the image below to see the presentation, then scroll down on the new page.

In The Kitchen

The Turquoise Monterey Bay

Marty CohenBeach + Ocean, California, Monterey Bay8 Comments

Recently, residents in and around Monterey, CA have noticed a beautiful turquoise glow in the Monterey Bay. It’s especially prominent when it’s very sunny. I went down to Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday planning to capture this color in the Bay. It was a partly cloudy day and the color wasn’t as intense as I had seen it a couple days before, and here is the result. Below the image is a discussion by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s website on why the Bay is currently that color.

The Turquoise Monterey Bay

The Turquoise Monterey Bay

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has posted an explanation for this color:

Plankton blooms are nothing unusual in Monterey Bay. In fact, the abundance of plankton fuels the abundant food web that supports everything from anchovies and sardines to the humpback and blue whales that visit each year to feast on the bounty.

But the current bloom, which has turned the bay almost turquoise in recent days, is uncommon.

It’s caused by microscopic plant plankton called coccolithophores. Their relatives have been around since the Triassic Period, dating back 200 million to 250 million years.

Addendum: The reflection of light on the white calcium scales that are only three one-thousandths of a millimeter in diameter are allowing this beautiful color – more like the Caribbean where the light is reflected through clear water form the white corals and white sand.