REVIEW: Hoodman Hood Loupe 3.0 and Cinema Kits

I LOVE my old Hoodman Loupe and whenever I go on outdoor photo walks and show it to my students they fall in love with it and borrow it so much that I realize that I probably shouldn’t show them how great it works! :-) If you aren’t familiar with this awesome product, just check out the video above (if you haven’t already) to see how it works.

A Must Have for Video

You can either upgrade your Loupe by adding Cinema Strap and HoodMAG 3.0 3x Magnifying Eyecup for HoodLoupe 3.0 or you can just by the full Hoodman Cinema Kit from B&H to have a proper eye piece for doing video with your DSLR. This is a dirt cheap alternative to the popular but crazy expensive Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x (especially for pro bodies where it cost over $450 as of the time this article was written!).

For those who want something more durable than the Cinema Strap, Hoodman also offers the HoodCrane which is available in the Cinema Kit Pro for a solution that is on par with the best Zacuto solution. Here’s a video that shows the the pro solution works:

Conclusion

The official title for this base unit is the Hoodman HoodLoupe Professional LCD Screen Loupe for 3" Displays, but I still call the new one “the new Hoodman Loupe.”  At $79.95 (as of 12/16/2010 on B&H) this is a pricey little gadget, but after owning the original one for about a year and a half I totally forgot about the price – I just know how much I love mine. Put quite simply, I don’t leave home for an outdoor shoot without it.

Now that I’m shooting video more often, I find myself just leaving the Cinema Kit attached to my 5D Mark II most of the time. This makes for a great combo when I’m on a big shoot. I can just reach into my ThinkTankPhoto Airport Security v2.0 backpack have my 5D Mark II ready to go for video and my 1D Mark IV as my all-purpose photo camera.

Disclosure

I was provided a Cinema Kit and Loupe 3.0 by my friends at B&H for the purpose of this review, and I may receive a commission if you purchase products using the links in this article. Please show your appreciation of this article by making your purchase using the links on this blog.

Top Photographers Interview: Scott Kelby

NOTE: To new readers of my blog, I always hyperlink topics that for which I have already written an article. Please enjoy these articles when you have some free time.

What do my Top Photographers list, Which Books Should I Read?, and What Photoshop Books Should I Read? articles all have in common? Yep, you guessed it – Scott Kelby is a key figure in all of them. Not only is he one of my favorite authors, but he’s also has a excellent portfolio.

Scott Kelby the Best-Selling Author

Recently I (RM below) had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Kelby (SK below). What follows in this section are his responses to some of the questions I’ve been wanting to ask him for quite some time. I hope you enjoy the conversational tone and hearing the thoughts of this industry icon.

RM: I’m a huge fan of the 7 Point System and consider it to be the pivotal book that helped me get to the next level in Photoshop. Naturally, I’m very curious to know if a CS4 is in the works and how you might do things differently in this version.

SK:

I don't have one planned for CS4 because Adobe hasn't changed enough of CS4 to make the system that much different , but I am updating (and further simplifying) "The System" for the next version of Photoshop (though still a ways off). I've learned a lot since I wrote that book; in particular on how people implemented the system, and I found ways to make it even easier, and that makes it more powerful, so I'm pretty excited about the changes I have coming for it next time around.

Ron: 7 Point System for CS3 is one of my most recommended Photoshop books, but I’m also a big fan of Lightroom (especially your Lightroom 2 book).  What I’d really love to see is a 7 Point System for Lightroom 2 for those who really are happy with Lightroom and are willing to live without Photoshop. I think it would be a HUGE hit. Have you ever thought about doing anything like that?

SK:

I'll be doing exactly that! :)

RM: You just underwent the pain of building a new portfolio site as I am doing in my Web hosting series where I reviewed liveBooks, FolioSnap, SiteWelder and Smugmug Pro. If you had to do it over again, would you just use a service? If so, which one and why? If not, why?

SK:

I haven't really settled on a service at this point, and I think it's because what I really want is something I can update and maintain myself. The portfolio I have in place is a bit of a nightmare to update (to say the least). I bought a template, and it was WAY over my head, so I had my friend RC Concepcion use Flash to customize the template with my images and text, and it totally kicked his butt, too (and he's great at Flash). So, what I'm using isn't the answer for sure. I'm hoping Adobe will take things up a notch with the next version of Lightroom, because it makes total sense to manage it from there, but right now their Web galleries, while great, are missing two big things:

1. The ability to have multiple galleries linked from the home page
2. The ability to have clients check off or choose which proofs they want from you with a simple checkbox.

When they fix those two things, it will open a lot of doors for a lot of people. 

RM: Recently you’ve gotten into Motorsports photography, which is my long-term dream. I’ve shot Formula 1 several times and learned a lot the hard way. I know you’ve heard it a million times on the blog, but any recommendations to break through the good old boys club to shoot with the big boys?

SK:

It's tough and getting tougher every day. The problem is; you need experience to have a shot at shooting Pro sports, but it's so tightly controlled that people that don't have a connection or an "in" with somebody are really at a disadvantage. At the end of the day, you're going to either have to have a friend that has connections to get you a media pass (which is one way I've gotten to shoot some pro sporting events) or you have to have enough good shots to convince a racing league, or a team, or a sponsor to let you shoot for them (which I've done as well). I wish I had a secret to share, but it's a battle. A buddy of mine, Mike Olivella, who is a pro sports shooter did a guest spot on my blog (www.scottkelby.com) and he wrote an entire article on the topic, and it was one of the best, most open, most revealing looks at how to snag media passes ever, and people loved it. If you go to my blog, search for Mike Olivella and you'll find the post, and you'll get more insight by a [long shot] than I can give. 

RM: I’m a big fan of your Photoshop Channels book that I picked up at Dave Cross’ Maximum Photoshop Tour in Seattle last November (great value), but like the recently updated Down & Dirty Tricks it’s in need of an update. I know not much has changed, but it’s still a bit on the stale side. Any plans or thoughts?

SK:

Unfortunately, Adobe hasn't changed Channels one lick, so it's hard to make a push with the publisher to update the book. It still sells amazingly well to this date, because you can do everything in the book in Photoshop CS4. That's how little has changed, so all I would do in an update is use different photos, and update the screen captures, so it's probably not going to happen until at least the next version of Photoshop at the earliest.

Scott Kelby Books I’ve Reviewed on this Blog

I’m a huge fan of Scott Kelby the author and have reviewed more of his books than any other author out there. You can find the following books reviewed on this site:

1. The Digital Photography Book – Volume 1
2. The Digital Photography Book - Volume 2
3. The Digital Photography Book – Volume 3
4. Scott Kelby's 7 Point System
5. Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers
6. The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers
7. The Photoshop Channels Book
8. Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks
9. The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers

I consider 1 – 7 as “must own” books, and 9 is a must own instead of 6 if you haven’t upgraded from CS3 to CS4 yet. My least favorite was Down & Dirty Tricks, but only because it is less oriented towards digital photography. It’s still an okay book, but not a must own like the others.

Scott Kelby the Photographer

Up until recently, I think many people thought of Scott Kelby only as the famous Photoshop or Digital Photography book guy, but he’s more than just a best-selling author – he’s a great photographer. Perhaps it is because he’s so well connected in the industry that he’s had the opportunity to learn from the best, or perhaps it is because his Photoshop skills are so good that he can make his pictures that your or I might toss, look great (as he does in the 7 Point System book). I don’t know, but for whatever the reason I’m starting to see more and more great images coming from Scott that make you realize this guy is just getting started to make a new name for himself as one of the great modern day Photographers. That’s why he’s right along side Joe McNally on my Top Photographers list, not for what he’s done (few could compete with guys like Joe on that) but for where I think he’s going with his work. He mastery of light, reflections, and color represent my ideal of what great imagery is all about.

Take, for example, the image of the motorcycle above and the football player below. The lighting is brilliant and the colors are mesmerizing. This is EXACTLY the type of work I’d love to see myself doing if I had the time (remember, I still have a day job that has nothing to do with Photography). What’s more, is Scott actually goes out of his way to have setups on his blog or in his books that show how he gets these great shots so we can try to learn from this modern day imaging master.

 

The Interview

The first interview I did with Scott Kelby focused on him as the famous Photoshop guru, but this time I had a chance to get him to talk about some of the gear he shoots with to make such cool images.

RM: What gear do you shoot with (or recommend)?

SK:

I shoot a Nikon D3 as my main camera, with a Nikon D5000 as my backup/travel body. My main lenses are the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, a 200mm f/2, the 14-24mm f/2.8, the 24-70mm f/2.8, a 200-400mm f/4, an 18-200mm f/3.5 - f/5.6, a 50mm f/1.4, and a 16-85mm. I have two Nikon SB-900 flashes and three SB-800s. 

RM: What Tripod Legs & Head do you prefer?

SK:

I use Gitzo legs (tripods and monopod) and Really Right Stuff ballheads (a BH-40 and a BH-55).

RM: What do you carry your gear in? (Note to readers – A ThinkTankPhoto special offer is available on the Discount Coupon Code page)

SK:

This past year I've turned into a ThinkTankPhoto freak! I use their Airport Security 2 as my main rolling bag now, and their belt system when I'm shooting sports. Their stuff rocks!

RM: What studio light gear & mods (barn door, ringlight, grid, etc…) do you recommend?

SK:

For strobes I use all Elinchrom gear, including a Ranger, the new Ranger Quadra system, three RX 600 strobes and two BXRI 500s. I have three grids, and about every softbox Elinchrom makes, but my favorites are their 72" Octa, the 53" Midiocta, and their 39" square softbox. I also have two strip banks, and it's all triggered with Skyport triggers.

For continuous light I have three Westcott TD-5 Spiderlites.

RM: What are your favorite Photoshop plug-ins?

SK:

I love Nik's Silver Efex Pro, and Color Efex. I love OnOne's PhotoFrame 4. I also use Topaz Adjust.

RM: Do you use Lightroom? (if not, what is your Digital Asset Management tool?)

SK:

Absolutely----it's changed everything!

RM: What type of computer do you used to edit your photos?

SK:

I use a Mac Pro desktop and a MacBook Pro laptop. 

RM: Do you own a printer (if so, what kind) to print your own photos, or do you use a print service (which one)?

SK:

I use Epson printers---always have. I have a 3800, a 2880, and a 7880. Couldn't live without 'em.

RM: What are your Favorite Online Photography Sites (Websites, Blogs, etc…)?

SK:

Everyday I visit PhotoWalkPro.com, Terry's Tech Blog, Joe McNally's Blog, John Nack on Adobe, 1001 Noisy Cameras, Digital Protalk, and The AppleInsider among others. You can see my full list at http://my.alltop.com/scottkelby.

RM: Any gear, book, etc… recommendations for the gear heads?

SK:

If you shoot outdoors, get a Hoodman Loupe [RM. I agree! Click the link for my review]. Everybody that sees one in person out in the field, buys one.

Scott’s a super busy guy so unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to him over the phone or in person as I have done with other Top Photographers, so there’s not as much here as I would have hoped for this article. However, the good news is that this guy never sleeps and he shares pretty much everything on his blog. If you want to learn more about him, his books or pretty much the industry then read his fantastic (and my favorite) blog.

To see more of Scott’s great images, visit his online portfolio.

A Big Thanks

Thank you Mr. Kelby for sharing a nugget of your precious time with me and my readers! Thank you for all you have done for the industry as well as my Photography education. Keep up the great work and enjoy the successes from it that you so richly deserve! I hope I can continue in your tradition of helping others via this blog as I travel on my voyage to becoming a better Photoshop professional and Photographer.

REVIEW: The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally (UPDATED: 5/10/09)

I really enjoyed Joe McNally’s first book, The Moment it Clicks, but it was more like sitting at a bar with Joe with a stack of pictures and listening to how he created them. This book is very similar, in that it does more story telling than instruction, but I think it is definitely more instructive than his first version. I enjoy sitting around talking with people, and I tend to write the same way, so I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

A Warning for Non-Nikon Shooters

If you don’t use the Nikon flash system, you are going to be very disappointed with this book. While many of the topics he discusses outside of the flash units themselves apply to all flash systems (i.e., light modifiers, gels, light positions), I was disappointed that Joe didn’t do a better job discussing at least how some of what he was discussing could apply to the Canon flash system. The Canon 580EX II has much of the benefits of the SB-900 AF Speedlight, but lacks the 200mm zoom (it tops out at 105mm), built-in gel holder, and the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) system. The reality is that if I would have pulled off some of the things he has accomplished with the CLS system, I’d probably be a rabid fan of it too, so perhaps his enthusiasm is natural and warranted.

Section by Section Review

Here’s a quick overview of each section of this book:

Nuts 'n' Bolts

In an improvement over his first book, Joe actually spends some time talking about the gear that he uses – complete with pictures. This is actually very useful to know as I was a bit lost in The Moment it Clicks as to what some things were. I also enjoyed seeing his section on how to hold the camera (which I’ve seen before online) and the flash.

One Light!

Well the theory behind this section is that Joe explains how he executes certain images using one light, but he doesn’t really mean one light (as is the case on page 89’s “Killer Flick of Light” which also includes 8 2400ws lights!). This section was probably my favorite from his whole book, and the “Make Available Light Unavailable” chapter on page 98 was one of those “wow, cool – THAT’S how they do that” chapters. I loved this section the most!

Two or More

This chapter is pretty cool because Joe basically shows how two (or usually more) speedlights can accomplish what people traditionally would use strobes to accomplish. I love some of the results he gets, but of course it really helps if you have an assistant and all day to prepare for the shoot – a luxury most of us usually don’t have.

Lotsa Lights

This chapter should have been named – Take that Canon and Pocket Wizards as it is really a demonstration of what the CLS system can do. Of course Joe goes completely insane and uses up to 47 flashes at one point, and generally more than most of us could reasonably afford. However, it’s fun to see what he can pull off with this powerful flash system.

What's This Button Do?

This is a quick run down on how to perform specific tasks with the SB-900 and SB-800 flash systems. It isn’t the manual, but it is probably easier to follow than the manual!

Joe’s Recommended Equipment

In this book Joe uses a bunch of equipment. If you want to learn more or order any of it please use the links below. Of all the equipment he mentions, I’ve only reviewed the Hoodman HoodLoupe on this site which I like quite a bit, but I should note that Joe has a larger LCD on his D3 so he uses the newer and larger Hoodman HoodLoupe Professional.

Flash Gear SB-900 AF Speedlight (Canon 580EX II) SB-800 AF Speedlight SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander (Canon ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter) Nikon Gelatin Filter Holders Nikon SC-29 TTL Coiled Remote Cord (Canon OFF-CAMERA SHOE CORD) Nikon SD-8A Hi-Performance Battery Pack (Canon CP-E4 Battery Pack) Gels Full Cut CTO 1/2 Cut CTO 1/4 Cut CTO 1/8 Cut CTO Full Cut PlusGreen 1/2 Cut PlusGreen 1/4 Cut PlusGreen 1/8 Cut PlusGreen Full Cut CTB 1/2 Cut CTB 1/4 Cut CTB 1/8 Cut CTB Roscolux Swatch Book

Light Modifiers Lumiquest 80-20 Lumiquest Big Bounce Honl 1/4″ Honeycomb Speed Grid Honl 1/8″ Honeycomb Speed Grid Honl 8″ Snoot Honl 5″ Snoot Honl Speed Gobo Flag/Barndoor/Bounce Card Honl Speed Strap Honl Gel Kit for Speed Strap Sto-Fen OM-900 Omni-Bounce for Nikon SB-900 (Sto-Fen OM-EY Omni-Bounce for Canon 580EX/580EXII) Lastolite Tri-Grips Reflectors 3′x 3′ Skylite Panel Kit (Sunfire/White & Diffusion) 3′x 3′ Skylite Panel Kit (Silver/White & Diffusion) 3′x 3′ Black/White Fabric 6′x 3′ Skylite Panel Kit (Sunfire/White & Diffusion) 6′x 3′ Skylite Panel Kit (Silver/White & Diffusion) 6′x 3′ Black/White Fabric 6′x 6′ Skylite Panel Kit (Sunfire/White & Diffusion) 6′x 6′ Skylite Panel Kit (Silver/White & Diffusion) 6′x 6′ Black/White Fabric All-in-One Umbrellas Lastolite Ezy-Box 36″x36″ Softbox Lastolite Ezy-Box 24″x24″ Softbox Lastolite Ezy-Box 18″x18″ Softbox Lastolite Ezy-Box 15″x15″ Softbox

Conclusion

While I wish it were more balanced for Canon shooters, it’s still a good book that will teach anyone using a flash system a lot of cool tricks about how to make these little lights do great things. Of course, most of us won’t be able to use 47 flashes (nor should we) as he does in his Plane, but Not Simple chapter. Still, there’s plenty to learn from Joe’s vast experience. I’m glad I read it and I hope to see him continue to share his experience with us in a future book (which hopefully is a little more product neutral or at least Canon friendly).

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Value: Very Good
Recommendation: For Nikon Users this is a must own. For everyone else this is a nice to have, but be prepared that you’ll have to do the flash system conversions in your head as you read.

NEW: A response from Joe McNally about this review

My first version of this review made the statement that I felt like this book was bought and paid for by Nikon, and it should have been called the Nikon Hot Shoe Diaries. However, after a discussion with Joe I realize that it is really just a case of a guy who really loves the products he uses. Sure, he’s a long-time Nikon user, his wife Annie is a tech rep for Nikon, and he occasionally does gig’s for Nikon, but this book is really just a “diary” of what he does with the system he uses every day. It’s no different from my glowing reviews of Kelby books or ThinkTankPhoto bags, because when something serves you well you can’t help but rave about it. Here’s a response in Joe’s own words:

I respectfully and completely disagree with the assertion that the title of the book should be the Nikon Hot Shoe Diaries. This is my adventure with small flash not theirs. If I had bought a Canon camera in 1973 instead of a Nikkormat, I would have written about it from that perspective...

I do assignments for Nikon on occasion, but I am not on the Nikon payroll, and I buy all my gear over the counter from Jeff Snyder at Adorama. Nikon consigns a few speedlights to me every year to teach with, but I give them back at the end of each year, and am liable for it should one go missing.

There's always a bunch of folks out there who want to know your f-stop. So in this effort, being more instructional, I named names and ratios and the like. If I wrote, "I sent the remote speed light a TTL signal from my commander," lots of folks, especially those starting out with flash, want to know which speed light and which commander, and how far away the speed light was and what kind of stand it was on.

I simply don't have the depth of experience with Canon flashes to be on sure footing when talking about them.

Formula 1 Photography Update

So the purpose of this blog began as a place where I would log my journey into the world of professional photography where I hoped to have a chance to shoot F1 photos semi-professionally. I've since learned a lot and realized that I may have set my aspirations WAY too high.

My First Attempt at FIA Accreditation

With tickets purchased for the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, China, I began my quest to get FIA (Federation International Automobile - the Formula 1 governing body) permission for a press pass to the race. After much work, I found that you have to apply via their media accreditation procedure which among other things, requires a sponsor as well as previous publications showing your work (which is a bit of a catch 22, because how do you show previous work without a pass?).

Well, to make a long story short, I got two small magazines to agree to publish articles, so I needed to get to a race before China to get them content so I signed up to attend the 2007 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It would turn out to be the last GP in the US, so it was great that I was able to attend. It also gave me an opportunity to practice taking some shots.

Step 1 - The 2007 United States Grand PrixUSGP Test Shoot

The photos from my first F1 race shoot made me very happy, but when I started to share them with others I realized very quickly that others thought they sucked - bad. However, I learned something after taking over 3000 pictures, so that was the most important thing (more on that later).

With pictures in hand, I finally decided it was time to make my articles, so I sent the first pictures and story off to The Spiel who promptly published my article (half of which was in color) in their July 2007 issue. With some additional work, I got my pictures (only) published in the October 2007 issue of The Star on pages 86 through 91. The Star also agreed to publish my next article from China and sponsor me, so I was ready to apply for accreditation. I tried to follow the rules to the letter, but I quickly discovered that my odds were slim since my magazines were exactly the kind of magazines they DID NOT want to see, but I figured the worst that could happen is that they would say no. On September 20th, 2007 I got an official FIA response to my application - denied.

Accreditation Denied, so Off to the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai

I was pretty disappointed, but I knew my odds were slim so I traveled off to Shanghai, China to enjoy the 2007 Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit.

I enjoyed the race, despite a mishap which destroyed my best lens but left me with about 2000 pictures, some of which were actually very good (by my standard).

This resulted in my third published Formula 1 article in The Star which was entitled Shanghai Surprise. I was the author of both the words and the photographer, and I was pleased with the result. However, I learned something very important in the process - be sure to prepare your images yourself because busy publishers won't do it for you. There were some shots that needed some work (including cropping), but I didn't bother to do it myself so I was disappointed to see how they ended up in the magazine. Oh well, lesson learned.

 

Attempt 2 - The 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

Armed with better gear, including a Canon 1D-Mark III I thought that I would have a much better chance at getting "the shot" that would make me feel like a real F1 photographer. After taking over 6000 photos, I think I got a few that I can be proud of. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to process them and get more than 3 on the web.

Lessons Learned

While the Canon 1D-Mark III is much better than my Canon Rebel XTi, the fact remains that you need to take A LOT of shots because you are going to have more misses than hits. Now maybe there are pros who would disagree with me, but they are probably a lot closer to the action than I am in the stands or using a Nikon D3 with the buffer memory expansion service.

There's a few other things I learned:

• If you can sneak down to lower in the stands, do it and apologize (or move) later. It doesn't matter how big your lens is, the closer you can get the better. (duh)
• If you can go out of your comfort zone and shoot manual on a fixed spot and let the vehicle come to you, you can get better shots, but this takes A LOT of discipline.
• It's better to switch to JPEG to get the shots than to be stubborn and stay in RAW
• 17 GB of camera storage is not enough for a full day of shooting at the track. Plan for 2000 raw shots per day.
• Sunscreen can erase the printed label next to your buttons on a Canon Rebel XTi
• Trust your camera's metering more than your LCD or image histogram

Ron's Race Recommendations

1. Get a good monopod with an even better head. Without this you will not get pro quality shots (unless your are using something else for support)
2. A long zoom lens is hard to beat. Good examples are the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM or Nikon AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED, but there's some fantastic primes like the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM or Nikon AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8G ED VR too. However, you aren't going to get a big prime like this into a race, so stick with the big zooms.
3. Hold your camera with your right hand and put your left hand on the TOP of your lens (at the end of the barrel) and create opposing force between your two hands to create a tripod like steady. This alone made more difference in my shots than a more expensive camera or anything. This is the key to getting pro sharpness!!!!
4. Bring a towel to keep your hands clean and be sure not get sunscreen on your camera, but be sure to use PLENTY of sunscreen. Carry lots of water too (frozen bottled water in your bag are great for the end of the day).
5. Use evaluate metering and try experimenting with your SINGLE auto focus point (never let the camera decide) to get your intended subject in focus
6. If using a lens with IS, be sure to change it in the proper mode for panning (Canon users, this is mode 2)
7. Push-pull lenses are your friend. If you do step 2, you'll discover that it is impossible to zoom during a pan and get a sharp shot with a twist zoom.
8. Make sure you can shoot at 400mm, even if it means you have to use a Canon EF 2x Tele-extender or Nikon TC-20E II 2x Teleconverter for D-AF-I & AF-S Lenses. Teleconverters are pretty good these days, and post-process sharpening is even better. Don't be afraid to use one of these and be stupid and shoot at 200mm. Nearly all of my shots from my first two races were with a 2x teleconverter, and I don't regret it one bit. In case you are wondering, don't get the 1.x teleconverter if it won't push you out to 600mm+ on a cropped body.
9. A Hoodman Loupe is a wonderful tool for examining your pictures between sessions in the field. I wouldn't shoot a race without one.
10. Try something different after each 100th shot you take, but stick with the same thing for at least 100 shots (excluding special events like accidents). If your camera supports it, voice record a note about what you did (I forget to do this).
11. Focus on the drivers head and frame your shot accordingly.
12. Don't get hung up on trying to get the perfect pan shot as head on shots like this are good because they can be cropped to look like this. On a side note, this shot was a JPEG because my buffer was filling too quickly when I had 10 minutes to shoot at near eye level with the track.
13. Bring your wide-angle lens and get pictures of the action. My first double truck was of a wide angle crowd shot.
14. Don't forget to take lots of pictures on your way to and from the track (as well as evening festivities) to help tell a story about your experience. You'll be happy you did later (and I regret not doing this more).

15. Carry a pro quality camera bag that can hold a lot of stuff in a small space like a Glass Taxi.

16. Bring ear plugs!!!!

17. Record the race at home as you'll be too busy shooting to really pay much attention during the race.

18. Don't chimp while the action is going on as there will be plenty of time to do that between race sessions. An occasional glance to make sure you are capturing your intent is good, but move on fast.

19. 1/250 second is your friend for panning. Unless you are shooting an ordinary car which is going to be going < 100 mph, you'll find that anything slower isn't going to work very well for panning (unless you like really blurry pictures). You can go up to 1/320, but faster than that and you start freezing action which kills the sense of speed.

20. Personally, I find that f/11 is the best aperture to get the driver as well as most of the car in the shot, but I generally have to shot around f/8 due to the light required to do that at 1/250+ and ISO 100. During my first race I thought f/2.8 - f/5.6 would be good, but I think that results in too much of the car being blurry.

21. Don't be afraid to raise your ISO. Many digital cameras today actually perform better at ISO 200 than ISO 100, so don't be stuck on ISO 100. While going beyond ISO 400 may not be good for some cameras, you should own a camera that can at least do 400 well as overcast days with long lenses means you'll be needing a higher ISO. The Nikon D300, D700 or D3 are an excellent choices for high ISO situations, as are the Canon 40D, 5D, Canon 1D-Mark III. However, Nikon definitely has a huge advantage here.

22. Scout out the track for the best seats in advance and realize that row A may not be the front row (as I discovered in Canada where A comes after ZZ). However, on most tracks you want to be high because the fence will ruin your shots on the lower rows. Don't rule out the cheap general admission seats either as they can be at track level and you may get lucky and find a hole in the fence.

23. Bring rain gear for you and your camera so you can still shoot in the rain. Ponchos may look funny, but they work well.

24. Fully charge your batteries each night before you shoot and bring at least two sets (1 is fine with 1D Mark III's). If your camera supports a battery grip, then use it with extra batteries - you'll need it.

25. Bring a laptop with large capacity external drives or a Epson P-5000 / HyperDrive to allow for offloading your files each day.

In the end, the most important thing is to have fun. It may take a while to get great shots that your super happy with, but you'll enjoy many of your shots in the privacy of your own home.

In my case, I may be done shooting F1 for a while as it is starting to become cost prohibitive to me. I may consider other motorsports that are cheaper like MotoGP or possibly even IRL. However, what I have learned for now is that I'll have to make a name for myself a different way as this sport is just too tough to do on your own with a sponsor or some other means of funding.

REVIEW: Hoodman Pro LCD SCreen Loupe

Today I got a new toy - a Hoodman Professional LCD Screen Loupe that I had read about in The Digital Photography Book. As the weather is getting more and more sunny in Seattle these days, I find myself needing to crank up the brightness on my LCD to see anything. However the problem with doing this is that I frequently judge my exposure by what I see on the LCD (yeah, I know I should use the histogram ...). When I turn up the LCD brightness too much it causes me to underexpose shots so I decided it was time to do something about.

Well I've heard Scott Kelby and other photographers rave about this little widget, and I'm now officially a fan of this little gadget. It works great (although I wish it was bigger for the large LCD on my 1D Mark III), is compact, and travels nicely thanks to a neck strap and carrying case.

As you can see in the image below, I've attached mine (inside of its handy carrying case) to the outside of my ThinkTankPhoto Glass Taxi and attached the strap to my bag so I can't lose it.

Now when I need the loop, I just reach and grab it out and use it. In fact, when I'm done I've just let it dangle until I need it again. I'm sure if I damage it I might change this practice, but this device seems to be really well built so it seems like it would take a lot to damage it.

At first I scoffed at the $65 price tag for this thing because it seemed like nothing more than a plastic cover, but after getting it I see why it isn't the $15 I thought it should be. It is made of a really good rubber that won't damage your LCD, a nice piece of glass that doubles the image size which sure made my LCD seem better than it has looked before, and features +/- 3 adjustable diaopter. After using it in the sun today, I'd say it is priceless. I won't be shooting outdoors without it again - period!

Here's another shot of this device taken from Hoodman's web site (but order it from B&H to save money):

Cost: $65 USD (on 5/29/08)
Value: Overpriced, but very well made
Recommendation: Get it - you'll wonder how you lived without it on your first sunny day shoot