Long Exposure photography with the GOBE 10 stop ND Filter

I really, really enjoy using this GOBE 10 Stop ND filter.  The above shots are ISO 50, f16, 13" shots of the 5 span bridge in Pakenham, ON and the waterfalls are located in Almonte, ON.  If you asked me to do this 15-20 years ago, I'd tell you it's impossible to shoot a 13" shot in the middle of the day.  But now with the 10 stop ND filter in front of the lens, anything is possible

I hope next year, my fiancee and I could go to Florida and see a SpaceX rocket launch and I could shoot the launch with the ND filter during the day.  This is one of the many reasons why I love photography.  I.T. can suck it.  LOL

What’s been going on lately

I was notified March 15th, 2020 not to show up to work until April 6th, 2020.  Three weeks without work.  The agency I work for probably won’t pay me for the three weeks I’ll be off.  I am hoping my photography takes off and I can pay for rent, groceries, bills, etc.  Who am I kidding?  With everyone self quarantining, no one is making any money.

I took the opportunity today to test my setup.  My setup includes the Sony A7R II full frame camera, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive and the 12.9” screen.  I am using 4TB Seagate hard drive attached to my iPad Pro to store all my photos and videos.  The longest part of my editing process is actually importing the 80+ megabyte files onto the external hard drive.  I am hoping that iPad OS 13.4 gets more solid as the File app on the iPad is kinda sketchy.  I am hoping that iPadOS 14 resolves the Files app and makes the whole system easier and more solid to use.

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro edits the Sony A7R II files with a breeze.  Literally it takes a second or two to import into Pixelmator Photo on the iPad Pro.  Less than a second to use the Pixelmator Photo to use the AI to edit the photos.  I am finally happy to report that I no longer need a MacBook Pro or a Windows 10 laptop to edit photos.  I am now 110% reliant on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.

Since I have a few weeks off, I was going to go to Parc Omega to test out the Sony A7RII but thanks to Coronavirus, the park is closed until whenever this shit show is done.  I will be doing photography around the Ottawa area since travel is very limited right now and the income is limited as well.  Thankfully gas is cheap and getting cheaper by the day.  We’re done to less than 80 cents a litre.  This Coronavirus is an overblown shit show.  Someone is definitely making money off of this panic.  It’s not a pandemic.  It’s a panic.  

Back to just doing phtotography

I think it's time to go back to just doing photography.  Not just your run of the mill wildlife and animal photography but high end landscape photography.

Yesterday I went to my local photography store and I bought a Sony A7R II camera body.  Just  the body.  I have to wait a bit to buy the specific lens I want.  I'll probably get it in the next week or two.  I was thinking yesterday that Parc Omega isn't worth going to anymore as the entrance fee just keeps going up and up and up.  The fencing is higher now that it ever has been so if I want to photograph the Arctic Wolves for example, it's virtually impossible to get them without having the fence in the way.

I want to get the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens for the Sony A7RII body.  I  think it's wide enough and it has enough reach for me to get most things.  The Sony A7RII has 42.4 megapixels so I can crop in to whatever I want.  I think it's going to be the perfect camera/lens combination.

It's early March now and the snow is starting to melt away.  It's supposed to be above zero starting tomorrow during the day at least.  I have pretty much all the camping gear I need.  Sleeping bag, mattress, pillow to sleep in the back of the car.  All I need now is just a cooler to put my food and water into and I can now leave for the weekends to go car camping and do photography on the weekends with the new camera.

I will need to buy an extra set of batteries for this camera as the battery life sucks on this Sony camera.  I'm seeing a picture of the Sony batteries not being so good on most Sony cameras.  But if I'm just doing landscapes, I can just fire off 300-400 shots over the weekend and work with just one battery.  I just want that lens.

It’s not the camera

Still in a conundrum.  Luckily I have until March 2020 to make a final decision.  Now I’m leaning towards just shooting with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII.  I realize the Sony A7RII has more than twice the amount of megapixels which means higher resolution photos and 4K footage.  But I mainly shoot for micro stock agencies and I’ve gotten excellent photos and 4K footage with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I am trying to convince myself to just shoot with those cameras instead of the Sony A7RII.  I could edit the A7RII photos on my 2018 iPad Pro.  It does have enough horse power to colour grade and edit the images unlike my early 2013 MacBook Pro or my Windows 10 laptop which has 2 SSD hard drives and 32GB of RAM.  I want to be as minimalist as I can.  I don’t want to carry around large amounts of equipment.  

There are photographers with YouTube channels who shoot on Sony a6400 bodies with pretty much kit lenses.  I think I can do well with just the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII.  I should really save my money for a better drone than the DJI Spark.  I want to go out west and do more drone photography in the mountains.  

I think I’m just going to keep saving my photography money and finally make a decision in March 2020.  I am kind of hoping that Sony comes out with the next Sony RX100 Mark VIII which has more resolution and better battery life.  I should have about $2000US saved, if not more by March 2020 to make a good decision.

Tonight after work, I’m going out to do some more photography.  I want to go to Nepean Point and get an HDR shot of the Ottawa landscape.  It’s a sunny day right now and there are white fluffy clouds in the sky.  I hope to get some good light tonight to get a spectacular image of the Ottawa landscape.  If I do get a good image tonight I will show you here tonight.