Canon GP-E2 GPS Review

Today I am going to review the Canon GP-E2 GPS. Before I get started, I would like to say that I have used this device for close to a year now, so I can give you a pretty clear look at the device. The device itself is compatible with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EOS 6D, Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EOS 7D (with limitations), and a few other Canon cameras.

The device itself attaches to the camera via the hot shoe, and can communicate via either the hot shoe or a USB cable, with the exception of the Canon EOS 7D which is limited to just the USB cable. With the USB cable design, if you do want to use a flash on camera, you can always store the GPS somewhere else and use a flash, or if you don't have a flash, you can conveniently store it right on the camera's hot shoe. Here is a photo of the GPS on my Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

Here is a photo of the device on a Canon EOS 7D with the USB cable attached. I read a review of a guy who accidentally broke the USB port on the camera because the camera strap got tangled on the wire. If you use it this way, be very careful!

The device it self has a "modified" hot shoe with 1 pin missing. So I am guessing it works sort of like a USB port on camera because of the 4 pin design. Here is a photo comparison between the GPS device and a off-camera flash extension for Canon.

The device itself is around the same height as an AA Eneloop battery. I have 2 photos of it with and without the Eneloop battery. Here is a photo of the GPS device alone.

And here is a photo of the GPS device by the Eneloop battery.

One AA battery is enough to power the device. Even with the battery inside, this device is pretty lightweight. You can configure how often for the GPS to update its position. You can do so in the supplied Map Utility, or inside your camera's menu system. I have it configured to update every second. On the instruction manual, the estimated run time for this set up is around 8 hours. Using my regular Eneloop AA Battery (2000 mAh), I actually got around 10 hours out of it, and with my Eneloop AA XX Battery (2500 mAh), I actually got around 12-13 hours out of it. The device itself is very energy efficient.

Let's continue talking about the design of the device. The notification lights is a bit awkward. It flashes, takes a break and flashes again. 1 flash is Good and 3 quick flashes is Bad, this is for both GPS reception and battery level. I would rather have a constant red/yellow/green indicator. There is room for improvements. If power was an issue, they could have at least put a button on there that we can press to trigger a status update.

The device itself will record GPS location (if there is reception) and the altitude (if enough satellites are available). The GPS device will even record the compass direction when it is enabled (with the exception of the Canon EOS 7D).

Also in the device, you can record the route that you took by switching the GPS to LOG on the mode dial. Your route will be recorded in the flash memory in the GPS device. This is useful when you want to use a flash, using multiple cameras, and don't want to stick on the USB cable. No compass information will be stored if you do it this way, however the GPS locations can by synced back onto the images in post right inside Map Utility as long as all photos were shot on a Canon camera (there are ways around this, I tell you about that below). To get the route data out, you need to hook up your GPS to your computer and port it out via Map Utility which is the supplied software that comes with the device.

There are a few things I don't like about this feature. The USB port on the GPS look's like a special port, but really isn't. The port is designed slightly differently, but can be used the same way. They only supply you with the special USB cord with the device required to connect the device to your camera. They don't give you any instructions in the instruction manual on how to connect it to your computer. With the "special" looking port, many people get confused on how to plug that special USB cord for the camera into your computer. You aren't suppose to use that USB cord for the camera for this operation. What you are suppose to use is the USB cord that came with your camera! They created a very very hard optical illusion there and I didn't like that very much. Took me a few hours and Googling before I found out. Their customer support was crap too as they told me that I was actually suppose to get one and I was missing one. Almost 1 year later, haven't received anything in the mail even though they promised that!

Another thing with the GPS log is that it is in Canon NMEA format. What is Canon NMEA you may ask? Well it is just a corrupt standard format with all the information in there marked as "invalid" except for the 1st and last records. Canon probably did this so the GPS can't be used with other brand cameras as Map Utility will only map photos taken by a Canon camera. There is a way around this and it is by using the software GPSBable which will convert the Canon NMEA format into any format and you can use another software to do the mapping. Just make sure you have the software accept the "invalid locations". The Map Utility software only allows you to convert to Google Earth KMZ in the software. Below is a screenshot of what the map looks like in Google Earth. This is a route I did to test it out at a local park called Shadow Cliff Regional Park located in Pleasanton, CA.

If you are using the GPS device to record your route, it does make a new file every 24 hours according to GMT. That means if you live in another time zone, you may get several map files instead of just one. Below is a screenshot of the Map Utility with the several route files that the software created while testing the route feature. The one I have activated is from Shadow Cliff Regional Park in Pleasanton, CA. You can also see that Map Utility is pretty much just a software with Google Maps embedded. I found some issues with the map loading slowly and freezing up, but I think this is because Internet Explorer is "hosting" the frame, so this isn't Canon's fault.

You can also have the software display your photos over the route file. The software will automatically activate the correct route file. Below is some of the photos I shot at Shadow Cliff Regional Park in Pleasanton, CA mapped out. The software will also display the compass location on the pin if you had the feature activated.

Shadow Cliff Regional Park was a pretty open area with some trees, but mostly just open grass areas. The GPS was very very accurate when I shot there and the worst I had was being around 5 feet off. This was not the case when I went shooting the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. Being surrounded by tall skyscrapers, the device got pretty inaccurate when I got there. I did some drawings of the route and photo locations files I got while in San Francisco. The red lines was the original route the GPS recorded. The blue line was the correct route I drew in. The green circles and arrows point to where the photos were suppose to be located.

As you can see the device is not very accurate when being surrounded by skyscrapers in San Francisco. Here is another "corrected" screenshot.

The device however was very accurate for the entire BART ride on the way there. It was pretty fast to update too, except when BART entered tunnels. Whenever the device looses the signal, it will draw a straight line between the where it first lost the signal to where it regained the signal. This is why you see that line between Oakland and San Francisco.

So to summarize the accuracy, this device performs well in open areas such as forests and recreation parks, but when you get into big cities, it will get inaccurate fast from skyscrapers.

Now let's talk about the improvements I would like to see in this. A focus assist beam would have been nice. They just needed to add an LED inside (like 5 cent in cost?!), but they would have a small issue with only 1.2v to 1.5v with the one AA battery. I wouldn't mind the weight of an extra AA battery if they added that feature. Would have liked the Speedlite radio control system inside (extra price is fine with me). It is not like they need an LCD on it, all the controls are in the camera's menu, just needed to add a chip and radio inside. Could have also added a optical trigger (again, a few extra LEDs would have done the job). For the price, would have preferred to have at least one of these features in it.

To summarize my review, I believe this device is worth it for every penny as long as you have a compatible camera except the Canon EOS 7D due to the limitations. I found it very useful in mapping out my shots and being able to tell my followers where something was taken. I always felt sad when someone comes to me and asks where I shot it because they want the same shot, and I had to tell them I had no clue. The device is very accurate and great for the great outdoors and big open areas, however, no GPS is going to be perfect in a big city with skyscrapers, including this one. I would recommend you use Eneloop battery with this device as you will get almost a whole day of shooting with one. Canon definitely have some room to improve, but I believe I got a very great deal out of this.

So this is pretty much for my review. Here is a "list" version of my review:

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Runs on 1 AA battery
• Very energy efficient (going a bit longer than predicted in the instruction manual)
• Tracks fairly accurate in open areas
• Records Location and Direction, and Elevation if reception is good (with the exception of the Canon EOS 7D).
• Easy to find location and direction of photos after you've taken them
• Easy to see the route you've traveled on if you used LOG
• Map Utility uses Google Maps

Cons:

• Canon NMEA is "corrupted", they purposely marked most of the location data invalid. Easily fixed with GPSBable.
• Map Utility only exports KMZ (easily corrected with GPSBable).
• Not so accurate in big cities with tall buildings.
• Notification lights kind of weird. As I have mentioned, I would prefer a constant red/yellow/green indicator instead of the flashing red LED.
• Takes up hotshoe, but you can always use a USB cable and stick it somewhere else.
• Limited use with the Canon EOS 7D.
• Comes with cable to hook up to your camera but not computer. You are suppose to use the USB cable from your camera, but they've given you a very hard "optical illusion" that you have to figure out with no instructions at all!

Future Upgrades:

• Radio Flash Trigger
• Optical Flash Trigger
• Focus Assist Lamp

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My New Canon EOS 5D Mark III

That's right, I will be taking just a little break (for today) from the Death Valley National Park photos. The reason being is because, I don't have any time for a blog post today! I have a hiking trip at Lake Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley, CA planned with a couple of friends. If your question is how I am writing this one, it is because I actually wrote this blog post yesterday and scheduled it to automatically post today.

Ok, so what is this blog post about? It is all about my new Canon EOS 5D Mark III! That's right, some camera pr0n and no, it is not a name I just made up and I did the spelling like that on purpose. Very popular among photographers, just Google it. Unlike real pr0n, in camera pr0n, we focus on cameras instead. There is no adult content here, unless of course you consider photos of cameras to be adult content. :)

So here is just a small story behind these photos. I recently got a Canon EOS 5D Mark III over Christmas as a gift a friend. Here, I just want to show it off to you guys. :) I hope you enjoy. Photos I take with the camera won't really bit up any time soon since. I have so much photos I took before I got this camera I still have to show you (this includes Death Valley National Park). Anyways, please enjoy.

Here is the box for the camera. Time for a little unboxing.  

 Fully unboxed. :) All the stuff that was in the box.

Now for some shots of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens attached. 

Overhead view

Back of the camera.

Comparison with my Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens (Left).

Another comparison. 

Alright, this is all the photos I took for this blog post! I hope you have enjoyed this. :P Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

High Speed Photography Tutorial (Including a Video Version)

Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover at NASA Moffett Field near Mountain View, CA.
See more photos of the event here.

How would you guys like to learn high speed photography and be able to take a photo like the one I did above? Pretty sure all of you do. I am here to offer some tips and tricks on the method I use for high speed photography. Let's get started!

In order to take the photo, you need to have the correct settings on your camera. Here are some of the settings I use on my camera. I'll explain them in more detail under the image. These were just screenshots pulled out of my video. If this text version tutorial don't make that much sense to you, I recommend you want the video at the end of this blog post.

1. In a high speed shot, you always want to control the speed of the shot. Always use Shutter Priority Mode (Tv or S) on your camera. In this mode, you can set the camera's shutter speed, and have your camera decide the rest of the values (ISO, Aperture) automatically to reach the correct exposure. You do this by using the mode dial on the top of your camera. 
2. Secondly, make sure you have a shutter speed fast enough for your moving object. However, you should not drive this speed up too much as your camera may not be able to get the right exposure! Generally if the camera can not reach the correct exposure, the values in the camera will flash. Generally when this happens, it means your photo will turn out too dark, however under some circumstances, it may mean your photo will turn out too bright. This is generally a trial and error process. The tip here is to get it at the "right" exposure, one that is neither too short or too long. I can not give you a specific shutter speed as it will depend on how fast your subject is moving. 
3. Set your camera in AI SERVO mode (Canon) or in the special focus tracking mode in your camera. This mode is generally under different names in other brands of cameras. I only know the name for Canon cameras as I have never used other brands before. AI SERVO will insure that your subject will be continuously focused on as long as you are pressing down the shutter button half way or in between shots when it is fully pressed down. 
4. Set your camera on High-Speed Continuous Burst so it will take as many shots as fast as it can when the shutter button is pressed down. This will make it more likely you will get the shot you are looking for. 
5. Zone-AF is what I use for these kinds of photos. The center focus points of ANY camera is the fastest and is great for focusing on fast moving objects. Most likely, your subject will be in the center anyways, so why not just limit the focusing to those points! 
6. Setting the metering mode to center weighted average will help you get the correct exposure. Sometimes when you try to take a photo of a bird in flight, the sky behind will be extremely bright compared to the under side of the bird. If you left it on evaluative metering, your camera will most likely expose for the sky instead of your subject. Again, your subject will be in the center most likely, so this will even out the exposure a bit and help you get the right image. 

Some people may disagree with the tips I provide below. Again, this is just my way of doing things. Whether or not you want to follow these is completely up to you. 

Another thing I like to do is setting my camera on RAW + Small JPEG. I love shooting RAW as I have more work room in post processing, and I also shoot a small JPEG because RAW photos can not be previewed with out special softwares like Photoshop. Generally people look down at this for high speed photography as it will fill the buffer (temporary storage) of your camera as it writes the data to memory card. When this limit is reached, your speed will slow down significantly and your camera will refuse to take any more photos. How fast you hit this limit depends completely on the camera you have and the write speed of your memory card. If you want to see how fast before the Canon EOS 7D hits its buffer, check out my video below. The Canon EOS 7D has a pretty fast processor and a fairly large buffer inside so I shoot in RAW as the buffer limit don't bother me as much. 

If your camera hits the buffer too soon and it starts bothering you, you can try these few things:

• Turn off the JPEG "preview".
• Choose a lower resolution RAW format.
• Switch to JPEG format (you usually can't fill your buffer in JPEG mode).
• Buy a faster memory card or camera. 

The other thing you see in my above image is that I have my camera set on ISO Auto. If you are a bit more experienced with photography, you might be thinking, "That is not very professional!". Usually I'd agree with you, but however, the recently Canon EOS 7D firmware upgrade added the option for me to set a max in ISO Auto. If you want to read more about the firmware update, you can read about it here. You want to use as low of an ISO as you want, but with fast moving objects, there is no telling what you need to use. It is best to let your camera automatically pick between a limited range. I usually don't like to go over ISO 800, but in the Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover case, I know ISO 400 should be enough to properly expose the shots. In photography, everything is about experience. You should be able to get a rough estimate of the settings you need for a particular image with out even seeing it first. Only tip I can offer you on that is keep taking photos and soon you will get the hang of it. To configure the maximum ISO on a Canon EOS 7D, press (Menu), and scroll to the 3rd menu. You should see this option. If you don't, you probably didn't update your camera yet, and again, you get get more details on that here.

I love these settings, and I wish to use them more often! What should I do? You can easily set it to one of your custom function modes on your camera (may not be present on some cameras and the number of modes you have vary between different bodies too). The method I show you here is for the Canon EOS 7D as this is the only camera I have and know how to use. Different cameras may have different methods of setting this up, or you may not have custom functions entirely. I recommend you consult your camera's instruction manual for more details on this subject.

If you have a Canon EOS 7D like me, you are in luck! Ever wondered what the C1, C2, or C3 on your mode dial is for? It stands for Custom Function 1, Custom Function 2, and Custom Function 3. On your Canon EOS 7D, you can set up a total of 3 custom functions. For me, I my C1 set on the settings for HDR photography. For my C2, I have it set up on landscape shot without a remote shutter release (in other words 2 second delay). For my C3, you have been looking at it all this time and it is my high speed photography settings.

The settings can be any mode you want (expect Auto and Creative Auto). The button can be P, Tv, Av, M, or B and any custom settings you dial in will be saved. Custom settings includes your menu options, your metering modes, your shutter speed (in Tv or M mode), and all the other things displayed on your LCD. Every time you turn to the Custom Function, all those options will be there set up for you the same way you did the first time. To do this, turn your mode dial to the mode you want (P, Tv, Av, M, or B) and dial in the settings. Then just press (Menu), scroll to the 9th menu, and go down to Camera user setting (as demonstrated in the photo above). Then it will ask you to either Register, or Clear Settings. You will want Register (obviously). Then you just pick which mode dial you want to set it on. Doing so will reset what ever you have set on that mode previously, so make sure you don't pick the wrong one!

Now that we are done with camera settings, let's move on to some methods I use in the field when I'm actually taking photos.

The first tip I offer you may not be practical in all situations. Sometimes you maybe wondering if the shutter speed you set is fast enough, or if the tracking modes is correct. In planned events, like the Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover, I know the subject will be a Boeing 747 (airplane). Before the main target flew over, I saw some other airplanes flying over the area and I took some test shots with those planes. You can see the test shots I took below.

Generally this is not practical with wildlife photography because those things are not planned and the speed they move at varies too greatly. However, in these planned events, I know those airplanes flying overhead is traveling at about the same speed as the Boeing 747 later, so I was able to use them as test targets. If you expecting the subject to fly over sometime, and it is totally planned, I recommend you find some test objects traveling at about the same speed before the real deal comes.

If you are in the field getting wildlife photos, it is a process of trial and error. Again, like I said above, The more photos you take, the easier it is for you to judge the correct shutter speed.

Remember how I said above with your buffer filling up? One way I try to avoid that is by shooting 2-3 shots, and then taking a break. I still keep the shutter button half way pressed, and I still track the subject, but I take a break from taking any shots. If you think about it, later on your computer, you only need 1 or 2 good shots. You don't need several hundred trashy shots (even if they are all in focus). So when I take a break between the shots, it gives the camera more time to write the data to the memory card, it gives me time to reframe the shot (You can't see anything when the mirror is up!), and it also gives AI SERVO some time to refocus accurately. Technically AI SERVO is still focusing between the shots, however it will be much more accurate when it doesn't have the mirror flipping up and down.

If you looked at my Endeavour photos, you will know I left some margins in every photo. I recommend you do the same just incase you have to crop and reframe a photo. This will also give you some error space as well. As I mentioned above, you can't see through your view finder when the mirror is up! Sometimes I will find myself not panning my camera when the mirror is up! I am not the only one who make this mistake, so make sure you leave some margins when you frame up the shot. Also remember to continue panning even when the viewfinder goes dark.

Alright, I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! I hope this tutorial can help you out with your future photos. Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar. Alright, and below is a video version of this tutorial which may further clarify somethings if you didn't get it in writing.

If you enjoy the video and would like more, you can subscribe me on Youtube here. 

Copyright Warning: The first photo in this blog post is one of my best and most popular works of art. Unauthorized usage and reproductions are strictly prohibited. Please contact me here to purchase prints and negotiate photo licenses.

What's In My Bag...

I noticed I have only been posting photos recently, and wanted to change things up a bit. For this post, I will be showing you all the photography equipment I have. :) This is most of my equipment and I usually carry all of it with me when I go on vacations to far places. I will usually skip over a few items if I'm only visiting nearby places depending on what I feel like shooting that day. I bring most of them to farther places when I visit because I don't know what to expect! No reviews of the products will be given here, but you can get an idea of what I bring and maybe what you are missing in your photography equipment collection. :) These photos do include the new 600EX-RT flash I purchased recently.

The first photo is of most of my equipment. My camera, tripod, and 1 of my lenses are not in the photo for obvious reasons.

Equipment listed in the above photo (Starting from the left):

• Vanguard Up-rise 43 Zoom Expandable Sling Camera Bag
• Case Logic DCB-204 Camera Bag (The smaller one I use to carry my filters. I attach it to my bigger bag via a stainless steal cable.)
• A red LED flashlight (For finding camera controls at night when doing night photography. Red light won't ruin your night vision.)
• 82mm to 58mm filter adapter ring (Used to adapt my 82mm filters down to 58mm for my smaller lenses. Helps to save some money on my filters.)
• Hoya Neutral Density Filters (9-stop and 5-stop filter).
• B+W 82mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer
• B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer
• B+W 82mm Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Coating (010M) (Was on my camera lens, not in the filter case)
• Fotodiox 6" X 8" Universal Softbox (for my flash)
• Giottos Rocket Air Blaster (Large) (Used to blow dust off my lenses and camera sensor)
• Lexar Professional 64GB Class 10 SDXC Card (backup storage in case my 8GB CF runs out)
• SD to CF Adapter (To adapt my Class 10 SDXC card to the CF slot. It's a really big savings than buying a real CF card. LOL Sadly, it does take the speed down, so if you do get one, take that into consideration, plus the adapter does get pretty warm when in use. Again, I repeat, I only use this as a backup when my real CF card runs out of memory.)
• Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens (I no longer use this one as I have a wide angle L-model to replace it with.)
• Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens (The one I use for bird and animal photography)
• Some lens cleaning cloths including a piece of chicken skin (which I bought in China), some random microfiber cleaning cloths, and a Nikon microfiber cleaning cloth.
• Some AAA and AA battery storage boxes (I read on a forum some guy accidently put some change he got after lunch in the same pocket as his batteries which burned a hole in his pants... Always use storage boxes for the batteries. I bought these at my local Fry's Electronics.)
• RainbowImaging 100 meter 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Shutter Release
• Zeikos Remote Shutter Release (has button locking feature for Bulb exposures)
• Canon 600EX-RT Flash (with carrying bag next to it)
• Flash Filters and Filter holder (came with my flash)
• Studiohut Timer Remote Control Shutter (Remote I use for time-lapse and star trails photography)
• Yongnuo Brand Off Camera Flash Cable (Buying 3rd party really saves money. LOL)
• Some one time use AAA batteries for my different remotes and my flashlight.
• Rechargeable High Capacity 2500 MaH Sanyo XX Batteries (for my flash)
• Extra LP-E6 Battery Pack for my camera.

Surprising how I can fit that much inside such a small camera bag right? LOL So now let's move onto the things that was not in that photo because I had to use my camera for that photo. The last 2 photos was taken using my Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Equipment shown in this photo:

• Canon EOS 7D
• Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (What I use for my landscape shots)
• Vanguard Alta+ 263AP Tripod

Here is a photo of the whole tripod with the camera on top. Photos also taken with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

So there you have it, most of the equipment I use and bring along for a photo shoot. :) It is very heavy. LOL Even though I have so much equipment, I can still quickly remember where I put it and quickly locate it in my bag. Sometimes I do hunt around a bit, but I usually don't. As a photographer, it's good to memorize where you store everything so you don't miss the perfect shot! As of right now, I actually don't have any space in my bag to store the flash. Not sure what changes I'll be making for that, but I bring most of these equipment along when I go on trips to far places. I most likely will probably just strap my flash to the outer part of my camera bag, the same way I'm storing my camera filters... If you read carefully, you'd know I usually cheap out and buy 3rd party equipment for all the parts that DO NOT affect optical quality! I never cheap out on lenses, batteries, or flash equipment... It's a very good money saving tip. :) Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Canon EOS 7D 2.0.X Firmware Upgrade

If you are keeping up with the latest Canon news, you will know that Canon has recently released the new 2.0.X firmware for the Canon EOS 7D. The new upgrade gives lucky Canon EOS 7D owners:

• Higher maximum burst rate
• The option to set a maximum for ISO Auto all the way up to ISO 6400 (starting limit is from ISO 400)
• Partial compatibility with the new Canon GPS Receiver GP-E2
• Manual audio level adjustment during video shooting and during review
• In-camera RAW image processing and converting
• In-camera image resize
• In-camera image rating
• Faster scrolling of magnified images
• Custom photo file names
• Time-zone and Daylight savings options

If you own a Canon EOS 7D, you can go ahead and find the new firmware update here. The instructions for installing the firmware is included in the ZIP file. Make sure you have a full battery or use the AC adapter for the camera. Also remember not to touch anything on your camera especially the power switch, battery compartment, and the CF card door during the update!

Depth of Field in Photography (Video)

This video explains what depth of field in photography is and how you can adjust it in your camera.

Key Points:

• Depth of Field = DOF
• Wide DOF is narrow aperture, high F-stop number, and will have most/all of your photo in focus. This is generally used for landscape shots.
• Narrow DOF is wide aperture, low F-stop number, and will blur out most of the foreground/background. This is generally used for portraits, animal, macro, etc photos.

If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe me here.

Message from author: Looks like I broke my promise again! This isn't Monterey photos right? XD Well first of all, sorry! Second of all, I want to tell you all something. This is the first photography tip/tutorial video I made and I plan on doing more of these "lectures" in the future. If you haven't done so, the link to my Youtube channel is above, so please subscribe if you love photography! Have a nice day. I will begin the Monterey photos tomorrow. No more excuses!

2012 Solar Eclipse Photos

These are not photos of the moon people (well it actually is), but photos of the sun! A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth blocking out part of the Sun seen from Earth. These photos were taken from Shadow Cliffs Regional Park located in Pleasanton, CA. Sadly, to see the full eclipse, you had to drive further north in California to Eureka. In the SF Bay Area, we only saw a partial solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse is similar to a full eclipse but the moon doesn't line up directly so you can see the "ring of fire". You only end up seeing a crescent of the sun. Either way, being able to see this eclipse from the Bay Area is rare and I see it as a blessing.

Websites did warn you not to take photos with your camera with out special filters, but I did with a simple polarizer filter. Nothing bad happened. XD I also looked at the eclipse with only my sunglasses. Nothing bad happened too. I'm not saying you should do the same, but if you do, you do it at your own risk. You should know looking at solar eclipses with out the right equipment and protective gear can be dangerous and can even cause blindness. How did I cope? Short 2 second looks at the sun. It works well as I do that by accident several times everyday.

The following photos were taken with a Canon EOS 7D at 300mm with ISO set at 100, shutter speed set at 1/8000 of a second with an aperture of f/45. This is probably why nothing happened to my camera. Using an aperture of f/45 lets in very little light. Some of the photos were taken through a polarizer filter, some of them are not. The solar eclipse occurred on 5/20/2012 beginning around 5:30 PM.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing here.

 5:58 PM

At first, I didn't want to risk damaging my camera, so I waited for some of the sun to be covered before I take my first photo. This was about the time I got to Shadow Cliff and parked.

Just as a reminder, if you love my blog, you can also "Like" us on Facebook. You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar. This will give you updates on your Facebook feed as I post more photos.

 6:14 PM

 6:24 PM

 6:30 PM

Things that has to do with solar eclipses.

 6:32 PM

 6:35 PM

 6:37 PM

 6:39 PM

 6:43 PM

 6:48 PM

 6:58 PM

 7:04 PM

 7:15 PM

The little dots in the photo are pollen. This is when I took off my polarizer filter. The filter filtered out the reflected light from the pollen, but since I removed it to take photos of other stuff, they started showing up.

7:27 PM

I hope you have enjoyed the solar eclipse photos! What a beautiful natural phenomenon isn't it? Anyways, again, if another solar eclipse occurs, don't stare at the sun with out special glasses (welding goggles may also work)! If you wasn't able to enjoy it, I hope you have enjoyed these photos! Please don't forget to share this blog post with your friends, family, and coworkers! Thanks for viewing!

Shilin Official Residence (士林官邸)/Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂) - Taiwan (台湾) 2011 (Part 8)

Last year, I made my first visit to Taiwan, R.O.C.. I was very busy after I got back and never got a chance to look through them and pick out the photos I'm going to post. I finally took out enough time to finish, so... Here they are! I did not take many photo there as the tropical weather made me very sick. I will be splitting them into a total of 8 parts. I hope you enjoy viewing them!

我去年去台湾旅游了一次。我会把这些照片分成八章文章。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Taiwan photos, use this link. To see all of my Taiwan photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 

Sorry about the delay, I have been very busy recently. No, I did not lazy out, I had to do college stuff. So yeah... :/ A lot of working. Very busy. Anyways, I managed to make some time so here is the last post for Taiwan! Today's post will feature the rest of the photos from Shilin Official Residence (士林官邸) and the photos from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂).

我最近很多事，没时间来写新的文章。我有很多进大学文件要写，所以很忙。我抽了一些时间出来来写博客。今天是最后的台湾周片。我今天有在士林官邸和中正纪念堂拍的照片。

Before I get started, I would just like to remind you that I made a Facebook Fan page for this photography blog. You can "Like Us" here. This way, you can be updated whenever I post something new! :) Please invite your friends too! I'm trying to get more viewers on here. Anyways, as always, enjoy my photos!

 This is a greenhouse inside the Shilin Official Residence.

这是一个在士林官邸里的暖房。

Flowers in the greenhouse. 

Turtles in the pond. This is still in the Shilin Official Residence. Usually, these turtles are released into the wild by locals. Not too sure about Taiwan traditions, but in China, some people believe releasing turtles, freeing a life, is considered good karma. I think this is also true in Taiwan as our traditions are not that different. 

Butterflies! I wish I had my new Canon EOS 7D back then. I got way better lens and resolution. LOL  

Pond with lily pads.

Another photo of turtle.  

This was the place the former leader Chiang Kai-Shek lived.  

Another shot of the palace/mansion.  

The garden near the residence.  

A buddhist temple.

The photo of the Taipei Railway Station taken from Caesar Park Hotel.  

This begins the photos from the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂). 

I think this was the flag raising ceremony. Not too sure.  

A pond in Taipei somewhere.  

A small stream.

This concludes the photos from my trip to Taiwan! Not too sure what I will be posting next, but it will most likely cloud photos or squirrel photos. I have a lot of new ones! :P I will probably be posting cloud photos as the ones I posted 2 years ago has gotten quite a lot of attention and is actually one of my most popular posts on this blog! You can find the post here. According to my network traffic records, that page gets around 30-50 visitors alone everyday!

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