12345Michael54321
31st of March 2007 (Sat), 19:20
The Smithsonian Kite Festival took place today, on the Mall, in Washington, DC.
I wanted my pictures to not simply show kites, but to include a Washington landmark or two, so as to put the festival in geographic context. (And while I was there, I took a few pictures of kite-free landmarks and monuments, along with a few cherry blossoms.)
These two photos are of kites, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol. They were both taken with my cheap-o Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 II lens. The first was taken at 300mm @ f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec. The second at 170mm @ f/7.1 @ 1/640 sec. Both at ISO 100.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1088.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1095.jpg
These next four show the Washington Monument, but I gave the Capitol a rest, as it's old and I didn't want to tire it out. They were all taken with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II "Kit Lens." The first was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. The second was 21mm @ f/8 @ 1/320 sec. The third was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. And the fourth was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 sec. All at ISO 200, since by this point I'd decided to bump up the ISO from 100 to 200 in order to get reasonably fast shutter speeds - I was without a tripod, you see, and in my experience the quality hit in going from ISO 100 to ISO 200 on the XT is quite minor. (The higher shutter speeds were particularly important when I was shooting with the 70-300mm lens zoomed way out, but even with the 18-55mm lens, it doesn't hurt sharpness to have a nice short shutter speed.)
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1167.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1188.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1173.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1170.jpg
These next three feature the Capitol as the primary landmark. Again, all were taken with the 18-55mm kit lens, the first at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 sec. The second at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/250 sec.. And the third at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. (Despite the evidence, I really am capable of moving off of f/8. Honest.) All at ISO 200.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1155.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1180.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1186.jpg
No monuments visible in the next shot; it's just a nice kite festival picture. Taken with kit lens @ 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 @ ISO 200.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1149.jpg
And finally, a couple of cherry blossom shots. Because for some reason, people seem to care more about the blossoms than about kiting, don't ask me why. Both taken with the aforementioned 75-300mm lens with camera set to ISO 200. The first is 75mm @ f/9 @ 1/250 sec. And the second's 205mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1105.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1112.jpg
And all of the above were taken with my Canon XT. And in nearly every case I had a Sunpak circular polarizer on whichever lens I was using, although I didn't always choose to set it for maximum effect. (No law says that all polarizers must be set to maximum at all times.) Kite pictures generally mean lots of sky, so there was no way I was leaving the polarizer at home. Yeah, a polarizer costs some light, and I was using slow lenses handheld to begin with, but I'm convinced it was worth it.
I would add that while kite pictures generally mean lots of sky, one thing I try to avoid are pictures of a kite in the sky, with nothing else in the photo for a sense of scale. Without people, buildings, trees, etc., visible, it's often impossible to tell whether that cool looking kite photographed against the blue sky is 28 inches long, or 28 feet long. (Plus, such photos can be a little boring, at least to me.)
While the equipment I had on hand today was definitely not high end (an XT, and two of the least expensive Canon zooms you'll typically come across), and many of my pictures are more snapshots than art, it was really great spending a few hours on the Mall, in nice weather, surrounded by kites, national monuments, and generally friendly people. (Sometimes I go someplace with my primary objective being the creation of great photographs. Today my primary objective was to have fun at a kite festival while taking a few pretty pictures.)
And as I didn't get home that long ago, I haven't had a chance to fully Photoshop any of the photos. So if you think some could be improved in post-processing, you're probably right.
Finally, my apologies if any of you were put off by the length of this post, or the excessive number of links to photos.
--
Michael
I wanted my pictures to not simply show kites, but to include a Washington landmark or two, so as to put the festival in geographic context. (And while I was there, I took a few pictures of kite-free landmarks and monuments, along with a few cherry blossoms.)
These two photos are of kites, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol. They were both taken with my cheap-o Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 II lens. The first was taken at 300mm @ f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec. The second at 170mm @ f/7.1 @ 1/640 sec. Both at ISO 100.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1088.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1095.jpg
These next four show the Washington Monument, but I gave the Capitol a rest, as it's old and I didn't want to tire it out. They were all taken with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II "Kit Lens." The first was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. The second was 21mm @ f/8 @ 1/320 sec. The third was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. And the fourth was 18mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 sec. All at ISO 200, since by this point I'd decided to bump up the ISO from 100 to 200 in order to get reasonably fast shutter speeds - I was without a tripod, you see, and in my experience the quality hit in going from ISO 100 to ISO 200 on the XT is quite minor. (The higher shutter speeds were particularly important when I was shooting with the 70-300mm lens zoomed way out, but even with the 18-55mm lens, it doesn't hurt sharpness to have a nice short shutter speed.)
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1167.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1188.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1173.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1170.jpg
These next three feature the Capitol as the primary landmark. Again, all were taken with the 18-55mm kit lens, the first at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 sec. The second at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/250 sec.. And the third at 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec. (Despite the evidence, I really am capable of moving off of f/8. Honest.) All at ISO 200.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1155.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1180.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1186.jpg
No monuments visible in the next shot; it's just a nice kite festival picture. Taken with kit lens @ 55mm @ f/8 @ 1/400 @ ISO 200.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1149.jpg
And finally, a couple of cherry blossom shots. Because for some reason, people seem to care more about the blossoms than about kiting, don't ask me why. Both taken with the aforementioned 75-300mm lens with camera set to ISO 200. The first is 75mm @ f/9 @ 1/250 sec. And the second's 205mm @ f/8 @ 1/500 sec.
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1105.jpg
http://www.time4email.com/DC20070331/IMG_1112.jpg
And all of the above were taken with my Canon XT. And in nearly every case I had a Sunpak circular polarizer on whichever lens I was using, although I didn't always choose to set it for maximum effect. (No law says that all polarizers must be set to maximum at all times.) Kite pictures generally mean lots of sky, so there was no way I was leaving the polarizer at home. Yeah, a polarizer costs some light, and I was using slow lenses handheld to begin with, but I'm convinced it was worth it.
I would add that while kite pictures generally mean lots of sky, one thing I try to avoid are pictures of a kite in the sky, with nothing else in the photo for a sense of scale. Without people, buildings, trees, etc., visible, it's often impossible to tell whether that cool looking kite photographed against the blue sky is 28 inches long, or 28 feet long. (Plus, such photos can be a little boring, at least to me.)
While the equipment I had on hand today was definitely not high end (an XT, and two of the least expensive Canon zooms you'll typically come across), and many of my pictures are more snapshots than art, it was really great spending a few hours on the Mall, in nice weather, surrounded by kites, national monuments, and generally friendly people. (Sometimes I go someplace with my primary objective being the creation of great photographs. Today my primary objective was to have fun at a kite festival while taking a few pretty pictures.)
And as I didn't get home that long ago, I haven't had a chance to fully Photoshop any of the photos. So if you think some could be improved in post-processing, you're probably right.
Finally, my apologies if any of you were put off by the length of this post, or the excessive number of links to photos.
--
Michael