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Maui Shopping
08 May 2010, Saturday

07   08    09    10    11   12    13    14 May 2010          Tech Details

Today we provisioned ourselves for the rest of the week. Since there's a Price Club on Maui, one stop and we're set.

 

Friend's house in Maui. 5:54 AM.

Friend's house in Maui. 5:54 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 250, Canon 28mm f/1.8, shifted Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/8 at f/3.5, no flash, carefully hand-held.

I had to set a custom white balance, and then adjust the WB SHIFT by trial-and-error to Amber 5 and Magenta 2 by looking at the playback LCD. I also set exposure compensation to +2/3 by looking at the LCD, thus this is exactly what came out of the camera.

Since it was dawn, the outside is deep blue.

First order of business: brunch at L&L.

 

Ryan opens the door at L&L Drive-Inn, Kihei, Maui. 10:27 AM.

Ryan opens the door at L&L Drive-Inn, Kihei, Maui. 10:27 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/5.6 at 1/125, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

 

Ryan and Katie smiling, L&L Drive-Inn, Kihei, Maui. 10:29 AM.

Ryan and Katie smiling, L&L Drive-Inn, Kihei, Maui. 10:29 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/5.6 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

Now we'll walk next door to the ABC Store and see what we can see.

 

Katie playing with fake flowers, ABC Store, Kihei, Maui. 10:32 AM.

Katie playing with fake flowers, ABC Store, Kihei, Maui. 10:32 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

After the ABC Store, it's time to look at the local grocery store.

 

Ryan and Katie driving inside the grocery store, Kihei, Maui. 11:03 AM.

Ryan and Katie driving inside the grocery store, Kihei, Maui. 11:03 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 200, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/2.2, no flash.

The light in the grocery store was nasty. This is the best I could do, even after playing in Photoshop.

 

Dueling babas just purchased at the ABC Store as a bribe for good behavior, Kihei, Maui. 11:16 AM.

Dueling babas just purchased at the ABC Store as a bribe for good behavior, Kihei, Maui. 11:16 AM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/5.6 at 1/200, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

 

Katie asleep as we got to Costco, Maui. 12:01 PM.

Katie asleep as we arrived at Costco, Maui. 12:01 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/6.3 at 1/200, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

Now we're at Price Club, often called Costco outside of San Diego.

 

Ryan at Costco, Maui. 12:10 PM.

Ryan at Costco, Maui. 12:10 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/5 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

This shot looks as if it was shot with a Hasselblad and an 80mm f/2.8 ZEISS Planar lens. Why? Because I cropped it to a square, which screams "Hasselblad," and the pentagonal out-of-focus highlights say "five-bladed diaphragm," another Hasselblad signature.

The light looks absolutely perfect because I used a flash with a slightly orange gel. Not only is the color perfect, but the flash makes Ryan subtly lighter than the background, giving just the right amount of emphasis, but not looking like I used flash. The only visible clue are the slight highlights in his eyes, and that he is very slightly lighter than his surroundings as intended.

 

Yum, samples! Costco , Maui. 12:16 PM.

Yum, samples! Costco, Maui. 12:16 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

Gesture is everything. This shot isn't that cute, but cute enough. Again, the 220EX flash, and the 1/4 CTO gel I have velcroed to it, make it look perfect.

 

Samples, Costco, Maui. 12:25 PM.

Samples, Costco, Maui. 12:25 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

When the light gets dimmer and the subject is lit with a larger percentage of flash, it starts to get too warm with the 1/4 CTO gel, as seen here.

 

Samples, Costco, Maui. 12:25 PM.

Katie pushes the cart, Costco, Maui. 12:25 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

I used a curves layer to lighten this a bit.

Katie is a cross between a locomotive and a Russian power lifter. When she gets going, she can push a loaded 200-pound Costco cart faster than an adult. All I have to do is keep it pointed in the right direction, and do my best to slow her down as we approach obstacles.

 

Katie pushes the cart, Costco, Maui. 12:36 PM.

Katie pushes the cart, Costco, Maui. 12:36 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

I also used a curves layer to lighten this one. The curve I made lightened the dark areas bit and left the highlights alone.

We went back to our place, unloaded our goodies and had lunch.

 

Lunch on the couch, Maui. 2:43 PM.

Lunch on the couch, Maui. 2:43 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/3.5 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

I needed +1/3 exposure compensation to make this look right.

 

Baby wrestling! Maui. 3:48 PM.

Baby wrestling! Maui. 3:48 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

Since the light was dim and the flash was becoming the main source of light, it's warmer (more orange) than I'd like. I need to learn to bring the WB SHIFT back to zero, or remove the 1/4 CTO gel as I shoot in darker places.

After lunch and wrestling, we headed back out to Wal-Mart for unnecessary items not found at Costco.

Silly Straw Baba, Wal-Mart, Maui. 5:26 PM.

Silly Straw Baba, Wal-Mart, Maui. 5:26 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400 (flash), Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose f/4 at 1/60, Canon 220EX flash on-camera with 1/4 CTO gel.

Ryan and Katie both got these silly-straw inspired drinking cups, but Ryan had more fun blowing through it, even when water was in it.

 

Ryan asleep as we arrived back at our place, Maui. 6:14 PM.

Ryan asleep as we arrived at dinner, Maui. 6:14 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 400, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/1.8, no flash.

After a day of shopping, dinner in Kihei was last.

 

Ryan asleep as we arrived back at our place, Maui. 6:14 PM.

Railing, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 6:18 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 50, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/2.5, no flash.

I specifically played with sharpness to make this look three-dimensional. The bright, contrasty, warm railing is sharp in the center, while everything else is soft. The varying colors, contrasts and sharpnesses all contribute to bringing the railing up and out of the image, and pushing the grass back behind the railing.

As 3-D photography jumps back at us from the 1950s, people are going to learn that shooting with two lenses is only one very small part of the 3-D picture. More important are all the other elements, and those same elements work in one-lens flat photography as you see here. If you don't use color and lighting and texture to render 3-D, even with a a 3-D camera all you'll get is what look like flat cutouts at different distances.

 

Playing at dinner, Maui. 6:21 PM.

Playing at dinner, Maui. 6:21 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 500, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/1.8, no flash.

 

Columns, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 6:35 PM.

Columns, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 6:35 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 50, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/80 at f/4, no flash.

I used an exposure compensation of -2/3 to keep the vivid reds and yellows from overexposing. I set this looking at the picture on the LCD, and also the RGB histogram.

As set to +3 saturation, the Canon 5D Mark II does a great job of emulating Velvia 50's Hell-bent passion for red: this column didn't look at all like this in person, but set as I had it, the 5D Mark II greatly exaggerated the warm colors, exactly as I wanted.

 

Italian food, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 6:56 PM.

Yay! Italian food! Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 6:56 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, Auto ISO 1,000, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/1.8, no flash.

 

Balustrade, Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:08 PM.

Balustrade, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:08 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 1,600, Canon 50mm f/1.8, shifted Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/20 at f/4, hand-held, no flash.

I made a lot of identical snaps so I could pick one without camera blur. I got lucky, since most were sharp, and chose this one because I got a red bar at the top left from a moving car.

I used no flash because it would hide the natural colors I was trying to emphasize. I deliberately shot this at twilight so that the background would be blue, and the artificial lights on the balustrade would be vivid orange. This scene looked pretty blah to the naked eye; experience shows that nature takes on weird colors under artificial light, as seen on film.

 

Balustrade and Van, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:10 PM.

Balustrade and Van, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:10 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 1,600, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/20 at f/2.5, hand-held, no flash.

I flipped the negative in the enlarger so this shot reads from left to right. Sharp-eyed viewers will note that we drive on the right in Hawaii, but not as shown here.

 

Balustrade and Van, Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:10 PM.

Blue Palm, Nightfall, across the street from Gian Don's Italian Bistro, Kihei, Maui. 7:10 PM.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 1,600, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Professional exposure (P) mode chose 1/40 at f/1.8, hand-held, no flash.

This scene looked dull to the eye. I knew that at this time of day that the sky would go vivid blue, and the artificial lights would turn to gold on film. These past three snaps are all grab shots as we left the restaurant and put the kids in the van.

I shoot my favorite stuff at the edges of the day. As expected, these are my favorite shots of the day. Everything else for me is just killing time.

 

NEXT DAY > >

 

07   08    09    10    11   12    13    14 May 2010          Tech Details

 

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