Blog
This is the blog for More Than A Snapshot's Online Photography Classes. In these blog posts I will give photography tips, tutorials, and show images.
Filtering by Category: photography
Travel Light with the USA Gear Camera Sleeve and Media Strap for Small DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras
Gary Detonnancourt
The Canon M50 is a small mirrorless camera that I love for shooting both still images and video. Its compact size makes it the perfect walk around and travel camera. It’s also great for beginners looking to learn about photography and videography. Now maybe a good time to buy one if you’re looking to save a little money because there are rumors of an M50 MII that may be released at the end of 2020.
I often like to bring my M50 along when I go on bike rides on my e-bike. I have a nice rear rack bag for my bike but I don’t want to just throw my camera in this bag and leave the camera unprotected. This led me to search Amazon for a camera sleeve that would be small enough to be thrown in almost any bag and to protect my camera.
This sleeve is made a tough water-resistant neoprene and comes in many colorful designs. Its made to fit small DSLRs like the
Canon Rebel T6
Canon Rebel T6i
Nikon D3400
Nikon D3500
Canon EOS Rebel SL2
Canon EOS Rebel SL3
Even though my M50 is much smaller than these DSLRs, it still fits nicely in the sleeve with the 15-45 mm kit lens attached. Since this lens is also very small there is extra room in the front of the lens pouch for my viltrox speed booster which allows me to use my EF lenses on the M50.
It has a rear pocket for storing small items such as memory cards.
The belt loop under the sleeve can be hooked on a belt look so you can keep the sleeve with you while you’re out shooting. USA Gear recommends not doing this with the camera inside as the strap is not strong enough for this purpose.
One downside of such a small camera is short battery life. I have occasionally been out for a day of shooting and ended up out in the field with a dead battery. I’m too lazy to bring a camera bag with extra batteries and memory cards out on my photo adventures. That would defeat the purpose of having a small camera for traveling light. I discovered the solution to this problem when I found USA Gear because they make a camera strap that matches this sleeve, that has pockets for batteries and memory cards.
This camera strap is called the USA Gear TrueSHOT Media Strap. I’m not normally a fan of around the neck camera straps but I found this one to be attractively designed and comfortable to wear because it is also made of neoprene. I think the best part is the built-in pockets for extra batteries and memory cards. Plus I really like that you can match the color and design of the sleeve with the strap. I chose a red plaid design for mine.
This is not a sponsored post, I really did buy these products and I use them. However, I am an Amazon affiliate and if you should decide to purchase any of these products from my links above, you would be supporting my site and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. I really appreciate it.
Wildlife Photography Practice Session at my Local Pond
Gary Detonnancourt
Wildlife Photography Practice Session at my Local Pond
The purpose of this wildlife photo session was to practice getting down low at the bird's eye level. One thing I learned is I needed to put my 5D on the camera bag because when it was really low I had a hard time seeing through the viewfinder. I didn't have as much of a problem with the M50 because it has a tilt screen. Equipment used:
Cameras:
Canon 5D MIV
https://amzn.to/33JATtK
Canon M50
https://amzn.to/2XG4v7y
Lenses
Canon 500 mm f/4
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Canon 1.4x Teleconverter III
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Canon 400 mm f/5.6
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Music by Bensound and NCS.
Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday Deals
Gary Detonnancourt
Happy Thanksgiving! I’d like to take a moment to say how thankful I am for all of you that visit my website and support my courses. I enjoy making content for you and I hope you find it useful. I have big plans for the upcoming year, including the release of a new course on about Luminar 2019. This is a program that I have been using quite a bit lately and it has impressed me as a possible alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
Skylum will not be releasing the new version of Luminar until December 8th and my course will not be finished for awhile after this release date. Therefore, I have decided to create a pre-sale bundle where you can purchase the Luminar 2019 course now before it’s even been created at a deeply discounted price. This will help with the development of the course and since I want you to get plenty of value from my courses, I’ve decided to add three of my most popular courses to this bundle as a special pre-sale bonus. This four-course bundle will include:
Luminar 2019
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Lightroom
F**k the Rules, Your Composition Your Way
Learn to Create More than a Snapshot Photography Course
The pre-sale Black Friday price is $50 and you can click here to purchase this bundle.
If you don’t currently own Luminar you can purchase it now during their black Friday deal by clicking here. Since your purchasing it now you will get the upgrade to Luminar 2019 free when it’s released on December 8th. They are also offering many bonuses with this sale that you can check out on their sales page.
If you decide to buy it use the coupon code “SNAPSHOT” to get $10 off.
Thanks
Gary Detonnancourt
PS if you read the blog post called Topaz Studio Vs Luminar Quick Edits you can get links to Topaz’s Black Friday Deals. I highly recommend the AI Bundle, I think AI Clear is the best new software I’ve seen in a long time.
Fall! A Great Time to Get Out to the Woods
Gary Detonnancourt
Fall! A Great Time to Get Out to the Woods
And not just for beautifully colored leaves. This fall try slowing down and really observing your surroundings. You never know what you’ll see. On a recent trek through a local nature trail I discovered a nice variety of wild mushrooms and learned that they make great photographic subjects. If you can identify any of these mushrooms, please post in a comment below. Click on the images to see them larger.
Great Blue Heron Rookery
Gary Detonnancourt
If you can find a great blue heron rookery in your area it is worth checking it out.
Snowy Owl Images & Video
Gary Detonnancourt
A $4000 Image!
Gary Detonnancourt
Why is this image so expensive, because right after I took it, disaster struck. I found this great scene and I was working it for all it was worth. I had that great swirl in the water and some fantastic fall color in the background. I decided that the image could be even better if I used a polarizer to remove some glare from the leaves and water. Photographically this was a great decision but it caused me to fight with the filter holder which caused me to unlatch the tripod head. Then I got my shot, but I forgot about the tripod head and when a picked up my tripod a heard a big splash. My Canon 5D M IV and my Canon 17-40 mm lens were completely submerged. I was able to retrieve them and I tried to dry it out and I sent it to Canon and they were both a complete loss. Luckily the memory cards survived and I was able to get the images and my insurance should pay for most of the loss and as it turns out this image won second place in my camera club, so I guess it was all worth it in the end.
Brown’s Tract Inlet Sunrise Time-lapse
Gary Detonnancourt
On Day 3 of my Adirondack trip I photographed this sunrise time-lapse. This is also where I learned that I should bring a second camera and tripod when shooting time-lapses because there were a lot of great shots happening behind me that I couldn't shoot because my camera was busy shooting this time-lapse.
