When I took this picture it was 22° outside and the wind was blowing at around 20-25 MPH.

While I’m sure that the horse can stand the weather, I’m not sure it’s owner was willing to take the chance of making him sick by giving him a bath in those conditions.

Image Details:

• Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
• Lens: Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD
• Focal Length: 228mm
• Aperture: f/11
• Shutter Speed: 1/500sec
• ISO: 200

• The 60D feels better in the hand (to me).
• The 60D weighs more and is larger.
• The 60D, T3i and 7D all share the same sensor and processor (the 7D has two of them though).
• The 60D is in short supply (due to the flooding and earthquakes in Asia).
• They both have wireless flash triggers built into them (for off-camera speedlights).

I took three shots with each of the cameras – using the same settings and lens (the Tamron 70-300).  I brought these home and looked at them closely in Lightroom.  The results were very, very similar - giving proof to the sharing of the same sensor.

Additionally, I did a bunch of Internet research.  This research confirmed the findings above and added the following additional information:

• The 60D has a larger buffer, shooting many more shots in burst mode before slowing down.
• The 60D has 9 cross-type auto-focus points, the T3i only has 1.
• The 60D, 7D and 5D all share the same battery.  This allows the 60D to shoot longer than the T3i (1600 shots vs 550 respectively.)
• The 60D has many more selections for ISO than the T3i.  They share the same range (100-6400).

So what does all of this mean?  Well, it means that IF I decided that I need (want) the new body, I’ll defiantly be going with the 60D.  The price difference is too small not to grab the better camera.

Why is the 60D the better camera for me?

1. The 60D feels better in my hand.
2. The 60D had 9 cross-type auto-focus points.
3. The 60D has a more granular control over its ISO range.

Tomorrow, or whenever the rain stops, I’ll get the tripod out and run the Kevin/camera tests on the XSi.

But as I have grown, I have always felt that the camera has held me back – especially in low light.  I’ve seen photos from other photographers with great cameras and wondered, “How much longer is this thing gonna hold me back?”  Don’t get me wrong, I subscribe to the notion that great photos come from the photographer and NOT the gear he/she uses.  But when you can’t use a picture because of the noise, or because it’s out of focus there’s nothing that the photographer can do.

Day after day I take photos only to come home and be disappointed because that ONE shot I wanted is blurry or not tack-sharp or has so much noise in it that it’s unusable.  While it’s going to sound like an excuse, this is one of the main reasons why I don’t have a ton of photos to show off here.  I really only want to put my best here.  I’m not going to put something up here that looks like this:

100% Crop of Blurry XSi Shot

See?  And just so you can see what my settings were:

• Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
• Lens: Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD
• Shutter Speed: 1/500 second
• Aperture: f/7.1
• ISO: 200
• Focal Length: 228mm

And to top it off, I was using auto-focus and vibration compensation (image stabilization).

Now, I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression – the XSi CAN take great pictures – when everything is working properly:

100% Crop of Sharp XSi Shot

What’s the difference?  I really wished I knew.  These shots were taken less than 5 minutes apart and both with proper (to my mind) settings.

• Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
• Lens: Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD
• Shutter Speed: 1/500 second
• Aperture: f/11
• ISO: 200
• Focal Length: 228mm

Could I have moved in the first shot?  Yes, but I don’t think so.
Could it be that the horse in the first shot moved?  Yes, but again, I don’t think so – and at 1/500 sec it really shouldn’t have mattered.

This non-consistency coupled with the high noise associated with ISO 800 and ISO 1600 have made me really frustrated with the camera.  It kills me to go out and take 50+ pictures and come home only to be able to use 3 of them.

So with my anticipated tax refund looming in the future, I’m trying to decide what to do about all of this.  Do I spend money on a new body?  Do I spend money on new lenses?  Do I spend money on photography classes (if I can find them)?  Or do I simply suck it up and use what I have for a while longer?

I think the first thing I’m going to do is try to figure out if this blur was caused by my movement.  That’s simple enough – take some shots with the tripod and see how they turn out.

Second, do some research.  If I choose gear, I’m not certain which way I want to go.  If I choose a new body, I still have two options – the new T3i (the latest “consumer” dSLR body) or the 60D (which is at the top of my budget).

I have time – I’ve not even received the paperwork I need to file my taxes.  As this all progresses, I’ll post my findings here…

(to be continued)

Once I return and have had a chance to sift through the memory cards, I’ll post some shots here.

Yesterday, I decided that I would use Ashland as the subject of a new step for me: producing an HDR image.  The reason I chose Ashland is because it’s stationary and there is a great deal of light range between the sky, the brick, the grass and the shadows.  I can see all of this with my eye, but my camera can’t - usually I tend to simply blow the sky out.

In the past, I’ve tried to composite two different exposures together to get a great sky with a great front elevation.  While I can get close, the fact that the building is framed on two sides with trees makes the masking job a real chore.  Besides, with my masking and compositing skills, there’s always been a halo at the blending line.

Yesterday I ventured off and took around 114 shots of Ashland and its grounds.  I chose a block of 5 exposures of the front on Ashland as my test.  This is the result:

While I know there is a lot of room for improvement, I wanted to let you see how I got this image.  That way, seeing the process, there might be suggestions that would help me improve.  Please bear with me on the video.  This is the first time that I’ve tried something like this and I will get better in time.

Unedited, the video is right at 20 minutes, but taking a hint from Klaus Herrmann, I’m going to speed it up and add some background music.

I hope you enjoy the photograph and the video.  I also hope that if you have some guidance or comments, that you’ll post them below!  Thanks for looking!