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bob@falcopics.com | (603) 617 2428 or (215) 990 9548 |
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located in manchester, new hampshire; available the world |
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falco photography |
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all photographs are made by and are copyright protected by Robert A. Falco, Jr.
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a little bit about me |
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Photography is something I am passionate about. With photography I can combine the creative with the technical in a medium that allows me to work with people. Photography also gives me the satisfaction that I am giving someone something tangible to go with their memory. |
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The equipment I use, and why. This is a discussion of the majority of the equipment I use. (For a tutorial on SLR concepts like shutter speed, aperture / f stops, ISO, et’c. I recommend the following website: http://www.usa.canon.com/content/rebelxt_tutorial/rebelxtlessons.htm )
Why Digital I shoot digital because it provides immediate feedback and instant results. This allows me to make adjustments on the spot if necessary. With film you can have a problem and not know it until much later after the pictures are developed when it is too late. The second advantage of digital is the ability to easily switch between environments of different lighting levels; from a dimly lit interior, to the bright outdoors for example. With film you’d need to open the camera and change the film roll, but with digital you simply set a different ISO which is the light sensitivity of film or the digital sensor. Finally, with digital you can have your pictures in color, black & white, sepia, or any other format – all with the same “digital negative.”
Why the Canon 5D Digital SLR Camera The Canon 5D digital SLR is the camera body I use. (I have two of these camera bodies.) It is one of a very small number of full frame digital SLR cameras available. Full frame means that its digital sensor is the same size as the negative of a 35 mm SLR camera, which is 36 X 24 mm. Most other digital SLR cameras on the market today use a smaller digital sensor called APS-C, which is 22.5 X 15mm. Point and shoot digital cameras use an even smaller sensor. The advantages of a full frame sensor are quality, lower noise (the equivalent of grain), and a wider angle of view.
Picture quality is better not just because of the greater number of pixels at 12.8 million, but also because the individual pixels are larger 8.2 microns vs. 6.4 microns. The larger pixels also have a greater density range creating more subtleties in tone. The larger sensor size, which is the equivalent of the film negative renders a much smoother, denser picture, especially on enlargements because there is less stretching of the “original negative.”
To increase the ISO, or light sensitivity so that you can take a picture in lower light with the same shutter speed and aperture, digital cameras increase the amount of electricity applied to the pixels on the sensor. The larger pixels in the full frame sensor can handle more electricity without getting overloaded, overloading creates noise. I feel the Canon 5D at ISO 800 has less noise than an APS-C sensor camera has at ISO 400. This helps create a better quality picture in lower light conditions.
The full frame sensor has a 2:3 aspect ratio vs. the 3:4 aspect ratio of most APS-C sensor cameras. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the height to the width of the picture. In other words the pictures are naturally more rectangular with greater width. This is especially useful when shooting scenes with a wide subject. A large wedding party all lined up is a wide scene, or the ability to shoot a picture inside a room where you can’t back up are examples of the benefits of this format.
Other advantages of the Canon 5D include professional features like true spot metering, ease of handling especially for a fast paced assignment, wide range of extremely high quality lenses, durability, and a feature called picture styles that mimics specialty films.
You might ask, if a full frame Digital SLR produces better pictures than a camera with a smaller sensor, wouldn’t a medium format camera with a sensor larger than the Canon 5D produce an even better picture? The short answer is yes, but there are limitations to a medium format camera that make it not suitable to the type of work I do. The limitations of a medium format camera are portability and availability of zoom lenses. Medium format cameras are significantly heavier and bulkier than the Digital SLR, and typically can capture fewer frames per second, making them less than ideal in a fast paced dynamic environment like wedding photography. Medium format cameras are best used in a studio setting under a controlled environment.
Why use certain Lenses Canon’s best professional lenses are their L series of lenses; all of my primary lenses are Canon L series. The advantages of the L series lenses are highest optical quality, fastest speeds with constant apertures, feature compatibility with Canon Camera Bodies, silent focusing mechanisms, and durability.
High quality optics delivers true colors, superior contrast, and the lowest possible distortion which adds up to better pictures.
Faster speeds (larger apertures, or opening / lower f stop numbers) means that your pictures can be taken in lower light conditions and still be properly exposed. Large apertures also enable background blurring which creates a pleasing effect in some instances like portraiture. Large apertures also enable faster auto-focus in dimly lit conditions reducing the risk of a lost spontaneous shot. Constant apertures in zoom lenses also mean that as the photographer zooms they don’t have to make exposure adjustments, this is important in fast paced sessions.
Canon Lenses have the ability to exchange focus distance information to Canon Camera bodies. This is an especially useful feature when using flash since it helps the camera decide how powerful the flash should be for proper exposure of the subject.
Silent focusing mechanisms eliminate the often annoying grind – grind auto-focus motor noise that can sound very loud in a quiet environment. The same Ultrasonic Motor (USM) technology used to make quieter auto-focus also makes the lens more accurately focus.
What specific Lenses do I use 24—105mm f4L USM: This lens provides a wide working zoom good for a great variety of settings. I use this for almost all of my outdoor photographs, and some indoor photographs. The f4 maximum aperture is the fastest available in a lens of this zoom capability. This lens also has image stabilization built in for low light settings, but this feature is only useful for subjects that are stationary. This is a Canon L Series Lens.
24—70mm f2.8L USM: This lens provides a smaller working zoom range than the 24 – 105mm, but is faster with a larger maximum aperture so it is more suitable for low light situations. Indoors at night is an example of a low light situation. The larger maximum aperture of f2.8 enables the camera to focus more easily and faster in low light situations reducing the risk of missing a spontaneous shot. This is a Canon L Series Lens. I have a back up for this lens.
16 – 35mm f2.8L USM: This is a true wide angle lens with a fast f2.8 maximum aperture. This lens is well suited for use in a small room, or for outdoor scenic photography. This is a Canon L Series Lens.
70 – 200mm f2.8L USM: This lens is well suited to pictures taken at some distance from the subject , or for a tight portraiture shot since it is a telephoto zoom. It has a fast f2.8 maximum aperture suitable for low light conditions. This lens also makes a nice head shot portrait lens because of its available zoom range, and its large maximum aperture for background blurring. This is a Canon L Series Lens. I have a back up for this lens.
50mm f1.4 USM: This is a prime (or non-zoom) lens that has a normal field of view. This means that on a full frame camera, like the Canon 5D, the view is the same as what a person sees with the naked eye. This lens has limited versatility given to its non-zoom nature, but does have an extremely fast maximum aperture of f1.4. This lens is manufactured by Canon, and while it has many of the properties of the L series like superior optics, it is not an L series lens.
Lighting & Flash I use all Canon Flashes for their compatibility and superior quality. I use mulitple Canon 580EX flashes as my primary on camera flash and off camera flashes, and have muliple Canon 430EX flashes configured in a portable studio set up with umbrellas and stands. The 580EX(es) can wirelessly control other flashes in a wide variety of lighting set ups. I also have various reflectors and other light controlling devices. I also use various indirect flash techniques to produce soft complimentary lighting for your photos.
Software I use a combination of software packages that enable me to provide better quality images, and make image enhancements. I shoot in RAW format which provides the greatest amount of post-shooting options and enhancement capability. I am currently using a product called LightZone that was designed for the photographer rather than a graphic artist. The benefit is that LightZone solves one of the biggest challenges in photography — dynamic range. Without getting too technical, think about an image of a bride and groom. The bride is in a highly reflective white (typically) dress and the groom is in a black tuxedo. The problem is that these two objects are at opposite ends of the reflectivity spectrum, so if you get one exposed correctly, the other can be under or over exposed. Although I use camera techniques to solve this problem, I can use this software to enhance the detail in an image and provide a smoother tonal transition.
Miscellaneous I also have an assortment of flash diffusers, filters, back drops, and “gadgets” that either enhance the photo, or make the process easier.
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