A few weeks ago, Runner’s world Tulsa hosted the first annual “Run Tulsa Pink 5K” run at the OU Shusterman Center in mid-town Tulsa.  There were around 1,000 people at the event and a whole lot of pink!  There was a mile fun run for the kids (and some adults), as well as a 5K.  I had around a dozen patients (past or current) running in the event and it’s always great to see my patients enjoying the things they love!  I shot the event solo with a Canon 7D and my 200mm f2 and 8-15mm f4 fisheye lenses.  I am really missing my Canon 1D rig these days but am hopeful that its replacement (The Canon 1D  X will be arriving within the next month or so.  The 7D is not bad, but the autofocus and low light abilities leave much to be desired after coming from a pro rig.  I borrowed a 1D Mark IV from Canon CPS for the OKC marathon this past weekend and it was better, but nowhere as good as some of Canon’s pro bodies from 2006.  You would think technology would get better in time.  I digress.  Kathy and Brian Hoover of Runner’s World Tulsa put on a fantastic event and I was surprised how busy it was for a Sunday evening race.  After the 5K, there was food, music, and awards and several hundred people continued to hang out till late in the evening.  It was a great event and should be even bigger this next year!  This was my 4^th event of the year and I’m steadily on pace for the dozen planned races for 2012.  It seems like I get invited to a race every month so I may end up shooting close to 20 this year.  One thing about living back in Tulsa is that these races are a whole lot easier to shoot.  I’m planning on covering the Dirty 30 next weekend and possibly a triathlon and bike race very soon.   I’ve never really covered a bike race or triathlon so that could be very interesting!  On another note, I’m getting busier and busier in the office, but I’m still finding time to run and workout a few days per week.  The summer is right around the corner and I plan on getting pretty serious as I’d like to run a 10K this summer and perhaps a 15K this fall or winter.  I’ll post soon on an update to my running.  I hope you all are well and enjoying the weather before it gets HOT!  Keep moving!  -Barnezy-

This past Friday evening, Ali and I went to watch Corey White open up for Roy Clark in front of a sold out crowd at the Hard Rock Casino’s “The Joint.”  I met corey last year while shooting for The Matt Roberson Band at the YEC event in Norman, OK.  He’s a really nice guy from Bixby, OK who is an exceptional singer/song writer.  When he asked me if I wanted to come to the show and hang out backstage and take some photos I was pretty stoked.  He has opened for Roy Clark on several occasions, but this event was a little different as it was Roy Clark’s 80th birthday celebration.  Because of the nature of this event, Corey only had time for three songs but the crowd absolutely loved him.  This was the first time I have ever got hear him sing live.  I shot everything on my Canon 7D with my 200mm F2 IS and 8-15mm Fisheye lenses.  I’m still waiting on the Canon 1D X which has now been officially delayed until June at the earliest.  In light of this, I contacted Canon Professional Services and asked to borrow a Canon 1D Mark IV to shoot the OKC Marathon later this month.  I also have a wedding or two to shoot this summer so I may have to borrow a Canon 5D Mark III or Mark II for those events as the Canon 7D will not be enough.  On another note,  I’m currently sitting on the couch watching the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornados from yesterday.  We are very relieved that Tulsa was spared this time around.  This past week was the busiest I’ve had yet in practice so I’m a little run down, but this quiet weekend at the house has allowed me to recover and make a serious dent in my “to-do” list.  I hope you all stayed safe this weekend and check back soon for a really cool video I shot in a very fast car this past week.  -Barnezy-

Earlier this week Christian singer Josh Wilson came to Tulsa to play a Christmas concert at Southern Hills Baptist Church.  We went with the friends the Sheffields.  JJ Sheffield is a member of the Matt Roberson Band and has played with Josh Wilson before.  This summer I was invited to the YEC conference in Norman where the Matt Roberson Band played for Josh.  Josh’s Christmas concert was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  He played 20 different instruments and recorded each instrument creating “loops.” in the process.  It was a remarkable concert as Josh is not only a very talented singer, but a tremendous musician.  The church was packed and Josh played for a solid two and  half hours.  It was my first time using the Canon 7D.  I sold off my Canon 5d Mark II and Canon 1D Mark III in preparation for the release of the Canon 1Dx in March.  It’s been a busy time this holiday season and we’re looking forward to some much overdue time with family.  Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for all of the Happy Anniversary wishes we’ve received this past week.  -Barnezy-

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

This week has been a busy week with finals at Cleveland Chiropractic College.  I was fortunately able to take an hour break to go shoot my first lacrosse game.  I’m friends with a family in Overland Park that eats and breathe’s lacrosse  so I thought I’d offer to take some photos of their team.  It truly is a family affair with two daughters playing, a father coaching, and a mother doing everything else!  I had never shot a lacrosse game so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I figured out pretty quick that the field is much larger than a football field and the officials do not like photos behind the net (for obvious reasons).  I shot the game with my Canon 7D and 200mm f2.0 with a Canon 1.4x teleconverter attached.  The images were still very sharp at a 2.8, and tack sharp at an f4.  At f4 I was able to get 1/1000th of a second shots with 400 ISO settings on an overcast evening.  Overall it was a good learning experience and a blast to watch.  These girls can flat out play!  I wish I could shoot another game, but their season ends soon and I have to get back to Oklahoma this weekend for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.  I have been fortunate enough to get a press pass for this event so there should be some pretty nice photos coming Sunday evening or Monday.  I’m also shooting a couple’s engagement photos on friday morning so I’ll post those as well.  I’m going under the knife on Tuesday for jaw surgery so I’ll do my best to have these posted before then.  Good luck as you finish your finals and look forward to seeing everyone again after the break.  -Barnezy-

I recently sold my Canon EF 200mm f/1.8 USM telephoto lens on ebay.  You can read about it in an earlier blog.  What I had planned on doing was maybe to pick this lens up this summer when Canon runs their rebate programs.  However, I was shocked to see they had already began a rebate program this past week.  They even had double rebates on this lens when you bought a new Canon 5D Mark II.  Since I already own this camera and don’t know anyone who needs to buy one, I simply opted for the $500 single rebate.  I’m also a big fan of Bing Cashback and have used it for a year or two for online purchases.  With Bing Cashback I was able to save an additional 7% on this lens.  Both of these incentives add up to a $825 savings on this unbelievable lens!  This lens is known as the replacement for the legendary Canon 200mm f1.8 which I recently sold.  Those were pretty big shoes to fill but this lens does a marvelous job doing just that.  The big selling point of this lens is the 4 stops of image stabilization which makes this lens capable of shooting handheld photos at 1/5th of a second.  The IS also makes this lens perfect for DSLR video, which I’m really starting to get into. The aperture is 1/3 stop slower than the 200mm 1.8, but with the high ISO abilities of today’s digital SLR’s this isn’t really a big deal.  Another area where the 200mm f/2.0 excels is in it’s unbelievable sharpness.  The 200 1.8 was renowned for being one of the sharpest lenses Canon has ever made.  I’m going to step out on a limb and say not only is this lens sharper, I believe it’s the sharpest lens canon has ever made!  The color and contrast that come from this lens are simply incredible!  I had an opportunity to try it out last night at a lacrosse practice of some friends of mine.  The lighting on the practice field was not very bright and the color balance from the light changed every 10 yards on the field.  My Auto White Balance got dizzy from having to change every shot.  I finally settled on a fluorescent color balance that gave decent results but had to patch up every image in Aperture 3.  These are a decent example of what this lens is capable at fast speeds and in dark places.  It’s the absolute g0-to lens for indoor or night sports!  I’m going to visit Louisville in the next few days and will hopefully get some nicer photos to post.  But for now, these will have to do!  I hope everyone is enjoying your spring break if you are lucky enough to have one!   -Chris-

]]> http://barnezy.com/2010/03/12/canon-ef-200mm-f2-0-l-is-usm-telephoto-lens/feed/ 0 http://barnezy.com/2010/01/28/jennifer-dry-tyler-allen-wedding-compilation/ http://barnezy.com/2010/01/28/jennifer-dry-tyler-allen-wedding-compilation/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:06:01 +0000 The Grand Architect of this Website http://barnezy.com/?p=698

Photo by Stancy Higley Photography

So I shot my first wedding video assignment with a 3 camera setup this past month.  I use a Sony HVR-Z5U for my primary camera.  As a photographer I own a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 7D. Both of these cameras can film in 1080P HD video.  However, as of now, the 5D can only film at 30 frames per second, whereas the 7D films at 24 frames per second.  24 frames per second is the standard that nearly every movie is filmed at and therefore creates more of a desirable look.  I shot the video with these 3 cameras and then had to convert the footage from the 5D to match the 7D.  It’s an incredibly lengthy process taking roughly an hour for each 15 seconds of video.  The beauty and advantage of using a Digital SLR to capture video is that you can achieve the same cinematic look that $50,000 cameras can achieve.  This is possible primarily because I’m using the same lenses I shoot photos with.  In other words, the video looks like the photos.  You can create incredibly shallow depth of fields that cause the subject to jump right out of the scene.  99% of these shots were shot handheld and the rest were on a monopod.  I’ve ordered a shoulder rig to smooth out the hand-held shots as they’re not where they need to be right now as far as smoothness goes.  I’ve compiled a 9 minute video with clips throughout the wedding day to try and tell a story of how the day unfolded.  With the new video rig and some experience, I hope to one day shoot incredible wedding videos that people can cherish forever…. well at least for a their time here on earth  I hope you enjoy! -Barnezy-

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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