Monkeyface eel
Indoor lighting can be really difficult to work with...or really interesting. Color-balancing skin tones under such lighting is next to impossible, so one just needs to go with the effect. And a color balanced image just wouldn’t capture the feel, so the “wrong” color balance is clearly the right one!
While the shot above was taken on a tripod with the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, fat-moving handheld candids later in the evening were still a challenge even at ISO 3200 and f/1.4 using “fast” lenses. And I had to move fast, too. The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L was indispensable, as was the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II. Only those who have not dealt with such lighting will express skepticism of the value of such “fast” lenses. It would have been nearly impossible to shoot at f/2.8, and very difficult at f/2. Perhaps the new Canon EOS 1D Mark III, with its ISO 6400 will offer more “reach” into the dark. Flash is simply not an option in such circumstances, being very distracting and downright annoying to wide-pupilled revelers.
Under such lighting, the Canon EOS 5D, unduly praised for its low noise performance, produces an uncountable number of bright speckles when an attempt is made to white balance. And a displeasing pattern noise (the worst kind!) develops as well. The upshot is that one must “go red” or use a monochrome rendition to avoid such effects.
Canon EOS 5D, ISO 3200
Canon EOS 5D, ISO 3200
A great place to take kids is the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Near as I can tell, the species shown in my December 31, 2006 blog entry is the Monkeyface Eel, a species able to breath oxygen from the air. No wonder he (she?) didn’t look perturbed during extra low tide.
Monkeyface Eel Cebidichthys violaceus (Stichaeidae)
I don’t have any pretense against shooting through glass, as interesting images can result. And I stay a lot drier.
Snake Necked Turtle
Snapping Turtles—beware even of body-less heads
