Fort Sheridan Shoreline at Sunrise

Last July, I picked myself up out of bed at 4:30am, in order to make it to Fort Sheridan and photograph the sunrise over Lake Michigan. This was my first serious attempt to capture a landscape at sunrise, and only the second time I had ever been to Fort Sheridan, so I really didn’t have a shooting location planned out. I was going to be winging it, and choosing my shooting locations as I came across them. However, having wonderful “golden hour” sunrise light, and a truly beautiful shoreline at Fort Sheridan made finding locations and scenes fairly easy. About the only thing I could complain about was the heat and humidity…even at 5:45am, it was already 81º, with what felt like 1000% humidity. Not exactly idea conditions for hiking about a mile down to the lakeshore with a bag of camera gear and a tripod.

The end results were well worth it though…a series of very nice landscape photographs of Fort Sheridan and the Lake Michigan shoreline at sunrise.

Hipstamatic / Americana Lens / Blanko Freedom13 Film / No Flash

Another snowy commute. I do not mean that to sound as though I am complaining, it has only been our third measurable snowfall in Chicago this year…and by far the prettiest.

Photograph taken with Hipstamatic. Americana Lens. Blanko Freedom13 Film. No Flash.

Hipstamatic / John S Lens / Blanko Film / No Flash

It has been a strange winter here in Chicago. After so-called experts predicted Chicago would have one of the worst winters on record, the mercury has barely dropped below freezing as we pass mid-January, and we’ve received exactly one measurable snowfall…of about four inches. That snowfall promptly melted, as temperatures then climbed into the forties, and we received two-days worth of rain immediately afterward. Today, we are receiving our second measurable snowfall of the season, of which we are projected to get about six-inches.

So on my ride home, I took the opportunity to shoot some photos of the weather, snowfall, and traffic with Hipstamatic for iPhone. My favorite turned out to be the black-and-white photo above, of my snowy commute as I follow another car down the road. For more photos, hit the jump to see a small gallery.

All photographs taken with Hipstamatic.

Carson being camera shy with "Papa"

Almost a year after Instagram was released, I decided to download the app and give it a try. After posting a few photos, I think I get it.

For me, Instagram is just a fun, great way to share photos. With Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. integration, they have made it brain-dead simple to share photos across these platforms. I am not the biggest fan of the retro filters that seem to evoke the Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid cameras, but I do like a few of them. In the right instance, Instagram’s filters can definitely give a photo an added retro-something.

In the two weeks that I’ve been using Instagram, the above photograph is my favorite. Taken over the Thanksgiving weekend, my son decided he was going to be camera shy, but I managed to trick him into peeking out from behind his hands to get the shot. Add in the Instagram Earlybird filter and border, and I love this retro-analogue inspired photo.

The image below is the result, and I really like the outcome…the magnificent horses frozen in stride, the lush greens of the grasses and the ominous storm clouds rolling in just put a nice feel on this photograph. Four race horses, one with about a length-and-a-half lead, frozen in time as they head out of the last turn at Arlington Park Racetrack toward the finish line, while rather dramatic and ominious storm clouds roll in.

It’s pretty neat to see both the white-gray horse and the reddish-brown horse in the background with all four feet off the ground, especially when you consider the lengths that Eadweard Muybridge had to go to in 1878 to prove horses had four feet off the ground when at trot.

Regardless, it was a lot of fun watching him have fun dying Easter eggs. Below a slideshow of my Easter 2011 Flickr Set. As always, if you are a friends or family contact on Flickr, you will see more photos from the set. Enjoy!

Laurel has been wanting a new “Mom-bag” from 1154 LILL Studio for a while now, and since she is “Best. Wifey. Ever.” and her birthday is coming up, Carson and I (well, mostly I) decided we would let her go and design her own bag for her birthday gift. It’s actually a bit overwhelming to design a bag there…they have several styles of bags/purses to choose from, then you choose the pattern or cloth that you want. It probably took about an hour for Laurel to pick everything out, which really isn’t bad given the number of colors and patterns you can choose from.

After we finished designing (and helping to design) the bag, we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was the first time in probably 20-years that I had been there, and the first time Laurel and Carson had been there. We spent about 3-hours poking around the zoo, zig-zagging from exhibit to exhibit as Carson would decide he wanted to see seals or monkeys or penguins or seals again. As there were very few people at the zoo, we were able to see a fair amount in those 3-hours, and had a really good time.

Below is a slideshow from my Lincoln Park Zoo Flickr Set…if you are a friend or family contact on Flickr, you can checkout the set to see a few more photos. Enjoy!

If you follow me on Flickr or Twitter, you probably know that my amazing wife bought me a Luma Loop camera sling a few weeks ago. Now, after a couple weeks of using it, here is my overview/review of the camera sling.

Background
After several years of being annoyed and frustrated by the Canon Pro Neck Strap that came with my Canon DSLR, I began looking around for a strap to replace it. My biggest issue with the Canon strap had been that I don’t like hate to wear a camera strap around my neck, or over one shoulder. A few hours of carrying a DSLR around like that, even with a small 50mm lens attached, is enough to give anyone a sore neck or back. Instead, I like to wear my camera with the strap over my left shoulder and across my body diagonally, where the camera can then rest comfortably on my right hip, within easy reach of my right hand. Right there, anyone who has done this will have any idea of where I am going with this. The main problem is that the Canon strap has a grippy material on the underside, to prevent it from slipping when…well, I don’t really know…I suppose when you’re carrying it over one shoulder. But, when wearing the strap like I do, and reaching for your camera to photograph something, that grippy material invariably pulls on your clothing and prevents you from getting the camera up to eye-level to take the shot. A minor problem to say the least.

Additionally, in order to have the camera body rest comfortably on my hip, where I can easily reach and control it, the camera strap needs to be adjusted to a certain length. Naturally, at that length, the strap is too short to bring the camera up to eye level. So I need to crane my neck to be able to see through the viewfinder. Not exactly something you want to be doing over and over again during a long day of shooting. Of course, I could just adjust the strap to be longer, but then the camera becomes a bit uncontrollable, bouncing of my thighs as I move around.

So it was with these issues in mind that I was looking for a new strap. Knowing that just another camera strap wasn’t going to do, I found two options to consider, camera slings by BlackRapid, and the Luma Loop. Both are not camera straps in the traditional sense, but camera slings. This means, they are worn over your shoulder and diagonally across your body, with the camera resting on the opposite hip. The slings from both BlackRapid and Luma are very similar in their overall design…an adjustable nylon strap with a shoulder pad, and camera attachment hardware that slides along the strap, allowing your camera to easily be brought up to eye level for photos.

Overview
Initially, I was drawn to the offerings from BlackRapid, as they claim to have invented the camera sling concept. I was interested in the RS-5 and RS-7, as both were cheaper  than the Luma Loop ($65 and $59 respectively, while the Loop is $70), and the RS-5 offered a strap mounted pouch that would be a great place to hold my iPhone. However, the designer in me steered me back to the Luma Loop as I felt the materials, details and overall design were just better. For example, while both companies use ballistic-nylon for their straps, the BlackRapid slings use ballistic-nylon covered foam shoulder pad (like you find most shoulder bags). There is not anything wrong with that design, but the Luma Loop steps it up a notch, using an industrial strength, full-grain tanned leather (like you would find in motorcycle racing suits), backed with neoprene in their shoulder pad.

Then there is the hardware that attaches the camera to the sling. BlackRapid slings use a custom designed screw-locking carabiner-type clip, which attaches to a fastener that screws into the tripod mount on a camera. Again, a design I cannot fault. However, the Quick Detach Sling Swivel connector on the Luma Loop is just a more elegant, and in my opinion functional, design. The Quick Detach Sling Swivel is made by the same company the U.S. Marine Corps has used for decades to provide quick detach connecters for their rifle slings. You have to figure if it can stand up to Marine Corps wartime standards, holding a camera should be nothing.

So with that, I decided I wanted Luma Loop. Except for one problem…they were sold out. Apparently, Luma Labs LLC is a small company, who outsource the manufacture of their products. They made an original batch of Loops (now referred to as Loop V1), not knowing how successful the product would be. When they sold out, they tweaked and improved the design of the Loop, and went back to have more manufactured…and that was going to take a few months. So I signed up for an email alert on their website to be notified when the would have the next batch of Loops (now referred to as Loop V2) available for sale. That was in November. It’s a good thing I am patient, as it was late-January/early-February when I got an email that they were back in stock. So I mentioned to my wife that I was looking at the Luma Loop, and few weeks later she was handing me one (did I mention, best wife ever?).

Review
When unpacking the Luma Loop, the first thing that struck me was that it looked even better in person than it did online. Honestly, how many times can you say that has actually happened? The leather shoulder pad is gorgeous, especially with the Luma logo laser etched into it. Even the neoprene backing has Luma’s USA Made URL laser etched into the side. Talk about attention to details.

Then there’s the beauty of the Quick Detach Sling Swivel connector. A 1/8″ metal ring wraps around the ballistic-nylon strap, and allows your camera to slide along the length of the strap. This metal ring is connected to the male end of the QDSS, which has a quick-release button, and inserts into the female end of the QDSS. The female end of the connector has a nylon string that will attach to most any existing strap attachment points on your camera. If not, Luma includes a 1/2″ steel split ring for mounting to smaller attachments points easily. The female end of the QDSS appears to be machined from a piece of solid of steel, and is covered in four rubber o-rings to prevent metal-to-camera contact. When the male and female ends are attached, four ball-bearings hold them together, and your camera is securely attached to the Luma Loop. The tolerances on the QDSS are tight, and the whole assembly feels very solid…which is a good thing when you can be hanging several thousand dollars worth of camera gear from it. In my opinion, the Quick Detach Sling Swivel connector is the best part of the Loop. It’s smaller and better looking than the screw-locking carabiner-type clips, just as secure, and allows you to detach the camera from the sling very quickly, with the press of a button.

A plastic Rock Lockster clip, to easily put the Loop on, or take it off, sits on the front of your shoulder…not the back as with the BlackRapid. Otherwise, all attachment points on the Loop at metal, and have a brushed nickel look to them. Even the two Chicago screws on the shoulder pad, which secure the loops that the metal D-rings and Rock Lockster clip attach to, have a brushed look to them (although, this is probably more from the machining process, than an actual finish).

So in other words, the Luma Loop looks fantastic. But does it actually work?  The answer is yes, and quite well. It is comfortable to wear…very comfortable. After a few days of use, I could feel the leather starting to form to my shoulder, just as Luma claims. The shoulder pad feels great, distributing weight over your shoulder evenly, not creating pressure points that start to wear on you the longer you carry your gear around. Again, this is just as Luma claims on their FAQ (which is worth a read). In my longest photo excursion since owning my Loop, I had my camera on my shoulder for over 4-hours. At not time, was my shoulder or back tired or sore. It just felt great.

Once I adjusted the Loop so that my camera rested comfortably on my right hip, I began testing how bringing the camera up to eye level to take a photo felt. It was perfect. The metal wring that attaches the Quick Detach Sling Swivel glides right along the strap and allows you to bring the camera up to your eye with ease…no pulling on your clothing and preventing you from getting the camera where it needs to be to get the shot. The only issue I ran into was bringing the camera to eye-level in a portrait orientation. When shooting like this (without a battery grip), I typically keep my shutter finger hand on top of the camera. Here, the Quick Detach Sling Swivel connector would get in the way as it would fall in between the camera and my face. I could fairly easily grab the QDSS with my thumb and move it out of the way, or simply move to a position in which my shutter finger hand was below the camera. I never felt it impeded my shooting, as I could still get the shot, just proved to a be a bit of a distraction until I got used to working around it.

The Quick Detach Sling Swivel performs beautifully. With the camera hanging at your hip normally, gravity does you a favor and keeps the release button protected by the 1/8″ metal loop and the strap. In order to press the release button, the ring needs to be moved to the slide, which is good in that it prevents accidental pressing of the button, and prevents a ne’ er-do-well from intentionally pressing the quick release without you noticing. The only real issue I ran into the with QDSS was that I would occasionally have difficulty reconnecting the male and female end after I had disconnected them. I’m putting that down to the fact that I am still getting used to the connector, as sometimes I could do it no problems, other times it took 2-3 tries before it slotted in. Perhaps I wasn’t pushing the button hard enough to release the ball-bearings, or I didn’t have them aligned. Either way, it was never a situation where I had to stop everything I was doing and concentrate on reattaching the QDSS…I was still moving about.

I do have a minor annoyance with the QDSS when your camera is detached from the Loop, and the female end of the QDSS is still attached. When grabbing your camera, the connector comes between your hand and the camera…which feels like holding a marble in the palm of your hand while holding your camera. There are ways I could remedy this, namely switching the connector to the opposite of the camera. That would be easiest, but I like the convenience of having the hand grip on top as the camera is hanging on your hip. Otherwise, I could buy a Luma PodMounts, which screws into the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera and allows you to attach the Luma Loop there…thus negating the issue altogether.

Conclusion
I’ve used several different camera straps over the years, and the Luma Loop is, by far, the best of them. It’s comfortable, looks great, and performs in the real world. You cannot ask for much more. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive than the offerings from BlackRapid, but the quality materials and construction make it worth it. If you’re looking to replace your camera strap, I don’t think you can wrong wrong with the Luma Loop.

If you are using larger lenses, such as the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L, the Luma PodMount would be a good addition to the Loop, as it gives you an attachment point on your larger lens.

Gallery
See the full gallery of Luma Loop images below…

Photograph taken with an iPhone 3GS, and processed with Camera+ for iPhone.

Rain collected, and a tree reflected in the sunroof of my MINI.

Photograph taken with an iPhone 3GS, and processed with Camera+ for iPhone.