Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens

Even though my full frame 5D Mark III bodies are more expensive and, in theory, more capable cameras, I enjoy using my crop sensor 7D Mark II more. The ten frames per second, a more visible and capable viewfinder level, better weather sealing and compensation for the frequency issues with artificial lighting are some of the reasons.

Now I have one more reason to prefer using the 7DII. There is one Canon lens designed for crop sensor bodies that is as good or better than similar lenses for full frame bodies except for weather sealing. That lens is the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens. With a full frame equivalent field of view of 27-88mm, a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture and image stabilization it is unique among Canon lenses,

A good used copy became locally available yesterday at a good price and I decided to give it a try. If I find myself using this body and lens combination instead of one of the 5DIII bodies and the 24-105mm f/4 lens, I can sell some of my other gear. If not, I can sell this lens without losing money.

I plan on pairing this lens and the 7DII with the 85mm f/1.8 USM lens in a small shoulder bag for daily use. Here are some of my first test shots at last night's sunset and this morning's early light.

28mm

55mm

17mm

28mm

48mm

17mm

First College Soccer of the Season

Last year I only shot a game and a half of Hartwick College Women's Soccer. This year I have the ten frame per second 7D Mark II body which is ideal for field sports like soccer. Yesterday was my first time out with that body for soccer and it didn't disappoint.

I ended up with almost 20 gigabytes of RAW files and went through over half of a battery. I ended up with 105 images to start off this year's Hartwick gallery which you can view at https://trulandphotography.com/hwsoc2019.

I chose a poor location in Hartwick's attacking half of the field the first half as they players coming toward me were backlit. Movement of the sun and the exchange of ends of the field made for ideal lighting in the second half.

Here are some examples of shots from the second half. The match, with St. John Fisher, ended in a 0-0 draw.

Paradox Lake Sunrise

In the absence of fog, there was a visible sunrise this morning over Paradox Lake. I'm collecting all my Adirondack scenics in a new gallery located at https://trulandphotography.com/adirondacks.

Here are some photos with the same setup as Friday morning.

Paradox Lake Scenics

I had intended to capture a sunrise looking East over Paradox Lake this morning. I was down at the beach over a half hour before sunrise. But, the combination of air temperatures around 40 degrees and warmer water temperatures led to some dense fog which obscured the sun until over an hour after sunrise.

The fog did contribute to some nice scenes, however, if not the sunrise scenes I was hoping for. These are all five file HDR composites with the 5D Mark III and 24-105mm lens on top of my heavier tripod, Bogen 3021 legs with a Bogen 3047 3 way pan/tilt head.

The setup looked like this:

Adirondack Scenics

A walk late this morning took me along River Road along the north branch of the Schroon River. This part of River Road runs from Route 74 at the west end of Paradox Lake to Route 9 at Schroon Falls. The actual falls aren't much more than a bit of rapids to be honest.

These are all five image HDR composites made with the 5D Mark III and EF 24-105mm lens.

Great Blue Heron

I had a few free hours late this morning and headed up to the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve in Clifton Park, NY. I carried the 7D Mark II with the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM lens. There are always a number of Great Blue Heron at the preserve, sometimes in the distance, sometimes closer up.

Today was one of the closer up days. Perhaps a season of people walking the trails accustoms the birds to the presence of humans. They seemed much less "flighty" than I remember in the past.

My hospice duties having ended earlier this morning, I'm heading up to the Adirondacks hoping to catch some early Fall color. Stay tuned.

Here is a sampling of today's photos.

The Morning After

The morning after the Tugboat Roundup, that is. For the first time in seven years I was unable to shoot the tugboats arriving on Friday evening. I also missed out on the Kayaking 4 Meso event on Saturday at the flight of locks. Because of a slight shift change on my hospice care duty, I was able to get out for a walk this morning over to Waterford Harbor where some of the tugboats were still berthed.

All of these photos are five file HDR composites made with a Canon 5D Mark III and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens.