This is the second entry in what I hope will become an occasional feature dissecting how some of my photos - and those of the Cheapshooter community - were taken. These photo dissections will highlight how a photo concept is developed technically on a limited budget and will be geared for more advanced photographers. Cheapshooter’s first photo dissection was dubbed “Held Hostage“.

The concept: As fall continues, I have more and more assignments to shoot. The bulk of these are boring as all hell - I shot a street sign yesterday, for example - but occasionally an opportunity to be a bit more creative comes down the line. After an earlier photo assignment fell through, I had to rush to put together a portrait of a member of a student skateboarding club. Daylight was fading quickly, so I knew I would need to break out the flashes for a night session.

The equipment: It’s been a bad week for me, equipment wise. One of my budget radio triggers has been on the fritz, so I was limited to one flash. My Canon 40D is already in the shop, so I broke out the trusty Digital Rebel XT. Light was provided by a Canon 430 EX, a silver umbrella and a stand. I wanted a wider perspective for this photo and my flash would provide plenty of light, so I utilized the 18-55mm kit lens, which works surprisingly well in situations like this.

See how it all came together after the jump.

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Just a heads up for anyone looking to buy a Canon 40D. I purchased a 40D last week, took it home, slapped on a lens and couldn’t get it to focus. It didn’t matter if I used autofocus or did it manually - something wasn’t calibrated correctly (I think). Even though the image looked sharp through the lens, the photos themselves were uniformly blurry.

I called Canon for assistance and they told me to send the camera in for repairs, complete with a letter documenting the problem and printed samples that illustrated the focusing error. I just got an e-mail saying the 40D would be repaired and that I could expect to receive it in 5-7 business days.

A quick search of some other websites showed that a couple of other people are having this problem, too. If you’re in the market for a 40D, be sure to put it through its paces carefully and look for any potential problems. It’s a bit frustrating that Canon launches have been so buggy recently…

Lupe Fiasco at Northwestern University

Concert photography is one of the most fun assignments a photographer can get. It’s the best seat in the house, and you get to document it all. But with the wrong equipment or the wrong approach, bad photos can spoil your night.

There’s no doubt that concert photography is a difficult assignment to shoot. It’s dark, the stage lighting is constantly changing, and the band is always in motion. It’s enough to drive even the most seasoned professional batty.

While I can’t profess to be an expert at all things concert, I have had to shoot shows on occasion. Here’s how I get through the night and get shots that work.

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Lens hoods are a gigantic rip-off. While they’re a great way to reduce flare and increase contrast on your digital SLRs, they’re also expensive, considering that it’s just a piece of plastic.

For a cheaper solution, there’s from Lenshoods.co.uk. The site offers free printable PDFs to make paper lens hoods for most popular lenses. They don’t look as professional, but they cost next to nothing and will do just as well in a pinch.

Check it out (via Lenshoods.co.uk)

Newer digital SLRs like this A100 from Sony have included an image stabilization feature inside the camera itself. Why aren’t offerings from Nikon and Canon following suit?

With camera manufacturers releasing their next generations of digital SLRs, one feature that’s gaining a lot of attention is in-camera image stabilization. While it’s one of the big selling points in Sony Digital SLRs like the A100, both Canon and Nikon continue to eschew in-camera image stabilization in their own new offerings. Are both Canon and Nikon simply behind the times? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is no.

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