News and Recommendations

January 2010

By Charlotte K. Lowrie

New Learning the Canon EOS 7D course offered at BetterPhoto.com:

• My new BetterPhoto 4-week course, Learning the Canon EOS 7D, is now available for March enrollment. The signup page details the course outline and requirements.
  
  Here is a link to the signup page.
  
  http://www.betterphoto.com/courseOverview.asp?cspID=213
   

Contests and Links:

• If you are interested in shooting video with one of your Canon Digital SLRs, Canon has a new contest where you can add the next chapter to Vincent Laforet’s video, “The Cabbie.” To see the first part of the video, and to get details on the contest, visit:

  http://vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill

• Are you a new 7D photographer? If so, you can check out what other 7D photographers are shooting in the Flickr collection of 7D images at: http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/eos_7d/
   

• The winners of the BetterPhoto.com monthly photography contest are posted at:

  http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery-contest.asp
   

Gear that I recommend:

• Everyone wants to know what lens to buy next. It’s a personal decision that you have to make based on your shooting needs and preferences as well as your budget. I am a fan of prime (single-focal length) lenses, and my current favorite lens is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L II USM. This lens is built like a tank, has beautiful bokeh, stunning contrast, and razor-sharp focus. While the price tag is sobering, I bought this lens because I knew that I would use it for both outdoor nature shooting as well as for studio and existing light shooting. This lens is one of my favorites, and it is mounted on one or another of my cameras at all times.
  
  The picture below was shot with the EF 50mm f/1.2L II at f/5.6.

• I also am very pleased with the Spyder 3 Elite monitor calibration device that makes monitor calibration painless. You can learn more about this calibration device at:
  
   http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc-s3elite.php