Canon Teleconverter Trick

As mentioned in the previous blog post, certain Canon lenses do not autofocus with the 1.4x teleconverter on crop sensor cameras. There is a simple trick to get around this issue however. Just simply tape over the three closest pins to the left of the red lens mount dot.

The Canon 400mm f5.6 lens essentially now becomes an 896mm lens with autofocus.

Snowy Egret Ruffling Feathers, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California

It’s hard to believe that a few days ago it was overcast and 60-something degrees. Today it is around 100 degrees. I would imagine that Huntington Beach doesn’t look this way either today.

I don’t do much high-key photography but it looked interesting on my computer in this case. Does anybody else feel the same way?

See more of my Orange County pictures.

There weren’t that many people at the beach because it was cold. The cool part though was there were quite a few kiteboarders out there riding the waves. I had never seen this sport before so I wasn’t sure how to anticipate the moves. I only took a few pictures but this one was my favorite.

See more of my Orange County pictures.

The Huntington State Beach was very busy. There could have been half a million people there as it was very hot inland. It was even rather humid at the beach despite the marine layer. It was so crowded there that I had to park about a half an hour walk from the pier. I tried using a wide angle but the busy scenes were too cluttered for wide angles. So I tried to use the 70-300mm for most of my shots. I said “tried” because that was the lens that went for the swim along with the camera two weeks ago. The lens is worse off than the camera because there is so much grit lodged in there that the focus ring barely moves. I almost felt like a drunk person trying to shoot action photography as a result. My photos from Saturday were nowhere near as good as what I got last time but I think I managed a few marketable shots.

Photo: Woman in Bikini Reading Book While Suntanning, Huntington State Beach, California

I didn’t realize that this girl had tattoos until she turned over. Her whole back was tattoed. She looked like the ideal model otherwise, it’s too bad. I might consider cloning out the tats later but I almost never clone stuff so I don’t know if I will yet. I’d have to blur out the logo on her bag as well.

Picture: Fisherman talks to bystanders as they admire his leopard shark, Huntington Beach Pier, California

Eventually I made it to the end of the pier and saw this fisherman that had caught a leopard shark. I stayed around photograph him and was prepared to use several gigs worth of shots until I got the shot I wanted in good light but not long after I took this image, my viewfinder fizzled out on me again and I lost most of the camera functions like I did two weeks ago after the swim. I could live with that since the metering and shutter still worked, but as I went to unload my Compact Flash cards onto my new HyperDrive portable hard drive, one of the pins in the HyperDrive bent. So I wasn’t able to upload anything. I spent about 45 minutes using my keys to try bending it back into place without much luck. Dejected, I packed up and made the long walk back to my car. It was 6:30 or 7:00 by that point and the light was getting good so that was all the more frustrating.

Picture: Dead Leopard Shark, Huntington Beach Pier, California

The camera works again tonight so I’m sure that it will be back to normal soon. I also managed to bend the pins back upright on the HyperDrive so everything is good to go for the California coast trip. I still think the HyperDrive is very cheaply made considering that it “broke” during my first time of using it but I will give it another shot before contacting B&H; about returning it. I’ll probably also be bringing a backup camera body in case there are re-occuring problems with my camera.

See more of my Huntington Beach pictures.

Huntington Beach is probably the quintessential location to photograph California beach culture. Having a tripod isn’t really a necessity here as I found out yesterday, in fact it might be a hindrance but I’ll get to that later. So I parked on the street near some surfers and spent some time photographing them in the sunset light. It was amazing to watch.

Next, I turned my attention to capturing backlit photos due to the big setting sun. There was a marine layer yesterday so there was a big golden glow in the sky. Perfect for doing some telephoto work.

Couple About to Share a Romantic Kiss Next to Lifeguard Tower at Huntington State Beach, Huntington Beach, California

This scene here reminded me of something you would see in a romance movie so I scrambled to get myself angled for a picture. Complicating matters was the fact that I was carrying a new tripod which I’d only used twice before so I was literally fumbling with my gear yesterday. Things are much simpler when you are using familiar equipment so you don’t have to think about the process. My previous Gitzo tripod (salt water damage), weighed only two pounds and fit into my backpack. It was a perfect fit for my shooting style because I don’t really enjoy dealing with tripods. The bigger they are, the more limiting they are especially when you are trying to capture “the Decisive Moment.” With that said, I’m going to look into tying this new tripod onto my backpack next time.

Not too long after I shot several images of the above scene, I took my camera strap off of my neck so I could reach into my backpack to change a memory card. That wasn’t the smartest move, as a wave crashed ashore and wiped out my tripod and camera. The tripod is a sturdy one, but the reason why the tripod fell over was because the tidal area was sloping and me not being used to the tripod didn’t tighten one of my legs all the way. I did’nt realize that my camera was drowning until I after I closed up my backpack. My camera hasn’t been fully functional since, though I still meter and take pictures. But the viewfinder flickers on and off, and the on-camera controls don’t work when the lens is attached. It works when no lens is attached though. I think perhaps the connection probably short-circuited for the time-being.

My biggest complaint with Canon cameras is that only the top-of-the-line models are weather-sealed. The 5D isn’t even weather-sealed and that camera costs $3,000. Whereas almost all of Nikon’s cameras are. This is the 2nd time that I have drowned my camera, but the first time I’ve had to deal with sand and salt water. The other time was because of rainfall and it started working again after three days of airing out. My 70-300mm lens has a lot of grit jammed up in there too and doesn’t really extend anymore as a result. I could live without it as it’s not my workhorse lens, but I sure hope the camera starts working again. It wasn’t even that wet compared to the rainfall soaking I put it through a year and a half ago.

See more of my Orange County pictures.