Great article! Where do you guys shop for these things? I've been looking for a circular polarizer, but the prices are way up there for the decent ones. Has anyone ever used Mike's Filters?

Glad to have found you !
I know that I have much to learn about photography, and hope I'm not too old !
Thanks again. Jim.

Hi Yongbo,

I like your pictures very much! And thank you for the tips!

I wonder do you use HDR a lot for the landscape pictures?

thank you very much for that valuable information

I posed this question in march regarding the 10-20mm lens sigma you suggested that get from amazon not third party you said returning is easy if its a bad copy so how do i check the lens to ensure its a good lens what are the things i should check once i receive it, appreciate all that you do not many people do this-Nik

Sunday, March 9, 2008 10:24 PM

Yongbo im trying to decide between the 10-22mm canon lens and the sigma 10-20mm lens any suggestions

yongbo:
Hi Nik, The copy that we have (Canon 10-22mm) is sharp from corner to corner. Canon have two rebate programs every year, the spring program should be started soon when people get their tax return back. Normally, it's $50 on that lens. The Sigma 10-20mm is a high quality lens too, as long as you get a good copy, there is not much difference between these two lenses. So, I will recommend Amazon.com (not 3rd party), since they pay shipping for exchange

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Hi Nik, Since that lens is so wide, you need to take some pictures with a lot of details. Try put it on tripod and take a picture of a brick wall at 10mm, use f/4 and f/8. Post the original pictures on Picasa or Flickr. Post the question on Canon SLR Lens Talk Forum on Dpreview.com with link to the original pictures. People who own this lens will tell you either it's good or not. Soft corner is quite common, for example, here are some 100% crops from my P&S, the Canon SD800 IS: http://www.photo96.com/blog/?p=76, the corner is soft/blurry, for P&S, it's acceptable. This is the kind of test that people expect to see. As long as the lens is not terribly wrong, a little bit effort in post processing will make a big difference, here is an example: http://www.photo96.com/blog/?p=242, the software is Digital Photo Professional, which came with most of the Canon DSLRs. Good luck!

one more question
since i will go there by subway
do you know if is there a place you can cross the high way?
i cant tell from the map

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You can take the R train to 95th Street - Bay Ridge station, walk down to the 4th Avenue, across the Shore Road, there is an overpass can bring you to the other side of the highway. Good luck!

thanks!
maybe i see u there sometimes :)

hey yongbo
i really love your pictures!
my fav is the one with green field in sunset!

i have a question
i live in ny and i saw your pic of verrazzano bridge
i would like to try to take some pictures...
can u give me advice where to go?
which side?
since is far from where i live if you can tell me good places where to go it would save a lot of time for me
thanks!
and looking forward for new pics

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Hi Matteo, there is a small pull-over area on the east bound Belt Parkway after the 65-67th Street exit (1) and right before the bridge. You can find parking easily. Here is how it looks from the Google map.

Sunday,May 4th, 2008

I love your pictures. You explained how to use filters on the rebel XTi kit lens Canon 18-55 mm. When you use filters, you use a tripod. Does that mean filters can't be used when hand holding the camera? I'm thinking of getting the new rebel XSi. I'm interested in Canon EF 70-300 mm lens which also rotates.Is it really difficult to use filter on these lenses that rotate? A lot of the reviews I read say that you can't use filters. Please HELP!!!!

José

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Hi Jose, both the kit lens and the 75-300mm USM III do have the rotating front and narrow focus ring, it’s a little bit annoying, but after some practice, you can still use the circular polarizer filter with auto focus and get good result. There is no other Canon lens in that price range doesn’t have the rotating front, the 18-55mm kit lens shipped with the new XSi is a good lens for beginners, and also has image stabilizer. For telephoto, I will recommend the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro. This is a good combo when you want to travel light. Btw, tripod is not required if the shutter speed is not too slow.

I was curious as to if you could tell me how to set your camera so it will take photos with a blurred background?

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Hi Emily, the blurred background is also the out of focus area, in another word, you want the shallow depth of field (DOF). Use long focal length, large aperture, and get close to the subject. For the kit lens, compare the results between f/5.6 and f/22 at 55mm, keep the same distance from the subject, the minimum focus distance that you can get is 9.8". Here is an online depth of field calculator: http://www.photo96.com/dof/index.htm