editorial photographer Susan Seubert and the Canon L Series 50mm 1.2 USM lens

This year, I broke down and purchased a Canon 50mm 1.2 L series USM lens.  It is spectacular for portrait work because of its amazing bokeh.  There is a lot of chatter out there about the spectacular price difference between the 1.2 and the Canon 1.4.  I also own a Canon 50mm 2.5 macro which is instrumental for me for shooting details of things from food to flowers but for portraits, the 1.2 can’t be beat.  Here are two examples.  One is a portrait of my husband, which I dropped into a film frame for effect – I’ve long been lugging around an analogue Hasselblad with a beautiful 80mm lens, which I’ve used for years as my primary portrait lens. It’s also fantastic combined with a few extension tubes. However, now that I’m moving into an almost exclusively digital workflow, I had to find a lens that I was happy enough with to leave my Hasselblad behind when going on assignment.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love working with film, but the practical side of my business has forced my hand on this one.  I’ve been taking the d65 wokrshop every other year to keep current on the latest digital workflow which has led me to adopt working almost exclusively in Adobe’s Lightroom.  That software combined with the Canon 5D Mark II’s and lenses I work with give me a great way to process thousands of images in a relatively short period of time, without sacrificing any amount of quality. (This year’s processed tally is almost to 13,000 client delivered images).  My digital library is now more organized than ever – I can find any image with just a few clicks of the mouse.  I hope you find this information useful!

Portrait shot with the Canon L series 1.2 50mm USM lens, dropped into a Hasselblad film frame using Photoshop CS5

my cat, photographed on the couch using the Canon L series 1.2 USM lens, processed using Adobe's Camera Raw and Photoshop CS5

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National Geographic Traveler photographer Susan Seubert shoots Barbados

It is with great pleasure to announce that a story I shot about Barbados for National Geographic Traveler Magazine last summer is being published in the January/February 2011 issue of the magazine.  This morning I woke up to the photo gallery which is now online and am anxiously awaiting for the printed issue to arrive in the mail.  Photographing in Barbados was a marvelous experience as the Bajan people are wonderful.  Throughout the country people were welcoming and eager to help which makes my job as a travel photographer an absolute pleasure.  The biggest challenge was finding my way around the island.  All roads do conspire to eventually get you where you need to be, but often in a more circuitous route than one might initially plan. It was a thrill to drive on the left, which I haven’t done for quite a while, along with the fact that once you leave the main area surrounding Bridgetown, the roads turn into one lane passages filled with anything from herds of sheep to giant trucks barreling along at break-neck speeds.  The most memorable experience was photographing the thoroughbred horses having a bath in the ocean at dawn.  After a tip from a local, I decided that it was worth getting up at 3:30 to drive to the water’s edge where, twice a week, the groomers bring the race-horses into the ocean for a bath and a swim.  It was completely dark when we arrived at the parking lot, and all I could here was the “ker-plock, ker-plock” of horses’ hooves on the pavement.  Then, out of the darkness a man and a horse appeared under the streetlamp by the beach, and off they would go into the water.  It took a while for it to get light, but the water was so warm and the air so still, that for two hours, I went chest deep into the water with my camera and stood as close as I could photograph to the groomers as they washed and talked.  It was so beautiful to see these horses enjoying the water, the men talking to each other in the heavy Bajan dialect, and then watch them as they would hang onto the hind haunches as the horses swam out to sea for a bit and then back to shore.  Some of the animals didn’t want to get out and would protest by pulling at their reins or lying down.  I had to be very careful as one swift kick from these lovely creatures would have sent me directly to the hospital!  The sky turned pink, then blue, then gradually the flow of horses slowed and stopped.  It was 7:30am and I had already been shooting for three hours.  Marvelous.

This was also the first shoot I’ve done for traveler that was fully digital.  I took my Rolliflex and a Holga, but time didn’t permit the use of either of these cameras, so I shot everything on two Canon 5D Mark II cameras, and a host of lenses including my new favorite, a 50mm 1.2 for portraits and low light.  I also shot a bit of video and took some audio.  I’ll post one of my pieces in January, so stay tuned!

Click here to see Barbados: Photos From the Big Hearted Caribbean Island

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editorial photographer Susan Seubert shoots Washington D.C. for National Geographic Traveler

In a previous post, I linked to the online web gallery of images from the story about Washington D.C. in National Geographic Traveler.  Since I was in Maui, I was unable to scan the tear-sheets from the story until now, back home in my Portland, Oregon office.  I was thrilled to see that they published a 10 page spread.  Needless to say, shooting Washington D.C. for National Geographic Traveler was a daunting task given that it is the headquarters for the National Geographic Society and I felt that all eyes were upon me as I approached the story.  However I was in good hands.  My editor accompanied me on many of the locations, which was very much fun and made shooting the story a fantastic experience.  You can read the back story in the magazine.  As usual, it was a long shoot and I made over 6000 images so there are plenty of outtakes.  I’ve posted a few of them here on my Photoshelter Stock site, if you’d like to see more.  If you don’t subscribe to National Geographic Traveler, I highly recommend that you do as it is full of great information and, of course, good pictures.

The opener, taken from the bar at the W Hotel, just two blocks from the White House

second spread, the Newseum exhibit dedicated to 9/11

3rd spread

4th spread

final spread, end of story

All the images were shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, a Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 IS USM, Canon 50mm compact macro, Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS USM, Canon 16-35mm, or a Hasselblad with 80mm, 120mm, 50mm or 40mm lenses.  The digital files were processed using Adobe’s Lightroom and the film is all Kodak 160VC.

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Attention Canon 5D users: KNOWN MIRROR ISSUE

If you have a Canon 5D camera, Canon has announced on their web site that there is a known issue with the mirror.

“We have discovered that, in rare instances, the main mirror of some EOS 5D Digital SLR cameras may detach due to deterioration in the strength of the adhesive.”

In a previous post, I talked about how my mirror came off in the middle of a shoot.  Assuming that I simply have bad luck with digital cameras, I shrugged it off and shipped the 5D off to the Canon factory repair center as soon as I returned home.  I decided to do a little bit of googling about the issue and up popped the site from Canon, with their mea culpa.  They will fix the issue, free of charge, including shipping.  Call the 1-800 number on the web page listed below for service.

Click on the screen shot to be directed to Canon’s support page and good luck!

Screen shot of Canon's Support Page for the 5D Mirror issue

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Canon 5D Mirror Falls Out

Just another day at the office when… what the… suddenly the camera jams and given my history with Canon bodies I just figured, well, the 5D is fried… AGAIN.  But no, not just fried:  the mirror had come off of it’s plate and cracked in two.  Nice.

I haven’t contacted Canon yet – of course the body is out of warranty, and, again, of course, I was in the middle of nowhere when it failed so no pro replacement available.  Sigh.  Have a backup, of course, but I’m so tired of cameras falling apart.

Here’s the picture.  More to come…

Canon 5D mirror falls out

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Maui Photographer Susan Seubert in National Geographic Traveler Magazine

The March Issue of National Geographic Traveler is out to subscribers and it is with great pleasure that I am able to share these images from the story.  The article was put online a few days ago, but now the printed version is also available.  Although I didn’t shoot all the images for the article, I did wind up with the majority of published pictures along with a nice byline.  Here are the photographs from the story that I made.  Please go buy a copy of the magazine, or even better, support magazines and get a subscription!  You can also look at more of my photography of Hawaii on my photoshelter site by clicking here.  I spend four months a year in Maui, so I am very proud to have had this opportunity to feature one of my favorite places on earth in pictures.  I hope you enjoy the story and have the opportunity to visit our 50th state sometime in the very near future. Aloha and mahalo nui loa!

Opening spread for the cover story "Undiscovered Maui" in National Geographic Traveler Magazine

Makamakaole Falls on Maui's rugged North Shore

Kahakuloa, the Hawaiian village located on Maui's rugged North Shore, accessible only by a narrow, one lane, cliff hugging road

These images were made with a Canon 5D, Canon 5D Mark II, and one film camera, the Hasselblad.  When shooting digitally, I always shoot in a RAW format.  The digital images were processed in Adobe’s Lightroom software program.

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Susan Seubert Photographer shoots Maui for National Geographic Traveler

It is with great pleasure to announce that an online photography gallery of images about Hawaii was recently posted to the National Geographic Traveler web site.  The story is about “Undiscovered Maui” and will be running in the March issue of the magazine.  Macduff Everton and I both contributed images to the story and I am pleased to share a byline with him.  In this web gallery, his image is taken from the inside of an outrigger canoe, and the rest of the photographs were made by me.   Click here to see the gallery of images and here to see the story by Andrew McCarthy.  What made this assignment so incredible was having the opportunity to meet the good people of Kahakuloa.  Each and every person in this small town nestled in the cliffs of the northern tip of Maui demonstrated true aloha spirit in the most genuine way.  The premise of this story is absolutely true and it’s best experienced by taking time to talk story with the locals.  They have a long history to share with us and we have much to learn from them and their culture.  One of the most memorable moments of the shoot was meeting Richard Ho’opi’i.  Not only did he give us an enormous amount of his time as we sat in his back yard and listened to his history of growing up and learning na leo ki’eki’e, (falsetto), he generously gave us a private concert in the little green church that is nestled in this picturesque village of only a few hundred people.  His wife runs the pink ice cream stand in the village.  If you travel there, stay a while, enjoy the stories and experience the aloha that these warm people so generously offer.

Click here to be taken to the web gallery of images on National Geographic Traveler's Web Site

I shot my images with a Canon 5D, a Canon 5D Mark II, and a Hasselblad.  I processed the digital files using Adobe’s Lightroom.

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Portland Landscape Photography by Susan Seubert

… is featured in the new book entitled, “Where the Revolution Began, published by Spacemaker Press.  It features the work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who had been at the leading edge of urban design (sadly, he passed away in October).  Together with his wife Anna Halprin, they transformed notions of public space and community.  The book contains three essays by John Beardsley, Janice Ross and Randy Gragg.  I made the modern photographs of the Halprin Promenade in Portland over the last couple of years. If you would like to buy the book, you can do so here. We hope you do, as all the proceeds go to the Halprin Landscape Conservancy, “a nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public and preserving the Portland Open Space Sequence.”

Where The Revolution Began: Cover and Modern photos by Susan Seubert

The process of documenting these parks was a very interesting exercise in trying to “see” back in time and envision what these plazas might have looked like before they were overwhelmed by high rise buildings, neglect, (don’t mean to be down on Portland here, I would wager this was due to city budget restraints), and the addition of unintended architectural features (such as sculpture, planters, etc…).

This book is a magnificent testament to these public spaces and we hope will not only bring attention to these important Portland landmarks but lead to the preservation of them for future generations.  In addition to my work, the book also includes reproductions of Halprin’s drawings and some historical images for context.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the shoot which features the Lovejoy Fountain, Pettygrove Park and the Forecourt Fountain.  Most of the images were made with a Hasselblad using 80mm, 50mm or 40mm lenses.  The film was either Kodak 160VC or Kodak 400VC.  Some of the detail images and wide angle horizontal images were made with a Canon 5D.

A detail of the acclaimed Forecourt Fountain in downtown Portland, OR

A detail of the acclaimed Forecourt Fountain in downtown Portland, OR

Pettygrove Park consists of a series of mounds and paths

Pettygrove Park consists of a series of mounds and paths

The Lovejoy Fountain which was designed to have water cascading down steps and land into a serene pool

The Lovejoy Fountain which was designed to have water cascading down steps and land into a serene pool

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Canon 5D Mark II Error 01 Message

Two weeks ago, during a critical moment while I was shooting on a photography assignment, my Canon 5D Mark II started giving me an “Error 01″ message saying there was a communication error between the lens and the camera.  I called my most favorite Canon rep and he suggested that I try the lens on a second body, just to make sure it was the lens and not the body. (I had a whole boatload of trouble with my first 5D Mark II).  I put the troublesome lens, my favorite 24-105 f/4 IS USM, on my older Canon 5D and instead of intermittent error messages, the camera would lock the mirror up and I’d have to turn the camera off in order to get it functioning again. Both bodies worked perfectly with all the other lenses in my kit.  I started searching for a new lens to buy because I had a sunset location to be at in 2 hours (YIKES).  Every camera store I called had the lens on back order.   I was luckily able to secure a loaner.  Sure enough, the loaner lens worked perfectly on both bodies and I subsequently sent my malfunctioning 24-105 to the Canon Repair Center in Irvine.  I am a Silver member of CPS and they turned the lens around in about a week.  I’ve tested it briefly and it appears to be in good working order.  They even replaced a few extra parts and put the lens back into virtually new condition.  Thank you Canon!!!  Here are a couple of photos which I am fond of, both of which were made with the Canon 5D Mark II and the 24-105 f/4 IS USM lens.

coconut rice for the B.B.Q. and sunset sailing off of the island of Maui

images copyright © 2009 Susan Seubert Photography

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