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Carl Palazzolo, DVM,
MBA
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Carl Palazzolo, DVM,
MBA
Home | Staff | Clients | Medical | Boarding | Wildlife | Diagnosis | E-Mail | Privacy |
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Welcome to my web page for digital photography. Most of my photography work involves taking people on trips and photographic workshops (we call them fun shops) around the world. On all of my trips you will learn photography and get to use my professional Canon equipment. We have a ball, take tons of photos, eat like royalty, have a photo contest and give a prize to the best photo of the trip, and learn about a different culture. I make a web page for the people that go on my trips so they can show off to their friends. This is my version of photojournalism, and how I share my photography with others. You are always welcome to join us and get that special keeper you can print out and hang on your wall.
Here is a link to
two extensive safari articles I wrote
for a friend that runs a photography business in Thailand. Set aside
the time for these
articles because I went back 24 years in my photography and safari
cabinet to bring you this information. They will give you the scoop on
my equipment, my experiences traveling to all 7 continents, and the
conservation work I have done primarily with highly endangered species.
When you are
done come back here and you can finish the rest of this page if your
eyes are not too tired.
Safari
Article
Part
I-
http://www.stickmanweekly.com/Photo/12December/BKKSWPhoto70.html
Fall colors Elk
bugling/mating in Yellowstone. This trip is an actual workshop for
beginning and intermediate wildlife photographers. After this fall trip
we are also going
back to Yellowstone in the winter of 2011 to photograph the wolves
during their mating season. Follow this link for details of
the fall Yellowstone Workshop.
I
went
there
in
April
of
2010
to
help Gary scout out the area. It was a
good time to go because the animals were quite active as you can see
from this hunting coyote.
In Feb of 2011 we
are going to Rwanda to see the gorillas, the Serengeti to see the
wildebeest being born, and to go on a walking tour with the Hadzabe.
Let me know asap if you want to join us because these safari trips book
up far in advance and I usually take only 10 people to keep the
experience personal and customized.
Here are the flyers for that trip-
Serengeti
itinerary-
images/Africa2011/Tanzania%20brochure%20Feb%2019.pdf
Rwanda itinerary- images/Africa2011/Rwanda%20brochure%20Feb%2019.pdf
Contact me at carlp@me.com with any questions.
The
Galapagos
trip was in March of 2010. Its a must see for anyone interested in
the history of Charles Darwin and unique wildlife found no place else. Click
on the picture to learn more.
In
July
of
2009
twenty
of
us
(two
groups
of
ten
on sequential trips) went to Tanzania.
Its
the
same
trip
I
took
23
years
ago,
and
it
was
tremendous to see it
over again. Click on the picture below for all the particulars.
Our Feb 2008 Antarctica page is up and running- Click on the penguin photo below to get all the details.
Here
are
pictures from our Masai Mara trip
in October of 2007. We have a detailed page on this trip- click on
the wildebeest to get a detailed account of our trip.
This was a
research trip in Tsavo National Park. At the end of the trip we went to
the Masai Mara.
This is a
maneless lion protecting his kill from us.
This
unbelievably
interesting
trip
was
in
1991.
Back
in
those
prehistoric
days
there
was
no
concept of digital
photography, so
all
of these photos, and the
black rhino slide show that follows, are from slides that were scanned.
This orang had no problems showing us how she felt about our presence!
This
slide
show
gives
you
a
good
idea
of
the
poaching
problem
and
why
it is impossible to stop. It was
a beautiful country at the time, too bad Zimbabwe is in chaos at the
moment.
These shots are from northern Michigan which is quaint and is an outdoors and wildlife mecca
Click the Osprey picture below to see lots more wildlife and scenery of northern Michigan
I
occasionally assist Peter Read Miller and his fellow Sports Illustrated
photographers
at the Rose Bowl. He is a Canon Explorers of Light member, along with
other famous wildlife photographers like Art Wolfe, Frans Lanting, and
Paul Nicklen. He has been on my African safari and of course brought
back some awesome photos.
Here
I
am
at
the
2010
game hours before the fans show
up. This is some of the equipment Peter uses during a game. It consists
of numerous Canon 1D Mark IV cameras, a Canon 7D camera, and Canon
800mm, 400mm, 300mm prime lenses along with Canon 70-200mm and 16-35mm
zoom lenses.
Things get a wee bit more crowded when the game starts
My Equipment
CamerasCanon EOS 1D Mark IV
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
The most important part of your purchase in a digital SLR camera setup is the lens. You should budget for a high quality lens before the camera body. All too often a nice camera is used with a mediocre lens, negating the potential of the camera. You will notice the following lenses all have a red ring around the front of the lens. This denotes Canon's professional series lenses, and are also called "L series" lenses in the Canon world. When it comes to lenses, the axiom "you get what you pay for", certainly applies. It is not uncommon for a professional sports or action photographer to spend up to $6000 for professional lenses. Lenses can be a fixed focal length or a zoom.The fixed focal length lenses (also called prime lenses) almost always produce a higher quality photo. An example of a popular prime lens is 300 mm. This is equivalent to 6x. The zoom lenses are more flexible, and you won't miss as many photos because the fixed focal length lens you happened to put on your camera was either too powerful, or not powerful enough, at the moment you wanted to get your shot. Sometimes this is easily remedied by changing the fixed focal length lens rapidly to one of more or less magnification. I must admit to missing many a good picture while changing one of these lenses though. Also, in a dusty environment like Africa, removing the lens from the camera while you are changing it can cause problems for the camera. This also assumes you have the money to purchase several lenses, and the inclination to carry them around. Since most of us are not shooting for professional publications and don't need that extra difference in quality, the quality of the zoom lenses will more than suffice and will yield amazing photos.
Canon makes a series of nice consumer grade lenses. The 75-300, 100-300, 28-135, and the 18-55 all give you a nice picture. If you want to get the most out of your expensive camera you need to upgrade to Canon's L series of lenses. This is their professional lens series, and will give you pictures of better quality. Following are some of my wildlife lenses:
Canon 70-200mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)
This lightweight and relatively inexpensive zoom lens will cover a wide range of photographic needs. It is highly recommended for travel photography, and takes great photos. If you can only purchase one lens for all your photographic needs this is the one. I utilized this lens often on my Bears of Katmai trip and the Antarctica. The lens can keep an aperture of f/4 all the way from 70 mm to its maximum of 200 mm. This differentiates it from a consumer grade lens, and is consistent across the Canon line of "L" series zoom lenses.
There is a version of this lens that is not Image Stabilized. It is a great bargain, usually $600 new. You can find a used one in great shape on craigslist or fredmiranda.com. Used they go for around $500. This lens is a winner at that price, and I highly recommend it.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 Image Stabilized (IS)
One of Canon's best lenses and a popular lens among professionals. There is a new version out. It is of higher optical quality, and is more adaptable to changing photographic situations, than the lens above. It can keep its f/2.8 aperture all the way from 70 mm to 200 mm. It is the lens to purchase if you can only purchase one lens for all your needs, and don't mind the weight or expense. It is dramatically heavier, and almost 3x more expensive than the 70-200 f/4 above. This is because of the one stop larger aperture and the Image Stabilization. These two features can help you in low light situations, a major advantage for the sports and low light (wildlife) photographer. I did not bring it on my Tsavo trip because of its weight. I used this lens with the Mark II N camera to take almost all of my Rose Bowl pictures. This lens, when mated to the Mark III camera, is a weatherproof combination, and can be used in a downpour all day long.
Canon 24-105mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)
This relatively lightweight wide angle zoom has great image quality when you need to get a wide field of view. I used it often on my Tsavo trip, Antarctica trip and in Galapagos. Whenever I am shooting I always leave the house with this lens, no matter which camera I have or my subject matter. It is awesome on the 5D, 5D II, and 1Ds Mark III because it gives you a wide angle, yet it can zoom to 105 mm.
Canon 135mm f/2.0
This very high quality prime lens is used when you want pictures of tremendous sharpness. I use it for many of my portrait shots. It excels in low light situations because of its f/2.0 aperture. When you are using flash at night the big aperture gives it more power to illuminate further in the distance. The photo at the top of this page with the lion over the cape buffalo was taken with this lens. It was a night shot, and since we didn't dare get too close to this lion and his kill, I had to shoot from a distance that was at the maximum range of my flash. Having the larger aperture (f/2.0) of this lens gave me enough flash power to get the photo properly exposed. It is also great at concerts, museums, churches and plays when flash is not allowed.
This is a good time to touch on flash photography. If you are interested in wildlife or sports photography you need a good external flash. I keep mine available at all times when I am shooting, even in daylight. I use professional external flashes (also called strobes) on all my workshops and will teach everyone how to use it in daylight and evening. When you want additional reach, and are using a lens of 300mm or longer, the Better Beamer will help extend your reach.
The primary flash is use is the 580 EX. It has significant power to reach those
elusive animals that hide in the trees and bushes.
One of those elusive night creatures you can surprise with a flash like this and a good lens. Do you know what this creature is?
Canon 400 mm f/5.6
This prime lens has great image quality and is relatively light for 400 mm. Its a great wildlife lens when you are walking around and weight is a factor. When coupled with the 20D / 30D / 40D / 50D / 7D or Rebel series it is equivalent to a 640 mm lens on a 35 mm camera. It is not image stabilized, which might be a problem in low light if you camera does not take noise free pictures at higher ISO's. It is a bargain if you travel for your wildlife photography or any time weight is an issue. It goes with me on all my trips and workshops because of the image quality and light weight for 400 mm.
Here is an example of a handheld shot with the 400 capturing a Forster's tern streaking by
Canon 300 mm f/2.8 IS
Optically speaking professional photographers feel this is the finest lens in the Canon arsenal. It is highly prized for outdoor sports photography because it focuses rapidly, the large aperture can blur the background and the pictures it produces are outstanding. Lenses like this one, and the following one, take practice to learn how to use them properly. They are larger than the lenses most people are used to, and need steady support like a tripod or monopod in many cases, although you can hand hold the 300 mm easily for short periods of time.
I used this lens on the Antarctica trip to take the picture of the whale tails. I also used this lens to take the hummingbird picture above.
Red Egret taken with this lens and a 1.4X TC
Canon 500 mm f/4 IS
I purchased mine used, although it was barely used and in mint condition. These lenses hold their value, and even purchasing it used it still cost $5000.
I use it for all my wildlife work when I am not hiking, in which case I will use the 400 mm f/5.6 described above. I also purchased it so all of the attendees of the Yellowstone and Africa trips and workshops can get a chance to use such a superb wildlife lens. If you are going to Africa and want to come back with outstanding photos this is the lens of choice.
I generally use it with a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and a Wimberely or sidekick head. This tripod is light, very strong, and can easily hold the weight of this lens. The Wimbereley head makes the lens "float" on the tripod, and is a joy to use. When I travel with it I bring a lightweight Gitzo tripod and use an Arca Swiss ballhead and the Wimberely Sidekick.
The optics are outstanding, and it is the wildlife lens of choice in the Canon world. Canon also makes a 600 mm lens which some would argue is the wildlife lens of choice. It is a monster in size and weight, and I doubt many of us would be thrilled to lug such a large lens through the airport, lug the heavy tripod needed to use this lens, and then set it up in the field. To me the 500 mm is a much better compromise in size, weight, and power. Canon also makes an 800 mm f/5.6 lens. I have used it and it is awesome for wildlife. It is lighter than the 600 mm, and will be a tremendous wildlife lens if you are willing to spend well over $10,000 for a lens. Since most people find this just a little bit outside their budget, we will stick with the 500 mm.
I bring the 500 on all my Africa trips for everyone to use. It has Image Stabilization (IS) so you can hand hold it on occasion, although a tripod or steady support are recommended. We will almost always be using it from the Land Rover without a tripod since we can easily steady it (as long as the other people in the vehicle are not moving around) with a bean bag. You can see this if you link to the 2007 Masai Mara page.
Striped Kingfisher taken with the 500
Canon 100 mm f/2.8 macro
For closeup (called macro) photography you need a specialized lens. I use the Canon 100 mm f/2.8. You will need to practice with this lens because focusing can be difficult due to the limited depth of field. A tripod is highly recommended.
Flash is important in macro photography. One of the best ones regarding portability, ease of use, and cost, is a ring flash.
This type of lens lets you bring to life a world we rarely notice. With the flowers swaying in the wind
and the insect constantly moving you need to practice if you want any keepers.
Macro photography can be lots of fun
To learn the nuts and bolts of digital photography follow these links to my lectures:
Intermediate Digital Photography
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