Benjamin Golub's blog » Photography

A Beautiful Weekend

Benjamin Golub — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:30:58 +0000

We had a lovely weekend in upstate New York. Saturday we attended a coworker’s wedding reception in a local park:

And today we visited Tim (Megen’s brother) at Cornell:

And now we get to watch the Steelers. Overall a perfect weekend.

Cruise Slideshow

Benjamin Golub — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:25:07 +0000

Megen and I spent 5 days on a cruise traveling to Key West, Cozumel, and Belize. We spent our time on the boat by the pool (often eating) for hours on end; it was extremely relaxing (to the point where we frequently fell asleep pool side). In Cozumel we explored Mayan ruins and in Belize we went snorkeling on the reef (and saw a dolphin!). Watch the slideshow below but be warned you will be jealous.

Groundhogs

Benjamin Golub — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:19:12 +0000

Megen and I have been paying close attention to a family of groundhogs that live just around the corner from our apartment. We see them nearly every day and have even given them names. Last night I got a chance to take some photographs of them. Here’s some tips:

Groundhogs are really fast. Don’t let those short stubby legs fool you!
They are frightened easily but also very curious. I walked up to their mound and could see them poking their heads out of various holes at me. When I got too close they darted back in. So I slowly stepped closer and waited. Only a few minutes later they popped their heads out again to check me out.
Don’t sneeze. A sneeze ended this photo shoot.

DK-21M Magnifying Eyepiece Review

Benjamin Golub — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:30:25 +0000

I purchased a DK-21M magnifying eyepiece for my D40 a few weeks ago. It magnifies the image that you see in your viewfinder by 1.17x. This might seem insignificant but I’ve found it to tremendously useful for aiding in manual focus. Many lenses do not auto focus for the D40 because it lacks a motor; if the lens doesn’t contain a motor (Nikon AF-S and Sigma HSM lenses do) then you are stuck with manual focus. I recently purchased a 50mm 1.8 which does not auto focus. I found manual focusing to be pretty easy but thought it could be better.

The DK-21M makes it even simpler. The viewfinder is larger and seems brighter; making it easier and quicker to manual focus. I’m still not perfect at it but I’m able to get my shot much quicker than I could without it.

One minor concern with the DK-21M is that it requires you to push your eye very close to the viewfinder or you will not see the edges (and thus miss the green dot that tells you when you are in focus). This is especially problematic if you wear glasses.

Apparently the DK-21M will also fit on most Canon cameras too. At $30 after tax and shipping I think it was a little bit pricey but worth it. Try to buy locally if you can to save on shipping.

By Any Other Name

Benjamin Golub — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:37:43 +0000

New Lens – 50mm f/1.8

Benjamin Golub — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:24:22 +0000

I think I’m going to enjoy this. Manual focus is not as difficult as I thought it would be but I could understand it being problematic when photographing something active (Loki was pretty tired when I took this photo).

Nikon Repair Service

Benjamin Golub — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:34:26 +0000

Just wanted to give the thumbs up to Nikon’s repair service. I sent my 55-200mm VR in for repair (the VR stopped working) on May 21st and got it back today, June 4th, in perfect condition with all the accessories and paperwork that I sent with it. Everything was covered under the 5 year warranty that came with the lens.

The paperwork that came with the lens looks like they replaced one of the lens elements (doesn’t say which), repaired the VR system, adjusted the auto focus operation, checked everything (zooming, aperture, alignment, resolution, etc), and cleaned it. That’s amazing considering all I asked for was functioning VR.

Kudos Nikon!

Random Updates: Megen Uses Docs, Vanity Searches, and New Toys

Benjamin Golub — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:50:02 +0000

Google Docs Saves The Day

Megen’s been using Google Docs for doing a lot of her work for Medical School. They aren’t allowed to save to the computers at school so using Google Docs lets her work from any computer and continue working at home. There were some small issues with formatting but other than that it sounds like it worked really well for her.

The Ben Golub

I now have the number one search for Ben Golub (but not “Ben Golub”). I used to be the Benjamin Golub but now I’m also the Ben Golub. This is pretty big news because Plaxo’s CEO is also a Ben Golub.

Another Ben Golub was hired at my company recently and I’ve been getting all of his meeting invites and emails (including one asking me to record my hours in order to get paid; super confusing and scary because I’m on salary). Lame.

New Toys

I purchased a 50mm 1.8 and a DK-21M today. This cheap ($115 for the lens and $30 for the eyepiece) combination will open up a whole new realm of photography for me: low light and narrow DOF. The 50mm will be manual focus only on my D40 but the DK-21M will help by magnifying and brightening the viewfinder. I’ll write more about these when I get a chance to use them.

Insuring Photography Equipment

Benjamin Golub — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:46:30 +0000

Do you insure your expensive photography equipment? I didn’t for a long time. I thought it would be a waste of money. Then I found myself not bringing my camera certain places: downtown, on road trips, or anywhere it might get left in the car. All because I was worried about what would happen to my $750 investment.

So a few months ago I bought “Valuable Personal Property” insurance for my camera through USAA. I already had Megen’s ring insured the same way. For only $12 a year (to cover $750 worth of equipment) it features:

No deductible.
100% replacement cost up to the amount you have insured.
Extra coverage that our renter’s insurance (also through USAA) doesn’t cover.

Now I have no concerns taking my camera with me. Obviously I’m still very careful with it but I’m definitely getting photos that I would not have dared before.

I only wish I had it for our trip to Vietnam.

Most Successful Zoo Photography Yet

Benjamin Golub — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:40:43 +0000

Megen and I went to the zoo this weekend. It was a perfect day: the sun was out but it wasn’t too hot and there was a nice gentle breeze. I’ve had successful photography outings at the zoo before but I always made rookie mistakes like forgetting to change settings after coming outside from an indoor area or forgetting to check my histogram. This time I was determined to minimize my mistakes and I have to say that this was definitely my most successful trip yet. I do have some great shots (especially this one) from other trips but I’m more proud of the fact that technically and creatively I think I’ve improved. My compositions have improved and I’m constantly checking my histogram and settings to make sure I’m getting the most out of my shots.