Canon EOS 7D 1st impression

Few weeks ago my only camera Canon EOS 400D died after serving me good 3 years. Image quality of this little machine was remarkable and i printed large prints and shot a lot professional assignments with it. You can see results on my website

Few things i really missed in Rebel were: large viewfinder, focusing points, grip, focusing accuracy. As i was out of budget i had to buy 400D and drop canon 30D. I was waiting for 60D as i thought it will be a great balance between 7D and 550D, but my camera died, and there was no rumor of 60D release in near future.

I made mind for Canon 7D after reading lots of reviews and user opinions and ordered it. After receiving it and taking it out of pack, i was impressed by body, 1st camera that don't feel flimsy from any side. Solid built excellent feel in hands, though it is heavy body (800g) but canon managed to make it feel light weight, thanks to its excellent handling.

Shooting performance: after charging battery i played with it (without reading manual) and clicked many shots using Canon 17-40L and 100mm macro 2.8 (non IS). With 17-40L focusing was no issue for this beast, surprisingly it even performed very well combined with 100mm macro lens. This camera can auto focus at 1:1 accurately and it improves when Spot AF is used.

High ISO photos, i was using it under normal day lights inside room, and left ISO to A (auto) while shutter speed and aperture were fixed. Camera was choosing ISO between 1600 and 3200 to properly expose photos (good metering too). All came out very nice and seems excellent for normal usage and small prints (though i need to do formal testing).

What i liked about 7D
Everything ! i hope i will have full frame dslr like this some day, if you are looking to upgrade from rebel series then 7D worth every single penny. Its blazing speed has encouraged me to go out and shoot sports and action too.

Will post results soon

Autumn in Islamabad

Autumn has exploded in Islamabad one of the most beautiful city on earth. If you love to see beautiful autumn trees do pay a visit to "Rose and Jasmine Garden" located near "Abpara Market". Here are few photos i got while i was there to capture the autumn trees. . Other hot spots in Islamabad are Damn-e-Koh, Rawal lake view point.

All images © Awais Yaqub

Pakistan independence the kids show

Singing and painting competetion was held at open air theater at Islamabad organized by Payaam foundation. It is a formed by youngster volunteers and work for spreading peace and happiness through its varity of work like free medical camps etc. Anyone can become a volunteer call +92-51-2539179 for donations etc.

It was charm to witness such activity in the city. With so many children with smiles on their faces. Best part was inclusion of orphans and special children who also took part in the competitions equally.

Here are few images click image to see few more in the gallery

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="201" caption="Work in progress"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="Singing Auditions and little Iman sisters! "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Face Painting"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="3 sisters ;-)"][/caption]

Kitty lens is not that kitty !!

I use Canon EOS 400D with EF-S 18-55 f3.5-5.6 supplied kit lens. Lovely colors of flowers always attract me and i decided to shoot closeup of the sunflower with this lens. At 55mm and aperture set to f/8 while iso set to 200. I kept moving closer and closer to the flower and kept focusing and discover how close this kit lens can actually focus !(0.92 ft)  image came our pretty good with lots of colors and detail. Click the image to purchase the print. It came out too good i decided to put into my fine art gallery.

I have been very satisfied with this lens and have used it to make a lot photos. It is not much good at focusing and very cheaply built but, it will keep happy a lot budget shooters if they use it carefully. This was not planned test shot just one from random daily shots so i decided to post.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flower shot with canon 18-55 kit lens no cropping slight PP. click to buy Print to check how it looks when printed. Image will be printed from much smaller 1667x2500 size as compared to 2592x3888 orignal Raw from camera. "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="296" caption="100% crop no noise reduction applied slight USM"][/caption]

Capturing flow of water

It has been always in my wish list to shoot flowing water ! Well visit to northern areas of Pakistan this summer gave me chance to fulfill my desire. I shot a lot flowing water scape there, i shot a lot of images. This is daring Kunhar river that flows through Kaghan Valley. It is known as killer river that will take everything in its way. Crashing water on rocks create horrifying sound that can lead to river phobia ! Rocks ah what a beautiful piece of art full of textures and perfect in shape. I decided to make them part of scene.

Click images to see full galleries

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Canon 18-55 f/3.2-5.6 lens at f/8 at 18mm"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="EF-s 17-85 mm at f32 "][/caption]

The Technique

Before any body asks here is what i did to sucessfully capture these images.

To capture flowing water you got to have set your camera for slow shutter settings. I used canon Kit Lens 18-55 at f/8 and f/11. I had 58mm ND 8 Sony filter on it to stop down the light.  Keep shutter speed lower then 1/8, 1/6 sec. The last one was shot at 13 sec with kit lens. If you don't have an ND filter wait till sun goes down and very little light of day is left, this may give focusing tough time so becareful with focusing.

North of Pakistan is Beautiful !!

Well after long time i got chance to visit northern areas of Pakistan. Kaghan, Naran, Lake saif al Malook and Lalazar. Places are full of beauty and traveling over there is amazingly easy. I will highly recommend you to spend your next vacations over there. Perfect place for camping and hiking.

Get up early in the morning to see dramatic light on mountains, That is real time to enjoy scenery and Photography and if you care about your health ! ;-)

If you love life i am sorry to say roads are very dangerous if you are planning to go to Lalazar. But good news is that you can hike and camp over there !.  Main road which bring you to Naran and Kaghan valley is very good for even large cars and jeeps. On Lalazar's jeep track only small light jeeps can pass through.

If you are small group it is much better and easy if you chose local transport to Naran, Where you can spend a night in a hotel oryou can camp there. From Naran there is no shortage of Jeeps and driver on rent, they will take you to Lake saif al malook and Lalazar one day is sufficient to see both places. I spent 2500 Rs or 40$ for 3 days including jeep rent, food and traveling expenses from and to Islamabad. these exclude hotel i got lucky and found good place to sleep.

If you are a Photographer

Well as most of you know i am one crazy photographer more then anything else. I will highly recommend you to have loads of memory cards and battery !!. I lost many photos as my battery fully drained in middle of the day. And had to delete a lot photos which i loved to clear memory.

I was loaded with Canon 18-55 kit lens, My buddy was loaded with 70-200 f/4L IS. I will recommend you to bag wide lens and telephoto 70-200 range you will enjoy it. It is wise to have good protective bag for your gear because drive won't be smooth and air won't be dust free. I bagged few polythene bags as well.

When to Visit

June July or August anywhere in these 3 months is considered best time. You should have jacket as it was really freezing in the morning.

Here are some images click images to go to full galleries

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Beautiful Kunhar river flowing through Kaghan Valley "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="198" caption="What a beauty reach early in the morning to see that reflection"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="View of Lalazar "][/caption]

In Rohi

Was traveling around Rohi. Bahwalpur Darawar Fort in cholistan and Multan.

Click photo to view Bahwalpur gallery and details

Darwar Fort click the picture to view complete and large photos of Darawar Fort

Multan still to come

Muree

Went to Muree to shoot some landscapes but came back with street photos of Muree. Muree is popular tourist spot of Pakistan nearly every Pakistani visit it once in a life it is near Islamabad and quite easy to reach there.









Click here to see complete gallery